It had been two months since Jungeun and Heejin stumbled upon Jiwoo and Hyunjin by chance. They had a pretty good lair, she supposes, flamethrowers and y traps and all set up in this run down barn somewhere in Texas. Jiwoo had welcomed them with open arms, much to Jungeun’s surprise and skepticism. Hyunjin only grumbled and complied, locking herself in what Jungeun later found out was her room in the underground bunker. Heejin was just glad they didn’t have to run anymore.

The bunker was pretty large, having three rooms and an office, along with a spacious living room. Jiwoo told them she had an uncle who was convinced aliens would take over the world someday and had a bunker in his gun shop. Soon after the outbreak, Jiwoo was only left with a stranger she had been stuck with when the news dropped. It was later that she found out that her family and uncle had been gunned down by looters. Just like Heejin, Jiwoo despises guns.

Jiwoo had found safety in the bunker, along with the person she soon came to know as Hyunjin, a random stranger who helped her fend off a rabid man. Together they tore down the gun shop and tidied up the bunker. Her uncle had kept up with stocking food, so they lasted a couple months staying under, waiting to let the chaos above quiet down. It wasn’t until Jungeun and Heejin came along that Jiwoo realized there were still some more people out there who were exposed to danger.

Jungeun creaked open her room door before her eyes glanced over the dimly lit living room. She saw the glow of a computer and heard keyboard clicking noises. The person was facing away from her, but she knew that jet black hair. Hyunjin. It was rare of her to be seen in the living room, let alone outside of her room. Jungeun squinted at the screen, trying to figure out what was on it.

Is that... a drawing of a cat and a bunny?

A door slammed in the distance and she watched as Hyunjin gasped and quickly shut off the computer. Jiwoo mentioned to them that they managed to salvage a nice Apple Mac desktop during one of their Best Buy raids a year ago. It was five in the morning, but just as Jungeun thought, Jiwoo was the culprit behind the loud noise. She quietly shut her door closed and flopped back into her bed.

“Hyunjin! Just the person I wanted to see.” The girl in question looked up at the redhead with a bored expression. She grunted in response to let her continue, pushing herself away from the computer desk to stand intimidatingly in front of Jiwoo, who was unfazed. “Take Heejin with you on a grocery run.” Hyunjin had to refrain from widening her eyes in panic. The girl’s choice of weapon was a sword, no way was she going to let her tag along. Hyunjin told herself that that was the only reason for her increased heart rate.

“Absolutely not.” Jiwoo’s bright smile did not waver at her answer, brightening up even more it seemed like. Hyunjin gave her a menacing stare. “I’ll go alone.”

“Absolutely not!” Jiwoo echoed back, almost teasingly. “Heejin!” The redhead shouted towards her room. A series of loud noises, seeming like items falling, followed before a door abruptly swung open. Heejin’s hair was a mess, still in her pink pajamas and bunny slippers, with a small machete in hand.

“Where’s the threat?!”

Jiwoo clapped gleefully at Heejin’s reaction while Hyunjin rolled her eyes. She had a bugging feeling that she knew just what Jiwoo was up to pairing the two of them together. She was surely going to get Jiwoo back for this eventually. And she knew exactly how.

The grocery store was only across the street, but it always felt like a journey having to sneak over there, slowly as to not attract unwanted attention from the zombies. They were lucky enough to be located near a place where they had access to food, the next grocery store being a few miles down the road, but it was becoming obvious how empty the store was getting from their constant eating over the days. Twice a week, the four of them would share two packs of ramen noodles for dinner. Hyunjin missed the days of eating freshly baked bread from her favorite bakery.

They arrived at the entrance and just as Heejin was about to casually waltz in, she was abruptly pulled back by Hyunjin, who gave her an incredulous look. “Are you insane? Stay behind me.” Heejin, too tired to argue back, slipped behind Hyunjin to watch her back, scoping the parking lot for any straggling zombies. Hyunjin let out an annoyed sigh before raising her gun up.

There just seemed to be an endless supply of ramen boxes in the back storage room, mountains of them that have lasted them for a good chunk of time. Even after Heejin and Jungeun came along, there was still a surprising amount left. They shoved their backpacks with canned fruits and tuna, filled their pockets with dried seaweed packages, and the both of them carried out two 12 pack ramen noodle boxes. This should last them a few months.

Hyunjin doesn’t want to think why, but being out with Heejin made her feel hyperaware of their surroundings. Every noise made her flinch and raise her gun. She noticed Heejin seemed to be struggling with the boxes she was holding, but they were almost back home. Almost back to safety. Until Hyunjin looked behind her to see a zombie coming at them pretty quickly. She dropped her boxes to grab her other gun strapped to her belt, shooting the zombie once in the chest with one and in the head with the other.

After the loud ring of shots fired, a chorus of moans could be heard in the distance. Heejin groaned before picking up her pace, not even sparing a glance at Hyunjin, who kind of expected a thank you for practically saving her. “This is a reason why I don’t use guns. They’re loud and attract more zombies.”

Hyunjin felt the need to defend herself. “But they get the work done quicker!” She listened intently as Heejin scoffed, opening the door to the cabin. They walked down the steps into the bunker in silence and set down the groceries. “We can kill more in a faster time.”

Heejin finally faced her and looked her in the eye. Hyunjin had never felt so, exposed? She was starting to question why she suddenly felt so hot under Heejin’s inquisitive gaze. “You sound exactly like Jungeun.” Hyunjin blinked dumbly as she watched Heejin glide back into her respective room. It made sense, her and Jungeun shared the same interest in weapons, whereas Jiwoo and Heejin had close combat skills and swords in common. Hyunjin found it admirable how they could manage to get some zombie kills from pure strength and swordsmanship.

Looking back on it, Hyunjin was a different person before their world ended. She was happy and content and most of all, peaceful. She wore her heart on her sleeve and was a quiet, soft spoken girl. She guesses the main difference is how she told herself she’d never feel feelings ever again.

Jungeun poked Heejin’s cheek with her chopsticks, squinting curiously at the mindless look on her friend’s face. “What are you thinking about?” She picked at the floating pieces of veggies in her soup, waiting for an answer. It was just the two of them for dinner since Jiwoo was in the living room beating up her punching bag. Hyunjin disappeared into her room for the rest of the day.

“Do you ever think about what everyone’s life was like before everything happened?” Jungeun mulled over her thoughts. She knew Heejin since high school, they were never quite friends, but never just acquaintances either. She was surely curious about Hyunjin and what she was like since she was the equivalent to a mute. The more she thought about it, Jungeun felt like her and Jiwoo would have gotten along in another life.

“Of course.” Heejin looked at her, something unreadable flashing in her eyes. “Do you ever think about where you’d be if nothing happened?” It was Heejin’s turn to ponder. She always thought she would become a singer, but that was definitely useless now. Who was she going to sing to anyway, a zombie?

She pushed away her bowl. “Of course.” Heejin’s eyes trail to a room door and her mind wanders. “Do you think it would be stupid to fall in love?” Jungeun nodded her head after a beat, not noticing where Heejin’s gaze has landed. She was too busy staring into the living room.

“With who, silly? Zombies don’t have feelings, last time I checked.” There was something about the way Jungeun sounded that made Heejin’s ears quirk up in suspicion. She decided not to question it and got up to put away their dishes. She left Jungeun at the dinner table to join Jiwoo for a sparing match.

Jungeun flinched when she heard a noise behind her. “When did you get here?!” It was Hyunjin shuffling through the cabinets for some cereal. All she got was a shrug from her in response, which was a lot coming from her. Jungeun’s attention was derailed from the taller girl to the smacking noise coming from the living room. Jiwoo had Heejin pinned down.

Jiwoo was impressive in combat. Jungeun wondered where she learned to fight like that, maybe from taking lessons? Or something cooler like learning from some master. Or even better, by teaching herself. She wishes she could fight like her instead of hiding behind a weapon. She glanced back at Hyunjin, who was also staring at the two sparing. It was fair to say she had the same impressed look as Jungeun. Hyunjin’s eyes lingered a little longer on Heejin, and Jungeun didn’t know what to think of it, until her mind fleeted back to earlier.

A bunny... and a cat?

————————-

Another month passed by very slowly it felt like. Jungeun had forgotten what it was like to always be on the move. She wasn’t itching to get out there at all and was perfectly happy and content in their little bunker bubble. She was grateful that her and Heejin had finally found a place to stay and found people she could call friends now.

So when she heard motorbike engines rumbling in the distance when they were checking the perimeter of the cabin, she finally remembered that happiness was never a sure thing. That there would eventually be a storm after a seemingly endless amount of quiet, sunny days.

Hyunjin tossed her a rifle and they quickly hid behind a nearby bush. They waited for the motorbikes to roll to a stop in front of the strip mall. There were three bikes, but four people. Four girls, that looked around their age. Jungeun looked to her side and scrunched her eyebrows, asking Hyunjin silently if she knew who these people were. When she received a shrug, Jungeun couldn’t ignore the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She refused to run anymore. Jungeun had found her forever home here. She hoped those girls were just passing through, that they wouldn’t notice the cabin at all.

From Hyunjin and Jungeun’s view, they could see how two of them had bright, blonde hair while the other two had jet black hair. They didn’t look friendly at all. “What do we do?!” Jungeun whispered nervously, immediately being shushed by Hyunjin. The strangers stood around for what felt like ages when really it was just five minutes.

Something caught Jungeun’s eye, the dark haired girls were packing. Two revolvers for each of them, hanging on their belts. She panicked when Hyunjin aimed her gun, quickly shoving the barrel down before she could send a shot out. The taller girl gave her an exasperated look. Jungeun gestured to the guns the girls had, Hyunjin slowly realizing the threat. They had two options here: come out from behind the bush guns blazing or wait. Jungeun voted for the latter, Hyunjin obviously choosing the former.

But their options were taken from them the minute Jiwoo strolled out of the cabin, Heejin in tow. Jungeun’s eyes widened like saucers, frantically waving her arms to grab their attention, but to no avail. She even felt Hyunjin tense up next to her. Jiwoo was busy animatedly talking to Heejin that she didn’t notice the four set of stranger’s eyes on her, until Heejin abruptly grabbed her arm. “What’s your deal?!” Heejin gestured towards the group. Jiwoo followed her line of sight and squinted at the tall, dark haired girl in particular. “Sooyoung, is that you?” The taller blonde murmured under her breath as she crossed her arms and looked away. It was almost like she was annoyed, maybe even jealous?

“Jiwoo.” The curt response was met by a frown. Heejin cowered behind the redhead, who had her arms crossed. She was so confused on how Jiwoo knew these people, and it didn’t help that she hasn’t had this much human interaction in months. “I don’t suppose this is your place?”

There was a chorus of groans coming down the street, no one flinched, but the smaller blonde lifted her gun (equipped with a silencer) and placed perfect shots through the zombies heads. “Who are your little friends?” Jiwoo was back to having a smile on her face, an overly friendly one that even weirded out Heejin.

Sooyoung lazily gestured behind her. “Hyejoo and Chaewon. We found them in Miami.” Jiwoo’s eyes widened, nodding impressively. The conversation came to a halt and the air around them returned to being stiff. Heejin noticed Jiwoo avoiding all eye contact with the taller blonde looming behind Sooyoung. “We were wondering if we could stay for a couple of days.”

Jiwoo had a blank look on her face, but it looked a bit fake, like she was trying to act clueless. “Who said this was my place?” Sooyoung abruptly turned around to face the tall blonde with an incredulous look. They broke out into a hushed argument, their friends looking disinterested and tired. Heejin felt suffocated from the tension, squeezing Jiwoo’s arm to let her know that she was still there. The redhead didn’t budge, eyes super glued to Sooyoung.

Heejin sighed as her eyes wandered around the grounds. She totally forgot that they came out here to see what was taking Jungeun and Hyunjin so long. That’s when she spotted them. Jungeun was frantically waving for her attention while Hyunjin bore her eyes into Heejin. How long had they been there?

Sooyoung finally turned back around. “Is it really not your place?” She asked naively with a hint of a whine, making Jiwoo grin widely. The look on the taller girl’s face disappeared. “Come on, please let us stay.” Just as she was about to answer, Hyunjin came barreling out from behind the bushes dragging Jungeun along with her.

The sudden appearance of two new humans caught the group of bikers off guard. “Excuse me, who are you?” The impatience was written all over Sooyoung’s face. She just wanted to rest in a safe place before heading out on a long journey west. Hyunjin didn’t speak, she only cocked her gun and raised it up to point it directly at the girl. As soon as the gun was up, Jiwoo quickly shoved it away.

“Don’t mind her. You guys can obviously stay.”
There it was again, Heejin thought, Jiwoo’s fake smile. She had never seen the girl act so weird, besides from her weekly ritual of getting high off weed. What was it about this girl that had Jiwoo so, willing? She was not about to give up her room for some strangers. Heejin felt a hand wrap around her wrist. She looked up, expecting it to be Jungeun, but it wasn’t.

Jiwoo had stepped away from her, but now she was getting swung behind Hyunjin in an almost protective manner. “Don’t pull anything funny, or else I will unleash her.” Hyunjin was emotionless while Jiwoo pointed back at her. She felt a hand grip her arm, this time it was actually Jungeun. Heejin could tell she was confused and worried. It was going to be an interesting next couple of days.

Hyunjin stared blankly at Heejin as she stood by her room door. She was cleaning her machine gun, which she shoved away as soon as she noticed her, almost out of shame, but Heejin paid no attention as she plopped onto the bed. Hyunjin stiffened, staring carefully now at Heejin’s bunny slippers.

“ that I have to room with you now.”

Hyunjin gave no response. Instead, she got up from her desk and locked herself in the bathroom. That room was the only one in the bunker with a private bathroom, Hyunjin remembers having to duel Jiwoo for it. Hyunjin lost, but Jiwoo felt bad and let her have it anyway. She held onto the sides of the sink and exhaled deeply. She never thought she’d have to feel like this ever again. Feel real feelings.

She slowly grasped the door handle and peeked her head through the opening. Heejin was gone, but there was a loud thump coming from the living room. Hyunjin stepped outside her room for a second to see what was going on, only to find Jiwoo and Sooyoung sparring. It looked half playful, half serious, she wasn’t too sure. Her eyes wandered around at the strangers, the blondes were whispering off to the side and the black haired girl who wasn’t Sooyoung was staring straight back at her. Hyunjin was unfazed.

Jiwoo had Sooyoung pinned to the ground, a weird tension growing around them. Hyunjin chanced a glance towards Jungeun, who looked like she ate a can of expired tuna. It was obvious that those two had history even Hyunjin was unaware of. They must have met before the outbreak, Hyunjin thinks. Her mind flitters through the possibility of running into people she once knew. But before she could think long and hard about it, her attention turned towards the kitchen. She spotted Heejin reaching for her favorite cereal that she knew was nearly gone. Hyunjin had to do something, but she was frozen in place.

Now that she thought about, she didn’t know how an added four people would bode well with their lack of food. It was hardly enough for Hyunjin and Jiwoo in the beginning, when their bodies weren’t used to eating so little. But after enough time passed, she missed her bakery bread less and less. Guess it was time for another trip to the grocery store.

