Later that day, Gary grew bored of hanging around his cot and decided to take Caesar for a walk around the perimeter of the field. After retrieving Caesar’s leash from Jason, Gary put on his sunglasses – the only personal item of his, other than his lyrics notebook, that he had retained from his old life – and set off on his dog-walking journey.

Most of the group had wandered off by the time Gary decided to take the dog for a walk. He passed by their empty cots now, seeing that only CL and Ji Hyo had stayed behind. They were sitting on CL’s cot, talking.

“Girl talk?” Gary asked, as he walked by.

“Yeah, Gary-ah,” Ji Hyo said. “No boys allowed.”

“Not even your Monday boyfriend’s allowed?” he asked, teasingly.

Ji Hyo smiled. “It’s not Monday,” she said.

Gary smiled, too, and continued on his walk with Caesar.

After he left, CL and Ji Hyo resumed their talk.

“So, do you think the soldiers know something about what’s going on?” CL asked.

Ji Hyo shrugged. “If they do, they’re not telling us,” she said.

“Someone should ask them,” CL said. “The nurse said that they seemed to know in advance what was happening. If not, they should at least know if it’s happening outside the country or not.”

“You have family out there?” Ji Hyo asked. “Out of the country?”

CL nodded. “And I’m worried about them. I just want to know if this is just happening here or if… if it’s happening everywhere.”

Ji Hyo sighed and looked off to the side, staring blankly as she thought about what CL had said. But her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed a young woman standing in the row just a few cots down, just kind of looking around, as if she was lost. Ji Hyo peeked her head out a bit more and made eye contact with the young woman. “Are you okay?” Ji Hyo asked.

The young woman smiled, nodded, and then looked down timidly.

“You sure?” Ji Hyo asked.

“I… I don’t mean to bother you,” she said.

“It’s no bother,” Ji Hyo said, confused.

“It’s just that… I recognized you. And I’m a huge fan and…”

Ji Hyo understood now. She smiled and called the girl over. “Come sit down,” she said.

“Really?” the young woman replied, smiling brightly. She walked over and sat at the edge of the cot, her eyes wide as she glanced between Ji Hyo and CL.

“What’s your name?” Ji Hyo asked, trying to read the tag on the young woman’s shirt.

“Kwon Micha,” she replied. “I can’t believe I’m sitting here with both of you. Daebak.”

“You’re my fan, too?” CL asked, smiling.

“Yeah, you’re my role models. You both… you’re just so strong.” Micha looked down now at her lap as she fidgeted with her fingers. “I wish I could be as strong as you two are.”

“You already are,” Ji Hyo said. “You’re here, right? You survived.”

Micha shrugged and smiled again. “I guess. But that’s only because I was evacuated with the others right away.” She sighed now. “Can someone just… become strong?”

“Yes,” CL said, answering right away. “You may not know it, but that strength is there inside you. Believe me. I… I doubted myself, too. I felt helpless and weak. But you just have to believe in yourself.”

“You doubted yourself?” Micha asked. “But you’re CL! You’re The Baddest Female!”

The girls laughed then and CL started rolling her shoulders and singing the chorus of her song.

Nan nappeun gijibae, nanan nappeun gijibae… (I’m a bad girl, I’m a bad girl…)

Ji Hyo and Micha soon joined her, their voices and laughter seeping out of that cot and fading away in the air.

Gary walked past the last row of cots on the western end and then began following the white boundary line of that bright green football field. The sun was still bright in the sky and he was happy to have his sunglasses. The stadium seating rose high to his left and he looked up there now, seeing a few survivors sitting in the stands, looking down at all the cots that cluttered the field.

Caesar ran anxiously in front of him, that brown and black pit bull seemingly excited to be on a walk. Gary realized then that the dog was probably looking for a place to relieve himself. He hadn’t thought to bring anything to clean up after the dog and didn’t think the soldiers would like it if he just let the dog go anywhere. He leaned down to whisper to the dog now. “Caesar,” he said, “whatever you do, don’t poop. Just hold it.” Just beyond the white line, where the green field ended and the narrow strip of cement that bordered the field began, he saw a dozen or so portable bathroom stalls. They were meant for the survivors, of course, but he wondered if he could sneak Caesar inside one of them. “Aish,” he said aloud. “What to do?”

Just then, the dog stopped walking and squatted right there on the field.

