a/n: if you noticed that each chapter has two parts it's because i didn't want the chapter to be too long because i care for ya'll haha. i wrote this story originally for asianfanfics that's why it's long.
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the sun was setting, the night would eventually come. after a long walk, joohyun finally settled in a clear spot inside of a mildly dense forest, north of the gas station. in a dense forest, it wouldn't be possible for a mindless zombie to just be here except that she is with one who is just staring at her with such interest as always.
the forest was quiet, you could only hear nature; crickets were chirping, owls hooting and if you have sensitive hearing like joohyun you would hear almost distant noise. soon the pitch-black blanket enveloped the sky, small groups of stars gather. the waning crescent moon became present. it was a relief, the moon was at this phase. if the moon was full, zombies would be stronger and active, their senses increasing than a normal zombie would. it worried joohyun, she'd have to hide in a secluded area every time the night sky showed a full moon.
she drops her packed backpack that was filled with the stuff she had earned from her small scavenges. dropping it down on the leaf-covered ground, hearing a slight crunching sound that made her pause—still wanting to be cautious of ever making too much noise. she heaves out a tired breath and sat down on a large trunk of a tree that had been fortunately timbered down in the middle.
joohyun noticed that the zombie was just standing meters away from her, just like she told the zombie to. although she told seulgi that she had trusted her, deep inside she was still unsure of trusting an undead to be by her side, guessing most of the time, starting now.
“are you not tired of standing?” joohyun asks, getting a small head shake from the zombie. joohyun rests her elbow on her thigh, her chin resting on her palm. she looks at the zombie head to toe, “you're weird.”
the zombie tilts her head, she didn't know if what joohyun said was a compliment or not, so she just gave a smile. joohyun squints her eyes, suspicious of the smile seulgi showed, “i–i'm gonna get some branches and stuff. stay here.” joohyun stood up from the wood trunk and searched the area for some dead, dry branches. she circled the surrounding area, still close to her campsite and to make sure the zombie doesn't go anywhere.
she began to gather up tree branches in her arm, hugging it to her chest, careful of the sharp edges that may poke her. suddenly she heard a small grunt beside her, causing her to jump and drop all the collected branches, “w-what the—” joohyun clutched her chest, relieved that she didn't release a scream that would definitely attract zombies to her. she turns her head to the side and saw the zombie, seulgi picking up the branches, “d-don't surprise me like that!” she whisper shouts.
while picking up the branches, seulgi looked up at joohyun, “h..help.. pre–pretty..” seulgi says. joohyun looks away and crosses her arms. the zombie sense that she might have angered joohyun in some way but she just wanted to be a useful companion, if that's how joohyun views her as, “i–i told you to just stay over there. i didn't even ask for help. and calling me pretty is--”
seulgi was already heading back to the camp with the pile of branches in her arms. joohyun realizes and catches up to her. seulgi drops the branches in the middle and begins to walk away back into the dense forest. joohyun asked confused, "where are you going?"
thinking that the zombie will finally leave her alone, seulgi pauses and replied, “mo..more.. wood.” joohyun's eyes were fixated on the limping figure of the zombie. she noticed even though seulgi's body is in a horrible condition, the muscles were still present and could be seen through her ripped sleeves—'am i checking out a zombie? no. no. that's gross, bae joohyun.'
if everything was still normal what could have seulgi looked like now? instead of a walking corpse would she have seen a youthful, maybe in her 20's girl, hanging out with her friends and living a great life unlike her who will be stuck in that lab almost every day. for her it wasn't much of a bad thing since she doesn't have many friends to go out with, some of them are busy and another thing is she's not allowed to leave the lab without permission anyways.
joohyun crouches down to the pile of branches. she moved it aside and cleared out the dead leaves resting on the campfire spot. she stood up and searched for rocks, once she grabbed a couple she went back and made a ring of rocks. she placed the varied length of branches of wood inside it. then she took out her lighter from her nearby backpack's pockets. once she was ready to light the branches, more branches were placed with a thud beside her.
joohyun looked over to the pile than to the worn-out shoes of the owner beside it, her eyes travelling from seulgi's shoes to her face, “thank you.” joohyun mutters, facing back to light the branches. her dark orbs being consumed by the red flame that she was staring intensely at.
“it's surprisingly warm...” joohyun begins, feeling the warmth radiating off of the blazing fire, “…i've made a few campfires but i always end up getting cold anyway. no matter how big i make the fire, i don't get the warmth you're supposed to get from it.” it's true. during her first upcoming night, she knew she had to prepare for the cold breeze and so she made a fire. she didn't get much from it though, even after many more fires. she just thought that it was really cold every time.
seulgi furrows her eyebrows, she sat on the ground, beside joohyun but still keeping a distance. seulgi's hands were resting on her lap, behaving like a well-trained dog. joohyun knew that seulgi was listening which made her curve a small smile, “for a zombie, you're a great listener, hm?” seulgi tilts her head as if she didn't understand what joohyun had said.
“anyways, i'll be sleeping..” joohyun gets her thin blanket and lays it out on the ground. she used her bag as a replacement of a pillow. while she was setting up, she glanced at seulgi, “if you ever think of eating me, do it when i'm really sleeping.” joohyun pats her bag and then lays down on her makeshift bed, facing away from the fire. joohyun closes her eyes, quickly drifting to slumber due to her fatigue.
