TW// very very minor character d**th

Clouds hindered the sun from displaying its normal, brilliant luster, causing an odd shift in weather. It wasn’t anything too bad, but this change ruined any hope of another sunny day. Even news reports marveled while covering this supposed ‘phenomenon’. The temperature dipped as clouds plagued the sky, giving them a break from sunny days, but also getting colder than they expected. However, waking up was easier thanks to their heater. Sweet hot chocolate and the aroma of cinnamon rolls from downstairs filled the whole mote, attracting everyone. What better way to start the morning with a hearty breakfast? Soojin took the liberty of getting out of bed early at six, then went into their RV to grab certain ingredients and lots of cocoa powder for something she knew the girls would love. After an hour of being a chef, cinnamon rolls were ready and taken out of the oven. They cooled down for about half a minute, then Soojin poured lots of icing for its final touch, smiling as she got plates for each of the girls. Soon enough, everyone rushed downstairs to see what was going on, only to be astonished by the amazing sight before them before eagerly sitting down. Her smile grew wider seeing them so happy eating the cinnamon rolls while drinking their hot chocolate cups. An hour was spent with them talking about the news, weather, Soojin’s breakfast, and the list went on. 

One thing was certain on today’s itinerary though; Monday, Jiyoon and Zoa were next in line for adventure. As fun as that may have sounded, whatever unknown horrors waited for them made the girls anxious to no end. Monday was the only brave one while the other two were on edge overthinking about their future. Zoa knew more than anyone that letting these terrible thoughts define her opinions and choices weren’t good for her, but she just couldn’t help it. They needed all of the preparation possible to ensure their safety, as well as ease the constant paranoia gnawing at them. First and foremost, they needed to find a way to transport themselves around. Using the bikes and skateboards were out of the question, including the RV because it was easily noticeable. So now everyone was going around to help look for another car and this time, Zoa was determined to modify whatever vehicle they could find. However, a while later, nothing unfortunately turned up, forcing everyone to regroup at the motel again.

“Jihan and I can’t find much around here. Maybe we should look further around the walls?” 

“We both already checked those areas. Didn’t really find anything.” Soojin gestured to herself and Soeun. 

“Jiyoon, Zoa and I looked everywhere on the streets, too.” 

“Hm…what about inside the buildings?” Zoa asked, this question catching everyone’s attention. “Have we searched there?” 

“I don’t think so.”

“Alright, we’ll do that and then meet back here in fifteen minutes?”

With that being said, they splitted up individually this time in order to get over this faster. Monday, Zoa and Soeun investigated some vacant houses, Soojin skated around parking lots, Jaehee checked the beach, Jihan unintentionally found a completely broken down car and slumped, and lastly, Jiyoon stumbled into a large building with her phone’s flashlight, having no idea what was inside. She’d walked past a poster saying ‘motor garage’ unknowingly while scanning the place to see if there was anything useful. Everything was practically covered in sheets, making her even more curious as she approached closer. Jiyoon tried to find papers that gave hints, which didn’t work out, until wrenches, screwdrivers, and more were discovered laying around on some tables. Gasping, she inspected a few tools before looking through more, eventually sighting a whole box full of car batteries, even tires. This was definitely like treasure finding, though Jiyoon didn’t hit the jackpot just yet. Unfortunately, there were no cars as far as she was aware, but something in the corner caught her eye, being one of the many things covered in sheets. Cautiously walking closer, Jiyoon grabbed the end and pulled harshly until it was entirely uncovered. This resulted in dust flying everywhere, causing her to cough while waving her hands around, stepping back to get away until it cleared out. Shortly afterwards, Jiyoon’s eyes went wide upon realizing what she just found before immediately dashing outside to scream.

“Guys!! I found two motorcycles!!” Everyone perked up hearing her before quickly following her cheering voice as she hopped excitedly. They all gathered inside to see for themselves, then instantly shared the enthusiasm. 

“This is great! Now we’ll be able to keep ourselves hidden with these!” 

“Yeah, we can change the mechanisms so then the engines aren’t so noisy!”

