“I understand the order, but we will not be turning around,” Lieutenant Colonel Choi said.

There was a moment of static before the airman at the control tower responded. “Sir? You understand that we will use force and you still won’t comply?”

Lieutenant Colonel Choi pressed the mic button again to speak, holding the receiver close to his lips. “If you use force, you will destroy the cure.”

Another staticky pause followed. “Sir, can you repeat that? Did you say cure?” The airman speaking with Lieutenant Colonel Choi turned to the Air Vice Marshal standing him. Both had known that there was a scientist at Camp Stanley close to discovering the cure, but when Eagle One had landed two or so hours earlier and the scientist was not on board, they had assumed that the scientist had not survived and that the cure was gone along with him.

The Air Vice Marshal ordered the airman to tell Lieutenant Colonel Choi to stand by. “I’m going to confirm this. You keep him on the line and keep him calm.” He left the control tower then and briskly walked across the base grounds to the quarantine facility. After making his way through several checkpoints inside the facility, he opened the door to the restricted area, where all of the plane passengers were being held.

The restricted area resembled a prison in some ways. There was a large open floor area that served as the common space and it was crowded with cafeteria-like tables. The walls surrounding this space were lined with doors, each opening to a small and stark resident room that contained only the bare essentials – a pair of cots, a toilet, and a sink. The only difference between these rooms and prison cells were the doors in place of bars, providing some privacy. 

Colonel Matthews was out in the open space, seated at a table with his fellow officers and trying to talk over the noise of everyone else crowded in that room, when the Air Vice Marshal arrived. They all immediately stopped talking and stood to greet the Australian officer.

The Air Vice Marshal looked over the contents of the file in his hand as he spoke. “I see that there was a Lieutenant Colonel Choi listed on the roster for those approved to fly out on Eagle One,” he said, now looking at Colonel Matthews. “Why wasn’t he on the plane? Was he bitten?”

Colonel Matthews shook his head. “No, I told your officers already that it was chaos. Many were left behind. It’s… it’s not something I’m proud of.”

“Well, sir, this man may have been left behind, but he didn’t stay behind.”

Colonel Matthews looked at the Air Vice Marshal with a confused expression. “What are you saying?”

“We are in communication with Lieutenant Colonel Choi right now. He’s on a helicopter hovering seven miles north over water, waiting on confirmation to land. He claims that his passengers are not infected and that he is in possession of the cure.”

Colonel Matthews let out a breath of surprise as his expression softened, but then seriousness took hold again. “Sir, with all due respect, if he is saying that no one on board is infected and that he has the cure, then it is not a claim, it is fact. You can trust him.”

“Well, we’ll decide that,” the Air Vice Marshal said, before turning and walking toward the security gate to leave.

Dara and Thunder, who were seated at the table just behind the officers, had overheard the conversation and now looked at each with open mouths.

“We should find Seunghyun and tell him that his dad’s alive!” Dara said.

Thunder grabbed her hand, stopping her from getting up. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” he said. “You know how he is right now trying to deal with Bom being gone. I don’t think–”

“But that’s why he needs good news,” Dara said. “Knowing that his father is alive will make him feel less depressed about… about Bommie.” Tears came to her eyes as she thought not only about Bom, but also about Minzy.

“Yeah, but what if they don’t let his dad land? Then he’ll just be more depressed.” He could see that his sister was upset and tried now to calm her. “Look, we’ll tell him the moment we know for sure, okay?”

Dara nodded and sat quietly for a moment, but then she remembered something else in the conversation that she had overheard. “He said that he had passengers with him, right? You heard that?”

“Yeah,” Thunder said. He wondered who Lieutenant Colonel Choi had saved before heading out in that helicopter and hoped that Krystal was among them.

CL and Seungri walked over at that moment.

“Would you believe there’s only one radio here?” Seungri asked. He looked back past all the civilians, military personnel, and idols in that crowded space to the radio at the far end of the room, around which Himchan, Yongguk, and Daehyun were huddled, trying to find a station they liked. Turning to Dara and Thunder now, Seungri let loose a sly smile and asked, “Wanna go fight those B.A.P. boys for control of the music?” 

CL rolled her eyes at Seungri and then looked at Dara. “You see what I’m dealing with? Here we are, saved from the zombies with all these possibilities now for a new life, and all he can think about is fighting some idols over the radio! Aish.”

Dara normally would’ve laughed at their constant cat-dog bickering, but the conversation she had overhead was still weighing heavily on her. She told CL and Seungri about this conversation now, letting them know that not only was Lieutenant Colonel Choi still alive, but others as well.

“Who?” Seungri asked. “Did they say who?”

