The lift carried the group higher up the mountain, onto a thick stretch of rock that almost resembled a road. It was strewn with volcanic debris, with some sections covered in rivulets of lava, while others were eroded and reduced to thin strips that were barely wide enough for two people to cross at once. From that vantage point, most of the ruined land around the mountain was visible. The ground below was swarmed with the undead. Instead of their usual, lumbering movements, they were homed in on the mountain, moving as fast as their decaying limbs could carry them. Some had already begun climbing the rocks, forming a wall of flesh that was steadily rising. The horde of zombies stretched off into the distance, weaving between the trees of the jungle, trekking through the sands of the desert, and slogging through the snow of the tundra. The horde was partially shrouded by that sinister black mist.

The path ahead was equally as ominous as the hellish carnival below. Though the mountain’s peak had previously been obscured by thick smoke, this was no longer the case. Instead, the vent of the volcano was shooting embers into the sky, along with the occasional glob of magma that would dribble down the sides of the rock formation’s angry face. Its eyes and mouth were now leaking the molten substance in full, waterfalls of the deadly semisolid crashing down onto the zombies below and annihilating them with impunity. The sky above was filled with angry clouds that blocked the moonlight. They swirled in a lightning-permeated spiral that centered around the volcano’s brim. The bolts of plasma that descended from the black folds struck frequently, flashing brilliant yellows and blues across the landscape, vaporizing anything they came in contact with.

Jennie took a deep breath of the hot air and tried to fight back the chills that threatened to overcome her. She was certainly no stranger to pre-battle anxiety, but this was different. The earth itself felt like it was their enemy. There was a finality about it all, a finality that aded beyond an emotional sense and settled into the young girl’s bones. It excited and terrified her at the same time.

Jennie looked back at her comrades one last time. Irene, clutching her pistols and looking around like a frightened deer. Lisa, her angelic face set with determination. Seulgi, her tired expression replaced by one of cold resolve. Joy, stealing worried gazes at the petite blonde beside her. Wendy, her eyes taking in the scene before her without fear. Jisoo, calm and collected, but ready to react at any moment. Yerim, her cherub-like face strongly contrasted by the raging desire in her expressive eyes. Dalgom and his pack, hackles raised, prepared to relinquish their lives to defend the humans beside them. And finally, Rosé. The light of Jennie’s soul, the reason that she was willing to make such sacrifices, the girl who had saved her life countless times with her warm words, soft touches, and loving kisses. Before turning back to BP, Jennie thought to herself that, despite everything, she couldn’t have chosen a better crew to save the world with.

“Lead the way, BP.” Wendy called from behind, and the robot obliged.

The path winded around the mountain, its width and texture varying greatly due to the heavy damage it had sustained. The robot had a much less complicated time traversing the ruined mountainside than most of the girls did; his body could contort and stretch in a plethora of ways that theirs couldn’t. The wolves had little issue with the terrain as well, their nimble bodies allowing them to leap from rock to rock, avoiding hazards and clearing lava flows with ease. There were several times where the lava flows were too thick to cross safely, and the girls were forced to scale the wall of the path above them. In these instances, BP would climb up first, then use his extendable arms to pull them up, one by one. The farther the group ascended on the mountain, the more frequent and proximal the thunder and lightning strikes were. The bolts of plasma were already beginning to strike actual sections of the path, sometimes forcing them to avoid areas that were taking the most punishment. Tremors came and went, but none as strong as the one that had rocked the facility before they’d left. Every time the ground began to shake, however, Irene would cower and grab on to Seulgi’s shoulders for support, as if the movement was affecting her more than just on a physical level. Jennie ignored this, chalking it up to Irene’s astounding lack of fortitude.

“BP,” Jisoo said as they had just finished scaling a particularly vertical rockwall, “How far are we from the top?”

“Truly, I am not sure.” the robot said, surprising them all, “I do not have data on the paths beyond this one. I am only able to detect the coming terrain up to three-hundred feet ahead of sightlines.”

“Well, ,” Jennie said, taking a drink of water and looking up at the volcano, “We’re definitely closer, though, so that’s-”

“Guys! Look sharp!” Jisoo suddenly yelled. Jennie unslung her rifle and followed Jisoo’s pointing finger.

