#tlouxhimchan

Jungsuk normally spent his days off in the heart of Zone X, listening for news, checking that friends were still alive, or trading. Sometimes he wandered the outskirts of the Zone, searching for half-collapsed or rotting structures he could scavenge bits of hardware from: nails, screws, bits of wire, or anything metal that wasn’t eaten through entirely with rust. He had the chicken coop and fence to upkeep, and he could usually trade any excess to mechanics, carpenters, or anyone else who needed to do a repair job of their own.

No matter what he decided, the chickens needed to be taken care of before he left his house for the day. Jungsuk went to the chicken yard and let the hens out of the coop so they could peck about the yard. It didn’t take long for him to gather the eggs; unfortunately, there were fewer than he expected, so Jungsuk only took his allotted share instead of pocketing any extra. He had the eggs ready for the young woman who picked them up every morning and took them back to the storehouses for distribution.

Jungsuk was in the midst of emptying a little bucket of table scraps for the chickens (half-burned rice and vegetable peels, mostly) when his free day was stolen from him. A boy—eleven, twelve at most—sprinted through the ruined street only to come to an abrupt halt in front of the chicken yard. “Are you Jo Jungsuk?” The words came out in between little gasps of air.

He thumped the bottom of the bucket one more time to make sure all of the food came out. The chickens crowded around his feet, so he had to pick his way carefully through them in order to get to the gate. “Yes. Something wrong?”

“Shift Leader Ban wants you at the wall, immediately.”

The fact that the kid wasn’t shrieking about the wall being breached meant that they weren’t all in imminent danger of dying, but the fact that he was being called in on his day off wasn’t exactly good news. It meant that something was wrong. Jungsuk reminded himself that if anyone knew about his…extracurricular activities, they would come to get him with guns drawn, not trust him to show up when summoned.

It didn’t take long for Jungsuk to finish up with the chickens, put on newly broken in boots, retrieve his hunting rifle and ammo, and jog over to the wall. Shift Leader Ban was waiting near the main gate, and she waved him over impatiently when he got close. She was a fit woman in her early forties, too wiry to be called scrawny, her hair pulled back into its normal bun. The woman had been a shift leader for the patrol for over five years now, and there was no question as to why.

“I need you to lead a team of four,” she said, and Jungsuk kept his expression as neutral as possible. A team of four meant that there was a confirmed possibility of danger, and they were headed straight into it. “I’ve sent for Kim Hangah and her trainee, Park Guntae.”

Hangah was only a couple years younger than Jungsuk and had been on the wall nearly as long as he had. She was also a fantastic at her job, and the people she trained often became some of the more dependable members of the patrol. Guntae was her second trainee this year—it was a shame about the previous one—and he was eager to learn. Jungsuk thought the kid had a crush on Hangah and had said as much to her, but she had told him not to tease Guntae about it. She was very protective of the kid.

"Who’s the fourth?"

"Kim Himchan. You know him?”

“No, ma’am.” There were so many people involved in keeping watch over Zone X’s walls, enforcing curfew, and other tasks that fell under patrol duty that even someone who had been on the job for as long as Jungsuk had couldn’t know everyone involved. The name was only vaguely familiar.

“He’s got a good eye. Younger than you, but reliable—great aim—and he’s been on the wall for several years now. Carries a Glock 17 and a switchblade, if I remember right.”

That gave them a pretty good mix of weapons. Jungsuk had a hatchet and his hunting rifle, Hangah’s up-close-and-personal style meant she usually had a machete and a hunting knife, and Guntae carried a pipe and was learning how to handle a shiv better. It still didn’t put Jungsuk entirely at ease. While Shift Leader Ban had apparently thought whatever mission she was going to send them on was safe enough to send a trainee on, she still assigned three patrol veterans.

Hangah and Guntae showed up a little later, and Jungsuk chatted with them a bit while they waited for the last member of their team to show up. They didn’t have to wait too long—after a couple of minutes, Shift Leader Ban shouted, “Over here!”

Jungsuk glanced in the direction she was waving. He hadn’t been able to connect the name to the face, but he did recognize the young man—caramel brown hair, worn jeans, plain t-shirt and jacket, glock in its holster—hurrying over to them. They hadn’t ever talked much, but Jungsuk had the impression that Himchan was more on the cold, stand-offish side of the spectrum. Jungsuk thought they might have been on a large team together once a year or so ago.

Himchan greeted Shift Leader Ban, Hangah, and Guntae in that order, and he even gave the skittish Guntae a small, reassuring smile. Jungsuk revised his opinion on Himchan’s personality a little—it was good sign that Himchan had recognized Guntae’s nervousness and tried to do something to soothe him.

“Jungsuk, this is Kim Himchan. Himchan, this is Jo Jungsuk. He’ll be leading the team today,” Shift Leader Ban added for everyone’s benefit.

“Glad to have you with us,” Jungsuk said.

That earned him a small nod. “Glad to be here. I look forward to all of us coming back in one piece.” Himchan glanced at Guntae and smiled again.

Hangah looked pleased by that, and Jungsuk relaxed a little more. It was always tricky doing missions with a training pair. The teacher had to split her attention between what was going on around her and what her trainee was doing, and that could put everyone at greater risk. But that same risk could be mitigated when everyone on the team looked out for the trainee, and it seemed as if Himchan was going to be on board with that strategy.

“A gatherer almost got himself skewered today,” Shift Leader Ban said when she had everyone’s attention again. “Someone out there nearly hit him with an arrow, but he didn’t get a good look at who it was before they ran off. Bandit, we think, or else we’ve got a bastard inside Zone X who’s having fun taking potshots at his own people.”

Hangah scowled at that; Guntae bit his bottom lip, a familiar, nervous movement. Himchan frowned and shook his head, and his narrowed eyes said he was more than a little displeased by the story. Jungsuk just hoped Shift Leader Ban was right that there was only one bandit. It was always hard to predict with them. Bandits often ran solo, but every now and then they joined up into groups.

“Anyhow, I need the four of you to go investigate. See if you can find anyone out there who tried to do some unnecessary murdering.” After Shift Leader Ban explained where the incident had taken place, she added, “If you don’t find sign of anyone in the next three hours, just come back. Got it?”

“Got it,” Jungsuk said. Once Shift Leader Ban walked away, he turned to his temporary team. “Himchan, I want you up front with me. Hangah, Guntae, you can take the rear. Ready to go?”

Himchan nodded. “Let’s go.” His voice was quiet, but his words were sharp and precise. It was clear that he was taking this assignment seriously.

“We’re ready,” Hangah said. She clapped her hand on Guntae’s shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Guntae echoed her, and it looked like he might actually believe what he said.