A heaviness had filled in his body, as though he’d been filled with sand. He sat there like a rag doll tossed aside, mouth agape and thoughts somewhere far and vague; even he didn’t realize what exactly was going through his mind. Really, he barely noticed Kai sitting beside him, just as still and silent as he was. It was all an effect from the medicine Jessica and Krystal had given him. Looking down at his fingers, hoping if he concentrated hard enough he could move them, he wondered if he were really even conscious. If maybe only his subconscious were in control now, as if his body were more in control than his mind.

Kai’s gaze was somewhere deep in the woods, his fingers yet absent-mindedly feeling the nub on his left side, hoping maybe he would discover the rest of his left arm if only he continued to reach for it. His voice was raspy, the sound of a branch rubbing against a weathered shed in the wind. “I didn’t believe in Hell… when people would talk about it before. It was never real before, Chen…” His voice trailed off, lost somewhere in the cold breeze that drifted by. Bottom lip quivering, he turned his eyes everywhere, looking for some kind of hope but found none. “But we’re living in Hell. It is real.”

“It’s always been real.”

A low voice had taken Kai by surprise. Chen would have looked up if only his head weren’t so heavy. The voice had belonged to Tao, who was now kneeling in front of Chen, looking him over, holding his chin up to look him in the eyes.

“Do you wanna explain what happened back there?” Kai asked, glaring at no one in particular. The bags under his eyes made him into an angry, tired looking thing like a hermit with a permanent scowl.

Tao stood again, eyes still fixed on Chen’s lethargic body. “He saw a ghost of one of the girls. The Red Force has infected the spirit world. I can’t explain much further than that.” Having answered Kai’s question, he walked back towards the place he and Chen had last seen Lully’s figure, planning to further investigate.

The amputee’s head fell back onto the wall, a smile dripping with melancholy creeping onto his lips, his voice barely above a whisper. “Just like I said: we’re living in Hell.”

Xiumin and Sulli were finally making their way back to the others, the only spark of happiness surrounded by ruins and cloudy skies, waves crashing in a sea of gray not too far behind them. Young bodies bumping into each other, playful laughter in the dreariness about them. Sparks of hope.

Laced fingers created a domino effect when Sulli fell over to into the sand, Xiumin tumbling down over her. It was a sudden intimacy that left them breathless and hot, even in the windy cold. Waves crashing in the distance reflected high emotions and beating hearts. And colliding lips.

Her little fingers traced the buttons on his collar, awkwardly undoing them. Sand had already gathered in her hair, and his hands traced her frame, eyes shut tight, almost too afraid to open them. They were shaking, trembling beneath the weight of their own feelings, but were more afraid of stopping than anything.

A raven haired boy reached his chin over her shoulder, a crooked smile swept across his face, a scowl on hers. “Lully,” his voice was quiet but had an air of playfulness that, on this particular day, was driving her straight up the wall.

“What?” she asked through gritted teeth, not even turning to face him.

Trying to suppress laughter, he gathered control of his voice. “A-wooo!”

Chanyeol and Kris laughed along only a few seats away, watching as Baekhyun continued to do what he always does best during this time of the month. Sydney, Nana, and Li were just as irritable as Lully was today, their cycles having all synchronized into one routine week of misery for the four of them. It was so bad today that Li was bedridden.

Nana tossed her pencil down on her desk. “Baekhyun, shut the up! Shut up!”

Baekhyun turned in his seat, a faux expression of shock mixed with shame, facing Nana who sat behind him, “Geez, Nana, what’s your deal? I wasn’t even talking to you.”

“I wouldn’t mess with her, man, she’ll you up,” Chanyeol snickered, his attention entirely on Nana and Baekhyun, almost hoping for some sort of catastrophe.

The Light Force grinned at his friends, the devil in his eyes. “She’s not gonna hurt me, we’re in class, anyways. Master Kyuhyun is gonna come back soon, she won’t touch me when he comes back.” He returned his attention to Lully. “I’m not gonna leave you alone until you talk to me, come on, Lully!” Baekhyun put an arm over her shoulder, putting his face uncomfortably close to hers.

Nana was grumbling, trying to focus all of her attention on her homework as the boys continued their laughter.

“What do you wanna talk to me so bad for, anyways?” Lully asked, trying her best to ignore the closeness between them. She couldn’t seem to ignore the sound of his breathing in her ear, though.

Now he’d taken to poking her cheek, her sides, her shoulders, her arms over and over again. “Stop being so grumpy, Lully-pants! Stop, stop, stop, stop!”

“Would you just leave me alon―LEAVE ME ALONE!” She didn’t mean for it to be so hard, but she slapped him and anyone walking by in the hall would have heard it. Even she was taken aback by how hard she’d hit him, and he sat there wide-eyed and in shock, Kris and Chanyeol as well, trying to suppress their own laughter about it.

Behind him, Nana chuckled under her breath. “I might not have done anything to you, but she sure did.”

Glancing back, Lully tried to see Baekhyun’s face, his cheek slightly bruised and swollen already. She really didn’t mean to hit him that hard. She shouldn’t have hit him in the first place. The second she did it, she wanted to apologize, but Master Kyuhyun had already returned to the classroom, beginning class immediately.

