Irene was beginning to grow tired of being shaken awake by Seulgi’s aggressive nudges. Each time this had happened, she had shut her eyes tight for a moment, praying that when she opened them she would be back in her room, and those impatient hands would belong to her mother, telling her she was late for work or class again. And she was always disappointed. They always belonged to Seulgi, who would only shake her harder the longer she tried to remain sleeping. This was how it had been ever since the trio had managed to escape the horde of ghouls and the overrun town, and this was likely how it would be for a long time.

They were now traveling through a hilly expanse of dead grass and flowers, with the occasional patch of leafless trees dotting the land here and there. The area had likely been very scenic before everything withered away. Their destination was what appeared to be a forest in the distance. Yerim had first spotted it a few miles out of the town. Irene smiled as she remembered how the younger girl had bounced up and down, grabbing Irene’s arm and shaking it with great passion.

“Unnie! Unnie! Look!” she’d called as she pointed at the green blur in the distance, “A forest! A living forest!”

However, Seulgi had interjected and shot down Yerim’s excitement almost immediately.

“I’ve never seen any foliage growing that densely in this world before. There’s no sunlight. That can’t be a forest. I agree we should check it out, but it’s probably not alive.”

Yerim had sighed, muttered a defeated, “Okay, Seulgi unnie…” and had returned to setting up camp with them.

Although Seulgi’s cold tone and ever-present pragmatism annoyed Irene, she was truly grateful for the girl’s ability to navigate the nightmare they’d found themselves in.

Their schedule had become relatively routine now. They would travel for a few hours at a time until Yerim started to visibly tire (Irene would usually notice before Seulgi did). Then, they would stop and rest with a quick meal (usually some of the disgusting canned soup or vegetables that Seulgi seemed to have so much of). And after that, they were back on the road again. After doing this twice, Seulgi would announce that it was time to rest, and she would start a fire and they would spend a few hours sleeping. Rinse and repeat.

Due to the nature of the world they were in, things did change up every once in awhile, but not much. They had found a pool of water that led into a river that they had began following, as it led in the general direction of the forest and provided them with fresh water and the occasional meal. The bug-eyed, bony fish that Seulgi managed to fish up were about as tasteless as the canned goods they had, but in the end, food was food.

They had come across a few stray ghouls. Seulgi had easily put the first one down, but decided to make Irene take down the second for “practice”. Despite the older girl’s protests, Seulgi had insisted. The more experienced girl had kept her revolver trained on the beast (a female ghoul this time) as Irene had walked up to it and jammed her steak knife into its eye socket, ending its "life". Although the ghouls lacked any bodily fluids, Irene still felt profoundly filthy after having to grab the decaying corpse by its collar in order to keep it at bay. Seulgi had made Yerim kill the next ghoul, and unsurprisingly, she’d had little trouble decapitating the ghoul with her combat knife. Seulgi had merely nodded in acknowledgement when Irene had killed her ghoul, yet she seemed absolutely enamored when Yerim had killed hers. Of course.

And there was the time that they’d stumbled upon a two-headed rabbit that, for some reason, was unafraid of people. Yerim had noticed it first, poking about behind a fallen tree near the place they’d made camp, and she’d immediately fallen in love with it. The naive girl had scooped the animal up in her arms and brought it back to her companions. Irene had to admit that, barring its twin heads and yellow fur, the creature very closely resembled normal rabbits from their world. Seulgi had been out scavenging while they waited at the camp. Irene had had a feeling that Seulgi would react a certain way upon seeing the helpless animal, but she had kept her qualms to herself, allowing Yerim to enjoy petting the animal’s fur and playing with it until Seulgi returned.

When she did, things went exactly as the older girl had expected them to.

“No! We can’t! How could you even think that?” Yerim had said, becoming extremely hostile to Seulgi’s suggestion, “Irene unnie! Please talk to her!”

“Yerim… there’s not a lot of food around here. Seulgi said it herself. We can’t afford to just let a free meal pass by like this.” Irene felt her heart shatter to pieces at the look of horror and betrayal in Yerim’s eyes.

“I won’t let you! What kind of monsters are you?! It’s a helpless animal!”