On the path ahead of them was a pair of hulking rock creatures. They had no discernible faces, their bodies made entirely of a glassy, black mineral that appeared to be obsidian. Their arms ended in wicked-looking, sharpened cones that almost resembled gigantic drills. The monsters seemed to have formed from the lava flow that the girls had just avoided, springing from below the superheated depths and landing on the path with surprising agility.

Jennie, Seulgi, Lisa, and BP opened fire first. The laser bullets were able to chip off small sections of the monster’s bodies, but the monolith-like creatures seemed totally unaffected. The pair charged forward, their massive feet causing vibrations in the earth as they came.

“Out of the way, now!” Jisoo commanded, and the group scattered.

Jennie remained standing in the behemoths’ way the longest, firing her weapon at the center of the one directly in front of her, creating a sizable hole in its chest. She silently congratulated herself before tucking and rolling out of the way, repositioning herself dangerously close to the edge of the path and resuming her assault. The laser weapon began to overheat and she ceased her fire for a moment, taking the reprieve to move away from the precipice she stood on.

The other girls attacked as well, but the beasts were at an immense advantage now that they had cleared the distance between them. Their dangerously sharp limbs forward, leading to many near-misses with some of the combatants. Additionally, the sheer size and weight of their bodies made even their steps hazardous.

The dogs recognized that they were unable to assist in such a battle, and instead opted to distract the monsters by running up close to their bodies and fleeing at the last second.

“Shoot the legs,” Wendy called out, “Stop them from moving!”

“, why didn’t we think of that before?” Joy answered, smiling in pride at her lover’s brilliant plan.

The combined fire of the multiple laser weapons on the monster’s legs took their toll quickly. The first was knocked off the edge of the mountain, rolling down with loud crashes before landing in the sea of undead below. The second, however, fell in the opposite direction. To Jennie’s horror, Rosé and Irene were at the center of its trajectory.

“NO!” Jennie yelled, abandoning her weapon, diving forward, and propelling herself and Rosé out of harm’s way. She looked back at Irene, who was scrambling to get out of the way, the monster’s falling body quickly closing in on her.

As Irene was feet from being crushed, the smallest of Dalgom’s wolves bounded forward and slammed its body into Irene, pushing her just out of harm’s reach. The obsidian monster crashed down onto the ground, flattening the wolf beneath it and causing several of the girls to scream in horror. The monster’s arms were pinned down by its own gravity, preventing the still-living creature from righting itself.

Rosé threw Jennie off of her and ran forward to the now immobile creature, wolf’s blood leaking out from under its body. The violet-haired girl dropped to her knees and began to cry into her hands. Jennie ran after her love, ignoring the other girls and the mournful howls from the wolves. She wrapped herself around Rosé, hugging the girl tight as she sobbed.

Some of the other girls also cried; Wendy, Yerim, Irene, and Lisa were unable to contain their tears and sought solace in each other. Joy comforted Wendy in much the same way that Jennie did to Rosé. Jisoo and Seulgi wordlessly held onto one another and watched from a distance. The remaining six wolves continued their baleful song. BP was solemnly silent.

This went on for a few minutes, until Seulgi spoke up, her voice grave.

“We should continue.”

There was an unspoken agreement among them. The group resumed the same positions as before, the wolves spreading out further on the edges of the cluster in order to close gap left by their fallen friend.

As they were about to depart, the ground began to shake once more. This quake was the most intense of them so far. Jennie was thrown to the ground as the entire mountain rumbled. She was able to grapple onto an outcropping of rock, anchoring a confused Yerim beside her. The seismic event felt deeper than just an earthquake; it was as if the entire core of the mountain was molding itself into another shape. Somewhere to Jennie’s right, Irene was screaming at the top of her lungs, as if she was being torn limb from limb. Yerim whimpered helplessly.

“Irene unnie!” the redhead yelled, her voice filled with desperation.

Jennie looked up to see Irene being held by Jisoo and Seulgi, who were clinging on to the nearest rock wall. The eldest girl was having an attack of some sort, flailing about and trying to escape her friend’s grasps. Her wild movements threatened to knock both Seulgi and Jisoo off of the wall. BP was holding Wendy and Joy in place, his lower limbs wrapped around a large, stable rock. The wolves were huddled behind that same rock, bracing against it to prevent themselves from dropping off the edge of the cliff. Rosé and Lisa were a few feet behind where Irene, Seulgi, and Jisoo were, hanging on to the rock wall in the same manner.

