Allie

Allie, Sonny, 05 liner, 21, Pisces♊︎, she/her, Piece, 🐕, ²¹, ♫Who's gonna be my wifey? 손 들어 봐 빨리♫, Intak Bias, P1harmony Ult

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Hwang Intak x Survivor!Reader

Synopsis —⋆˙⟡

What happens when a kpop group goes to the United States for their concert and they get stuck due to a global pandemic? And what happens when one of the boys of that group fall in love with a girl that’s just trying to survive?

♫Burning pile — Mother Mother

⋆˙⟡ — Slow burn, PEAK angst, fluff, strangers to friends to lovers, slight smut, humor, killing (it’s a zombie show, guys…), blood, gore, The Walking Dead inspired (I might add some scenes from the show into this fic), Death…. Lots and lots of death, Drama, and zombies (also known as walkers).

⋆˙⟡ —Well guys, I hope you like my first fic on here…. I’ve been wanting to write something on Tumblr, but to be honest I haven’t been able to find the right plot until I saw this fic that was Zombie Apocalypse!au on here and I was inspired. If you guys want to read their fic, go to my masterlist below, go to my fics section and click on the link of this story and you’ll see their story in the comment section.

The Dead Within Masterlist / Main Masterlist

"Why can’t you just tell us what happened to your head and neck?" Intak inquired, worry clearly present in his tone as he stared at his exhausted best friend. Faye hadn't had much sleep that last night. She stayed up most of the night, crying with physical and emotional pain. She placed her hand onto a woolly scarf that used to be her gr andma's, bringing it higher so Intak and Spencer couldn't see the bruises. Despite Intak already spotting the bruises, she couldn't deal with the two of them being infuriated over what had happened the night before.

"I told you, I'm fine; please just drop it," she remarked, her voice croaky. "How're you fine if you're just covering up your head and neck?" Spencer stood up, his arms crossed over his chest. "I don't know," she shrugged. "It's just cold out…"

"That’s complete and utter bullshit; it's a hundred degrees outside right now," Spencer snapped. "Just tell us, Faye. We won't be mad." Faye scoffed at her brother's comment. "I'm sure you'll be pissed at someone else, though," she murmured, hoping the two didn’t hear. To her luck, Intak had heard her, and he frowned as shock and realization filled his expression. "Somebody hurt you?……. Who?… Who was it? Melanie told me you got hit. So, who did it…"Spencer gritted his teeth as he watched his sister frown at Intak’s words. He knew he was being protective over her, but he couldn't help but get angry at whoever did this to his little sister. Faye closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she opened them, staring blankly at the two young men standing in front of her. Reluctantly and hesitantly, she nodded her head slowly to confirm that she was hit.

"Who?!" Spencer snarled, clenching his fists, ready to storm out of the tent to beat up whoever harmed her. Intak, who noticed the anger building in Spencer's body, placed a hand on Spencer's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down, only to be shrugged off. "It doesn't matter, Spence! He-" she paused for a moment, "He's dead now.. Okay?.."

"Don't tell me it was Keith?" Intak sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes," the brunette girl answered truthfully, "But, as I said, it doesn't matter, Spence, because he's dead now." Spencer scoffed as he shook his head in disbelief. If only he'd stayed behind with his sister, maybe he could've saved her from being in her situation. Little did he know, his best friend was thinking the same thing. They both wished they had stayed behind to protect the girl that they both deeply cared about.

"Where's Axel?" Kloe asked curiously, trying to change the subject.

Spencer took a deep breath, annoyed that his sister was trying to change the subject. "We don't know. When we arrived, the only thing left of him was his hand." Faye swallowed thickly, nodding her head in understanding. "Hey, you three busy?" Blake called through the polyester fabric that made up the tent, overhearing the conversation the three were having. "No," Intak answered, "everything okay?" He stepped towards the exit of the tent, pulling the zipper. Blake's eyes shifted between the three, pursing his lips at the Millers and Intak. "No," he shook his head. "Eleanor's been sittin' with Sage all night, and we kinda need help clearing out the bodies. You in to uh, help out?"

Intak hesitated for a moment, peering over his shoulder as he looked across at Faye. She nodded in response, making the boy nod along with her as he turned back around to face the man. "Yeah." Blake gave a short nod before turning away, heading back toward the campfire where Eleanor still sat—stunned and hollow. Intak followed him out of the tent, leaving Faye and Spencer alone for a moment. The silence between them was heavy. Spencer looked at his sister—the dark circles under her eyes, how pale she looked… and it killed him.

Without warning, he pulled her into a tight hug—burying his face in her shoulder as he used to when they were kids after nightmares. Faye stiffened at first… then slowly melted into it. She hadn’t realized how much she needed this until now. Her arms wrapped around Spencer’s waist as silent tears fell again—but these weren't from pain or fear. These were from relief.

Joel raised the pickaxe that he tightly gripped and swung it down into a corpse's skull. Intak and Faye had agreed to throw the dead bodies that were their people with Jiung, Keeho, Theo, Soul, and Jongseob before they got eaten into the holes that Cameron had dug up the previous day and to throw the dead walkers into a fire pit.

Faye swiftly pulled up the gloves on her hands, stepping over the lifeless body Joel had stuck his pickaxe into and wrapped her hands around its left arm.

Intak gripped onto its right arm, and Soul grabbed its feet. With all the strength the three had, they lifted the walker off the ground and carried it over to the fire pit. When they were close enough, they threw the walker's body into the fire without hesitation. Faye straightened her back, taking in deep breaths. They worked more and more for the next fifteen minutes or so, throwing endless amounts of dead bodies into the fire. "Hey!" Michael's voice called out. Lucas, Intak, Faye, and the others had turned to face him, along with Joel and Spencer. "Come here real quick." The ten of them shared a glance before stepping over to where Caroline, Mallory, Melanie, Henry, and Blake were already standing. "What do you want?" Joel snarled, pickaxe over his shoulder. Michael sighed, pointing over to where Eleanor was sitting beside her dead sister, Sage. Faye's face dropped at the sight of the sisters. Neither of them deserved this.

"Y'all can't be serious," Joel muttered, resulting in Faye scowling over at the man. "Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girl's a time bomb." "What do you suggest?" Michael inquired, placing a hand on his hip. Joel stared at the man before he stepped over to him. "Take the shot. Clean, in the brain from here," Joel gestured to his head, for example. "Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance." "No," Mallory stated firmly, the attention falling onto her. "For God's sake, let her be."

"Eleanor will kill you if you did that, Joel. Not even kidding, she's scary when she's mad," Keeho added, remembering the day when they had saved Michael and Eleanor pointed a gun straight at his head. Joel scoffed as he spun on his heel and began to walk in a different direction. In the corner of Faye's eyes, she spotted Intak flipping his cap in his hands repetitively. "You sure love flipping that hat," she commented, a small smile plastered across her face. The boy swiveled his head, unable to hold back a sheepish smile. He felt something inside his heart that he had never felt before. He didn't know what it was, but it was different from normal. "Wake up, Cammeo," Joel said as he stepped past Cameron, breaking Intak out of his thoughts. "We've got some work to do." Intak and Faye's attention fell onto Andre, who struggled to lift a dead body, which, to their surprise, was one of their own people.

Joel relinquished his pickaxe and seized onto the dead body's feet. "Thanks," Andre muttered. The two men began to stumble toward the fire pit beside Faye and Intak. Her eyes widened instantly when she realized what they were doing. They were gonna throw the dead man into the fire pit, even after they all agreed they put their people in the graves.

"What- what are you guys doing?" Faye stammered, who had the same thoughts as her best friend. "This is for geeks. Our people go over there!" Intak gestured toward the dug-up graves, prepared for company. Andre and Joel bluntly ignored Intak and Faye as they continued to drag the body closer and closer to the fire pit. Faye stepped forward, annoyance flowing through her blood at the men's ignorance. "Hey!" she called out, "did you not hear what he just said? He said our people go over there-" "What's the difference?" Joel interrupted. "They're all infected."

"Our people go in that row over there," Intak repeated firmly. Joel and Andre released the body from their grip as they straightened up to look at Intak and Faye in disbelief. "We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand?" Intak didn't receive an answer; instead, he got an 'are you serious' look. Subconsciously, Faye lifted her hand to Intak's shoulder and began to rub it gently.

"Our people go in that row over there," Intak repeated once more, but in a calmer tone. Joel and Andre acknowledged by seizing onto the dead body again and dragging it over to the pile where Intak had motioned towards. Faye whipped her head around to Intak, who was quite plainly holding back tears. Something was definitely up with him, and she could see straight through him and knew something was wrong. His eyes fluttered to the ground, hiding the sadness that had plastered across his face. Intak’s jaw tightened—his usual cool, collected self cracking just slightly. Faye recognized that look—the one he got when something hurt him deep, but he refused to show it.

Without a word, she stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. He stiffened for half a second… then slowly returned it, burying his face in the crook of her neck like she’d done with Spencer earlier.

It was quiet—no one else really paying attention as Joel and Andre dropped the body into its designated grave hole. The weight of everything hit Intak all at once. Sage was dead. Their camp had been attacked. People they knew were gone forever… And now they were literally throwing their friends’ bodies into pits like trash? It felt wrong on every level. A single tear slipped down his cheek—but Faye didn’t say anything about it. She just held him tighter. “You okay?…” Faye asked sympathetically. Intak didn’t answer right away—just nodded against her shoulder, even though they both knew he wasn't. His breathing was a little shaky, and his grip on her tightened like he was scared she'd vanish if he let go. After a long pause, his voice came out quiet—almost broken. "...No." That one word held so much pain. The grief of losing Sage… the horror of seeing their people treated like walker corpses… it all crashed into him at once.

Faye pressed a soft kiss to the side of his head—a small gesture but one that meant *I’m here*. She didn’t try to fix it or tell him it’d be okay. Some things just weren't. Instead, she rubbed slow circles on his back with her gloved hand and stayed silent. The world around them kept moving—people still working—but for these two seconds? It felt like nothing else existed. Intak sighed heavily as he lifted his head and locked his chocolate-brown eyes with her dark brown ones. "I'm just regretful right now."

The younger Miller's eyebrows abruptly glued together with confusion. If she was thinking correctly, there was nothing for Intak to be regretful about. He hadn't done anything wrong, not that she knew of anyway. "What do you mean?" she questioned. "You've done nothing wrong, Intak."

"I have," he whispered. "If- if I told Michael that I wasn't going to Atlanta, I would've been able to help fight all of these walkers, and maybe some of these people wouldn't be in this situation." "Hey. None of this is your fault," she assured. "With your heroic skills in the city, Michael and everyone most likely wouldn't have been back in time to save us all," she weakly smiled at the boy, but he didn't even attempt to smile.

"Because I went, you got yourself hurt, too," he mumbled as he pointed toward her head and neck. "That wasn't your fault; it was Keith's," Faye stated. "He was hurting Caroline, so I gave him the medicine and got myself strangled and a hit in the head; it's no big deal."

"It is, Faye. You could've gotten seriously hurt if he didn't let go-"

"You all left my brother for dead!" Joel yelled suddenly, making Intak and Faye spin around to face the enraged man. "You had this coming!" Faye released the breath she held while Joel walked away, harshly and exasperatedly. Joel was always intimidating, so her body subconsciously held a breath while he yelled at whatever it was. She hesitantly turned back to Intak, who continued to look down at the ground again. "Intak-" Intak shook his head. "Doesn't matter." Before Faye could argue, he abruptly walked away from the girl. She wiped away a bead of sweat from her forehead. It was too hot to do all of this work, but it had to be done. She glanced over at Cameron and Nalia as they both faintly bickered. They were too far for the brunette to hear what was going on, but she pushed it aside. "A walker bit Cameron!" Faye instantly stopped in her tracks and froze in place. Her heartbeat was practically pumping out of her chest. A lump had formed in her throat.

She swallowed thickly as she slowly swiveled her body to Cameron’s direction. Joel, Spencer, and Theo stepped forward harshly, making the man panic. "I'm okay," Cameron said. "Show it to us," Joel commanded. "You heard him; show it to us," Theo firmly added. Trembling with fear, Cameron spun around and gripped the same shovel he used the day before to dig up the holes and lifted it in defense.

"Easy, Cam," Blake held up his hand to calm the man.

"Grab him!" Theo shouted over to Lucas, who quickly nodded. "Cam, put it down," Blake repeated. "Put it down." Lucas grabbed onto Cameron from behind, causing him to drop the shovel. Intak sprinted over and seized the shovel. Joel abruptly lifted the man's bloodied T-shirt, revealing his chest, and a bit was clearly visible on the man's stomach. "I'm okay. I'm okay," Cameron repeated as Lucas and Joel stumbled backward. "I'm okay." Faye stared at the man in shock. Her eyes slowly began to burn from not blinking, but she bluntly ignored it and continued to stare at the man. "I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay," he panted, "I'm okay."

The younger Miller gradually shifted her eyes to the short grass on the ground. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to think. She didn't know what to do. That meant Cameron would die. No matter what, he'll die and turn unless they put something through his brain. She'd never seen what happened to people when they got bitten, but somebody told her that they had some fever.

The camp froze. No one moved. No one breathed. Cameron was shaking—his eyes wide with terror, his hands raised like he could plead his way out of this. Joel’s face twisted into pure fury—he knew what had to happen. They all did. But no one wanted to be the one to do it. Lucas stepped back, releasing Cameron completely.

Soul looked pale. Keeho covered Bailey’s eyes gently so she wouldn't have to see. Intak stood frozen with the shovel in hand, staring at Cameron like he didn’t recognize him anymore. Blake slowly reached for his gun—the weight of what came next crushing him inside. Faye couldn’t blink. Her chest felt tight… her heart pounding so hard it hurt.

Eleanor hadn't noticed yet—still sitting by Sage's body—but anyone else within earshot could hear how frantic Cam sounded: "I'm okay! I-…. I swear! I'm fine!" But they weren't stupid. They'd seen too many people turn already—not just outside their walls but even among trusted members once upon a time... The younger Miller gradually shifted her eyes to the short grass on the ground. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to think. She didn't know what to do. That meant Cameron would die. No matter what, he'll die and turn unless they put something through his brain. She'd never seen what happened to people when they got bitten, but somebody told her that they had some fever.

"I say we put a pickaxe to his skull," Joel said. "And the dead girl's, and be done with it all…. Quick and easy." Faye stared at the man in shock as if he were insane, and at this point, she had thought he fit that title. Although he kinda had a point… Cameron was dying from the bite that he got from the attack last night, and Sage had already been dead for a full twenty-four hours, and she could wake up as one of those any moment, and she could kill someone.

Cameron had sat himself behind the RV where Eleanor and Sage were stationed, while the rest of the group stood around in a circle, debating what they should do with the two. "Well, is that what you'd want to happen if it were you?" Blake questioned, furrowing his eyebrows as he placed his hands on his hips and stared at the hunter. "Yeah, and I'd thank you for it," Joel replied truthfully, shrugging lazily as he maneuvered his crossbow over his shoulder.

"I really hate to say it, I never thought I would ever, but maybe Joel is right about this," Henry muttered. "Cameron is not a monster, Henry, or some rabid dog," Michael snapped, looking at the old man with a glare. "I'm not suggesting-"

"He's sick. A sick man." Michael cut the older man off. "Down the road, where do you think we’d draw the line, here?" "The line is pretty clear," Joel openly answered. "Zero tolerance for walkers, or for them to become." "What if we can get him the help and care that he needs?" Michael asked. He parted his lips to continue speaking, but Jiung was quick to interrupt him. “As soon as a walker bites you, there's nothing you can do.. Even if someone had a way to cure all this, everything would be somewhat back to normal by now."

"You don't know that, Jiung," Blake stated. Jiung's eyes were set on the man, and they were narrow. Just as he was about to retort with more common knowledge, Michael cut him off. "No, I heard the CDC was working on a cure for all this," Michael added.

"I heard that too. Heard a lot of things by the broadcasting systems on the radio before the world went to shit," Blake commented with a sigh. "What if the CDC is still up and running?"

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure the dead had already gotten to them by now." Faye sighed as she shifted from one foot to the other, leaning her body against Intak. “You don't know that, Faye…… There has to be an answer.” Michael declared, causing the girl to sigh with exhaustion and irritation. “If There’s any government left in the world, anything…. They’d put protection on the C.D.C, right?.. That’s our best chance right there… It has to be. Shelter, protection, food…” Michael explained.