Luckily, Yerim’s yells had scared the rabbit enough for it to run away. But the damage was done. When they all laid down to sleep, Yerim had refused to take her usual place between the older girls and instead had slept alone on the opposite side of the fire. She’d then spent most of the next leg of the journey refusing to speak to the other two. Irene had decided to give Yerim the space she needed. Seulgi, on the other hand, had approached Irene, requesting for her to talk to Yerim. Irene had been so shocked that her words had failed her.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. It’s only because I don’t want things to keep being so awkward. It’s much easier to work as a team when there isn’t any friction between us.”

“Whatever you say, Seulgi.” Irene had replied, smiling slightly at Seulgi’s reluctance to admit that Yerim’s anger was bothering her.

And so the next time they’d stopped to rest, Irene had walked over to the maknae, who was sitting alone by the river. Seulgi remained by the fire, cooking their dinner.

“Hey, Yeri.” she had said, taking a seat beside her brooding friend.

Yerim didn’t answer and instead scooted away from Irene, not once looking at her.

“Yeri, we’re both sorry.”

“I don’t care.”

“You can’t stay mad at us forever.”

“I can. You guys are horrible. How could you even think about doing such a despicable thing to a poor, defenceless little rabbit?”

“But Yeri… you used to eat chicken all the time at home, right? That’s what you told me. You told me you missed eating fresh cooked chicken. How is that different from us eating that rabbit?”

Irene felt bad using Yerim’s own words against her, but she felt she had no choice.

“It’s different,” Yerim finally turned to look at Irene. The younger girl was on the brink of tears, “I never killed a chicken. And that rabbit… that rabbit wasn’t like a regular chicken. It was alive in this world. This world of evil and darkness and monsters. It existed here, against all odds. I would have never forgiven either of you, or myself, if we were the ones that killed it.”

As she finished speaking, she began to cry.

Irene understood then, even if Yerim didn’t fully. The girl had felt a connection to that rabbit because on some level it had reminded the young girl of herself. So pure and innocent and full of life. So out of place in a bleak, empty world.

The older girl decided to take another chance and shifted herself so that she was next to Yerim. Yerim surprised Irene by leaning over and allowing her head to fall into the older girl’s lap. There she lay, letting the tears run down from her face into the brown grass between Irene’s legs.

“I wanna go home, unnie. It’s so hard to live here. Not just surviving… it’s like my soul hurts just being here. Nothing is right. I don’t know how Seulgi did it for all this time.”

Irene turned to look at Seulgi, who was still sitting beside the fire, roasting four fish on a skewer. Although Seulgi was three years younger than Irene, she seemed so much older. Her mannerisms, her roughness, her nihilistic attitude; every characteristic of the girl reflected the toll that this world could take on a person. A wave of pity washed over Irene when she remembered that Seulgi hadn’t had anyone to help her through this. She’d learned every harsh lesson alone. Irene began Yerim’s hair, tenderly running her fingers through the tangled mat of red. Silently, Irene vowed never to let what had happened to Seulgi happen to Yerim. She would protect the girl both physically and emotionally for the rest of their time here.

"We'll get home, Yeri. I'll make sure of it."

***

“This is Jisoo, and this is Lisa. And Wendy’s over-”

Joy ignored the other girls in the hut, rushing past Rosé to run to her friend’s side.

Wendy’s face was pale. Her lack of consciousness was the farthest thing from peaceful. She moved about frequently, her eyes darting back and forth behind her tightly clenched eyelids. She would let out small gasps and whimpers each time she shifted. Locks of her blonde hair were plastered to her forehead by sweat. Her injured leg had been wrapped and set, and was held in place by a few blocks of wood to prevent it from moving around too much. The covers on the bed were pulled up to her neck in an attempt to keep the shivering girl warm.

Joy turned to the taller of the other girls (the one called Lisa) and took the small cloth she had been holding out of her hands. The girl’s green hair tips reminded Joy of a style she used to wear a few years ago, though the remainder of her hair had been black, not blonde. Joy shook off the random thought and began dabbing Wendy’s forehead and pushing any stray hair away from the incapacitated girl’s face.

“Scorpion venom isn’t lethal,” Lisa said, “But she’s going to be hallucinating for a bit. I’ve been stung a few times. It’s scary, but it wears off in less than two hours.”

Joy turned to look at the three other girls in the hut with her. They milled about awkwardly, making every effort they could to not make eye contact.

“I just wanted to say thank you, by the way. You saved our lives back there. I would tell all of you, but Jennie went to go get the scorpion, I think...”