Dara and Thunder both shook their heads.

While the four of them began speculating on who, exactly, the helicopter passengers were, far across that room G-Dragon was sitting at a table with the Winner boys, absentmindedly playing cards while talking about those who hadn’t made it to the plane.

“You know, when Daesunggie would play cards, he would always cheat,” G-Dragon said, as he pushed forth one piece of chocolate from his stockpile. The chocolate was leftover from the meal everyone had been given upon arrival, but because the pieces were hard as rocks, the boys had decided to use them as poker chips rather than as food.

“That doesn’t sound like Daesung,” Jinwoo said.

“Oh, you have no idea,” G-Dragon said, smiling as he waited for Minho to take his turn. “Yah, you gonna stare at those cards all day?”

Minho looked up at G-Dragon in surprise. “I’m thinking!”

“About what?” G-Dragon asked. “You got nothing. What you got? A pair? Maybe ace high?”

Minho tried to ignore him.

“Anyway, Daesunggie was quite the cheater,” G-Dragon said, smiling again as he thought about his lost friend. “But even when we caught him red-handed, he would completely deny it. You should’ve seen him this one time. We were playing cards and he had gotten up to use the bathroom and an ace fell from inside his shirt. He must’ve been shoving cards up his shirt and, aish, I don’t know. But anyway, the card fell and we all starting yelling at him, calling him a cheater, and he was just like, ‘How did that get there?’ as if he had no idea and thought we would actually believe him.”

“Now that sounds like Daesung,” Seungyoon said.

“Yeah, I bet he was smiling that wide smile of his while saying that,” Taehyun said.

Seunghoon smiled. “He was always so much fun…”

“Yeah, he was…” G-Dragon’s voice trailed off upon noticing that they had already fallen into the rhythm of speaking about Daesung in past tense. He hadn’t lost a brother since Taeyang back when this all started. Daesung being gone, most likely dead, was hitting him hard. He tried to wear a strong face in front of his juniors, but inside he was crumbling. Knowing that he couldn’t bear to talk about Daesung anymore, or anyone else they had lost along the way, he changed the subject.

Just three tables down, the five remaining EXO boys were dealing with the same grief over their lost member, Luhan.

Kris, trying to comfort Lay, told him that the pain would eventually subside. “Remember how we felt when we heard about K? That none of them made it? We thought then that we would never be able to survive with that emptiness, remember?”

“I just miss him,” Lay whispered.

“We all do,” Xiumin said. “But we still have each other…”

“That’s right,” Kris said. “And we’re safe now.”

“When we get out of here, we can have a memorial for him,” Chen quietly said.

“Yeah, for everyone,” Tao added. 

Jackson and V were walking by at that moment. They hadn’t left each other’s side since the plane ride, having bonded in somewhat of an unspoken way over each being the last remaining member of their respective groups. They had realized just a moment ago that T.O.P. hadn’t come out of his room since they all arrived, and were on their way now to see if he was okay.

T.O.P. had the corner room all the way in the back. When Jackson and V arrived, they knocked quietly at the closed door, but when there was no answer, they knocked again, more loudly this time.

“Should we just open it?” V asked.

Jackson bit his lip and looked out from that corner and over the crowd to G-Dragon’s table. “Maybe we should get Jiyong to–”

His words were cut off by the sight of the door suddenly opening – but only just a crack, just enough for T.O.P. to peek out. His eyes were red, as if he’d been crying, and his face was pale, ghastly even.

“Are you… are you okay?” V asked, stumbling a bit over his words.

T.O.P. glanced between V and Jackson. “I’m fine,” he said, his deep voice quiet and shaky.

“You didn’t eat anything,” Jackson said. He wished now that he had saved some of his food. “I think Jiyong is gambling with his leftover chocolate. I can go see if–”

“I don’t want anything,” T.O.P. quickly said. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath in. “I just want to be left alone.”

Jackson and V stood there for a moment, a bit embarrassed, a bit sad.

“I’m sorry,” T.O.P. said, as he began to slowly close the door, that sliver of space in which they could see him growing narrower. “Thanks for… for checking on me, but I’m fine.”

The door clinked shut.

After speaking with his superior officers, the Air Vice Marshal returned to the control tower and resumed his standing position behind the airman, who was still in radio contact with Lieutenant Colonel Choi.

“Give him the go-ahead,” the Air Vice Marshal said.

“He’s clear, sir?” the airman asked.

The Air Vice Marshal nodded.

Holding down the mic button, the airman said, “This is control. I’ve just received word that you are cleared to land. Over.”

Up in the helicopter, both Lieutenant Colonel Choi and Jong Kook looked at each other with wide eyes. Almost doubting his hearing, Lieutenant Colonel Choi asked the airman to repeat the command.