“Yeah… Okay. I want that too, Michael…. I do. I really do, okay? If there’s a chance that existed, they’d be at an army base. Shirley Street.” Blake suggested. “That’s about 100 miles in the opposite direction,” Melanie interjected from where she stood next to Spencer. “That’s right. It’s away from the hot zone. Now listen, if that spot is operational, it would be heavily armed, and we’d be safe.” Blake nodded towards Melanie’s direction as he continued his explanation.

“The military was all on the front line in this. They’ve gotten overrun. All of us have seen it firsthand at some point.” Michael gestured at the group standing in the circle. “You go on lookin’ for medicine for all I care, do what needs to be done.” Joel abruptly stated, stepping back towards Cameron as he lifted his pickaxe. “Joel, what are you…..-“ Intak was interrupted when Joel shouted. “Someone needs some balls to take care of this fucking problem, here!”

Hastily, the group shuffled in a fighting stance as they watched Joel. Faye had clasped her hand around the knife that was kept tucked in her belt loop as Intak pulled out his pistol from where it was stashed tucked in between his waistband and t-shirt. The group watched as Michael hurried over to the angry man, cocking his gun against his head. “We don’t kill the living, you understand?” Michael muttered harshly, gritting his teeth as he looked over at Blake, who also had his gun raised. Joel turned his head to Michael, lowering the pickaxe he had raised over his head. “Well, that’s funny…. Says the man holding me up at gunpoint.”

“We may disagree on a lot of things, just not this,” Blake stated, walking up to the archer. “Put the damn thing down, now.” The group watched as the two men glared at each other before looking away. Michael watched as Joel harshly slammed the pickaxe to the ground with a solid grunt before walking away. “Come with me.” Michael seized onto Cameron’s right arm as he walked up to him, trying to ignore the sight of Eleanor holding Sage’s deceased body.

“W… Where are you taking me?” Cameron asked as Michael gently guided the bitten man into the RV, thinking this was a better option than having him out in the open for someone to kill him. “Somewhere safer than here…..”

Faye had sat on the hood of Blake’s jeep with her hands in her head, staring off into space as she watched Keeho, Intak, Andre, Blake, Michael, and Jiung gather up the deceased bodies of the group members that had died from the attack the other night. She had been staring off into space; she didn’t notice Soul sitting next to her until she felt a tap on her shoulder, causing her to look over to see him sitting with her. “Hey...” she murmured as she looked around, frowning at the sight of Eleanor and he sister.

“Hey.” Soul muttered back before reaching into his pocket. The brunette girl turned her head over slightly in confusion as she heard something crinkling. “What….” She pauses as the boy pulls out a sucker. She looks up at him with a blank expression before it softens as he hands the piece of candy to her, which she gratefully accepts.

“Thank you…” She smiles softly, carefully unwrapping the cover as she places the sucker into her mouth. It was peaceful for a second… Well.. Except for the obvious, but there was no more yelling, screaming, or walkers present. Just the light sound of bugs, the breeze. “What did you do…. Before this?” Soul asked suddenly, causing the girl to look over at the young boy before looking over at the quarry. “I was a college student…. Studying to be an engineer, actually… I worked at a pediatric clinic, checking people in and working on patient files. Faye explained as she looked back over at Soul. “Why?..” She asked, furrowing her brows.

“Just never asked you…. Matter of fact.. I don’t think you’ve told anyone about what you’ve done before the world ended.” Soul spoke, wrapping his arms around his legs as he glanced over at the girl. “You’re so… Quiet.. Like me..” Faye turned her head over to the boy's direction. “I guess that’s why I feel comfortable around you.. Well, besides Keeho and the others…” Faye had looked at him for a second, letting his words flow into her mind like a waterfall. “What.. Did you do before this?..” The girl asked as she placed the sucker in her mouth.

Before the boy could even utter a word in response to Faye’s question, the sound of a gunshot startled the two as they looked over to see blood on the back of her head where the bullet hole was in Sage’s reanimated body, as Eleanor held her with the gun she’d just used on her sister in her other hand with no emotion on her face.

A few minutes later, Mallory walked up to the two, her son standing beside her. “It’s time…” The woman spoke softly, holding Noah’s hand, who stood right next to her. “Okay…” Faye muttered as she hopped off the hood of the car and grabbed onto Noah’s other hand. The three of them walked over to the burial site that had been located at the top of the hill, with Soul following as they made it to the top of the hill, where the others stood—waiting for the others in the camp to come up to say goodbye to the ones who’d died during the attack. Faye had let go of Noah’s hand, walking over to where Intak and Keeho stood.

It was a strange feeling… Only twenty-one people in the group, when the night before the attack there were a little over fifty people who had overwhelmed the group entirely. Numerous people had died the other night from the walkers when Micheal, and the others had left to try and get Axel back from the rooftop. Everyone had stood side by side as the funeral started, heads down in grief or shame.

Standing around for over ten minutes, the group had patiently waited for the last body to be buried as Eleanor and Henry carried Sage’s deceased body, which was covered in a white sheet. They stumbled over to the last grave where they’d bury her six feet under to rest. There was a mix of blood and dirt stained against the sheet. Eleanor was covered, head down to toe, with her sister’s blood making it harder. “I can do it….. I can do it.” Eleanor sobbed as she placed her dead little sister’s body in the dug-up hole. Henry had been trying to help the young woman, but he was immediately stopped.

“I can do it, I can do it…… I can do it!” Eleanor sobbed, tightening her grip on her sister as she shouted at Henry. The grieving woman had placed her sister in the hole, a loud thump hitting the dirt, and Eleanor had successfully lowered Sage down into the grave with another sob. The woman was carefully taken out of the hole with Henry’s help as Blake began to bury the last grave.

Main Navigator…/ allijosuthoughts…/ Allie’s favorites ✰

᪥F= Fluff .. H= Humor .. A= Angsty .. S= Suggestive .. H/C= Hurt/Comfort᪥

SERIES

The Dead Within — (All prompts listed above) ✰

What happens when a kpop group goes to the United States for their concert and they get stuck due to a global pandemic? And what happens when one of the boys of that group fall in love with a girl that’s just trying to survive?… (An Intak story, but other members are added)

TINY FICS

Main Navigator…/ allijosuthoughts…/ Allie’s favorites ✰

᪥F= Fluff .. H= Humor .. A= Angsty .. S= Suggestive .. H/C= Hurt/Comfort᪥

SERIES

The Dead Within — (All prompts listed above) ✰

What happens when a kpop group goes to the United States for their concert and they get stuck due to a global pandemic? And what happens when one of the boys of that group fall in love with a girl that’s just trying to survive?… (An Intak story, but other members are added)

TINY FICS

Main Navigator…/ allijosuthoughts…/ Allie’s favorites ✰

᪥F= Fluff .. H= Humor .. A= Angsty .. S= Suggestive .. H/C= Hurt/Comfort᪥

SERIES

The Dead Within — (All prompts listed above) ✰

What happens when a kpop group goes to the United States for their concert and they get stuck due to a global pandemic? And what happens when one of the boys of that group fall in love with a girl that’s just trying to survive?… (An Intak story, but other members are added)

TINY FICS

Main Navigator…/ allijosuthoughts…/ Allie’s favorites ✰

᪥F= Fluff .. H= Humor .. A= Angsty .. S= Suggestive .. H/C= Hurt/Comfort ᪥

SERIES

The Dead Within — (All prompts listed above) ✰

What happens when a kpop group goes to the United States for their concert and they get stuck due to a global pandemic? And what happens when one of the boys of that group fall in love with a girl that’s just trying to survive?… (An Intak story, but other members are added)

TINY FICS

Summary: You and Keeho are on a date at a flower festival picking flowers, but Keeho thinks he’s already found the perfect flower.

Pairing: Keeho (non-idol) x reader!Girlfriend

Genre: FLUFF FLUFF FLUFF

Word count: 1,298

Author’s note: Hey guys, so I’ve decided to do my first ever post besides working on Dead Within. Don’t worry, I am still working on it but I just wanted to explore more into my writing so…. I really hope you guys enjoy!.. This was inspired by me and my friends going to a flower festival two months ago and it was really fun:)

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You and Keeho walked hand in hand to the bus stop that would take you and a bunch of others to this flower festival. You had yourself all dressed up in these gorgeous wedge sandals, a cream-and-floral tiered maxi skirt, and a plain pink sleeveless babydoll camisole tank top. The gold jewelry you had put on in the car as Keeho had driven. You had makeup on that matched the exact vibe of your outfit, and you had curled your hair in perfect bouncy curls. Keeho had his hair parted like he usually wore it. A white short-sleeved shirt and some light blue jeans, paired up with black Converse.

You were staring off into space, waiting for the bus to arrive, when you heard the sound of a phone camera go off, and when you looked to the side, catching him mid-shot, your eyes widened as you brought your hands up to hide yourself. “Keeho!”

“What?” He froze for half a second before grinning mischievously and unapologetically as he giggled at the look on your face, “You’re taking pictures of me!” You laughed in disbelief as you brought your hands down from your face with a grin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about…” He denied, bringing his phone to his side to look around before laughing as he saw the unimpressed look on your face. “Could’ve told me….. Warned me at least.” You pouted slightly as you crossed your arms, your voice softened at the edges as you looked at your boyfriend.

“Had to take a picture of the most beautiful girl before we took off.” Your face softened even more as you walked closer to him before letting out a soft sigh. “You’re lucky I had a full face of makeup on and that I wasn’t looking like a troll.” Your heart fluttered as he leaned in, one hand attached to your waist while the other held the back of your head. “You are more beautiful than what you give yourself credit for… And.. You’re not a troll.” He leaned in, pecking your lips before standing up straight, his arm still resting around your waist as you continued waiting for the bus.

Finally, after ten minutes, the bus arrived, and everyone got on. Keeho had made sure you were seated at the window while he sat in the aisle seat. His hand was resting on your thigh as you both waited for everyone to sit in their seats. It wasn’t long before the bus finally drove as the bus doors shut with a light clang. You had taken your phone out of your purse, and your thumb instantly clicked on the camera app. With your phone angled up, you and Keeho took a few selfies before you placed it on your lap, as your hands interlaced together, watching the scenery through the bus window as it drove.

The couple didn’t speak at all during the ride to the festival. They were viewing the cute town that had been the location of the flower festival…. Well, at least you were. Keeho had his chin on your shoulder as he kept his gaze on you the whole time.. The bus door screaming opened, causing the group of people to walk out. Some are nice enough to hand a tip to the bus driver.

You and Keeho had agreed to walk to this building, which you saw walking into the first part of the festival… This old brick building had overgrown vines and flowers. The couple had walked inside to see the tiny shops that people had set up.

Keeho had stood still, not really knowing where to go. “Babe, look.” His attention was focused on you when he turned his head to see that you were at a jeweler’s table. He had walked over, hands in his front pants pockets as he stepped forward until you felt his chin dig into your shoulder.

“Found anything?…” You grinned, feeling his lips press against the side of your head. “They’re all kinda expensive…” You murmured.

You felt as he stood up straight, clasping your hand in his as he dragged you both to a stand where all the necklaces were stationed. “(Y/n)….. Look at this pretty necklace.. It reminds me so much of you..” Keeho ignored what you said as he picked it up. “Keeho…” You protested, watching in disbelief as he gave it to the seller at the table.

Keeho had purposely ignored your protests as he paid for the necklace and was handed over to him in a beautifully wrapped up gift bag.

He laughed softly as he turned towards you after saying ‘thank you’ to the seller, wrapping his arms around you. “Baby, why….” You complained with a whine softly as the two of you kept walking inside the building to look at more shops.

“Well…. I saw you eying it and I thought you would look pretty with it.” He laughed as he heard you groan in annoyance. “You didn’t have too….”

“But I wanted to, (y/n)…. I’m able to get anything if it means making you happy…”He placed his hand on your cheek as you stopped in a hidden area of the building. “But I feel bad…” You stopped as you heard him shushing you softly.

“I don’t care…. If it’s made you happy, it made me happy and I’ve done my job.” He grinned, as he leaned in to place a peck on your lips. His smile grew wider as you lightly tugged his shirt, pulling him into another kiss before the two of you decided to walk around more.

A few minutes had gone by and you both had decided to leave, only to stop when seeing this beautiful spot near the door to the outside, and had decided to take a few pictures.… Well.. You didn’t take a lot of pictures of him since he’d hog your phone to take pictures of you. But reluctantly, he’d hand your phone over and stand at the same spot so you could take photos of him.

Eventually, you decided to take a few pictures together as your phone had been propped up against the wall with the camera on a time limit, which had turned out successful, with the photos looking how you’d wanted them to be.

You and Keeho had walked out of the building when you were done taking pictures, and you were a little lost as you couldn’t find where the actual festival was happening. But after a while of walking around, you found the main entrance to the event.

Walking around the entire place felt amazing. All the concessionary stands and tiny shop vendors had set up, and they did an amazing job.

It was the perfect temperature for the day, not too hot and the breeze felt great. You and Keeho didn’t just look around, you had taken photos anywhere that felt right..

The two of you had decided to end the day by buying a small bouquet, but you should’ve known what Keeho was up to when he’d shoo you away from the concession stand when he insisted on buying…. Like always.

You felt your jaw drop to the floor when seeing he had two bouquets in his hands. “Kyo….” You gasped as he passed you the flowers with a playful grin. “Thought you needed more.”

An hour goes by from the two of you walking around a bit more in the festival before walking back to the bus stop and getting into his car to get home. “That was super fun..” You smiled with a hint of exhaustion in your voice.

“It was….. But I think I found the flower I was looking for…” Keeho expressed with a grin. Causing you to glance over in confusion. “Who?….”

Main Navigator…/ allijosuthoughts…/ Allie’s favorites✰

᪥F= Fluff .. H= Humor .. A= Angsty .. S= Suggestive .. H/C= Hurt/Comfort ᪥

SERIES

The Dead Within — (All prompts listed above) ✰

What happens when a kpop group goes to the United States for their concert and they get stuck due to a global pandemic? And what happens when one of the boys of that group fall in love with a girl that’s just trying to survive?… (An Intak story, but other members are added)

TINY FICS

Main Navigator…/ allijosuthoughts…/ Allie’s favorites ✰

᪥F= Fluff .. H= Humor .. A= Angsty .. S= Suggestive .. H/C= Hurt/Comfort ᪥

SERIES

The Dead Within — (All prompts listed above) ✰

What happens when a kpop group goes to the United States for their concert and they get stuck due to a global pandemic? And what happens when one of the boys of that group fall in love with a girl that’s just trying to survive?… (An Intak story, but other members are added)

TINY FICS

The right flower - F

You and Keeho are on a date at a flower festival picking flowers, but Keeho thinks he’s already found the perfect flower.

P1H Members

🌷 Keeho

🌷Theo

🌷Jiung

🌷Intak

🌷Soul

🌷Jongseob

OT6 SERIES

P1H Members

🌷 Keeho

🌷Theo

🌷Jiung

🌷Intak; TDW pre-outbreak, TDW post-outbreak ,

🌷Soul

🌷Jongseob

OT6 SERIES

✯I will start writing scenarios for any member, just let me know the member+trope+scenarios

✯I will only be writing Female!Reader (due to me being a girl)

✯When requesting, please make sure to write a full request of about 1k words

✯please don’t bombarded me with messages if I don’t look at your request. I’m either extremely busy or I’m full in with writers block.

✯I’ll probably write for other people but for now, I’m writing P1harmony and my series that I have as of right now.

✯If you request something that I find uncomfortable to write, I will decline.

✯I DO NOT stand with maga supporters, homophobia, jokes about 🍇, pedophiles, racism, etc (along with the obvious). If you support any of these things, you will be blocked and reported.

🍰 03/12/05

🍰I became a piece in 2025

🍰I am an Intak Bias

🍰My ult is Keeho

🍰My favorite Kdrama’s are Squid Game, Weak Hero, Alchemy of Souls, My Name, Sweet Home, My Demon, My Name, If Wishes Could Kill, and Strangers From Hell.

