About half an hour later Momo found herself looking for something to eat for breakfast and it was at that moment that the reality hit her in the face: water was starting to run out and the same was for the food.

She returned to the small living room to inform the others of the situation "we only have three bottles of water, two energy bars and a few packets of instant ramen. They wouldn't even be enough for today considering how many we are"

"Did you check the kitchen of my apartment? Maybe there are enough supplies to get by today" Jeongyeon was down again.

"There are some snacks left and very little water"

At that point they looked at each other and it was Mina who took the initiative "patch and princess, get off your and let's go get something at the nearby mini market"

"You can forget it, do you have any idea how risky it is to go back there? I want to forget that place as soon as possible" Sana was rubbing her arms in an attempt to calm the shivers of cold and fear "why do we have to go? We are in seven"

"A draw has been made and, considering that to get water and food you need as many backpacks as possible, all three of us have to go. Do you understand that, or can't that tiny brain of yours understand the speech?"

Tzuyu, even though she was very scared, got up from her chair without even saying a word and was working to adjust the shoulder straps of the backpack that she was supposed to carry.

"Take an example from her, she's even younger than you" the blonde immediately imitated that gesture, pulling her hair up in a high ponytail to be more comfortable "make a move, we have to take advantage of this moment of tranquility"

At the window was Dahyun, who looked like a hawk who had targeted its prey "there is a zombie that is missing a leg, but it can't do much other than crawl like a snake and it's very slow. If you want, I'll accompany you and I'll handle that"

Mina shook her head and grabbed the hammer she had used just before to destroy the wall "I want to take care of that little guy, I need to vent"

Those who had remained safe in the building had positioned themselves in front of the window to watch the pace of events and, predictably, Mina had shown no fear as she approached that lump of rotten flesh.

"Nothing personal, but I can't let you go around undisturbed" she was holding the hammer with both hands.

"I don't want to look" Tzuyu hid behind the pink-haired girl "tell me when it's all over, please"

Sana's feigned indifference faltered as the zombie's head was reduced to a pulp by one of her best friends "do you feel better now?"

"Enough, even if Dahyun was right in saying that it makes you feel like a murderer. Now let's go, we only need a few minutes to get to the mini market"

They set off and the two unarmed girls were walking as close as possible to the only one who had something useful to protect them all, often getting annoyed looks and reproaches about the little possibility of movement they were giving her.

The gun shop was almost empty except for a few spare parts that had no use and some ammunition that fortunately could be used, causing Chaeyoung's lack of patience to go into the waste.

"I was stupid not to continue my initial mission, I shouldn't have stopped at home with you"

“It's not your fault, apparently there are many people with a passion for guns who knew about this place” Jihyo was still rummaging through the various pieces of furniture located where the shop owner should have been.

The younger had to draw on the little common sense she had left to avoid screaming in despair "finding ammunition for both my pistol and rifle is certainly better than nothing, but I can't get over it"

"That's how it went, we have to put a stone on it" after a careful search she understood that she would not find anything and joined the other girl in the center of the shop "shall we go back? We have been here for a long time"

"Wait a second" Chaeyoung's eyes became wet with emotion "the luck is coming back to me!"

Jihyo was looking at her, curious since from where she was she couldn't see what she had picked up "did you find other ammunition?"

"No, but these are definitely better. Look" she showed her a still sealed package of mints "I'll take them with me, they are incredibly useful"

"Always better than nothing, at least we will have the appearance of having managed to brush our teeth properly"

"What did you understand? I'm not going to share them with the others, only with you"

Confusion returned to the brunette's face "could you explain yourself better? You talk too disconnected and I can't understand you"

Chaeyoung, in response, had thrown the thin plastic wrapping on the floor and ate a mint. Then she also handed one to the girl in front of her "eat one and let me kiss you, I don't want to wait any longer to have this experience"

"I thought I already told you I didn't want to do that" despite what she said she immediately let go of the freshness that had enveloped the inside of .

"Why don't you want? Look, I can be very respectful" she was making puppy eyes "don't tell me it's my age that stops you"

Jihyo slowly shook her head "I'm a minor too and I wouldn't have had any problems under any circumstances"

"So tell me why you don't want me to kiss you, am I not beautiful enough for you?" she had her hands on her hips and a pout that made her adorable.

"I care a lot about first experiences and, as silly as a kiss may seem, I would like to share it with someone who I consider special and who considers me as such"

"I can understand your desire, but honestly I find it useless now considering that we could die in five minutes or tomorrow" she sat on the furniture, looking at the other girl with a lot of interest "don't tell me you're a coward even in this"

"I am and I don't care if you find me ridiculous" she was shaking the deodorant, noting that if necessary it wouldn't be as useful as the first time "we'd better go back to the shelter, the others will be worried about us"

Chaeyoung said nothing and just walked beside her for a few minutes, totally immersed in her thoughts. She decided to reopen about ten minutes later, speaking with a seriousness that she hadn't yet had the opportunity to demonstrate "due to the extreme situation in which we find ourselves, our emotions are greatly amplified, but I feel like I want to get to know you better. Can you grant me at least this ?"