Zoa exclaimed as the girls hastily helped modify the vehicles as she handled all of the tools. They replaced tires, extracted several parts to replace new ones, enhanced the lights, made more armor for endurance, etc. Pretty soon, both motorcycles were entirely revamped and shiny after a quick wash. The girls were proud of themselves for completing this, but now they just needed to test these out. Zoa gave them a quick crash course, but they were still too scared to put her teaching to the test. Monday grabbed a helmet and offered the first try, willing to hop on the seat, turning on the engine as it surprisingly remained silent. She even experimented with the lights, which turned out to be a lot brighter than anyone expected. Now for the moment of truth, Monday revved up the motor that instantly sent her speeding down the road and back as she laughed the entire time. Everyone watched with utter amazement before cheering her on. With that finally settled, she, Jiyoon and Zoa needed protection of their own, thus another search carried out. Luckily, this didn’t take long once Soojin and Soeun discovered a partially rundown police station. To their shock, the true jackpot was still there: there were bullet proof vests, handguns, tasers and batons. They told their friends about the discovery, and the trio wasted no time gearing up with the equipment. Afterwards, they all walked out feeling like Power Rangers. They couldn’t help but strike a team pose, making everyone laugh.

“I guess this is it.” Zoa stated while sitting on one of the motorcycles and putting on some gloves. After securing her helmet, she ignited the engines to get ready to leave, but not till checking the map on the phone just to be sure. “With the motorcycles’ speed, we can arrive at Ansan in about four hours or so.” 

“We’ll be back before you guys know!” Jiyoon reassured as she sat behind Monday, wrapping her arms around her waist. 

“Don’t miss us too much.” They knew she was joking, but on the inside, she truly did want her friends to not stress about worrying too much. “I’ll keep them safe.”

This was directed at Soojin, who was clearly anxious the most. The girl herself felt at ease with Monday’s statement and nodded, silently thanking. Then with that, they rode off into the distance without looking back. When the group was out of sight, Soojin let a tear escape her eye and embraced Soeun. She was surprised by this, but didn’t hesitate to return the hug while looking back at the road her friends descended from. They sped down the street while gazing at the desert around them, astonished by the cooling weather as it was usually hot around this time of day. Jiyoon never understood the heat her friends would often complain about, but now that she was more knowledgeable about being a Red, heat had almost no effect on her. Funny enough, it made Jiyoon feel like a superhero and she was determined to act out her childhood dream someday if possible. Monday and Zoa drove side by side for the next hour, occasionally talking by shouting so the other could hear. She informed her friends that they’re going to reach the woods soon, intriguing them since they both hadn’t been to one in years. Then half an hour later on the highway, the three took an exit and were enchanted by the beautiful sight. They decided to make a sudden stop for a quick selfie because it had to be done. Zoa made sure to send the pictures to their group chat, hoping that would ease them for worrying too much. Soon, it was time to resume their journey once more, lasting another hour till a rest stop was discovered. Zoa suggested they have some food and drinks before continuing any further. After parking their motorcycles outside the convenient store, the girls entered while looking around. They lightly gasped upon seeing all of their favorite snacks on the shelves, but, on the downside, they didn't have any money. Shrugging, the trio just decided to use the bathroom before continuing their journey.

"Oh cool! This place has some of the rare KitKat flavors. I've never tried apple before." 

"They have Apple flavor??" Zoa's eyes widened at the statement.

"I heard Japan makes a lot of different, limited edition flavors, which is why they're so rare around the world." Monday added.

"Yeah! Apple must taste nice, wish I could buy it though…." She pouted slightly as they continued being amazed about candy. But what went unnoticed was the store owner approaching Monday from behind without any of them noticing.

"Hey, can I help you gu—"

"AHHH!!"

All of them collectively screamed atop of their lungs as Monday instinctively grabbed his wrist and electrocuted him to a crisp, till she no longer felt pulses. The girls watched him drop like a mannequin as silence momentarily filled the room. "……welp, that happened. You guys want to bring some snacks along?" 