“Don’t worry about it,” the other, black-haired girl (Jisoo, presumably), said, “You would’ve done the same for us, I’m sure.”

Joy went back to tending the tossing and turning Wendy. Behind Joy’s back, Rosé whispered something to Lisa, then pulled her out of the room, leaving only Joy and Jisoo in the hut.

“So, what’s your story? How’d you end up all the way out in the desert like that?” the younger girl asked after a time.

Joy turned away from her friend for a minute to look at Jisoo. She was deftly cleaning up a table that had medical supplies strewn all over it, including some bloody bandages. Joy told an abridged version of their tale, recalling how they’d woken up in the mountains, fought snow people, and had started heading for the green area they’d seen on the opposite side of the desert. Jisoo patiently waited for Joy to finish her tale before responding.

“It’s a good thing you planned on stopping here before going to that forest. It’s not a forest at all… well, not in the sense that you’re thinking. There’s some really nice fruits there, and some helpful plants, but all the trees are part of this hivemind. A monster that lures people in with its appearance. Then it swallows them up into its branches. It would have likely been disastrous if you two had gone there without prior knowledge of it.”

Joy swallowed. Although there was no way she could have known about the true nature of the forest, she still kicked herself for being so naive. She had needlessly led them to what could’ve been their doom.

“But on the bright side,” Jisoo added, noticing the look on the older girl’s face, “You found us. We’re so great that it outshines any mistake you might have made to get here.”

Joy gave a polite laugh before returning the majority of her attention to Wendy, who had ceased muttering in her sleep and was moving around less. Her breathing was much more steady as well. The poison must have been wearing off.

“How did you girls get here? You seem to be doing great, and no offence, but I wouldn’t have expected kids to be thriving in such a terrible environment.”

“Honestly? We don’t know. We all kinda have just… been here. Since we were little. I mean, it’s not like we raised ourselves. But this place is all we’ve known.”

“What do you mean? All your lives? Who raised you?” Joy’s eyes widened and she turned to look at Jisoo.

Luckily for the younger girl, Lisa and Rosé returned at that moment, carrying a large platter of food between the two of them. They set it down upon the table that Jisoo had recently cleared.

It was an odd assortment of exotic-looking meats, vegetables, and bread. None of it was recognizable to Joy besides the center-piece of the entire meal, which was very clearly deep-fried giant scorpion legs. Although she was ravenously hungry, she felt a wave of nausea at the thought of eating arthropod.

Lisa must have noticed the apprehensive look on the girl’s face, because she smiled apologetically and motioned to the other meats.

“If scorpion isn’t your thing, we have porcupine and chicken, too. Wild chickens are hard to come by, so we usually save them, but it’s kind of a special occasion so we figured we could make an exception.”

“Thank you. So much. You’re all so kind.” Joy said. It was immensely comforting to know that even in a world where everything seemed to want to kill you, there was still some minute amount of goodness

“I don’t know if this is asking of too much, but would you mind saving some food for Wendy when she wakes up? She’ll be hungry.”

“Of course. And we have soup for her too if she’s not feeling up to solid foods yet.” Rosé said kindly.

Joy smiled, checked on Wendy one last time, and sat down to join her new friends.

***

Jennie pressed on the humvee’s accelerator as hard as she could. The engine let out a low grumble in protest as it slowly made its way up a particularly steep sand dune. It didn’t help that the entire scorpion carcass was strapped into the back, adding around two-hundred pounds to the old vehicle’s load. It had taken Jennie quite a while to cut the insect’s stinger off, fold its legs up, and drag it into the back. If it weren’t for those two girls, she would have had Rosie to help her out. Jennie punctuated this resentful thought by completely flooring the accelerator, giving the vehicle just enough momentum to crest the hill. As she rose to the peak of it, Jennie noticed something moving in the distance. Intrigued, she waited for the vehicle to come to a gentle stop at the bottom of the hill, then hopped out and climbed the hill to get a better look for herself. She brought a pair of binoculars with her.

She scanned the horizon. The cluster of lights that represented their little oasis was fine; nothing out of the ordinary there. However, the wall of green that made up much of the horizon was swaying back and forth as a whole. It was odd. The wind was relatively mild today. The only time that Jennie had seen the monster doing that was when a meal was approaching. And judging by the level of swaying going on, it must have been a pretty large meal. This could have meant anything: perhaps a scorpion was straying too close to its periphery, or a family of porcupines had gotten lost within its depths. But for some reason, Jennie had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. And if there was one thing Jennie had learned from living in this dark desert for so long, it was to always trust her gut.