Jungeun sat on her bed hugging her pillow as she watched Jiwoo pace back and forth. “Is something... wrong?” She doesn’t think Jiwoo’s heard her until moments later. Jiwoo stops pacing abruptly and glares at Jungeun. All she gets is a huff from the redhead, and then she continues to pace back and forth. All Jungeun can do is roll her eyes and fall back onto the bed.

Jiwoo flies onto the bed some seconds later, flopping her body right next to Jungeun’s. “It’s Sooyoung.” She hums along to indicate that she’s listening. “I knew her in high school. And I met Jinsol in college.”

“That explains the stiff atmosphere.” Jungeun mumbled under her breath, Jiwoo not hearing a word. The redhead propped herself up with her arm and looked down towards Jungeun. They were awfully close.

Jungeun let out a nervous laugh and shifted her body back. Of course, Jiwoo was unfazed. “I fell out of touch with them way before the outbreak.” She realized Jiwoo was an open book when it came to her past. The redhead would constantly be telling stories about her life before the apocalypse. As the weeks dragged on, Jungeun could feel herself slowly starting to let go of her past life.

“Jiwoo?” Jungeun turned around to notice that the girl in question was fast asleep, snoring even. I was just talking to her, how did she fall asleep so quickly? She thought, smiling softly at Jiwoo’s look of serenity. Jungeun never felt that peace while sleeping until her and Heejin got to the bunker. They were always on edge, on the look out, only sleeping when the other was there to stand guard. “Sweet dreams.”

She flopped over to the bedside table and switched off the lights, darkening the room instantly. The cons of living underground, no windows. Right before Jungeun entered her dreamscape, she heard a door slamming shut. Must be one of the new girls, she thought before dozing off.

Heejin cringed as soon as she realized that Hyunjin was already snuggled in her bed, hoping the noise wouldn’t wake her. It didn’t, but Hyunjin tossed around and mumbled something incoherent. The lights were still on, weird, how could she sleep with all this brightness? Heejin quickly examined her distance from the light switch to the bed. She slapped the lights off and creeped through the room, trying hard not to run into things laying around.

Just when she thought she made it, she tripped over a small, but spiky, object. Heejin held in her squeal, falling over the side of the bed and on top of another body. She froze. Hyunjin grunted, abruptly awaking at the sudden weight on her. “Um...”

Heejin was thankful that it was pitch black in the room or else Hyunjin would have noticed her face turning as red as the Maserati convertible her and Jungeun once pretended to drive around in during their earlier times. “Sorry, I fell in the dark.” Their was a pause, and a short but fleeting chuckle. Heejin swore she saw an outline of a smile on Hyunjin’s face. That would’ve been the first time she has ever seen her face contort into a different emotion other than the usual displeased look.

“Are you getting off me anytime soon?” Heejin quickly scrambled off, facing the wall and shutting her eyes tight, willing away the utter embarrassment she felt. She heard a yawn from the other girl, her heart thumped. “By the way, did you finish the Cheerios?”

Heejin froze again, because yes, she did indeed finish the Cheerios but why did Hyunjin care?

“They’re my favorite.”

Oh.

Jungeun yawned and rubbed her eyes while Heejin flinched awake from Jiwoo’s loud clap. “Alright, listen up!” Hyunjin leaned against the wall, eyeing the new girls who sat on the couch looking disinterested. She can take the little blonde one, she thinks shortly before another loud clap.

“Heejin and Jungeun, show them to the store across the street for some food.” The redhead paused and swiveled around, squinting specifically at the two girls she didn’t really know. “You and you, go with.”

Chaewon and Hyejoo didn’t protest, but Hyunjin caught Jinsol rolling her eyes and whispering something quick to Sooyoung, who had her eyes trained on Jiwoo. Why is the vibe so... weird? Hyunjin just wanted to lock herself in her room all day, but she couldn’t do that now that she shared a room with Heejin for an unknown period of time. Maybe she could steal some computer time if there was no one hanging around the living room.

“Just shout if you need us!” Jiwoo joked as the four girls walked up the stairs to the entrance of the bunker. Jungeun took lead with Heejin in the way back, the two strangers in between them. It was completely quiet as they walked through the cabin. Neither of them spoke a word to each other since meeting the day before, but no one was rushing to say anything.

They casually crossed the street, no zombies in sight for the moment. Maybe they didn’t need to use their weapons today. The four of them reached the parking lot when one of the new girls spoke up, the dark haired one. “Where are you guys from?”

Heejin glanced up at Jungeun, who was looking right back at her. “New York.” They reached the entrance of the grocery store, Jungeun spreading her arms to hold everyone back while she scanned the inside of the building.

“Long way from home.” Hyejoo, was it? Her voice was monotone, but her questions showed that she was a little bit curious about them.

They stepped over the trashed threshold of the store and started scouring for leftover food packages and canned fruit. Jungeun whipped her head around when she heard a giggle, only for it to be coming from the quiet blonde. She was holding up a bottle of alcohol.

Heejin glanced back and forth, a bit nervous at the unsettling grin on Chaewon’s face. “I’ll be taking this.” Her light voice flittered through the silent atmosphere. Heejin spotted Jungeun pursing her lips; she definitely wanted to say something. But the moment passes and they move on to finding real food.

Heejin walks around the corner into a new aisle, her eyes lighting up at all the cereal boxes. She was surprised that there was a sufficient amount left, judging by how much Jiwoo and Hyunjin seem to eat and love their breakfast foods. Hyunjin’s cereal, the thought crossed Heejin’s mind.

There were a lot of Cocoa Puffs and Honey Oats, but only a few boxes left of Cheerios. Hyunjin must really like it for them to be nearly out like this. She quickly walks up to grab a box when another hand grasps at it. “What the hell?” She hears the same light voice drifting through the air. “I want it.”

Heejin was taken aback, retracting her hand like the box had burn her. “Excuse me?” The blonde girl’s face warped into a challenging look. “These are for Hyunjin.” There was a little twinkle in Chaewon’s eyes at the mention of that.

Her giggle was girly and teasing. “Your girlfriend?” Heejin froze, Chaewon taking advantage of the moment and snatching the box from her. She was ten steps down the aisle when a rush came over Heejin. It was all a blur, one second she was gaping at the blonde girl and her audacity, then she was tackling her to the ground.

Jungeun hummed the tune of a song she listened to all the time before her music player broke. Rounding the corner after another scarce aisle, she sees an appalling sight. Hyejoo was bent over trying her hardest to pull Chaewon off of... Heejin?!

She rushed forward and gathered Heejin in her arms while Hyejoo calmed down a distraught Chaewon. “Are you okay?!” She took a second to send a death glare at the small blonde before averting her eyes back at Heejin’s bleeding lip. “What happened?” The younger girl smirked, then flinched at the pain. She unraveled her arms, revealing a box of Cheerios held tight to her chest.

Jiwoo frowned at the sight of the four girls stomping down the bunker stairs. She gasped at Heejin’s face, immediately coming towards her to assess the damage. “Did a zombie get you?!”

Heejin laughed out loud, throwing a look at Chaewon, who had her face upturned and was sporting a pouty look. “You can say that.” The blonde let out a small gasp before Hyejoo shoved her into their room, thankfully avoiding another blow up. She didn’t know what came over her, she just really wanted to get Hyunjin her favorite cereal.

Chaewon’s words rang in her head, girlfriend girlfriend girlfriend. Why would she say something like that? It’s not like they were an item, or anything near that for that matter. What did she know?

“Where’s Hyunjin?” Heejin said absentmindedly, head still full of thoughts on what transpired earlier. Jiwoo pointed towards Hyunjin’s room. Of course, she should have known, she was always in her bedroom.

She softly knocked on the door once before slowly creaking it open. Heejin shuffled her way in, noticing Hyunjin sitting on the bed sketching something in a small notepad. “Hey.” Hyunjin flinched, slapping her notepad close and moving off the bed to shove it away in her nightstand drawer. Heejin furrowed her brows, but decided to question all of that later. She tosses the crumpled up box of Cheerios onto the bed, in front of Hyunjin.

There was a long pause. “What happened to it?” Heejin lets out a noise that sounds like a scream and groan mixed together, falling backwards onto the bed. Hyunjin cautiously picked up the box, opening it up to examine the contents inside for any damages. Amazingly, the Cheerios seemed to still be intact.

“Thanks?”

It was a thoughtful gesture, but why did Heejin care to get Hyunjin her favorite cereal? Before she could even consider asking such a question out loud, she heard light snoring. She stared at Heejin’s soft and peaceful face, so flawless, Hyunjin thought. She reached back into the nightstand drawer to grab her notepad. She took one last look, engraining it in memory before she switched the lights off and walked out of the room.

“I don’t trust that Chaewon girl.” Jungeun muttered under her breath, fidgeting with the bed sheets while she watched Jiwoo pace. This seemed to be a daily occurrence lately, Jungeun wonders if Jiwoo was out of weed. “You know she’s the one who busted Heejin’s lip.”

Jiwoo’s pacing paused momentarily before resuming, no words coming out of and a concentrated look on her face. Jungeun sat up against the bed frame. She crossed her arms and spoke up. “What’s up with you?”

Her pacing slightly intensified, driving Jungeun mad. She was getting dizzy just from watching the redhead. She was relieved when it finally stopped, Jiwoo sprawled out on the bed instead. “Sooyoung invited me to come with her.” Jungeun froze, a wave of several different emotions coming over her. One was most apparent though, confusion.

“Come with her to where?” Jiwoo seated herself next to Jungeun against the bed frame, their shoulders touching. She was looking down at her hands, an expression on her face Jungeun has never once seen. Sadness. “What’s wrong?”

Jiwoo sighs before finally looking into Jungeun’s eyes. She ignored the fast beat of her heart when Jiwoo opened to reply. “To California.” She didn’t know what she was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t that. What did this mean for the bunker? The others, Heejin and Hyunjin? Jungeun sighed internally. The two of them?

“Oh.”

Hyunjin sat at the kitchen table sketching on her notepad. A cat, a bunny, a penguin, an owl. There was an empty bowl of happily eaten cereal in front of her. She thought about Heejin’s bloody lip and the crumpled box of Cheerios. What even happened?

A door to one of the rooms opened and Hyunjin shoved her notepad away for what seemed like the billionth time that day. She pretended to play with the spoon she had eaten with, watching the unfamiliar figure move towards her. The sound of a chair scraping the floor caused Hyunjin to lift her head. Hyejoo was staring right back at her, gaze unwavering. Hyunjin challenged the same energy right back at her, but with her arms crossed.

Most things never surprised Hyunjin, or threw her off guard really, but what came next definitely did. “Your girlfriend needs to calm down before she really gets herself hurt.” Her tone wasn’t threatening, but there was an unsettling vibe to it that Hyunjin quite couldn’t put her finger on. She was so busy being taken aback that she almost didn’t catch the mistake in Hyejoo’s words.

“Girlfriend?”

The younger girl stood back up, leaning her hands against the table. “She is your girlfriend, right?” Hyunjin was totally lost, but she couldn’t even voice out her confusion. Hyejoo was gone before her questions could come out of . Whatever that was, it solidified her dislike for the new girls. All they did was take up precious space in their special bunker. Hopefully they were leaving really soon.

Jiwoo dramatically pulled off a tarp, revealing a mini van that seemed to be in relatively good condition. Hyunjin gaped from across the room, how was she hiding this vehicle all this time?! Jiwoo squealed before hopping inside, turning the engine on, the van spluttering to life. “Still works like a charm!” Hyunjin glanced to her left, locking eyes with Jungeun who seemed equally as surprised. She stayed behind, watching as Jungeun approached Jiwoo in the front seat of the van.

“Are you really going to go with them?” Jungeun mumbled through the window, not making any eye contact. She could already tell Jiwoo was pouting. A beat, another beat. She felt a hand softly cupping her cheek.

“I decided that I’m only going to drop them off in California.”

Jungeun had forgotten to ask. “What’s so important in California?” It wasn’t that far from Texas, but it would at least take Jiwoo two weeks for the whole round trip. And she would be all alone on the way back. “Let me come with you.”

Jiwoo tapped her chin, breaking into a smile. “You can ride in the trunk!” Jungeun swatted at the girl, stepping away from the van after hearing an unfamiliar voice shouting towards them. She resisted rolling her eyes when she noticed Sooyoung sauntering over. She watched uncomfortably while the taller girl whispered something in Jiwoo’s ear that made her blush.

“Get the van started.” Sooyoung disappeared in the distance, assuming she went to grab the other members of her little group. Jungeun kicked at a rock, a million thoughts running through her head. She was worried about the three of them holding the fort down while Jiwoo’s gone, but she was most worried about the dangers on the way back home. Jungeun wasn’t going to risk it.

“I’m coming with, Jiwoo. I don’t care if the others say no.” Something flickered in the redhead’s eyes, but it left just as fast as it came. Jungeun surely missed it. “Now, what’s in California?”

When the outbreak started and Jungeun found herself fending for her life, the light at the end of the tunnel was nonexistent. But right now, she can happily say that she has reached the light at the end of the tunnel. The sight before her was glorious. A twenty foot high barricade surrounding a large college campus that looked untouched by the apocalypse. This was it. This was the end, the last stop. The last stop for people seeking a forever home.

“That’ll be hundred bucks!” Jungeun heard Jiwoo shout after Sooyoung the second they hopped out of the van. They were parked in front of the entrance, awaiting further instructions. Jungeun was curious, but she remained seated in the van.

Sooyoung rounded the van and up to the rolled down window on the driver’s side. “Fat chance.” She grabbed Jiwoo’s hand and shook it. Jungeun supposes that’s all the thanks they will get, until Jiwoo opens up her hand. It was a crinkly dollar bill, they havent seen one of those in a while.

“What am I supposed to do with this?!” Jiwoo exclaimed. Sooyoung threw her a wink and walked away to meet up with the others. Jungeun watched as they were let into the campus. The big garage-like door shut close after them and then they were all alone in the van. A beat passed by before Jungeun turned towards Jiwoo, an expectant look on her face.

“How come we didn’t go in with them?” Jungeun mumbled her next words. “It looks like the safest place for us.” Her words caused Jiwoo to whip her head around, a scowl on her face. “... What? It does.”

Jiwoo pouted, crossing her arms and looking away like a sulking child. Jungeun had no idea why she was acting like that when she was just speaking facts. “The bunker is the safest place for us.” She started up the van and rolled out of the parking lot. The next couple of hours was buried in silence, making Jungeun sleepy. They were still a while away from home. She hoped Heejin and Hyunjin were safe back at the bunker.

A week had passed, Heejin assumed Jungeun and Jiwoo have successfully dropped the troublesome group off to wherever they wanted to go. The bunker was awfully quiet and she finally had her room back. She doesn’t think she’s seen Hyunjin in a couple days actually.

Hyunjin was up above in the cabin fixing her old y traps from a couple months ago. It was a hobby of hers even though she knew no one would come into the cabin (except for Heejin and Jungeun, she guesses). Zombies were too dumb to open big wooden doors, apparently.

