Daesung and Minzy were the last two standing on that sinking boat. Minzy lowered herself down the deck like the others had and dropped neck-deep into the dark water, holding her K2 above the surface. Daesung then breathed in deeply as he tried to prepare for his own descent, trying to avoid looking at the sharp metal protruding out of the water and the occasional corpse floating by.

“I don’t think I can do this, Minzy-ah,” he said.

“You can do it, Daesunggie,” Minzy said. She was further out now, treading water near the others. “Just swim right over here, right to us.”

The boat creaked at that moment, sinking deeper. Daesung had been standing on the last bit of floor space but his sneakers lost traction when the water rushed up from the sudden plunge and he then slid straight down into the river. He fell fast and deep and struggled now underwater. He knew he was a bad swimmer and thought that was why he was having trouble reaching the surface, but he soon realized that something was actually holding him down. He tried to kick free but couldn’t. Only once was he able to break the surface, and in that one second with his face above the water, he screamed for Minzy.

Minzy, along with Jong Kook and G-Dragon, had already been swimming toward Daesung when they saw him slip down the deck. Jong Kook quickly passed his K2 to Minzy before diving under. He could see Daesung underwater holding his breath and frantically shaking his leg in an effort to get free, but it wasn’t until Jong Kook swam deeper and parted the cloudy water with his hands that he saw what, exactly, Daesung was trying to free himself from.

Holding onto Daesung’s ankle was the charred, skeletal hand of a submerged zombie. With the exception of that hand and its yellow eyes, the zombie was hidden in the blackness of that deep water, apparently tangled with the debris below. Jong Kook, in his fright over seeing those eyes staring up at him, gasped a mouthful of filthy water. Although he desperately needed air, he knew that Daesung needed it more and so he fought to pry the bony fingers from Daesung’s ankle and then immediately pulled him to the surface afterward, where both gasped for air.

As he labored to catch his breath now, Jong Kook pushed Daesung toward G-Dragon and Minzy and told them to swim toward the others. But then he realized that there could be other zombies caught in the debris below the surface and now yelled to the rest of the group, too. “Swim!” he yelled. “Hurry!”

The others in the water looked at him with confusion.

“Swim north?” Dara asked. She had thought that was the plan all along and was confused by Jong Kook’s outburst.

“No, swim to shore!” Jong Kook yelled, “Now!”

Just then, Jessica let out this piercing dolphin-like shriek as her body was yanked down into the depths.

“Unni!” Krystal yelled.

Gary immediately dove for Jessica, unaware of the threat below.

When Jong Kook saw Gary go under, his face froze in terror and he began swimming over to everyone. “Yah, get out of the water!” he yelled.

By the time the others heeded Jong Kook’s warning and began desperately swimming to shore, Gary was already deep down underwater, realizing for himself what was down there. There were dozens of zombies tangled in the wreckage below, having likely collapsed along with the bridge. Jessica had managed to free herself from her attacker, kicking the zombie so fiercely in its neck that she nearly decapitated it, the blood from its ripped neck turning the surrounding water red. The zombie’s head was still connected by a few remaining tendons, and because its brain was still intact, its teeth continued to chomp. Gary had his K2 in his hand and he fired once, the bullet rippling through the water and into the zombie’s head. More zombies were reaching for their legs and Gary tried to fire again, but the gun was waterlogged now and useless. Realizing this, he gave up on fighting them and reached for Jessica as the two kicked their way to the top.

Jong Kook saw them resurface and the three then swam to shore, where they saw everyone else crouched low on the bank, as if hiding. When G-Dragon saw them crawling out of the water, he held a finger to his lips and urged them to stay low. Jong Kook, not knowing what was happening, began to look around for the next apparent threat, and then he saw it. Just beyond the wide shoreline, running parallel to the tributary they needed to follow, was a highway. He remembered seeing this on the map, that there was a highway that followed this tributary all the way north to the base. But the highway was crowded with zombies. If they stood, if they made any noise at all, they would likely be seen by those zombies, and if that happened, it would surely mean their death. The entire highway was covered with them. They wouldn’t stand a chance against a horde like that.

Jong Kook, dripping wet and panting, crawled up beside Ji Hyo, who was kneeling down behind some brush, staring at the zombies on the highway.

“Maybe it’s better if we get back in the water,” she whispered. “Not now, but up a ways, past the debris.”

Jong Kook nodded. With their bodies hidden in the water, they’d be less likely to be seen from the highway, as opposed to walking along the shore. He crawled over to G-Dragon and tried to look north up the tributary as it curved around the base of Mt. Eungbong. “If we just… if we walk alongside the water for a while, we can try to get back in up there,” he said, pointing ahead. “There shouldn’t be any zombies once we make it past–”

“Are you joking?” Dara asked, agape. “I’m not getting back in that water.”