Within seconds, she was back in the humvee and moving at full speed towards her home.

***

In her twenty-three years of life, Seulgi never imagined that a simple forest would be such a beautiful thing to her. She never imagined that a wall of deciduous trees would fill her heart with such hope and joy that she would immediately scoop up the person closest to her (who, in this case, just so happened to be Irene Bae) and spin them around while jumping up and down like a giddy schoolgirl. She’d been sceptical of it at first. She had outright refused to believe Yerim when the young girl had suggested that it could indeed be a forest that they were headed for. But from where she stood now, one-hundred feet before the treeline, it seemed unmistakable. Everything was so picturesque; the way the branches swayed with the wind, the way the leaves reflected the moonlight… it was perfect.

Seulgi’s two companions were just as excited as she was, but she insisted that they take a short break before entering the wooded area.

“I know we’re all excited to go into the forest,” Seulgi said as she and Yerim gathered materials for a fire, “But we need to eat and sleep a bit before we go in. We don’t know what could be waiting for us in there.”

The river that they had been following ended here in a shallow pool that, upon inspection, was very warm. There must have been some kind of hot spring below the depths that caused this. Hot springs were another thing that Seulgi had never encountered in this world before. Geologically, the earth had seemed completely dead up until this point. But she wasn’t complaining.

After the three girls had eaten (they allowed themselves both a single fish and a full can of vegetables as a celebratory meal), Irene and Yerim went to sit by the hot spring and dip their feet in. Seulgi, on the other hand, was planning to make the most of the situation; she hadn’t bathed in what felt like ages. She stripped off all layers of her clothes and walked in casually, allowing the blissfully warm water to fully relax her for the first time since she’d woken up in this hell.

***

Irene noticed what Seulgi was doing before Yerim did, and immediately covered the younger girl’s eyes with her hands.

“SEULGI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Irene yelled. With her hands occupied with preserving Yerim’s innocence, she was unable to cover her own. She pried her stare away from Seulgi and instead focused on the moon above them.

“I’m taking a bath,” Seulgi said simply, sinking up to her chest in the water, “I’m decent now, if that makes you feel any better.”

Irene gradually returned her stare to the girl in the water, and after affirming that she was indeed covered up, she relinquished her hold on Yerim.

“You could’ve at least warned us first! You could’ve scarred poor Yeri for life!”

Yerim’s entire face turned red at this, and she stood up.

“I-I’m gonna go sit by the fire for a little bit.” she then muttered something about being cold before running off, leaving an angry Irene and an amused Seulgi behind.

“Look what you did now. She’s embarrassed.”

“Mmm. Maybe. Or maybe she liked what she saw.” Seulgi said mischievously. Irene’s jaw dropped.

“I made sure that she saw nothing. Shame on you, Seulgi! She may be technically legal, but she’s still innocent! Stop making her uncomfortable!”

“You sound jealous.”

Irene felt her face grow warm and she stood up, stomping her foot angrily.

“I’m going to join Yeri!” She then turned to leave.

“Hey. Wait. I didn’t mean to get you mad. I was just teasing.”

When Irene turned, she was surprised to see such sincerity in Seulgi’s eyes.

“Why don’t you come in here and relax a little bit? I know you have to be stressed from everything.”

Irene furrowed her brow. Not at the suggestion, but at the fact that she was genuinely contemplating it.

“If I do, I’m keeping my undergarments on.”

“Do you really want to walk around in wet ?”

Irene bit her lip. She wanted to go into the water; the temperature was just so perfect, and she hadn’t had a bath in days. It would surely make her feel much better about the whole situation. And what she’d seen of Seulgi before… the curve of her hips, her svelte figure, her unbelievable abs… she wanted to see more. Irene shook her head, clearing it of the disgusting thoughts she was having. When she returned to looking at Seulgi, the other girl was grinning as if she knew exactly what Irene had been thinking.

“No… I shouldn’t. I’m getting pretty tired…”

It hadn't only been her attraction to Seulgi that had made Irene feel off. There was something about that water that was off as well. She didn't trust it for some reason. As if it were trying to lure her into a false sense of security.

