Seventeen
Phoenix[CONTENTID1]Phoenix[/CONTENTID1]
[CONTENTID2]Chapter Seventeen [/CONTENTID2]
[CONTENTID3]
A few days passed and the group got used to the new house. The soldiers proved their skill and ingenuity when they built a water tank in the garden and reinforced the gate to make their home safer. Everyone had agreed to stay here—the house was big enough for all of them and located right next to a forest, which was convenient. They had everything they needed at their disposal. The soldiers would be able to go hunting in the woods or fishing by one of the rivers. The latter were crystal clear and served as a source of drinking water. Seri was grateful for the survival skills of her companions; their knowledge came in handy and she had learned lots of useful tricks from them over the months. Among other things, she now knew how to disembowel fish—with surgical precision.
This morning, the soldiers had left early to go hunting in the forest. They had been excited about this since sitting around in the house tended to bore them. Seri had stayed home with Yeji, who lacked the patience necessary for hunting. The last time she had accompanied the soldiers, her restlessness had scared off all animals in the vicinity.
The women sat on the patio, where they were well-protected thanks to the walls surrounding the entire property. So far, they hadn’t been bothered by zombies—Chanyeol sometimes joked that they were too lazy to walk uphill. It was sunny and warm, a truly beautiful spring day and both women couldn’t be happier to call this place their home—it was their personal little paradise.
“We should grow vegetables in the garden. It’s big enough for a few different plants,” Seri said and pointed to a spot near the wall. “We could put tomato plants over there.”
“Oh, I miss tomatoes… don’t even remember what they taste like,” Yeji said with a hopeful grin. Her lipstick of choice today was blue; she still wore a different color every day, much to the soldiers’ amusement.
“Same, it’s been a while,” Seri nodded and fell silent.
Yeji’s eyes drifted over the garden as she imagined what it would be like if they used the space to plant vegetables, but suddenly she was distracted—there was movement at the gate. “Hey, I think they’re back!” Yeji grinned and got up. She hopped down the steps of the patio and walked toward the gate.
Seri frowned and tensed. She was doubtful about this since the soldiers typically weren’t this quiet. Sehun and Chanyeol in particular tended to be loud. The women would have heard them, had they been back already. Fearing the worst, Seri quickly followed her friend and jogged down the path leading to the gate until she caught up with her.
“Oh…? Who are you?” Yeji asked and stopped. She twirled one of her long braids around her finger and put her hand on her hips, unsurely looking ahead.
Seri had been right, the person outside the gate didn’t belong to their group… it was a woman she had never seen before. The stranger was beautiful albeit a little pale and carried a backpack on her shoulder. Although she didn’t seem hostile, Seri remained cautious and stood in front of Yeji, shielding her. It was odd for this woman to be all alone and without a group.
“What do you want?” Seri asked coldly. When push came to shove, she was prepared to defend herself and Yeji…
“I noticed that this place looks occupied, and since I was searching for survivors, I decided to stop by. It’s been lonely all by myself. My name is Kim Bora, nice to meet you.”
Seri’s lips twitched in displeasure. “I’m Seri and this is Yeji.”
Bora’s eyes lingered on the identification tag Seri wore around her neck—Seri wanted to shove it under her shirt because it annoyed her. Their visitor seemed particularly interested in her now that she had spotted the necklace.
“Well, Seri, since I’m looking for new friends and a safe home, I’m hoping you’ll give me a chance. I can help you with whatever you need—we could support each other. It would be beneficial for all of us.”
Seri sighed inwardly. She had seen this coming and now faced a dilemma—while she didn’t like to trust strangers, much less let them into her home, she also didn’t want to reject this woman since she knew how hard it was to survive on your own. Her conscience forbade her from sending her away. Her driving motivation as a surgeon was to save as many lives as she could, and this applied to any situation. However, past betrayals had made her cautious and distrustful, so she hesitated. What would Baekhyun do in this situation? Seri assumed he would confirm that this person didn’t pose a threat before he allowed her to enter the garden.
“Do you carry any weapons?” Seri asked, her scowl not disappearing. She saw no point in being polite as long as she didn’t know if she could trust Bora.
“I have a knife, see?” Bora pulled the small weapon out of her backpack and showed it to Seri.
