Another morning, another wake up call. Morning was as obnoxiously bright as ever, thus Jiyoon was the first to wake up, rubbing her tired eyes before carefully stumbling into the bathroom. The muffled sound of the sink running was enough to wake Monday up and then Soeun. Before they realized it, ten minutes passed, which meant it was almost time for breakfast and the rest hadn’t woken up yet. Soojin was still asleep, which only jokingly irritated Monday even more. (Why don’t you wake up? Wake up!!) This pretty much perked everyone up from their slumber, except Jaehee, who was still able to sleep through the crow like yelling. When they were all finally awake and freshened up, Soojin made omelettes before passing some dishes to them. Afterwards, the girls comfortably ate outside in benches that were under the shade. While the group talked about their next plan, something caught Soeun’s eyes while looking over her shoulders: bicycles, one black and one grey.

“Do you guys wanna take those?” She didn’t realize she unintentionally interrupted their conversation when it immediately became silent. Nonetheless, the girls looked to where Soeun was looking, before perking up. Jihan spoke up excitedly. 

“Oh hey! There’s two, we can take them along on the RV’s bike rack.” Everyone agreed and then did just that, but still didn’t leave quite yet. Zoa took out a sticky note to write down anything else they needed before hitting the road again. 

“Maybe more water? Better yet, grab some gallons of the stuff.” Soojin suggested, then Monday. 

“Chips too.” Jiyoon smiled, making everyone look at her. “What? Lays are very essential.”

Zoa playfully rolled her eyes, listing it down as well. “Fine. What else?” 

“I’d say extra clothes just to be safe.” Everyone immediately agreed. 

“Alright, then that’s settled. Who wants to go fetch them on the bikes?” 

“I’ll go.” The oldest girl offered, which made Zoa slightly nervous since she was always the first one to raise her hand. This prompted Soeun to join as well.

“Me, too.” 

“Be careful. If anything goes wrong, call us and we’ll be there.” 

“Got it.”

Then without any more words, both of them grabbed backpacks before hopping on the bikes and riding back towards the mall once more. Wind softly breezed by as they pedaled side by side, which soon turned into a fun game of racing. Obviously more different and safer than what their friends did yesterday, soon ending with Soojin being victorious. The younger girl merely rolled her eyes before heading inside and towards some stores, as well as the supermarket to grab their listed items. Soojin grabbed another pack of her favorite banana milk, causing Soeun to laugh while shoving piles of shirts and pants in her backpack. She met up with her in the clothes store, both hands holding a gallon while her bag was filled with more supplies.

“Here, let me help you with that.” Soeun quickly offered. 

“Thanks. They should be able to fit in our bike’s rear baskets.” 

She nodded. “Is that everything?” 

“Mhm. Let’s go back.”

But just as the two were picking up the bags and water, they heard the mall’s entrance open and some unfamiliar voices murmuring amongst themselves. Soeun carefully peeked from the second floor to see who they were, only to notice they were all wearing ordinary clothes while having large rifles by their side. She looked back at Soojin with a clear expression that they could be in trouble, thus, quickly messaged the group about it. Suddenly, some of the strangers were talking about going upstairs, which made Soeun instinctively drag the older girl away and inside the clothes store to hide. Zoa responded that everyone was on their way now, so they both had to not get caught and focused on staying hidden as long as possible until it was safe. They both locked themselves in a changing stall, keeping silent while hearing muffled noises in the distance. There was some chattering about some organization and scavenging for kids to find, which truly didn’t sound pleasing at all. Whoever these people were, they seemed suspicious and untrustworthy. Besides that though, if went down, the two would be ready to attack at a moment’s notice. 

Inevitably, one of them soon investigated the changing room, looking around while communicating with someone else outside, meaning there were more in the clothes store. Soeun and Soojin waited for the right moment, until they entered their stall, hearing the footsteps approaching closer and closer. Abruptly, they saw a man open the door as the older girl then pushed him hard against the wall, knocking out instantly. This was heard by the others as they rushed in to see what was going on, only to meet the same fate. The next guy that came running instantly got mind controlled, then turned around to point his gun on the others, shooting multiple rounds to prevent anyone from coming inside. Soeun kept this up long enough for them to be distracted before grabbing Soojin's hand and sprinting down the escalators. Right then and there, Monday drove their RV straight through the mall's entrance, shattering the glass and stopped right in front of the duo. There was a long, loose wire hanging from the ceiling, so she wasted no time to grab it, which instantly sparked electrical statics everywhere as the strangers duck in fear, running away from the lightning storm.

"Hop in!!"

They immediately did so and locked the door behind them as Monday hit the brake pedal to back up, before swiftly turning the wheel and sped out of there. Soon, they were far away from the mall and were back on the road. Zoa informed them that they were going to need to drive about five hours in order to be safe for sure. Everyone nodded while Soeun and Soojin were panting, filling the girls in on what just happened. As expected, they didn't trust whoever those people were, doing their best to get as far away as possible. However, minutes later, Monday saw several cars on their trail in her side view mirror. Groaning, the girls realized they should've expected this, but with no other choice, they had to hit the roof again. This time, Soojin climbed up after wrapping the wire tightly around her waist as Zoa helped steady her balance. She looked to the side, seeing the desert and its large rocks, then levitated them in the air, in hopes of intimidating these people to back down. But instead, they said something through a megaphone that made the girls freeze.

