SURVIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: LOST

“Yuqi… no…” Soyeon said, tears immediately cascading into her cheeks as she tried to stand up for help, but Yuqi’s hand prevented her, gripping her tight as she slowly lost her warmth in her arms.

“Hi…” Yuqi uttered, coughing out blood after saying that as Soyeon tore away the ties that bound her wrists with her own force, the result harming her but she didn’t care, not when the one she loved the most was dying in her arms—

“We can get you help… Yuqi… please…” Soyeon said, Yuqi shaking her head as she put her hand up, caressing Soyeon’s cheek, turning paler by the moment.

“You can’t die… Yuqi… please….” Soyeon said, cradling her ever so gently, but Yuqi just shook her head, smiling at her.

“I can, for you…” Yuqi said, coughing up blood as she struggled to breath, gritting her teeth as she clutched Soyeon’s hand tight, bringing it close to her face.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promises to all of you… That… that I can’t see you until the end…” Yuqi said, already breathing heavily as Soyeon’s tears never stopped falling, wishing that time would stop—

“I… I love you, Soyeon.” Yuqi said, slowly losing strength, as her grip onto the girl’s hand, slowly breathing her last—

Soyeon could only hear the ringing in her head as she felt Yuqi’s hand lose all strength and fall from her grasp, as she stared at her peaceful face, tears still cascading into her cheeks but she was quiet, awfully quiet, as she felt too broken inside.

She grabbed a gun that was discarded from the ground near Yuqi and fired at the man who was watching everything, gritting her teeth as she stood from her position, moving closer to him who had already collapsed and was moving closer, begging for his life as the chaos resumed before them, with some of the undead under Jiu and Soojin’s influence fought off the remaining men.

Seokhoon moved backwards as fast as he can, but Soyeon was faster than him as she put the gun’s end near his temple, threatening to shoot him, as he shivered from her touch.

“You killed her.” She mumbled, Seokhoon widening his eyes at that.

“W-What…?” he said, Soyeon pushing the gun forcefully closer into his forehead, her finger already poised over the trigger.

“I said, you… killed… her.” Soyeon said, pushing the gun closer with every word, Seokhoon already shivering.

Soyeon stood up and fired at him over and over, into different places, not stopping until the magazine was empty, as she tossed the gun onto the corpse that was before her, wiping away some of the blood that splattered onto her as she got back to sitting beside her beloved, holding her cold hand and not letting go.

“Soyeon…” Minnie said, looking at the state that here sister was in, tears cascading down again.

“Yuqi… unnie… Yuqi’s gone…” Soyeon said, Minnie nodding at that and hugging her sister tight.

“We have to bury her, Soyeonie.” Mina said, Soyeon shaking her head at that, tears falling again, pulling Yuqi’s body upwards and hugging her tight, not wanting to let go.

“No… No… she’s not going anywhere… she promised that we’ll be together… please…” Soyeon pleaded, but all the others just watched her, unable to say anything, as Soyeon’s tears cascaded down her cheeks, unable to stop it.

“Please… don’t… don’t take her away from me, please…” Soyeon said, hugging Yuqi tight, gritting her teeth as she didn’t want to let go, her heart slowly breaking to pieces—

“We have to bury her, Soyeon.” Minnie repeated, those words sending a wave of realization unto the girl, as she slowly let go, staring at Yuqi who appeared to be sleeping, but red coated her clothes, her blood staining her clothes and Soyeon’s.

Soojin rushed in and hugged her tight, Soyeon breaking down and hugging her tight, crying into her arms, until she was tired, but the tears did not stop.

“It’s alright… we’re here.” Soojin said, Soyeon not reacting to that as she just cried, letting the grief and the sadness take over her, Soojin covering her eyes as Minnie and the others hoisted Yuqi’s body up, taking it somewhere peaceful to bury her properly.

