Wooyoung, Yunho and Jongho played an old game to pass the time. Seonghwa explained the rules to them and though it was mostly mindless bickering about syllables, it kept them entertained inside the car. Mingi threw in an occasional comment and Yeosang looked as if he wanted to play, but didn't dare ask to join. Though San didn't speak up, Wooyoung glanced at him from time to time to check his reactions. A constant smile played around his lips and he had lowered his bandages to his neck to breathe.

Seeing him comfortable enough to show his face to everyone filled Wooyoung's chest with immense pride. Vulnerability was a weakness easily abused. In the past, San heard some awful things because of his condition and Wooyoung wasn't innocent. Though they rarely talked about such personal viewpoints, Wooyoung liked to believe San also found something here. Perhaps this group would never equate to his community, but if he looked back on their time together fondly, Mission Bluebird was a success.

The reminder that San did all this to build a safe surrounding for his people to stay in made Wooyoung contemplate. San definitely got along with this group and warmed up to them, but he wouldn't stay. He would go to his people and either rebuild what they had with their new resources or - if the mission failed - check with Seonghwa where else to go to pay off his debt. All of this happened for them. Though San seemed like a lone coyote, rough in his bark and eager to dig his teeth into anything he might grasp, he came this long way because of his loyalty. He cared, on a much larger scale than anyone else in this group.

Wooyoung knew how that care felt, awkward as it was between them at times. Since he was used to a coarse world, gentleness confused Wooyoung and Yunho took a long time to teach him it was fine to be tender occasionally.

Once all this was over, would San return for Wooyoung? Or would they leave together? Wooyoung couldn't fathom living in a community, though it might become a necessity once they rebuilt the world. They could start with San's colony, show them Seonghwa and his wisdom, and restore order under his guidance. Wooyoung could get to know these people who put their everything into saving San's life, and he could agree that a magnificent man became of him, as strange as he looked.

Or perhaps the end of the mission also meant the end for San. Especially since they never put a label on their relationship, Wooyoung couldn't guess how much he truly meant to him. If San wanted, Wooyoung was just his temporary infatuation during his journey north. A quick fling, nothing more. A moment of heat and life shared with another person before their duties would pull them apart inevitably.

But if that was his solution after everything they went through, Wooyoung would punch him in the face. Yunho didn't deserve to be discarded for someone without a spine. No, Wooyoung would cling to him. If San left to join his community, Wooyoung would be stuck to his heel, whether he wanted it or not.

Wooyoung... liked him. He didn't want San to disappear with the clouds in the sky. Though Yunho would always be by his side and Wooyoung never had to be alone, San assumed a major role in his life.

All of them did, sitting in this car with eyes full of hope and dread of what was to come. They all became so dear and Wooyoung wanted to see them happy, even Yeosang, whom he barely knew.

He had to believe in Seonghwa. If the sky would be repaired and San was relieved from his burden towards his community, Wooyoung might laugh with him as he always wished.

If anyone could do it, it was this bunch of personalities and their bizarre AI helper.

A gasp pulled Wooyoung from his thoughts. He wanted to make a plan to ensure San wouldn't run off while everyone else was caught up in their new duties, but first, he had to follow the point of Jongho's fingers with his eyes. Their enthusiastic leader vibrated in his seat as he beckoned at something between the trees. San and Mingi, who had long since seen, steered straight on the road leading towards it.

"What is it?" Seonghwa asked, and Yunho also leaned over the back of San's shoulder. Neither minded the proximity as the dead trees unraveled a concrete building. Most of it looked like a wall and old wire fences warded off anyone coming through with sharp barbs. Time and fleeing people had worn them down, but the structure was largely intact. It was a concrete line cradling several smaller bunkers, all in various stages of destruction. The lanes in between were barred by crooked barricades, but two of them had been pushed out of the way to allow passage.

Perhaps survivors did this, or it came from a time when the war wiped out enough people that Anda couldn't uphold their defense. Either way, the path north was clear.

And it crawled with fouls.

The forests had to make a nice shady dwelling for them and the corpses of escapists who tried to flee into a less sandy surrounding made for a leisurely meal. Hidden between the trees, they didn't discern night and day anymore. Their rotting bodies tumbled in pursuit of their ravenous purpose. Hunting and hunting without ever finding peace.

"The border," Seonghwa confirmed for them once he was lifted into sight. San slowed the car on the surprisingly well-kept road. He didn't want to alert the fouls of their presence just yet. The jeep did a marvelous job at masking their scent.

"That means we are almost there," Yunho confirmed, restless in his seat. Seonghwa kept chiding them to put on the seatbelts, but they were incredibly impractical to fight around. And it wasn't as if anyone could tumble away if they had another such dangerous cruise as with Jongho. After all, they sat squeezed hip to hip.

"And it's packed with fouls. Do we get out and fight?" Mingi asked in San's, then Wooyoung's direction. Contemplative, Wooyoung picked up his gun. Those were a lot of fouls, even for them.

