[CONTENTID1]Phoenix[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Chapter Fourteen[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

After entering the next town—or what was left of it—Baekhyun followed the main street. The group was met with the usual chaos. Abandoned shops were lined up left and right of the main street, their windows broken and doors kicked down. Weeds had spread uncontrollably over the small green areas in between and discarded items and trash littered the boardwalk. The distant growls of zombies put Seri on edge. When a barricade and a sign indicating the safe zone appeared in the middle of the street, Baekhyun chose to park the car on a smaller street, where the vehicle was sheltered and somewhat hidden from view. They only brought along the most important necessities, including some of their weapons in case of an emergency, and left the jeep behind for an unclear amount of time. Maybe they wouldn’t need it anymore from now on.

The group made their way past the barricade to where the safe zone began. The closer they got to its large gate, the more nervous Seri became. They weren’t the only ones trying to get in. Other survivors had gathered in front of the entrance, and it seemed like they had been waiting for a while. They appeared haggard, wore soiled clothes, and stared at her with dull gazes—she found it hard to be confronted by the sheer hopelessness these people exuded. Perhaps they had lost even more than her in the course of the disaster. A few called out for someone to open the gate while others simply waited, sitting on the ground with their weapons and belongings next to them.

“This is terrible,” Seri whispered full of shock.

“Do you think they’ll even let us in?” Sehun asked skeptically. He clutched the strap of his machine gun which he wore over his shoulder, meeting the apprehensive gazes of several people.

“I hope so,” Chanyeol sighed. “It’s been so long since we talked to other people. I wouldn’t mind living in a community and making new friends.”

“It sounds too good to be true. Stay on guard,” Baekhyun muttered.

“I know, but we should at least give this a try, Baekhyun. We have to find a permanent home sooner or later. Or do you want to keep moving from place to place forever?” Chanyeol answered while a crooked smile appeared on his lips. “Do you seriously think Seri wants to raise your children in a jeep? I doubt it.”

“Ch-Children?” she squeaked and hit his biceps. “Chanyeol! What are you talking about? It’s too risky to have children right now.”

“See? Your future wife wants a permanent home too,” Chanyeol countered and gave Baekhyun a pointed look.

Baekhyun studied Seri’s flushed face and looked up at the sky, deep in thought. He understood his girlfriend’s wish for a stable home since he too didn’t want to keep on running forever. However, in his opinion, it was too soon to consider starting a family. Besides, he strongly disliked the idea of Seri being pregnant without having proper medical care at her disposal. It was too risky. What if something went wrong?—wait… why was he even thinking about Chanyeol’s stupid suggestion in the first place?

“We all want a new home, but is this really… the right place?” He scrutinized the makeshift wall that had been erected in between several buildings. It was made of wood, corrugated iron, fences, and all kinds of other materials. While it seemed sturdy enough, it was anything but pretty and reminded him of a cage. Baekhyun doubted he would enjoy living in a cage. He valued his freedom and independence.

“Let’s take a look and decide later?” Seri suggested. She didn’t quite meet his eyes, embarrassed after Chanyeol’s comment about children. Her hand sought his and held it—she liked doing this. Their hands fit together perfectly.

“If that’s what you want, angel,” Baekhyun nodded and intertwined his fingers with hers.

Chanyeol and Sehun exchanged a grin behind the captain’s back. “We found his biggest weakness, no doubt,” Sehun whispered to his tall friend.  

“Our poor captain can’t deny his future wife’s wishes. What a simp.”

“Did you say something?” Baekhyun shot them an icy glare which prompted them to stiffen. It also shut them up.

“No, no. Let’s go,” Sehun said and marched on.

The other survivors welcomed them with doubtful stares, mostly focused on the soldier’s weapons. Seri had to admit that she didn’t feel comfortable around them, but she hoped this would subside once they got inside. Seri followed Chanyeol and stumbled right into his broad back when he stopped without warning. She already had an apology on her tongue, but never got a chance to vocalize it. Chanyeol’s surprised inhale and Sehun’s, “No way!” distracted her. She left Chanyeol’s shadow and curiously searched for the reason for their astonishment.

She found it swiftly…. Because it was running right at them. A man with unruly raven hair stopped in front of the soldiers, eyes wide as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His jacket was made of dusty jeans fabric and his muscular frame led Seri to assume that he was no stranger to fighting.

“What the , man?” Chanyeol shouted and hit the man’s shoulder, who in turn gave the widest beam Seri had seen in a while.

“Why are you here?” Sehun asked.

“I could ask you the same thing! Baekhyun, you too! Weren’t you deployed to Incheon?”

The soldiers were so busy with each other that they disregarded Seri who crossed her arms and studied the newcomer. “Excuse me, guys? Care to introduce us?”

At last, the attention shifted to the young doctor standing next to Chanyeol—compared to his muscular frame, she looked rather small. The stranger hadn’t noticed her until now, giving a sheepish laugh.

Chanyeol grinned and pointed at the newcomer. “That’s Kim Jongin, one of EX9’s members. The second youngest, to be exact.”

Before Seri could voice her surprise, the soldier went on to introduce her as well, nodding his head at her. “And that’s Baekhyun’s future wife, Gwan Seri. She’s also going to be the mother of his children,” he smirked, reigniting the blush on her cheeks as soon as he mentioned children.

