touch of nature ＊ JIYOO

26. "The End Is Near"

› 2 DAYS LATER:

Yoohyeon grumpily walked to an underground parking lot, putting her bag down while sighing in exhaustion. She hasn't been sleeping comfortably and her whole body was aching, but that didn't stop her from training every single day without a break.

"Alright, it's simply running around the city for today's training.. I'll manage." Yoohyeon started stretching her limbs, caressing her aching neck when she was done.

She glanced at the sun, remembering it's position and then prepared herself on the spot, counting down to three in her mind. "And.. go!"

Yoohyeon dashed to the exit, jumping over stairs and railings to get to the top faster. The moment she was out in the open, she started running towards the top of one of the buildings near her. Once the girl reached the roof, she ran at full speed to jump over the small gap in between two buildings, hardly managing to make the jump since she was a little low on stamina.

"That was close.." Yoohyeon panted, still running to continue her parkour training. She had to get better with her speed and fix her stamina, so this tiring run was a big help for her.

"I'll.. take a break.." Yoohyeon stopped running, putting her hands on her knees while panting hard. Her breathing was surprisingly unsteady and she was already exhausted, but she had no means to give up so soon. "A bit more.. And I'll stop.." Yoohyeon said to herself, stretching her back and wincing when she felt pain all over her body again.

"I feel like a damn grandma with all of this back pain.. How I wish I had Hayoung here to give me a nice massage.." Yoohyeon sighed, looking at the rooftops of every building near her. "I can go there.. But also go towards the forest. Hmm.." Yoohyeon scratched her head, suddenly doing eenie-meenie-miney-moe to decide on her next location.

"The forest it is!" Yoohyeon smiled, running at a little slower pace towards the forest. The area was usually crowded with infected during the day, but something seemed off since she couldn't see a single one roaming. "What's this about..? I need to be careful." The girl cautiously jogged in the forest, stopping the second she heard noise coming from her side.

She squinted her eyes, trying to figure out if she heard an animal or an infected. But the specific white clothing she saw almost made her heart drop from suspense.

It was an Icebreaker, precisely, a scout looking for her.

"Hey, it's the target! Stop there!" The scout shouted, having noticed Yoohyeon's presence.

"Shit- I should've picked the city!" The girl instantly turned around and started running away, making the scout scoff to himself while pulling his radio out. He immediately dialed his supervisor, aka Minji.

"General Jiu, it's Scout 10! I found the target in Zone 3, but she's running away!" He panted, hearing a hum from the other side. It was about time Minji got some news about Yoohyeon.

"I'm coming over to your location. Where is she headed to?" Minji said sternly, making the scout look around. "I'm soon to be out in Zone 4, but.. I might have lost her in the forest."

"Lost her!? Continue looking, she must be close." Minji ordered angrily, making the scout sigh.

"I'm not sure, I think she escaped. It's very silent in he- Wait, I see something. I think it's her." He said, making Minji hum in thought, but then she widened her eyes. Yoohyeon was a smart one, so there was no way her scout managed to find her again so easily. It didn't seem right.

"Hold on, don't get so close yet. It could be a trap." She said, noticing the chuckle coming from the scout.

"It can't be. She can't be quick enough to set up a tr- AH!"