CHAPTER FINALLY UP!
Warnings for Baekhyun's past.. it's kinda hard hitting...  

The Journey Is The Reward

The boys had decided, as to leave the camp without a fuss, they would so at different times. Kris had considered this an unnecessary precaution as he had gone to receive permission for the move the previous day. Still, there was no arguing with Suho and this plan went ahead. The first group consisted of Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Chen and D.O., Kris called them the beagle line and Baekhyun defiantly led them as he skipped out in front leaving Chanyeol with his bag.  Chanyeol shrugged off the added inconvenience and considered it reparation for his previous stunt, of which he promised not to ever repeated.

Next were Kris, Tao, Xiumin, and Luhan, who had little motivation and passed out of the camp with no worry at all.  Kris went as far as to greet the guard next to the gate and informed him that they were moving a couple of camps west when asked. Tao just stood prettily as the pair conversed while Xiumin tried his best to be discreet.

Finally, 20 minutes after the first group, Sehun, Kai, Suho and Lay left. They had to be the most apprehensive of the bunch, with Suho threatening to turn back every few steps. Kai was also reluctant to leave the only home he had ever known while Lay justified the move as ‘an adventure.' Sehun, however, felt the same anxiety as the two formers; he didn’t know anything about the world around and had become rather comfortable over the last months in camp W64.
That was all to change.

They all met up against the first east wall of the camp, exasperated from the stress and in shock of the sudden change. It had really started to sink in for many of them. Suho for one was practically ting himself having never ever left the camp previously, seeing the other side of the walls he had lived within stirred an uneasy feeling. Kris gave him a nod of reassurance upon his arrival to check he was doing okay, the leader reciprocated from under Lay’s arm, flashing an unsure smile but it was just enough. Enough to indicate they were leaving their qualms behind with their home: starting a new.

One, despite the high tensions, still seemed eager to get going: “How come you guys took so long?” Baekhyun quizzed.
“Suho and Sehun-ah got cold feet; Sehun doesn’t want to be any further from his dome.” Lay groaned as he released Suho from his protection.
Baekhyun scoffed, totally ignoring Sehun as he spoke: “It’s not like you can go back anyway.”
Of course, Sehun realised this, to be honest, he hoped that one day his family would come looking for him instead. That they would somehow sense that he was okay and get themselves banished too. This was a long shot, though, he knew this and holding up the group for such reasons would be the height of selfishness. 
“I know.” He whispered more to himself than anyone else.
“Cool!” Baek clapped his hands together, eyes wide with excitement and anticipation. This one had always been a loose cannon. “let’s get going then.” 

And as everyone departed hastily only a few heard: “did anyone bring that bat?.” Slyly in Sehun’s annoyed voice.
Chanyeol nodded to the younger, ready to break his previous promise. “Although, I brought a ball too.”
“shall I see if I can hit him with it from here?” Kai smirked, hand on Sehun’s back as they headed out across the dry soil of the desert land.
Walking to freedom.
Walking to somewhere…

Baekhyun was hit over the head for the second time that day except for this time he made less of a fuss seeing as he was more confused about the fact Kai was able to aim and hit him from 20ft away. That kid had skill!

In Sehun’s opinion, Baekhyun was one of the more complex members of the group; he was always happy and bubbly, literally skipping everywhere yet now and then turned into the most animalistic known to man. Sehun wasn’t sure about this side of his hyung; every now and then he would skip out on the group dressed in little to nothing and stay out all night. The youngest never questioned this and to his own surprise, neither did Suho, the only one who went after their vogue Baekhyun was Chanyeol dismissing everyone’s excuses of ‘it’s just what he does.' Sehun wasn’t lucky enough to know what Baekhyun ‘does’ neither was Kai or Tao. Apparently, D.O. accidently found out while stealing, he insisted it was a funny story that he would tell the youngers when they grew up yet Sehun suspected it wasn’t as jovial as the elder made out because Baekhyun’s eyes went dead when anything concerning work was mentioned.  Still, between the three maknaes they had their suspicions; Tao told Sehun and Kai that Baekhyun worked in a bar, that’s why he was out so late, that made sense so the youngest accepted it. Despite this, Kai had his own suspicions: he thought that Baekhyun was an assassin. This wasn’t plausible in the least so no one listened to him what so ever.

The boys had been walking for three hours when the first complaints came in. Chanyeol’s back hurt, Kris, and Lay were getting ‘too sober’ and had ran out of fags. D.O. was cold despite it being May and Xiumin’s bag was too heavy.
“We’ll stop at the next camp okay?” Suho compromised although he wasn’t sure if they were allowed to just enter camps… they weren’t. If that were the case, Kai would be calling in at W65 every time he went to the Dome instead of packing 4 bottles of water.
Still, this sat pretty well with everyone else and in the fifth hour they came across ‘camp 48’ and to be quite frank it looked even ter that camp 64.  Although there were no tall buildings crumbling to the ground, no vines surrounding such devastated structures, no smog. There was to emissions funding from the industrial sector and no putrid smell of waste. There actually wasn’t anything at all.
It looked like a bomb site.
Rubble everywhere and small tents set up as to accommodate lost homes.

The faces of the boys begun to drop as they approached and the demise of the area became ever the more obvious. Sehun felt a hole in his heart grow as his personal perception of war was confirmed, and everything in his book came to life. It was horrific.
“We’re not stopping here,” Kris stated monotonously with a definite and stern tone. He meant what he was saying and didn’t want to be questioned. Almost everyone stayed quite.
Not everyone got the gist of what they were looking at.
“What~ but gege!” I loud whine sounded from the most immature member of the group.
“shut up Tao-ah.” Kris instructed, turning to the young boy, “you were right.”
“wh-what” Tao stuttered; he had never been right before.
“Something bad happened here, we just have to focus on getting out.” Everyone could see the fear in Kris’s eyes and shared such dread as the tallest.  No one, despite it being all around, had seen poverty like this before, not like Kris and Lay had.

Finally, the panda understood; he sensed the ominous atmosphere and did as he was told, shut up. Dust was still hanging in the thick, dirty air so the boys hastily covered their mouths and noses with their hands while coughing profusely. They looked on at the crumbled walls and lethargic figures that could be made out moving in and out of tents as sadness filled their hearts.  No one said a word as they moved on past and nothing was said for hours after, it was evident that things were far worse than they knew; they had no idea that Tao was right, and that bombing’s had happened, luckily it wasn’t to them. It was daunting to think how close they had unknowingly come to death by just existing in the war-torn territory they called home.

Kris thought it was ironic that the Chinese people had been sent to such places to avoid they war in their own