"Take as many things as possible, the zombies have entered the building!" Chaeyoung had come back with a leap, the rifle clutched in one hand and her eyes busy looking for the person she had fallen in love with "I'll go out first and I'll try to keep them at bay as much as possible, but you'll have to move quickly"

Mina had been the first to react and she had rushed to Tzuyu to help her up "I'll take you, hold on to me"

"I'm too heavy, you wouldn't be able to climb all those stairs" the younger was already about to cry "leave me here, you don't need ballast"

"Lift your damn and hold me tight" the blonde had turned her back, ready to lift the other girl with all her strength "we don't have much time, please"

Tzuyu did as she was told, gritting her teeth so as not to scream due to the excruciating pain in her injured knee and looking around to actually understand the situation: all their companions had almost finished filling the backpacks at their disposal despite the hands trembling.

"When you're too tired to carry her I'll be the one to do it" Sana had leaned forward slightly to kiss her girlfriend's lips, after which she worked to take two backpacks full of food. Jihyo had taken care of the drinks.

The door opened with a snap and Dahyun walked in, scaring everyone to death: she had her clothes ripped in some places and a lot of blood on them. As soon as she realized the reason for the terrified looks she showed the katana stained up to the hilt "it's not my blood, I swear I didn't let any of those monsters touch me"

Chaeyoung joined her, looking worried "how's the situation?"

"There are quite a few at the entrance, but we eliminated the ones who managed to get through the door"

"Then why are we leaving?" Jihyo was shaking like a leaf, but strangely her eyes were dry.

"They destroyed the entrance, we can't barricade ourselves inside anymore. Nayeon said she knows another place, but we have to hurry because they won't be able to hold out for long with a hammer and baseball bats"

They went out one by one, the girl with the rifle was the first in line and was ready to shoot at any moment, while Dahyun stood in the middle to be able to be useful from all sides. And to check that Tzuyu was okay.

Descending the stairs was easy until they reached the last flight of stairs, which was made quite slippery by the large amount of fresh blood that had splattered. By now the two armed girls were both in front, the weapons gripped in their calloused hands.

The rest of their group had climbed a wall that was not too high but which evidently had been useful for the purpose: Nayeon and Jeongyeon were hitting each zombie mercilessly, preventing them from grabbing even one of the trio.

As soon as they saw the rest of the girls they realized the seriousness of the situation, but they knew they couldn't afford any missteps and decided to postpone any words of concern until they were all safe.

Jeongyeon threw the bow in Mina's direction, having remembered her words about the sport associated with it "if you're as good as you told us, give us a hand, at least that thing is silent"

They gave her the arrows right after they entrusted Tzuyu to Sana, noting an immediate change in the blonde's manner. Her posture was perfect, worthy of a professional, and the same could be said of her aim.

The first arrow she'd shot slammed into the decomposing skull of a zombie that seemed particularly attracted to Momo, then she hurried to shoot another.

"For now I think it's better not to use the rifle, it would attract even more monsters" Chaeyoung tied her weapon so that she could carry it on her back, taking one of the baseball bats and jumping into the fray.

The difference compared to their first encounters with the zombies was evident and the courage of the girls had become such as not to let them sit on their hands. Even Jihyo had taken part in that battle, feeling safer thanks to the arrows Mina was shooting to protect them.

Once the last undead fell they all stopped to catch their breath "we did it" Sana dropped the now broken baseball bat she had used to keep Tzuyu safe.

"We'd better leave, others could arrive and it's too dark to fight by now" Nayeon took one of the smaller backpacks to accompany the one full of medicines "follow me, it will take about ten minutes to get there"

They walked in complete silence, placed in such a formation that they could protect each other in case of sudden attacks and taking turns carrying Tzuyu.

The girl felt terribly guilty and hid her face in Dahyun's hair "I'm only causing you trouble"

"It's true that carrying someone slows down the pace of the group, but taking care of you was our choice and that's why you shouldn't feel guilty. On the contrary, you should be happy to have met people who would never abandon you"

"I am very grateful to each of you, but I can't stand being the weak link in the chain"

Dahyun lightly tightened her grip on the taller girl's thighs to comfort her "each of us has her strengths and yours is that of having made us unite even more. Look at us: we are collaborating perfectly for everyone's survival"

Tzuyu realized the sincerity of those words only after looking around her: Chaeyoung, who had Dahyun's katana hanging by her side, was walking in front of everyone; Mina had kept an arrow ready to be able to act at any moment; Nayeon and Jeongyeon were in the back, the former with the bat and the latter with the hammer; Momo and Jihyo were on either side, also with their clubs gripped in their hands until their knuckles were white; Sana, on the other hand, was walking inside the circle to regain her strength and be able to carry the injured girl again.

The place chosen by Nayeon was nothing more than a hospital that had been abandoned for some years. The structure looked strong, but judging by the countless cracks it must have been on the demolition list.

Inside the dust reigned supreme, but beyond it and the various abandoned furniture there was complete silence. It was enough to close the double door with a chain to make each of them relax, at least they could keep those monsters away.

"Let's look for a room big enough for everyone, so we don't have to split up" the eldest of the group the torch, pointing it mainly at the floor, so that they could continue without a hitch.

