“I know how Junsu died. Yunho told me.”

Yoochun finally looked at her. Jiyeon's tired eyes were glued to road. Right ahead of them was a wall of heavy rain. They drove in, immediately pelted with rain so thick they couldn't see ten feet in front of them. Jiyeon slowed down so they wouldn't drive themselves into any stopped cars and die. “Why?”

“Because I asked him to. He told me what had happened from the time Jaejoong got him to the time you guys found a door-opening zombie the morning you found me.”

Yoochun glared, his chest heating up. She said such words to them, probably knowing the full extent to their reactions. “Then why did you say that to Changmin?”

“Because I wanted to make sure he wasn't about to shut down from Junsu's death.”

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

“I mean, when someone loses someone that they're close to, such as you four with Junsu, people tend to go into shock, and acquire illnesses such as PTSD, and Survivor's Guilt and all that.” Jiyeon slowed the car down more, to the point where Yoochun was sure they were driving at most 25 miles an hour. “They become a liability and are harder to motivate to move when the time comes. But by the looks of it, it seems I need to keep an eye out on you.”

Yoochun still stared, mouth hanging. He spouted off the first thing that came to mind. “You know you're a heartless , right?”

“It's how I'm still alive.”

Yoochun refused to talk to her again again. He stared out the front window, waiting for anything that they might crash into and die from to pop up. The rain lightened once the roads started to climb up the mountains, and Jiyeon was able to drive faster. There were also generally less cars traveling on the mountains. They passed only one zombie, who sat by the base of a tree. It was a wonder how it all started, and a miracle they all—most—of them got out alive. “Can you at least be a little nicer?”

“No.” The roads began to go downwards with more curves. The rain almost stopped. “If I ever lighten up, if I ever soften, we could all be in danger and get ourselves killed. I don't need to change the way I am to accommodate your grieving. You grieve once you're safe, and for a short time, before you keep moving. Stop once and you're dead.”

Yoochun frowned, but he understood. It didn't matter if he grieved Junsu's death for five minutes or five years. He's still dead. Not being himself would get them all killed, and with his leg still hurting, he would need to be the best he could be to not slow down the group any more that he should. He wouldn't make Junsu die in vain.

The truck slowed down significantly, and drove into the grass to pass a blockade of cars. Outside the window, were acres of farmland. “Looks like we're near Gangneung. I'm warning you now, though I'm sure you know: Gangneung is a tourist trap. Along with the local population, we will also be fighting tourists.”

“Yeah.”

“That's at least double the natural soulless population that it should be. I don't know why you agreed to follow Yunho. Unless—”

“There is no unless. Yunho was our leader. Sure was can make decisions for ourselves, but he knows how to get the best outcome with the fi—four of us.” Yoochun sighed. He kept messing up. He had the problem when they split, too. Saying five when he meant three. It was so easy to revert to saying five again. Now he was saying five when he meant four.

Inside Gangneung, many of the zombies roamed the streets. Many of them had uniforms of some sort, either for a food shop or a student. Some of them were in casual clothes, with backpacks. Those were the tourists, though there weren't many of them.

There weren't many zombies, much to the surprise of Jiyeon. Pockets of zombies existed wherever the sun shone down, and when they noticed the car, they only looked at it before going back to growling and at each other. Jiyeon drove them into the nearest chain of stores with a back alley. There was only one zombie there, a man with a uniform near an open truck halfway unloaded into a garage.

Jiyeon parked facing the entrance, and cut the engine. From compartment between their seats, she grabbed a pistol before slamming the door shut. Yoochun got out painfully slowly, his leg burning now. He winced when it touched the ground, failing to put as little weight on it as possible. By the time he had closed his own door, Yunho and Changmin were already out of the camper, helping JinHee get out.

“You see that one over there, JinHee?” JinHee nodded to where she pointed. Jiyeon held out the pistol for her to take. “Shoot it in the head.”

Jaejoong took the gun from her before JinHee could, glaring. “What wrong with you?”

“She needs to learn.”

“Not like this! Start with a board, like you said.”

“Fine, then. You shoot it.”

Jaejoong stared at the gun in his hands. The zombie had taken notice of them now and was shambling towards them. Jaejoong aimed, and shot, but missed. The sound startled JinHee, who covered her ears. The bullet grazed its shoulder, hardly putting a stop to it. The zombie walked faster now, clearly threatened.

Jaejoong shot again. It hit near its heart and moved faster. “The brain, idiot.” Jiyeon crossed her arms. He grit his teeth, and shot a bit higher. This time the bullet hit its cheek. However, the brain was higher and the bullet did as much damage as the heart wound. The zombie was half running by now. The next shot Jaejoong hit the brain, and it collapsed, blood soon pooling onto the concrete.

They all breathed a relief, and JinHee uncovered her ears. Any closer and it would have jumped on him. Jaejoong lowered the gun, his hands shaking. Yunho walked up to him, taking the gun from him and holding his hand. It was cold and sweaty at the same time. Jaejoong gave a squeeze back.

“See? You guys can learn no problem. It's her who needs the practice.” Jiyeon said.

“Why?” Yoochun was leaning on the camper for support.

Jiyeon sighed. “Because if she dies, Jaejoong dies. And if he dies, who knows what'll happen to Yunho. Then the entire group will just fall apart. I thought you guys knew that already?” Jiyeon watched them for a moment. When nothing happened, she took the gun back. “Are you guys still set on living here by the ocean?”

