Wendy feels herself rocking, and hears the muffled sounds of waves surrounding her. There’s also the sound of unintelligible shouting and… an accordion? Wendy rubs her eyes, and sits up. She’s in a room completely made of dark wood, and is laying on the floor covered in a dirty blanket. She panics when she realizes she’s , and in a place she doesn’t recognize. Where the hell am I? Did Yeri abduct me? Wendy stands up, and finds it hard to catch her balance from the rocking. She wraps the blanket around her, and walks towards stairs on the opposite end of the room.

“Aye, girly,” a raspy voice creeps from the dark shadows of the room, causing Wendy to jump out of her skin. “We’ve been waitin’ for ye t’ wake up.”

“Who are you?” Wendy asks, slightly out of breath from the jump scare.

A small, hunched over man limps towards her, “Th’ name’s Scarface, but ye can call me Scar.”

Wendy can’t believe what she’s seeing. The man looks like he’s dressed in extremely realistic pirate cosplay. And he doesn’t have a scar on his face either…

“Okay, uh, Scar, I’m Wendy.”

“Aye, Wendy. Ye should make yer way up t’ th’ Cap’n quarters. Th’ Cap’n told me t’ send ye thar as soon as ye woke up.”

This is a dream. This has to be a dream.

“Okay, could you show me the way there?”

“Aye! Avast ye, I’ll lead th’ way.”

The man starts limping up the stairs. When Wendy reaches the top deck, the sun burns her eyes, it still is very bright like it was at the mall. She uses her hand to block the sun, and spins in a circle to take in the view. She’s surrounded by vast emerald ocean, the waves kissing the light blue sky, and the clouds like ships in the distance. Wendy feels small under the large sails of the ship. There are several other people on the ship, manning the sails, scrubbing the deck, scanning their surroundings with a small telescope, and a guy playing an oddly shaped instrument. Wendy turns, and catches up to Scar. Two staircases lead up to a higher deck where the steering wheel is. There is a door in between the two stair cases, Wendy guesses this is the Captains quarters.

“Watch ye around th’ Cap’n. Cap’n has a way with th’ ladies,” he laughs, and nods towards the door.

Wendy takes a deep breath, grabs the handle, and walks into the room, closing the door behind her.

The room is very rustic, although Wendy thinks it’s not just a style choice but just how things are. The room is lit up by a single lantern, and a small window on the back wall. A strange scraping sound echoing through the room. There’s a desk complete with a map, an ink quill pen, and an assortment of jewels, and gold. There’s a small bed to the left of the room. She thought it would look more comfortable since it’s the captain’s, but it looks like it’s made of straw. On top of the bed she notices her clothes are laid out. On the other side of the desk, there is a chair facing the opposite direction of her, a hat poking up over the top. It looks like a pretty cliché pirate hat to Wendy, she was expecting a larger hat with a big feather attached. She also expected a large man, with a huge beard, an eyepatch, and a hook hand to turn around and greet her. Wendy got quite the opposite actually. It’s not that she’s disappointed with who’s sitting in the chair, she just didn’t expect it to be a beautiful woman. The Captain had hair red like strawberries, and her lips formed into a smirk when she made eye contact with Wendy. She had a sword in her hand, and was sharpening it against a rock. She did have an eyepatch over her right eye though, so Wendy guessed one thing right. When the Captain spoke, she had an accent that sounds British, and she doesn’t speak in “pirate” like scar face did. Her voice is almost hypnotizing.

“When we saw a body floating along on a piece of driftwood, I didn’t expect it to be a beautiful maiden such as yourself.”

Wendy was thinking she could listen to this girl talk all day. “Oh, uhm, thank you,” Wendy stuttered out.

“I am Captain Joy Park. What’s your title?” Joy, she doesn’t look much like a member of a girl group right now. Wendy internally laughs at herself.

“Oh, I’m Wendy. Just, Wendy.”

“Ah, Just Wendy?” Joy teases, and Wendy wonders if pirates ever really told puns.

“Wendy. If I’m being honest, Captain, I don’t know how I got here. Or why pirates like you exist after only month into the apocalypse. The last thing I know, I was in a mall, falling asleep in a bed, and a girl named Yeri was there.”

Wendy noticed Joy wince at the name. “Yeri, huh? Strange. Captain Yeri is my worst nemesis. However, I don’t know what you mean by ‘mall’. Is that what that traitor is calling her ship these days?”

“Uh, no. It’s like,” Wendy snaps her fingers trying to figure out a way to explain what a modern mall is to a pirate, “A large indoor market place. And for the record, the Yeri I was with was not a pirate”

Joy nods at her, fingers cuffing her chin. “So, do you buy these strange clothes from these malls?” Joy points at Wendy’s clothes.

Wendy had forgotten she wasn’t wearing clothes. “Yes, actually. Uhm, do you mind if I put them back on?”

“Go right ahead. I only stripped you of your clothes to keep you from getting sick since you were soaked to the bone.”

