Seulgi Kang peered through her binoculars at the two girls moving hastily through the demolished neighborhood. She was genuinely surprised that the pair had managed to take care of the ghoul that had been accosting them. She’d only noticed the girls towards the end of their battle, when the shorter one had been finishing off their attacker. From what Seulgi could ascertain, the taller one had attacked the monster, gotten stunned in some way, and then had to be rescued by the shorter one. It didn’t appear that either of them had been injured.

The girl removed the binoculars from her monolids and returned them to her backpack. Her heart was racing. It had been so long since Seulgi had seen another human. And now she was stumbling upon two of them? Something odd was going on here… something was changing.

In the time that Seulgi had spent in the dead world, she’d learned a lot. She had transformed from a timid, senior university student to a resourceful survivalist. It had been the only way for her to last. She had learned everything she needed to about this world: the water was surprisingly clean, the animals were safe to eat but the monsters were not, it was literally always nighttime, there were some plants that could make you sick for days but others that could heal wounds within minutes, and no other intelligent life existed here. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d spoken out loud, save for the use of expletives in situations that called for them. After the initial shock of being wrenched out of her world and thrown into this literal hell, Seulgi was able to make the most of what she could here. She scavenged for supplies, hunted, and made wholehearted attempts to find out what exactly had happened to bring her here. There was no way for her to measure how far she’d travelled or how long it had been; she just knew that she was far away from the place she’d started, and that she’d been here a very long time.

The two girls had been moving from house to house, apparently searching for a place of refuge. They had remained in the last house they’d gone into for awhile. Either they’d decided that this particular house was worth staying in or they’d met a monster that they were unable to handle. No, it probably wasn’t the latter. Seulgi would’ve heard them like she’d heard the small one screaming before. Plus, it didn’t seem that this area was very hostile aside from the ghouls. It was certainly tamer than the place she’d woken up in.

The prospect of meeting the girls caused Seulgi’s already racing heart to pick up speed and her stomach to drop. She took a sip of water from her rusted hip flask and stood. The house she’d chosen to rest in was one of the smaller ones, with minimal damage done to it. The roof was mainly intact and made for a perfect spot to observe the curious duo. She hated to leave such a prime spot to wander around in the open, but this was obviously a special circumstance. Once she had finished packing her things and doing a final sweep of the surroundings, Seulgi departed.

***

As Yerim and Irene moved from house to house, seeking out a place to wait out the night, it became apparent to the both of them that the moon in the sky was not moving. It remained in its position directly above them, regardless of how much time had passed or where they went. Neither of them were particularly fond of the implications of such an occurence. As they traveled, the two girls exchanged information about their lives to one another. Irene found that, after recovering from the initial shock of their confrontation with the zombie, Yerim loved to talk. She talked about her school in Seoul, the neighborhood she lived in, the things she liked to do… It was almost too much for Irene’s taste, given the situation. But she allowed the young girl to keep talking because it seemed to make her more comfortable. Irene kept her responses to a minimum, only answering when necessary and focusing on paying attention to their surroundings.

When they finally decided on a house to stay the night in (a ranch-style home with its walls mostly intact), they scanned the vicinity with caution, ensuring that nothing was lurking within. There wasn’t much in the house besides the standard home appliances and several stripped beds. Irene managed to find a few worn-out blankets, some extra clothes, a steak knife, and a dim flashlight. After fully canvassing the house, the girls huddled together in one of the beds to rest, covered by the thin fabrics and the random garments they had scrounged.

“We’ll stay here for the night, and when the sun comes up, we’ll look around some more and see what we can find.” the older of the two said.

“Okay, Irene-unnie. And we’ll try to find food, right?” Yerim asked. Her question was punctuated by a low rumble from her stomach.

“Yes. And water.”

The way the two girls were laying on the bed, Yerim was tucked between Irene and the wall. Her arms were wrapped around Irene’s sides, and she latched on to the older girl to the point where it was almost painful. Irene had insisted on sleeping this way so that she would have a clear view of the door in case something tried to come in and attack them. There wasn’t really much either of the girls could do even if they did see what was coming, but she tried not to think about that.

