Zelo had fallen asleep again not two minutes after they had started up the new car and begun to drive through the darkening roads as the sun continued to set. Himchan took the opportunity to snuggle with his youngest brother in the back seat, allowing Jongup to join him when it became apparent that the youngster was also tired and it wasn’t long before he too had passed off into the land of nod as well. Youngjae smiled at the trio as he looked at them in the rear-view mirror before returning his eyes to the road, “Hey Daehyun, grab a picture whilst you can, will you?”

Blinking out of his bored stupor, Daehyun blinked confusedly before casting his eyes behind him towards the back where immediately he broke into a smile. Digging into his back pack, rudely shoving aside Yongguk’s legs as he did so which caused a grumble from the other, Daehyun pulled out an old fashioned automatic Polaroid camera which they had found whilst raiding someone’s abandoned house along with all sorts of equipment for it and plenty of film. The flash was enough to startle Himchan awake for a few seconds before he stuck his finger up at his brother and then promptly fell back asleep, resting his head atop of Jongup’s.

Daehyun grinned, “One for the memory pod.”

“Yes,” Yongguk said, smiling sadly as he watched the photo develop in his fingers and wondered if there would ever actually be anyone who would find the pod once they had filled it completely and buried it.

“Oh, cheer up,” Youngjae said cheekily, “Look there’s a housing estate coming up, we may get to sleep in proper beds tonight.”

“If it’s not overrun with walkers or has some crackpot group living here,” Daehyun said, already moving to replace the camera in his back pack and snatching the photo off of Yongguk to hide it safely away. “Pull over Youngjae, me and Gukkie will scope it out from here.”

Youngjae nodded, “I’ll beep three times if trouble comes along.”

It was strange how no one needed to say the most obvious things these days, they all knew and understood the fact that safety came first and being able to get out of a situation was down to quick wits and thinking. Yongguk and Daehyun were quick to grab hold of their favoured weapons, a long-ranged rifle for the former whilst Daehyun kept things more personal with a pistol and a lethal looking blade. He also picked up a bag of tools which contained all sorts of different items that they had gathered over the years because whilst most of the houses would be open, there wasn’t a guarantee that they wouldn’t be locked.

The sound of crickets humming started to fill the air, creating a background of noise that at one time had been calming but now set both brothers on edge. The small housing estate had probably been some kind of rest stop for the long road travellers as really it was nothing more than maybe ten houses with a garage, a small corner shop and something that appeared to be a pharmacy. Or at least vaguely medical related. There were no lights on anywhere and from the way the dust had long settled it appeared that no one had been around in a very long time. Though looks could be deceiving and neither would willingly trust their eyes.

The first two houses had been fire damaged, burnt from the inside out and were scrubbed off the list. The next three appeared to be soundly locked but there was a smell of gasoline in the air which suggested that someone had possibly trapped them so they moved swiftly on. The garage had been raided but there was still fuel in the pumps and a few stray supplies. The shop and pharmacy were closed down with heavy shutters but they would be easy to open once the light permitted them. The last five houses were a mixture of old shambles and burnt out husks but there was one house near the back that looked to be at the very least well maintained.

As they approached, Yongguk silently signalled Daehyun to come to a stop and narrowed his eyes towards one of the top windows. Lightly he tapped the side of his head, indicating that someone was watching and Daehyun nodded. Holstering his weapon, Daehyun raised his hands and stepped forward, allowing Yongguk to stand back a little with the rifle slung over his arm, “I see you, we mean no harm. We’re just looking for a place to stay the night and move on. Nothing more.”

There was a pause for a fraction of a second before a voice called out, “You government swine?”

“Hell no,” Daehyun replied, “If we were, then we wouldn’t look like this, now would we?”

“Hard to tell, they’ll do anything to get us,” the voice replied, “How did you get here?”

“By truck, we moved on from our last safe place because walkers were coming around too often,” Daehyun said, noting that a figure was moving from around the edge of the building and silently indicated this to Yongguk. “We won’t impede, we just don’t like travelling at night.”