The older girl hurried away almost as quickly as Yerim had, leaving Seulgi feeling oddly dejected and sad.

***

When everyone was fully awake and had packed away their scarce belongings, the three girls began their journey through the forest, each equipped with a flashlight and a weapon of some sort. Seulgi lead the way, one hand resting on her revolver, the holding on to her high-powered flashlight. The moonlight was obscured by the leaves, making it difficult to navigate over roots and other detritus.

Irene followed Yerim’s back as they moved forward through the darkness. Although Seulgi was certainly more relaxed than the older girl had ever seen her, Irene couldn’t help but feel a measure of anxiety since they had entered the woods. It was the opposite of how she had expected to feel - she had expected it be magical and fresh and invigorating. Instead, she felt like they were being monitored. That the trees around them were watching intently, waiting for them to relax their guard. She tightened her grip on her trusty steak knife and marched on.

They continued like this for some time. Seulgi requested that they remain as quiet as possible so that they could be on the alert for anything approaching. The deeper they moved into the forest, the more uneasy Irene felt. It felt like they were walking into the maw of some giant animal. When she voiced her concern, Seulgi had waved her off.

“I think that’s just how most forests feel. You’re probably overreacting.”

They stopped to rest for awhile in a clearing. There was no immediate water source near them anymore, so they had filled Seulgi’s multiple waterskins before departing. They’d reasoned that since they had no idea how large the forest was, the extra weight was worth carrying. Irene took a long drink from one of the skins before passing it over to Seulgi. Yerim scampered off between the trees to find kindling for a fire. Irene could still see her flashlight moving about in the distance.

“What do you think of this place?” Irene asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I know you said that I was just overreacting before, but I don’t think I am. It’s weird here. I’ve been in forests recently. It doesn’t feel like this normally. It feels like we’re being watched.”

“We probably are. But by hidden animals and such. Nothing to freak out about.” Seulgi was speaking in a different tone now. She seemed apprehensive to continue the conversation.

“But that’s just it, Seulgi. Since we came here, we haven’t seen any animals at all. You’d expect a forest like this to be teeming with life. But it’s almost completely silent, except for the rustle of the leaves and the noises we make.”

Seulgi sighed and moved closer to Irene. The older girl could see the worry in her companion’s eyes now. She looked skittish.

“They’re just avoiding us. That’s why we don’t hear them. They’re just hiding. You’re just-”

“Seulgi. I. Am. Not. Over. Reacting.” Irene took her friend by the shoulders, bringing their faces close together to emphasize her words, “There’s something seriously wrong here. I thought you of all people would notice it by now. We have to turn back, Seulgi.”

Seulgi’s response was cut off as Yerim’s scream pierced the night.

***

At the familiar sound of a madly revving engine, Joy glanced up from her dinner. Rosé, Lisa, and Jisoo were giving each other confused looks. They all stood up and ran outside, Joy taking an extra second to ensure that Wendy was still alright before following. Outside, Jennie had returned and was now sloppily parked in front of the hut. The girl looked horrified.

“There’s something going on with the forest,” she said, hopping out of the still-running vehicle, offering a pair of binoculars to Rosé.

“What are you talking about?” Joy asked. By the grave look on Rosé’s face, something serious was going on.

“Remember that monster I told you about?” Jisoo said, taking the binoculars from Rosé.

“Whenever it’s about to eat something, it starts to move. For small animals and such, it moves very little. Just some shifting here and there. The more food, the more movement it makes. And the thing it moves the most for, like it’s doing now… is humans.” Rosé finished.

“We have to go check it out.” Lisa continued, “We can’t just let people die.”

The odd way that the younger girls seemed to be able to finish each other's’ thoughts sometimes confused Joy; it had happened several times at the dinner table, but never in such rapid succession. She made a mental note to ask about that later.

“I’ll go. I’ll take the other humvee, it’s faster.” Jennie said.

“And I will too.” Joy said.

The other girls all turned to face her at once. Their combined shock-filled gazes made her uncomfortable.

“I owe you. For this food, for saving my life, for taking care of Wendy. It’s the least I can do.”

“We couldn’t make you do that. It’s too dangerous.” Lisa said, smiling,  “I can go. I haven’t handled any monsters lately, been kinda boring.”

“I’m just trying to return the favor.” Joy said, a little annoyed at the pitying looks she was receiving.