So when the cabin doors bust open, revealing a group of unfamiliar girls, Hyunjin hid behind a stack of hay. This was all too familiar. It was dark out and Hyunjin didn’t have her machine gun set up, or have her ankle gun strapped. Was the bunker door closed?!

She watched as they helped a young girl settle onto the ground, her leg was bleeding and staining her clothes. Hyunjin squinted even harder. “Oh crap, what are we going to do?!” She heard one of them, a short haired girl, exclaim worriedly. The girl next to her shushed her quietly, worry flooding her eyes too. There was a smaller girl laying with the injured one, she spoke to her.

“Yerim, how much does it hurt?”

And like clockwork, the bunker door opened. Great, Hyunjin thought, impeccable timing as always. She walked out from behind the hay with her hands up, in a show of surrender while the group of girls screamed in surprise. She rolled her eyes at Heejin screaming along. “This is our place, what do you think you’re doing in here?”

The short haired girl approached her, obvious distress shining in her eyes. “Our friend is hurt, can you please help us?” Hyunjin held her gaze, watching this stranger in front of her crumble. She ignored the pang in her heart and directed her gaze towards the girl in question. Hyunjin looked at her carefully, something about her seemed...

“Hyunjin!” Heejin was now whispering in her ear. “We have to help them.” She moved to face Heejin, examining the look on her face. It probably wasn’t the best time, but Hyunjin took a moment. Heejin’s soft features, eyebrows etched in worry. The pang in her heart from earlier turned into a comfortable thump, but she didn’t ignore the feeling. Heejin was a way better person than her.

Hyunjin doesn’t think she’ll ever deserve a kind person like Heejin.

“Whatever.” She brushed past Heejin and headed down into the bunker.

The four of them managed to bring down the injured girl into the safety of the bunker and onto the living room floor. Heejin rushed to grab a spare towel to wrap around the still bleeding leg. She looked around for Hyunjin and found her room door shut. So much for help.

She thought about how she just invited a group of strangers into their secret lair, not to mention a very injured girl who might have been bit by a zombie, but Heejin didn’t want to assume the worst. Action first, questions later. Jiwoo will understand, right?

“What happened?”

The short haired girl let out a long sigh, falling onto the floor. The exhaustion was etched in all their faces. “We ran into some zombies and she got caught in some machinery.” It was then that Heejin realized none of the girls had weapons on them. How were they getting around out there with nothing to protect them?!

Before she can ask, the injured girl groans awake. “Where are we?” She pulls herself up to sit, but falls back onto her elbows. The small friend flocks towards her to help while the older girls worry about her leg.

“We’re in Texas, Yerim.”

Heejin walked over to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and handed it to the short haired girl. “I’m Haseul, by the way.” She pointed to the small girl. “That’s Yeojin, and this is Vivi.” Heejin wondered what they were doing wandering around at this time of night. Where were they headed? Where were they from?

It was like Haseul read her mind. “We came from California. We were heading back east when we ran into some problems.” She gestured towards Yerim, who smiled sadly. “On top of that, our weapons were stolen by looters.”

So they did have a means of protection. She was really about to believe these girls were some type of witches to have gotten across multiple states without anything to fend off zombies. Heejin wishes she had superpowers to defeat zombies easily, or better yet, a cure that can bring them back to being humans. But that was just farfetched.

Heejin realized she was being awfully quiet when Haseul spoke up again. “Thanks for taking us in.” It was then that the group of strangers started to look around the bunker. “What are we in exactly?”

Heejin smiled faintly. “The safest place on Earth.”

The van was parked discreetly behind a set of trees. It was dark out and neither of them had the energy to drive, so they decided to rest for a couple hours, and the coast seemed clear enough of zombies. They were finally near the border of Texas. New Mexico felt like forever driving through.

Jungeun worried over how Heejin was doing, and what Hyunjin was up to. They must be bored out of their minds, like she was right now. Jiwoo had been in a mood ever since they dropped off the others, so they barely spoke even though they were stuck with each other. She looked over the center console, sneaking a peek at Jiwoo. Her eyes were closed and her arms crossed.

She felt like she knew Jiwoo, but deep down, she didn’t at all. She was a confusing puzzle, hard to figure out at times. Jungeun wondered if she was like this even before the outbreak. She thinks she was relatively the same before. Come to think of it, the apocalypse didn’t really change much about Jungeun herself, just her circumstances.

“I can feel you staring at me.” Jungeun immediately looked away, face burning. Jiwoo opened her eyes and stretched her arms. “Is it time to go now?”

Jungeun can only nod as she looked out the window. Behind the trees, there was a donut shop. They were in a very small town, away from all the deserts. This was the first time they’ve encountered trees through their drive in this state. The van rumbled alive and Jiwoo backed out onto the road. The hardest part about driving was all the debris that got in the way, especially on the main highways.

Ten minutes out, and Jungeun’s ears perked. “Jiwoo, what was that?” She stepped on the brakes and came to a slow stop, rolling her window down. Surrounding their sides was a large, dark forest now. Only a couple more hours until daylight, Jungeun thought, but it was still pitch black outside. The noise Jungeun heard only increased, a mixture between screeching and groaning. Her heart stopped, panic pumping through her.

“Step on the gas, right now!” Jiwoo obeyed and now they were speeding across the road. Jungeun took a deep breathe and turned around in her seat to look out the window at the back of the van. Her fears were confirmed. A group of zombies were chasing after them at a very impressive speed. She squinted for a closer look, only the light of the van illuminating them. They didn’t look like the usual zombies Jungeun had come across in the past.

The van turned harshly around a corner and onto the highway, losing the group of zombies in the process. “What were those?!” Jiwoo exclaimed, panic obvious in her voice. She continued speeding until they were well away from the town. Jungeun let go of her grip on the chicken handle.

“I have no idea.”

Jungeun could almost kiss the ground when they finally parked the van behind their cabin. It was now morning and she couldn’t wait to see the others, and knock out on her own bed with no zombie to interrupt her beauty sleep. But apparently, even that was too good to be true. She walked down the steps of the bunker, it was extremely quiet, quieter than usual. Jiwoo ran down past her, flying into her own room.

She slumped towards the door to her room, but before she could open it, she heard Jiwoo scream. The door to her own room swung open, revealing Heejin who jumped in surprise at Jungeun’s presence. Her eyes were wide, staring back at Heejin’s squirrelly behavior and back towards Jiwoo’s room. She narrowed her eyes at Heejin, immediately sensing something was up. She pushed her door open wider, much to Heejin’s protest. On her bed, laid a complete stranger, fast asleep even among all this chaos.

Jiwoo’s screams seemed to get closer. “Jeon Heejin! Who the hell are these people?!” Heejin grimaced, knowing she lost her chance to explain the situation before they entered the bunker. Her screams died down when she noticed Yerim laying on the bed, her leg wrapped up in gauze, elevated on a pillow.

“They needed our help.” Heejin nervously offered to justify herself. Jiwoo let out a long sigh, the stress of the road trip was getting to her. Jungeun just stood at the foot of the bed, staring curiously at the sleeping girl. Her face was covered by her arms, but something felt eerily familiar.

Jiwoo glanced at the injured girl and frowned. “Bring your new friends out of my room, and we can all have a proper talk about this.” With that, she stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut louder than expected. Heejin didn’t get it, why did she allow Sooyoung and her group of friends inside the bunker, but not this sweet group of girls who needed their help? Okay, maybe she understood where Jiwoo was coming from...

Heejin finally laid her eyes on Jungeun, who was still staring intently at the injured girl. “Sorry, we had to steal your room.” The girl finally shifted around on the bed, the noise finally getting to her. Jungeun let out a soft gasp the moment she saw the girl’s face. She rushed to the side of the bed, gripping the stranger’s shoulders, shaking her awake. Heejin furrowed her eyebrows.

“Yerim?! Is that really you?!” The girl in question finally opened her eyes, rubbing away the sleep and coughing to clear from all the dust in the air. She squinted at Jungeun. Slowly, her eyes widened.

“Jungeun?!”

Heejin looked on, confusion swirling around in her head. “Wait, you two know each other?” This was unheard of really, Heejin and Jungeun were sure they would never run into anyone they knew from their previous life. Especially not in a different state.

Yerim wrapped Jungeun up in a big hug. She noticed tears well up in Jungeun’s eyes and it was never a sight that Heejin got used to. The older girl has only cried twice in her presence during the years they have known each other. Her heart clenched while she watched the tears fall down Jungeun’s cheeks.

“She’s my cousin.”

Jiwoo tapped her fingers on the dinner table. No one was showing up, but granted only five minutes had passed since she blew up on Heejin. She let out a sigh, covering her face with her hands. These past few weeks have been too much on her, and she was silently worrying and stressing over it. And she was taking it out on Jungeun. She groaned into her hands. She was messing everything up.

Speaking of the devil, Jungeun was coming towards her, eyes red from crying? Jiwoo stood up, worry etched into her eyebrows. She waited until Jungeun spoke up, but all she got was a hug from a now weeping Jungeun. Jiwoo froze at first from the sudden human to human contact, but finally melted into it, wrapping her arms around Jungeun. She hoped Jungeun couldn’t hear the loud thumping of her heart.

She shook her head at thinking so selfishly about her feelings when Jungeun was obviously so upset about something that she actually sought physical comfort, which was out of the ordinary. Jungeun was pretty much second in line in the tsundere category, right after Hyunjin. Jiwoo knew these two felt feelings really hard, but refused to embrace them because they were afraid of getting hurt. But Jiwoo was never one to pry if it made them uncomfortable. All on their own time, she thought to herself.

Jungeun’s sobs finally turned into soft sniffles. “That girl in there is my cousin.” Jiwoo refrained from gasping at the surprising information. Jungeun had fleetingly mentioned to her a while ago how she came to accept the fact that no one in her family was alive. “My cousin, Jiwoo. And she’s here!” There was a tinge of excitement in her tone now, and it made Jiwoo’s heart swell.

Jiwoo knew deep down that Heejin did the right thing, something she herself would have done if she were here when it happened. And look what happened, Heejin unknowingly brought in and saved Jungeun’s relative. Maybe just this once, she could let Heejin off the hook for bringing in a group of strangers.

Hyunjin flinched when her room door swung open. Jiwoo quickly shut it behind her. She blankly stared while Jiwoo paced around. How many times is she going to be interrupted while she’s sketching? Good to know Jiwoo and Jungeun are finally back though.

“Where were you when Heejin brought in these girls?” Jiwoo finally asked, stopping her pacing to stare down at Hyunjin. Her hands were on her hips and she tried not to laugh at the redhead.

“Here?”

Jiwoo narrowed her eyes, unamused at Hyunjin acting aloof. She gave up the stern act and plopped onto the bed instead. “Turns out, the injured girl is Jungeun’s cousin.” Hyunjin raised her eyebrow, showing slight interest on the outside when in reality, her mind was buzzing. Cousin?! What are the chances of that?

Jiwoo patted the bed and got up, throwing a comment over her shoulder as she walked out of the room. “Heejin’s rooming with you again while we get all of this sorted.” Hyunjin pursed her lips. Great, just when she thought she could avoid Heejin forever. She looked down at her sketchpad, a new drawing of an owl with a penguin. It was amusing watching those two skirt around their obvious feelings. It distracted her from the ever looming feeling of her own pull towards Heejin.

She tore out the page and folded it up. It was time to kickstart her own payback after Jiwoo’s slight but noticeable ways of getting her to bond with Heejin. Two can play at this game, Hyunjin chuckled to herself.

There was no pacing tonight. Something felt different, Jungeun thought, other than the obvious. Her emotions were all over the place and the weird atmosphere in the room didn’t help. She was back to rooming with Jiwoo for the time being, while her cousin and her friends took up the other rooms. She looked to her left, watching as Jiwoo scribbled something in a notepad. There were words, a poem? Maybe even lyrics?

“Again with the staring?” Jiwoo teased, blush immediately creeping up Jungeun’s face, but this time she didn’t turn away. She took a closer look and read what she had written.

Jungeun stop staring.

Oh. Now she was turning away, but only out of pure embarrassment. Jiwoo’s cackle vibrated the room, intensifying her blush, as if that was even possible.

Her laughter died down and she let out a peaceful sigh. “You’re so cute.” Jiwoo mumbled, gaining back Jungeun’s attention. Their eyes locked and the room felt boiling. Granted, the bunker almost always felt over a hundred degrees on a good day. She lifted her hand, hovering it over Jungeun’s face for a second before cupping her cheek softly.

For the first time in what felt like forever, Jungeun felt a sense of hope bubble within her chest. Hope for the future, hope for her friends, hope for them. She saw a twinkle in Jiwoo’s eyes and she knew deep down that there was something special. From the moment of their first encounter and up until now.

Hyunjin knew her days after the outbreak would end up repetitive, but she never thought it would be that repetitive. The boredom of a post apocalyptic world was getting to her, sure, but maybe she craved for things to be shaken up. Shooting at zombies gave her a thrill, but she supposes doing that posed more of a risk than anything. Hanging out with the others was also out of the question.

For someone who avoids interactions with humans, she sure interacts with a fair share of humans. One in particular, though, the one who was staring at her right this second.

“I don’t think you’ve left this room in the past week.” Heejin had her arms crossed, standing at the foot of the bed, where Hyunjin was currently lounging on. Today, her sketchpad was securely shoved away in her nightstand. Instead, she was spending her day reading a book.

“And so what if I haven’t?”

Heejin narrowed her eyes and Hyunjin could tell the other girl wanted to scoff. “We have guests.” She announced as if Hyunjin wasn’t the first to see them. And like she should care that they were there.

“What’s that got to do with me leaving my room?” Usually, Hyunjin wouldn’t bother talking back, but she felt something tugging at her. The need to let out some sort of emotion, be it anger or annoyance. Maybe she was too cooped up in her room...

Heejin was great at challenging Hyunjin, she never really shied away from it, even in the beginning. “It won’t hurt to come out every once in a while and... I don’t know? Just say hello, or something?” Hyunjin gave her a weird look, furrowing her brows in deep thought.

She did think about it from time to time, if she really was mute like the others perceived her to be. Hyunjin didn’t think she was, she just never really had much to say about most things. Even before the outbreak, she was an introvert, and mostly kept to herself aside from a few friends. She heard Heejin sigh before slumping her shoulders in defeat. Was she really that frustrating to others?

“The least you could do is properly meet Jungeun’s cousin.” Hyunjin did feel the need to do that eventually, but her bed seemed more inviting. She could only watch as Heejin walked out of the room, the door closing behind her.

Hyunjin closed her book and thought for a second, only a second, before getting up from her bed. Maybe today was the day to break the cycle. She reached the living room and realized no one was around, or they were at least in their rooms. She shuffled along the doors of the other rooms, debating which one to enter first.

She turned the knob quietly, pushing the door open. The first thing she notices is Jungeun passed out on a chair next to the bed, and her cousin laying on the bed, wide awake. The girl was staring right at Hyunjin as she cautiously walked in. Here it goes, Hyunjin thought.

“—Hyunjin?”