“Chanyeol, can you not tell everyone about that?” she groaned.

But said soldier didn’t care about her complaints, leaned towards Jongin and conspiratorially whispered, “If you flirt with her, Baekhyun will murder you.”

“Did he seriously find a partner in the middle of a pandemic?” Jongin chuckled and shook his head. “Typical Baekhyun, always doing the opposite of what you would expect.”

Baekhyun was oozing smugness and Seri wanted to roll her eyes at him. His arm snuck around her waist and gently pulled her against his side. “She’s a surgeon,” he proclaimed proudly which earned him snickering from Sehun.

“I see, then you had to treat these idiots’ injuries, Seri?” Jongin teased and she nodded amusedly. The warm glimmer in his eyes was inviting, and Seri had no doubt she would get along with him. With his optimistic smile, Jongin stuck out from the other survivors who were present—she had no clue how he managed to stay so positive, but maybe it was because he had reunited with his lost team members.

“And how the hell do you put up with Baekhyun’s attitude?” Jongin asked, intending to tease the captain a little. “Does he order you around too?”

“Behave yourselves,” Baekhyun reminded them sternly, shooting a frigid glare in Jongin’s direction. Other survivors kept their eyes on them, and Baekhyun didn’t like their stares. He trusted none of them. “Don’t forget where we are. This isn’t the right place to get distracted.”

“Ah, you’re right,” Jongin answered and lowered his voice. “I came here because I was lonely and hoped to meet other survivors, but these people aren’t interested in talking to me.”

Seri snorted. “Maybe it’s because of the huge deadly weapon you’re carrying on your back?” She had no experience with firearms, but even she recognized it as a machine gun. It appeared intimidating, but it wasn’t like the other soldiers’ weapons were any different.

Jongin’s eyes widened before realization crossed his features. “Point taken,” he shrugged. “Eh, whatever. Now that you’re here I don’t need to make new friends. I’m joining you from now on.”

“We wouldn’t have let you leave anyway,” Chanyeol smirked. “You need to tell us about your life in the last months… and most importantly, have you met any of the others?”

“No. I already accepted the fact that I wouldn’t see any of you ever again, but here we are! Maybe there’s hope.”

Their group had unexpectedly grown from four to five people, and each of them was relieved about the addition. However, this changed nothing about their initial plan—they still wanted to get entry to the safe zone, and so far, the gates had not budged. Baekhyun grew tenser by the minute since he feared the large group of survivors might attract zombies.

They had to wait for roughly thirty more minutes until something happened. The metal gates creaked as they shifted inwards and were pulled open. The survivors standing close jolted and moved forward. Seri got a glimpse of an armed man waving them in before he was obscured by the crowd. She and the soldiers took their time and entered the safe zone behind everyone else. When they were inside, the gates were pushed shut and locked. She craned her neck to see what was going on, to find out why the crowd wasn’t moving anymore—a second gate was the reason. This one was made of a metal fence and iron pieces, constituting the final hurdle that stood in their way.

About six armed guards waited at the inner gate and let their gazes move over the crowd, assessing the newcomers. Their grim features didn’t reveal their thoughts. Ultimately, one of them addressed the survivors.

“Before you enter our safe zone, let me make one thing clear. If you want to stay here, you’re expected to follow our rules and make a contribution to our community. If you’re planning on freeloading, you will either be punished or kicked out. Remember that we can only live together if everyone plays their part. This includes joining teams to go scavenging outside and taking care of various other tasks.”

Mumbling erupted in the crowd, but nobody had any objections. They had expected something like this and were not surprised.

“You have to give up all of your weapons before we grant you access,” he added, receiving groans and complaints from several people. “Step forward and put them on the ground next to me.”

Sehun, Chanyeol, Jongin, and Baekhyun scowled at this. Giving up on their guns signified a big disadvantage—they owned military-grade weapons that had never let them down. Of course, they didn’t want to part ways with them. As the crowd slowly surrendered their weapons and put them on a pile near the second gate, the soldiers and Seri were left with no choice. They too gave their weapons away and returned to their place in the crowd. Baekhyun’s steely eyes watched as one of the guards collected the guns and knives in a large wooden box and carried it away.

“Thank you for your cooperation. Next, we will take your temperature and see if you have any symptoms of infection. Anyone who’s infected won’t be allowed in,” the guard explained. He and a woman walked to the other side of the crowd to begin. Seri followed them with her eyes until they were out of sight.

“This is surprisingly well-organized,” she mumbled to Baekhyun. He had been tense ever since he had to give up his weapons, mostly because the guards of the safe zone were armed and thus had an advantage over everyone else. This didn’t sit right with him. His intuition warned him to be cautious.

“Hm,” he uttered.

“You don’t like it.”

Strangely, he didn’t look at her but rather at something else. His brown eyes incessantly flickered over the crowd of about twenty people. “Stay close,” he ordered and found her hand to tug her into his chest. The sudden panic on his face scared her.

A bang frightened the crowd. Shrieks could be heard, agitated whispering. Someone ran back to the gate but was stopped by a guard. As the crowd spread apart and thinned, Seri’s worst assumption turned out to