“I hope you understand that I can’t let you in while you’re armed,” Seri said, prompting Bora to grimace.
“That’s fine, I understand why you’re cautious.” Bora reached through the iron bars of the gate and handed the knife to Seri, who wasn’t satisfied yet.
“Show me what’s in your backpack.”
Bora opened the zipper and held the backpack open so that Seri and Yeji could see its contents. It didn’t contain any other weapons, only a few necessities like spare clothes, toiletries, candles, a lighter, water, and non-perishable foods. Bora appeared like a normal woman who simply didn’t want to be alone any longer. Nothing indicated that she would pose a threat later on. Seri sized her up once more and concluded she could easily beat her in a fight, especially when she was unarmed. Thus, Seri unlocked the gate and allowed Bora to enter.
“Oh, thank you so much, Seri! I’ll be forever grateful to you!” Bora smiled and tried to hug her, but Seri elegantly dodged her attempt and maintained distance.
“It’s okay, calm down. Let’s go inside, we need to talk about a few things first.”
“Sure,” Bora grinned and curiously inspected their overgrown garden.
While the women walked back to the house, Seri studied the newcomer from the corner of her eye. Bora was certainly beautiful. Of course, the pandemic had left its marks on her, but her black hair was well-kempt and neatly braided to keep it out of the way. Her clothes on the other hand were worn and her jeans had holes over her knees.
The three of them went into the living room where they had the opportunity to get acquainted before the soldiers returned. Yeji and Seri learned that Bora had worked as an accountant before the pandemic. She used to live in Bucheon and was 26 years old—apparently, she had lost everything due to the outbreak and wandered around aimlessly since then, avoiding larger towns.
Soon, the sound of voices and cheerful chatter announced the arrival of the rest of the group, and when they entered the living room, they were quite surprised to see an unfamiliar face. “Oh, who are you?” Chanyeol immediately asked.
“You let in a stranger while we were gone?” Baekhyun asked, staring Seri and Yeji down. His tone and posture screamed disapproval—he was not happy about this at all.
Not wanting to start an argument with her boyfriend, Seri decided to calm him down. “I couldn’t send her away. It’s dangerous out there, Baekhyun.”
The difference in their attitudes became apparent. While she was willing to help even a stranger in order to preserve as many lives as she could, he was ready to make sacrifices for the sake of protecting his team. Baekhyun furrowed his brow and held Seri’s gaze, reading determination in it. Her willingness to help could be seen as both her biggest strength and her greatest weakness—other survivors had exploited it before.
“What’s your name?” he demanded and glared at Bora. Although his expression was anything but welcoming—he looked like a feral wolf ready to defend his pack—he finally acknowledged their guest.
“I’m Bora, nice to meet you,” she answered with a blinding smile. “I’ve been traveling alone and was relieved when I saw that someone’s staying here! I haven’t seen people… I mean, I haven’t seen living people in a long time.”
With that, the ice was broken and the others began to introduce themselves as well. Bora didn’t seem surprised to hear about the soldiers’ occupation since she had seen their identification tags and the weapons they carried—a civilian would have trouble getting access to these and have no clue how to use them.
“And what did you do before the pandemic began?” Bora ended up asking the women after the soldiers had introduced themselves.
Yeji shrugged and frowned at the coffee table as if it was the one at fault for her unfinished studies. “I was a uni student and had a part-time job.”
Bora’s interest in her declined rapidly, and her gaze jumped to Seri. “I was a surgeon at a hospital in Seoul.”
“A surgeon? I thought you worked for the military too,” Bora remarked and nodded at the identification tag Seri wore.
“Oh, because of this? It was a gift from Baekhyun, he’s my boyfriend.”
“So you’re a couple.” Oddly, Bora’s eyes narrowed and cooled.
“We are,” Baekhyun chimed in. His tone remained frozen. Seri wished he put more effort into getting along with Bora since his attitude caused tension to rise in the room. Thankfully, Chanyeol had a solution in mind and redirected Bora’s attention.
“Why don’t I show you the house? You must be curious,” he grinned and gestured for her to follow him. “We don’t have an empty bedroom left for you, but you could sleep on the sofa until we find a better solution.”
Bora scrambled to catch up with him when he walked to the stairway. She left her backpack on the sofa and hurried up the steps. “That’s fine, it doesn’t bother me!”
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