“No!” Gary said. He looked around to see if anyone else had a dog, hoping that they might be able to help him with this poop predicament. But it was too late. The dog did his business and then just started walking again. Gary bit his lip and looked around, wondering if anyone saw. Two soldiers were standing guard at one of the tunnels just up ahead that led into the interior of the stadium, but neither of them had seemed to notice.

Gary wiped the sweat from his brow and continued on, walking that white boundary line and peering down the many rows of cots that he passed. It was an odd sight… all these rows of cots and all these people covering the field.

But the oddest sight was just ahead of him. He saw what appeared to be Jong Kook and Kwang Soo… exercising. Jong Kook was doing squats, his legs slightly wide and bent at the knee as he assumed a seated position and then stood up, and then squatted back down and then back up again, all the while yelling at Kwang Soo to keep up.

“Yah!” Jong Kook yelled. “Keep that back straight!”

When Kwang Soo saw Gary approaching, he flashed him an expression that seemed to plead for his help. Seeing Kwang Soo’s desperate face made Gary laugh.

“What’s up?” Gary asked, stopping just before Jong Kook. “Looks like you’re killing our dongsaeng.”

Jong Kook smiled and stretched out his back. Kwang Soo looked immensely grateful that the commander was taking a break and quickly collapsed on the field, stretching out his long legs.

“We can’t just be sitting around here all day,” Jong Kook said. “We need to keep our bodies fit.”

“We just got here,” Gary said. “It’s nice not to have to worry about anything anymore. Why don’t you let poor Kwang Soo-yah relax?”

Jong Kook looked at Kwang Soo sitting down on the field.

“Hyung,” Kwang Soo said, the sweat dripping down his face as he looked up at Jong Kook. “You should listen to him, hyung. I can’t do this anymore.”

Jong Kook shook his head and turned back to Gary. “You don’t think we have anything to worry about anymore?”

Gary shrugged.

Jong Kook looked around for a moment and then leaned in close to Gary. “We don’t know how long this place will stand. What happens then? We need to be prepared.”

Gary breathed in deeply and nodded.

“Yah!” Jong Kook yelled at Kwang Soo again. “If you want to go, then go!”

Kwang Soo stood, bowed slightly to Jong Kook, and then walked away with his back hunched and his head low.

Jong Kook resumed his squats as Gary continued on his way around the perimeter.

When Gary made it to eastern end of the stadium and peered down the rows he passed, he caught a glimpse of Jae Suk. “Let’s go see what hyung’s up to,” he said to Caesar. He left the outskirts and walked onto the field and down the row where he had spotted Jae Suk. As he got closer, he noticed that Daesung and Minzy were there.

“Gary-ah!” Jae Suk called out when he saw him. “My wife, my son…” he said, smiling as he gestured toward his family.

Gary bowed toward Jae Suk’s family.

Three-year-old Ji Ho quickly ran up to the dog, pointing. “Dog!” he said with a big smile as he looked up at his appa.

“That’s right,” Jae Suk said.

“Hi, dog,” little Ji Ho now said, sitting down on the grass to pet Caesar.

“Does he bite?” Jae Suk asked Gary.

Gary shook his head no and then waved hello to Daesung and Minzy.

“We were just here bringing Jae Suk’s food rations over,” Minzy said.

Ever since finding his wife and son, Jae Suk had stayed in the eastern section of the field with them. Because of that, he was the only one who hadn’t yet heard about Hyun Suk leaving. As Gary told him the news now, Jae Suk slowly nodded. “Gary-ah, if it was my wife and son, I would have done the same.”

“That’s what Jong Kook said, too,” Gary said.

“When you care that much,” Jae Suk said, “nothing can stand in your way.”

No one said anything for a moment. They just watched as little Ji Ho continued petting the dog.

A short girl with big glasses who was passing by at that moment stopped at the sight of Caesar. “Oh, is this your dog?” she asked Gary.

“No, I’m just watching him,” he said.

“Can I pet him?” she asked.

“Sure,” Gary said. He watched as the cute girl tied her black hair back in a ponytail and then kneeled on the grass beside Jae Suk’s son to pet Caesar. “I’m Eunmi,” she said, looking up at Gary as she pet the dog. She looked at the others now, too. “Oh, Yoo Jae Suk! And Daesung oppa!”