There was a pause, then a slight panicked sound from within which was accompanied by a panicked shout before a boy, fairly young looking with black hair and an innocent smile on his features appeared around the edge of the house. “You have one of us, right?” he spoke just before a burley looking boy with sharp features appeared, wrapping his arm tightly around the boy whilst he pointed his gun at the other.

The boy who had spoken laughed happily, as if the motion or situation was just some kind of game and his eyes twinkled happily, “It’s fine Baekho, they are like us.”

“Minho, shush,” Baekho said, trying to pull the boy back but failing dramatically to do so, “You can’t know that.”

Yongguk tilted his head, staring at Minho with a slight feeling of familiarity trickling down his spine before he thought to try something. “Hey, Minho, what makes a cuckoo blush?”

Blinking in surprise, Minho smiled brightly and clapped his hand, “Nothing! Cuckoo’s blush all the time because they’re caught!” he giggled brightly and wriggled out of Baekho’s grip just as a taller figure came striding through the front door in order to catch hold of the boy before he could go running. “Aww JR! You’re being no fun!”

“Minho,” JR hissed before narrowing his eyes towards Yongguk, “How would a traveller like you know that particular phrase?”

Before Yongguk could even open his mouth to say a word, there came a happy call from behind him and he turned to see Zelo rushing towards the group with a frantic Himchan and Jongup trying to catch up. Youngjae was presumably staying with the car for now. Zelo had a bright smile on his face and waved brightly towards Minho who rather enthusiastically waved back and tried to get out of JR’s hold again.

Yongguk placed his hand out to stop Zelo, having to catch the boy by his shirt as he nearly ran straight passed him, “Zelo! What do you think you’re doing?”

“That’s Minho,” Zelo replied with a bright smile, “He’s my friend from the Academy.”

That sent a fresh wave of fear down both Yongguk’s and Daehyun’s back and clearly agitated JR and Baekho as well.

Zelo blinked in confusion towards his brothers before virtually having a light bulb moment from his expression and shaking his head, “No, it’s okay. He’s like me. He’s the first one of me.”

Daehyun blinked, “The first one?”

“Yeah, I’m second, he’s first and the third...well...yeah if we ever meet them I’ll introduce but he’s not like the other three,” Zelo smiled, “If he were then his brothers wouldn’t be guarding him the same as you are me.”

That was a point that they couldn’t argue with but everyone jumped out of their skin when Minho suddenly appeared to tackle hug Zelo and they both went crashing down to the ground in a happy heap as they held onto one another. They were blabbing away to each other in some kind of language which no one could understand but them two which confirmed pretty much that they were of the exact same program.

JR rose his eyebrows as he approached, “So, you’re his brothers?”

“By blood,” Yongguk confirmed before making the correct introductions and glancing back down at the happy pair of the floor. “Guess we’ll be staying the night,” he spoke in a dry way as he smiled down towards the happy pair.

“That’s fine, though Ren may still be a bit standoffish with you just as a heads up,” JR said, glancing up towards the fading light, “You best get your truck around here, this place tends to get swarmed way too easily.”

Daehyun volunteered to head back and was swiftly gone whilst Himchan helped the two youngsters up, “Come on, now is not the time to be sitting the dirt. We’ve got to make supper.”

“Oh, can you actually cook Himchan?” Minho asked brightly, his eyes sparkling with mischief and mirth though he did not let go of Zelo’s hand.

Zelo nodded, “Yeah. He makes the best soups and stews going.”

Minho let out a happy sound and practically threw a hug around Himchan’s body, “Can you make me a soup or a stew? I’m sick to death of the canned stuff, it tastes horrible.”

Jongup nodded, “Sure we can. We brought enough to make several meals anyway. Though you’ve got tinned stuff?”

Baekho grunted, “We hit lucky in a warehouse out back beyond, come on, we might as well get settled in for the night and see what we can trade.”

“Oh Zelo! I must show you the blankets I made, come on!” Minho said, rushing off quickly with Zelo in tow and the two groups of brothers watched them with mild amusement.

It seemed even in the most crazy of times, there was still innocence and joy to be found.