"Perhaps it's better to stay in here so we can flee if things don't go our way."

"You can run them over," Seonghwa informed. When they stared at him, equally confused, he showed his arrow pointing straight up.

"If you ram into soft bodies with something so sturdy as a car, they rip apart. A big mass will slow us down enough that they might harm us, but if we thin them out and run over the rest, we can make it past."

Wooyoung wondered if that was a valid fighting technique in the past. It sounded excessive, like pushing over a building just to get rid of his enemies.

"We wouldn't want them to follow us. If the CRC gets swarmed, we will be trapped inside," Mingi concluded as he reached for his rifle. It clicked when he checked the magazine.

"Gotta finish our game later," Yunho sighed as he reached for his gun. They hadn't suffered a lack of ammunition for a long time, but after today, they might.

Wooyoung hoped that whatever waited for them at the radio station wasn't too deadly.

"You just go, prettyboy. We will take care of the rest," Mingi purred at San and, though he threw the trader a nonplussed stare, San yanked the wheel around and got back on track. The roar of the engine alerted the fouls and Wooyoung opened the window to balance his gun on its sill. All pains were forgotten.

"You gotta go fast to ram them," Seonghwa squeaked and Wooyoung imagined him holding on to the seats before him to match Jongho. "If they explode, it will get messy; the wiper is at the left."

"One thing after the other," San grunted.

More fouls than Wooyoung expected came tumbling forth. They had been one with the trees and now that food presented itself so willingly; they melted from the rough barks. With muddy clothing and discolored flesh, they scurried closer as fast as their misshapen bodies allowed. Their groans for hunger were inhuman, but that was all they had become.

Wandering corpses.

Wooyoung's first shot was so clean it passed through two heads. Rejuvenated, he reloaded and focused on the next awful mangled features. Many of his nightmares were about the horrors he saw in these creatures. About becoming one of them.

Wooyoung couldn't be distracted, but he wondered what San dreamed about. Especially during the time everyone was assured he would fall victim to the fungus.

On the other side of the car, Yunho fired his rounds at his share of fouls. They were quicker once latched onto their prey, but the jeep was too fast for them. Only one made it so far as to grab onto its front and Wooyoung saw from his peripherals how its arm disconnected from its body, ripped along by their sheer speed.

San's jaw was gritted as he estimated the bigger of the two entrances to Anda. Their jeep was massive compared to other cars, but it might narrowly pass through.

Yeosang handed out ammunition. He had needed instructions which belonged to which weapon, but by now, his fingers became quick.

The rattling of Mingi's rifle was deafening. Jongho sat between them with a pale face, torn between cradling Seonghwa close and protecting his ears.

"Hitting that one," San warned them about the foul that came stumbling straight at them. Wooyoung glanced up briefly while he reloaded his gun. It was in time to see the foul burst apart like a can of soda. Smelly blood sprayed over the hood and the window as several pieces of her got strewn about the street.

In his shock, San almost hit the brakes, but he kept going. They rolled over a sickening bump and Wooyoung's stomach churned.

He had seen many fouls and people on their way to becoming one, yet getting hit so brutally was a new trauma. On Jongho's other side, he heard Yunho gag.

"Shit," San also stuttered. The scent of the dead wafted inside the car, sickly sweet yet thick enough to gag them. The bodies would attract others, and maybe that was the distraction they needed.

Wooyoung leaned over his scope. His hair dangled into his face, so he flicked it away to focus on his shot. This rifle was a marvel and Wooyoung felt so right working with it.

"I'm out," Mingi uttered first as he sunk back into his seat. He fired a few more shots with his pistol, but the machine rifle rested between his thighs.

San scraped by another foul, unwilling to hit them head-on. His inner conflict reflected in his wide eye. He didn't have pity for them, but he recognized himself in their skins.

He was more, but Wooyoung didn't point it out now.

A moment later, they broke through the horde and the open road offered itself. Yunho leaned out of the window to check the border behind them. It passed unspectacularly, no more but a building to divide two countries that no longer existed. When he dropped back into his seat, he wiped his glistening forehead.

They rarely dealt with so many at once. As a group and with the aid of the jeep, they were powerful, but the same dread as always sat in Wooyoung's veins and slowed his thoughts. They were easy prey to predators like that, no matter their training and weapons.

"Doesn't look like they are following us," Wooyoung noted with a glance behind.

Jongho exhaled.

"Let's take a break once we gained some distance. We need to find the facility now. Canada was big, right? Do you have a guess where the station might be?" San asked Seonghwa. He needed to watch his driving here with all the trees, so Yunho nudged his knee into the back of his seat. When San turned back around, his eyes flinched over to Wooyoung as if to make sure he was fine.

Aside from a few scratches in the car, nothing happened.

Wooyoung's hands still trembled when he uncapped his bottle. He hated these encounters. Each one was nerve-wracking. Death tickled by so close and only luck freed them from its searching fingers.

"It's close," Seonghwa assured them as he searched through his databases.

"Our next night might be the last one before we arrive."