“She came back!” My aunt said excitedly

“I see her” I said to taemin before taking off the earplug and giving it back to minho.

“Cass, how are you?” jade asked me

“We’ll talk at home, it’s already time for curfew” I told her then turn around to my team “ taemin said that thalia can handle it, we can go home now” and they all nod at me.

We started walking silently back to our houses, it is very awkward to say the least. It has been what, 8 years? Since my cousin escaped the circle and it hasn’t been that strong before because the system is still new, so she managed to get herself out. Because of what? LOVE. She escaped to be with someone she loves.

We were so close before, we are not just cousins, we are best friends. All her 4 brothers are older than us, and she is the only cousin I knew that is in my age so we get along pretty well.

Of course I knew the love of her life. She talks to me a lot about him, but he lives from another city so they only see each other a few times. But that didn’t stop her from loving him. Though I never met the guy, I think he is a good person by the way she talks about him. And I support her for that, I’m happy that she found someone that can make her happy.

Not until the monsters happened. We fought our way out of the city that night. Black blood all over me, followed by my family and relatives old and young. I have to protect them, I’ll do anything to protect them, so with the 2 long knives in each hand I got from our kitchen, I killed them all, all the monsters in our way. I don’t know how, maybe the adrenaline, but the only thing in my mind at that time is the safety of my family, anything in my way will die.

We managed to climb the mountain without any fatal injuries by the next night. Red blood mixing with black blood of the monsters. Even though we walked so far, no one complained until we reached the safe place that they said. I was so drained that I slept for a whole day without thinking of my injuries or the state of my body. I just wanted to rest.

Then the families that were able to climb the mountain started planning to keep us all feed. We all started working. Then one day a few months after the attack, my cousin talked to me. She’s worried of her boyfriend, she cried in front of me saying that she has been keeping her worries for months now because she has no one to talk to. She’s scared that if she asked her parents if they can go look for her boyfriend, they will get mad at her.

Of course they will, and so am I. How can she think of someone else’s life when we are barely living. Scared of what might happen the next day, we can get killed anytime. But she’s only thinking about him, where is he?, did he manage to survive this past few months?, is he dead?.

She’s going crazy, that’s what I taught. Blind with love that she is ready to get killed just because of some person outside of her family.  But I did not say anything to her, I kept my thoughts because I don’t want her to feel more miserable.

We don’t know what’s happening in the cities now. Is everyone dead? Are we the only survivors? Are there no help coming? We have all these questions in our heads that we can’t think of anything else now. So I told her to keep on trying, just for her to do something and prevent her from running away finding her boyfriend where she doesn’t even know if he is alive or not.

But then, after a few more months, she got a response. He is alive after all. And he is with other people staying together to survive in a far place, just like us. I’ve never seen her so happy, like all the problems are solved, like all the monsters are gone. Well at least she’s not going to come to me again every night crying for the unknown status of her boyfriend.

They kept on communicating, and it’s been a year, she is contented for now as long as he is safe. But then the communication has stopped, phones are not working anymore because no one is operating. We managed to build our system but it can only supply our circle, any outside communication is not possible.

So she started to get worried again, saying that she can’t live without him. That’s when I lost it, so fought. I can never understand her, how can she risk her life for him.

“You will never know because you’ve never been in love” that’s the last thing she said to me, because the next morning she was gone. All alone.

She can fight, she has been with me in defense duty before, but she is more kind of intellectual person. She helped to develop the system, so she knows the weakness of the shield before, which is fixed by taemin after, and she got out. She left her family for one man.

Since then we never had a news about her, not until now. I wonder which of her companions is the man she risked her life to be with. Or did she even made it to his place. I have bunch of questions for her, but I kept it in, specially now that we did not part in good terms.

My train of thought was stopped when we arrived at my house, their house is just in our right but she insisted to get inside of my house for now because she needs to talk to me. So I let them in.

My parents and brother are shocked to see her again, but glad that she is safe. Our parents are talking because they taught that she is already dead, well we all did. Who would even taught that someone will survive outside the circle all alone.