Wendy wasn’t sure if what Joy said means Joy personally took her clothes off, or if she had someone else do it for her. She really hopes it was Joy, and not Scarface. Wendy quickly checks the pocket of her jeans for the photocard. She feels it in the pocket, but doesn’t pull it out. It’s reassuring enough to Wendy knowing it’s still there. She quickly gets dressed, and turns around to see joy pouring whiskey into two gold chalices covered in gems.

“Drink with me, Wendy. It is the new year after all! I can’t believe it is already 1718.”

Wendy’s heart stops. “What did you say the year is?”

“1718.” Joy answers, a little confused.

Holy , did I time travel? O-or travel to a different dimension? I mean, this is Red Velvet’s Joy standing in front of me as a pirate captain. Is this a dream?

Wendy’s head starts to throb. She rubs circles on her temples, as if it’s going to help turn the gears in her brain. Maybe she could use that drink. She walks over to Joy, and grabs the gold chalice from her. This is pretty cool, though. She takes a sip of the whiskey, and it burns her lips and tongue. “Holy !” Wendy coughs, rubbing .

Joy laughs, “A little bit stronger than you’re used to?”

Wendy can almost hear her liver begging for mercy after that first sip, but she continues drinking anyway. Three chalice-fulls of “100% alcohol content” whiskey later, and Wendy is dancing around the top deck with Joy. Two of the crew members are playing the instruments Wendy doesn’t recognize, but it sounds great whatever they are. The sun is setting, and the pink sunset against the now dark blue ocean makes drunk Wendy feel warm. Or maybe it’s the alcohol making her feel warm. Or maybe it’s the beautiful Captain Joy’s body against hers. Several other people are dancing around them, talking about how this is their “favorite shanty”, and asking for more whiskey. They’re all a blur to Wendy though. She’s using what tiny bit left of her sober brain is left to focus on Joy. Wendy knows if she was sober she wouldn’t be doing this, but the alcohol has the steering wheel of her body right now. Joy gets really touchy, and Wendy becomes giggly. Joy grabs Wendy’s wrists, and whispers in her ear, “Wanna go back to my quarters?”

Wendy nods, and let’s Joy pull her by her wrist back into Joy’s room. Joy presses Wendy against the wall once they get inside. She’s much taller than Wendy, so she leans her arm against the wall above Wendy’s head. Joy’s kisses are sloppy, but her hand on Wendy’s face is soft. Wendy grabs onto the front of Joy’s button-down shirt, and tries to it. Wendy seems to have lost all motor skills because she can’t even get one of the buttons to come undone. They kiss for a long time, drunkenly exploring each other’s bodies with their hands. They stumble over to the small bed. Joy gently lays Wendy down, and starts kissing her neck, slowly moving downward. Wendy doesn’t remember when her sweater came off, but that’s okay, she thinks, add it to the list of things she doesn’t remember. Things were starting to get even more heated when Scarface barges into the room.

“Cap’n! Yeri’s galleon is headed our way!”

Joy slowly stands up, an annoyed expression painted on her face. She looks over at Scarface, “Ready the cannons.”

“Aye, Cap’n!” Scarface shouts while running back out the door.

Joy offers her hand to Wendy, and pulls her up to an unsteady stance. Wendy falls into Joy, her legs not wanting to cooperate. Joy grabs both of her shoulders to hold her steady. “Wait here. I’m going to take care of this unfortunate situation. Don’t worry, you’re my most important treasure, I won’t let anyone take you from me.” Joy kisses her again, then leaves the room.

Wendy grabs her sweater, and puts it back on. She falls back onto the bed, struggling to stay conscious. The sound of cannons firing rumbles in the air, and the enemy’s cannon balls hitting the boat cause it to shudder. There’s a sound of frantic hammering, probably to repair the ship. After some time, she can hear metal clashing with metal outside the door. Wendy stares at the door, struggling to keep her eyes open. She jumps at the door handle turning, hoping to see Joy walk in. Instead she sees a smaller girl limp in, one hand holding her stomach, the other holding a sword glistening with blood.

“Well, what do we have here.” The girl chuckles.

I know I’m drunk, but is that Yeri? The girl limps closer. She raises the sword to Wendy’s neck. “Now, should I kill you along with everyone else on this ship, or take you as a prisoner?” Wendy feels the sword digging deeper into her flesh, but there’s nothing she can do. She can barely process what’s happening, anyway. Joy comes stumbling in, grasping at her now handless arm. “You’re not allowed to die on me, Wendy. We’re in this together. I need you here.”

Wendy wonders why she’s so important to Joy, they just met after all. She feels the sword leave her neck, and feels relieved. But the feeling of relief was betrayed by the sword going through her chest. She grabs at her chest, panic darkening her face. She sees Joy screaming, but can’t hear anything. Joy charges at Yeri, and that’s the last thing she sees before darkness.