"This place is almost as creepy as the outside" Momo was clutching Jihyo's arm, knowing she could count on her when it came to complaints.

Unfortunately for her, Chaeyoung also had an immense desire to be close to the girl she liked "I'll take care of protecting you, thanks to me and my rifle not even ghosts will be able to get close to you"

"The only thing I would like now is to take a shower and go to sleep in my bed" the brunette was destroyed both in body and in her spirit and she was now walking without realizing it, as if she had activated the autopilot.

Given the size of the rooms, the girls decided to gather the beds in the cafeteria to have more space and be able to use the tables for eating. The empty backpacks had been placed on some chairs, as well as their bloodstained jackets.

Tzuyu let them clean her wound again, not letting a single cry escape from the excruciating pain. She didn't want to disturb any more and to stop complaining seemed the minimum.

Once the beds were positioned, they did their best to remove the dust, putting Sana's patience to the test in a few seconds "we worked so hard to get here and we also have to sleep on dusty mattresses and without blankets?"

"What did you expect, to find servants at the door ready to clean every corner? Hurry up and help me or I won't let you sleep with me" Mina felt pain in her hands and arms, as she was no longer used to pulling with the bow.

"Speaking of this" Momo had been observing them for a while, suspicious about a speech Chaeyoung had made to Jihyo "do you have something to tell me? I think it's the perfect time to take some pebbles off your shoe"

The two lovers exchanged a slightly worried look and the pink-haired girl spoke first "we wanted to tell you once we get home, but you're right so I'll tell you without too many words: Mina and I are a couple"

"How long? And, above all, why didn't you tell me?"

"It's been a year since we decided to be together" Mina had intervened, speaking in an unusually calm tone devoid of sarcasm "and we didn't tell you about it because we were afraid of losing our trio"

Momo looked at both of them with the same discouragement of an elderly person who witnessed any activity carried out by young people "sure that put together you don't even make a brain, why should I have walked away from you? I'm not envious, on the contrary I would have been very happy from the beginning and I would have cheered for you"

Their best friend's disappointment was such that it attracted the attention of the other girls, especially that of Chaeyoung "we all have secrets and are prone to making mistakes, but I think you should have told her sooner"

"Nobody asked for your opinion" Mina inhaled deeply before continuing the sentence, giving herself a demeanor "but you're right, we were stupid to omit such an important thing"

"Will you be able to forgive us?" Sana's eyes seemed even bigger and softer, a lethal weapon that always managed to demolish the hardness that her best friend wanted to demonstrate, so much so that she smiled "I see that she adores us even if we are es"

The three of them joined in a hug, holding each other for as long as possible before getting back to cleaning some dust off the beds. It took them an hour, which had been enriched by a long series of bad words from some of them, but in the end they managed to sit down at the table to eat something.

They ate in complete silence, exchanging circumstantial smiles whenever they met glances or talked to get things over with.

After dinner and arranged the jackets to use them as blankets, they helped each other to remove the blood with wet wipes, under the horrified gaze of Sana "I miss being able to wash properly and being able to do my skincare, so reduced I am disgusting to say the least"

"That's the first sensible thing I've heard coming out of your mouth" Chaeyoung was lying down, her head resting on the legs of what she considered her girlfriend "but you are still lucky enough to have a girl in the same situation as you and who can't insult you for your poor hygiene"

"Stop being so blunt or sooner or later they'll really beat you" Jihyo was her hair gently, her eyes narrowed due to her too much tiredness.

There was no fight as most of them were asleep within a couple of minutes. Instead, the four girls who remained awake had gathered at the table to spend the time chatting.

Chaeyoung took a pack of cigarettes from her backpack "I think it's time to establish a bond of sisterhood by talking and smoking all together"

The first to agree was Dahyun, who having never tried to smoke she choked immediately "this stuff , how do you do it?"

Nayeon and Jeongyeon had also accepted a cigarette each, but unlike the brunette they seemed used to that apparently simple but incomprehensible gesture.

"If you don't like it give it to me, it wouldn't make any sense to waste it" the girl with the highlighter hair let herself go into a stream of thoughts as she was looking at the beds "will we be able to get out of this ?"

"I don't know, but it's a miracle that we got here without losing anyone and that makes me think we can do it" Jeongyeon was cracking her neck, immediately feeling more relaxed.

Nayeon instead was half lying on the table "today I saw death in the face and I didn't like it at all, feeling helpless is horrible because besides not being able to protect myself I couldn't do anything for Momo. I'm completely useless and if you hadn't arrived, the inevitable would have happened"

"What could you have done? You were on the opposite side to hers and you had many zombies around" Dahyun had taken her katana to try to clean it, a gesture that at that point she needed to calm down "I couldn't have done better in your place"

"Things are definitely about to change, the first day on the news they talked about the army and various countermeasures and I hope someone will come and find us as soon as possible" Jeongyeon's gray hair was increasingly disheveled "once in a movie I heard a phrase that I feel like repeating in the hope of making us feel better"

The sentence in question was pronounced the next morning during breakfast and was repeated in a low voice by Tzuyu "it can't rain forever"

~~~
The end of the story is getting closer and closer and for this reason I have inserted a small spoiler inside the chapter. It's very subtle, but maybe someone could get there👀