Wooyoung merrily dragged San behind him as they made it back to the jeep. Mingi was still in the same position as before, relishing his cigarette, and Wooyoung caught the wry smirk on his lips when they passed him. On the other side of the car, Yeosang was free of his shackles. The rusty iron chains had fallen off him and Yunho treated his bloodied wrists that were scarred with years' worth of wounds. When the two approached, he glanced up, but no more upset crossed his gaze. He simply accepted Wooyoung's decision.

Jongho came springing as soon as he saw them.

"Yeosang asked to join us! Since Seonghwa will need all the helpers, we want to take him along. Is that fine with you two?" Excited and utterly blind towards their intertwined hands (or maybe this was what he had assumed about the two all along) Jongho bounced on his feet. His scar crooked his grin, but Wooyoung smiled back.

"No problem, as long as he's tame. Have you made up your mind what you want?" Wooyoung asked past Jongho towards the hunched slave and Yeosang glanced up with skittish eyes. He didn't fault Wooyoung for the bloody nose and Wooyoung forgave him for the rude grip. When he crouched next to Yunho to check on his injury, he was pleased to find it patched up. Obediently, Wooyoung held still while Yunho searched him for injuries that might need treatment in return. Luckily, no one got seriously hurt.

"I have followed them for so long that I can't think of anything else to do now... I would have been stuck there forever if you didn't help me," Yeosang muttered to himself. The intimidation of a fighter was gone, and even San regarded him with less apprehension.

"Our story is messy, but it's something to believe in," Wooyoung offered, well aware of its effect. Seonghwa was living proof that the world was more.

Yeosang nodded, ready to hear them out.

"I can fight and I learned medicines from my parents. If I can be of any use to you, let me come along."

Wooyoung stood when Yunho gave him a concluding pat. His few bruises would heal and ultimately, the visit to the fort improved their situation.

"We have many fighters but no proper medic! Be welcome!" Jongho cheered. When Yeosang sent everyone a shy smile, his eyes got stuck on San. He hesitated at the sight of his bandages, but Wooyoung waved it off in his stead.

"A story for another time. While you introduce him to Seonghwa, let's figure out the car situation. How will we fit everyone in? I can't keep riding in someone's lap." Wooyoung pointedly didn't glance at San when he said that, not giving him room for imaginations. Not that his mind was any clearer. Their kiss reignited his interest in exploring San's foreign body with his fingers and his lips.

Mingi came striding over while Jongho ushered Yeosang to the other side of the car, where Seonghwa hovered. Nervously rubbing his fresh bandages, Yeosang complied. His movements weren't practiced to the missing weight of the chains. Often, his twists were too jerky, the muscles too strong for minuscule movements.

Wooyoung would like to hear more about him and about Mingi's vision when he recognized Yeosang as a kinsman, but it could wait until everyone got more comfortable with one another.

"Someone could sit in the back." Mingi's hand patted the door of the trunk. "We can rearrange some stuff and switch from time to time if it gets cramped. Though a smaller person fits best among all this junk."

An offended gasp came from Wooyoung when San and Yunho looked at him at the same time.

"Not me! I need to be ready to shoot. We can put Yeosang in the trunk, or Jongho."

His argument about being their most relevant defense saved him from the cramps of his life. If he squeezed into the middle, he could best shoot in all directions, but that would also mean he would have to hold on to Seonghwa occasionally. Not that he was bad company.

They rearranged the jeep and used the time Yeosang needed to learn about their mission to get back on the road. With Mingi's keen eye on the landscape and Seonghwa's old maps, they soon discovered a road free of fallen trees. San was back behind the wheel, and his driving seemed heavenly compared to what Jongho put them through. Smoothly, he steered them around the overgrown vegetation and shells of cars that burnt out when hot explosions filtered through the lands. The air was less gloomy since no sand diluted it, but it made the skies look all the greyer.

On their drive, Wooyoung busied himself with Yeosang's tales. As usual, Seonghwa couldn't wait to hear about them and Yeosang seemed to relax the more he talked, so Wooyoung listened dutifully.

"My parents were surgeons. They sought communities to help battle the fungus and find an antidote, but we got split up. Though I learned their skill, I am nowhere as good. I ran into those water traders... A long while ago. I needed a safe place and approached them, starving. They agreed to take me in as long as I fought for them. Thinking I would help them out once or twice, I agreed and accepted their rations in return, but soon, they didn't want to let me go anymore and put me in chains, so I wouldn't flee. I got so used to listening to their commands that I stopped thinking."

"Good, that we crossed your path. They wanted the same with Wooyoung?" Yunho threw in, fiddling with a pair of binoculars Seonghwa had shown them. They were part of their new loot, and Yunho had yet to figure out all their uses.

Yeosang's nod was reticent.

"It's an easy way to earn rare goods. These water gatherers were ready to settle down and stop their dangerous profession, but it demanded the work of others to ensure their survival."

"Should have shot more of them," Wooyoung uttered grimly. Yeosang seemed lost when he was alone, in a way very relatable to Wooyoung. He could survive, but he made poor decisions if Yunho wasn't near.

"Waste of ammo," Mingi threw in, always listening. He had taken off his jacket and sat with his arms bare. After finishing his gulp from his water bottle, he handed it to Jongho next to Wooyoung. Yeosang landed in the trunk, but they could talk comfortably across the headrests.