"…oh my god. He's—you—HUH?"

Jiyoon stuttered while Zoa remained absolutely shell shocked. They both stood at a safe distance, their eyes wide in a mix of shock and fear, reminding themselves not to provoke Monday so much next time. But in her defense, it really was an accident as she acted purely out of instinct. And in times like this, it did make sense. Though on the other hand, it was wrong, but she didn’t feel an ounce of remorse while hiding his body. Zoa had to delete the footage before disabling all of the cameras within that area, making it easier for them to take whatever they wanted from the store, from a bunch of chocolate to soda cans. Jiyoon got outside as soon as she took a bathroom break and grabbed her favorite snacks, patiently waiting on the motorcycle. Monday continued ransacking the whole store and created a big mess by throwing beer bottles everywhere, leaving the slushie machine on to flood itself, even knocking all of the shelves like dominoes. Overall, just being a really chaotic kid. Zoa somehow tuned out the warzone and grew intrigued by the cashier machine. Needless to say, she was quite surprised by the sheer amount of money inside before counting every bill and coin, then accurately solved the math within several seconds.

“Holy crap! There’s $1,500 in here!” She exclaimed loud enough for the older girl to hear. 

“Huh. He sure took care of this business before that unfortunate turn of events.”

“Yeah….” Zoa finally looked up. “Woah! You totally trashed the place.” She chuckled and scanned around.

“Yeah, I needed to let my frustrations out.” 

“Well whatever helps you I guess. I’m gonna keep this money in case we ever need it.”

“Why? The whole world is basically a dystopia at this point.” 

“For us. But not for the adults.” 

“Ugh…I can’t believe those sad excuses of human beings will just give themselves luxury while we’re out here struggling to survive.”

Zoa sighed. “There’s not much we can do anyways…and, besides, we have our own town to revive, which we can’t do alone so we’ll need all of the help we can get.” She then picked up a random spray can, using it to write the code. 

“Are you sure it’s safe to just put it here?” 

“Yeah. No adult would know what it stands for anyways.” 

“Alright. We should get moving now.” 

“Let’s go.”

They both quickly left the store to see Jiyoon nearly falling asleep on the motorcycle as Monday woke her up, laughing at her reaction. When gas was refilled, the girls were on the road once more, halfway to Ansan with two hours left. Despite this, they didn’t really complain much because it felt like a privilege to drive through an empty street, although the wind was somewhat freezing. To make this trip more fun, Zoa suggested a game of racing right before zooming off to get a headstart, but being highly competitive, Monday quickly caught up as Jiyoon held on tightly. She yelped when the motorcycle abruptly jerked forward, fearing she’ll fly off her seat at any moment. Zoa figured if this game kept going, they'd reach Ansan in no time. After a while, the two decided to slow down on the engines so as to not overheat it, which gave her time to check the map. Sighing in relief, there was only a mile left to cover before speeding once more and quickly finishing the journey. Jiyoon alerted her friends the moment she saw buildings just ahead of them, earning nods as they got closer. Then, within minutes, the girls had crossed through the gates and into the abandoned city that was once known for its deep culture and festive glory. Zoa’s heart shattered into a million pieces as they slowly rode further just to get a look around. She’d once been here with her family to visit relatives, remembering the fond times she and Soojin had while playing by the pond with their grandmother’s small poodle. They always came back during spring break, just spending a pleasant week here relaxing. Sadly enough, Zoa had been expecting to visit again this year, but now…she had no idea how to put it. Ansan was basically her second home, so to see the city like this felt horrible. 