Hyunjin furrowed her eyebrows, confusion running through her head. Did Jungeun mention her? Her words were locked in . The injured girl let out a soft chuckle, probably aware of Hyunjin’s confusion. She took a closer look at the girl, her initial thoughts coming back to her from the night they broke into the cabin. She really did seem awfully familiar.

“It’s obvious you don’t remember me, we were really young when we met.” The confusion only grew, silencing Hyunjin even further. All she wanted to do was say hello, but she gets all of this thrown at her? Where did they know each other from?

“I wasn’t so sure it was you either.” She mentioned, pushing herself up into a sitting position. “Until I got a better look at you.” Jungeun stirred at the sound of their voices. Hyunjin looked around for a chair to sit on, but it seems like Jungeun took the only one. She opted to stay standing instead of sitting on the bed, that seemed too personal.

Yerim realized Hyunjin wasn’t going to speak anytime soon, so she furthered her explanation. “Our parents dated, remember?”

Her words triggered a sense of nostalgia, activating a deep memory Hyunjin didn’t even remember having. As a child, she lived in New York for a very short period of time. She never thought much of it, she was only in the third grade, but it felt like a vacation to her. Her mom introduced her to a man, who wasn’t her father, and the three of them lived together while they were there. Occasionally, a girl a couple years younger would come around the house to hang out with her.

Hyunjin slowly put the pieces together, widening her eyes ever so slightly as she finally realized who the girl in front of her was. “Choi Yerim, is that really you?!”

A wide smile broke out on Yerim’s face. She spread her arms out. “It’s me!” Hyunjin didn’t think too hard about her next move, but her body moved on its own accord into the embrace. She hasn’t hugged a living, breathing being in years, but she’s glad it was with Yerim.

Jungeun slowly woke up from her slumber, the noise of voices getting too loud to ignore. But the sight in front of her was kind of appalling. Hyunjin? Hugging her cousin? What in the world...

Hyunjin... smiling?

There were so many questions, and Jungeun was way too groggy to deal with them right this second. So she closed her eyes again, begging for sleep to take her back. She will let them have their moment.

Outside the room, Heejin peeked through the crack of the door. A pang of jealousy shot through her. She had no idea what she was witnessing, but it brought upon a feeling that Heejin didn’t like one bit. She should be happy that Hyunjin took her advice, proud even, because it was that much of a feat to get Hyunjin to leave her room.

After a moment, an unsettling feeling came over her. Hyunjin has never shown this side of her, at least not really. Heejin thought back to the night she first saw Hyunjin’s smile through the darkness. Heejin stupidly thought she was special to have managed to make Hyunjin smile, even when she wasn’t trying to. She relaxed against the wall, taking a deep breath. She shouldn’t be feeling this dizzy over something like this.

The room slowly started to swirl around, and Heejin tried to balance herself by putting her hands on her knees. What was happening? Everything started to feel faint, her vision, her hearing. Then it all became dark.

Heejin woke up to a figure hovering next to her. It was dark in the room, but before she could scream, they spoke. “You fainted because of dehydration.” Oh, it was just Hyunjin. She switched the bedside lamp on while Heejin sat upright, rubbing at her temples. “When’s the last time you drank something?”

Heejin tried to rewind her mind. She remembered giving a bottle of water to Yerim the night they came, but that was a while ago. That was the last time she encountered water, and it wasn’t even her drinking it. This was bad, how did she even last that long?

She was so deep in thought she didn’t realize Hyunjin reaching forward to touch her forehead. The back of her hand felt soft against her. She pushed Heejin back onto the bed before reaching down to the ground, coming back up with a wet towel. She placed it on her forehead, instantly cooling her down. Hyunjin pointed at the water bottle on the nightstand.

“‘Make sure to drink this throughout the day, but not too fast.”

Heejin felt slightly better, but not enough to question Hyunjin’s sudden interest in caring. But she did feel thankful, nonetheless. “How long was I out for?”

“Two days.” Heejin’s eyes looked like they popped out of her sockets, but she knew Hyunjin was lying by the faint smile on her face. “Two hours.”

She lazily slapped Hyunjin’s arm, not appreciating the joke. Then she realized something. “How did I get to the bed? Who found me?”

Hyunjin gave her a blank look in return. “I did.” Heejin tried to keep her face neutral when deep down her heart was fluttering out of control over the fact that Hyunjin carried her to their— Hyunjin’s, bed. “I found you outside of Yerim’s room.”

At the mention of the new girl, all the emotions she felt from before flooded back to Heejin. It was overwhelming. Now she couldn’t stop her questions from spilling out. “Who is she to you?” It came out more serious than she intended, but she hoped Hyunjin didn’t notice the waver in her voice. Hyunjin didn’t notice, but she furrowed her brows at the sudden question.

“An old friend?”

Heejin tried to stop her mind from overthinking, but it refused to listen. More questions swirled in her mind, but she was almost afraid to ask. She didn’t know Hyunjin, the true her, and she felt like she wasn’t ever going to. All of it was so confusing, so frustrating. Maybe it was time she accepts her feelings will never be reciprocated...

A silence fell over them, but this time it felt different. It wasn’t the comfortable kind that usually came when they shared the bed to sleep, not the kind when they were relaxing in each other’s presence, even when those moments were rare. This time, the silence felt suffocating.

“Is there... something wrong?” Hyunjin wasn’t that oblivious, she notices when someone’s upset. She observes people and how they act, especially Heejin. She could tell there was something weighing on her mind. Hyunjin could feel herself reaching social capacity, but she wanted to see this through. For Heejin’s sake.

“Nothing’s wrong.”

This was the part where someone usually pushes to get the honest answer, but Hyunjin wasn’t like most people. “Alright then.” To say Heejin was disappointed would be a severe understatement, but it was what she expected from Hyunjin.

She could only watch as Hyunjin got up to stretch before walking towards the door. “I’ll let you have the bed to yourself tonight.” She said after a beat, closing the door softly behind her. Well, where was Hyunjin going to sleep tonight?

A long while passed before she heard a chorus of laughter in the room next door. Yerim’s room. Heejin shut her eyes tight, willing away the negative thoughts trying to push their way into her head. But one thing she didn’t have to think about was clear; she needed to get over her feelings.

Jungeun sat at the dinner table, heart warming at the sight of her cousin and Hyunjin laughing over a board game in the living room. She spooned another scoop of her soup, glancing at Heejin next to her, her food untouched. “What’s up? You should eat.” Jungeun observed her friend closely. Heejin’s dark circles were more apparent, she was quieter than usual these days, and she barely left her room. Jungeun even went so far as to thinking Heejin and Hyunjin body swapped for the week.

She brought her voice down to a whisper. “Don’t tell me your jealous of Yerim because that’s ridiculous. They’re practically former step siblings.” Jungeun scrunched her eyebrows, thinking more in depth about her cousin and Hyunjin’s situation. “That would have made Hyunjin my step cousin if they ended up marrying!” Jungeun gasped quietly to herself, the world really was a small place.

Heejin thought about it, but her feelings didn’t change. It wasn’t even about all of that, it was about how Hyunjin never acted like this until Yerim came around. Something about Hyunjin’s relationship with Yerim brought out a side of her that Heejin unknowingly yearned to know. The happy go lucky, giggly side of Hyunjin.

“It’s just sort of bizarre to me that they’re that close, even after all this time apart.”

Jungeun hummed wistfully, looking back towards the living room. Hyunjin now had Yerim in a headlock, grinning from ear to ear as the younger girl slapped at her arms. “Yerim is special. She knows how to weasel her way into people’s hearts.”

“Even managed to get to Hyunjin’s.” Heejin mumbled out, a sense of defeat coming from her tone of voice. Jungeun caught it, but stayed quiet. Heejin was right anyway.

“Isn’t there some type of medicine we can give her? Do we have anything at all?!” Haseul frantically asked. Hyunjin could notice the panic start to rise in Jiwoo by the way her legs itched to pace around the room. Jungeun was tending to Yerim on the bed. Her fever spiked over the past couple of days and the wound on her leg suddenly turned a darker shade of purple.

Heejin could only watch from the corner of the room. There was nothing they could do for her here. Jungeun stood up and pulled Jiwoo out of the room. She let out a deep sigh before speaking. “We got to take her to California.” Jiwoo’s eyes widened at the idea, it was a good one, but she was still hesitant on making the trip there after remembering what they encountered on the way back home.

“Don’t you think it’ll be dangerous out there?” Jungeun clicked her tongue, pondering over it some more. There was a glaring problem that the two of them refused to bring up again.

“When is it not?”

“Good point.”

They returned to the room, all eyes on them. Everyone had trickled inside to be by Yerim’s side, the sight was heartwarming to witness, but they needed to get on the move as soon as possible.

“All right, here’s the deal. We know of a place in California that can help her, but a few of you will need to stay behind to watch the bunker. Any volunteers?” Of course, no one raised their hand. Jiwoo let out a little “welp” followed by a long “umm”. She turned to whisper something really quick to Hyunjin.

“So I guess everyone wants to tag along.” Jiwoo muttered under her breathe. “Everyone go board the van, we will have to leave right now.”

Everyone filed out of the room with Vivi and Haseul helping to carry Yerim’s weak body up the bunker stairs. Yeojin packed up some of their belongings they brought and a couple cans of spare tuna and fruit from the kitchen. Jiwoo pulled Jungeun outside to check the perimeters one last time. The sun was blazing and it was just around lunch time, they would probably make it to the border of Arizona by midnight.

Heejin was ready to walk out of the cabin before she was dragged back inside. “Hey!” She yelled out before was covered by a soft hand. She felt hands on her shoulder before being twisted around.

“It’s just me.” Heejin knew it could only be Hyunjin. She could never forget those soft hands. “Jiwoo asked me to help hide the bunker and lock up the cabin. Also to set up my y traps. Mind helping?”

Heejin could only nod dumbly, not knowing how to deal with the wave of emotions she felt from Hyunjin being so close to her. She scolded herself, how could she take two steps back? She was doing so well in avoiding speaking to her. It didn’t feel fair that Heejin felt such an inner turmoil while Hyunjin probably had no idea of it whatsoever. But she also knew it wasn’t fair to blame Hyunjin.

Hyunjin tugged the bunker door up, locking it in place. “We have to move those haystacks over the trap door.” Heejin never thought about it, but stacks of hay were heavier than she assumed they would be. After stacking a hefty amount over the entrance, Hyunjin gestured for Heejin to lock the cabin doors. “I’ll be right back, wait for me down here.”

Heejin looked around the cabin. She hoped nothing would happen to it while they were gone. Honestly, she didn’t want to stay behind, because she somehow knew Jiwoo would make Hyunjin stay with her. That was definitely not an option. There was a thump to her left, followed by a larger thump. Hyunjin was dusting off her pants, holding a large rifle in her arms. The knife strapped to Heejin’s ankle suddenly felt small.

Hyunjin locked eyes with her, suddenly remembering how Heejin was around guns. She nervously hid the rifle behind her back before pushing the back door to the cabin open. The walk to the van was silent, they both had nothing to say. But hasn’t it always been like this? No words spoken, but somehow an unspoken lingering feeling in the air around them?

Heejin kept convincing herself that she was imagining it all.

The two of them piled into the van, cramped into it actually, since there were more of them than seats. Jungeun turned around from the passenger seat, handing a small revolver to Heejin, who made no move to take it. Her face softened. “Trust me, Heejin.” There was something unreadable flickering through Jungeun’s eyes, but Heejin took it anyway with no verbal protest. It’s not like she was going to use it anyway. She refused to.

“Off we go!”

It felt like deja vu, driving in the dark through the small towns of New Mexico. Jiwoo kind of even wished a UFO would just zap them up into space. (Maybe she can take a little detour to Area 51, that’d be a funner trip.) She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, peeping at the rearview mirror at her friends fast asleep, all cuddling around Yerim. Jungeun had been awfully quiet the whole ride, not even humming the same song she always hums.

“How you feeling?” Jiwoo softly asked, not even expecting a reply. A couple beats passed before Jungeun sighed. The roads were clear besides a couple cars that were upside down, the front lights of the van illuminating the seemingly never ending path. She chanced a glance at the passenger seat, noticing the tears welling up in Jungeun’s eyes.

“I just hope she’ll be okay.” If Jungeun could take Yerim’s place, she would in a heartbeat. She didn’t deserve this, didn’t deserve to go out like this. A stupid gash on her leg. Yerim was more than that. Jungeun was not going to lose her.

Jiwoo pulled up to a hidden motel she knew was safe enough to spend the night in. “Wake the others up and get them in a room. I’m taking Hyunjin and Heejin to find a gas station.” Jungeun couldn’t help but smirk, Jiwoo wasn’t sly at all.

Hyunjin pulled the van door shut after the others piled out. “How far is the closest station?” She stuck around the back while Heejin moved herself up to the passenger seat. She wasn’t even surprised at Jiwoo’s obvious antics. It was expected at this point. Still, Heejin rolled her eyes.

“A mile away. Hopefully, it won’t take long. You two can raid the mini mart while I fill the van up.”

Hyunjin gripped her rifle a little tighter while they passed by a neighborhood she assumed was a nice suburb before the outbreak got to it. The roofs of the houses were degraded and windows smashed, cars in the driveways with their doors open. It could have meant a plethora of things, but all of the scenes unfolding in Hyunjin’s mind made her shiver. It had been a long time since she’s left the bunker, she isn’t so sure what to do with herself, how to act. Was it worse nowadays? Or was it calm out here in the real world? Hyunjin was totally fine living in her own little bubble.

Jiwoo parked the van and hurried them out to check the perimeter. The coast was clear, but there was only open desert all around them, which felt kind of suspicious. Hyunjin spotted Heejin struggling with the door to the mart and rushed over to help pull it. The door finally opened after one particularly hard pull, which sent Heejin flying backwards into Hyunjin’s arms. She choked back a gasp, looking up at Hyunjin’s concerned face. Would it be cheesy if Heejin thought that the world had stopped right then and there?

Jiwoo watched the scene in front of her unravel with such glee, she even let out a whistle. Bad idea though, because not even a second later, a loud groan came from inside the store. Hyunjin frantically pushed Heejin behind her, but froze when she realized something. She had left her rifle in the van. “Jiwoo, hurry up!”

Jiwoo clenched her teeth as she jiggled the gas pump, knowing it wasn’t going to help, but it sure did trick her mind. “Oh god, oh god!”

The zombie came barreling at them from the back of the store. Were zombies always this quick, Hyunjin thought to herself. Jiwoo’s blood froze, mind floating back to the crazy zombies she saw with Jungeun. She had hoped that was just a single occurrence.

“Jiwoo, you need to start the car right now!”

“Or you can just shoot it! Please, I need more time!”

Then a shot rang out. Hyunjin’s ears were ringing, but she was confused. Where did it come from? The zombie fell onto the ground, a shot straight on the forehead. Hyunjin heard Jiwoo gasp from afar. She reached a hand behind her to pull Heejin closer, but her hand touched air. Hyunjin whipped around in panic, only to notice Heejin three steps away from her, holding a gun up.

Hyunjin’s jaw slacked out of shock. The zombie was close enough, but an aimed shot like that was something that rarely happened on a whim. She was impressed. Heejin was frozen in place, staring down at the body of the zombie, who looked completely lifeless now, unironically. Jiwoo slow clapped, then stopped after Hyunjin threw her a pointed glare. She looked back at Heejin, only to notice she was staring back, face blank of all emotion.