🍰My favorite TV shows are The Walking Dead, The 100, Avatar; The Last Airbender, The Walkind Dead; Dead City, Victorious, The Rookie, 911, iCarly, and Stranger Things.

🍰I’ve been starting to watch documentaries on Netflix as of right now.

🍰My favorite flowers are Tulips, Orchids, and Cherry Blossoms

🍰I’m a pretty anxious person, but once you get to know me you’ll never be able to shut me up.

🍰I love cupcakes, but I hate cake…. (I don’t know why)

🍰I’m a night owl, so I hate mornings.

🍰I work at a grocery store as of right now (I’m not exactly sure what to do yet)

🍰I love matcha

🍰I love playing Minecraft and Roblox

🍰I love photography

🍰I am the youngest in my family

🍰I did choir in elementary school and stopped by the time I got into middle school because this asshole choir teacher said I didn’t sound good enough for his liking.

🪼My favorite type of clothing brands are Forever21, Aeropostale, Hollister, Garage, and Gap.

🪼My favorite animals are seals, dogs, bunnies, and cats

🪼I HATE driving at night

🪼My favorite colors are turquoise, light pink, sage, purple, dark blue, and grey.

🪼I LOOVE Taco Bell

🪼My favorite food is sushi

🪼My favorite holidays are Halloween, Christmas, and Easter

🪼I did cosmetology school because I wanted to be a hairstylist, but I ultimately decided it wasn’t what I wanted to do.

🪼The only states I’ve ever visited are; Illinois, Michigan, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Colorado, Virginia, and Kentucky.

🪼I have five older siblings, one is biologically mine. Two stepbrothers from my stepdad and two stepsisters with my stepmom.

🪼I’m 21!!🍷🍸

🪼I love going to Ross, Tj-Maxx, H&M, Five Below.

🪼I love Ice Cream

🪼I did dancing for four years before I decided to quit

🪼I love doing my makeup

🪼I’m thinking of doing photography as a side job

🪼My root came 2005

🪼I’ve never gone to a concert before (because it’s expensive and it’s never where I live), but I’m hoping to go at least once in my life:)

Hwang Intak x Survivor!Reader

Synopsis —⋆˙⟡

What happens when a kpop group goes to the United States for their concert and they get stuck due to a global pandemic? And what happens when one of the boys of that group fall in love with a girl that’s just trying to survive?

♫Burning pile — Mother Mother

⋆˙⟡ — Slow burn, PEAK angst, fluff, strangers to friends to lovers, slight smut, humor, killing (it’s a zombie show, guys…), blood, gore, The Walking Dead inspired (I might add some scenes from the show into this fic), Death…. Lots and lots of death, Drama, and zombies (also known as walkers).

⋆˙⟡ —Well guys, I hope you like my first fic on here…. I’ve been wanting to write something on Tumblr, but to be honest I haven’t been able to find the right plot until I saw this fic that was Zombie Apocalypse!au on here and I was inspired. If you guys want to read their fic, go to my masterlist below, go to my fics section and click on the link of this story and you’ll see their story in the comment section.

The Dead Within Masterlist

“The smell is washing off…. Isn’t it?” Intak’s breathing began to labor, gripping Faye’s hand tightly in fear. The girl looked over at the boy with wide eyes as she shook her head slightly. “Don’t freak out, Intak…. We’re fine.” Faye murmured shakily as her lips trembled, trying to calm herself down, but it wasn’t working. “It’s not…” Michael reassured the two, peering over his shoulder as he saw the walkers starting to sense they were not like them. “Well…… Maybe.” Not even five seconds later, a roar from a walker came from his side.

Faye jerks her head to the side to see a walker sprint towards Michael. At the exact moment, he raised his fire axe in the air and slashed it through the walker’s skull, killing it instantly. “Run!… Run!….” He shouted. Intak had kept his hands wrapped around his best friend’s as he raised the metal rod. Faye had brought her knife up with her free hand, slamming the blade into the walker’s skull that had gotten close to her.

She loses her grip on Intak as she continues swinging her knife at the walkers while running from the crowd of the dead with Intak and Michael. “We’re almost there! Come on!.. Up and over!” Intak shouted through the loud groans of the dead as they raced to the tall, lanky fence.

Throwing their weapons overhead, Faye seized onto the tall metal fence and threw herself to the other side to her feet, ignoring the sting that started up on the soles of her feet when she fell. In a fast motion, the three of them had ripped off the disguised jackets that they’d worn to try to throw the dead off. “Intak, get the key from the lockbox! Now!” Faye shouted over her shoulder as she somehow managed to pick the lock of the truck door with her bobby pin that was in her hair. She watched as Intak pulled the lock off with the fire axe, which Michael had given him.

“Hurry!” Faye panicked as she saw the walkers start to climb over the fence. Intak had run back with the keys in his hand before hurling them over to Micheal, who had caught them.

The three of them had gotten into the truck. All squished together at the front as Michael drove while Faye and Intak shared a seat. “Go! Go! Go!” Intak frantically yelled as he slammed the passenger side door shut right after he got into the passenger seat next to Faye. The girl’s body almost slammed into the dashboard, only to be caught by Intak as he wrapped his arm around her waist. The tires screeched against the concrete as Michael floored it.

Faye watches in horror as she sees the large number of walkers that had chased them manage to push the gate down, as a few had already been dragging themselves, trying to catch up to the small group, so as to be able to hop over the fence. “Fuck…. Fuck…. What the fuck…..” The girl muttered under her breath in panic as she turned to look away.

“T…. They’re everywhere… How the hell do we get out?…” Intak panicked as he released his grip on the girl’s waist slightly. “I need you both to draw the out…” Micheal nodded, keeping his eyes on the road as he swerved slightly to the side as a few walkers got in the way. “How….” The girl was cut off as the ex-policeman spoke again. “Remember the roll-up doors at the front of the store?.. That’s what I need to be cleared out.” Intak and Faye looked at each other, the girl's mouth slightly agape as she stared at the man. Intak opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Michael. “I need you to raise your friends, tell them to get down to that point and to be ready. Okay?” Micheal looks over at Faye, nodding towards the walkie that she had held in her hands tightly.

“Wha… How do we do that? What do we d-“ Intak stuttered, his voice slightly wavering as he felt a sense of panic and fear. “Noise.” The pair looked at each other as the truck finally came to a halt. Three of them had jumped out, and Michael was already on foot as he ran up to a white sporty car. Micheal grasped the metal rod Intak had used to smash the windows, causing the alarms to go off. Faye’s hands shot up to her ears with a gasp. Her eyes looked around nervously as the alarms screamed through the air of the city. “This is your plan?” The girl shouted over the alarms, not knowing how loud she was because of the noise.

She watches as Michael reaches through the broken glass of the car window to push the door open, kneeling as he hotwires the car. He hastily gets up, pointing at the two young adults. “Get in.”

Before the girl could protest, Michael was already running back to the truck. The pair had quickly gotten in the car without a second thought. Faye had climbed into the passenger seat, setting herself down as she buckled herself in, watching as Intak sat into the driver’s side, buckling his seatbelt before flooring it, letting the car roar to life as it moved. “Faye, contact the others!” Intak shouted over the alarm's loudness.

The brunette girl acknowledged it as she raised the walkie, pressing the button with her finger. “The roll-up doors at the front of the store facing the street- get your asses down and be ready!” Intak presses his foot down harder on the accelerator, causing the two to move fast as they drive out of the city.

“Whoo-Hoo! Let’s go!…. Yeah!” Intak exclaimed with excitement and joy as the two drove up the road toward the cliff and approached the campsite. Faye had her arm resting against the completely open window she had rolled down when they had gotten out of danger back in the city, letting the wind blow into her brown hair. For the first time in a while, she felt happy. Not fake happiness, actual happiness.

“Having fun now?” Faye giggled as she gave her best friend a cheeky smile. “Let’s enjoy this while we can! I have a feeling that everyone’s gonna flip their shit on the car alarm!” Faye yelled over the car alarm with another laugh. “Yeah!” Intak agreed, keeping a big smile on his face. We had finally gotten to the campground of the quarry, his foot slamming on the brakes as he turned the car off, the door slamming shut as the two of them stepped out. “Intak, Faye!.. Turn that off!” Henry shouted, standing at the top of the R.V from his chair. “I do know how!” The boy yelled back through the alarm. “Me neither!” The girl added. Her gaze falls onto Spencer, who holds a relieved expression on his face at the sight of his little sister…. Safe, alive, and breathing. The girl nodded, sending her brother a brief, reassuring smile before turning towards Blake as he approached the pair.

“Pop the hood,” Blake said in a low tone, looking at the two with a pointed expression on his face. “Where’s my sister?” Sage spoke over Blake, worry written all over her face as she ran over to the pair. “Where’s Eleanor?”

“Huh?…” Faye looked over at Blake with confusion on her face. “Pop the damn hood!”

“Okay, Okay!” Intak opened the driver’s side door, leaning forward to push the button to open the hood of the car. “Got it!” Intak smiles through getting yelled at. “Is she okay! Tell me!” Sage begged as the girl looked over at Faye in worry. “Is she alive?” “Yes, she’s fine! She’s okay!” Faye nods her head, feeling anxious and overwhelmed at the same time. “Is she coming?”

“Yes!” The pair answered at the same time, annoyed by the constant yelling. The amount of shouting by Intak, Sage, and Blake put Faye on edge, causing the girl to shut her eyes tightly as she could feel a sense of annoyance and irritation from everyone shouting. Finally, the car alarm had gone silent as Cameron, a quiet middle-aged man who hadn’t talked about his life before the death but was always pleasant to be around, had pulled the cable off. “She’s fine!”

“She’s fine, okay?…. Everyone is okay.” Intak was informed, calmer than before, with his arms up, only to slowly fall with a sigh. “Except…. Axel, maybe…” he cupped his hands over his eyes to block the sunset. “What the hell were you both thinking?…. Driving up with that car with the alarms blaring, and shit?….” Blake questioned, walking up to the two as his voice lowered, placing his hands on his hips, staring at them with disappointment and disbelief as his eyes squinted. “Are you trying to draw every walker out here?”

“I think we’re okay for now.” Henry nodded, turning his head in every direction as he checked for any signs of walkers coming. “And you call being stupid okay?” Blake peered over his shoulder at the older man with an admonishing look as his eyebrows rose. “The alarm echoed…. It’s pretty hard to pinpoint the exact spot.” Henry tried to reason, making Blake straighten his posture as he sent the older man a glare. older adults with that look?.. I wasn’t arguing; I was just saying.” Henry sighed softly, shifting his gaze towards Intak and Faye. “Wouldn’t hurt for you two to think things more carefully next time.”

The pair shared a brief look before Intak spoke up. “Sorry….. Got a cool car.” He grinned, motioning towards the car that he and his best friend drove. Henry nods, not wanting to argue anymore. Faye feels a hand fall on her shoulder, causing the girl's gaze to shift towards her brother and his fiancée, Melanie. “Glad you’re back….. Both of you.” He gives Faye and Intak a grateful smile. By then, Jiung, Theo, Jongseob, and Soul had joined.

“Where’s Keeho?…” Jiung asked, and just like that, the truck Michael had used to bring everyone back slowly approached up the hill.

The brunette looks over her shoulder as the rest of the group from the run gets out of the white truck. She watched with a grin as the sisters, Eleanor and Sage, rushed into each other’s embrace as they reunited.

Keeho had stepped out of the white truck along with Lucas, Nila, Bailey, and Andre, but no Axel.

Andre’s wife and kids came running up to the man once they spotted him, tackling him with a hug. “How’d you guys get out?” Henry inquired as Keeho walked over to the small group he had come to call family, looking around at the group that had just come back from a run. Spencer, Faye’s brother, had unexpectedly wrapped his arm around the girl’s shoulder as she was pulled in with Melanie.

“New guy, he got us out of there…” Intak nodded from beside the girl, making quick eye contact with Keeho before looking away to get back into the group discussion.

“New guy?” Blake repeated.

“Yeah, crazy guy got into town,” Andre spoke with a grin as he wrapped his arms around his family. “Hey, ‘Mr. Badass’!…. Come say hi.” Andre grinned.

The driver’s-side door slammed shut as the new guy, Micheal, approached the group with his hands on his hips. “Dude’s a cop...” Faye began, smiling at Blake as she felt Spencer squeeze her shoulder. “Just like you.”Blake glanced over at the new guy with a skeptical expression before his eyes widened in shock. The brunette girl whipped her head around to see Michael holding that same expression…. Confusion.. Surprise.. Shock?.. She watches as Michael’s eyes set over to Mallory and Noah. The grieving mother and her little boy. That realization took effect as the group stared at Michael.

“Oh, my god,” Michael whispered, abruptly walking forward towards the two. A large smile was plastered on Noah’s face, and he sprinted towards the man. “Dad! Dad!” The moment Noah screamed, *"Dad!"* and launched himself at Michael, the entire campsite fell silent as they watched the little boy who had talked about his father all the time to anyone who’d listen, clinging onto his mother all day and night as he cried, had asked the supply runner group to bring back anything that reminded him of his dad… Run up to the man whom Faye and Intak saved. Who’d escaped the city with the group.

Noah crashed into his father’s legs with full force—tiny arms wrapping around Michael’s waist as he buried his face into him with tears rolling down his cheeks. Michael didn’t hesitate. He dropped to his knees immediately, pulling Noah up into a crushing hug—his own eyes welling up with tears instantly. Mallory gasped sharply… her hands flying over her mouth in pure shock before she ran after realizing it was her husband. She sprinted toward them like she hadn't seen her husband in years (Which wasn’t even long, from what Mallory told the group beforehand, as Michael had been shot on duty and was put into a coma. When they tried to get him from the hospital, Blake thought he was dead). When Mallory reached them, Michael wrapped one arm around Noah while extending the other to pull Mallory close.

The reunion was overwhelming—the three of them holding each other so tightly it looked like they'd never let go again. Tears streamed down Mallory's face as she kissed Micheal repeatedly between sobs: "You're alive... You're alive..." Faye felt her eyes watering at the cute and happy reunion of the Barrett Family. It might have been one of the happiest moments she had had in a while. The man stood up, still having Noah’s arms wrapped around his Dad’s neck as he fully wrapped his arms around his wife.

Michael held Mallory like she was the most precious thing in the world—kissing her forehead, her cheeks, anywhere he could reach while still cradling Noah between them. Noah giggled through happy tears, squished but not complaining. He just kept hugging his dad’s neck tightly. The whole campsite watched with softened expressions—maybe except for Blake, who wore a look of conflict but kept a small smile as Michael turned to look at his best friend.

“I felt so…. Disoriented..” Michael murmured under his breath around the fire. It was now evening time, and the group had decided to set a fire as a way to welcome the newcomer into the group. Faye sat beside Intak, who was sitting next to Keeho and Jiung on one of the very few logs. Theo and Soul were sitting on camping chairs next to the log as Jongseob sat up against the log next to Intak’s feet. Her brother, Spencer, and her sister-in-law had sat down on a two-seater camping chair on the other side, next to the log chair she sat on.

Faye hadn’t eaten anything, really, except for canned fruit because she was a vegetarian. But of course, she knew she had to eat meat at some point to gain some weight back. “I guess that comes somewhat close to what I felt…” The brunette girl placed her arms on her knees as she leaned in. His gaze fell to Michael, holding Noah in his lap with Mallory beside him, stroking her son’s hair. “Disoriented…. Fear, and maybe confusion….. All those things… But I guess disoriented might be the one.”

“Words have a lot of meaning…” Henry nodded, placing his now-empty plate down on the grass. “Sometimes, it doesn’t have to be a lot…” “Felt like my life had been ripped apart, being played into a nightmare.” Micheal paused, searching for what to say as he looked down at his little boy. “For some time, I thought I was trapped in some crazy coma dream… Something I would have been stuck for forever.” “Mom said you died…” Noah commented, lifting his chin to look at his Dad. “She had every right to believe in that.” He placed his hand on the top of his son’s head. “Don’t you ever doubt that.” “When things had started going bad, they had told me that they would medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta…” Mallory paused. “It never happened.”