But she did, she is like a heroin in a movie who throws herself in danger just to get together with the love of her life, the one people will cheer on and hope for a happy ending. She is the kind of person where her life story will be written in books, studied by the next generation to learn some lessons, if there will be a next generation.

She is the very opposite of me. I will stay in a safe place forever if I have to just to make sure that my family is safe, no one else matters. I do not like change, I would be willing to do everything the same way everyday for the rest of my life knowing that it is safe, inside the circle.

“glad your alive” that’s the first thing I said to her once she and her 4 more companions, 3 male and 1 female, are settled in the chairs in our living room.

“thank you, I’m glad that you are all safe as well”

“so what do you want to talk about?” I directly asked, I want this done as soon as possible, I want to go to sleep already, it has been a long day.

“we need your help” she directly answered as well. “Me and my companions are travelling when we encountered monsters, they kidnapped our friend and jinki, my husband” she said with tears breaming in her eyes.

“kidnap?”

“yes they were taken”

“and eaten”

“No! They were not, they are still alive”

“and how did you know that?”

She paused for a while, looking at her companions then she turned back to me “we just know”

“You just know?” I repeated in unbelieving tone.

“just trust us, they are alive, and we need you to help us rescue them”

I laughed, so hard because of what she said. Maybe because I’m a little drunk and tired that I don’t want to deal with this nonsense anymore. “talk to me once your ready to tell your secrets” then i stood up to go to bed.

“Cass please! I only asked for your help this once, I need him back”

“you are asking me to risk my life for someone I never knew and never met Jade!” I shouted at her that made her tears finally fall down her checks “and you can’t even trust me to know everything. Do you really expect me to just blindly go out there not knowing what the heck is going on?!!”

She did not answer, she just bowed her head and cried there.

“Go, I need to rest” I dismissed them and went to my room passing our parents who doesn’t know what to do with the 2 of us.

I did not know when they left, I’m just really tired and went straight to bed. I’ll deal with all of these tomorrow.

The next morning, I checked my schedule in the monitor of our house. I have to go early and make a round on the perimeter shield to check the damages from last nights attack. I got ready immediately and went out of my room to have breakfast, then I saw him, in the living room sitting in one of the chairs. My mom offered him some breakfast but he declined saying that he already had some in my aunts house. He is one of the companions of my cousin last night. We never got introduced to each other so I don’t know his name.

He is few inches taller than me, maybe we are in the same age but he really looks young so I can’t be sure about that. Slender with very fair skin, I think he is more beautiful than most of the girls I  know here. Cat like eyes, beautiful thin lips and wavy black hair barely touching his ears. Is he for real? How can he manage to be this handsome with all the chaos happening in this world.

“can I help you?” I asked him after my mom went back to kitchen.

He stood up and bowed to me “Good morning” he said while smiling. Wow, he got a cute smile as well, taemin got a competition now.

“Good morning, we never had a chance to get introduced last night, I’m Cass”

“I’m Kibum, nice to meet you”

“nice to meet you too kibum” I said as I sit in front of him “are you here to convince me to help your friends?”

“yeah, it’s about that. Uhm…” he paused “I’m here to tell the truth”

“I appreciate that, all of us here has so many questions since the attack happened. We never went out you see, so we don’t know what’s happening outside but… uhm… have you talked this out with your friends?”

He did not answer, he just looked down to his hands clasped together above his thighs.

“Look, I appreciate you coming here, I really do, and I still want to know the truth before deciding to help. But I have a team too, and they are my friends as well, I would be really hurt if they decided something without consulting me.”

He looked more down now, I was right, he came here on his own without my cousin’s knowledge. I stood up and put my hands in his shoulder. “you should talk to them first” then I turned around to go to the kitchen, I’m going to be late already and I haven’t had my breakfast yet.

“But it’s my secret to tell” I heard him say. When I turned around he is looking at me, with determined eyes.

But our conversation was interrupted by taemin’s voice. Another broadcast.

“Area A on alert level 3, I repeat, Area A on alert level 3. Everyone in farming and production must get back to their houses and stay in their bunker. People of Defense must report to the head quarters immediately.” The announcement was on repeat in every speaker in the circle.