Jong Kook was breathing quickly, his heart racing from his struggles in the river and from their looming doom. He was trying to do his best to lead everyone safely to the base but didn’t know how. “I’m just trying to think clearly,” he said. “We need to follow this river. The map we have outlines major highways, and that highway follows the water all the way up to the base. We’ll be seen on the shore. But if we’re in the water, we’d be submerged. They wouldn’t notice us.”

G-Dragon shook his head. “I’d rather take my chances on land where I can see the zombies than in the water where they’re… hidden.”

T.O.P. and Bom crawled over, having heard the whispered conversation.

“I don’t want to go back in there,” Bom said. She looked back at the tributary. The water seemed eerily calm despite the chaos lurking beneath the surface.

“Do you think the streets are as packed as that highway?” T.O.P. asked.

The others now crawled over, having heard what T.O.P. asked. The thought of entering the city was far worse than any other idea as of yet offered.

CL shook her head. “It doesn’t look like the fires reached this part of the city yet, but that’s not really a good thing. That might mean that the zombies are heading this way… away from the fires.”

Ji Hyo breathed in deeply. She wanted to contribute to the conversation and offer suggestions but couldn’t. All she could think about was Dream and how relieved she was that he wasn’t with them. If he had cried just now, the highway zombies would’ve heard and they’d all likely be dead within minutes. As it is, even without Dream’s cries, she was sure that one of them would sooner or later catch the attention of the zombies and that would be it for them. She had little hope that they’d survive. They were stranded on that shore with the zombie-packed water on one side of them, and the zombie-packed highway on the other side. And just beyond the highway was the presumably zombie-packed city streets. The only way forward was to literally go forward, crouching along that shoreline with the hopes that they wouldn’t be seen.

“I think it goes without saying that we shouldn’t use our guns,” Thunder whispered. “I brought a small bow I carved and I packed dozens of arrows.”

Gary tossed his drenched K2 on the ground and unstrapped his backpack to search through it. “I have a knife somewhere in here.”

The others now, too, searched for the melee weapons they had packed.

“What the hell is that?” G-Dragon asked, looking at the hammer that Seungri had pulled out.

“What?” Seungri said. “It’s a hammer.”

“I know what it is, Maknae Three! I’m just wondering why in the world you would’ve thought to pack a damn hammer.”

“Shh,” T.O.P. said. “Keep your voice down.” He looked above the brush, checking on the highway zombies just beyond.

“I bet you wish you had a hammer right now,” Seungri said, smirking. “All you got is that steak knife.”

G-Dragon smiled. “Really, maknae? Is that all I got?” He set the steak knife down and reached into Dara's backpack, pulling out a crowbar.

Seungri shrugged and rolled his eyes.

T.O.P., realizing that the satellite phone was in his bag and likely wet, now quickly rummaged through his things to find it. It had been sitting near the bottom of the bag, covered somewhat by the spare set of clothes he had brought. He pulled it out now, his hope quickly dissipating when he saw that it was dripping wet.

“Will it still work?” Minzy asked.

T.O.P. pulled a shirt from his bag, dried it off, and then tried turning it on. Nothing happened. He looked at the others, slowly shaking his head.

“So no chance of rescue?” Krystal asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” T.O.P. quietly said, still doubtful that his father would ever disobey orders, even if it meant his son’s life. “No one would’ve rescued us anyway.”

Everyone sat there in silence, the echo of T.O.P.’s dismal statement still lingering in the air. Some began to quietly reorganize their packs, packing their guns between clothes to dry them and sorting through everything else. Jong Kook and Ji Hyo, neither of whom had packs or any melee weapons, kept watch on the bridge beyond the brush.

G-Dragon nudged Jong Kook. “Want the crowbar?” he asked.

Jong Kook shook his head. “You keep it. But maybe if you can spare that knife for Ji Hyo?”

G-Dragon nodded and passed his steak knife to Ji Hyo.

Jessica pushed his hand away. “I have a better knife you can use,” she said, passing Ji Hyo a large butcher knife.

Ji Hyo accepted the butcher knife and felt tears burn her eyes. This was it. They were back in this city, just as hopeless as they had been when they first left it, but now with countless more zombies with which to contend.

As Jong Kook instructed the others on how they’d have to move low along the shore in somewhat of a slow crouch, Ji Hyo blinked away her tears and stared down at the butcher knife in her hand, the shiny blade reflecting the worry in her eyes.