“My… My paradise…” Soyeon said, reaching out for Yuqi, the last thing she sees before she falls into unconsciousness, Soojin there to catch her.

“This… where did you get all this? This is bad.” Shuhua said, trying her best to not hurt the girl, applying some medicine onto her back that was still fresh.

“They… They whipped me as punishment because I didn’t say where you guys were. I knew where you stayed for the night, and was about to go there after Soojin freed me from the laboratory, but… I was taken before I could reach all of you.” Miyeon said, tears falling as she saw Soyeon sleeping soundly, tears still falling from her eyes.

“It’s my fault, you know…” Miyeon trailed off, Shuhua raising her brow at that.

“What do you mean, unnie?” Shuhua asked, Miyeon sighing at that as she looked at Shuhua, and the girl could see her fear, pain and anger, as the young er let the girl speak.

“From Paradise… if I just stuck with all of you, I wouldn’t have been kidnapped at the first place. I locked myself in my room because I was sulking since Minnie was too busy that day, because of the murder happening… But if I knew that I would be taken that night, then I would have stuck with you—”

“Don’t say that. It’s not anyone’s fault, alright? It’s the fault of the people who are too evil that they put the world into this. Yuqi… I saw her. She ran into the line of fire, even if Gahyeon could easily kill her, just for Soyeon. I think… she decided at the start that she would do anything just to see Soyeon alive, even if it means dying for her.” Shuhua said, putting on a new bandage for the girl, Shuhua in disbelief because some of the girl’s wounds were already healing, despite the short period of time.

“Tell me… how did Gahyeon imitate you?” Shuhua said, Miyeon sitting up and still flinching at the pain that stroke her back, but she managed to sit up.

“Gahyeon… she kissed me, and immediately she could imitate my form, even my voice, and she said that… that she knew all of my memories because of that.” Miyeon said, clasping her hands together as Shuhua nodded at that, holding her hand.

“We have to be there for Soyeon, no matter what.” Shuhua said, Miyeon nodding at that.

“This would destroy her, so we need to be there for her to catch her so she could put herself back together again.” Shuhua said, seeing Minnie approach them, Miyeon seeing that the girl was avoiding her, giving her a glare before going away.

“What happened between you two?” Miyeon said, as she was only brought to the scene when Soyeon already had the gun trained on her forehead, missing the part that explained why Shuhua was acting like that.

“I… At the initiation last year, when we went to the Pilgrims… and went back to the city with Soojin and Mina… we encountered a man that threatened us, since we went to the convention center to gather some guns. We wounded him, since he would leave his daughter for the sake of his own selfish safety, but before we could finish the job someone else killed him, and we were forced to kill everyone that was there, since they attacked us… I didn’t know who that man was, until someone uttered his name. He was Shuhua’s father.” Minnie said, Miyeon widening her eyes at that.

“You mean…”

“Shuhua’s father got himself involved with the rebels that were part of the people that attacked us, and the people that Soojin’s older brother, Soo Jung, got affiliated with. They were the ones that killed him, but Shuhua won’t believe that; she’s angry at me.” Minnie said, Miyeon sighing at that as she hugged the girl, gently flinching as Minnie almost touched some of her wounds.

“You… Are you alright? Can… Can I see?” Minnie said, Miyeon nodding at that as she took off some of the bandages and showed her bare back to Minnie, the Thai widening her eyes and gritting her teeth, tracing some of the ones that were already scars, but the touch made Miyeon flinch, as Minnie’s fingers were cold.

“Miyeon… I’m sorry I couldn’t prevent them from doing this to you—” Minnie said, but Miyeon stopped her from continuing her sentence.

“Stop. It’s not your fault, alright? As Shuhua said, it’s no one’s fault but the people who made the world into this are the ones that should take responsibility for every death that they earned by these things that are happening.” Miyeon said, hugging her tight as the Thai helped her put the bandages on again, hugging her tight.

“I love you.” Both of them said, hugging each other, feeling peace.

