[CONTENTID1]Phoenix[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Chapter Twelve[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

Seri, Baekhyun, Sehun and Chanyeol left their home behind and moved on in search of a new one. They had no particular destination in mind and simply followed the road for now. The further south they drove, the less snow they encountered until the roads were clear. When the sun showed itself, the group got a beautiful view of green fields and cautiously budding flowers. A little bit of warm sunlight could do wonders, making the scenery look more vibrant.

Sehun was lost in thoughts and stared at his hands, remembering how he had doused the creepy zombie with fuel—it had been their last resort and he was incredibly relieved it had worked. “Your plan was amazing, Chanyeol. You saved all of us with your idea,” he muttered and caught the other soldier’s attention.

“It was the only option to get rid of that thing.” Chanyeol’s lips curled in sheer disgust. The ghastly sight of the creature had burned itself into his memory, and he wouldn’t be surprised if it became part of his nightmares from now on…

“Why did that zombie look so ing creepy in the first place? It was thin like a skeleton, I’ve never seen one like this before.”

Seri threw a glance over her shoulder to the duo in the backseat. She was tired but had followed their conversation with one ear. “I assume the RABV-12 virus is evolving—anomalies like the one we encountered could be caused by new variants or a mutation. At least, that’s my theory.”

“I’m no doctor, but it sounds reasonable,” Baekhyun agreed. “This would explain why these strange types of zombies only appeared after the virus has been spreading for months.”

Chanyeol was visibly pale as he gazed out the window and observed the passing scenery. “I hope I never contract it… I don’t want to turn into one of these freaky creatures.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Sehun frowned and heaved a sigh. “Would be an absolute nightmare.”

Silence settled over them, and Seri struggled not to overthink Sehun’s words—what in the world would they do if one of them got infected? How would they cope with it? She quickly shut these intrusive thoughts away and concentrated on the landscape, occasionally glancing at Baekhyun’s profile. His glare was fixed on the road, grimly staring ahead.

She sighed and leaned her head against the seat, closing her eyes in an attempt to relax. Since this morning, she had been tense as a bowstring, always prepared for the worst. Being in a constant state of alarm was exhausting. She had been feeling odd all day and wondered if she should take a nap in the car.

Sudden, sharp pain in her abdomen made her stiffen. She pressed her legs together and held her hand on her stomach. Could this be…? Yes, there was no doubt about it. She didn’t want to believe it—her period always had the tiest timing you could imagine, but this really took the cake. She was on a road trip and didn’t have access to a bathroom. Just great. And to top it off, she was unsure if she still had tampons or pads in her bag. They had left in a hurry after the zombie attack, so she might have forgotten about them. Seri reached for her backpack and rummaged through it, but she only found a small supply of hygiene products that wouldn’t even last for two days.

Why, why, why did this have to happen now? It would be hard to deal with while they were on the road. During their stay at their former home, her periods had been easy to handle—the soldiers hadn’t even noticed her hidden stash of tampons and pads. When she had been in pain, she had simply rested in bed for a while. Back then, her periods hadn’t been a particularly big issue. Now, however, things were different. If they encountered zombies while she was plagued by these cramps, how the hell should she defend herself? The telltale ache in her stomach was a sign that she needed painkillers and rest.

Seri’s prolonged silence and stiff posture didn’t remain unnoticed by Baekhyun. “Something wrong?” he asked with a glance in her direction.

She gritted her teeth and decided to tell him—it was better if he knew. “I got a stomachache and it’s getting worse.”

“Did you eat something bad? Or is it because of stress?”

“No, it’s because of my period.” Her words were followed by an awkward silence. Even the talkative duo in the backseat was suspiciously quiet after hearing her answer.

“Oh. Right. I see.” Baekhyun’s hands on the steering wheel tensed. “Don’t worry about it, we’ll take a break soon.” He awkwardly scratched his cheek, keeping his eyes on the road.

“We shouldn’t waste time just because of me. Finding a safe new home is more important,” she replied, frowning. “I’ll take a painkiller and then it should be fine.”

“Why not? You look unwell, and it would be irresponsible to move on when you’re not able to fight at your full strength. We’ll reach a village soon, let’s stop there and look for a place where we can rest.”

She swallowed and hugged her stomach. Maybe this was for the best—she couldn’t handle a confrontation with zombies at the moment. As long as they were out in the open, they could be ambushed at any given time.

Baekhyun took a turn at the next intersection and drove past a dense forest. Soon, a few scattered houses came into view. Baekhyun chose one that looked abandoned and parked in the driveway.

The virus had raged here as well. In the distance, she saw the shattered windows of a house with dark spots on the asphalt. Her breath hitched when she followed the trail of blood and spotted a dead body on the street. She pressed a hand on and looked away.

“We’ll check if the house is safe. Wait here for us and keep the car doors locked,” Baekhyun said. It wasn’t a suggestion. His stern gaze made her understand he wouldn’t condone any objections. So she kept shut and worriedly waited while the three soldiers entered the house on their own. It was small and had two stories. The garage was open and no car inside, hinting that the owner had fled. Seri wondered what had happened to the people in this small village. The silence was depressing. She kept a close eye on her surroundings, but the area was completely deserted.