The fire crackled, casting flickering shadows across everyone’s faces as Mallory spoke. Michael exhaled slowly, his thumb still absently rubbing Noah’s hair. “I’m not surprised after Atlanta fell…” Micheal said. “Yeah…” Mallory agreed. “From the looks of that hospital, it got overrun.” He added. “Yeah, looks don’t deceive. I was barely able to get them out.” Blake added from across the fire.

Jongseob glanced between Michael and Mallory with sad eyes from where he sat... realizing how much grief she must've gone through believing he was dead for months. “I can’t tell how grateful I am to you, Blake.” Micheal sympathetically locked his eyes with Blake from across the fire pit. “I can’t express it.”

“There go those words falling short again…” Henry smiled with a chuckle. “Small things.” Just as silence filled the air, a loud sound of a log being tossed into the fire was heard. Faye’s head whipped to the side to see Keith Knox, placing himself in his seat by himself opposite his wife and daughter, Caroline and Lily, who were noticeably shaking. “Hey, Keith, would you like to rethink that log?” Blake called out to the man with a long sigh. “It’s cold, man,” Keith replied lazily, leaning his head back in his chair. “Yeah?… I don’t really care. The cold doesn’t change the rules, now does it?” Blake inquired. “We keep our fires low, just embers, so we can’t be seen from a distance, right?”

“I said it’s cold. You should go on and mind your damn business for once.” Faye had watched as Blake rose to his feet and stumbled up to the man in annoyance. The girl was about to lean in closer to try to listen in, only to hear some wheezing from her when she breathed in. Her brother, Spencer, had already tossed her reliever inhaler. She nodded in appreciation, shook the canister, drew a single breath, brought it to her mouth, and released the medication into her lungs as she pushed the canister down.

“You’ve got asthma?” Micheal inquired. The girl released a heavy breath, handing the inhaler back to Spencer. “It’s not severe.” The girl explained. Michael nodded, understanding. His ex-cop instincts kicked in immediately—assessing risks, always scanning for threats. Asthma wasn’t severe… but in a world where meds were scarce and hospitals didn’t exist? That could be dangerous if she had an attack in a remote location.

Keith rolled his eyes at Blake’s lecture before standing abruptly—clearly not caring about the fire rules—and walking over to where Caroline sat with Lily. Caroline tensed as her husband approached… knowing that tone meant he was pissed off about something. Meanwhile, Faye took another slow breath through her nose to test if the inhaler had fully helped. It did—the tightness in her chest had finally eased. Blake had taken a seat at the campfire opposite Caroline, Lily, and Keith on the grass he stood on, grunting slightly. “Have you thought about Joel Bowen?” Henry questioned. “He’s not gonna be very happy about his brother being left behind up on that rooftop.”

“I’ll tell him…” Lucas offered. “I dropped the key. It’s on me.” “Well, I cuffed him… That makes it my fault too.” Michael added. Faye had rolled her eyes at the two bickering men over who should be the one to tell Joel.

“Guys, it’s not really a competition…” Intak stated as he moved to his spot next to Faye. “I don’t mean to bring race, but it might sound better coming from a white guy,” Keeho added as he stood up to grab more food from the campfire before sitting down. “I did what I did,” Lucas murmured. “Hell, if I hide it from him.”

“We could lie…” Nila suggested, still angry about Axel beating Lucas up. The group fell silent at Nila’s suggestion—lying to Joel Bowen—a dangerous idea. Joel was… unpredictable. Even when he wasn’t angry, he had a temper that could flare up instantly. “Or we could tell the truth,” Eleanor added. “Axel was completely out of control. I mean….. Something had to be done, or he’d have gotten us killed.” Her eyes moved to Mallory from where she sat. “Your husband did what was necessary. And if Axel got left behind, it was no one’s fault but his.” Mallory nodded slowly, her expression solemn as she listened to Eleanor.

“That’s what we go and tell Joel?” Henry asked with skepticism on his face. Everyone knew how Joel was. He’s really stubborn and intimidating, but he’s not as bad as his brother, Axel. “I don’t see the rational discussion to be had from that, do you?” Eleanor shook her head, glancing at the ground. “Word to the wise…. We’re gonna have our hands extremely full when he gets back from hunting.” Henry added. Faye holds back a groan as she purses her lips tightly and looks over at Intak, who has the same expression.

“I was scared, and I ran. I’m not ashamed of it… He had it coming.” Lucas stated. “We were all scared. We all ran.” Eleanor spoke. “What’s your point?” “I stopped… Long enough to chain that door shut.” He paused, swallowing thickly. “Staircase is narrow.. Maybe around half a dozen of those pricks can squeeze against it at any time. It’s not enough to break through…. Not that chain, not that padlock. Ain’t no way… My point is, Axel Bowen’s alive and he’s still up there, handcuffed on that roof. Now, that’s on us.” The firelight flickered across Lucas’ face—his guilt obvious in the way his jaw clenched. Everyone knew Axel wasn’t dead… just trapped up there. And now Joel was returning to a group that had left his older brother behind.

That wasn't gonna go well at all. Everyone knew that. Faye shifted uncomfortably, remembering how intimidating Joel could be even when he wasn't angry. If he lost it? It'd be bad for everyone. Keeho rubbed his temples as this whole situation was already giving him a headache.

“So, why are you up so early?… I mean, I've never seen you up before dawn.” Intak teased his best friend as she stepped out of her shared tent with him, leaving Keeho, who was still asleep. The girl rolled her eyes, brushing her fingers through her somewhat messy hair as she finished combing the rest of her hair using her fingers. She shook her head with a gentle smile on her face. “I actually have no idea what you’re talking about.. Maybe it was because I was sick and tired of Keeho’s loud ass snoring, and you complaining about it.” She answered, poking Intak’s shoulders with her fingers and laughing when he shrugged her off. Faye shifted her gaze in every direction until she found her brother, Spencer, getting a haircut by Melanie.

With a smirk, she looked over at Intak before the two walked up to the couple. “Finally getting your hair cut?” She teased. Spencer sat cross-legged on the ground, letting Melanie carefully snip at his messy and wet hair with a pair of small scissors as she sprayed his hair.

He glanced up when Faye and Intak approached—giving them a half-smile.

“Yeah,” Spencer said dryly. “Finally.” Mallory chuckled, focusing on not messing up his hairline as she trimmed the sides neatly. Faye plopped down next to them uninvited—watching Melanie work with mild amusement. Intak leaned against a nearby tree, arms crossed as he observed quietly… though his eyes kept drifting towards Faye with a grin. The camp had an oddly peaceful morning vibe…. ”Well….Let’s hope you don’t go bald!” The girl teased again with a smirk as she stood up. Spencer shot her a deadpan look—so unamused by his little sister’s teasing.

“Oh, shut up, idiot,” he grumbled before reaching out to flick her forehead lightly. Melanie snorted at their sibling dynamic but kept cutting carefully, biting back a laugh at her sister-in-law’s commentary… making sure Spencer had a decent haircut rather than how he had his hair before. Intak snickered under his breath at the girl’s comment.

The morning sun shone softly over camp—the only sounds being Melanie’s scissors snipping and birds chirping somewhere in the distance. The duo then walked away, giggling to themselves as the brunette gripped onto his cap, made lifting it ignoring the confused look Intak had on his face as she ruffled his hair to fix it before placing it back down. Intak laughed as Faye messed with his hair—letting her playfully fix it even though he “definitely” didn’t need fixing.

He grabbed her wrist gently, stopping her before she could keep ruffling him like a puppy. “Alright, alright— stop,” he said through a grin, shaking his head to reset his messy curls back into place. The two walked toward the fire pit where Henry was already sitting with a mug of coffee… steam curling up from it.

“You had a loose strand of hair; I was fixing it.” The girl’s smile widened, showing off her dimples as she patted his shoulder. Intak rolled his eyes playfully, nudging her shoulder with his own as they approached the fire pit where Mallory and Caroline were making breakfast for the group. “Oh, okay — loose strand.” The boy teased back, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Henry glanced away from his binoculars, moving in his camping chair on top of his RV to get an overview of the camp. Gave a small nod in greeting before his attention moved back to him, looking through the binoculars. Noah had run past the two with Lily and a few of the other kids as they played, waving at them as he and the kids laughed. Micheal had gotten out of his shared tent with Mallory and their son. Grinning from ear to ear as he watched his child actually have some fun for once in a world they’d had to be careful in.

Faye had sat down on a camping chair, thanking Mallory as she was given a plate of food, and before Intak could join in, a loud engine of a jeep had approached them, stopping at the entrance of the camp. Blake was sitting in the driver’s seat, rolling down the window. “Water’s here, y’all!” He called out, causing everyone to stumble simultaneously. “Just a reminder to please boil before use, thank you.” Faye had gotten up, stepping over to take a gallon of water for herself, Intak, and Keeho. Her best friend had taken another, as the whole group in the camp was only allowed two gallons per tent. “Shit…..” She muttered, unintentionally catching Intak’s attention.

“What’s wrong?”

“Gotta carry these heavy ass jugs to our tent… It’s my turn, remember?” She groaned, laughing softly as she went to grab the second one from Intak. The girl felt Intak’s palm press against her shoulder. “Let me do it.. You hurt your wrist, remember?… I’ve got it.” The Miller girl grew skeptical as she stepped back. A smirk plastered on her lips as she raised her arms in surrender, watching as he grasped onto the water jugs, realizing that he was doing all the work. “It’s not even that bad—… Okay then…” She snorted as she watched Intak almost drop the heaved water jugs.

Intak grunted dramatically as the weight of both jugs hit his arms—his biceps flexing from the sudden strain. Faye smirked, watching him struggle just a little before he adjusted and hoisted them up properly. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, because you think it's soooo funny,” he muttered through gritted teeth—but there was no real annoyance in his voice as he let out a small laugh.

Around them, everyone else grabbed their own water containers without issue… except maybe Jongseob, who almost dropped his but caught it at the last second. Henry gave Intak an amused side-eye at how hard he was working for two gallons when others had three or four like it was nothing. Blake revved the jeep’s engine once more before driving off to park somewhere… leaving behind temporary silence again now that people were dispersing with supplies. Intak huffed as he lugged the heavy water jugs back toward their tent—shoulders tense from the weight. Faye walked beside him, occasionally reaching over to steady one of the jugs when they slipped a little in his grip.

Once inside their shared tent, Intak carefully set both containers down with a relieved sigh… rubbing his arms like they’d gone numb. “Ugh… why do these feel heavier than last time?” he complained playfully. Outside, Keeho and Jiung were already boiling some water that had been left there for the whole camp for drinking while Theo checked on Soul’s fire—making sure it stayed at an ember level like Blake insisted.

The camp buzzed quietly with morning chores—the usual routine for the group. Faye laughs as she sits up on her cot and pats down next to her. “Sit.” Intak didn’t hesitate—collapsing onto the cot beside her with a dramatic flop, stretching his arms above his head. He exhaled loudly, clearly exhausted from carrying all that water.

Faye giggled again at how over-the-top he was being… but she scooted closer anyway, nudging him gently with her shoulder. For a moment, they just sat there in comfortable silence—listening to the distant sounds of camp life outside their tent: Keeho humming as he boiled water… Jiung’s soft laughter… It was peaceful—a sense of normalcy in this messed-up world. Then Intak turned his head toward Faye and grinned sleepily—as he might actually pass out right there if given half a chance, from how relaxed he was.

“Are your shoulders actually hurting?” Faye asked.

Intak shrugged—literally, making his shoulders lift with the motion—and winced slightly. “A little,” he admitted, cracking his neck to the side. “Those water jugs are bricks, dude.” He wasn’t exaggerating much either… those things weighed a ton when full. Faye studied him for a second before scooting even closer and lifting her hands hesitantly—like she was about to do something but wasn’t sure if it was okay. Then, without warning, she pressed her thumbs gently into Intak’s right shoulder… starting to knead the tense muscles there. Intak’s breath hitched when her fingers dug into his shoulder—oh.

That felt… really good. He hadn’t realized how tight his muscles were until Faye started massaging them out. A quiet, relieved sigh escaped him as he slumped a little more into the cot.

“Shit… that feels nice,” he murmured, eyes closing briefly in bliss. His shoulders had been stiff from carrying all that weight earlier—and now, with Faye working the tension away? Pure heaven. Outside, camp continued like normal… but inside their tent? It was just them and this small moment of comfort. She nodded her head in agreement.

She nodded her head in agreement. Startling the girl, a scream filled the atmosphere. Subconsciously, she raced towards the screams. The screams were coming from little kids, which made things a lot worse. Faye spotted Noah and Lily rush towards us; fear filled their eyes. She stopped in her tracks, throwing her arms around Sophia to comfort her, waiting for her mother to show up. Faye watched all the men rush over to where Noah had pointed to 'it'. In the distance, the brunette spotted Caroline sprinting towards them, calling out her daughter's name. Faye released her grip on the young girl as she lunged towards Caroline, sobbing quietly. The Miller girl quickly approached the men, stopping in her tracks as she spotted a walker chewing on a dead deer's stomach, pulling out its intestines.

She heard gasps for air behind us, and, instantly, spun around to see Eleanor, Sage, and her brother, Spencer, standing side by side. The girl turned her head back and saw everyone circling the ravenous walker, who continued to chew on the guts of the deer.

The brunette girl gulped, taking a few steps back so she was standing beside Spencer. Her whole body tensed up as the geek stood up, facing towards Michael.

He lifted his weapon and smacked the walker across the face, causing it to stumble back. Shane hit its back with the butt of his gun. Soon enough, everyone was beating it. Kloe winced at every hit they took, wrapping an arm around her brother's. They were beating its body, not its head. She felt her body jump as Dale chopped the geek's head off with his axe. Everyone stood in silence, stumbling back, out of breath. Intak turned his head slightly to Faye and Spencer, breathless. Faye glanced away from Intak to the walker that was still snapping its teeth, causing her to firmly shut her eyes as she swallowed back the bile that was rising in her throat.

"It's the first one we've had up here," Henry panted. "They never come this far up the mountain."

"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what," Andre commented. The young adult pinched her nostrils together as a large wave of rotten flesh filled the air. She heard a branch snap in the woods and gripped the handle of her knife, still in her belt loop, as she stayed put alongside her older brother, Spencer.

Everyone steadily grew closer to the woods, raising their weapons, until a very familiar man with his crossbow stepped out of the forest, Joel. He stopped in his tracks, his eyes traveling to everyone in the group.

"Son of a bitch," he groaned, stepping over to the deer that was on the ground. "That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this..." he exasperatedly walked over to the limp walker's body and began to kick it repetitively in the stomach. "Filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!"

"Calm down, son. That's not helping," Henry spoke softly.

"What do you know about it, old man?!" Joel rushed over to the man, intimidatingly. "Why don't you take that stupid hat back to On Golden Pond?!" he shifted his eyes back to the deceased deer. "I've been tracking this deer for miles," he ripped out the three arrows that were already plunged into its body. "Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed-up part right here?" he glanced up at Henry and Blake for an answer.

"I would not risk that," Blake simply answered, his gun on the back of his neck. "That's a damn shame," Joel sighed. "I got some squirrels, about a dozen or so. That'll have to do." The walker's head that Henry chopped off began to snap its teeth together. "Oh, God," Sage grimaced, seizing her sister's arm and walking away from the scene.

"Come on, people. What the hell?" Joel lifted his crossbow and shot an arrow, sending it through the walker's eye. He stepped over, grasped the arrow, and pulled it out. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?" He began to step over to the center of the camp. Eventually, Faye realized. This was when Joel was going to find out that his brother, Axel, had been left behind in Atlanta.

"Axel!" he called out. "Axel! Get your ugly ass out of here!" Simultaneously, the group followed suit. "I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up," he placed his crossbow down against a rock. "Joel," Blake called, briefly glancing behind him, looking at Henry, Cameron, Michael, Andre, Intak, and Faye. The girl didn't spot Spencer anywhere, so she guessed he wandered elsewhere doing his own thing, or was getting back to his fiancée. "Just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you."

"About what?" he questioned. "About Axel. There was a, uh-" he paused. "There was a problem in Atlanta." Joel looked back and forth at everyone who was watching in camp. "He dead?" he quietly asked, bluntly.

"We're not sure." Frustration began to fill his eyes and glared into Blake’s. "He either is or he ain't!" he snapped. "No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it," Micheal stepped in, the attention falling onto him. "Who are you?"