Jihyo's indecision was evident "I don't know if I feel like it, I'm sorry"

"I won't die if that's what scares you" she took her hand very gently, marveling at how soft it felt against hers "my goal is to protect both you and me, do you like this plan?"

Not getting an answer had always been a source of anger for her, but how could she be angry at the person she had decided she wanted to protect? She inhaled deeply, smiling again after being able to kiss the cheek of the brunette.

The convenience store had no doubt been targeted by other people, but luckily for the three girls, there was plenty left over to eat and drink. They divided the tasks to spend as little time as possible in that dangerous place, also taking care not to make more noise than necessary.

Sana was very quick to grab as many things as possible, thanks to the desire to leave as soon as possible, and she felt incredibly talented "I'm the fastest person in the world, I deserve an award"

"The only prize you deserve is that of superficiality" Mina had gathered as much water as possible and was dividing the bottles in such a way as to give the same weight to each of them.

"Momo said she deserves one for stupidity too" Tzuyu's tone of voice had been low as usual, yet it hadn't escaped the ears of the other two girls.

The blonde was pursing her lips not to let go of an uncontrolled laugh and she spoke only after making sure she wouldn't laugh "you just earned some of my sympathy, little clumsy one"

"Don't you dare team up against me, you ugly dry-skinned geese" Sana had started muttering a series of insults, which were mostly aimed at her best friends "anyone with a little brain would realize the divinity that I am"

"Even your skin is dry since you stopped putting three thousand products on it, you better look for better insults if your intention is to offend someone"

Tzuyu shyly intruded "girls, do you have a band-aid?"

The pink haired girl just shook her head "what do you need it for?"

"I cut my finger on a plastic lid"

Mina looked at her with both eyebrows raised upwards "put it in your mouth and , you're not a little girl in need of a plaster and a kiss on the sore part" she had walked away to get something sweet, since she still had room in her backpack. 

The youngest of her three stood watching her blood trickle down to her wrist, her lower lip curled forward and her eyes wet with unshed tears "I don't like the taste of blood"

Sana, aware of the little patience the blonde had, moved quickly to take a package of wet wipes "I advise you to stop behaving like this in her presence, you risk waking up the sleeping beast in her"

"Are you telling me this isn't her most nasty thing?" the thought of her being hit with worse insults was almost scarier than the zombies.

"Trust me: this is nothing. She once even made Momo cry"

"Then how do you call her your best friend?" she wasn't judging, she was just curious to know and needed to distract herself so as not to pass out due to the blood still present on her hand.

The older's hands were very delicate, as if they were used to taking care of someone, and her eyes had softened "her character is difficult to manage, but when Mina gets attached to someone she would be willing to do anything to make that person happy. I won't deny that I would choke her most of the time, but I'm really grateful to be a part of her life"

"I found a pack of patches" as confirmation of Sana's words, it was the blonde herself who took care of covering the small cut "now you're fine, can we get out of here?"

Once they took the backpacks and the only weapon they had, they went out without making any noise, even if the glass under their feet didn't want to let them continue calmly, forcing them to stop constantly to look around.

In fact, their bad luck didn't want to subside: a zombie had seen them even though they were a few meters away and was heading towards them at top speed, not even being slowed down by the awkwardness of its decaying body.

They started running in the direction of the building that had become their refuge, doing everything possible not to slow down their race for safety despite the weight they had on their shoulders.

"What if we tried to hit it with the hammer? Its head would immediately fall apart" Sana was already out of breath and, she was aware of it, her way of running was ridiculous to the point of making her slow down for shame of being judged.

"I don't feel like stopping, I'm not sure I can hit a being that moves so unpredictably"

A sudden noise, which hadn't been who knows how loud but still worrying, made them turn back: Tzuyu had fallen to the ground and couldn't get up because of fear, her arms were shaking in such a way as to prevent her from making that effort.

Mina stopped immediately, gripping the hammer tightly with both hands and looking at the zombie with her eyes filled with fear of her "help her to get up, I'm keeping it busy!"

Her good intentions weren't enough to give her good aim and she totally missed her target, throwing herself off balance from all the weight she was carrying which caused her to end up on her bottom.

She was sure she had reached the end of her life, but she didn't even have time to give up because a small flame had come between her and the living dead, making it retreat a few steps. It was Jihyo who protected her and helped her up "are you okay?"

"Charmander, use flamethrower!" Chaeyoung was having fun setting fire to the zombie with the deodorant she hadn't used yet, so much so that a creepy smile lit up her face "I'm getting again, I love this feeling of power"

"Stop being a moron and cut off its head with the katana!" Sana was holding up a crying and terrified Tzuyu, feeling overwhelmed by this turn of events. 

The youngest of them did as she was told, complaining immediately after for having been deprived of her toy "it's really true that human beings hate seeing the happiness of others, you are selfish"

No one said anything else the entire way, all too tired and shaken to form a single sentence that made sense. Sana hadn't let go of Mina's hand even for a second and she was devastated at the thought of having almost lost one of the people she loved most in the world.