Looking ahead, the road seemed to be endless. Jungeun wiped the sweat off her forehead with her sleeve and slung her backpack over her other shoulder. There were cars scattered along the lanes, smashed windows and broken bumpers. She hardly remembered the last time she had been in a car, let alone been able drive one. Memories flooded her mind of a time before the apocalypse. She checked behind her to see if Heejin was keeping up. She was trailing a couple feet back, but what caught Jungeun’s eye was the zombie heading towards her friend. She rolled her eyes. “Heejin, duck!” Jungeun lazily brought up her rifle, perfectly shooting the zombie in between his eyes. It didn’t take long for Jungeun to get skilled at shooting when zombies were attacking them left and right. Heejin hated guns, she preferred something old fashion like swords. Jungeun thought that was funny, but Heejin is efficient enough to defend herself when she needs to.

It had been two years since their world crumbled. The literal world. Some stupid scientist unleashed a deadly poison in his lab, only for it to be defective and turn him into some sort of zombie. That’s the closest thing to what these creatures seem to be. Jungeun didn’t care to think more of it. 

If it weren’t for Heejin keeping her company, she didn’t think she would have survived a whole year on her own, let alone two. They both lost their families within a short time of the outbreak, and have yet to come across anyone they knew, or anyone who was still living. 

It feels like all they had been doing for the past year is fend for themselves as they walk across the country in hopes to find other living people. Heejin is optimistic, but Jungeun’s hopefulness fades with each passing day. She looks up to see a Welcome to Texas sign. Maybe they can break into some stores for more ammunition and weapons. 

“Do you think we can go on a food run soon?” Heejin rubbed her stomach, neither of them acting like they could hear their stomachs begging to be fed. Jungeun nodded, no longer able to ignore the rumbling of her stomach.

They make it to an abandoned strip mall, scattered cars in the parking lot, building signs dangling about. Jungeun clenched her side piece a bit tighter as Heejin walked ahead of her, rushing through the door to the eerie grocery store. All the fresh produce to their right were far rotten by now, so they headed towards the packaged and canned food aisle. “They’ve got ramen!” Heejin grabbed a bag and tore it open, the crinkling noises were deafening, Jungeun immediately swung her body around to check their surroundings.

“Keep it down!” She whisper yelled to an apologetic looking Heejin, who happily stuffed her face with crunchy, uncooked, ramen noodles. Jungeun scoured the shelves, opting on a can of pineapples. “Come on, we need to head across the street to the gun shop.” 

Heejin stuffed as much ramen packages into her backpack. “Gun shop? I didn’t see any gun shop.” They stepped out of the store and heard a vicious groan coming towards them to their left. Jungeun cocked her gun, but the zombie’s head was already on the ground. She stepped over it as Heejin slid her sword back in her belt. “What shop are you talking about, all I see is a cabin?” 

“There’s gun signs on the side of the cabin. This is Texas, we can at least check it out.” They hurriedly crossed the deserted street, coming close to the entry door. Jungeun signaled with her fingers, which Heejin completely ignored, and pushed open the door noisily. The cabin was empty besides a bunch of haystacks. 

Heejin turned towards Jungeun with an exasperated look covering her features. “Seems like a waste of time-“ A bullet whizzed by them, then two, then a storm of them. Jungeun threw Heejin behind her and started to shoot aimlessly. The shots seemed to be coming from one angle, but there were too many bullets for it to be a normal gun. It was a machine gun.

The shooting abruptly stopped, and a voice rang throughout the cabin. “Hyunjin! What did I tell you about wasting ammo?!” Jungeun and Heejin gave each other bewildered looks. They couldn’t see anyone yet, but they definitely heard voices. Real, living human voices. 

A head popped out from behind a particularly large stack of hay. “Howdy!” A redhead with bangs. Seems untrustworthy, Jungeun thought fleetingly. She felt Heejin shuffle nervously next to her. “Hi?” 

The girl came out from behind her spot, approaching them rather quickly, but she had no weapons. “Sorry, you’ll have to excuse my friend. She’s a bit trigger happy.” There was a loud clanking noise before a voice shouted out.

“Not your friend!” Another slam, and it almost sounded like a door was closing. Jungeun found herself so confused at the scene unraveling before her that she forgot they were in the presence of a living breathing human. 

The redhead seemed to sense their hesitation. “First time in Texas?” She cheerfully asked the two. It was unsettling how normal she was acting when the two of them were just shot at by a faceless gunman. “I’m Jiwoo, and you guys are?” 

Jungeun paused and glanced at Heejin. She drew her gun and pointed it at the redhead. Jiwoo quickly held her hands up. “Who are you? What is this place?” 

“I just told you my name is Jiwoo!” Jungeun cocked her gun, sending the girl on the other end into a panic. “I’d be more inclined to answer your questions if you asked nicely! Not with a gun pointing at me.” Jungeun scrunched her eyebrows at the girl in front of her. She was a cute girl, without a weapon and seemed defenseless enough. She slowly lowered her gun, which was a mistake. 

The next thing she knew, she was pinned to the ground, face in hay with her arm twisted behind her back. She spluttered out and looked up at Heejin holding back a laugh. “What the hell?!”

“Please, never point a gun at me.” She whispered into her ear. Jungeun froze, it sent shivers up her spine. She felt Jiwoo lift off from her back, straightening out her plaid shirt. 

Jungeun dusted herself off. “Alright, lesson learned.” She felt Heejin tugging her close. “What is this place?” She repeated her question. 

Jiwoo reverted back to a fluffy demeanor, sending the two of them a face eating smile. 

What a cute smile.

“The safest place on Earth!”

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hello!! so i decided to post a sneak peek into what ive been working on... please look forward to it! hopefully ill have it up soon :)