"Micheal Barret."

"Micheal Barret," he mocked. "You got something you want to tell me?" "Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there," he explained. In the distance, the brunette girl could see Lucas stepping into view with firewood collected in his arms, with his girlfriend, Nila, next to him. Joel spun on his heel, wiping away a tear that managed to escape his eye. "Hold on. Let me process this," he motioned his hand to his head, harshly stumbling over to Michael. "You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!" he fumed.

"Yeah," Michael whispered. Joel pursed his lips together, his temper getting the better of him. He threw a handful of logs at the man, who ducked down to dodge. Blake managed to tackle him to the ground, causing him to grunt. Joel pulled out his knife that was wrapped in his belt loop and slowly began to stand back up.

"Hey! Watch the knife!" Lucas shouted. Joel swung the knife at Michael, who luckily dodged it. Joel lunged towards the man but got pulled away by Blake, who wrapped his arms around Joel’s neck. "You'd best let me go!"

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't."

"Chokeholds are illegal," Joel grunted, his face turning red. "You can file a complaint," Blake replied. "Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day." Michael bent down in front of the grimacing man, "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" Not a single word came out of the man's mouth. "Do you think we can manage that?" he repeated.

"Mmm. Yeah." Blake firmly released Joel, who gasped for air and pointed towards Blake as he took a few steps back. "What I did was not a whim," Michael explained. "Your brother does not work and play well with others." “It's not Michael’s fault. I had the key," Lucas spoke up. "I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up?"

"Well, I dropped it down a drain," Joel spoke as he sat up, glaring at the guy. Joel scoffed, dropping his head to the ground as he stood himself up. "If it's supposed to make me feel better, it doesn't." The tension in the air was thick—Joel’s rage simmered like a boiling pot; his jaw clenched so tight it looked painful. Lucas stood frozen with Nila beside him, knowing he’d just made things worse by admitting he dropped the key.

Nila bit her lip nervously—she knew Joel could turn on anyone in this situation. Micheal kept his voice steady as he continued explaining… but Joel wasn’t listening. Not really. "Well, maybe this will," Lucas added. "Look, I chained the door to the roof so that the geeks couldn't get at him. With a padlock."

"It's gotta count for something," Micheal commented. Joel brought his hand to his face, crying into it. "Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is, so I can go get him."

"He'll show you," Mallory spoke from beside Henry’s RV. "Isn't that right?" Everyone's eyes fell on Michael as they waited for an answer. He sighed, "I'm going back." Everyone began to separate, doing what they were previously doing. "So, could you continue massaging me?" Intak questioned from beside his best friend. Faye’s eyes met his as she shrugged.

"Yeah…" she chuckled quietly.

Faye stepped over to Spencer and Intak, who were both standing in the same place as before, with Keeho and Jiung with them. The small group of boys glanced at the girl as she approached them carefully. "Hey," Spencer greeted. "We were just talking about you." Her eyebrows raised, locking eyes with her ridiculously tall brother. "So, in the five minutes I was gone, you were talking about me?" she chuckled.

"Why not? You're interesting to talk about," Keeho spoke up, an innocent grin sprouted across his lips. "I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing," she commented, smirking. The sound of Michael and Blake’s voices appeared behind the five young adults. Faye whipped her head around as she watched the two men walk over to the center of the camp. Michael had his sheriff's uniform on.

"Could you just tell me why?" Blake asked with anger laced in his voice. "Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Axel Bowen?"

"Hey, choose your words more carefully," Joel said, crossbow and arrows in his hands.

"No, I did," Blake remarked. "Douche bag's what I meant. Axel Bowen. That guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst." "What he- what he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me," Michael spoke bluntly. "I can't let a man die of thirst. Me." Shane scoffed in disbelief. "Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being." Blake eyed his best friend as he strolled away. Faye shifted her eyes everywhere for a moment, to spot that almost every camper in sight had their eyes on Michael.

"So you and Joel, that's your big plan?" Mallory inquired. She sat down beside her son, Noah. Micheal sighed and, hesitantly, spun on his heel, facing Intak, Spencer, and Faye. The three boys—Spencer, Intak, and Keeho—stood quietly as Michael turned his gaze toward them.

Faye felt her stomach twist slightly under that intense stare. She wasn’t sure *why* he was looking at their little group… but it made her nervous. Micheal exhaled slowly before speaking.

“I need two people to go back with Joel and me,” he announced. “To Atlanta.” A heavy silence followed. Spencer’s eyes widened just a fraction—he hadn’t expected that. Intak tensed beside Faye… already guessing where this was going. Keeho swallowed hard, glancing between the others like maybe they could all refuse? "Oh, c'mon," Intak groaned, as did the brunette girl. She swirled her head slightly. Spencer was moderately glaring into Michael’s eyes.

"You two know the way. You've been there before. In and out, no problem. You said so yourself." Whilst Michael spoke, Faye noticed Intak remove his cap, brushing his hands through his hair as he placed it back on. "It's not fair of me to ask, I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you both along. I know she would too," he motioned towards his wife, Mallory, who lightly shook her head.

"That's just great," Blake spoke up. "Now you're gonna risk three men and a woman, huh?" "Four men and a woman," Lucas corrected. "My day just gets better and better, doesn't it?" Joel scoffed.

"You see anybody else here stepping up, to save your brother's crack ass?" Lucas questioned.

"Why you?"

"You wouldn't even begin to understand," Lucas paused, before continuing. "You don't speak my language."

"That's five," Henry commented. "Make that six," Keeho chimed in, stepping forward. "Even better," Joel mumbled. "Well, that's six," Henry corrected himself. "It's not just six. You're putting every single one of us at risk," Blake pointed out. "Just know that, Michael. Come on, you saw that walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp."

"It seems to me that what you really need most here are more guns." "Right," Intak commented, a smile slowly forming on his face. "The guns," Faye remembered, the same smile setting on her lips. "Wait, what guns?" Blake inquired. "Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns," Michael listed. "I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up." "Ammo?"

"700 rounds, assorted."

"You went through hell to find us," Mallory reminded. "Y- you just got here, and you're gonna turn around and leave?" "Dad, I- I don't want you to go," Noah begged. "To hell with the guns. Blake is right. Axel Bowen? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in." Mallory stood up as Michael stepped in her direction. "Tell me. Make me understand." "I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy," Michael said, causing Mallory to scoff in disbelief. "Mallory, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn him."

"What's stopping you?" Mallory asked with a softer tone.

"The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer." "These are our walkies?" Blake questioned, rubbing his hand against his chin.

"Yeah."

"So use the CB. What's wrong with that?" Jongseob asked, his hair a little messy considering he had just woken up. "The CB's fine. It's the walkies that suck, they're crap," Blake confirmed. "Date back to the '70s, don't match any other bandwidth. Not even the scanners in our cars." There was silence for a moment before Michael tilted his head at his wife, "I need that bag."

She didn't answer; instead, she gazed at the ground, unsure of any words to try and reason with her husband. Michael took a few steps away from his wife and knelt by his son, Noah. "Okay?" Micheal asked softly. Hesitantly and reluctantly, Noah nodded. The camp was silent—everyone processing what Michael had just revealed.

Mallory’s face twisted with conflict… she didn’t *want* her husband to go, but she also understood his sense of duty. Noah sniffled quietly as he nodded at his dad—trying so hard to be brave even though tears threatened to spill.

Michael kissed Noah’s forehead gently before standing back up. His expression hardened with resolve. Blake exhaled sharply through his nose, arms crossed over his chest like he still wasn’t happy about this… but there was no stopping it now. Keeho shifted nervously on the spot—he hadn't expected things to escalate this fast either. "Are you sure you wanna go?" Faye asked Spencer, who was leaning against the scarlet-red car that she and Intak had stolen the day before. "I mean, you've never gone on a supply run before. So, are you sure you wanna go to save somebody?"

"My question is, do you wanna go?" he pushed himself off the car and stepped over to his sister. "Answer my question first," she retorted firmly. "Yes, I'm sure, Faye. If anything, I'd feel better if you stayed here with Melanie, Theo, Jiung, Jongseob, and Soul," Spencer placed a hand onto her shoulder. "Blake’s right in some way. If there's gonna be walkers getting up here, you'd be the best chance we got, and don’t think I didn’t notice the bruise on your face. Was that from Axel?…" Faye gazed down at her boots for a moment to think. He was right. "Yeah…. A.. And you’re right," she gave in easily, "I'll stay. You can go," she glanced back up at her brother and shared a quick smile. Faye spun her head around to Micheal, who was still standing in the same place. "Micheal!" she called out.

He switched his eyes from the ground to the brunette, beginning to stumble over towards her. "What is it?" he inquired. "I'm staying," she informed. "I'll protect the camp. I'm a good shot with my bow." Michael stared into her dark brown eyes, obviously hinting that he still wanted the young archer to come. "You have Intak, Spencer, Keeho, Lucas, and Joel. So I think it's best if I stay, just in case walkers do come up here." Reluctantly, Michael nodded his head, sending a quick smile before his attention fell on the van that Intak was reversing. Faye watched Michael walk over to Henry and Cameron with Lucas by Michael’s side. They began to talk about something, but it was too quiet for the girl to hear, despite having very good ears.

Joel climbed into the back of the van, watching Michael’s conversation. Faye left her brother's side and walked over to the car door where Intak was sitting. She knocked on the glass window, catching his attention. The two friends shared a smile before he rolled down the window. "Are you not gonna hop in?" he asked. She shook her head, "I'm not going," she apologetically smiled as she watched her best friend's smile drop.

"What, why?" He peered out the open window, his eyes flicking between the girl and her brother, who stood a few meters behind her, also watching the conversation Michael was having. "We always go together to Atlanta." "I know, but I have to protect the camp. Besides, you'll have Spencer and Keeho with you," Kloe reasoned, gesturing to Spencer and Keeho.

"It's not the same," he whined. "For the last two months, we've gone on supply runs with each other. Always." Before the Miller girl could speak, Joel stepped harshly towards the driver's seat and pressed his foot against the steering wheel, causing a loud blare to fill her ears. Subconsciously, Faye threw her hands to her ears and grimaced, leaving her ears frantically ringing.

"Come on, let's go!" Joel yelled.

Faye lifted her head back up to Intak and apologetically smiled, "I'm sorry. I'll see you soon! Stay safe!" The girl got a smile in return as he rolled up his window and gave another small smile through the reflective glass. The brunette girl shifted her gaze to the two tall male figures standing in front of her. "I'll see you later, all right? Don't get into any trouble," Spencer stated, wrapping his arms tightly around his sister's back. Before she could say anything, he hauled himself up into the semi-truck.

"Hey, Micheal," Blake spoke up. "Got any rounds in the python?" Micheal stayed silent for a moment, before beginning to speak, "No."

"Last time we were on the gun range, I'm sure I wound up with a few loose rounds of yours," Blake shared a compact, silent laugh. "You and that bag, like the bottom of an old lady's purse." "I hate that you're doing this, man," Blake muttered. "I think it's foolish and reckless. But if you're gonna go, you're taking bullets."

"I'm not sure I'd want to fire a shot in the city," Micheal sighed. "Not after what happened last time."

"That's up to you." Blake lifted his hands, with three bullets in one hand and two in the other, leaving him with five in total. "Six men, five rounds-" "Five men," Faye corrected, the attention falling onto her, "I'm not going." Blake nodded his head, facing back to Rick, "Five men, five rounds. What are the odds, huh?" The two men sighed. "Well, let's just hope that... Let's hope five is our lucky number, okay?" he placed the five bullets into Michael’s open palm. "Thank you."

"All right."

Micheal turned away, walking towards the door of the truck to enter the passenger side. Faye took a few steps back, watching the truck carefully. Worry was buried into the girl's young heart. The two people she cared about most in this world were in that semi-truck, and who knew if they'd make it back? Spencer, Keeho and Intak were the only people she deeply cared for. The truck's engine started, making a revving sound. Faye bit the bottom of her lip as it began to drive away.

The truck rolled forward, tires crunching over gravel as it pulled away from camp. Faye stood frozen—watching the taillights grow smaller and smaller down the dirt road. Her hands clenched at her sides. They’re really going. Spencer had turned around in his seat to look back at her one last time… giving a small wave before disappearing around a bend.

The silence that followed was deafening. No one spoke. The camp felt emptier now—like half of its strength had just driven off toward danger. Faye took a slow breath, then exhaled shakily… turning on her heel to face Blake, who was already staring at the horizon where they’d vanished.

Melanie approached Faye carefully and wrapped an arm around her shoulders—but didn’t say anything yet. Melanie squeezed Faye gently, understanding the weight of what just happened without words. Blake remained silent too—his jaw tight, his arms crossed. He wasn’t happy about any of this… but he couldn’t stop it either. The camp carried on like normal after a few minutes… people returning to their chores. Soul stoked the fire again with Theo helping him.

Jongseob started organizing supplies near Henry’s RV.

Bailey and Jiung sat together on a log, talking quietly. Faye stayed rooted in place for a long moment—still staring at that empty road where the truck had disappeared. Then she finally moved… walking over to her bow leaning against their tent and picking it up slowly.

Melanie, Eleanor, Sage, Caloline, Nalia, and Faye walked towards the water with the baskets full of laundry in their arms. Faye had decided to help out with the laundry considering there was nothing else better for her to do. Practically, she was bored out of her brain without Intak and her older brother around.

In the distance, the brunette girl could hear Blake, Soul, Jiung and Noah attempting to catch frogs. They were being exceedingly loud. "I'm beginning to question the division of labor here," Nalia mumbled. Simultaneously, the six of them glanced over at the boys. Blake and Jiung were splashing the water frantically, encouraging Noah and Soul. Faye playfully rolled her eyes as she set herself down beside Eleanor, who handed her over a sponge. Faye placed one of Spencer’s clothes into the clean, blue water, scrubbing it with the sponge.

"Can someone explain to me how the women wound up doing all the Hattie McDaniel work?" Nalia asked, squeezing out the water from one of the clothes. "The world ended. Didn't you get the memo?" Sage grinned. Faye slightly peered over her shoulder, spotting Keith, Caroline’s husband, sitting on his car trunk with a cigarette in between his fingers. "It's just the way it is," Caroline spoke up, passing over a t-shirt to Nalia.

The six of the women continued to scrub through the clothes, cleaning them so they were spotless. "I do miss my kindle," Caroline broke the silence, staring into the water. "I miss going to the beach, my sun tan lotion," Eleanor commented.

"I miss my coffeemaker with that dual-drip filter and built-in grinder, honey," Nalia closed her eyes, imagining everything she just said. "I definitely miss going to the pottery place… Painting," Kloe added, smiling to herself as she got the sudden happy memory, " Going surfing, hanging with friends, and my phone..."

"My computer..." Sage mumbled. "And texting."

"I miss my vibrator," The biggest smirk plastered across all of their faces as they slowly turned their heads to the woman beside Faye; Eleanor. Simultaneously, they all began to break out into laughter. "Oh my God," Sage muttered, unable to hold back a giggle.

"Me too," Caroline admitted. Everyone's laughs became louder. Faye pinched her nostrils together to stop herself from laughing, but it unfortunately didn't work. "What's so funny?" Keith questioned. Faye looked over her shoulder again, he was making his way towards the women.

"Just swapping war stories, Keith," Eleanor smiled, still having a large grin on her face until it all grew uncomfortably quiet. The brunette girl glanced up at Keith, weirded out by his presence. She noticed Eleanor did the same since the two shared a quick look. "Problem, Keith?" Eleanor snapped, obviously annoyed.

"Nothin' that concerns you," Keith retorted, causing Eleanor to roll her eyes. "And you ought to be focused on your work. This ain't no comedy club," he scoffed. Faye’s jaw dropped slightly in shock as she raised her eyebrows at the man. He'd always abused his wife and his own daughter, Caroline and Lily, it was plainly obvious from his attitude.

She noticed Blake, Jiung, Soul, and Noah’s shouts vanished. Faye turned her head into the direction they were and spotted Blake, Jiung, and Soul looking over at them from a distance. "Keith, tell you what..." Eleanor stood up and slowly stepped towards Keith. "You don't like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. Here," she tossed a navy blue t-shirt over to the man, but immediately got it thrown back into her face, causing her to grunt.

