"I seriously don't like the looks of this place."

"Unnie, since when does deserted houses in the middle of an apocalypse ever look pretty?" Soyou scoffed, as she reloaded her gun. The two girls walked over to the next house, making sure they weren't followed by anyone, dead or alive. As Junsu always said, "Never waste a bullet on a zombie. Humans are a lot more scarier."

2pm, the group that both she and a good friend Hyorin were in, was given another task of finding food again. Soyou had always dreaded these assignments. Sure, the food that were collected could keep the camp running for another week but seriously, it not a fun job when one has to worry about green people with red eyes who desire his or her flesh. Soyou watched impatiently as Hyorin adjusted her bangs over the scar on her forehead. "Seriously! Nobody's going look at your forehead, and if they are, they're probably zombies after your brains."

"Real funny in this situation, Soyou." Hyorin took out her blade and started working on the lock. "You know that it's my complex." She managed to break the lock as quickly as someone would take to shoot it down, keeping the blade carefully in her pocket once she was done. Hyorin had always been talented with blades and knifes. Soyou, though she never told her, once thought that Hyorin could even take down a zombie wth just a penknife. But of course, people do have their limits.

And challenging it might mean death.

They carefully opened the door, keeping their fingers crossed. A locked house usually meant three things: either the people are out, the people are in and alive, or the people are in, are green, and are waiting to eat your flesh, and even then the second one could also be risky. Since nothing had come out to attack them, the girls entered the house.  The place was neat and tidy, though the paint was peeling from the walls. From the fine layer of dust on the furniture, Soyou knew that the house had been left untouched, meaning that they might be something of worth in this run-down place. "Watch my back, unnie. I'm going to search this place."

"C'mon, you're the one with the gun!"

"And you're the one who decided to use knives in the first place! Besides, I have always make you carry a gun even with those blades of yours." Soyou pointed at Hyorin's other pocket, where a shiny metal and wooden handle sticked out, conveniently placed for easy access in case zombies get too close.

"Fine. Have it your way." Hyorin grunted, walking over to the stairs leading to the second floor and leaning against the wooden bars. Soyou sighed and walked into the kitchen. She opened the cabinets, coughing as the dust particles flew all around her. They're mostly filled with expired canned food and kitchen utensils. She ped the backpack from her back and stuffed in the cans. After all, food's still food, right? "Alright unnie. Let's go." She said, slinging her bulky backpack over her shoulders and walking out off the kitchen to the living room again.

The empty living room greeted her back.

"Unnie?" Soyou called, suppressing the fear growing in her. Stay calm, Soyou, and think this through. Unnie won't be dumb enough to leave the house alone. She looked at the the long flight of stairs leading to the second floor. Maybe she went up. Soyou climbed the stairs, hoping that Hyorin would be there. She was greeted with the sight of closed door, except for one that was left ajar. Walking towards the open door, she placed her fingers on it and slowly opened the door, not wanting to disturb the presence on the other side if it's not what she was expecting. She grew both angry and relieved at the familiar face that she saw. "Ya unnie! Didn't you hear me call you just now?"

Hyorin didn't reply, just sitting on the bed with an expressionless face. Soyou got beside Hyorin and nudged her. "Unnie? Unnie!"

"What?" Hyorin looked at Soyou, finally noticing her dongsaeng's presence.

"Didn't you hear me call you just now?"

"Oh. Sorry, got a little carried away." Soyou didn't know what she meant until her eyes fell on the thing Hyorin was holding, a small figurine of cloth and cotton. She looked around the room, it's pink walls giving her a warm and nostalgic feeling inside.

"They... they had a daughter, didn't they." Soyou spoke, barely a whisper. She felt hot tears returned to her eyes. It hurts to know yet another girl never had a normal childhood.

"Yeah..." The two stayed quiet for a while. "Have you ever wondered what life would be like if this never happened?" Hyorin asked, her eyes glistened with tears.

"Maybe it will be like what the elders had told us." Soyou replied, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

Hyorin smiled. "Worrying about schoolwork."