After a few minutes, the warm exhales on the back of Irene’s neck became more steady; Yerim had fallen asleep. Irene was feeling moderately drowsy herself, but she resolved to stay awake in order to keep watch. She was able to fight the tiredness for a while, but eventually her heavy eyelids betrayed her and she nodded off.

Irene wasn’t sure how much time had passed when the sound of the front door opening woke her up, but she jolted upright immediately upon realizing that she was asleep. Her sudden movements woke Yerim, who cowered behind the girl as they heard the front door shutting. Something was in the house. There was the sound of boots moving over carpet, growing louder with each step. Irene tried to shush the whimpers of the small girl behind her. She picked up the steak knife from the floor and clung to it with unsteady hands. Perhaps if they stayed quiet enough, whatever had come in would leave…

“Hey. I saw you guys come in here. I’m not here to hurt you. Please come out.” the voice sounded feminine, and in some way unsure of the words that it was producing.

Irene’s heart leapt at the prospect of meeting another person. Maybe this person would know what was going on. She began to respond, but Yerim clamped a hand over to silence her.

“What if it’s a monster pretending to want to help us?” she hissed.

Irene silently cursed herself for not thinking of that. She nodded, motioned for Yerim to remain on the bed, and began to stand, knife held at the ready. Despite her best efforts to stay quiet, the bed creaked as Irene’s weight left it, and the sound of the intruder moving around outside ceased. Irene froze.

“I really just want to help. I know you’re in that room. Just answer me so I know you’re not ghouls.” the other voice sounded fed up now.

Irene turned to look at Yerim, who was shaking her head furiously, eyes wide. Irene sighed and began to speak.

“We’re in here. But don’t come in, we’re heavily armed!”

Much to Irene’s annoyance, the intruder laughed.

“I saw you go in the house. You’re not even remotely armed. And even if you are, I can guarantee I’m more well-armed than you are. I’ll come in slow, if it makes you feel better.”

There was a soft click, and a beam of light burst down the hallway that their room was in. The light slowly closed in until it was directly outside of their room, at which point it shone inside, momentarily blinding the pair and causing Yerim to shriek in terror.

“Relax. Please. I’m not trying to hurt you.”

The person entering their room was not what either of the two girls were expecting. She was slightly taller than Irene, with strikingly pale skin and messy brown hair that was tied into a ponytail. She wore a thick black hoodie that was bulked, indicating that she had layers on underneath, as well as a pair of baggy polar camo pants and combat boots. She carried a large backpack, and several flasks adorned her belt. At her left hip was a holstered revolver. Irene believed that, had she met this girl in some other situation, she would have found her quite beautiful.

“My name is Kang Seulgi.” the girl said, giving a quick bow.

Irene looked back at Yerim, who still looked apprehensive, but significantly more at ease than before.

“I’m Irene, this is Yerim.”

There was a short pause where Seulgi stood before the two girls, unsure of what to do or say. When she realized the tense silence between them, she pulled her backpack off of her back and began rummaging through. Irene watched her intently, keeping her grip on the knife tight.

“You two are probably starving. Here.” Seulgi produced two cans of soup from her bag and rolled them across the carpet, “They’re sealed, so I couldn’t have tampered with them.”

Irene bent over and scooped up the two cans, keeping her eyes on Seulgi the entire time. She placed them both on the bed next to Yerim.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Do you mind if I uh, sit down?” Seulgi asked, gesturing to a small stool in the corner of the room. Irene nodded and the girl sat down, letting out a huge sigh as she did so.

“God, that walk was farther than I thought it would be. Not to mention that I was half-jogging the whole time in order to get to you before another one of the ghouls did.”

“Wait.” Irene said, narrowing her eyes, “You saw all that happen?”

“I did. I was too far away to help you, so I just watched. Clearly you two had it under control. Or, at least one of you did.” Seulgi’s eyes flittered to Yerim, who smiled weakly in response, “Those cans have tabs on them, so you don’t need openers, by the way.”

Yerim immediately popped one of the cans open and began to devour the cold contents. Irene didn’t move.

“You should eat too. I don’t know how long you guys have been here, but this world tends to take a lot out of you pretty quick. Trust me.”

