The house was still completely sealed off from the night before. Mei scanned her fingerprint at the door to let herself in, and then disarmed the rest of the security alarms just as her faithful German Shepherd bounded up from the basement and tackled her on arrival.

“Woah! Down, boy! Down, Taku! Yah! Stop!” She giggled as her pet excitedly her face in hello and then abruptly leapt off her and began clawing at the door.

“Did Dad forget to let you out again?” Mei asked wearily as she pumped the handcrank, lifting the little steel gate that shielded the dog door. Taku bounded out in response. She watched, waiting for him to return, and then unwound the crank to lower the rolling gate back down before making her way downstairs.

Though her father was the commune's leading scientist, you would never guess it by their house. On the outside, it was a small, single-story family home, modest and humble. But all of her father's financial gains from work went to developing the underground lab that he spent his days in. It came complete with a second security-fortified door, countless specimen holding tanks, and a sterile inner chamber.

Mei went down the stairs and let herself in, blinking her eyes to adjust to the lab's brightness. She spotted her father hard at work, wearing an ill-fitted paper gown and gloves as he transferred liquids by pipette from a blue tray to an identical-looking purple one. He looked like he was focusing, so she stood awkwardly, waiting for him to acknowledge her. He always hated when she broke his concentration.

Finally, he looked up, peeking at her over his glasses. “Mei. You're home,” he stated blankly.

“Yes,” she answered flatly.

“I lose track of time down here,” he said as he resumed his work. “I assume you took Taku out?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” His task done, he laid down the pipette and carried the purple tray to a small centrifuge on a different desk. “How was school,” he asked.

“Um. It was good. I especially like this one class, where we learn about creatures of the dark. It's scheduled just before lunch, which is nice because it let's me think about--”

“Did you attend all your classes today,” he asked without looking at her, carefully placing each sample into the centrifuge wheel. At times, he would hold one up to the light and shake it a bit first.

“Yes,” Mei answered. She waited for him to ask more questions, and when he didn't, she kept volunteering the answers. “So, anyways, that one class is really awesome. But it seems like I'm the only one who likes it. Today, we talked about how humanoid those creatures could be. It would be really nice, though, if we could see an actual picture of them. I mean... if it was allowed. It's hard to imagine them by looking at drawings alone.”

“Mm,” her father responded. The sneaking suspicion that he wasn't really listening crossed her mind. She shifted her feet.

“And then after school, I went with Suho to his father's grave. He said that he was really proud of you, and hopeful that you could find a cure for those monsters beyond the Wall. He said that, if we had the cure 10 years ago, maybe his father wouldn't have died. Maybe he wouldn't have been attacked at all.”

“Mm.”

He really wasn't listening. She looked down, trying to hide her disappointment. “I was thinking of going to the dumping grounds between the inner and outer Wall in a few nights. With Suho.”

Her father gave no reaction.

“I hope I find a night creature. I want to see it with my own eyes.”

He flicked at a test tube, frowning.

“I'm proud of you too, Dad.”

“Mm.”

Defeated, she turned away, feeling small and uncared for. Today, this was the extent of the conversation she would have with her father. And that fact sat like a weight in her heart. In the distance, the low siren that signals the final alert before nightfall wailed long and deep, as it does every evening. But she didn't care to notice. She was too focused on telling herself that, someday, his work would be over. Someday, they really would be able to talk together. Maybe even laugh together, like how it was when her mother was still alive. Someday, for sure. All Mei had to do was be patient. Wait.

And then her father called back to her.

“Mei?”

Quickly, she spun around. Had he heard what she said about the Wall? Was he done with his work? Did he have time to talk more with her? “Yes, Dad?” she asked hopefully.

But he didn't glance at her. “Don't forget to seal the house.”

“R-right.” She blinked for a moment, wondering what had come over her. She almost wanted to laugh at herself, at how ridiculously wishful she had become. Then, without another word, she turned back around and took the stairs out of the lab.

*******

In darkness is the only time he feels alive.

As far back as he could remember, his world was black and gray, made visible only by the bright white Moon in the sky. Surely, he's tried before to see the world in day. But in each attempt, he is slow, sluggish, zombified until he crashes, and when he wakes up in nighttime again, he could remember only snippets of that brighter world.

He hated that his body didn't allow him to be in that other world, if only long enough so he could remember it. But on the other hand, he loved the night. He loved the energy that coursed through him and his pack when that low, long wail from over the big brick wall echoed through the valley, signifying the start of their darkness.