The voice broke through the static again. “Repeat, cleared to land. I have you in sight. Maintain altitude until turning base.”

“We can land?” Ji Hyo asked, cradling Dream while leaning forward and peering into the cockpit.

Jong Kook glanced back at her and the others on board, his eye smile never brighter. “We’ll be on the ground soon,” he said.

A burst of cheers and applause rocked the cabin. Luhan relaxed his grip from the sides of his seat and, even though he hated when people touched his head, he didn’t even flinch when Se7en suddenly leaned over and ruffled his hair in excitement before turning to hug Rina. Bom and Ji Hyo hugged, too, and then both reclined a bit back in their seat, imagining life on the ground where it was safe. That concept – safety – had been such an abstract thought for so long, but now it was real. It was concrete.

“It’s over,” Kyung Eun said, as she pulled her son close to her chest. “It’s finally over.”

Those on the other helicopter had heard the radio transmissions and were just as joyous over the news. Taeyeon nearly squeezed Rain to death and then turned to Krystal, hugging her just as tightly and telling her that she will always look out for her.

“Even if we’re not in danger anymore, even if there’s nothing to fear, I’ll always be there for you,” Taeyeon said. “Always.” She wiped Krystal’s tears and then wiped her own. “Like a big sister should,” she added.

Gary and Seohyun sitting just behind them had hugged in excitement over the news. The dog, sensing this excitement, jumped up on the seat between them and began their faces.

In the back, after comforting his wife and children, Hyun Suk glanced over at Daesung with somewhat of a serious expression. “Don’t think it’s going to be all fun and games now,” Hyun Suk said.

“What do you mean?” Daesung asked.

“We got lots to do,” Hyun Suk said.

“What are you talking about?” Daesung asked.

“I’m starting a new company,” Hyun Suk said. “YG Entertainment Redux.”

“Redux?” Minzy asked.

“Yeah, yeah, redux,” Hyun Suk said. “Like rebirth or return. We’re going to be bigger and better than ever.”

Eun Ju rolled her eyes as she looked at her husband. “Seriously, yeobo. Can you give them all a break? Must you always think about business?”

Hyun Suk dismissed her with a wave of his hand and then sat back in his seat, his eyes closing as he imagined the skyscraper in Sydney he’d buy for the YG Entertainment Redux headquarters and all of the new singers – these survivors – that he’d be adding to the company’s roster…

“You know what’s ironic?” Seungri asked, as he sat with the others and mindlessly fiddled with his thumbs. “This base is named Darwin. Like, after Charles Darwin.”

CL, Dara, and Thunder looked over at him, wondering where he was going with the idea.

“You never heard of Charles Darwin?” Seungri asked, looking up at all of them now.

“Of course we heard of him!” CL said. “Just wondering what your point is.”

“Darwin was the guy who came up with survival of the fittest,” Seungri said. He looked around at the crowded quarantine area and then back at those sharing the table with him. “Isn’t it ironic that all of us are like, erm, the fittest survivors? And we ended up at a base named Darwin?”

“I’d hardly call us the fittest,” Dara quietly said. “Maybe just the luckiest.”

“That’s not what ironic means anyway,” Thunder said. “Irony is when something unexpected happens. Like, the opposite of what you expect.”

“Yeah, but…” Seungri looked confused. “Were you expecting to land at a base named Darwin?!”

“Oh my god, that’s not what he meant,” CL said, rolling her eyes. “It has to be the opposite! Like, I don’t know…” She scrunched up her nose, trying to think of an example.

“Aha!” Seungri smiled. “You don’t even know what irony is and you’re trying to lecture me! Wait – is that irony?” He started laughing. “Like, the person trying to tell me what irony is doesn’t even know what it is herself? That’s the opposite!” He started laughing even harder now and didn’t stop even when CL began playfully punching his arm.

“Stop laughing!” she yelled, fighting to hold back her smile as she continued punching him.

“Ow, that last one really hurt,” Seungri said, putting on his best pout as he held his arm. “You need to kiss it and make it better.”

“Aish,” CL said, looking away. Her gaze wandered then to some commotion at the front of the room, where three or four airmen had arrived with what appeared to be a large group of people behind them. “What’s going on up there?” she asked.

Seungri, Thunder, and Dara all looked up toward the entrance. They could see that there were people crowded in the corridor behind the officers but couldn’t discern any faces.

“Do you think that’s…?” Dara stood up, her eyes wide as she remembered the conversation about the helicopters that she and her brother had overheard. “Is that them?”

A/N: Stay tuned for the final chapter coming up!