Jiyoon, on the other hand, had also visited here for a school trip. She remembered being so excited and eager, constantly talking about it with her friends even weeks before the day. The moment she heard the teacher announce the field trip was the happiest time of her life. Then after telling her mom about it, she was very keen on coming along as a chaperone just to keep her safe. Jiyoon had gone around shopping with her group, trying out exotic foods at renowned restaurants, met new friends, etc. The last few moments she enjoyed before the whole world went to hell. Meanwhile, Monday never once set foot in Ansan before but hearing the nice stories from the other two somewhat made her regret not visiting the city sooner. So now the only experiences she got was a literal dystopia. Numerous vehicles littered Ansan’s streets, buildings lay in ruins after collapsing and road lights occasionally flickered. The sight creeped them out, but they bravely continued deeper into the city’s heart, which looked a lot like some apocalyptic scenery. Zoa never believed this would happen and she never felt so incorrect in her life. At this point, anything was possible, thus, Zoa reminded her friends to be highly alerted at all times.

“Where do we go from here?” Jiyoon asked. 

“I’m thinking.” The younger girl responded as Monday questioned as well. 

“How exactly are we going to find kids here? The rumor about them gathering might not even be true.” 

“But it still wouldn't hurt to try. And besides, we have each other and these weapons with us, so I think we’ll be able to handle ourselves.” She turned off the motorcycle to stop and look through her phone once more to review what they’d heard last night. “So apparently, they might be hiding underground somewhere. I’m assuming that means a subway station.” This made Jiyoon slump.

“Aw man…those are the scariest places to investigate.” 

“Why don’t we take a short break somewhere? Just to mentally and physically prepare ourselves.” 

Monday suggested, which honestly, that was certainly they all needed at the moment. Therefore, the trio drove around a little more before stopping in front of an abandoned house to climb on top of the roof. Afterwards, they all sat with their legs over the edge, talking about their lives while eating from the lunch boxes that Soojin prepared for them. “Wow! This has to be the best jajangmyeon I’ve ever eaten.” Jiyoon marveled as she ate more. 

“I know, right?? She’s really good at cooking.” Zoa agreed wholeheartedly. 

“I really need to learn from her one day, this is amazing.” 

The younger girl giggled at Monday’s compliment. “We actually learned together with our mom, she always knew the right seasoning to add.”

Jiyoon nodded, being quite fascinated and wanted to hear more while Monday remained silent, hearing them talk about their parents. There wasn’t much for her to say, but she certainly didn’t want to hear any of it, thus, tuning their conversation out with some music blasting in her earphones. Eventually, the trio felt ready enough to continue what was started hours ago, getting on their motorcycles again to head ride around and find an entrance to the subway station. This took about ten minutes when Jiyoon pointed towards a sign as soon as she saw it, prompting the girls to hide their motorcycles somewhere safe and hidden. Then after making sure the earpieces were worn, they quietly trekked downstairs to a surprisingly well-lit subway station, but that was an immediate red flag. If the lights were still somehow working in this place, someone was definitely here before them. The trio stayed close by while going further, finally reaching the floor. Afterwards, they decided to spread out a little to investigate as Jiyoon gazed at train tracks while Monday scanned the whole area.

“Wow, this must’ve been a nice station.” 

“Yeah. And dare I say, it was very technologically advanced, too.” She glanced down at the metrocard machines, seeing that there wasn’t any coin slot or buttons. 

“Totally.” Then Jiyoon gasped. “Imagine how the train would’ve looked! I bet it would’ve been really cool. Sad to say I never got to visit the subway station here.” 

Monday chuckled. “You know, it’s kinda weird the lights are still working down here, don’t you think?”

“Hm, I guess there’s just still some electricity left somehow?” Jiyoon remained somewhat optimistic, but even then, she still couldn’t shake off her nerves. 

Meanwhile, Zoa noticed more crucial evidence that added to her suspicions: there was a working vending machine, a few garments loosely hanging on some benches, and lastly…large faded footprints. No one would’ve been able to see that if they didn’t get closer to inspect, so she turned around to tell her friends. “We’re not alone.” This immediately got their attention as the trio quickly regrouped. 

“. Should we just get out of here then?” 

“Y-yeah, this place is already creepy enough.” 

Zoa nodded and gave them all the go to leave, but then something cold and metal was pressed against the back of her head, making her freeze. “Look who we have here.” A menacing, guttural voice spoke, chuckling as he held the girl hostage with a pistol. “You’re not going anywhere.” 

