Two men were sat on the rooftop of a house, legs dangling over the edge, as the sky above greyed into evening. The smaller of the pair stirred suddenly, as if someone had walked over his grave.

“Something feels different.” He told his companion, voice slightly raspy. “Is it…?” His question trailed off because he didn’t even need to ask. He knew the answer already.

“She’s here.” The taller confirmed, expression flat and blank. “You find her, and I’ll come to you.”

Without another word, he disintegrated, disappearing into the night sky.
A sigh of exasperation passed the plump lips of the remaining shadow before he dropped off the roof and into the darkness.

*

“I don’t know what you’re doing here, but whatever it is, it’s a bad idea.” Victoria told you, voice oddly relaxed as the two of you walked through the deserted streets. She was leading you somewhere, and though she hadn’t actually told you where, you were happy to follow her. She rescued me, the least I can do is trust her.

“I wish I knew what I was doing here.” You mumbled in reply, vaguely aware of the curious look she gave you out of the corner of her eye. “I just want to go home.”

You stopped in your tracks when she put a hand on your shoulder, adjusting her own height to stare you straight in the eye. Her eyes are so bright and hopeful… I wonder what she’s doing here? You thought as you returned her gaze.

“We’ll do what we can to get you back home. I promise.” She was so full of conviction that you couldn’t not believe her. And then you thought about what she’d really said…

“We?” You asked, curious. Are there more people like her here?

“Me and the guys, come on, I’ll introduce you.”

Gesturing to hurry, she made a B-line towards a certain boarded up door and drummed an out-of-beat knock against a wooden panel. The door, boards and all, moved back half an inch.

“I want to call you an original nickname.” A cautious male voice asked… They have a secret knock and a password? I guess that means it’s safe.

“Then call me Goongdi Soondi.” She replied, face deadpan.

The door swung open and she pulled you inside quickly. You didn’t even have time to look around before she pushed you into a chair and a plate of bread and cheese at you. You were too busy eating to realise that three sets of eyes were watching you now.

“Where’d you find the stray?” A broad shouldered man asked, leaning forwards a little bit to inspect your face.  Awkwardly, you stopped eating, uncomfortable with the way his eyes were on you. You didn’t like the suspicion in his gaze.

“Go easy on her Siwon, she’s not dangerous. She's just lost.” Victoria laughed, hitting his shoulder lightly before she sat down on a chair next to you.

The furniture was all mismatched, like it had been salvaged from countless different houses, and the walls were bare other than a couple of maps that had been tacked up. You couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy when you spotted a small arsenal of varied weapons and tools laid out on a mat in the corner. Who are these people?

“Sorry for not trusting everything with a sob story.” He laughed, although his eyes stayed sharp. The second man, taller and slighter than Siwon, rolled his eyes with a huff.

“Can I ask you a few questions?” Siwon asked you. You appreciated his politeness, but the look of reserved judgement bothered you a little. You nodded regardless. What harm can it do? Besides, I have my share to ask.

He launched into a small interview, asking you who you were, where you came from, how you got here and so on. You answered as well as you could but there wasn’t exactly much information you could give.

“And then this man, appeared in my house. He said a lot of strange things that made no sense. He was wearing unusual robes too.” You didn’t know why but you thought the detail might help. Victoria looked uneasily at the taller man, who returned her look. “Then I out and woke up here.” You concluded limply.

“Zhoumi, you don’t think the stranger was…” Victoria’s voice faded away, as if she was almost afraid to say what was on her mind.

“Luhan? No, it couldn’t be.”

They had all seemed so vivacious and lively but now the mood had dropped to a dark and thought filled one, bringing silence in its wake. Sensing the tension, Zhoumi clapped his hands together and addressed you directly.

“Thank you Mihyun. You’ve really helped us there. Is there anything you want to ask us?” He looked at you expectantly and a thousand questions filled your head.

“Where is this place?” You started from the most logical place you could think of.

“We call it The City Inbetween.” Siwon started with a bittersweet smile. “No one ever purposefully comes here, it’s just an unfortunate stop between stops.” He elaborated to make sense of it.

“Since we’re the only people here, I guess the name’s stuck.” Victoria added with a wry smile. That was odd, you thought.

“You’re the only people here?” For some reason, it shocked you, though in retrospect it wasn’t exactly surprising. Why else would there be no one around for miles in the middle of a city? It was abandoned.

“Yep.” Zhoumi nodded sadly. “Since the monsters showed up, everyone either left or well…” He didn’t continue, the grim meaning was clear enough. You nodded in understanding – it was better for some things to be left unsaid.

“And what are they… These monsters?” Part of you was almost happier not knowing, they were terrifying and that was enough. If you didn’t know the facts, they could easily pass for the twisted creation of a horror movie.

“We call these ones Crawlers. There are different types but they’re all essentially the same thing.” Siwon watched, fingers pressed to his lips as he listened to Zhoumi explain. “They’re made of darkness. According to the information in one of the books we’ve found, they’re created from the corruption in the world. Something like that, at least.”

You listened intently to his words. These monsters, Crawlers … They were entirely evil.
There was another heavy silence, but less tense this time.

“Thank you for everything you’ve told me.” You said, looking from one to the other. You did not, however, tell them how much more terrified it made you. This, whatever it was, was real. There was no way you could wake up from this.

“I don’t want to impose on your hospitality, but could I possibly wash up and rest a while?”

At your request, Victoria hopped up, grinning happily again.

“Siwon, keep watch. Mi, do whatever it is you do. Mihyun, come with me.” She was bubbly and excitable again, and Zhoumi was rolling his eyes as he flipped his hair out of his face with a laugh. It was a harmonious little house and you decided you liked it.

A few days in this place wouldn’t be so bad. The positivity and assurance radiating from the three almost made you forget what had happened to you… They were an island of safety in a sea of panic and danger.
A small smile crossed your face when you figured out that you’d only been awake for around five hours and yet your body was crying out for sleep. You had been through an awful lot in so little time that you just couldn’t keep up with it all.

Sighing, you fell onto the bed fully clothed and drifted off to a deep, undisturbed sleep in a matter of seconds.