Yongsun was tired of walking.  She was tired of breathing.  The air was hot and humid.  The yellow dust was especially bad today.  She had on her mask but she felt suffocated behind it, inhaling large breaths, and releasing them slowly...

Only two weeks into her quest and she felt she was going to die.  Leaving Seoul wasn't just risky, it was stupid.  What else could lie beyond the city that would help her?  Back home she had resources, connections... she had family.

She ground her teeth together.  Had family.

Squinting up at the bright sky and found her determination again.  She was destined to outlast everyone she loved, and if this was her superpower, then she would outlast even this weather, even the scorching, hot, sun.  If this was her fate, she'd keep going, despite no sign of food, water, or refuge.

She straightened up, and marched on defiantly for a while, before her sillhouette slumped as it carried on traveling into oblivion.

//

Moonbyul knew they were somewhere close to Bucheon but didn't exactly know where.  The only thing she was really searching for was a town -not a big city- to reside in.  However, most of the smaller towns in each province had been abandoned.  Lack of supplies and artillery made them more vulnerable to attacks.  Her second reasoning for heading West was to reach the ocean.  Zombies never came near the ocean -and plus- she'd be able to navigate North and South from there.  Maybe the girls would find a boat, and maybe they'd live on the sea.

"Hwasa," she murmured thoughtfully, "do you know how to swim?"

"Duh, Unnie, don't you?"

Moonbyul simply nodded.

She slid the arm off her pack and let her left shoulder carry all the weight.  Then she pressed the cool, backside of her hand into her neck, trying to relieve some of the fever she felt building up.

"I think I'd like to shower soon."

Wheein groaned.  "Don't remind me of showers I'll just get pissed because it's been like a week since I had one."

Moonbyul chuckled.

"It's been since we all had one."

"Yeah," Wheein griped, "and we all stink."

//

Yongsun saw a city horizon in her view.  The closer she approached the wider it got.  She recognized it as Bucheon, and even from a distance she percieved movement.  People must live there.  They must be surviving. She paused.

She had escaped one city... only to flee to another?  

She looked over she shoulder, wondering if she should turn around, or turn left, or go North, or...

//

Moonbyul's compass wasn't totally faulty.  They definitely headed West but they were more North than she thought.  They didn't pass through any major cities, instead, finally arrived at the shoreline, civilization nowhere to be found.  They all dragged closer to the water, as if dipping their toes in it was the only way to prove themselves of it's existence.

Moonbyul sighed as the water washed over her feet.  She tossed her head back and let the sensation ripple through her.

"You look weird, Unnie," Wheein remarked.

Moonbyul kept her head back, arms wide open, embracing the possibilities.

"Here's your shower Wheein-ah.  Better start stripping."

Getting to see Wheein blush was totally worth the hard smack Hwasa landed on her shoulder.

//

It had been almost three weeks?  Yongsun was keeping track on her cellphone, which she had only gotten to charge twice, but she was preserving the battery by keeping it off most of the day until nighttime.  Nobody knew her in Bucheon.  She almost thought she could stay there; plant roots.  

The butcher at the deli already began greeting her by name and she had only been there two days.  (People were always like that now.  Holding every conversation precious like it might be their last.)

The feeling was unnerving.  This is exactly what she wanted to avoid.

After restocking her supplies, she took one last longing look back at the city before running away once again.

//

A fire burned bright orange and red, the only ounce of color dancing against the inky, black, sky.  Three girls were huddled around it, bodies shaking from laughter, or shivering from the cold.  They took turns eating out of the same can of food.  Their weapons lay beside them, at ease.  They were defenseless.  They were just young girls for one moment.

From the shadows, someone approached; having spotted the speck of light about a mile away, following it like the night star.

She shoveled all her thick, black, hair, into a ponytail and tightened the straps on her backpack.  This fire was the first sign of people for miles.  She hadn't meant to encounter them, but here they were, clearly placed so deliberately in front of her.  She could pretend she didn't see the fire, readjusted her eyes to the darkness, and continued to follow the stars down the beach all alone.  

Maybe she was cold, so she drew nearer to the fire.

The girls were unguarded.

When four pairs of eyes meet each other someone screamed, and someone fell backwards, and someone got tackled to the ground.

//

"Who are you?" Moonbyul asked menacingly.

Her gun was in her hand, barrel aligned at the temple of this stranger with big eyes and puffy cheeks.  She didn't usually antagonize strangers they met, but this one crept up on them.

Yongsun pressed her lips together tightly, and raised her arms up above her head.

"I'm Solar."