“Oh, .” Monday could barely utter before she and her friends were completely surrounded by a dozen bounty hunters. 

“We got cash, boss!” One man exclaimed as if just hitting a jackpot, making the trio sick to their stomachs. 

“You three idiots got a lot of nerve poking around in a place you don’t belong in.”

“You don’t belong here either, .” Zoa insulted, making him grunt in anger as he unclicked the safety trigger. 

“Wanna keep yapping your mouth, kid?” The man threatened by lightly shoving her head with his pistol, which made Zoa go quiet, but not for long. 

“Oye, boss. We should call the military and tell’em they're in for a treat.” All of these idiots cackled like it was the most hilarious joke ever, but the girls didn’t pay them any attention while silently commuting on how to get out of this situation fast. 

“I’ll call ‘em, boss!” 

“No! I’ll do it!” Another voice shouted, leading them to banter while others tell them to stop.

“Ya two mutheads always argue with each other, ya never get tired??”

Three…

“He started it!”

“No, he did!”

Two…

“Whaddya mean?! I called dibs first! You’re not special.”

“More special than you, runt!”

ONE!!

Both Monday and Zoa ducked, allowing Jiyoon to light them all on fire and breath massive flames, sending the bounty hunters running while screaming as their boss stayed behind helplessly, paralyzed by fear after seeing the girl’s looming red eyes. However, Monday certainly didn’t let that slide before hastily disarming the now vulnerable man, who momentarily cowered away in fear seeing his own pistol now turned against him. “Move a muscle and you’re dead.” She threatened, ready to shoot the moment he tried anything. 

Jiyoon breathed out one last fiery line of burning flames before turning around to see both Monday and Zoa holding the man hostage. “That went by quick.” She chuckled. 

“You think you’ve won? It’s only just beginning.” 

“Shut up! Unless you want a hole through your rotten brain.”

“The military doesn’t care about you. They don’t care about anyone but themselves.” The younger girl tried to reason with him as well, which was completely futile.

“I don’t give a what they think. As long as we get our money!”

Monday narrowed her eyes. “Then die for it as you wish.” Right before she could pull the trigger, ‘reinforcements’ showed up, doubling in size. The girls gasped as more bounty hunters aimed fully loaded machine guns, making them feel utterly helpless.

“Too bad. Looks like the tables turned.” He smirked, now standing up confidently. “Now, before we take you back to camp, you’re going to answer my question.” They rolled their eyes, waiting for what he wanted to ask. “Which one of you is Ruann?”

That was quite unexpected. “Uh…who?” Zoa raised an eyebrow as the man groaned. 

“Which one of you is Ruann??” He repeated, prompting fellow bounty hunters to approach slightly closer and got ready to fire, making the girls all the more nervous than they already were. There wasn’t any way to answer his question and god knows what would happen if either said no. 

However, like a miracle, someone else had an answer. “You wouldn’t happen to be talking about me would you?”

A female voice shouted across from them before at least six men were flung upwards and harshly hit the ceiling, knocking out instantly on impact. This was immediately followed by three more, until gunshots were frantically fired. Despite that, the girls’ masked savior wasn’t fazed one bit, stopping the bullets and shooting them back with her telekinetic powers, thus, letting them know she was a Blue. Immensely relieved, they, too, instantly joined with Monday grabbing the boss by his neck, electrocuting him to crisp while Jiyoon breathed massive flames once more. Zoa quickly pocketed her handgun and used what she could find to shoot the remaining bounty hunters’ legs, immobilizing them. Shortly afterwards, the masked savior yelled out and almost instantly, a bunch of kids and teens ran out of the tunnels like angry mobs, taking the goons hostage with ropes. They were tied together, every one of them either injured or utterly unconscious. Seeing the victory, the girls’ savior finally took off her mask.

“What a nice batch of insecure dudes who can’t take a hint.” She smirked at their weak states. “Do you still feel tough now, fellas?” None responded out of embarrassment from getting beat up by kids. “Get this trash out of here.” A few followed her orders, dragging the men and throwing them onto the train tracks.