"No such thing here. We hope to hire you for our cause, but your opinion matters to us and you can leave whenever you need to. If this succeeds, we can even reward you," Seonghwa promised, compassionate over Yeosang's story. Whatever knowledge he had in his databases, it envisioned a better life for humans. A richer life, perhaps, or a safer one. At least they weren't at war anymore.

With his arms loosely placed around the back of Yunho's seat to root himself to the swaying car, Yeosang gave a confused nod.

"I'm not sure my input will be helpful, but I will try. If the world gets fixed, everything will change." He sounded in awe saying it and Wooyoung agreed with his disbelief. Though he had seen what Seonghwa could do, he kept doubting anything could fix the entire sky. Especially not something as small and mythical as a single laptop.

"You can help us even after, I'm sure. Seonghwa mentioned the fungus will go extinct once we have water to wash and light. If you can create an antidote, we might save thousands," Yunho threw in.

Wooyoung contemplated San's bandaged shoulder, but he listened to the conversation with one ear. Since San was already healed, the damage to his skin was irreparable. Unless he covered up and hid from his own gaze and that of others, he would bear those marks until the end of his days.

Would he ever get comfortable enough to show them without fear? Or would a healed world make it even worse for him to stand out? At least, he wouldn't be regarded as an instantaneous threat anymore.

As if San felt the eyes creeping over his nape, his gaze flicked up to the mirror showing the car's interior. Seonghwa assured him it had no use for them, but it allowed San to keep an eye on the rowdy bunch in the back. When their eyes met, Wooyoung stared back through the dark strands of hair falling to his cheeks. For a moment, San was as if entranced.

They hit a bump on the ground. San cleared his throat and focused back on the ruined road.

"What's that?" Mingi asked, leaning forward in time to divert the embarrassment glowing in Wooyoung's cheeks. He had so many things to ask San. Wanted to get to know him and his scars, maybe get comfortable enough that he could assure San they weren't something he had to be ashamed of. Whatever caught Mingi's eyes distracted Wooyoung's wandering thoughts. His hand braced around his rifle as he peered his head over San's shoulder.

A building came up at the side of the road, taken over by nature. Broken branches made their home across the crumbling roof carried by multiple pillars. Behind it ducked a rectangular concrete shelter, old and elaborate enough to have come from a time before the war. The windows were shattered and the shelves inside tipped over to spill worn plastics over the ground. Outside and assembled around those pillars stood at least five cars at various levels of destruction. Time wore on everything here, but it looked untouched concerning current survivors.

Jongho fumbled to lift Seonghwa until he could see. Instantly, the laptop lit up, screen glowing brighter and voice rising in volume.

"It's an old fuel station!"

Baffled, Wooyoung studied it again. So that was what those looked like. Used by people on long car drives, just like them. For a giddy moment, he felt he had travelled into the past, to a better and peaceful world where people drove for fun and stopped for snacks and fuel before they continued on their journey.

"I can smell the fouls from here," Mingi gritted, but he didn't advise them to go past. They could need a restock of fuel if any was still available, and this place looked as if it might have at least some rations and cigarettes, perhaps even guns.

"We can use it as a shelter for the night," San suggested as he slowed down. The roar of the engine stirred movement inside, but as expected, no human found their way here. Two fouls fumbled through the tilted door. Another one came from behind the building.

Yunho lowered the window in his door (magnificent technology, Jongho loved doing that for fun) and Wooyoung levered his gun. He leaned over Jongho's lap, grip steady as his scope found the contorted face of the suffering foul. San slowed the car to a stop and Mingi also pulled his gun to help.

A few shots later, everything fell silent. The car felt overpowered in its protective function against the bumbling horde.

Nothing else moved, so Mingi opened the door and jumped out with his rifle in his arms. He didn't bother with his jacket, striding ahead as Yunho and Wooyoung hurried to follow. After a quick scouting, they found the rest of the space empty. With their signal, the others got to join them.

Jongho carried Seonghwa in his hands as they looked around in awe. Mingi already smirked down on a package of chips among an entire box of them. They offered little nutrition but were a delicious snack.

"The workers here usually had a few bunks to spend late shifts in. Let's tow the bodies away and stay here," Seonghwa frolicked, glad to offer them a proper shelter tonight.

Everyone went to work to get settled. Yeosang helped San with the fallen fouls, and Jongho followed Seonghwa's instructions to check on the fuel. Miraculously, the station still had some. The pumps didn't work, but they could access the tank and fill their canisters.

Meanwhile, Wooyoung and Mingi scouted out the snacks and soft drinks. They found bandages and the occasional obscure cotton products that were great at soaking up blood. Useless paper in the box on the counter, and lots of cigarettes.

Like kings, they spread out. Tonight, they would feast.

Seonghwa perched on the counter and watched as they went through every shelf and checked for closed food packaging that stored non-perishables. When Wooyoung eyed a brown bottle that obscured its liquid, the laptop chuckled.

"Not your first encounter with alcohol, I bet, though you might not have known what it does before."

"What does it do?" Wooyoung asked, suspicious of what he found. Usually, he and Yunho didn't ask, just tried. If it wasn't good, they would retch it back up.

Seonghwa snickered as he explained, and just because he was curious, Wooyoung carried some bottles along to their big food pile for dinner.