“I’m all done! The van is ready.”

Hyunjin held the gaze for another second, wondering where this all came from. She— They would have been zombie food if Heejin hadn’t shot at it. Why didn’t she bring her sword? She didn’t have to shoot, Hyunjin had it under control, or she wants to think she did.

Heejin pushed past her lightly, mumbling her next words. “Consider us even.”

The words echoed in Hyunjin’s head. Heejin just saved her life by doing the one thing she hated most, using a gun. Hyunjin never really thought her life was that valuable, if a zombie got her, then it got her. She would die fighting, but it was on her if she was weaponless. She admittedly was jealous of the way Jiwoo and Heejin could defend themselves without having to hide behind a weapon, even though they did favor knives and swords.

A low groan from below her rattled Hyunjin out of her thoughts. The body of the zombie start to shake, making Hyunjin jump back in surprise. It was supposed to be dead?! The zombie slowly got up to a standing position, the sight was the scariest thing Hyunjin has ever seen, besides Jiwoo’s bedhead. She heard Jiwoo yelling at her from inside the van. Heejin was in the back with the door wide open, Hyunjin would have to make a run for it.

The zombie swiped at her while she stumbled backwards, panic rising throughout her body. Heejin shot it clean in the head, so why is it still alive?! Zombies die from just one shot, Hyunjin didn’t get it. She felt the van screech behind her and a harsh pull on her shirt. The van door slid close in front of her, the zombie’s figure growing smaller and smaller while Jiwoo stomped on the gas pedal.

“What the hell was that?!” Hyunjin scrambled towards the front of the van, gripping the car seats to hold her up while she looked at Jiwoo. She was acting all squirrelly, which wasn’t out of the ordinary, but after knowing and living with her for years, she could tell Jiwoo knew something.

“We should have told you guys!” Jiwoo started out, nervously chuckling to herself as she scanned the roads, driving behind the motel to park the van. Hyunjin let out a huff.

“Tell us what, exactly?” Heejin watched the interaction, curious too about what just went down. Jungeun hadn’t mentioned anything to her about her trip with Jiwoo, and she’s never seen zombies like that, but she’s been off the streets for a while already. Have zombies, somehow, grown even stronger? How would that be possible?

Jiwoo shut off the van and relaxed against her seat. “Jungeun and I ran into some hyped up zombies the other day on our way back from California.” She reached up to pull on her hair out of stress. “But we’ve only seen them here in New Mexico.”

Heejin’s eyes darted from Hyunjin to Jiwoo. The silence was lowkey deafening and she felt the urgent need to get out, but without them noticing. “And you didn’t care to tell us, why?” She slid open the door and hopped out, closing it quickly before their voices got louder. Heejin spotted Jungeun walking towards her from across the parking lot.

“What are they bickering about?” Heejin shrugged passively, wondering why Jungeun didn’t mention something this important to her. They told each other everything. Small, big, whatever it was, they let each other know. It was something they made a pact on, but it slowly started to blur the moment they met the others.

“I don’t know, you tell me.” Jungeun furrowed her eyebrows at Heejin’s offensive demeanor. She crossed her arms out of defense, lifting her left brow. The driver’s side door opened, and Jiwoo’s conversation with Hyunjin could be heard, loud and clear.

“They’re a whole new breed of zombies we have to deal with and figure out how to kill!”

Oh, that. Jungeun looked back at Heejin, who only gave her a defeated look. She can only gulp in response, did something happen while they went to get gas? “Jiwoo told us what happened, but only because we ran into the same thing at the station.”

Jungeun sighed and shut her eyes. After everything with Yerim the moment they came back, she became her first priority. There wasn’t a reason to make the others panic with news of a hybrid zombie, since they didn’t think they’d leave the bunker anytime soon, but turns out...

“Well are you guys okay?” She asked, opening her eyes after she hears a small sniffle. Heejin’s eyes were welling up with tears. Jungeun’s heart clenched as she reached for her hand, only for it to be rejected.

Hyunjin and Jiwoo’s bickering quieted down, noticing the distraught look on Heejin’s face. They were already out of the van, watching the two carefully. “No, I’m not okay.” She whispered dejectedly. Jungeun could only stare back with sad eyes, not knowing what to say in response. All she had stuck in were worthless apologies, Heejin deserved more than that.

Her face contorted even further as more tears rushed down her face. She didn’t want them to see her like this, so she brushed past Jungeun and into one of the vacant rooms, locking the door so the others wouldn’t follow after her.

Jungeun let out a frustrated groan. How did things end up like this? She felt a figure looming behind her, turning around to confirm her suspicions. Hyunjin was staring at the room Heejin fled to, eyes shining with worry. She sighed, exhaustion overtaking her mind and body. “It’s best if we just leave her be.”

What she wasn’t expecting was the look Hyunjin gave her in that moment. “She shot a gun tonight, Jungeun. I’m not leaving her alone.” Her heart fell even further at the statement. She turned towards Jiwoo, who nodded sadly in confirmation. She flipped back towards Hyunjin, but the space was empty. Hyunjin was already at Heejin’s door, tapping away at it until it finally swung open.

“What are we going to do, Jungeun?” Jiwoo slid up next to her, clutching her hands around Jungeun’s upper arm. All they could do was hope and pray that they don’t encounter more of them and get everyone to California safely.

“I’m not so sure, Jiwoo.”

Heejin sniffled harshly, rubbing at her eyes with her sleeves. “What do you want?” Hyunjin closed the door behind her. The motel room was dingy and didn’t smell all that great, but at least the building was still standing. Heejin plopped onto the edge of the bed, staring down at her hands.

“I came to say thank you.” Hyunjin paused before sitting down next to Heejin, a small distance between them. “It seems like it took a lot to do something like that.”

A silence came over them, the lightbulb above them flickering. Heejin took a second before turning to Hyunjin and really taking a look at her. Her eyes felt puffy and her vision was still slightly blurry, but Hyunjin still looked ethereal. They were so different, that was always very apparent. But right in this moment, they were just two girls sitting in a room. No zombies, no apocalypse, no problems. Everything melted away whenever Heejin looked into Hyunjin’s eyes. She felt like she was drowning in them.

Hyunjin gulped, images of a cat and bunny frolicking in a grass field running through her mind. She wishes she had her sketchpad with her now, it would fit with her growing collection of drawings...

They reminded her of the two of them, in an ideal world besides the one they live in now. The two of them, holding hands, laying in the sun together. She’s wondered where they would’ve been if they met three years before, would they be friends? Enemies? Or worse, still strangers? Would Hyunjin still feel too shy about how she felt towards Heejin?

Hyunjin zoned out of her thoughts, realizing Heejin was still fixated on her. Did Heejin feel it too? The indescribable pull, the slow but burning kind that grew and grew as the days dragged by. Sometimes it felt insufferable, just like it did in that moment.

“Heejin, I—“

Hyunjin held her breathe when Heejin leaned in, excruciatingly slow. She felt her forehead leaning against hers and Hyunjin’s eyes fluttered shut. Her mind was blank, head completely empty, but her heart pounded in anticipation.

The room door swung open, breaking the build up of what felt like years in the making. Hyunjin clenched her eyes tighter, maybe she could will away the interruption if she tried hard enough. She felt Heejin sigh softly. Things were never going to work between them, were they?

Jungeun’s frantic voice shook them out of their shared reverie. “We’ve got to get back on the road, now!” She grabbed their arms and dragged them out of the room, not even mentioning the moment she just ruined. Heejin felt sick at this point, their entire day just felt like a whirlwind of emotions she didn’t want to deal with.

The others were already waiting for them in the van, looking just as confused. “What’s going on now? More zombies?” They hopped in and Jiwoo sped away, glancing in the rearview mirror every five seconds. She noticed Vivi exchanging hushed whispers with Haseul while looking straight back at her. If Jiwoo was being honest, Vivi scared her.
They rolled over a bump and toppled over each other. “Sorry!” Jiwoo threw over her shoulder, focusing back onto the roads. Haseul rubbed her head, lazily looking out the window. She spotted a large, black truck following them from a distance.

“Hey, guys?” The short haired girl got the attention of her friends and Hyunjin, who had Yerim in her lap. “Is it just me, or are those machine guns coming out of that truck?” Jiwoo sped up as if she wasn’t already pushing seventy. A nervous chuckle came out of her and Heejin narrowed her eyes.

Heejin steadied herself on the passenger’s seat arm rest. “Don’t tell me you know them.” Jungeun was busy shuffling through a duffel bag to try and defend Jiwoo. She reached into a pocket and grabbed what she was looking for. Heejin shifted her attention towards her friend. “What are you doing—“

In Jungeun’s hand was a grenade. She rolled down the window and tugged the safety off of it. “Everyone duck and cover your ears!” Heejin flopped back onto the ground, waiting for the loud boom, but it never came.

“Did you throw it?!” Heejin exclaimed, all she heard was Jungeun’s frantic whining, then a loud boom. Jiwoo stomped on the accelerator, hitting ninety to avoid the dark cloud of smoke barreling towards them. Haseul let go of her grip on Yeojin and Vivi to check out the back window. There was a break in the smoke and the same large truck appeared out from behind it, a bit battered up, but thankfully the machine guns were gone.

“Throw another one!”

“There isn’t another one!”

Hyunjin tore her gaze from Yerim, finally assessing the danger that they were in. She grabbed Yeojin’s attention and gestured to the injured girl. She patted around for her rifle, finally feeling it under the car seat. “Jungeun, move.”

The truck was closing in on them and Haseul managed to get a good look. Two scary looking men in business suits sat in the front, both brandishing their weapons. Her eyes widened, grabbing everyone she can to dive into cover once again.

The steady thump of bullets leaving Hyunjin’s rifle reverberated through the van, along with Jiwoo’s squeals. Jungeun had gotten down in time to cover Heejin, who had her eyes shut, wishing all of this was just some bad dream. All of it besides the moment in the motel room.

“How can you even see in the dark?!” Jiwoo screeched at Hyunjin, turning a sharp corner into a shopping mall. She weaseled her way through the parking garage, seriously hoping she lost their tail.

“I can’t!” Hyunjin shouted above the wind, her whole upper body hanging out of the passenger side window. Jiwoo drove straight through the open mall entrance, checking out the empty stores to see if she could hide the van somewhere safe. “I think we lost them.”

Jiwoo finally turned into an Ulta, the shelves of makeup littered the floors, but the store was big enough to hide them. “Get Yerim and the others into a back room or something. I’ll stand guard with Jungeun.” Hyunjin gave her a pointed look to which Jiwoo dismissed with a little wave. This impromptu trip to the coast kind of ruined her plans to get back at Jiwoo. Well, it’d have to be put on pause now.

A couple hours passed and it was now dawn. Jiwoo was sure by now that they haven’t been followed into the mall. The rest of the girls were resting in what used to be an employee’s lounge, she assumes. Jungeun had been dozing on and off with Hyunjin’s rifle sitting in her lap. The big gun made her look extra tiny and it made Jiwoo giggle. They were supposed to take turns in sleeping and standing guard, but she realized pretty quickly that Jungeun wasn’t going to wake up. So she let her rest.

Even when they were back in the bunker, she noticed Jungeun’s pattern of being in bed by ten o’clock. And when they roomed together, she could tell Jungeun was trying her hardest to stay awake while Jiwoo talked on and on about absolutely nothing of importance. She stood up and walked over, bending down to place a light kiss on Jungeun’s cheek. “It’s time to wake up.” She whispered in her ear before shuffling away.

A red tint covered Jungeun’s face. She actually woke up ten minutes ago, but kept her eyes shut out of exhaustion. How was she supposed to face Jiwoo now? She felt like she was floating on a cloud, but also wanted to shrivel up at the same time.

Hyunjin stayed awake the whole time, spending her time staring at Heejin and staring at Yerim, back and forth and back and forth. She got up to check on Jiwoo and Jungeun after hearing noise outside the door to the room. She slowly peaked her head around, catching Jiwoo moving to sit on Jungeun’s lap. Hyunjin quickly shut the door as quietly as she could, not wanting them to know someone was watching. She almost wanted to let out a laugh. Her plan was pretty much useless now if they finally figured out how they felt about each other.

“What are you smiling to yourself about?”

Hyunjin flinched at the voice. Heejin was sitting herself up on the ground, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. The others were still fast asleep, it was probably only five in the morning anyway. Hyunjin neutralized the look on her face. “Nothing.” Flashes of the night before bombarded her mind and she scratched the back of her neck nervously. Her heart was screaming at her to bring it up, but her mind was telling her otherwise. That it wasn’t a good idea, it was never a good idea.

Hyunjin’s eyes trailed towards her, but she whipped her head away, as if she didn’t want to be caught staring. She pursed her lips and walked away, disappointment coursing through her. It was almost pathetic now, how desperate she could feel herself feeling. Desperate for Heejin’s attention, desperate for absolutely anything Heejin gave her really.

She reached down to check on Yerim’s leg, the wound itself had became a dark brown color. Hyunjin’s heart ached, wondering how her friend was fighting through the pain she must have felt every second of every day. She let out a dejected sigh before lightly shaking the others awake. “It’s time to go.”

Heejin gaped at the sight of the tall wall, but what was within it impressed her more. “Is there a reason we don’t live here instead of the bunker?” She whispered to Jungeun, who quickly hushed her and checked if Jiwoo overhead, bur she was busy talking to a woman who guarded the entrance.

“We’d like to get in please.”

The woman gave her a weird look, leaning closer to examine the inside of the van. Everyone just stared back. “Got a dollar?” Jiwoo furrowed her eyebrows, ready to say that she didn’t, but then she remembered. Sooyoung, that sly girl. She dug deep into the pocket of her pants, realizing she hasn’t changed them in weeks, and pulled out the crumpled up dollar bill. The lady examined the front and back of the now useless piece of paper, then raised her hand towards a guard tower. The garage lifted and she gestured towards the opening. “You may proceed.”

There were people directing Jiwoo towards a parking lot, that seemed to have a few cars. She looked closely, and they all seemed to be business trucks. She rolled down her window again, approaching a man who looked like he could be in charge. “Can you direct us to the hospital?”

He pointed towards a glass building in the distance. “You’ll have to park here and walk ma’am.” Hyunjin squeezed her way over to the driver’s seat, pushing Jiwoo aside and sized the man up. He was a small, frail looking old man. She squinted her eyes at him and retreated back into the van.

“Can you at least bring a stretcher out to us?” Jungeun spoke from the passenger seat, annoyance dripping in her tone of voice. The old man nodded and signaled some worker nearby. Jiwoo shifted her body to face Jungeun, giving her a pointed look. “...What?”

There was a pause, Hyunjin was still next to them, pretending to be disinterested.

“That was kind of hot.” Jiwoo teased quietly, Jungeun’s face immediately turning red at the admission. Hyunjin hid her bubbling laughter behind her hand, swiftly moving into the back of the van to leave them to it. She caught Heejin staring at her again, only for her to look away. She sighed internally but couldn’t resist rolling her eyes.