Faye swiftly stood up, having a gut feeling that something bad was going to happen. "Ain't my job, missy," Keith placed the cigarette back into his mouth. "Eleanor, don't," Sage warned, she also shot up from her seat and stood beside Faye, watching the two carefully.

"What is your job, Keith?" Eleanor inquired, taking a couple more steps. "Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?" "Well, it sure as hell ain't listening to some uppity smart-mouthed bitch," The Miller girl felt her teeth grit together with anger. "Tell you what..." he motioned towards his wife, Caroline . "Come on, let's go." Caroline instantly got up, following her prick ass husband's orders.

"She isn't going anywhere with you," Faye snarled at the man.

"Hey, don't you butt in. This is none of your damn business. Come on now. You heard me," he wiggled his index finger to signal Caroline to go with him. But Eleanor and Faye weren't having any of his bullshit. Eleanor and Faye turned around to face Caroline, who had a few tears in her eyes. "Eleanor, Faye, please," she begged. "It doesn't matter."

"Hey," Keith called out. "Don't think I won't knock you on your ass, both of you, just 'cause you're some college-educated cooze. All right?" The blonde scoffed at the man in disbelief, while Faye just shot him a death glare. "Now, you come on now or you're gonna regret it later," the wicked man stared into his wife's eyes. "So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Keith?" Nila hissed. "Yeah, we've seen them," the brunette girl added, the urge to punch him across the face was very high.

He viciously chuckled, "Stay out of this. Now come on!" Faye held the gray haired woman's forearm so she couldn't move as she stared at the ground with a single tear falling down her cheek. "You know what? This ain't none of y'all's business," he took a few steps closer to Faye, noticing that she was holding onto his wife. "You don't want to keep prodding the bull here, okay? Now I'm done, come on!"

The tension was thick—like a storm about to break. Keith loomed closer, his shadow falling over Faye and Caroline. Eleanor’s hands curled into fists at her sides—she wasn’t backing down either. Sage stepped forward too, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Eleanor and Faye—a silent show of solidarity. Nila stood behind them like backup… ready if things escalated. Blake had stopped what he was doing by the water now—watching intently from a distance with Soul beside him. Jiung looked uneasy but didn’t move yet. Noah clutched onto Theo's sleeve nervously.

Keith reached out suddenly—to grab Caroline’s arm roughly—but Faye yanked her back just in time, making Keith miss completely. He gripped onto Caroline’s other arm and pulled her out of Kloe's grip. "Caroline, no," she stated firmly.

"No, no," Eleanor added.

"Caroline, you don't have to," the younger blonde commented. Soon, all of the females were gripping onto the same arm Keith was pulling. "You don't tell me what! I tell you what!" Keith brung his hand to Caroline's cheek, causing her to whimper in pain. Everyone began to clamor, including Faye who was enraged. Sage took hold of Caroline as Faye harshly took two steps forward and clenched her fists. She immediately punched across the man's face, he grunted as his nose began to bleed.

"You little bitch..." he muttered. In an instant, Kloe felt the man's two hands grab onto her neck. She couldn't breathe. Never in her life she'd ever been choked before, she never knew what it felt like, but now she did, and it undoubtedly hurt. The man gritted his teeth as he tightened his grip around the girl's neck, slightly lifting her off the ground.

"Get off of her!" she heard her sister-in-law; Melanie, along with Eleanor and Nalia yell as she tried to wriggle her way out of his grip, but he was holding her where she couldn't. Unexpectedly, Keith got pulled back. It was Blake. He wrapped the back of Keith’s shirt around his hand. The brunette who was getting strangled dropped down, getting knocked out as she hit her head really hard. She lifted her dark brown eyes to see Blake dragging Keith away. "Keith..." Caroline mumbled. Blake threw the man onto the floor, she already knew what was going to happen. Living in the same place as Blake for the last month and a half, she could tell he had an extremely bad temper. "It's okay. It's okay," Sage comforted, but Caroline began to let out sobs as Blake knelt down and forcefully punched the man across the face.

Keith grunted at every hit he got on the face, even from afar, the six women could see Keith’s face was all bloodied up already. Blake continued to repeatedly whack the man across the face, as Theo, Jiung, and Soul ran over to where Faye was laying dazed as she gasped for air. At the point where it was too much.

"Blake, stop!" Eleanor pleaded, Caroline threw her hand to her mouth as tears began to fall out of her eyes.

"Blake!" Melanie yelled out after her as she kept her hand on Faye’s back. Everyone began to plead for Blake to stop, including Caroline herself. Faye didn't want Shane to stop, but she couldn't face seeing Caroline like this even though she was hurt and could hardly think straight as she hit her head super hard. Even if he abused her, he was still her husband, and that had a meaning. "Just stop!" Caroline cried, but Blake ignored all of their pleads and proceeded to punch the man. "Stop it!"

"You put your hands on your wife, your little girl or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time," Blake snarled as he wrapped his hand around Keith’s beaten face. "Do you hear me? Do you hear me?!"

“Keith mumbled as blood spat out from his mouth. The beating finally stopped—Blake releasing Keith’s bloodied face with a rough shove. Keith lay there, barely conscious, his lip split and swollen, one eye already bruising shut. Caroline was sobbing now—full-on ugly crying into her hands as she knelt beside him. Not out of love… but out of fear and the trauma that came with years of abuse as Blake walked away in anger up to the camp where he was probably getting stitches. Faye groaned softly, letting Melanie know that her sister-in-law was waking up.

Melanie immediately leaned closer, brushing Faye’s hair back gently. “Hey… hey,” she whispered, relief softening her voice. “You okay? Can you hear me?” Faye blinked a few times—her vision slightly blurry from the head injury—before weakly nodding. Her throat was sore from being choked. Theo knelt beside them with a canteen of water and offered it to Melanie silently. Soul hovered nearby too, looking worried as hell.

Sage wiped Caroline’s tears while Nila kept Keith at bay—making sure he didn’t try anything stupid despite his state. The camp had gone eerily quiet after Blake's outburst… everyone processing what just went down. Eventually Blake had came back with Cameron as they dragged Keith off to his tent where Caroline and Lily slept in. The two men hauled Keith up by his arms—his legs barely working as they half-carried, half-dragged him toward his tent. Cameron looked pissed. Really pissed. Keith wasn’t even fighting it… just limping along silently with blood still dripping from his nose and mouth. Caroline followed behind them nervously, wringing her hands together like she was scared of what might happen next.

Lily peeked out from the tent flap—her little face full of confusion and fear when she saw her dad all beaten up. Once inside, Blake unceremoniously dropped Keith onto a cot before turning to Caroline without a word. He didn't have to say anything—his expression alone told her: You're safe now. Theo had picked Faye up, carrying her to the RV so she could lay in a real bed. Theo lifted Faye carefully, cradling her in his arms like she was made of glass.

She winced slightly from the movement—her head still throbbing—but otherwise stayed quiet as he carried her to the RV. Melanie and Sage followed closely behind, one holding a blanket while the other kept a hand on Faye’s shoulder for support. Inside, Theo gently laid her down on an actual mattress—the softest surface they had since everything turned to shit.

It felt amazing compared to sleeping outside or on cots. Sage immediately tucked the blanket around Faye while Melanie grabbed an ice pack from their small cooler and pressed it lightly against the back of her neck where Keith had choked her. Faye sighed in relief as the cold ice pack soothed her sore neck. The RV was quiet—no noise from outside seeping in here, just the soft hum of the air conditioning that Cameron had rigged up somehow. Melanie sat on the edge of the bed, brushing Faye’s hair again with gentle fingers while Sage handed her a glass of water.

Theo stood by awkwardly—like he wanted to help but didn’t know how—so he just hovered nearby like a worried bodyguard. Outside, muffled voices could be heard… Blake probably still talking to Caroline as he was telling her that she and her daughter could stay in Sage and Eleanor’s tent.

Faye closed her eyes for a second… exhaustion hitting hard after everything that happened today. Faye’s eyelids grew heavier by the second—her body finally crashing from the adrenaline and pain. Melanie noticed her drifting off and smiled softly, adjusting the blanket around her sister-in-law. Sage whispered to Theo, “She needs rest.” He nodded silently, not wanting to wake Faye up. The RV stayed peaceful… just Melanie keeping watch over Faye while she slept.

Outside—the camp was still buzzing quietly with everyone talking about what happened. Blake had moved on from Caroline’s tent after making sure she was settled in with Sage and Eleanor. Keith? Still unconscious in his own tent… probably nursing a hell of a headache and pains tomorrow when he woke up. Melanie stayed seated beside Faye, watching her sleep peacefully. She gently brushed a strand of hair from the girl’s forehead—Faye looked so young like this… no anger, no tension in her face. Sage quietly slipped out of the RV to go check on Caroline and Lily, while Theo lingered for a little longer before stepping outside too.

The evening settled in—the sun dipping low behind the trees. Campfire chatter started up again as people ate dinner. Soul served plates to whoever was hungry. Jongseob kept an eye on Keith's tent just in case he woke up and caused trouble. Blake sat alone by his car—smoking another cigarette with his arms crossed… clearly still pissed off about everything. Eventually, Melanie and Faye joined them to eat some food.. Micheal, Joel, Lucas, Spencer, Keeho and Intak still hadn't returned which uncomfortably sat in the pit of the younger Miller's stomach.

Like always, she sat next to Lily. People shared laughs. It felt normal again. Except some of the group were missing. "Pass the fish, please?" Lily signaled to a paper plate with a lump of cooked fish. Caroline, who was sitting on the other side of her, reached to the plate and handed it over, looking much happier than she did a few hours ago.

"Here you go."

"Man, oh, man," Blake mumbled, his mouth full of food. "That's good stuff right there." For the first time in camp, Faye decided to eat the fish. It had been a while since she had anything other than canned peaches and other canned fruits. Plus, she thought she could eat some actual food to make her feel better from earlier. Simultaneously, the group all set their gazes on Henry, who rested his head on his hand, which held a watch. "I've got to ask you, man," Andre began. "It's been driving me kinda crazy."

"What?" Henry inquired with a sheepish smile plastered across his face. "That watch, right there." Andre pointed. "Well, what's wrong with my watch?"

"I see you every day, the same time, winding that thing like there's no tomorrow." Faye nodded her head in agreement along with some others, her eyebrows slightly raised. "I've wondered this myself." Nalia smiled from beside Soul, from where he sat on the ground next to Jongseob. "I think I'm missing the point, here." Henry shrugged.

"Unless I've misread the cues, the world seems to have come to an end," Nalia smirked. "At least hit a speed bump for a good long time." "But there's you, every day winding up that stupid watch," Andre chuckled. "Well, there is time..." Henry stated. "It's important to keep track of things, isn't it? The days at least." He turned his head to the blonde woman, Eleanor, "Don't you think, Eleanor? Back me up here on this." Eleanor chuckled, speechless as she brought her beer bottle to her lips.

"I like- I like what, um, a father said to son when he gave him a watch that had been handed down through generations amongst generations." Faye’s mind immediately fell on her father and brother. Before her dad passed away on an Air Force assignment, he gave Spencer something extremely special and remarkable. A ring that their dad, a member of the family, gave to the eldest male child, which, in this case, happens to be Spencer. "He said, 'I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or my father's before me. I give it to you not that you may think back to time, but that you may forget it for a moment, now and then, and not spend all of your breath trying to overpower it.'"

Faye stared at the ground, grinning in amazement at Henry’s speech. "You are so strange," Sage commented, squinting her eyes through the fire. The group around the fire laughed in amusement. Faye’s hand flew to her mouth to compress a laugh, which unfortunately, didn't stay in.

"It's not me. It's Faulkner," Henry grinned. "William Faulkner. You guys know who that is? Maybe it's just my bad paraphrasing, that’s all." Sage set down her mug and stood up from her chair.

"Where're you going?" Eleanor questioned.

"I have to pee," Sage whispered. "Jeez, you try to be discreet around here for once..." The group once again shared a laugh. Faye stabbed the fork through the last piece of fish she had left on her plate, swiftly placing it in her mouth. Unexpectedly, Sage swung open the RV door with an annoyed sigh. "We're out of toilet paper?" Unable to hold back a grin, Faye glanced back down to her now empty plate. Her heart suddenly dropped to a loud, blood curdling scream that came from Sage’s direction. She whipped her head up, her dark brown eyes widened with fear and shock as she watched a walker gnaw onto Sage’s forearm. The young blonde girl managed to pull away, falling to the ground as more walkers began to stumble through the camp.

Faye shot up from her seat, dozens of people rising in panic as they all began to scream and shout in pure fear. Hurriedly, she sprinted towards her tent, where the butterfly knives were, dodging any geek that got in her way as she ran. "Mallory, get him down!" Blake yelled, his gun cocking. Chaos erupted instantly.

Sage screamed in agony as the walker bit down on her arm—blood already seeping through her shirt. Blake didn’t hesitate—he raised his gun and gunshots rained down in the air. The walker’s head exploded, collapsing onto Sage. But more were pouring into camp from every direction.

People scattered like ants under fire. Faye bolted to their tent, heart pounding wildly as she grabbed her small butterfly knives and a machete in one swift motion. She spun around just in time to see another walker stumbling toward her sister-in-law near the RV door. Without thinking—she brought one knife up and threw it into the air with practice straight through its eye socket, dropping it instantly. Every parent was holding onto their children. Unexpectedly, a walker reached out its hand to Carolina. Instantly, Faye gripped onto another butterfly knife. She threw it in the direction of the walker. The corpse fell to the ground with a loud thud, the knife sticking out of the back of its head as blood seeped out of the wound.

Another blood-curdling scream came from beside the brunette. She shot her head around, spotting a member of the camp getting bitten on his arm and neck. Everything was happening so fast. She didn't even think of the number of people that could die. The familiar scream came from another direction. Sage. A walker dug its head into Sage’s neck. Kloe's lip slightly quivered at the girl who was a few years older than her. She reached for another knife, but her hand met nothing. "No, no, no. Not now, not now," she repeated, panic lacing through her voice as she twisted her head to search for arrows. "Faye! behind you!" Blake’s voice called out to the girl. In an instant, she spun her head around to the walker, who reached out its bony fingers for her leather jacket. Her fingers laced around her machete, pulling it out and quickly stuffing it inside the walker's skull.

Out of breath, she looked up at Blake, who was shielding Jongseob, Theo, Soul, Jiung, Mallory, Noah, Lily, and Caroline. "Come on, y'all! Work your way up here!" Faye listened and attempted to get close to everyone else, but three walkers immediately blocked her. She stumbled back a few steps, pressing herself against a tree. She peered over her shoulder, spotting the entire camp surrounded by endless amounts of walkers.

She looked back at the three walkers that grew closer and closer. She lunged towards a walker, driving her knife into its skull. She swirled her head to the two other geeks. She pushed her knife into one of them, its body falling lifelessly forward, pushing her to the ground.

She fell backwards, grunting at the force. The walker the brunette still hadn't killed fell on top of her, snapping its teeth. She threw her arm out to its neck, using all the strength she had. She firmly squeezed her eyes shut and began to yell for help as she used more and more strength. Without warning, the walker stopped snapping its teeth and a loud gunshot rang through the air, resulting in the girl's ears to continually ring. The body fell to the side as she hastily lifted her head to search for who had fired the gun to save her.

Hwang Intak.

She rose to her feet, gripping onto a pistol Intak threw over to her. She had never really used a gun before, and she always refused every time Blake offered her a lesson. Instantly, the two hastily ran over to each other, turning to press their backs against each other. Both were relieved that the other was okay as she shot down every walker she had seen coming up to them. She looked over in the distance and spotted Michael, Joel, Lucas, Keeho, and Spencer shooting down at walkers side by side. Intak and Faye’s backs were still pressed together, and they turned to make sure there were no walkers in sight. As soon as the two realized they were finally in the clear, tears filled their eyes. So many people's innocent lives had been taken. Simultaneously, Intak and Faye spun around to face each other.

“I…. Intak…” As tears fell down her cheek, she wrapped her arms around Intak, dropping anything she had in her hands and shoving her face into his shoulder. Intak smiled away the tears at the sight of his best friend still living and breathing. He placed his hand on her head, refusing to let her go. "Oh my God..." he mumbled. "When I saw that walker, I thought he already got you… Scared the shit out of me." His voice cracked his hold tightens on the girl.

