Minsik had always joked that they'd know which one of the walkers was him because he'd still be wearing his damn hat, even after they'd eaten him. He'd laughed when he said it, grinned widely in his overly enthusiastic way and everyone had laughed too and agreed that being a zombie wearing a that hat was definitely solid gold Minsik. It was a thousand times less funny when she was looking down the rifle sights at the shambling corpse that used to be her friend though, hat and all.

"I'm so sorry, Minsik."

She murmured it softly as her fingers squeezed the trigger completely without hesitation, because she knew it was what he'd have wanted, what they all would want if and when the walkers got them too. No space left in her heart to feel guilty for it or for any of the others she'd been forced to take out. Too many others. The shot was silenced, a quiet poc! by her ear that she nevertheless knew would haunt her dreams for a very long time. A neat red hole appeared in the centre of the zombie's forehead and he slumped like a marionette with its wires cut. She lowered the sights hurriedly before the herd could descend on their fallen brother; bad enough to have to kill the boy when she'd been so close to him, she didn't want to watch him get eaten a second time.

Time to go. Sooner or later they'd stumble up the little wooded hill she was watching from and she didn't want to be there when the rest of the herd was done feeding, Minsik was just the starter. Everyone knew that what they really hungered for was warm human flesh and she was still quite attached to hers.

She shouldered the rucksack full of supplies that she'd liberated from the wreckage of the small town their base was nearest to and grabbed her bicycle; it was a pain to have to cycle everywhere but running from the walkers would only make her exhausted when they caught up and ate her and anything with a noisy motor would attract every herd for a hundred miles around; it was dangerous enough just firing a silenced rifle. At least it would be dark soon, walkers couldn't see too well in the dark but she had night vision goggles.

Three miles of hard peddling brought her to the first perimeter fence of the compound just as the final streaks of pale daylight were bleeding from the sky to the west, her six digit security code opened the gate that lead inside the twenty feet high walls of steel and razor wire. They were decorated in places with the remains of walkers who'd been caught in the wire and their security detail had put down. At first she'd found that a grisly sight, it had turned her stomach to see the skewered rows of decomposing body parts and sometimes watch them twitch malevolently, still infectious and dangerous. Eighteen months of seeing them every time she had to risk leaving the base had hardened her against them though; she barely let her gaze flicker their way anymore.

The interior perimeter was basically just a forty feet wide spike-filled pit with more razor wire underneath. The few walkers who'd made it that far were swiftly shot from the lookout tower above the inner gate; their chief of security had absolutely zero sense of humour when it came to keeping the base safe. She was glad of that. There was nobody else in the world she'd have trusted her safety to. A second six digit pin let her into the decontamination room and she immediately began to shrug out of her off-base clothes. They all knew the drill; she didn't even feel a little self-conscious about being in front of any of the security staff anymore.

The speakers hanging from one corner of the ceiling flared to life at the same time as the disinfectant jets began to spray her with freezing chemicals from every possible angle.

"State your name and security code, please."

She rolled her eyes, this part was so unnecessary. But she was glad it was that particular voice at least, comforting to be greeted by the person she liked best in the world after the single shot she'd had to fire for their dead friend.

"Come on, Hyejin-ah. You know it's me, you could probably recite my security code in your sleep."

The speakers didn't relay emotion very well but she was sure she picked up a hint of annoyance in the crackly voice that flickered through over the hiss of the spraying disinfectant.

"Gotta follow rules, Wheein-ah. State your full name, security code, business outside the complex and a kiss for the camera just because you're an awkward little ."

She sighed.

"Fine. Doctor Jung Wheein, security code five one eight seven three four zero, bringing emergency supplies from outside, and if you want a kiss so badly then you can kiss my skinny pale ."

"Oh I'm so sorry doctor, your code doesn't appear to be validated and I'm afraid that our medical equipment is indicating that your skinny pale is infected with a dangerously high level of sass. We'll have to run a full security screening, might take a while. See, our chief medical officer is out getting supplies right now so we're short on staff."

This time the annoyance was replaced by dark delight and the voice was very nearly a lazy purr.

"Hyejin-ah! Come on, I'm freezing my metaphorical balls off in here!" Wheein yelled, cold and frustrated. She glared at the security camera, adding an exaggerated shiver for good measure.

"Fine, you can come in. But if you're a walker in disguise then I won't hesitate to shoot you right in your pretty face, right?"

The heavy security door at the end of the small room opened to reveal the base's chief of security looking very tempting in her on-duty camouflage uniform, grinning around an armful of fresh clothes and a wonderfully fluffy white towel; a rare luxury in a tightly controlled military complex.

"Come here then, before this towel gets cold. Warmed it up on the heater for you and everything."

Wheein hurried forwards and let the taller woman wrap her in the enormous warm towel and slide her strong arms around her, holding the heat against her skin and conveniently pulling her within kissing range. It was quite possibly the nicest thing anyone had done for her all year.

"You're such an ." Wheein murmured fondly. She didn't resist when Hyejin tilted her chin up and pressed a lingering kiss against her willing lips. "I saw Minsik. Fixed it for him." she added quietly after a moment.

"He'd have wanted that. Probably would have laughed about it, he was a weirdo like that." Hyejin replied in a light tone, though the hard lines around her eyes gave her guilt away. Minsik had been bitten saving her when a supply run had gone wrong, he'd always wanted to be a hero. "Come for a drink tonight then, in his memory?"

"Yeah, sounds good. When do you get off?"

"Usually about when you go the full three knuckles deep and do that awesome twisty thing with your fingers."

"Hyejin! That's too distasteful!"

Wheein punched her shoulder lightly, secretly glad that her girlfriend was back to being crude and dirty instead of brooding over the death of her friend. Hyejin stuck her tongue out at the other woman and let her wriggle out of the now damp towel then helped her dress before they entered the base together.

"Listen, I'm on the gate till nine then Yong and Byul are taking over for night watch. You wanna hit up the mess hall or is it a private party?" Hyejin murmured as they walked through the stark concrete corridors.

"Private. I can't deal with too many people right now." Wheein replied. In truth there weren't too many people left, for all their careful security and military organization they'd lost so many in recent months, the walkers were getting bolder. She couldn't stand to see how few remained.

Hyejin nodded, understanding every word the other woman hadn't said.

"Our bunk, t