The stretcher was brought over to them and Vivi and Haseul heaved Yerim onto it. They were all so relieved to finally find her the help she needed. Jungeun moved to hold her cousin’s hand the whole way over to the hospital. “Don’t worry, Yerim. Everything will be alright.”

Jiwoo stared out the window of Yerim’s hospital room. They were on the seventh floor, the second floor to the top, and she had a good view of the entire campus. “I should try and find Sooyoung.” Jungeun contorted her face into a look of slight disgust.

“And why would you do that.”

Her eyes lingered on a particularly small building across from them, it looked like a storage unit. Jiwoo shrugged her shoulders. “So she can show us around? I mean, we might be here for a while.” She swiveled around to face them, gesturing to Yerim fast asleep on the hospital bed. The minute they stepped inside, they rushed her into surgery. Now, her leg was all wrapped up in fancy gauze instead of the paper towels and tape they’ve been using to keep it covered up.

The doctors mentioned that her infection was severe, but they got to it in enough time where it wouldn’t cause permanent nerve damage. They still advised Yerim to rest for a couple days or so though. Everything was looking up.

The others were across campus at the cafeteria to grab some much needed food and water. Jiwoo thinks they’ve all gone more than a day without a little snack, but she wanted to stay with Jungeun. “If you want to, I guess.” Jungeun says after a while. Jiwoo took a step towards her, eyes softening.

“The others will probably be back before me. Try and find some food around here while she’s resting.” Jungeun stared blankly at the bed, a rush of disappointment filling her. All she could do was nod while Jiwoo squeezed her shoulder goodbye. “See you later!”

Heejin held her tray of food and scanned the cafeteria for an open table where the five of them could sit. It was crowded at this hour, seeming as it was in the middle of a lunch rush. “That back corner over there is open!” Her stomach had been screaming at her the second they came into contact with food, she didn’t realize just how hungry she was.

They were making their way over when a leg popped out from under a table, tripping Heejin. Thankfully a strong set of arms caught her, but her lunch was splattered all over the floor. She looked up to see Hyunjin’s concerned eyes staring down at her. Hyunjin cleared and lifted Heejin back onto her feet.

A light giggle pierced her ears among the loud chaos. “That’s payback.” Heejin slowly turned around, knowing exactly who that light voice belonged to. She spotted Hyejoo sitting next to her, an apologetic look on her face. Chaewon’s eyes darted between Heejin and Hyunjin, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she slowly stood up. “Your girlfriend is here to protect you this time?”

Heejin recognized the feeling bubbling up in her. It’s how she felt when she tackled Chaewon over the cereal box. Was she still mad over that? It was just one box...

She felt Hyunjin grip her arm, trying to tug her back towards the others. “Ignore her, Heejin.” She felt her whisper in her ear. She heard her words, but it went in one ear and straight out of the other. Heejin pulled her arm back and walked closer to Chaewon, inches away from her.

“What’s your problem?” Her voice was low, not wanting to draw more attention. She was actually curious about her answer. Chaewon rolled her eyes and scoffed. That’s when Heejin smelled a faint scent of alcohol.

“Nothing, you just bother me.”

Heejin was tempted, she was tempted to push her over, but Hyejoo came in between them. “Sorry.” She said quickly before pushing Chaewon all the way out of the cafeteria. Heejin slumped her shoulders, looking down at the mess on the ground.

Hyunjin grabbed her arm and tugged on it again. “Come on, you can have some of mine.” Heejin’s heart softened at the offer.

“Who were those girls?” Yeojin asked the second they reached the table. “Do you know them?”

Heejin huffed, plopping down onto the seat, frown deepening. “Hardly.” She faced to her left, muttering in Hyunjin’s direction. “I forgot they were here.”

“Forgot who?” Haseul asked in between bites. Half of her tray was gone already and they haven’t even been sitting for that long. Heejin looked over her shoulder, seeing if she could find Jinsol in the sea of people.

“Jiwoo’s friends.” She said when she turned back around. The others nodded, the curiosity passing over as they all dug into the array of mush on their plates. Hyunjin had pushed her tray closer to Heejin, nodding towards it to let Heejin know she can have some. She pushed it back, feeling sorry that she had to take some of hers away. Hyunjin pushed it closer, but Heejin grabbed it midway, pushing it back over to Hyunjin.

“This is cute and all, but if one of you doesn’t take it already, I’m going to take it.” Haseul’s tray was nearly empty at this point, and it was obvious that she was still hungry. Heejin let go of the tray, letting Hyunjin pass it over for the last time.

Yeojin popped a piece of potato into . “So, how long have you two been together?” Vivi and Haseul whipped their heads towards the younger girl, hurriedly hushing her. “What? I can’t ask?”

Heejin rolled her eyes, finally breaking into a smile. Her eyes locked with Hyunjin, who was refraining from letting out a laugh.

“Whatever. You two are cute together.”

Jiwoo walked through the entrance, automatic sliding doors opening at her presence. She faced an off white room with a desk in the middle. “Excuse me?” The girl at the counter made no move. “Is this the place to sign up for rooms?” Jiwoo tapped on the clean counter trying to get her attention. She finally lifted her head up, pulling out an ear plug.

“My bad, I didn’t hear you! How can I help you?”

“Hello, my name is Kim Jiwoo. I’d like to sign up for...” Jiwoo counted in her head. One room for Yerim’s friends, one for her and Jungeun, another one for Hyunjin and Heejin... “Three rooms!” The girl clicked away on the computer.

“We have openings in this building on the second floor. Lucky for you, the rooms are all next to each other!” Jiwoo happily agreed, gathering all the room keys when the girl handed them over.

“Do you, by chance, know which room Ha Sooyoung is in?” The keys of the keyboard clacked away with some clicks of the mouse. The girl frowned, eyebrows etched with confusion.

“I remember signing her up, but it says that she moved out of her room yesterday.” Jiwoo tilted her head, a bit confused.

“Oh, do you know why she left?”

Concern was growing on her face the more she clicked away on the computer. She looked up at Jiwoo, the look in her eyes unnerving. “I wasn’t even notified that she left.”

This didn’t make much sense to Jiwoo at all. She dropped Sooyoung and her friends off not too long ago, so why did she leave so soon after? “Well, what does that even mean?”

After a long moment, the girl ripped a piece of paper and jotted down something unreadable from Jiwoo’s view. She stood up and came around the desk, and that’s when Jiwoo realized just how young this girl looked. She must have been around her age or younger even. “I’m sorry, there’s not much more I can do to help.” There was a hinting tone in her voice that made her even more confused. The girl pushed her towards the entrance, but not before shaking her hand. “It was nice to meet you.” And with that, Jiwoo was rushed outside.

Jiwoo was trying to make sense of the out of place handshake when she noticed the piece of paper in her palm. She unraveled it, the chicken scratch hardly legible.

Pluto Building @ 7pm. Ask for Yeji.

She scratched her head, trying to make sense of everything that just happened, along with this cryptic note. All Jiwoo wanted to do was find Sooyoung and see what it’s like around here. After much thinking, Jiwoo started to reconsider just how safe the bunker is. Jungeun’s words had her listing the pros and cons of the campus versus the bunker after their first visit. If Jungeun wanted to stay in a place like this, Jiwoo would want to be with her.

She would let Hyunjin in charge of the bunker, or maybe even give it up to her. But she thinks she would want to follow Jungeun wherever she wanted to go.

Jiwoo read over the note one more time. It wouldn’t hurt to try and see what happens if she went.

Hyunjin stared at the single bed. Jiwoo had shoved her and Heejin into the room next to her and Jungeun’s, but failed to mention that their room only had one bed. This bed was also smaller than the one back home in the bunker. “Um, I can sleep on the floor?”

“Why would you do that?” Hyunjin was actually going to offer to sleep on the floor, probably even preferred to, but Heejin beat her to it. “I’ll take the floor.”

“Do you want the bed?” Hyunjin shook her head. Heejin kind of wished that neither of them had to sleep on the floor, but she didn’t know how to say that. How to say that she wanted to sleep with Hyunjin next to her. “We can share the bed?”

Hyunjin froze, considering her options carefully. After a long moment, a nerve wracking one, she slowly nodded. “Alright.”

She was so going to strangle Jiwoo. Dinner was in thirty minutes, she had the time. “Hyunjin?” She heard Heejin’s voice coming from afar, pulling her out of her crazy thoughts. “I asked you which side of the bed.”

“Closest to the door.” Her response was immediate. If anything were to happen in the middle of the night, Hyunjin wanted to be ready and alert. Ready to protect Heejin. But she hoped that wouldn’t need to happen, since they were in a safe and monitored place now.

Jungeun fell back onto the small bed, closing her eyes and letting out a small scream. “I am beyond exhausted. Might even sleep through dinner.” Jiwoo frowned, joining her on the bed. She purposely gave Yeojin, Vivi, and Haseul the only one of the three rooms that had bunk beds. The other two were singles.

“You skipped out on lunch. You should eat.” Jungeun dismissed her worries with a small wave. She covered her face with her arms, snuggling deeper into the sheets.

“Did you find Sooyoung?” Jiwoo thought hard on what she wanted to tell her. Should she mention all the weird stuff that happened with the girl at the counter and leave out the note? Should she bring Jungeun with her? Turns out, the Pluto building was the small storage unit looking one she noticed from Yerim’s hospital room.

“No, I couldn’t find her.”

Jungeun hummed and Jiwoo could tell she was dozing off. She lifted herself off the bed, careful not to shift Jungeun. She had to tell someone, had to get someone to come with her for back up in case things went south. She swung the room door open, jumping back in surprise when Hyunjin came into her view.

“You scared me!”

Hyunjin lifted her hands up, making squeezing motions near her neck. “That’s not all I want to do!” Jiwoo squealed and closed the door behind her. Thankfully the hallway was deserted, come to think of it, she saw no one coming in or out of this building besides the seven of them.

An idea popped into her head. She lifted her hand up. “Pause.” Hyunjin’s arms fell back to her sides, looking at her expectantly with a twinge of annoyance. Jiwoo trusted Hyunjin to keep quiet about this, trusted her to come with and keep her company. “I need to tell you something.”

“We shouldn’t have done this. This was a bad idea!” They just got out of dinner and told the others they were going to “explore” the campus. Heejin looked at them funny, but lead the others back to the rooms. They were standing in front of the small building, the front entrance being a metal door with a small window. Hyunjin knocked with no fear while Jiwoo cowered behind her. No one showed up. Hyunjin knocked once more, growing tired of waiting. More time passed and there was still no sign of anyone behind the door.

“Looks like no one’s home!” Hyunjin shrugged, turning around to leave, but then the door rattled. Jiwoo choked on her scream, the mysterious figure peeking only their eye out from behind their hood. It was already dark outside, but judging by the lack of light coming from the small window, it was also dark inside.

“What do you want?” The voice croaked out. Their sharp gaze sent a wave of unsettling nerves. Hyunjin stuttered and Jiwoo was ready to run out of fear.

Hyunjin cleared and regained her composure. Jiwoo has no idea, no idea, what she would do without Hyunjin. “We are here for Yeji.” After a minute, the figure disappeared. Hyunjin looked back at Jiwoo, a look of confusion growing on her face. All Jiwoo could do was shrug.

The door swung open, revealing a dimly lit, open floor room. There were four couches placed in the shape of a square with a coffee table in the middle of it. “Sorry about the dramatics.” Jiwoo flinched at the nonchalant voice behind her. They were met with a girl wearing a long hooded jacket, she was obviously the one who answered the door. “I’m Lia.”

They could only stare at her, a bit speechless. “And that’s Yeji.” Lia pointed towards the back of the room. There were three girls standing around a chalkboard filled with webs and pictures. Jiwoo squinted her eyes, recognizing one of them as the desk girl.

Hyunjin stood in place as she watched Jiwoo swiftly approach the others. “You made it!” The desk girl exclaimed once they realized they had company. “I forgot to mention my name earlier. I’m Chaeryoung. This is Ryujin and Yeji.” Ryujin sent a small smile her way, but Yeji looked away, disinterested. Jiwoo could only nod along, feeling intimidated by the atmosphere around them. And by Yeji. She looked like the head boss among them.

Chaeryoung looked past her shoulder and yelped. “I didn’t realize you brought someone!” Hyunjin stood in place, looking robotic, she was just here for moral support. Jiwoo’s gaze shifted around frantically.

“Was I not supposed to?”

“No.”

“It’s okay!”

Yeji and Chaeryoung spoke at the same time, making Jiwoo confused than ever before. Man, all she wanted to do was find Sooyoung for crying out loud! The younger girl smiled uncomfortably, pulling Jiwoo over to the side. “Don’t mind Yeji, she doesn’t like strangers.” Red flags popped into her head, but something about Chaeryoung’s calm demeanor relaxed her nerves.

“Why did you ask me to come here?”

Lia circled around Hyunjin, who hadn’t moved in the past seven minutes. “Are you an AI?” She asked, reaching her hand forward to poke Hyunjin’s cheek. One poke, two pokes, three pokes. Hyunjin wanted to be anywhere but here, wanted to be back in the room, with Heejin. Instead, she was here with Jiwoo, suffering a large abundance of irritation because of this Lia girl. But there was something stopping Hyunjin from snapping at the stranger, maybe it was the inviting smile on the girl’s face.

“Lia, cut it out.” A short haired girl approached them, Hyunjin thinks she heard her name was Ryujin. She looked her up and down, narrowing her eyes a bit. “You look like a weapons type.” Hyunjin’s ears perked up at that, but she made no effort to move. What has Jiwoo gotten herself into...

“We think your friend was taken.” Chaeryoung lowered her voice. “There’s been an increase in missing persons this past month, and we’ve been collecting evidence.” Jiwoo’s heart accelerated, searching the room for Hyunjin to quell her nerves, but she was nowhere to be found. She stood up, itching to panic pace around the room. Sooyoung... missing? But she wouldn’t even let that happen to herself. Where was Jinsol?

“She came in with three other girls, two of which my friends have seen, but there’s one unaccounted for.” Chaeryoung tapped her fingers on her chin, trying to remember.

“The blonde, Jinsol!” Jiwoo nodded, growing worried about her whereabouts too. She pulled up a laptop, typing away on a program. “It says here that she’s in the infirmary being treated for the flu.”

“Can you look up which room she’s in?” She needed to see her too, to ask what the hell happened within the last few days.

“Seventh floor, room 702.” Jiwoo tilted her head. Yerim’s room was 701, the one right next door. What were the odds?

Ryujin pushed open wooden double doors, revealing a wide wall with guns and weapons displayed. Hyunjin’s eyes widened, mouth dropping. It was like she was in her version of a candy store. “This is the campus’ armory. Luckily, we are in charge of it.” Hyunjin was a bit skeptical at her words, glancing over at Lia who tripped over her heels. Ryujin caught Hyunjin’s look and laughed. “Don’t be fooled.”

She walked along the walls, tempted to reach out and touch the rifles and, wait, was that a bazooka?! “We’re the task force, the four of us. They deploy us out of the gates sometimes to deal with zombies encroaching on our territory.” Hyunjin hummed softly, debating if she could trust these strangers. She hasn’t even said a word to them, yet she’s about to drop crucial information? Maybe she should wait.