“Are you Ruann?” Zoa questioned, getting her attention. 

“Yes, that’s me. I was wondering where the noise was coming from and, wow, sorry these guys gave you three so much trouble.”

“No don’t be, thank you by the way!” Jiyoon cracked a huge smile. “I’ve never felt so relieved seeing you all. I’m Jiyoon!”

“Monday.” 

Ruann frowned slightly. “Is that actually your name?” 

“No, just something my friends would call me. My real name is Kim Jimin.”

“Oh, nice! It weirdly fits you, I don’t know why.” 

“Honestly that’s the nicest thing someone has said about it.” They both shared a chuckle before the younger girl introduced herself. 

“I’m Lee Hyewon, but you can just call me Zoa.” 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you guys! These are my close friends, May and Lucy.” 

“Hiya!” 

“Sup.”

“Anywho, what brings you guys here?” 

“We’re actually searching for kids like us, to create a community. My friends and I found this town, which still has lots of stuff left behind so we’re working on revamping it entirely.”

“Yeah! And we can use all of the help we can get!” Jiyoon added. 

“That’s cool! I was actually trying to find a place to settle with these guys and my buddy, but we haven’t had any luck for a while. We’d love to join you guys. What do you all say?” Everyone behind her agreed with the idea, nodding eagerly. 

“Awesome!! There’s gotta be dozens and dozens of you.”

“Oh, there is. I counted about fifty.” The trio collectively gasped as this was more help than they anticipated but weren’t complaining one bit. 

“Great! That’s more than enough help for us.” Monday said. 

“Also, before we lead the way back, there’s a code I want to give out incase anymore kids show up here.” 

While Ruann and Lucy frowned, May immediately grew intrigued. “A code?” 

“Mhm, if you put it in a radio, you’ll hear our message. We’ll explain more about it when we get back to town.” Without wasting anymore time, Zoa took out her spray can to write it out for them. 

Ruann grew more confused. “NOU227? What does that mean?” 

“Oh! I got it!” May exclaimed, before speaking under her breath. “The ‘NOU’ is basically like ‘no u’ as if you’re only addressing this to kids and not adults, and ‘227’ is not ‘two two seven’ but two to seven.” 

Zoa was shocked she was able to solve this in just a few seconds, but then she soon realized May was also a Green just like her. “Very good! And you’re quite close, the sequence isn’t ‘two three four five six seven', but it’s 255 127.”

“That’s the hex code for the color orange! Do you know someone who’s an Orange?” May asked excitedly.

“Yeah! We have three other friends as well. Two of them are Blue and one is Gold!” Jiyoon happily answered. 

“Sorry to burst the bubble, but we should really go back now, don’t wanna keep them waiting any longer.” 

“On it. I’m assuming since you guys got here on your own, you all have a way back to your town?” Ruann asked to make sure. 

“Yeah don’t worry about it, we have motorcycles.”

“Wow, that's sweet! I always wanted to ride those.” Lucy slightly pouted, clearly jealous.

“Do you guys have a way to transport?” 

She smirked at Zoa’s question as Ruann reacted the same. “We might’ve stolen a few SWAT trucks and repainted all of them.” 

"We even took a gigantic one that holds a crap ton of rations. You guys are welcome to have some!"

The trio honestly had no idea what to say about this and just a 'thank you' seemed so little. But the gratitude had already been returned after inviting everyone to their town, therefore, it was a pleasant win-win situation. Afterwards, they quickly left the subway station with everyone as Ruann and her gang yanked down blank sheets concealing their vehicles. Truth be told, there were about three of those trucks, followed by the larger one that May mentioned, which was being driven by Lucy. Zoa excitedly messaged the group chat they were coming home, then with that, she and Monday happily revved up their motorcycles, with Jiyoon clinging onto the older girl closer than ever as they sped out of Ansan, Ruann and the gang following close behind. The three hadn't felt great in so long and were loving it. Boy, were the others in for an earful surprise when they got home.