"Taking the college exam."

"Getting a job."

"Chasing our childhood dreams"

"Finding the right one."

"Coming home to a hot meal..." Soyou thought of the expired food. "With our families waiting for us to join them." Silence came out of the two again.

"We should get going." Hyorin spoke, moving out of the room quickly. Soyou took one last glance at the room, taking the sight in and printing it into memory, before getting out of the room to return to camp.

"Ah! It's good to be home!"

"Seriously, you find this home?" Nichkhun knocked Taecyeon's head with his knuckles, causing the young one to stumble backwards.

"Hey! You got to admit that we had lived here for 15 years already." Taecyeon said as he rubbed his head. "It's basically our home now."

"Whatever." Nichkhun walked quickly into the house, leaving the remaining five men sighing. It's amazing how Nichkhun could never feel comfortable in this house. Fifteen years is an awfully long time.

Their house was located in one of Busan's camps, a well barricaded area free of undead people. But nowadays, the people are looking just as dead. Food supply was running low, and the crops that they've managed to plant were taking their time to grow. That's how 2pm got called for the task.

A hour later, as the guys were busy doing their own random things, the two girls came back, tired and red stained all over. They set their stained backpacks on the table and sat on the marble tiled ground, exhausted. It would be nice to chillax on the couch, but it would take a while to wash the dried blood off the white fabric.

"Why so bloody?" Junsu asked, as he flipped through a very outdated magazine.

"Mobbed by a group of zombies during the task." Soyou replied. Hyorin lay on the ground to take a short nap.

"How many."

"Twenty of them, more or less."

"Lost anything?"

"Twelve bullets," Soyou looked at her unnie. "And a dagger."

"What do you expect me to do?" Hyorin replied, keeping her eyes close. "Pull it out of the dude's eye while five others come towards me? Be thankful that we are alive." She opened an eye and looked at Soyou. "And furthermore, they're won't be any food assignments for another week... if they ration it properly."

"I hope so." Soyou lay on the ground beside Hyorin. Taking a nap didn't seemed that bad of a choice. Before Soyou could even close her eyes, loud raps could be heard from the door. "Come in!" She called, not moving from her position on the ground, expecting it to be another citizen requesting for assistance in something she didn't really care about.

A fairly young man, probably in his thirties stared at the two blood-coated women lying on the floor in from of him. Soyou looked at the man in puzzlement. Seriously, who wears a suit nowadays. "Can I help you?" She asked, getting up from the floor.

"Are you people 2pm?"

"Yes..." The man adjusted the shades over his eyes. She looked at him suspiciously. An unsettling feeling stirred up in her.

"I would like to have a word with you."

"Be my guest." Soyou replied, expecting the man to come in. Instead, he just stood  perfectly still at the door. "Is there a problem?"

"Um..." The man looked at still person beside Soyou.

"Oh her? Don't worry. She just sleeping." She Hyorin's hair. "Come in and make yourself comfortable." She could tell how quickly the man's professionalism was crumbling. He took one more look at Hyorin and sighed, walking towards the couch which Junsu was sitting on and sat down.

"Oppa, do you mind calling the guys here? I need to wake up Hyorin." Soyou asked Junsu, who nodded and went up to the second floor, where the others were. By the time the boys came down, Hyorin was awake, though she hadn't managed to remove the sleep in her eyes completely yet. The girls still stayed on the floor as they didn't managed to wash up, sitting upright and looking at the man.

"Who is he?" Wooyoung asked, taking a seat on the other couch.

"I believe I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Mr. Park." He straighten his posture a little and continued, "I am a worker of Medico."

"Medico?" Junho asked suspiciously. "THE Medico? The company who discovered the cure to the common cold?"

"That's the one."

"But the camp is all the way in Seoul. Why make such a long trip to see us?" Hyorin asked.

"Because the president of Medico has a message, no, a misson for you." Mr. Park looked seriously at all their faces. "He wants you to find the cure to Virus Z."