Or maybe she shouldn’t. There was a sense of comfort that overcame Hyunjin in this instance she couldn’t make sense of. “Do you know anything about the hybrid zombies in New Mexico?” Ryujin scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. It was obvious that they haven’t, Hyunjin guesses she shouldn’t have expected much from people who closed themselves off to the real world. “They’re fast and don’t die easily.” She watched as Lia leaned in to whisper something to Ryujin, glancing over at her every so often. Hyunjin felt like she said too much, felt like she was about to be in trouble.

They beckoned her back into the large room towards the chalkboard, pointing at blurry pictures obviously taken from a very far distance. Hyunjin leaned in closer, examining the photo taken in what looked like a desert. “We had an old friend take this near the Arizona border of New Mexico.” She felt the others crowd behind her, Jiwoo pushing through to check out the photo too.

“You told them about the hybrids?” Hyunjin paused, not being able to decipher her friend’s look. She nodded anyway, looking back towards the chalkboard. They had pictures of labs, men in business suits, and a picture of a room number: 800. She squinted at that one, it looked awfully familiar to the numbers posted outside of the hospital rooms.

“What’s this?” She jabbed at the board. “The eighth floor of the hospital?” Yeji squished her way next to her, pulling her back to face her. The look on her face was intimidating, but everything else about her screamed soft. Hyunjin wasn’t that shaken anymore, but she felt something brewing, like they were on the edge of a breakthrough. She couldn’t explain it, not yet anyway.

“I’m sorry, but all we wanted was to find our friend.” Hyunjin looked at Jiwoo, raising her left eyebrow at her. She could tell she was exhausted, but the curiosity was tugging Hyunjin down. What if all of this was connected? Sooyoung missing and the hybrid zombies? She almost laughed at the ridiculous thought, but nothing was beyond her at this point.

She felt a tap on her shoulder. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” She stared at Lia’s smirk, a bunch of question marks floating around her head. This girl man...

“Hyunjin, we should probably go now.” She was conflicted. Jiwoo was using a tone she rarely ever used with her, the kind where she was seriously upset and angry, but no one would notice if they didn’t know Jiwoo. Hyunjin wanted to stay and learn more, but Jiwoo was her (best) friend, and in the end, these girls were just complete strangers.

She locked eyes with Ryujin, who gave her a sad smile. There was something that intrigued her about this place, about these girls, in an entirely different way she felt about Heejin and Jungeun and Yerim’s friends. She boxed the feeling and locked it away in the back of her mind, she had other things to worry about right now. So she let Jiwoo grasp her hand and drag her out of the small building. “I didn’t think I was being recruited into a conspiracy theorists group.” She scoffed, dropping Hyunjin’s hand to cross her arms.

“But what if they’re right?” Jiwoo gave her a funny look. “I mean, we have no other leads.” She followed Jiwoo as she started walking towards their rooms. They rode the elevator up in silence, Hyunjin staring while Jiwoo looked anywhere but at her. She knew if she looked at Hyunjin, she would crumble. But they weren’t there to crack some mystery. They literally only came to find Yerim help and were going to leave back to the bunker right after. This place slowly started to unnerve her. She was suspicious about how they managed this place, how they maintained it. It was most likely corrupt. Maybe Chaeryoung and her friends were onto something, but this wasn’t their home, it wasn’t their business.

“Goodnight, Hyunjin.” Jiwoo gave her one last look and pushed open her room door. She paused at her door, staring at the empty space Jiwoo was just standing in.

For Hyunjin, she felt a sense of unfinished business.

Jiwoo walked further into the room, noticing Jungeun sitting by the window. “Hey, where have you been?” She was asleep for most of the day and now that it was actually nighttime, she was wide awake, waiting for Jiwoo.

“Just trolling around the area!” Jungeun’s forehead creased, letting out a cackle at Jiwoo’s silliness. She opened her arms, waiting for her to come take a seat on her lap. She felt the warm heat envelope her body the moment Jiwoo wrapped her arms around her neck. “How’s Yerim doing?”

“They’re discharging her in two days.” Jiwoo was glad to hear good news after the long and troublesome day she just had. She sighed into Jungeun’s neck, causing a blush to creep up her neck as usual. “Can we go to bed now?”

“I’m not sleepy anymore.” Jungeun pouted, running her hands down Jiwoo’s back. “Did you find Sooyoung? I heard the other’s ran into Hyejoo and Chaewon.”

Jiwoo didn’t know how to respond, so she diverted. “We found out that Jinsol is in the hospital room next to Yerim!” She pulled away from Jungeun’s neck to face her. “We should swing by tomorrow.” Jungeun nodded, sticking out her tongue to tease Jiwoo, she seemed really exhausted.

“Can you at least join me in bed?” Jungeun nodded fervently this time, a smirk threatening to break out behind her blush filled cheeks.

Hyunjin paced around while Heejin watched from the bed. The thoughts wouldn’t stop running through her mind, from the hulked up zombies to the task force she just met. She felt soft hands grab onto her, steadying her. “What’s up?” Heejin’s eyes were soft. See this was the difference, the rush she felt whenever she looked at Heejin and she looked back. The beating of her out of practice heart. It was something she wanted to hold onto. But at arm’s length.

“I’m sorry, I got to go.”

Heejin was confused, what exactly did she mean? “Go where?” She wondered what she was up to when she disappeared with Jiwoo, but she didn’t think much of it. Or tried not to at least. She distracted herself by hanging out with Jungeun and recapping the awful events that took place during lunch.

“I’ll be back before sun up.”

Hyunjin’s eyes were swimming with conviction, and it was hard not to keep her back. After all this time, Heejin slowly started to understand. The special way Hyunjin shows that she cares. In her own typical, gun wielding fashion, but also in the way that she steps up in times of need. “But where?”

A gasp left her body when she felt arms wrap around her waist. She was frozen while Hyunjin squeezed her tight, mumbling into her neck. “I’ll be back.” Something about this brought on a dreadful feeling in the pit of Heejin’s stomach. Why did this sound like a goodbye? She watched as Hyunjin jogged towards the door, looking back at Heejin one last time, smiling, before disappearing out into the hallway.

Jiwoo pecked Jungeun’s cheek and sent her into Yerim’s room before she walked over to the room next door. She took a deep breathe, then two hard knocks. A voice coming from inside told her the door was open, so she pushed her way in. Sitting by the bed was Hyejoo, presumably who the voice belonged to, and Jinsol sitting upright, staring daggers at her. Jiwoo ignored her. “Heard you were in here!”

“What are you even doing here? Like here as in here.” Jinsol waved her hand around, indicating that she meant the campus. Jiwoo spotted a chair in the corner and dragged it to the foot of the bed. She plopped down and crossed her legs along with her arms.

“Where’s Sooyoung?”

Jinsol paled, Hyejoo immediately looking down at the ground. Where was their other friend, Chaewon? The door to the bathroom opened, revealing the girl in question, who had sunglasses on. She wiped at and shuffled across the room to slide in next to Jinsol on the bed. “What’s she doing here?”

“Exactly what I asked!”

Jiwoo threw her hands up, over this whole thing. Did they really not care about Sooyoung’s whereabouts, not even Jinsol? “If you guys must know, I am here for Jungeun’s cousin. She’s in the room next door.” The blondes scoffed simultaneously, while Hyejoo looked up, eyes shining with unshed tears.

“They took her.” Jiwoo had to strain her ears to hear her quiet voice. Jinsol sent her a death glare, Chaewon shifting uncomfortably. “They took her to New Mexico.” Pieces started to click in Jiwoo’s mind, but there was still a large beneficial piece missing.

“They threatened her, us, said if we mentioned anything to anyone that they’d take us too.” Jiwoo shifted her line of sight to Jinsol, who’s face hardened the more Hyejoo spoke. This news was alarming, but it didn’t take her by surprise, thanks to her conspiracist buddies. But like she said earlier, it still made no sense.

Chaewon reached down under the bed and pulled out a miniature clear bottle, throwing back a quick chug. Jinsol grabbed it and tossed it across the room. The bottle was tiny, but the glass shattering noise echoed hauntingly. “We’re screwed, Hyejoo. Why would you tell her all of that?”

Hyejoo’s eyes darted nervously between Jinsol and Jiwoo. Even Chaewon was staring at her, although with softer eyes she mustered up behind her killer hangover. “Sooyoung told me if something were to ever happen to her, to come to you for help.” Her eyes landed on Jiwoo, keeping her gaze locked on to convey her seriousness.

Jinsol played with her fingers, a frown apparent on her face. This was always a problem. Sooyoung always went to Jiwoo for help, even back in the day. It was always her, always Jiwoo, never Jinsol. She even came out all the way to the bunker to find her, to seek help from her, and Jiwoo almost always said yes. Actually, she always said yes to Sooyoung.

But Sooyoung’s heart always belonged to Jinsol, and she never understood why it took so long for them to realize how they felt about each other. There was no need for jealousy, Jiwoo never wanted to be more than friends. Best friends. But it all changed anyway after college.

“Oh.”

So was it common knowledge around here that people were randomly taken away? By who even, Jiwoo pondered, by the people in charge? Were they a part of the past government, or an entirely new regime? Jiwoo shut down her thoughts immediately. This was getting way to deep. If the campus’ own task force was building a case against them, what’s to say they won’t “take them away” too? And what the hell was Jiwoo supposed to do about all this? Just the night before, she was running away out of fear of being dragged into some conspiracy.

“Stay alert, guys. I’ll figure something out.” It was best Jiwoo left out some details so they wouldn’t fall into more trouble. She wouldn’t want the rest of them disappearing too. She stood up and took a step in Hyejoo’s direction. “If anything else happens, meet me in the parking lot by my van.” And with that she strolled out of Jinsol’s hospital room, right passed Yerim’s room, and out of the building. She was going to get to the bottom of this whether she wanted to or not. Sooyoung’s life very well may depend on it.

Jiwoo creaked open the metal door to the small building. The contrast between last night and the moment now was jarring. The room was decorated with balloons and streamers, strobe lights flashing in the far back. A quiet electric beat was thumping through a small stereo. Everyone was gathered around the couches, she recognized everyone but one young girl who had on a birthday hat. Did Jiwoo just crash a party?! Wait, is that Hyunjin?

“Hello?”

“Holy crap. Lia! I thought you locked the door!” Yeji scolded, standing up at the sight of an embarrassed Jiwoo. She heard Lia mumble a “my bad” before sipping her drink. Hyunjin quickly stood up too, nearly spilling a drink that was nearby. She shook off the party streamers Lia threw all over her earlier. Chaeryoung rushed over, gently grabbing her arm and tugging her over.

“Come join us! Would you like a drink?” Jiwoo glanced over to Hyunjin, trying her hardest to send a telepathic message. But she agreed out of slight pressure and took a seat in between Yeji and Chaeryoung. The young girl she didn’t recognize extended her hand out.

“Yuna, birthday girl!” She exclaimed excitedly. Jiwoo looked down at the cake on the table and noticed the candles. She remembers being at that age, it not only made her feel old and nostalgic, but she yearned for the times before the outbreak.

“This is Jiwoo, she’s actually Hyunjin’s friend!” Chaeryoung introduced for her, Jiwoo was thankful, she was sort of speechless at the moment. She awkwardly stood back up, staring across the table at Hyunjin who was still standing. Jiwoo didn’t want to lose sight of what she came here for, there was no wasting time.

“Chaeryoung, do you mind if we talk in private?” The younger girl’s face turned serious, glancing over to Yeji for a quick second before she nodded.

“Of course, let’s move to the office.”

Chaeryoung closed the door behind Hyunjin as they filed inside. Jiwoo gave Hyunjin a questioning look, in which she responded with a shrug. She will have to question her later. “I have confirmation that Sooyoung was indeed taken. To New Mexico.”

The young girl gasped, moving around the desk to shuffle around some documents in the cabinets. Hyunjin whipped her head towards Jiwoo at the mention of New Mexico. Why did everything bad seem to stem from there?

“So we have this working theory.” Chaeryoung started, pulling out file after file, until she reached a red folder. “The missing people have been taken to this government facility out in New Mexico.” Chaeryoung held out the folder so they could flip through it. “What didn’t make sense this entire time was why. Until you guys brought up hybrid zombies.”

Jiwoo gulped, Hyunjin widening her eyes at the unfathomable thought. Sooyoung would so come after Jiwoo if she was turned into some half zombie-half human government experiment!

“What are we going to do?” Hyunjin spoke for the first time since Jiwoo showed up.

“First, we should find their base of operations.” Jiwoo thought back to their fateful car chase, remembering how her and Jungeun noticed the men walking around the motel they planned on spending the night in. They were big men in business suits, face partially concealed by their sunglasses even though it was the dead of night. They were smoking cigars and laughing near their truck. They still needed to figure out who these men worked for though. Was the whole campus corrupt, or just a sect?

“I think I have an idea where it might be.” Jiwoo confessed, ignoring the curious gaze Hyunjin was giving her. “What do we do once we’re there?”

A small smile grew on Chaeryoung’s face. “We save our people!” Jiwoo nodded in agreement, she hoped Sooyoung was holding on. “Then, we blow it all up.” Hyunjin clapped in approval, high-fiving Chaeryoung while Jiwoo rolled her eyes lightheartedly.

Hyunjin bounced on her feet in the parking lot. There was a cool, night breeze and quite frankly, it was creepy out. She wondered if their plan would work. How would they be able to overthrow the government and their twisted plans? Not too long ago, she was just a girl hiding out in a bunker with someone she never considered a friend. Did she have a purpose now? Or was she running headfirst into danger?

She was happy to find out that Yerim was discharged earlier that day and Jungeun was eager to get back to the bunker. Hyunjin wondered if the others knew anything, if it had only been Jiwoo and her running around with the weight of the world on their shoulders. She looked across the lot, setting her eyes on Jiwoo’s van. She could see Yeojin, Vivi and Haseul surrounding Yerim in the back, Jiwoo in the driver seat as usual, and Jungeun in the passenger seat. Did Jiwoo tell them that she wasn’t coming with?

She heard a van door slide open from behind her. “Ready to go?” It was Ryujin’s voice. Hyunjin was joining them instead on the way to New Mexico. Her eyes trailed back towards Jiwoo’s van, finally noticing Heejin leaning against the vehicle, staring right back at Hyunjin.

Heejin stared up at the ceiling, the darkness engulfing her. Hyunjin had just creeped into the room, sliding into the bed as quietly as she could. “I’m awake.” She felt Hyunjin sigh, relaxing her body.

It was four in the morning, according to the clock by the bedside table. It had been a while since Heejin’s seen an actual clock. The only source of time in the bunker was the computer, and she didn’t have much access to that. “Were you waiting for me?” Heejin felt Hyunjin’s breathe fan over her face. She turned to look at her, gasping softly at how close she was.

“Yeah.”

Hyunjin lost herself in Heejin’s shimmering dark brown eyes. She lifted her hand and traced the soft contours of her face. One word to describe them, unspoken. Every moment together, an unspoken feeling transpires. But this time, just this once, Hyunjin wanted it to be spoken. “Would you wait for me again if I asked you to?” 