"We mean no harm! We're the League and are here to help you!" 

Frowning, Soojin looked back at Zoa, who looked as surprised. "'The League'?"

"I still don't trust them, they tried to shoot at us."

Soeun reasoned which was enough for Soojin to realize before launching the boulders high in the air, then dragged them downwards to rain like a meteor shower, which was really effective and caused massive explosions. However, there were still two cars that survived somehow, continuing to announce that they weren't going to hurt the girls. Soojin just wanted them to stop their pursuit, so she narrowed her eyes at their tires before stretching out her arms again. Through focused concentration, Soojin easily crushed them, causing the vehicles to lose control and swerve away from the road. She felt relieved at last before getting off the roof and closing the hatch.

"They're gone."

"Oh, finally." Jaehee placed a hand on her chest. "That was intense." 

"Yeah. That meteor thing was awesome!" Jiyoon applauded enthusiastically.

"Are you alright?" 

Soojin nodded, smiling at Soeun's question. "I'm fine, don't worry." 

"Wait." Everyone stopped and looked at Zoa. "They said they were the League. Maybe we should find out who they are? Just to get an idea." 

"We already have an idea. They tried to shoot us." Soeun deadpanned, but the younger girl only shook her head. 

"Probably because they just didn't expect to actually see you. Did any of them say anything while you both were still in the mall?"

"Something about scavenging for kids?" 

"Hm…well, we'll see if there's anything we can find about them once we get where we need to go."

"Or, we can just look after ourselves and not trust any adults we see?" Monday suggested.

"We are. If there's anything bad about this 'League', then we won't trust them. Let's give them a chance?"

Everyone looked at each other as if waiting for someone to speak up while Monday only sighed. Soeun and Soojin nodded at each other before the older girl spoke up. "Ok."

They drove for hours, switching drivers when necessary. (Un)surprisingly, Zoa also knew how to operate the wheel and spent a while just maneuvering on the road as the rest of the girls made themselves lunch, had soft music on to relax, and played some games in their phones together for the time being. It didn’t take long until they reached another small town at the beach as Zoa parked right by the wooden stairs. The girls wasted no time heading for the showers, cleaning up before making another bonfire on the sand, using sticks this time to light it. Like last night, they had more barbecue for dinner and pastries for dessert. Meanwhile, Soojin and Soeun rode around on their bikes to search for a laundromat, which would help them settle here for at least a week or more. Everyone agreed with the suggestion before resuming back to grilling bulgogi and bacon. Soon enough, Soeun spotted one a few miles before leading Soojin inside, using the flashlights to help navigate. The place was dirty, and thought to themselves maybe they’ll clean it tomorrow. But right before leaving, Soojin noticed something sitting on one of the washers.

“Wait. Is that a…ukulele?” She pointed for Soeun to see. 

“Yeah, looks like it. Why?”

“Zoa always wanted one of these.” Soojin approached closer before grabbing it and blowing off the dust. “I’ll give this to her later.”

Soeun simply nodded. “Let’s go back now.”

For the rest of the night, everyone hung out at the beach and socialized like always. They simply talked about whatever came in mind while making s’mores and toast with nutella. Jihan carried out some more drinks and snacks from their fridge using telekinesis as the girls spent more time either stargazing or randomly cracking jokes in a peaceful silence, making them all laugh. Pretty soon, they all had to sleep, bidding each other goodnight while the same four dorks hogged the bed once more, Zoa called the couch while Soojin and Soeun made a bed on the floor. While everyone was deep in slumber, they still remained awake, simply whispering to each other since neither of them were tired. Soeun opened up about her home life and how she struggled to even communicate with her parents, thus, had to grow up really fast to take care of herself. Soojin couldn’t even fathom how bad that must’ve been, sympathizing with the younger girl. She, too, opened up her own struggles while in school, the daily bullying, teachers not listening to her and Zoa’s cry for help, etc.

Soeun didn’t know why, but hearing about that made her quite angry, saying she would’ve beaten those people up if given the chance, making Soojin chuckle while feeling heartwarmed by the sentiment. She assured her they were fine now and were more than glad to have caring friends. “Still, what they did was ed up.”

“I appreciate the concern, Soeunnie, but really, it’s totally cool. I’m just glad Zoa and I aren’t dependent like them.” 

“Well…if you say so. But point them out for me when you see them.” Soojin snickered, lightly hitting the younger girl’s shoulder while letting her hand linger on it. 

“We should sleep now, it’s almost 1AM.” 

Soeun nodded. “Night.” She adjusted her pillow before laying back, closing her eyes. Soojin did the same thing as well, quickly slipping into dreamland.