Still, he wished for colors. There is one snippet, a memory so distant that he wondered if he made it up, but filled with colors. Splashes of red. Green. Blue.

And in it, the blurry image of a person. A girl. Shaking him awake.

But like all else in his world, the vision fades to black. And no matter how still he lays, how tightly he closes his eyes, when he wakes up, it is always to the nighttime sky.

On this night, he struggled to rise, wishing instead to just lay there and count the stars. But Xiumin was not having it.

Yah. Wake up, Luhan. It's time to hunt, the order came to mind.

“Neh,” he responded obediently, shaking the stiffness of sleep off him as he rose. He looked about. He was still alone in the gray-green field, its grass swaying slightly in the breeze. He wondered where the others were.

Coming in from your left, Xiumin replied.

With effortless grace, Luhan crouched into position. He listened hard, and finally picked up on the soft, quick clunk of hooves on the grass. Just beyond it, he heard the swift pitter-patter of his pack's feet. He braced himself, claws out, and began his countdown.

Three.

Two.

One.

Then, he pounced, tackling a deer that just crested his low hill. The poor animal didn't even see him coming. In seconds, he had disabled it, and by the time his pack caught up, the attack was finished. He wiped the dark blood off his chin with the back of his hand, a toothy grin spreading across his face.

Xiumin smiled proudly back, patting him roughly in the back. “Well done, brother,” he said.

Just behind him, Baekhyun smirked, doubled-over to catch his breath. “Well, we pretty much delivered it to you, so don't let it go to your head or anything.”

Luhan rolled his eyes playfully, and then greeted the other pack members. When the civilities were through, they took their usual seats surrounding their kill, each taking their turn according to the pack heirarchy. Xiumin, the alpha, first. Luhan, his younger brother, second. And then in turn: Chanyeol, the adviser. Lay, the tracker. Baekhyun, the comic and secondary adviser. Chen, his assistant. D.O., the oracle. Tao, the guard. And finally, Kai and Sehun, the youngest of the pack.

After they feasted and the animal was little more than scraps to pick on, Xiumin sat back and began their nightly delegation of tasks.

“Lay. Status report.”

“There has not been another sighting of them for 4 years now. Food was once abundant, but now is dwindling. We have enough for 6, maybe 8 months.”

“Thank you. D.O., what do the stars say?”

D.O. sighed. “We are heading into the leanest years we have ever seen. And it's making us choose.”

“Choose what?”

“Choose to climb over that wall and establish contact with those who live inside, or else wait until the years bring our starvation.”

Xiumin scowled. “We cannot climb over that wall. We don't know what kind of power those Others now possess.”

“True,” Chanyeol said. “But maybe our contact doesn't have to come to that. Maybe we could establish friendly ties.”

“With those humans?! Impossible!” Xiumin replied. Baekhyun, Chen, and the youngest grunted in agreement.

“It really only takes one person. One good relationship,” Chanyeol said quietly.

“They don't want us. They'll murder us if they get the chance,” Xiumin grunted.

“Maybe things are different now? We won't know unless we try,” Chanyeol said.

Xiumin mulled this over and turned to his secondary adviser. “Baekhyun? What do you think?”

He frowned as he replied. “I don't think we should just waltz in there and expect that they'll entertain us. What are we supposed to say? 'Hi, we're starving, think you could forget the past and lend us a hand?' They'll shoot us before we get a single word in!” Beside him, Chen nodded furiously, agreeing with every word.

Baekhyun leaned forward conspiratorially. “Listen, everyone. I say we pretend we're friendly. Just enough to get them to open the door. And then, just when they give us their trust... we attack!”

The pack let out a series of sounds signifying mixed emotions. Some howled in agreement. Others scowled and huffed in protest.

When the pack finally simmered down, everyone turned to Xiumin, waiting. He sat with brow furrowed, his chin in thought. “There's no way that we can trust those damned Others, of course. No way at all. But then again, what if they found what we're looking for? What if their power does not match ours? What if we do run out of food?” He shut his eyes and sighed deeply. When he opened them, he turned to his brother.

“Luhan. Can you scout the area for us?”

He had been quiet this whole time, laying propped up on one elbow and watching the Moon. He considered the query for only a moment's hesitation. Then, he nodded.

“Thank you, brother. We'll be with you the entire time.”

Luhan nodded again, trying not to betray his doubt.

–