January 05, 2015

"This really doesn't seem like the right direction..." Haerin scrunched up her facial features as the back of the flats dug into the back of her feet. The three, Haerin and her new bodyguards, were running although she wasn't sure why because not a single one of the dangerous creatures seemed to be around. But there wasn't a single human being around either.

"Seriously Baekhyun, this is the wrong way." Chanyeol agreed with her. Actually, the reason he agreed with her was because he didn't feel like agreeing with Baekhyun. Even if he was going the right way.

Running ahead of Chanyeol and Haerin, Baekhyun quickly panted back. "No, no, trust me." 

"No." Chanyeol rejected immediately with a straight face.

To Haerin, these two appeared to be friends with problems. Baekhyun practically clung to the taller boy and liked to mess with him, and Chanyeol was probably hella annoyed of the shorter one, but they obviously still cared for each other. She could tell by the way Baekhyun talked about the stupidest things she has never imagined possible and the way Chanyeol just listened and told him he was stupid.

People who weren't close couldn't do that.

Is this what people call a love-hate relationship?

Baekhyun turned a corner, and so did Chanyeol. Haerin, on the other hand, was having trouble catching up with the two lean men. For goodness sakes, she was a girl whose occupation consisted of changing clothes and walking down runways. "You... guys..."

'That's it. Not another step. They'll stop and get me when they see I'm not behind them.' Without turning the corner, Haerin stopped and plopped down onto the floor. Being with  Chanyeol and Baekhyun made her drop her guard and she felt way too relaxed even with the knowledge that there could be more of those zombies.

"Sss... ah...." She groaned as she pulled off her flats and lined them neatly next to her. The back of her feet were bleeding and they stung. "Good thing I didn't wear heels today." Haerin smiled to herself before realizing that Chanyeol and Baekhyun weren't coming back.

It'll be alright, she told herself and leaned against the brick wall, massaging the heel of her feet.

The sun was setting, and everywhere, a range of deep orange dyed the floor and buildings around her.

"What are you doing?" Chanyeol and Baekhyun were back, gazing down at her on the ground and catching their still light breathes. How could they not be tired after running so much?

Baekhyun bent his knees to be at eye level with Haerin. "Ouch. Look at her feet. It got ugly."

Haerin held back the urge to karate kick him in the face. "It's fine." With a controlled smile, she assured Baekhyun that she was alright even though it stung like hell.

"Are you sure we don't need to go to the hospital?" Suddenly grabbing one of her feet and lifting it to inspect it closely. This definitely surprised Haerin, but she just gave him an awkward laugh. It

"I don't think she'll die from that..." Chanyeol paused before nodding in confirmation. Sitting on the ground and looking up the very tall Chanyeol hurt Haerin's neck, so she decided not to look at him.

"Chanyeol, you're so insensitive." Baekhyun frowned at Chanyeol who shook his head and sighed. "Don't you know that a girl's feet are her life?" Getting into his own argument, he shook Haerin's feet at Chanyeol. "Think how sad she would be if she couldn't wear heels or anything pretty ever again because her feet get disfigured." Still shaking her feet.

"Sorry... could you..." Wondering where in the world the shorter bodyguard heard that from, Haerin lightly tapped Baekhyun's hand so he would release her.

"Yea, can you stop waving her foot at me?" Crinkling his nose, Chanyeol bent his knees so he was at eye level too. "Also, she's wearing a skirt. I can see her underwear everytime you--."

A loud clank of metal hitting metal was heard inside the building Haerin was leaning on. It was way too loud to be considered normal.

Baekhyun let go of Haerin's foot and gets up curiously.

There's a window a couple of feet away on the building. Slowly but not really carefully, Baekhyun peered through the window. "Hey Chanyeol, you should get over here..."

When Sy Qian saw injured people, she just couldn't ignore and walk past them. After all, she had the medical knowledge to help them.

She never thought her decision to help a girl today on her way home would end with her calling for help of her own.

"Are you alright?" The little girl was bleeding heavily from her left shoulder and appeared to be hyperventilating. The blood that should be pumped through the heart was pouring out from the wound on her shoulder. This was serious.

The injured child was pale and completely dazed, squeaking out incoherent words. The lack of blood was dropping her body temperature and being out in the cold was something that would only quicken her death.

With her hand wrapped in torn cloth and holding down the girl's wound so it'll stop the flow of blood, the young medic carefully dragged the small body into a nearby building for warmth. Luckily, the building was open and empty for unknown reasons.

There was a blanket nearby, so Qian grabbed it and covered the girl with it. Then, she reached into the small pack on her back with her hand that was not pressing the wound down and pulled out a heavy grey container.

Skillfully, she flipped off the lid, revealing a neatly organized set of medical items. The rubbing alcohol was missing. Sy Qian had misplaced it and had forgotten it at her last patient's house.

While she was looking for something to use in place of it, the girl took two large gulps of air before she completely stilled with no sign of movement or life found in her frail body.

The medic slowly loosened her grip on the girl's shoulder, knowing that it was too late now. She was used to seeing death since her occupation had dealt with a lot of them, but still, this was a little girl.

With a sigh, she rolled the blanket from her body up to the girl's face and covered her completely.

Qian closed the lid of the medical box, not minding that the girl's blood on her hand was smearing the grey surface with red. Returning it to her backpack, she got up.

Obviously, she couldn't leave the dead girl's body in someone else's home even if it looked completely empty and unoccupied. That would be rude to the owner of the house and the girl. She searched the house for something to at least burn her body with. That was the custom here in Regnad, to set aflame the body of the dead in hope that the person will find peace.

There was a small box of matches on the stove of the kitchen nearby.

She swiftly glided over to the match box and grabbed it when the sound of a grunt caught her attention. Turning around back towards the girl, she could only see a crumpled up layer of blanket. The girl's body was gone.

Did someone move it? It didn't make sense for a dead body to be moving on its own.

Hurrying back to the blanket, Qian looked around for footprints or trail of blood. A splatter of blood, probably from the girl's shoulder wound, made a little path towards the kitchen which she just ran out from.

The medic turned around to head back towards the kitchen when a loud sound of metal colliding with metal echoed from the kitchen.

In the kitchen, the dead girl was standing on her own feet and staring at her with several metallic pans rolling on the ground. 'Was she still alive? No, I'm sure she was dead... what?'

The girl bared her teeth, revealing her sharp teeth.

"Hey Chanyeol, you should get over here." The sound of someone's muffled voice from outside brought her back from her thoughts, but Qian was still unable to take her eyes off the child standing several yards in front of her.

Suddenly, the girl twitched her head to the left before slowly staggering in her direction.