“Fine,” Jennie said, walking towards one of the other huts, “You can come with me, as long as you carry the equipment to the humvee. I’d rather you put your life in danger than one of my friends anyway.”

“Jennie!” Jisoo scolded, but the other girl had already gone.

“You really don’t have to do this, Joy. It’s really okay.” Rosé said, blocking Joy from following the angry girl.

“I know I don’t have to,” Joy said, putting a hand on Rosé’s shoulder, “I want to.”

Rosé bit her lip and looked away, as if contemplating continuing the argument.

“Hurry the up!” Jennie called, sticking her head out from the doorway of the other hut.

Joy stepped around Rosé and ran after Jennie.

Rosé watched the girl disappear into the hut, wordlessly praying that the older girl knew what she was getting herself into.

***

Irene sprinted through the foliage, following Seulgi’s path as she destroyed the undergrowth with sheer speed and fervor. They could still see the beam of Yerim’s flashlight, now close to the ground and immobile. The girl’s screams were still strong, which gave Irene hope that they’d be able to rescue her. Each time she allowed the “What if it’s too late?” thought to cross her mind, a wave of panic would fill her and she would begin sprinting harder.

When they finally reached the flashlight, they saw Yerim lying on the ground a few feet behind it. Her fingers were clawing into the dirt as she desperately tried to escape from the roots entangling her legs. From the sound of the wood creaking, they were tightening. Before the older girl could even begin to think of their next move, Seulgi had unloaded her entire revolver chamber into the wood, freeing both of Yerim’s legs. The terrified maknae stood up and ran to Irene, burying her face in the latter’s chest. Irene held her close and rocked her back and forth while simultaneously whispering words of comfort.

“No time.” Seulgi interrupted, reloading her revolver, “We have to get out of here, right now.”

Yerim detached from Irene and they began sprinting through the dark woods, flashlights bobbing up and down madly to the cadence of their hurried footsteps. Around them, the trees were moving. Their branches began to swoop down, the lowest of them coming close to knocking the girls over as they ran. Irene glanced back and saw that the branches were forming a wall, preventing them from backtracking. Roots sprung up from nowhere, causing the girls to have to zigzag and jump to avoid being tripped up. The entire forest was against them.

Irene had no idea where they were headed anymore. The only thing she knew was that her lungs were severely oxygen deprived and her leg muscles were on fire. Seulgi and Yerim were ahead of her, but they seemed to be slowing down as well. If they didn’t find a way out soon, they would all be consumed.

“Look!” Seulgi yelled, pointing to their left and immediately turning in that direction.

Irene turned and followed before taking a quick glance upwards to see what Seulgi was referring to. What she saw caused a wide smile to cover her face, even in her weak, frantic state. In the distance there were two large blossoms of fire. They came in short, alternating bursts, and they appeared to be driving the trees away. Indeed, the closer the trio got to the flames, the less the forest seemed to be trying to attack them. Despite the agonizing pain in their bodies, the three girls found the strength to continue running towards their only chance at survival.

As they closed in on the fire, Seulgi and Yerim began to wave their hands and shout. There were two people, one taller and one shorter, each equipped with a flamethrower and flame-retardant suits. They were standing side to side, torching a path through the woods. They hadn’t gotten too far into the forest, as the path behind them was only about one-hundred feet long. Beyond that, Irene could see the full, uninterrupted moonlight that signified salvation.

“Get between us!” the shorter girl commanded.

Seulgi, Yerim, and Irene obeyed immediately. The shorter girl remained behind them, using her weapon to hold off the advancing roots from deep in the forest. The taller girl took the front, using her weapon to burn any branches that came at them from the sides. It was an efficient method, and they were able to escape the forest in little time. Once they were far enough away that the trees could no longer reach them, the three exhausted girls collapsed on the sand, momentarily disregarding the fact that they’d come out into a desert. The shorter of the two heroes sighed and removed the helmet from her suit.

“I swear to Christ, if we get any more visitors in the next thirty years, I will blow my brains out.”

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

SURPRISE! I managed to finish all the uni work I wanted to get done today, so I also did this chapter. It was 17 pages in Google Docs; a lot goes on in this one. Our poor Wendy has been out of commission for awhile now, huh ):

I wanted to get the girls all coming together in this chapter. It's still technically early in the album, I know, but I wanted them to have some solid moments together before... well, you'll see (;

Anyway, enjoy!