Sun rises again. 

Tzuyu's not sure how many times she's seen it ever since the nightmare began. The days seemed to pass by without her being able to count just how many.

She pulls the jacket that's way too small for her frame even closer, as if it would warm her more.

She knows it won't. But it's almost a habit now, whenever she starts thinking.

Her tired brown eyes close for a few seconds, and she focuses on the sounds around her. When she hears nothing out of the ordinary and tries to reopen her eyes, they're too heavy. She shakes her head and tries again, barely succeeding.

She pushes herself up from the tree she's been leaning against, staggering a little before regaining her balance. Her ponytail is way too loose but she doesn't have the energy to redo it.

She barely has the energy to walk.

But she has to keep going. She has to.

The metal of her knife is cold against her thin cargo pants and a shiver runs up her spine. Adjusting the bag on her back that's mostly empty (like her stomach), she walks.

She spots a walker not long after, kneeling down, eating the guts of some unfortunate man. If this had been a week ago, Tzuyu would have walked away, but now the idea of the dead survivor having a chocolate bar in his pockets is way too appealing to ignore.

So she creeps up behind the walker, and puts the knife in its head. She pulls the weapon back and doesn't get fazed by the amount of blood on it, or the disgusting sound it makes when it slides out.

She wipes the knife on the walker's ragged clothes before putting it back in her pocket. She can feel some of the cold blood sticking to her cheek before she wipes it away with the back of her hand and sniffs. She's so tired.

Hope is squeezing her heart and her stomach is growling as she searches the corpse. Her hands slowly fall to her sides when she finds nothing. She wants to cry, and the all too familiar feeling squeezes tight. She swallows it down and looks down at the body again. Then she notices.

Shot in the head.

Suddenly it makes sense why the survivor had nothing on him. Suddenly she feels even sicker than before and it surprises her because, wow that was possible?

She stands up quickly with the intent to run and just as she turns around, she hears the threatening sound of a gun cocking.

Tzuyu puts her hands up slowly and the jacket is just too tight she's afraid it'll tear.

The stranger that has her on gunpoint doesn't speak. Tzuyu thinks it's almost fitting she'll die like this and honestly she's too tired to fight. It scares her how ready she is to die but it's the truth, and she knows it.

"Did you do this?"

It's the woman's smooth and calm voice that makes her head snap up, and she finally takes a look at the person who holds her life in their hands, even if it's momentarily.

Shoulder length hair, jeans that are not too tight, bulletproof vest and combat boots. Rifle on her back, pistol in her hand. This heavily armed woman does not look happy. But honestly, it's rare to find anyone happy now.

"N-No." Tzuyu finally croaks out, her voice scratchy and rough– it's been long since she's spoken out loud.

The stranger sighs loudly (almost angrily) before moving closer, her face not relaxing a bit. Tzuyu doesn't blame her, but she does wish she had a gun to make the situation even.

"I'm having trouble believing that." The woman says coldly as she raises the gun higher, clearly aiming for her head.

It's not a surprise when Tzuyu feels herself getting annoyed. She glares right back at the shorter woman. "Not all of us have a ing gun."

This seems to take the woman aback and Tzuyu watches as she takes a few steps back. "Empty your bag."

Tzuyu wants to laugh then. There's next to nothing in her bag and if this stranger wants to rob her, she was going to be disappointed so much.

She grabs her bag from behind her, zips it open and turns it upside down, shaking the very few contents out of it: an empty water bottle, a puppy keychain, a photo of her dead family.

As the stranger eyes the objects on the ground, Tzuyu can see the way her eyes soften. It irritates her further somehow, and she wants whatever this is to be over quick.

"Are you alone?" The stranger asks, no pity in her tone which Tzuyu is grateful for.

Tzuyu is tempted to lie.

To say she's with a large group. To say she lives in a big community not far away from here. To show this stranger she has people that care about her and will come for her if she's in danger.

But for some reason, she can't lie. She looks away and it's all the stranger needs to understand she really is alone.

Her eyes widen slightly when the woman lowers her weapon, the frown on her face replaced by worry. "I'm looking for my people. One blonde, short. The other has brown hair, tall as you– maybe a little shorter."

Tzuyu crosses her arms and shakes her head with a sad look. "Haven't seen 'em."

The stranger nods, looks down as if she expected the answer she got. Her lips form a thin line before she speaks again, tucking her pistol back in her belt. "I'm Mina."

"Tzuyu." Her stomach growls right as she says her name. She wraps an arm around herself and looks away, embarrassed.

The stranger, whose name she learned to be 'Mina' holds out a chocolate bar to her. It's weird Tzuyu thinks. That she's willing to give her food when she's met her a few minutes ago. 

She doesn't question it further and takes the chocolate bar, rips it open and stuffs it into like an animal. She doesn't care how bad she looks with blood smeared on her cheek, melted chocolate around her lips.

"God, when was the last time you ate?" Mina asks in what she assumes to be disgust, and Tzuyu stops chewing.

"Can't remember." She half-lies.

"Listen, we have a community up east from here–"

Gunshots.

Tzuyu throws herself to the ground, her eyes wide open as Mina falls next to her with a barely suppressed scream. That's when she sees the blood coating Mina's legs. She's shot.

In just a second Tzuyu's on her feet, dragging Mina behind a tree for cover with adrenaline-fuelled strength.

Mina's breathing heavily as Tzuyu makes her lean back against the tree, and her trembling breath is hot against her neck when Tzuyu is basically on top of her to peek at the threat.

A gunshot right next to the tree and Tzuyu pulls her head back.