Her lip quivered more and more as she glanced over Intak’s shoulder, eyeing everyone in camp - the ones who survived at least. Spencer’s eyes traveled over the camp's survivors, looking for his younger sister. The second he spotted her in Intak’s arms, he weakly smiled as she caught his gaze. Faye returned the same teary smile, as much as she wanted to run over to her older brother, she couldn't let go of Intak. She felt safe in his arms, and if she'd let go, she wouldn't be safe. “Spence!” He hears his fiancé shout and was Met with Melanie hugging him for dear life as she sobbed.

"Don't ever let me go to Atlanta without you again, Please." Intak muttered, the memories flooding back in on what had happened to him that day as he tightened his grip around her, not wanting to let go, "It was crazy." He watched as Keeho hugged Soul and Jongseob as they cried. Eventually, Faye pulled away but still kept her hands on the boy’s tensed-up shoulders.

As Faye examined the girl's appearance to make sure she was okay, he spotted the bright red mark that traveled across her neck, and a bruise on the side of her head making him frown. "What happened to your head and neck?" his voice slightly raised, "Did someone do this to you?"

"Intak..." Faye ignored him, her eyes locked on a grieving Eleanor and a lifeless Sage. Intak searched her eyes, puzzled. He spun around in the direction she was looking in and his eyes widened with fright, "Oh, jeez..." The two of them stepped over, Spencer joining with Melanie in his arms to our side as he synced every step we took. "Oh, no! No!" Eleanor cried out at her deceased sister, who was covered in blood from where she got bit on the neck. "Sage! Sage!" she wailed. She shook her sister's limp arms repeatedly. "Sage!"

Jongseob turned to face away from the Rv, as Faye wrapped her arms around the boy in the attempt to calm him down. Faye spun on her heel, glancing at every corpse that lay on the ground. Some had her knives sticking out of them, some had gunshot wounds. Noticing her sadness, Intak's hand made its way down my shoulder and to my hand. He laced his fingers through her's, making the brunette girl to stare at him with another tear falling out of her socket. Keeho, Theo, Soul, Jongseob, and Jiung joining them as they clung onto each other while watching in horror of Eleanor holding her dead sister.

This night was forever trapped within her. The camp was devastated. Eleanor’s sobs echoed through the air—raw and broken—as she clutched Sage’s lifeless body. No one could console her… No one was able to. No words would make this better. Cameron stood there, his face grim as he explained what the holes were for now. A heavy silence fell over everyone. Jongseob wiped his eyes discreetly. Jiung looks as he’s about to pass out from the looks of it as his face turned pale as he and Theo cling onto each other from beside Faye.

Faye’s heart broke as she heard the kids' cries as their parents held them. Her lip quivers as she sees Noah sobbing into his mother's chest, as Michael and Mallory both stand in horror. She turned her head to hide her face in Intak’s neck as she let out a sob quietly, feeling his hand wrap tightening around her waist.

Soul bit his lip hard to keep from crying as he felt tears brimming, threatening to come out. Keeho had tears streaming down silently as he watched Eleanor mourn over her sister’s corpse. Theo looked like he might throw up from grief as he stared with wide teary eyes.

Hwang Intak x Survivor!Reader

Synopsis —⋆˙⟡

What happens when a kpop group goes to the United States for their concert and they get stuck due to a global pandemic? And what happens when one of the boys of that group fall in love with a girl that’s just trying to survive?

♫Burning pile — Mother Mother

⋆˙⟡ — Slow burn, PEAK angst, fluff, strangers to friends to lovers, slight smut, humor, blood, gore, The Walking Dead inspired (I might add some scenes from the show into this fic), Death…. Lots and lots of death, Drama, and zombies (also known as walkers), there are some major TW’s in this fic because this is based off around the tv show, and I’m also trying to put stuff in the fic where I’d imagine how the apocalypse were to happen in real time(I’m a big fan of apocalyptic shows if you can’t tell).

⋆˙⟡ —This is Act II of what’s to come for The Dead Within. I’m honestly so happy about how well it’s going even if the recognition is slowly getting there. I’ve honestly been wanting to do this for a while, but I’m not the best at writing (I use my own inspiration, some twd episodes, webisodes, FTWD) But I try to do some writing whenever I have the inspiration to do so. ALSO, I will be doing first person from now on depending on what I think would fit the story.

The Dead Within Masterlist

The group gets to the rooftop in the quickest amount of time, and they’re greeted by Axel’s back towards the group as he’s firing round after round of shots into the streets of Atlanta using a sniper rifle to take walkers down. “Oh, fuck.” Keeho’s eyes widened as he saw this jerk making a bunch of unnecessary noise, risking the group’s safety and their lives. “Bowen, are you out of your goddamn mind?! What the fuck are you doing, dude? Lucas called out in anger as he stormed up to the man with a glare on his face. Axel laughed, continuing with his shooting spree as he took down more walkers on the street. “Fucking dumbass,” Faye muttered, rubbing her temple with her hand in frustration as she looked around, noticing that Bailey, a girl around his age as Jongseob who’d volunteered to go, had stood alone and grabbed her hand, pulling her over to where Keeho, Intak, and she stood, where it was the safest. Not wanting the girl to be alone since she was the youngest one on the scavenging team.

“Hey, Hey! No need to do all that. Ever heard of keeping your damn paws to yourself?.. Ha! Use some common sense, jeez.” Axel spoke as Andre somehow snatched the gun away from the man. “You’re wasting the bullets we barely got left!? You know Faye could only make so much!..” Lucas argues back as he goes to check and finds three bullets left in the chamber of the shotgun.. There would have been more, but Axel had fired all the bullets Faye had made with her own hands.

Axel continued to laugh, which caused Faye to get more aggravated at how he didn’t care, and as she was about to walk over with her knife out, Intak stopped her by wrapping his arm around her shoulder. “Let them handle it,” he whispered into her ear, sighing in relief as he felt her calm down slightly against him.

“C’mon does it really matter?.. She could make more.. That’s the only thing she knows how to do anyway and bad enough I got this guy all up in my ass. You think I want to take orders from someone like you? I don’t think so, bud. That’ll be the day.” Faye knew there was going to be a fight between Lucas and Axel because of how they’ve never gotten along.. Axel makes it extremely hard for anyone to. “ ‘That’ll be the day’? "….. What do you mean by that, huh? Got something you want to tell me?” Lucas’s voice rose slightly as he started getting angry.

“Lucas, just drop it…” Andre spoke cautiously, feeling the heat of what’s to come. “Hell no. You see the way how that prick just spoke about Faye or me?.. No way n hell I’m letting that go.” Lucas shook his head, not taking his eyes off Axel, as he was ready to pounce on him. “Come on, Lucas… It’s not worth fighting over him. He’s trying to get under your skin; come on, dude. Please.” Andre interjected again, trying to get Lucas to drop his stubbornness. “Axel, enough, alright?…. We’ve already got enough trouble on our hands right now. Do we really need to do this now?”

Faye looked behind her, noticing that Bailey was shaking, so the older girl brought her over and wrapped her free arm around her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Michael stepping closer, wanting to intervene, but when the man noticed her shaking her head, he stopped. “You want to know the day?” Axel continued, mocking Lucas’s facial expression as he started the fight. “Oh my fucking god…” Faye muttered under her breath, as she rolled her eyes.

“Yeah…… I do.” Lucas answered, stepping forward until he was almost nose to nose with Axel. “I’ll tell ya the day…. It’s when I take orders from a- “ Lucas didn’t even have to hear the rest of Axel’s sentence, knowing it was going to be bad based on his words and actions previous altercations as he tackled him to the ground on the roof and they started throwing punches at each other. During the chaos, Axel grabbed a pipe and slammed it into Lucas’s forehead, knocking him to the ground as the psycho got on top of him and started throwing punches, causing the group to start yelling and trying to intervene to get him away from Lucas.

“Shit!….Let him go! Hey, let him go!” Faye shouted, getting out of Intak’s grip and lightly pushing Bailey to the side as she rushed over to help Lucas. As she did, she earned a hard punch square in the face, resulting in the girl stumbling back with a yelp, as she watched Axel also punch Michael in the face when he tried to shove the dickwad off Lucas. “Oh, Fuck….” She winced in pain as she gently pressed her palm against the side of her face.

“Faye…. Are you okay?…” She felt Intak gently remove my hand from my face. “Don’t put that much pressure on your face…. Shit.. Looks like you’re getting a gnarly bruise.” He gently caressed his finger against the girl’s face over the growing bruise, muttering a soft apology when she winced in pain.

“Bowen, stop!… You’re gonna kill him!” Faye shouted from the sidelines as she moved her head to the side, observing Axel kicking the poor guy repeatedly in the stomach. He then went on top of Lucas and started throwing more punches across his face over and over, causing his knuckles to start bleeding and bruising. Andre went to help, gripping onto Axel's forearm, only to get elbowed in the stomach, causing him to groan in pain as he doubled over.

Everyone goes quiet at the sound of a gun, clocking, sending a quiet panic throughout the entire group as the psycho marches up to the guy on the ground and holds it up to his forehead. Lucas gasped in pain and shock as he stared at the barrel of the gun. “Wait…. No. Please don’t do this.” Eleanor pleaded with watery eyes as she stood next to Nalia, who was looking at her boyfriend, who had been beaten in horror.

Faye’s face scrunched up in disgust as Axel spat onto Lucas’s chest before rubbing it into his shirt and lightly slapping the injured man’s face. “Yeah… That’s what I’m talking about!” Axel cheered as he stood up, the gun in his hand like he had won a prize at the fair, as he stepped away. “We’re gonna have ourselves a little chat, ain’t that right!”

The piece of shit that is Axel watched with a smirk as Lucas dragged himself away, letting the group drag him away as they knelt around him protectively. Nalia, his girlfriend, sat in front of him, holding his face and glaring at Axel from time to time. “Talkin about who’s in charge here….. I vote for me…. Anybody else?” He pointed at himself before letting out a loud, obnoxious laugh as the group glared at him for his actions.

“Yeah…” To the group’s surprise, Michael was able to make a sneak attack from behind as he smacked Axel in the head with a pipe, making him collapse to the ground, the shotgun skidding across the rooftop as Michael made sure to keep his grip tight on the psycho’s arm. “What the fuck is this, huh?!… Who the hell are you!” He screams as the man drags him by the collar.

Faye rolls her eyes as Axel continues screaming at Michael, as he is dragged over to a pipe and handcuffed to it. “Officer badass.” Michael spat into his face as he grabbed the Colt Python that he had kept in his waistband to check for ammo. “Look, Axel… Things here are different now. Y’know, the living are supposed to work together, not the other way around.” “Screw you, man,” Axel replied gruffly. Faye crossed her arms against her chest as she looked to the side to see Intak already looking at her before they both looked away from each other to watch the two men. “See… I don’t think you understand the point I’m trying to make here.” Michael squinted with fire in his eyes.

“Yeah?… So screw you twice.”

Gritting his teeth, Michael cocked the gun he held in his hand and placed it against Axel’s temple with a threatening look on his face. “It would be smart to be polite to a man holding a gun to your head….. It’s common knowledge.” “You wouldn’t…. You’re a cop.” Axel smirked with a loud laugh. “All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and little boy…. If you want to try and get in the way of that, be my guest, but know that you’ll be dead before that ever happens, you understand me?” The ex cop glared into Axel’s eyes before noticing a small bag in the redneck’s pocket and seeing a white substance in the bag. “Jesus…. No wonder you’re actin’ stupid as hell. Got some on your nose.” He flicked the guy’s nose before standing up to walk away.

“What’re you gonna do? Arrest me?…. Ha!” Axel laughed with a broad grin before it faded when he saw Michael pick up his backpack . “Whoa…. Woah!… What are you doing? That’s my stuff! Hey, I’m talkin to you!” He shouted at Michael as he saw the man tossing his stuff off the roof.

Intak looks over at the man, practically acting like a child as he moves to stand in front of Faye as he crossed his arms over his chest. “If I get loose, you'd better pray!?…. You better pray, dickhead!…” Axel threatens as he’s pulling at the zip ties, attempting to escape. “Yeah… Yeah… You’ll ‘beat the shit out of me’… Not like I heard that shit before.” Michael retorted, not even bothering to look back as he walked away.

“Ya hear me, you little bitch?!”

“Shut the fuck up, Axel.” Faye grumbled as she looked over Intak’s shoulder to scowl at him before looking away to look out into the city.

“Holy crap, it feels like Times Square on New Year’s Eve down there…” Eleanor commented, gazing at the large crowd of walkers below as Nalia stood beside her and Lucas sat next to her on the ground. His injuries, thanks to Axel, left him unable to stand for long as he held the walkie, still trying to get a signal out to the group. Axel was across from him, still zip-tied against the pipe, but finally quiet since no one was giving him the attention he wanted. Bailey, Keeho, Intak, and Faye all sat side by side on the steps a few feet away. “Find a signal, Lucas?” Andre asked as he walked up to the injured man, Michael beside him, after they finished their conversation.

“Like Bowen’s brain……” Lucas’s eyes shifted over to Axel with a glare. “Weak and fragile..” All eyes fell on Axel, who lifted his middle finger in response.

Faye lets out a small laugh, covering it up with a cough as she covers her mouth with her hand. “Sorry…. A little tickle in my throat.” Without even looking, Intak smiles at the girl's words as he looks at the buildings in front of them.

“Fuckin bitch…..” Axel muttered from his spot as he glared at the girl.

“Keep trying…” Andre spoke as he gave Axel a warning look, taking in a deep breath. Micheal moved over to stand next to Eleanor, leaning against the roof, as the woman looked over at him with furrowed brows. “Why?…. There’s nothing no one could do. Not right now, at least.” Eleanor pushed herself away from where she had been standing before and went to grab the water bottle Andre had brought, which held water, snacks, ammo, rope, and other items.

The group of four who had sat on the stairs looked at each other with mixed feelings before looking at Andre.

“She’s right…. We’re now on our own for right now…” Micheal nodded as he looked over his shoulder to look at everyone in the group. “We have to figure out a solution to get out of this.”

“Good luck with that…” Axel started, causing Faye to roll her eyes at the annoyance of his voice. “The streets here ain’t safe enough in this part of town from what I hear…” His eyes shifted towards Eleanor. “Ain’t that somethin', baby?…” Faye looked over, her eyebrows slowly connecting as she started to cringe at the man’s words with a glare. “Fucking prick…” She muttered under her breath. “Hey, what do ya say you get me out of em’ cuffs?… We could ditch ’em and f’ around?… Gonna die soon probably.” Axel continued, ignoring the girl’s comment, and smirked at Eleanor while harassing the poor woman.

“I’d rather.” Eleanor shook her head as she got up, moved the backpack next to Lucas, and walked over to Bailey, Keeho, Intak, and Faye to take a seat on the steps in front of them. “Figured as much…” Axel murmured under his breath with a sigh as he wrapped his handcuffed arms around the pipe.

“It’s not safe to go out there…” Andre shook his head as he looked through the binoculars, viewing all the walkers on the street. “Not a flying chance.” He added with a sigh of frustration. “What if we go under the streets?…. We could go through the sewers.” Micheal suggested, causing a few looks of uncertainty from the group… It could be a safe bet, but there are a lot of what-ifs. “Whoa.. That could work.” Andre nodded as he handed the binoculars to Lucas, then turned to face Intak. “Hey, Intak. Check the alley. Do you see any maintenance hole covers?”

Intak immediately stood up and ran over to the side of the building before walking back as he shook his head. “No…. But I did see one when it was just me and Faye on a run… But it wasn’t littered with those things.”

“Hold on, maybe that’s not the case.” Nila shook her head, causing the others to look at her as she walked up to where the others stood. “Some old buildings, like this, were built in the early 20s… A few of them are still built as they were a long time ago, either because rebuilding was abandoned or because they wanted to keep them built the way they were… Big structures like this one often had drainage tunnels into the sewers in case there was flooding in the sub-basements, which happened a lot.”

“How did you know all that information?” Keeho asked as he stood up, walking over to join the group. “It was my job…” The woman looked around at the reality of the world right now and sighed. “Was….” She corrected herself. “I used to work at the city’s zoning office. Worked there after getting a master’s degree in Civil Engineering.” Nalia explained.