“We drove all the way here.”

Jiyeon placed her hands on her hips, leaning slightly. “Even so, we shouldn't be too close to the ocean. Lots of typhoons can hit here. And I'd rather not be in to the ocean.”

“We chose this place for the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. Lots of defense against the soulless” Yoochun said.

“Okay, but let's stay away from government buildings. Those places will be filled with citizens from the beginning and workers and the users of such buildings.”

They nodded in agreement. “We need a place close enough to gather food, but far enough to got risk getting bit every time we get out.”

“There's lots of farm land around Gangneung. I think there's even a patch inside the city.”

“That would be good. Yeah. Let's go with that.” Yunho started back towards the camper, but Jaejoong held his ground, hand still gripped to Yunho's.

“It's only been a few days since this all happened. I'm sure the military has to be around here somewhere.”

“Look around this place.” Jiyeon waved around the barren lot. “This place has been dead for a week, at the least. The military has to be gone by now.”

The group looked around them, then towards the one opening that they came through. “It has been suspiciously quiet.” Yoochun murmured.

“Exactly. They're either all congregated in one area, or...” Jiyeon's voice died down as she looked around. She didn't want to utter the words, lest she jinx it.

“If it's been dead at least a week, then there can't be much living left.” Changmin said.

“Can it?” They all looked at Jiyeon, who gave them a look of neither comfort nor assurance.

“We'll deal with that later. We're losing daylight.”

The group drove towards the ocean, following the river until they found a patch of farmland. In the middle of one were three long, metal storage containers with a small parking lot. Few cars remained, and 10 zombies lingered near the entrances. In the distance, a few of them were scattered around in the farmland.

“Everyone ready?” Jiyeon slammed her door closed, a pistol in hand, with her composite bow in the other and her quiver around her hip. Inside the quiver were three more pistols. Jiyeon handed one pistol to JinHee, and pointed to the nearest zombie. “You see that Soulless over there?” She waited until the child nodded. “I want you to shoot it. First, hold it up. Arms straight, both eyes open.”

JinHee followed her orders as close as she could, though her heart raced and her hands trembled. There was no way she could shoot it. But her father was right beside her, and on her other side was Yunho, both of which now had guns, along with Yoochun. She was safe. She knew they would get the soulless before they could get her. Jiyeon spoke again. “Aim for the head, hold your breath, and shoot.”

JinHee closed her eyes as she shot, her hands flying backwards and nearly hitting her head, and even with her ears covered it was still loud. The bullet didn't hit the head. In fact, it didn't even hit the zombie. The bullet landed in the container five feet to the left. However, she gained its attention and it was now walking towards her, along with seven others.

She panicked, and let out a whine. Her father tried to comfort her. “It's okay JinHee, they're still very far away. Try again.”

She did so, and hit its stomach. Her hands recoiled back, but she was used to it, and successfully avoided her face. “A little higher this time. Remember the wind will shift the bullet, even slightly.”

JinHee adjusted her pistol once again, and when she felt the wind calm down a bit, she shot. The bullet went right between its eyebrows, and he collapsed back, hitting the pavement with a splat of blood.

The child cheered, ing her pistol in the air. Jiyeon took it from her just as Jaejoong swooped her in his arms. He gave her a deathly tight hug, smiling ear to ear.

“You're better than Jaejoong. Wanna try again?” Jiyeon held out the pistol to JinHee again, now smiling. Without consenting her father, she nodded and took the pistol. Jaejoong set her down.

The next closest zombie was dressed in a business suit, inching its way to them all. JinHee hit its mouth first. Jiyeon didn't cover her ears this time, and it still shocked her at how loud it was. She blinked away the tears, curious on why she was crying, and tried again. This bullet hit its eye and he fell. JinHee watched as the blood pooled from the eye to the concrete.

“I think she gets the hang of this. We should kill the rest of them before they get any closer.”

“JinHee, stay here.” The group split, killing the rest of the zombies in the parking lot. Jiyeon was able to shoot three with her composite bow, while Changmin was stuck with one, bashing its head in with a baseball bat. The rest used the pistols Jiyeon gave them.

The group of soulless were eliminated within a few seconds.

Behind JinHee, she heard heavy breathing. She whipped around, gun clutched tight in her hands. Entering the parking lot was a soulless in overalls, making its way over to her quicker than the others. It had caught her scent, and drawn in by the gunfire. In a panic, JinHee shot its chest, forgetting about brain. He eyes blur and she shot higher and higher, backing up. It was two feet in front of her when she finally shot the brain. She jumped to the side and it fell forward.

Jaejoong ran up to her, and immediately checked her for any bite. “Are you okay? Did he get you?” JinHee shook her head, and wiped the tears from her face. Jaejoong sighed, a smile forming on his lips despite the circumstances. “But you did it. You're a brave little girl, and you shot a soulless all by yourself. Were you scared?”

JinHee looked up, to see the rest of the group smiling at her. Even Jiyeon. She sniffed, and nodded.

“That's okay. If you're scared, you'll keep yourself safe, and alive. It means your still human.” Jaejoong rubbed her arms before standing up and holding out his hand. “Let's go in now, okay?” JinHee nodded and took his hand before looking back. The soulless were closer to the street now.

They made it inside the containers, and closed the door shut, effectively snuffing out any and all light.

After a few seconds in the dark, a flashlight was shone on each of them. “Put any weapons you have on the ground and step back.”