Before long, Baekhyun returned and told her it was safe to go inside. She followed him through the house, memorizing its layout. They stopped in a bedroom at the end of the hallway where they met Sehun and Chanyeol. The two soldiers were inspecting the wardrobe, looking for blankets.

“We found water bottles and supplies in the kitchen,” Baekhyun explained. “The people who used to live here must have left very suddenly.”

“Makes me wonder what happened. It doesn’t seem like there are many zombies in the area,” Sehun added.

Seri cringed, not wanting to think about it, but inadvertently doing exactly that. “Maybe they’re in the forest just like last time? Do you think it’s safe here?”

Baekhyun paused and studied her. Her posture was slumped, she was pale and her eyes tired. She needed rest and he refused to add any more stress to her worries. Baekhyun himself wasn’t convinced this place was safe. One of the outer walls of the building had been riddled with bullets, a window in the guest room shattered and traces of blood smeared on the carpet. He had locked the door of that particular room, moving a shelf in front of it. Whatever had occurred here, it had not been pretty…

He kept these thoughts to himself when he answered Seri. His expression was calm and did not show any of his concerns. Sehun and Chanyeol also kept their mouths shut. “It’s fine to stay here for a few nights. We’ll keep an eye on the forest. Do you need anything? Are you hungry?”

“No, I’m not. You don’t need to bother.” The last thing Seri wanted was to be a burden to him—well, maybe it was already too late to worry about that…

“It doesn’t bother me,” he countered firmly and held her gaze. “We’re a team, and you can rely on me when you’re unwell. If there’s anything I can help you with, you need to say it.”

His comment made her remember something important. She blushed and fidgeted with the sleeves of her jacket, brown eyes fixating on the wooden floor. “I need tampons. There could be some left somewhere in the house.” It shouldn’t be embarrassing since periods were normal, nonetheless, asking a group of male soldiers for tampons was weird as hell.

“Uh… sure. Tampons,” Baekhyun answered. The spooked look on his face would have been funny had she not been in pain at the moment. “What kind of tampons do you need? I mean, what size should I look for?”

She was mortified, and upon seeing her reaction, his ears turned bright red. Chanyeol bit his lip, embarrassed on behalf of his friend while Sehun appeared like he wanted to melt into the ground.

“What a dumb question, man. Do us a favor and shut your mouth,” Chanyeol cringed.

“I’ve never bought tampons before, okay?” Baekhyun countered. “If you know so much about them, why don’t you take care of this?”

“I never said I know anything about them! Why would I?”

“That’s what you get for running your mouth, Yeol,” Sehun complained.

For the first time, Seri wished she wasn’t the only woman in the group—her companions made this more awkward than it would have been with a female friend.

“So, about my question…” Baekhyun said to her, but upon seeing her horrified expression, he froze. “You know what, forget it. I’ll search the house and see what I can find…” She swore she had never seen him leave so quickly. The sound of his footsteps faded as he made his way to other parts of the house.

Seri groaned. “Why are you all so difficult?” She was in a terrible mood, and they weren’t helping.

“We’re sorry,” Chanyeol said and exchanged a glance with Sehun. “We’ll give you some space and… get our luggage in the meantime.” And they proceeded to flee from her worsening mood just like their captain. Seri shook her head and sighed.

She left her shoes near the door and trudged to the bed. Normally, she would have been curious about their temporary new home, but now she was too miserable to care. She fetched comfortable clothes from her backpack, vanished into the bathroom and when she returned, she took a painkiller. Seri curled up on the bed, clutching her stomach while she waited for the pain to fade.

This was how Baekhyun found her about half an hour later. She was fast asleep. He put the tampon package he had discovered on her nightstand and gazed at her. She hadn’t bothered using a blanket and had fallen asleep astonishingly fast, so she must have been at the end of her tether. At least she could rest now. This arrangement was better than staying the night in the car, anyway. That would have been a nightmare with four people. Their jeep wasn’t big enough to sleep comfortably.

Baekhyun sat on the edge of the bed and reached for the cover. He spread it over her body up to her shoulders. She didn’t react and continued to sleep peacefully. His hand caught a lock of her hair and moved it out of the way. In doing so, his fingers caressed her cheek.

“Get better soon,” he whispered before he got up and left the room.

“Did you find tampons?” was the first thing Chanyeol asked when Baekhyun entered the kitchen.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun answered sourly and ignored his friend’s obnoxious grin.

“What size did you pick?”

“Shut up, Yeol.”

Chanyeol snickered. “Calm down, I’m just messing with you. Your future girlfriend will be grateful for your help.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and leaned his hips against the kitchen counter. His attention lingered on Sehun who put three beer bottles on the table. “Here, look what I found. That’ll cheer you up.” He opened the bottles and handed one to each of his friends.

“Thanks.”

Sehun nodded, having expected this answer.

“Where’s Seri?” Chanyeol asked.

“Asleep. Don’t bother her.”

“Yeah, let’s not. She isn’t in the best mood today,” Chanyeol cringed and took a sip of his beer. “Honestly, I think we all need a break, but how can you take breaks when these monsters are everywhere?”

“If we were a bigger group, we could defend ourselves better. We should finally make an effort to look for other survivors,” Sehun suggested. His eyes drifted to Baekhyun. “Seri won’t like this, though.”

Baekhyun scowled. “I understand why she doesn’t, but she knows we can’t stay away from