Michael looked at the group, not knowing what to do. It wasn’t until Faye had started walking away. “Faye?..” The girl turned around, seeing Intak standing with the group as they all looked at the girl in confusion. “What are you doing?”

“What do you think exactly?”

The group, except for Lucas and Axel, headed down to the basement, following Faye, who had taken the initiative. They stopped at a door in the back, which had a ‘Warning: Do Not Enter’ sign on it, opened it with a hatch, and got inside. “Are we sure about this?” Andre asked as he looked over at Faye and Intak, along with everyone else. “Well, we scoped out the place a lot of times when we’d go on runs,” Intak stated as he nodded towards Faye, who was standing next to the door with Bailey and Nalia. “The only way out is to go down there and…. I’ve never had a reason to go down that way. Neither has Faye or.. Bailey, and Keeho.” He paused as he looked down at the open maintenance hole of the utility room, grimacing at the smell. “Who’d actually want to do that, right?…”

Faye looked around, noticing that everyone was looking in Intak’s direction. “Huh…” He sighed. “Well, come with you-“ Intak interrupted Eleanor as he shook his head.

“N… No. That won’t work. Not you at least.” He blurted out. The blonde-haired woman looked at him with an offensive expression. “Y… You think I can’t?” She scoffed. This caused the boy to shake his head. “Whoa… N.. No. I didn’t mean.. I wasn’t…” Intak stutters as he tries speaking in a way that doesn’t make him sound like an asshole. “Hey.. Just.. Take your time.” Micheal spoke up, nodding encouragingly at him to get the jet-black-haired boy to continue talking.

He looked around until he made eye contact with Faye, noticed her smiling at him encouragingly, and decided to speak again. “Until now, it was just me and Faye, along with Keeho and Bailey paired up.. But we were all sectioned in different spots in the city.” Intak started, gulping saliva down his throat as he ran his fingers through his hair.

“The first time we do a group, everyone ends up going to hell….. Sorry.” He cringed to himself as he looked around to see everyone staring at him. He then looks down at the hole in the entrance. “If you want me to go down into that nasty ass sewer, then fine. But only if we do it in the way I want.” Everyone nodded at Intak’s words. Faye looked over at Intak…. She felt like she wanted to throw up. Was it because the guy she’d become best friends with might become bait for the brain-eating monsters or because this slightly thought-out plan might go to shit?… Who honestly knows?

“It’s a tight squeeze down there. If I run into something and have to get out as fast as I can, I'd rather not have everyone down there to get us jammed in and killed. I will be bringing one person.” He gestured by bringing his pointer finger up and putting it down as he shook his head towards Michael, who was about to volunteer to go. “Definitely not you.. I’ve seen you shoot out there escaping the tank, and I’d much rather have you up there in the store to watch for those doors to cover our asses.” He said before looking over at Eleanor. “You’ve got the other gun, so you should go with him and Nalia too.” The woman standing beside Andre nodded as she listened for more of Intak’s plan.

Boy then turned around to look at Faye with a small smile. “I need you to go up on that roof. Please, Faye. You’re the only one who could tell Axel to shut up without shaking…. I’m also sure that Lucas might actually appreciate you being up there to keep him sane.” Faye nodded, agreeing with Intak’s statement. She is really the only one who could stand up to him… Maybe except for Theo, Jiung, Spencer, or Blake…

“Okay…” Nalia nodded in agreement.

“Alright… We got our jobs.” Micheal nodded. Faye watched with an unreadable expression as her best friends, Keeho and Intak, went down the ladder into the sewer. With a grimace from the smell, she bent down just enough that she was able to go eye level with Intak as he started following Keeho down the ladder. “Be careful, please… Don’t play hero, and get out if there are any problems.” She muttered to the boy, causing the ex-idol to stop in his climbing as he looked up at his best friend. “I will…” He nodded, giving her a reassuring smile and nodding with a tight grin, and she smiled back nervously as she watched Intak jump down onto the sewer floor and walk away.

She sighed softly as she pushed herself up, following behind Michael and Eleanor as they were getting to the store floor. She quickly gave Bailey, one of her best friends, a quick side hug at the entrance to the stairs up to the store floor and walked up.

As soon as she got to the store floor, she gave a quick wave towards Eleanor and Michael before going to the staircase that led to the rooftop, where Axel and Lucas were—hurrying up the stairs, skipping up a couple of steps as she ran up the stairs—praying that the two haven’t tried to kill each other as she muttered under her breath, ‘Shit. Shit. Shit.’

The brunette pushes the heavy door to the rooftop, peering through the doorway as she sees the two men sprawled on the ground across from each other as the sun beams down onto them. She gently smiled as she walked in, letting the door shut as she made her way over to the two. “Hey, Faye…. Glad you’re here…” Lucas greeted, trying to smile but immediately regretting it as he winced from the pain of the growing bruise on his face thanks to Axel.

“How’re you feeling?..” she asked with sympathy as she sat down next to him to not only shield herself from the sunlight but also to be as far away from Axel as she possibly could.

“Feeling great….” He sarcastically answered, earning a small pat from his shoulder with a sympathetic smile. She turned to her side, facing Axel to give him a glare, who was thankfully quiet for once and hoping that it were to stay that way. But knowing Axel, he doesn’t know how to ever keep his mouth shut. Lucas, brings up the walkie he had been given to prior to the group going down to the sewer as he was told o keep trying for the group. “Anybody out there?….” He lifted his finger off the button, waiting and hoping for an answer to come out of it from the group back at the camp. “Hello?… Hello?… Does anybody read? I’m really hoping to heaomebody’s voice ‘cause I’m getting sick of hearing my own.”

“Yeah? Well, make that two of us.” Faye rolled her eyes at Axel’s comment, shaking her head in annoyance, knowing she’d have to hear his agitating voice sooner or later. “Why don’t you knock that shit off? Soon enough, you’ll go and piss little Miss Faybee.” The girl rolled her eyes at the nickname Axel had given her. He’d called her that ever since he’d first joined the group with his brother.

“It’s not my name, for the millionth time, you incompetent dickwad.” She seethed through her teeth as she got up to look out into the streets, sighing at the sight of all those dead things walking in the streets. “Why don’t you actually pull your head out of your ass? Maybe your headache will go away.” Lucas spoke with a smirk at the girl’s comment beforehand. The girl turned around, leaning up against the ledge of the roof with her arms crossed as she stared at Axel with an unimpressed expression, taking her eyes off to see that Lucas was changing the frequency of the walkie-talkie. “Maybe even try to have some positivity for once in your life, damn.”

“I’ll tell you what…. If you get me out of these cuffs here..” Axel gestured towards his hand that was handcuffed to the pipe. “And I’ll be all sunny positivity for you and miss Faybee.” He suggested. Then gestured towards the hedge clippers abandoned nearby. “See those hedges over there?.. Get ’em for me. Mm?… Make it worth your time, both of y’all?… Come on. Get me out of these things.”

“What?…. So you could be my ass again or call me a….-“Axel cut off Lucas as he tried to speak on his behalf as if he weren’t in the wrong. “Come on, it ain’t personal; it’s just your kind and my kind ain’t meant to mix. That’s all….” The girl in the black jacket shot a death glare at the asshole. “It don’t mean we can’t…. Work together, parley.. As long as there’s a mutual understanding.” A loud rumble of thunder echoed from the sky as it rang in the distance. “So….. What do y’all say?”

“Guess you want me or Faye to get you that rifle over there, so you could shoot that cop when he comes back up, huh?” Axel laughed at Lucas’s response before sighing, realizing that the two of them weren’t laughing. “Huh.”

Everyone had gone back to the roof an hour later, informing only Faye and Lucas, since Axel gave less of a flying fucking that walkers had somehow broken through the first glass door to the store and that they had less chance of getting out. “The construction sites over there…. Those big trucks always have a key on them.” He passed the binoculars over to Andre, who’d taken them to look over at the spot Michael was talking about that had been abandoned since the dead started walking.

“You’ll never make it past those walkers….. Not a chance.” Andre stated, moving the binoculars down from his face as he’d seen the reality of the situation. Micheal sighed, turning his gaze towards the people who’d saved his life at the tank: Intak and Faye… Everyone’s eyes were also on the duo as they remembered that they had saved Michael’s life.

“Y… You two got me out of that tank.”

“That’s correct…. But they were feeding from the horse…” Intak sighed as he stepped away from the edge of the roof where Micheal and Andre stood. “They were being distracted,” Faye added, her arms crossed as she stood, leaning against the wall next to Bailey. “Could we distract them again?” Micheal asked. “Oh…. Yeah, let’s listen to that guy who got us into this mess. He’s onto something…” Axel pointed from where he sat, with the handcuffs still attached to him from the pipe.

Faye rolled her eyes at Axel’s comment and walked up to where he sat with her hand in a fist and punched him square in the face, just as he had done the same thing to her a couple of hours ago, as the man growled from pain and shock. “Can you please, shut the fuck up for once in your life?..” She glared, keeping her fists clenched as she stared down at him with her eye twitching. “You don’t get to talk when you’re the one who had used all of our freaking bullets… Most of them that I had made with my bare hands, beaten the shit out of Lucas, and try to act like you’re the ‘leader’ here.. You wanna die? Okay, then that’s your choice. But don’t get in the way of the rest of us wanting to get out and trying to survive.” Faye gritted her teeth before walking away to join the group, ignoring the shocked looks from the group.

“They’re drawn by sound, right?” Micheal asked, giving Faye a proud smile and making eye contact with Intak. “Yeah…. Yeah…. Like dogs.. When they hear sound, they come.” The boy stuttered after seeing his best friend punch Axel and put him in his place with his mouth slightly agape in awe.

“They can tell us by smell?”

“Well, can’t you?” Intak inquired, emphasizing the word ‘you’ as he looked directly at Eleanor with an eyebrow raised as he crossed his arms.

“They smell dead, and we don’t?… I mean, it’s not hard to believe something so simple.” Keeho added, backing up his best friend as he stood in between Faye and Intak. Smirking slightly at how Intak kept making eye contact with Faye, knowing that in some way or another they like each other but won’t admit it.

“I mean….. He’s right….. It’s a pretty distinct smell.” Bailey nodded in agreement with Keeho. Micheal looked up at the group before nodding with a small sigh. “Okay…”

“I don’t know about this, guys… This seems unsafe.” Bailey spoke in disgust and disbelief as she and the others watched Michael and Andre drag two now-dead walkers into the retail loading inventory docks that connected to the store.

“Yeah, this seems like a bad idea…” Intak looked at the dead body of the walker in disgust as he was handed a pair of blue rubber gloves and handed the other pairs to Faye, Nalia, Andre, and Eleanor.

“They’re right, you know?…. Let’s think of something that doesn’t involve us smearing guts on us.” Andre shook his head as he handed his gloves back to Michael. “And how much do you think we've got left?” Micheal asked. “They’ve already gotten through the first set of doors.. That glass door is gonna let up, sooner or later.” He tossed two long white coats he found in a random box from the storage room.

The group stood around the corpse that was laid out in the room. Micheal sighed as he pulled the face shield and smashed the crowbar he held against the glass of the fire extinguisher axe.

He takes the fire axe from its place, dragging himself over to the group that was surrounding the corpse with his grip tightly against the weapon. He lunged forward, lifting the axe in an attempt to hit the body. Intak grimaced at the sight, moving slightly more into Faye’s side, causing the girl to tense up at the contact.

Micheal threw the axe to the side, removing the goggles from his face along with his gloves.

He bent down next to the corpse, reached into his pockets, pulled out a somewhat destroyed wallet, and frantically opened it. “His name was Branson Owens…” he glanced up at the group before looking down at the Wallet to read more. “Michigan license….. He’s probably traveled all the way here, away from family for work, before all this. Born on November 17th, 1975….” Michael hands the ID card to Keeho, who kneels next to him.

“He had 40 dollars in his wallet when. He died… A picture of, I’m assuming, his wife and kids.” He sighed as he skimmed through the wallet, frowning slightly as he saw a small picture of a family in the dead man’s wallet. Faye’s eyebrows furrowed as tears formed, feeling as Intak wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to comfort the girl. She watched as Michael flipped the family portrait over.

“ ‘Owens Family Christmas picture’… The date was December 31st, 2007… He was just like us before he died. Just a regular guy with a family, worried about bills, keeping his kids happy and safe….” He paused for a moment. “If I ever find my family, I’ll tell them all about Branson.” He’d slide the wallet back into Branson’s pocket.

“He… Was an organ donor….” Keeho broke the silence, causing the attention to shift over to him as everyone frowned at what they had all been told.

Unexpectedly and out of nowhere, Michael stood up with the axe and swung it into the walker’s face. Causing the group to groan in disgust. Faye had jerked away from Intak as she turned her head to the side to try to block the sight, as her stomach churned with nausea, as she heard the sounds of bones cracking. The girl had swallowed the feeling of bile in her throat as she placed her hand on Intak’s shoulder.

Her eyes squeezed shut as she kept muttering under her breath a mantra of cursing in disgust. “Shit. Shit. Shit. What the fuck…..”

She could feel Bailey move to her other side as the purple-dyed-headed girl, who’d turn around, wrapped her arms around Faye’s arm.

Just as the group thought it was over, another wave of crunching and squelching sounds filled the room. The brunette girl's hand flew to her mouth as another wave of nausea rose in her stomach, and she gagged.

“Oh shit…” Intak mumbled beside the girl, pressing his hands against the top of his head. Micheal took another hit, causing Faye to vomit a little in her mouth. Michael kept chopping into the walker one last time, causing everyone to groan at the sounds of bones breaking and squelching from all the blood and gore from the corpse. Besides Faye, she could sense Intak leaning forward as he dry-heaved, and her hand was immediately placed on his back as she rubbed it for comfort, not only for him but for the girl as well.

“Keep chopping…” She hears Michael say, then turns slightly to the side to see him walk away after handing the face shield and axe to Andre. Intak’s groaning got even louder, and Faye honestly couldn’t blame him…. She shut her eyes tightly, covering one hand over her nose and mouth while the other was giving comfort pats on the back to Intak. “I’m so gonna hurl…” He whined as he felt Faye rub his back.

“Just don’t do it on top of the corpse…” Michael panted, leaning over as he placed his hands on his knees.

After a few minutes of Andre and Micheal taking turns chopping into the corpse with the axe, the group had ended up smearing its blood and guts all over Micheal, Intak, and Faye to mask their scent from being discovered by the real threat. The three of them had eventually stepped out, sharing a nervous glance at each other as the dead walked by like they were nothing and tried mimicking them by dragging themselves away from the door as the sound of the sliding door behind them was closed quietly.

Faye’s eyes widened in shock and fear as a walker dragged itself up to her, their milky eyes staring into her as it leaned forward, growling at the girl. She held her breath, holding back a scream, and she closed her eyes tight as she felt the walker shove its body into her as the corpse walked away. Faye did the same as she stumbled forward, keeping her eyes on the floor.

The trio knelt, slowly dragging their bodies under the big truck that had blocked off the direction they had wanted to take. Faye could hear her heartbeat thumping out as she could see tons of the dead dragging themselves down the street. She stood back on her feet, beginning to drag herself as she and the other two men joined her.

The brunette had held her breath, trying to keep her breathing steady as walker after walker leaned over her, groaning and growling. Like they were trying to pinpoint whether we were like them or not, she almost let out a scream as she felt someone grab her hand under the poncho she was wearing, only to relax once she realized it was Intak. “It’s working…” Intak muttered, his eyes shifting in every direction while subtly looking down at his intertwined hands with Faye. “Shh…. Don’t talk….. Don’t draw attention.” Micheal muttered back firmly as he dragged himself a little in front of the two.

Faye’s eyebrows furrowed as she looked off to the side in full judgment as she watched her best friend mimic the walker that had stumbled its way towards the boy. But also feeling her cheeks heat up when he had pulled her into him as the corpse leaned over the two as it growled in their ear. The walker eventually stumbled away from the two, causing a relief to spread over them.

That relief wore off quickly as raindrops fell. The girl felt her body tense up as she saw parts of the walker's guts and blood drip from the poncho she was wearing, and she felt even more scared as she began to smell the fresh air. The rain was washing away the walker's stench.