She looks down to see Mina holding her pistol. Their eyes meet and Tzuyu watches Mina swallow down the pain as she hands her the rifle on her back.

Another bullet hits the tree and Tzuyu knows the next one won't be that far from her head if she doesn't come up with something.

With all of the noise, it's no surprise when Tzuyu hears and groaning of walkers nearby.

Whoever was trying to kill them wasn't smart (or a good shot) and Tzuyu knows how to use that.

"Can you walk?"

Mina looks up at her with a determined look and nods quickly. Tzuyu looks around for something and sighs before ripping her shirt. She wraps it tightly around Mina's calf to stop the bleeding.

"Good. Go down the hill, I'll cover you."

And then, Mina pushes herself up just as Tzuyu starts shooting towards where she thinks their attacker is.

Mina almost falls down the hill, but she somehow manages not to. Her calf is burning as if she poured acid on an open wound and it's itching in the worst way possible. She knows the bullet is still in there since the front of her jeans are not ripped.

A walker growls at her and she takes out her pistol, shooting it in the head with ease. More come towards her and as she shoots them all, she also wants to look back, to see if this Tzuyu got herself killed yet. She hopes not.

Just then Tzuyu comes running down, getting a walker in the head with her knife. Her speed combined with the force of ing the knife in the walker's skull pulls her down to straddle the monster. "We need to go!" She shouts as she gets up. Mina shoots the walker right behind her before Tzuyu pulls her arm around her shoulder, supporting her as they try to run from the walkers swarming in the area.

----

They find a shack on the other side of the river. Although it's quite a hassle to get Mina across, it's worth it when Tzuyu kicks the log away and the walkers that try to follow them get swept away in the strong current.

Tzuyu knocks on the door as Mina gets her pistol ready. When no one answers, she pushes the door and moves away. As Mina checks one side, Tzuyu checks the other and they're both relieved to find the shack empty.

As soon as Mina gets in, she collapses on the hard wooden floor, her face twisting in pain.

Tzuyu hurries to shut the door, and pushes the big table in front of it, barricading the entrance. She puts her bag on top of it before jogging back to Mina who's taking off her boot and untying the part of Tzuyu's shirt around her calf. It's red now and Mina hopes she didn't lose much blood. She pushes up her jeans. She winces as she nears the gunshot wound and exposes it to their eyes.

They share looks. They both know what needs to be done. Without any words exchanged, Tzuyu takes off her small jacket and drapes it over Mina as the injured girl lies down on her front. It's an unnecessary gesture Mina appreciates.

"Do you have bandages?" Tzuyu asks as she puts pressure on the wound with both hands. Mina wants to scream because of how much it burns, but instead she swallows down a sob, takes a deep breath before she sniffs and shakes her head.

"Okay...okay. I'll figure something out." She looks around the shack, sees a big coat on the floor. "Hold on." She rushes to get it, dusts it off before taking out her knife. She cuts it into the way she needs it to be and runs back to Mina. Her hands are red with the injured woman's blood as she ties the part of her shirt around Mina's calf once again, trying to earn some time to see what else she can find in this small shack.

A bottle of beer is the only really useful thing she finds. And honestly? That much is already a miracle.

"Try not to be loud." Tzuyu says.

Mina bites down on her arm, getting ready for the worse pain.

Tzuyu herself sighs, she tended a lot of wounds, mostly her own, but she never got a bullet out of someone. 

There's a high risk of making things worse. But it feels wrong to just leave the bullet in.

The fact that she knows the basics of first aid treatment is the only thing that gives her the courage to do this.

Tzuyu takes a deep breath. She can do this.

Pouring the beer on the small cloth she cut off from the coat, she dabs it gently around the wound, cleaning it the best she can. Thankfully the bleeding's stopped by now.

Right then, she notices Mina going still, not breathing.

"You have to breathe."

She gets no response but when sees the way Mina's back rises and falls with each short breath, it makes her let out a deep breath of her own.

Tzuyu wishes she had gloves as she probes around the wound, trying to have an idea where the bullet is wedged in. Once she finds the spot she thinks where the bullet is, her fingers go inside the wound without warning. Mina's body stiffens for a second as she cries out in anguish. "!" She quickly muffles her pained whimpers behind her hand, forcing herself to stay immobile. She can feel the bare fingers in her calf, as if they're fire, burning whatever they touch inside. It would be a miracle if her wound doesn't get infected after this.

"Hang on, okay? I almost got it."

Mina can't say anything. She doesn't trust herself to speak. She's afraid once her hand stops covering , what comes out won't be words but screams, which will alert every walker around to surround them. And that can't happen. Not when she got this far.

"It's out!" Tzuyu exclaims, "It's out. You're okay." She keeps the pressure on the wound with one hand as she messily pours the alcohol on the cut-coat with the other. Then she wraps it around the injured girl's calf and ties it tightly.

A big sigh escapes her when she falls back, the amount of blood on her hands staining the wooden floor.

Mina slowly turns on her back and lies down, now out of shock, finally able to taste the tears she shed without even knowing. It's a few moments later when she manages to let out the one word she needs to say in a small voice. "Thanks." 

"Thank me after you survive." Tzuyu only realizes how cruel that sounds after the words leave her. She's not known for sugar-coating the truth and she never regrets saying things the way they are. But somehow it feels a little different this time and she finds herself wishing she didn't say anything.

She's still scolding herself when she hears a quiet, breathy chuckle. "Right," Mina agrees, and in that moment Tzuyu realizes she'd prefer it if Mina didn't die. They only met like barely an hour ago but still, it would be nice if she survived.