Seulgi was right. Irene was feeling weak from hunger and tiredness. She reluctantly put the steak knife down and sat on the bed in front of Yerim, opening the second can. To her distaste, it was chicken soup. Seulgi must have seen the look on the older girl’s face, because she chuckled, earning her an annoyed huff from Irene.

“So what’s your guys’ story?” the newcomer asked, folding her legs and leaning back on the wall behind her, “How’d you end up in this ing hellhole?”

Irene’s eyes widened and she almost dropped her food as she swiftly moved to cover Yerim’s ears. The younger girl giggled.

“Watch your language, please!”

Seulgi rolled her eyes.

“You clearly don’t have your priorities straight here, huh?”

The two older girls glared at one another for a few seconds before Yerim decided to break the silence. She told their tale up until that point. Irene was a bit annoyed that Yerim would so easily share information about them to some mysterious stranger.

“Hmm. Okay. So you two woke up here very recently, then.” Seulgi bit her lip and stared at the ground, deep in thought, “This is so weird. I’ve never encountered other living people in this world before. And to encounter two at a time, just as they wake up, is probably the luckiest thing to ever happen to me.”

“What’s your story?” Irene asked. The soup had curbed her hunger and now she was just tired, lounging with her head on Yerim, who had moved forward to sit between Seulgi and Irene.

“All you need to know is that I’ve been here a really long time. I’m originally from Seoul as well,” she gave Yerim another look, “I attended Seoul University. The day I came here I fell asleep in my dorm while studying, and just woke up here. Well, not here, but in this world, you know? I don’t know how long it’s been. I just know it’s been a long time, and in all my travels I haven’t ever met another living human being.”

“Wait!” Yerim said, jumping to her feet and almost giving Irene a concussion. She did a quick check to make sure the older girl wasn’t injured before continuing, “Kang Seul-Gi! I knew I knew your name! You’re the girl who disappeared from Seoul University two years ago! You were all over the news!”

“T-two years?” for a moment, Seulgi’s facial expression softened as if she was about to cry. She composed herself quickly and recovered her normal, stoic expression, “So that’s how long it’s been. Two years, and I still know just as little about why I’m here as I did before…”

Irene felt her heart drop, both from sympathy to the poor girl in front of her who had lived a lonely nightmare of an existence for the past two years, and from the prospect of Seulgi having no information about what had happened to bring all of them to this place.

“Irene. You said you came here in different clothes than you fell asleep in?” Seulgi asked suddenly.

“Yes. Why?”

“Because that didn’t happen to me or Yerim. Which means that either a ghoul came and changed you while you were unconscious,” Irene shuddered at Seulgi’s words, “or something different happened to bring you here. I don’t know what any of this means, but I can definitely feel things changing. Maybe we can still find a way to make sense of all this.”

Irene stifled a yawn with her hand, which Seugi frowned at. The older girl was about to indignantly state that she had had a very long, life shattering day, when Seulgi surprised her by being sympathetic.

“You two need rest. You’ve been through a lot. Sleep for awhile, and then we can get moving. I can keep watch.”

“How long do you think we have until morning?” Yerim asked, tucking herself back behind Irene once more.

“Morning?” Seulgi replied, a bitter grin spreading across her face, “The sun hasn’t risen in the two years I’ve been here.”

***

It seemed like only a few minutes had passed when Yerim was awoken by the sound of soft sobs. She sat up, careful not to disturb Irene, who was deeply asleep beside her.

Seulgi was sitting in front of the window at the foot of their bed, wiping her tears away with the of her palm. She noticed Yerim’s movements immediately, and her hand flew to the gun at her hip in surprise, but then relaxed.

“What’s wrong Seulgi?” the young girl asked, crawling over to her.

“It’s nothing. Go back to sleep.”

“It’s not nothing. You’ve been alone for two years without anyone to talk to. And I know we just met but… you can talk to me, Seulgi.”

Seulgi turned and locked eyes with Yerim. The younger girl was shocked by the amount of pain and sadness that the two chocolate-colored eyes were burdened with.