Baekhyun didn’t hear any of it, though. The only thing he could think about was how annoying he must have just been. He could only feel embarrassed and regret teasing her so badly. He never meant to make her angry at all, and it took holding his breath to keep a few stray tears from falling. Maybe if he weren’t so obnoxious, people wouldn’t find him so annoying.

And the insecurity made itself comfortable inside him once again.

“They’ve been gone for a long time, right?” Suho asked, staring into the fire, the sky around them still a light blue despite the sun having long been set. He glanced to the road a few times, wishing he had better night vision. Or perhaps twilight vision was the better term for this time of day.

There wasn’t really a response from the others, Ryeowook looking up slightly at the most. Luhan’s eyes were fixed on the flames in front of them, visiting old memories that felt they were from years and years ago. Sehun had fallen asleep in his chair, Kris and Jessica were alone somewhere as were Xiumin and Sulli. Krystal stayed with Chen and Kai who were now inside the abandoned building not too far from the fire. No one was sure where Tao had gone and Amber was tending to the bonfire. If they weren’t in delusion about the severity of the planet’s health, they were consumed by the feelings of doom.

Footsteps. Suho, Amber, and Luhan turned their attention towards the woods and then to the road as they found the direction of the sound. Squinting, Amber was sure she could see a few figures walking towards them. Suho and Luhan stood, ready for an attack from a pack of Wraiths, though these creatures didn’t seem like those monsters. Their silhouettes moved strangely.

As their eyes adjusted and the figures grew nearer, Luhan could finally see it was a group of five people, and before he could say anything, Ryeowook and Suho ran over to the group. “They’re back!” Sehun began to stir from his seat, groggy and sore, wondering what it was that awoke him.

“Chanyeol!” Suho spat out as he realized who the fifth person was, each arm around Lay and Minho who had supported him the whole walk home.

“Chanyeol?” Luhan breathed, making his way over to the others, Sehun fighting the sleep in his eyes so that he could see what was happening. Amber watching from the spot near her place by the fire.

“What happened to the car?” Ryeowook asked, though his question was ignored.

Lay and Minho continued to carry him towards the abandoned building. “He’s infected and badly injured. Go ahead of us and clear a space for him and get me some water and find that potion I’ve been giving to Sehun; it should be in a bag near my bed,” Lay directed, Suho having already run off before Lay could totally finish.

“God, he looks terrible,” Ryeowook uttered, following them, Sehun now walking with the group and Amber off to help Suho inside the building.

Baekhyun’s face was still contorted in worry as it had been ever since they were reunited with the Fire Force. They made their way into the building, Kai turning his head from the corner on the far end of the room to see what the commotion was about, his heart suddenly stopping. Chen was still knocked out, shivering even in sleep.

“Easy, lay him down easy,” Lay said, he and Minho lowering him onto the small cushion mattress laid on the floor, Suho bringing a bowl of water.

Krystal made her way over, grabbing towels and blankets as she tried to figure out how to be of use. “What happened to him?”

“He’s infected and injured,” Minho explained, making himself comfortable on the floor as he watched Lay go to work.

The Healer took the towels from Krystal, dipping them in the water bowl, one hand pulling open the tear near Chanyeol’s abdomen to clean the wounded area, the redhead hissing with eyes shut tight. Krystal took his hand, letting him squeeze it to help relieve the pain. Once clean, Lay took the Glow Root potion from Suho, applying it directly to the wound as he coaxed Chanyeol’s immune system and nervous system to fight the infection.

“It won’t get rid of the infection, but it’ll treat the symptoms,” he explained to Chanyeol who was still squeezing Krystal’s hand until her fingertips turned purple. It was clearly hurting her, but she didn’t complain.

Amber leaned against the crates in the back corner, looking down at the crowd surrounding the Fire Force. “So, now we have two infected Forces. What are we gonna do?”

Suho and Lay were both shaking their heads absent-mindedly.

“I really don’t know, but we have to do something. We can’t just stay here,” Suho replied, eyes staring farther than Chanyeol’s body.

“We’ll have to send someone in another truck. We weren’t able to find anything besides Chanyeol, and then were attacked by Wraiths. The only way we could escape was by putting the gas on the truck and letting Chanyeol set it up in flames. We had to walk all the way here.” Lay went quiet, watching as Chanyeol’s body relaxed. The potion was taking effect.

He released Krystal’s hand from his grip, quickly falling into sleep.

“Will he be okay?” she asked, eyes still on his wound and the discoloration on his skin. It was the first time she was getting a good look at the infection. Even with Sehun around, she hadn’t really seen what it looked like.

Lay stood, taking the dirty towels and water bowl to the sink nearby. “Not for very long, honestly. Sehun, either. They’re going to build of an immunity to this potion soon, and if that happens before we can find a cure…”

His heart sank, eyes wide. Luhan turned his attention to the open door where Sehun was standing, his expression distressed. “But we will… we will find a cure, right?”

He was met with silence.