Heejin leaned in dangerously closer, but Hyunjin made no move. “Yes.” She felt her lips ghost over hers, causing her eyes to flutter shut. This felt like a dream, one she never wanted to wake up from. Damn, was she always this cheesy? Heejin definitely made her feel like all those cliché romance movies she never ever admitted she enjoyed.

But this was real, all real.

She closed the distance, softly placing her lips on Heejin’s. It was everything she imagined and more.

Hyunjin took one last look over her shoulder before entering their black van. Heejin was now standing upright, still watching her. This wasn’t their final goodbye, Hyunjin was going to see her soon, but why was it suddenly so hard to move? To breathe? She stepped back out of the van, making a run for it.

She reached Heejin and swept her off her feet, spinning her around while she nuzzled her face into her warm neck. “I promise that I’ll be back soon.” She felt Heejin squeezing her tighter.

“Be safe out there.”

Hyunjin pulled away, frowning at the tears falling down Heejin’s cheeks. She balled up her sleeves and gently wiped them. She took one long look at her, etching her face into memory. Her eyes dropped down to her lips, suddenly daydreaming about the days where she could kiss them over and over again with no crisis going on and no interruptions from their nosy friends.

“Just kiss her already!” Hyunjin whipped her head towards the van, Jiwoo sticking her neck out of her window. She went back to facing Heejin, holding up her middle finger at Jiwoo. She ignored the excited looks of the others in the van watching from inside. Heejin giggled, but her tears were falling harder.

Hyunjin brushed her hair back, cupping her face with both of her hands. She leaned in and held her breathe. Heejin crashed her lips onto hers, wrapping her arms around Hyunjin’s neck, pulling her even closer. The sounds of their friends cheering drowned out and all Hyunjin could hear was the beat of her frantic heart. She felt wet tears running down her own face.

She squeezed tightly once more and pulled away, completely this time. She already missed Heejin’s warmth. Hyunjin quickly rushed back over to the black van, the girls all gathered by the door to witness their little moment. She blushed at their knowing smirks. She stepped inside the van and turned around, waving goodbye to Heejin and her friends. One more second and she doesn’t know if she could leave with them. But the door slid shut in front of her, and they were driving out of the parking lot, Jiwoo’s van getting smaller and smaller in the distance.

It felt like deja vu, but Jungeun could almost kiss the ground. They were finally back at the bunker, everyone helping to move the stacks of hay off the trap door, except for Yerim who cheered words of encouragement. Jiwoo felt a little bad that she had to leave Jinsol, Hyejoo and she guesses, Chaewon, behind at the campus, but she promised that Hyunjin would be back for them.

Yerim and Jungeun were going to room together for the time being while Jiwoo and Heejin shared Hyunjin’s room. Yeojin refused to be apart from Vivi and Haseul, so they were back to same room as before.

The cabin had been untouched, and they somehow managed to drive through New Mexico unscathed. Maybe it was because Jiwoo purposely drove through the state in broad daylight in hopes that the zombies would be asleep or something. She knew it didn’t work that way, but she still held out hope.

She looked up from the bed, watching as Heejin shuffled over, falling flat on the bed face first. Jiwoo reached her hand over to rub her back for comfort. “I’m sure everything’s going fine.” She definitely wasn’t sure, but anything to keep Heejin from being worried. Jiwoo was there when they hatched their big plan to blow up the facility. It wasn’t looking so good if she were being honest, but she trusted Hyunjin to see things through the right way. Sooyoung’s life was quite literally in her hands.

Hyunjin directed Chaeryoung to the motel Jiwoo brought them to. There was still light outside, but it was around dinner time. She was hoping some activity would happen once it got darker. They filed into a room, dumping their duffels onto the bed. “I’m beat. I’m going to get some shut eye.” Lia groaned out, getting comfortable on the bed next to their bags.

“You literally slept the entire way.” Ryujin teased, gaining a kick from Lia.

“Well, someone had me up all night making the bomb.”

Hyunjin snickered to herself. Their dynamics were so entertaining, she doesn’t think she’ll ever get bored with the two of those around. “Something funny, Hyunjin?” She shook her head, grin widening. Lia threw a pillow at her.

“Guys, cut the crap.” Yeji intercepted the pillow in mid air. “We need to be on the lookout.”

After several cheap coffees and four hours later, it was now dark out. They turned off the lights in the room, gathering around the window and peeking through the blinds. They heard the sound of an engine rumbling down the road. They waited until it came into view.

“Recognize anything, Hyunjin?” Chaeryoung asked. She squinted at the dark van in the distance, two men in business suits hopping out and lighting a cigar.

“That’s them.”

They grabbed their weapons and Yeji signaled them to sneak out of the room to the van undetected. They waited behind the motel’s large trash bins, watching the men get back into their van.

Chaeryoung started the vehicle and followed them from a distance with the headlights off. Now, they wait until they are led back to their base.

It was almost too easy. Or either the government was slacking on security. They probably didn’t think anyone would come looking for them in a deserted state like New Mexico. They followed the men in after they used their key cards, Lia knocking them both out with one swift punch to the face.

She was wrongfully fooled after all. “Might want to pick up your jaw.” Ryujin teased Hyunjin, but she was pleasantly impressed.

They stole the key cards and passed through another set of doors. Now there were multiple hallways leading every which way. “Chaeryoung and I will go left with one of the keys, see where that will lead us. You three take one and go right. We’ll meet back here if we find anything, got it?” Everyone nodded in agreement, splitting up in separate directions.

This felt exhilarating to Hyunjin. This was the first time she’s ever felt useful in a situation. She was on a mission with a purpose. To save and protect lives. This task force welcomed her with open arms, and she felt at home. Her mind went back to Heejin and the bunker. All the memories she made in it, from the start of the outbreak, to when Heejin and Jungeun appeared on their doorstep. The bunker was her home too.

The further they creeped down the hall, more rooms started to line up on each side of it. Hyunjin peered into one, noticing that it was a cell of some sort with a bed and a toilet. She wondered who these people were, were they randoms? Did they come from the campus? Were they bad people?

“Hey! I found your friend.” Chaeryoung whispered in a rushed tone. Hyunjin caught up to her, looking through the small window. Sooyoung was curled up in bed, looking frail. Hyunjin slid the key card, the cell buzzing open. She hesitantly took a step inside, walking very carefully over to the bed. She looked down at Sooyoung, who was fast asleep, should she wake her up?

She reached her hand down, but Sooyoung caught her. She sat up on her elbows, squinting at Hyunjin through her blurry eyes. “Hey, you’re Jiwoo’s friend.” She could only nod dumbly in response. “Thank god she sent you. Get me out of this hell hole!”

The five of them plus Sooyoung reconvened at the meeting spot. “Good, you found your friend.” Sooyoung weakly shook her head, her arm swung over Hyunjin who was holding her up.

“She’s not really my friend.”

Hyunjin shrugged, grimacing when Sooyoung winced. “Sorry, I only came here to blow up some hybrid zombies.” Yeji raised her eyebrows at the two.

“Speaking of which, we should probably set up the bomb in the heart of the operation.” Yeji looked over to Lia. “That way we do the least damage to the innocent civilians.” Sooyoung cleared , raising her hand up.

“Excuse me, you guys were going to blow me up?” Hyunjin smiled mischievously while the others chuckled, minus Yeji. “Seriously? On the off chance that you didn’t find me?” She pointed at Chaeryoung, whom she recognized as the desk girl.

“Hey!” A deep voice rung out through the corridor. They all gasped, a handful of soldiers coming their way. The alarm started to sound while Yeji led them through door after door with the key card, eventually leading them to a huge room. No one was around, since it was night, but the equipment was still set up. It was straight out of a science fiction movie. A beamer of some sort that shot electric power towards whoever was strapped at the end of the board. What was this, Frankenstein?

“Quick, set up the bomb Lia!” Yeji directed, ushering the others to watch the multiple entranceways. Ryujin slid over the duffel bag, Hyunjin digging inside to pull out her weapon of choice. Never in a million years did she think she was ever going to shoot a bazooka. It would have come in handy the first time she encountered those scary men in suits.

“Give me three minutes!”

There was loud clanking against the main entrance, the soldiers seemed to have multiplied. Hyunjin tossed a gun over to Sooyoung, who happily accepted it. She steadied the bazooka on her shoulder and aimed. Now, for the timing.

“You got a minute left!” Yeji yelled over her shoulder, machine gun trained on the upper entrance.

Sooyoung grabbed onto Hyunjin’s shoulder to pull herself up, gaining her attention. “If we don’t make it out, thanks for the effort anyway.” She patted her shoulder and raised the gun. Hyunjin smiled, determined and sure that they’ll make it out alive.

Jungeun observed Jiwoo while she ran around the kitchen trying to make dinner for them. If the walls weren’t concrete and if they had windows, Jungeun could pretend easier that they’re in their own house, pre outbreak. A house the two of them would have chose together after dating for a couple years. She imagined their first date as a blind one, set up by their friends.

She got up, walking behind Jiwoo, who stood by the sink chopping veggies she managed to grow outside. Jungeun slid her arms around her waist, resting her chin on Jiwoo’s shoulder. “Will you be mine, Jiwoo?” She stopped chopping, setting the knife down before turning her body away from the counter. Jungeun’s heart rate picked up just by looking into Jiwoo’s soft eyes.

“I thought I already was?” Jiwoo teased, sticking her tongue out. Jungeun slapped her shoulder, a blush creeping up her neck. Jiwoo’s eyes dropped down to Jungeun’s lips, bouncing back up to her eyes, before staring back down at them.

It felt natural to them, the course of their growth together. From the moment they met, Jungeun could tell that there was something about Jiwoo that she wouldn’t be able to get over. Her smile? Probably. Her heart? Definitely. It was a never ending feeling to Jungeun. So she leaned in, closing the gap between the two. Yeah, she never wanted it to end.

Jiwoo peered out of the cabin door. She heard muffled engines outside and decided to come out to check what it was. She definitely could not take in any more people! She instantly recognized the black van, the door sliding opening to reveal Hyunjin and Sooyoung. Holy crap, they actually did it.

She shoved the cabin doors opening, running towards them with open arms. “I’m so glad you guys are okay!” Hyunjin pulled away first, glaring at Jiwoo teasingly.

“Of course we were, why wouldn’t we be?!”

Sooyoung melted in the hug, granting herself this one time to allow physical affection from someone other than Jinsol. “Thank you, Jiwoo.” Jiwoo pulled away, smiling up at her old friend.

“You should thank Hyunjin, she actually got you out!” The three of them chuckled, sharing meaningful glances. Hyunjin excused herself, bounding towards the cabin and down into the bunker. Sooyoung gave Jiwoo a sad smile.

“How are the others? Jinsol? Before they took me, she got sick. How is she?” Jiwoo could feel the worry radiating off of her. She could see the care in her eyes for them. They were all fine and staying low the last time she saw them.

“Jinsol is in the hospital, but she looked like she was doing alright. Hyejoo misses you. Chaewon is... Chaewon.” Sooyoung sniffled, wiping at her eyes. “Hyejoo was the one who told me that you were taken.”

“I feel like the only reason they cared to save me was because you sent Hyunjin.”

Jiwoo’s eyes sparkled, a newfound admiration for her best friend. Jiwoo didn’t miss the way Hyunjin’s eyes shined whenever she would bring up ideas for their mission, how there was a skip in her step after a good round of shooting in their practice range. “Are you guys here to drop Hyunjin off?” Sooyoung froze, an almost apologetic look growing on her facial features.

“Actually, I’m not staying.” Jiwoo whipped around. Hyunjin was carrying her backpack, a folded up piece of paper in her hand. Sooyoung gripped Jiwoo’s shoulder, muttering a goodbye in her ear before giving the two some alone time.

“What do you mean?”

Hyunjin approached her slowly. “We managed to take down the base of operations, but we still need to figure out who’s in charge of it all.” Jiwoo was slowly starting to understand where this was going.

There was a long pause. “Will you be back?
Hyunjin frowned, tears threatening to fall. She took a step forward, wrapping her best friend up in a hug. Jiwoo closed her eyes, squeezing tight. This did feel like a goodbye.

She pulled away and handed Jiwoo the piece of paper before walking back to the van. Jiwoo’s eyes darted to her retreating figure and back to the paper in her hand. She unraveled it.

It was a sketch of a penguin, a cat, an owl, and a bunny. At the bottom, there was a word scribbled on it.

Family. 

Jungeun woke up to a note on her nightstand. It was from Hyunjin. She opened it up, revealing a cartoon like drawing of an owl and a cat holding guns. Her eyes trailed down to the word scribbled on the bottom.

Bros.

Heejin rushed out of the bunker, heart racing. She shoved the cabin doors open, running straight into a frozen Jiwoo. The familiar black van was heading down the road.

She gripped the sketchpad in her hand, tears falling down her cheeks as the van disappeared around the corner. She had woken up to a light kiss on her forehead, still thinking she was in a dream state. After hearing a door close, she woke up, noticing something beside her on the bed. It was the small sketchpad she always caught Hyunjin drawing in.

Heejin cautiously picked it up, wondering for a second why it was next to her. Hyunjin was always so adamant about locking it away in her drawer. She flipped to the front page.

It was a sketch of her. Scribbled on the bottom: Love.

She flipped to the next page. It was a familiar instance. Two smiling stick figures and a box of cheerios in between them. Scribbled on the bottom: Love.

She flipped to the third page. It was a letter.

I’ve thought about how to say this, but it turns out I can’t. I can’t look you in the face and say goodbye, or else I wouldn’t be able to leave. But I have to go. 

I hope you won’t hate me too much.

~ Hyunjin

Months had passed, and it was nearing almost a year since Heejin and Jungeun had landed themselves in Texas. Heejin gagged as Jungeun and Jiwoo canoodled at the dinner table. “Do you mind running over to the grocery store?” After the whole hybrid zombie issue, there was an odd decline of normal zombies around the area. They haven’t seen one in weeks during their perimeter checks.

Heejin stopped at the road, looking both ways before crossing, realizing how unnecessary that was considering no cars ever drive near their cabin. She crossed over the messy threshold of the store, whistling as she walked down the aisles. She opened her bag and stuffed as many cans of tuna and pineapple she could. That was when she heard a low groan. She zipped up her bag slowly, not wanting to create noise, and her hand went towards her belt. She only brought her small dagger.

She tiptoed towards the entrance, looking around the parking lot and across the road at the cabin. She was going to make a break for it. The second Heejin stepped outside, she heard low groans coming from all sides of her. She spotted three zombies coming her way, and she would have felt confident in defeating them, but her dagger was too small. She shrugged off her backpack, and held it up in front of her, bracing herself.

A beat passed and the groans stopped. Another beat and there were multiple thumps falling to the ground. Heejin peaked out from behind her backpack, gasping. The zombies heads were sliced clean off, all at once. Behind the bodies, stood a masked figure with long, wavy red brown hair that flowed in the wind. Heejin gulped as they pulled off their mask, heart stopping when she took a closer look.

“Did you miss me?”