“I’ve been here for two years. Two years without my family. Two years without the sunlight. Two years of barely scraping by, fighting to survive every second, never fully relaxing, never being happy, just moving through this endless night. It’s been so long, Yerim.”

The older girl didn’t start sobbing harder, but Yerim could tell by the rapidity of the tears flowing down her cheeks that she was on the verge of breaking down.

“I can’t even begin to imagine what you’ve been through,” Yerim whispered, placing her hand over Seulgi’s, “But you’re not alone anymore. You have me and Irene now. We can get through this together.”

“Can we?” Seulgi asked, her tone harshening, “Can we really? Because I’ve been trapped here for so long, I simply can’t believe that there’s a way out anymore. Except for, well, obviously…” The older girl gave a meaningful glance at her gun, to which Yerim let out a gasp.

“No Seulgi! I don’t know how we’re going to do it but we’re going to get out of here, alive. We’re going to do it. I don’t know the specifics, but I promise you we will.”

Yerim carefully got up from the bed and moved to wrap both of her arms around Seulgi. The older girl was rigid at first, but then seemed to melt into her embrace, pressing her head against Yerim’s chest and wrapping her arms around her waist. She began to sob in earnest, and Yerim could feel the tears beginning to soak through her uniform front, but she didn’t care.

Irene, who had stirred from her slumber once she noticed Yerim was gone from the bed, observed quietly as the two girls held each other. There was something ugly moving in Irene’s stomach, and it had nothing to do with the food. She found herself getting unreasonably angry that Yerim was holding Seulgi like that. Before she could fully register the odd feelings she was experiencing, there was a loud clang outside, causing all three girls to jump in surprise.

Seulgi immediately collected herself and looked out the window, pistol drawn. To her horror, there was a mass of ghouls making their way down the street, headed directly for their house. The monsters were slow, but the numbers were far too many to risk staying put.

“We need to go, now.” she said, giving Irene a tap on the foot to get her up, “Take the steak knife with you. You may need it.”

Irene did as she was told. She looked at Yerim, who had returned to shaking in terror.

“What about Yerim?”

Seulgi unclipped one of the combat knives from her belt and attached it to Yerim’s.

“Yerim, please be careful with that. It’s extraordinarily sharp. If one of the ghouls gets too close to you, I’ll cover you as best as you can. But if you have to use it, stab them right in the head with all your might. It’s the only way to kill them.”

Yerim looked around from Irene to Seulgi, her fear-filled eyes darting back and forth in desperation.

“I can’t. I’m too scared. Can’t we just stay here and hide from them? Maybe they won’t see us and we can wait until they’re gone.”

“No, Yerim.” Seulgi said sternly, placing a hand on the younger girl’s shoulder, “We have to go. And you can do it. We’ll get out of this neighborhood and into open land, where it’ll be easier for us to get away. I don’t know the specifics, but I promise.”

And then Seulgi did one of the most unforgivable things she’d done in the time that Irene had known her: she bent down and gave Yerim a quick kiss on the forehead. Yerim looked up at Seulgi with amazement and embarrassment, her cheeks turning a deep shade of crimson.

“Let’s get moving already.” Irene said, and the other two looked up at her swiftly, as if just remembering she was there.

“Irene’s right.”

Seulgi led the way, flashlight in one hand, revolver in the other. Irene motioned for Yerim to go after her before following. As grateful for their new friend as Irene was, she still couldn’t fight off those odd feelings.

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And that's the first official chapter of this story! Let me know what you think. I'm gonna be honest... don't expect updates to come this often anymore, I just have a slight gap in schoolwork this week and figured it would be a good week to start writing. Plus, I'm getting really invested in this story so I'll spend more time on thinking of ideas. Speaking of ideas, let me know anything you'd want to see in here. I have a good idea of what I wanna do pretty much all the way through, but that's subject to change entirely. Also, don't worry Joy and Wendy fans, they'll pop up in the story soon (:

P.S. Sorry for Irene being kind of randomly jealous when Seulgi starts making moves on Yeri... it's supposed to be implied that because of the circumstances, she's developing feelings quickly (I mean, they DID just save each other's lives). Also, remember that Seulgi hasn't met another person in quite literally two years, so she's also bound to get attached to people fast.