The quake continued for a long enough time that Jennie truly believed that it was the end. That perhaps they were too late, and the mountain was already erupting. However, after several agonizing minutes, the tremor ceased, just as quickly as it came. The group began to adjust themselves back into standing positions, all except Irene, who dropped into Jisoo’s arms, unconscious. Yerim ran up and took Irene by her face, pleading for the older girl to awaken.

“What happened to her?!” Yerim asked, looking frantically from Jisoo to Seulgi.

“The mountain tries to take control of her,” Seulgi said, looking at the ground, “I meant to explain before, but we just didn’t have a lot of time. I guess she fought it off this time, but it took its toll on her. We need to stop for a little bit.”

The girls then began to nurse their injuries using that same trusty gel that BP had provided. Some of their wounds were more serious than others, so they went through many tubes of the healing cream before they were all back to their peak condition. Irene still hadn’t awoken by that point, and Jennie was getting close to attempting to smack the girl awake, when BP suddenly grabbed the inert girl and scooped her up onto his back, locking his arms around hers to secure her position.

“What are you doing?!” Yerim demanded.

“We must go. My scanners are indicating thousands of lifeforms headed along the road behind us. They are approaching at an alarming speed.”

“Zombies?” Lisa asked, walking over to get a view of the path below them.

“No,” BP said, “Something else. I do not recognize what they are, but they are fast.”

Jennie moved to stand next to Lisa, curious as to what could possibly be moving up the mountain that fast. And then she saw them. At first, it looked as if the black mist was returning, chasing them up the mountain instead of sweeping over the land as it had before. Then, Jennie realized that it wasn’t the black mist; at least, not in the form they had first seen it in. The creatures that were making their way up the path looked as if they were made of the black mist, but they were different. They were cat-like monsters, bounding across the rugged terrain as if it were a grassy meadow. Their size was that of a normal jaguar or a cheetah. However, the sheer number of them - possibly as many as the undead - was insurmountable. Regardless of how quickly they could be killed, they would just keep coming.

“He’s right. We have to go.”

The group wasted no time in mobilizing. They moved much faster than they had before, a new, frantic energy in their steps. And yet, Jennie knew that it was futile. Those cat-monsters were too fast. They weren’t going to be able to make it to the top of the mountain before they were overtaken. She tried to think of a solution. Creating some kind of rockslide or avalanche might slow down the rising tide of monsters, but at the expense of time, which they had very little of, judging by the intensifying glow of the volcano above. Perhaps if she threw some of the grenades from her belt behind them? But that would only kill a few of the monsters, and the remainder of them would just keep surging forward.

Jennie noticed that Lisa, Rosé, and Jisoo had fallen into line beside her. The four girls ran together at the back of the group. Jennie wondered if they were working over the same dilemma as she was. She knew what the only viable solution was, but her mind didn’t want to accept it. It was only when Rosé spoke up that she decided it was the only way.

“Guys,” the violet-haired girl said, causing the group to turn and slow down ever so slightly, “I don’t think we’ll be able to outrun those things.”

The other girls turned and watched the ocean of black that was raging its way up the path. The monsters were certainly closing in on them.

“I…” Jisoo swallowed and visibly steeled herself before continuing, “I think someone has to stay back and hold them off.”

The group halted entirely now, panicked eyes widening as, one by one, the other girls began to understand.

“No!” Seulgi said, running forward, “You can’t! You can’t take them all on alone, Jisoo.”

“She won’t be,” Jennie said, stepping beside her old friend and placing a hand on her shoulder, “I’ll stay behind, too.”

Rosé and Lisa joined the two girls, as did the remaining wolves. Jennie could see the tears forming in Jisoo’s eyes and prayed that she was able to hold back her own.

“We do this together.” Wendy said, her usual meek tone turning dangerous, “We can’t just leave you behind.”

“We’ve made up our minds. Stop wasting time.” Jennie said, smiling sadly. She could feel the emotion welling up in her at the concerned indignation in the stares of the girls before her. The black-haired girl contemplated trying to convince Rosé to leave as well, but she knew it would be useless. Besides, there was certainly something poetic about dying beside the one you loved. The violet-haired girl was turned away from the others and staring out in the direction of their foes. Her fists were shaking.