Jae Suk and Daesung smiled. “Annyeong,” they said.

“I’m so happy the zombies didn’t eat either of you!” Eunmi said.

They gasped at how direct she was and then started laughing.

“I’m happy they didn’t eat us, too!” Daesung said.

Eunmi laughed. “I just mean… I’m glad you’re both alive!” She saw Minzy now, too. “Oh, 2ne1!”

“Two enyun,” little Ji Ho mumbled, still petting Caesar.

Jae Suk and Kyung Eun smiled at their little boy. “Two-N-E-1,” Kyung Eun said, trying to correct her son.

“Two enyun,” the little boy said again.

“Oh my, he’s so cute,” Eunmi said. She looked up at Jae Suk’s wife. “He definitely looks like you!”

“It’s a good thing he got her looks and not mine,” Jae Suk said, taking off his glasses and scaring everyone with his face.

“Yah, put your glasses back on!” Daesung said, laughing. “You’re going to scare Eunmi!”

“Too late!” Eunmi said, hiding her face.

Gary had hung around for a while, enjoying the laughter that Eunmi, with her cheerful personality and humor, had brought to that small section of the field. He hadn’t heard Jae Suk laugh like that since before this all started. He could still hear them all laughing after left.

Just as he was returning to the western side of the field, he saw Seungri run up to him.

“Gary-ssi! Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you, hyung! I need your help!”

“With what?” Gary asked. “What’s wrong?”

Seungri looked back at CL’s cot, where CL was still sitting with Ji Hyo and the girl they had met, Micha. He then turned back to Gary. “I can’t tell you here,” he whispered. “Let’s go sit in the stands up there.”

Gary’s legs were tired, but he was curious as to what Seungri wanted and so he followed him up to the stadium seating now. He saw G-Dragon, Dara, T.O.P., and Bom sitting up in the stands with Dara’s brother, Thunder, just a little ways away, and was about to wave to them when Seungri suddenly grabbed Gary’s hand.

“Don’t,” Seungri whispered. “I don’t want anyone to see us together.”

Gary looked at Seungri curiously and then sat beside him. He was happy to finally sit after walking for so long. Caesar seemed happy, too. He lay across Gary’s feet and fell asleep.

After a moment, Seungri finally admitted why he was looking for him. “I need your help writing a letter.”

“A letter?” Gary asked.

“A love letter,” Seungri said. “To CL.”

“What?” Gary rolled his eyes. “That’s what this is about? You know, you had me worried there. I didn’t know what was going on…”

“This is important,” Seungri said. “And you’re really good with that stuff. All your Leessang songs, those are all true, right? Like, from your life?”

Gary nodded. “It’s the only way I know how to write,” he said. “From the heart.”

“Right, so can you help me write like that? I’ve only written a couple of songs. But nothing that really came from me, deep down.”

“Like, right now?” Gary asked.

Seungri nodded. “I got some paper off this girl named Shanice,” he said, pulling the paper and pen from his pocket.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Gary said. “You just have to write how you feel. What exactly is it about CL that you love?”

Seungri smiled. “She’s y.”

“Aish,” Gary said. “That’s the first thing you think of?”

“Well, she is really y,” Seungri said, smiling. “But that’s not all. I like how she has those two sides to her. There’s the badass CL and then the aegyo Chae Rin. But more than that, I like how smart and mature she is. She lived in so many different countries and knows all those languages.” Seungri thought about how he felt earlier when thinking about CL and repeated that now for Gary. “She makes me want to strive to be on her level, to be a better person.”

“Write all that down,” Gary said. “Just, exactly what you just said.”

“Really?” Seungri said.

“Yeah, write that down and then we’ll make it a bit more poetic sounding.”

From their seats, they could see over the entire field. As Seungri wrote down his thoughts about CL, Gary looked over to where he had seen Jong Kook exercising. He saw that Jong Kook was still there, still exercising, except now, there were others with him… maybe four or five other civilians all following Jong Kook’s lead. Gary chuckled a bit at the sight.

But then he looked just beyond where Jong Kook was leading his impromptu exercise class and saw a group of soldiers walking that same perimeter line that Gary had walked. At the head of the group was an older more stately man in a black officer uniform. He was pointing around the field while the others listened, hanging on his every word. Gary could tell that he was high-ranking, maybe a lieutenant of some sort. He seemed to be the man in charge.