Yerim came forward, tears streaming down her face.

“BP can carry Irene the rest of the way up. We can stay behind and fight with you.”

“Nope,” Lisa said, walking over and taking Yerim’s hands in hers, “Your guys’ best chance of getting home is up there.”

“Who cares? We accepted that we weren’t going to make it home when we took that crystal,” Yerim said, her voice breaking, “And you need to go home, too.”

“We lost our home when that black mist destroyed it and killed our Dad.” Lisa began to cry now as well, and when Yerim embraced her, the blonde girl seemed to make up her mind on something, pulling herself back so that she locked eyes with the redhead.

“I’m glad Irene isn’t awake for this.”

Lisa took the older girl’s face in her hands and kissed her, this time holding nothing back as she confidently explored Yerim’s lips, teeth, and tongue. Yerim kissed her back just as passionately, with no hesitation. When they detached, they stood together in a somber hug.

Off to the side, Seulgi cried in Jisoo’s arms.

“You have to help protect them,” Jisoo whispered, rocking the distraught girl back and forth, “They need you.”

“B-but you need me too…” Seulgi blubbered, and Jisoo attempted to shush her by holding her tighter, “And I need you. I can’t do this without you. I love you.”

“I love you too. But you can do it. I believe in you with all my heart.”

Jennie turned away, stepping next to Rosé and linking their hands together. Jennie then pulled her crumpled pack of cigarettes from her pocket. Luckily, there was one intact stick of tobacco left, and she popped it into , lighting the end by hovering it over a nearby glob of lava. She turned to look at the monsters approaching them, puffing on her cigarette and trying to ignore her own tears. So this was it. The end of the road. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Joy, eyes b with tears.

“You don’t have to do this, Jennie.”

“It was never our job to reach the top of the mountain, Joy. I think we all knew that from the very start. Even if some of us didn’t accept it, it was the truth.”

“There’s too many of them,” Joy pleaded, “You’ll be overwhelmed.”

“Maybe. But I think you’re underestimating us. I wish there was a way for you to see us all fighting together, because I guarantee that if you did, you wouldn’t be worrying so much.”

Joy surprised Jennie by wrapping her arms around the younger girl’s neck and hugging her.

“Thank you. For everything. You can’t imagine how much it hurts to let you do this.”

Jennie was silent for a moment before gently prodding Joy, indicating that the girl should relinquish her hold.

Rosé spoke up then.

“Please hurry up and go. The more time you waste here, the less you have to get to the top.” the violet-haired girl’s voice was uncharacteristically harsh, earning concerned looks from Wendy and Joy.

“She’s not good with goodbyes.” Jennie said apologetically.

“I hope that whatever we do up there is enough to fix this, too,” Wendy replied, “So maybe it isn’t goodbye. Maybe it’s just ‘see you later’.”

Rosé finally turned around, her beautiful face marred by two streaks of tears that ran down her pale cheeks.

“We’ll see you later, then.”

Wendy nodded, the couples detached from one another, and they departed. Seulgi gave Jisoo one long look back as she went. Jennie watched them until they disappeared around the side of the mountain, Irene still being carried on the back of the robot.

They turned back to their approaching enemies, the army now in full view, charging up the path towards them and kicking up clouds of dust in their wake as they came.

“You didn’t even try to convince Dalgom to go with them, huh?” Lisa asked, grinning at Jisoo. The older girl grinned back.

“Of course not. He wouldn’t have listened anyway. He was always a stubborn dog.”

Dalgom barked in response. The other dogs gave hearty barks as well, as if reminding the girls that they were still here.

“Well, I already know the answer to this, but if anyone has any qualms, now’s the time to speak up.” Jennie said, tossing her half-smoked cigarette off to the side and bringing her rifle up to bear.

Rosé passed Lisa her shotgun before switching on both of her swords. Jisoo cracked her knuckles in the power suit, ignoring the unused laser pistol that sat on her belt. It was going to be a heavily close-quarters fight, and luckily, most of them were adept at such conditions. Even Lisa, who was an excellent sniper, would fare well with the shotgun.

“I love you, Rosie.” Jennie said.

“I love you too, Jennie-pie.”

“Let’s ‘em up.” Lisa said, cocking the slide on her weapon, just as the tide crashed into them.

And they did.

--------------------------------

):