“I was right. You… You’re here.” Shuhua uttered, looking at Soojin who refused to look at her, fiddling with her fingers.

“You… You trusted me, even if we were the ones that were part of the people that are behind everything?” Soojin said, Shuhua nodding at that as she held the girl’s hand, intertwining her fingers with the girl’s.

“I know that you have a reason for that, and that you won’t harm me, Jinjin.” Shuhua said, tears falling, Soojin looking at her and pulling her in for a hug, ruffling her hair.

“I’m here…” Soojin said, Shuhua nodding at that as she hugged the girl back, clutching her shirt tight.

“But if you believe that I have a reason for doing that… You have to give Minnie a chance.” Soojin said, Shuhua scoffing at that and shaking her head.

“She killed my father, Jin. Even if my father’s a jerk, he went here to find me, I know that. What if he would have found me if Minnie didn’t meet him and kill him?” Shuhua said, Soojin sighing at that as she sat the girl down, holding her hand tight.

“Your father didn’t want to find you, Shuhua. I was there when it happened; it wasn’t Minnie who killed him. Rather, Minnie killed the person who killed him, and rescued a baby that was there, for its mother killed herself thinking that we were going to kill her. Minnie would not do those kinds of things if it would not protect all of us, Shu.” Soojin said, Shuhua gritting her teeth at that as Soojin sighed, letting Shuhua think about everything silently.

“What if you were in my situation, and your friend killed someone you love?” Shuhua said, Soojin sighing at that as she held the girl’s hand.

“I’m the evil one here, Shuhua. If you killed anyone that I love, I’d be grateful because that would put them out of their misery of being related to me, but… if it was your side of the story… I’d forgive her, still. She did it for our safety, Shuhua.” Soojin said, Shuhua looking down at the ground, then staring at Minnie who was talking with Miyeon.

“She isn’t pressuring you to forgive her, you know. She’s waiting for you to forgive her, giving you space so you could think about everything.” Soojin said, Shuhua pulling her and hugging her tight.

“But besides that, unnie… I’m happy that you’re here.” Shuhua said, Soojin smiling and nodding at that as she ruffled the hair of the younger, hugging her tight.

“I’m not going anywhere, Shushu.” Soojin said, Shuhua chucking at the sudden nickname.

When Soyeon woke up, all she could think of was her.

“Hey, captain.” She imagined the girl would say, then hug her tight, but she was gone.

If everything that she did up until now felt right for her, then why was everything slipping away from her fingers?

She felt lost.

“Hey… how are you?” Minnie said, Soyeon only fiddling with her fingers, unable to speak anything as Minnie sighed with understanding, hugging the girl tight.

“Not… fine…” Soyeon said, managing to utter those two words before her tears cascaded down again, Minnie wiping those tears away before it could fall down, patting her back.

“We’re here, alright? I know… I know that losing Yuqi is breaking your heart, but you have to stand up again. The fight isn’t over; the people that are responsible for everything that has been happening is still free, and would be doing worse things than this. They’re searching to kill us so they could spread the virus to the world, and we have to stop them.” Minnie said, Soyeon not responding to that as she just stared at the ground.

“Where… where did you bury her? I… I want to go to her.” Soyeon said, Minnie nodding at that as she got out of the chair, holding Soyeon’s hand and taking her towards the site where they buried Yuqi’s body, finding a spot where the sunset hit them, a few flowers decorating the newly dug up grave, with a makeshift marker, as well as a lab gown placed onto the marker that they had found somewhere.

“The flowers were Mina’s idea, and the lab gown was Jaechan’s idea.” Minnie said, Soyeon sitting down in front of the grave, letting her tears fall.

“She… She broke my promise… I told her that she shouldn’t die because of me, but…” Soyeon trailed off, her tears falling down onto the ground, her hands digging onto the soil, her heart slowly breaking at that.

“She broke all of our promises by doing that, but it was her choice, Soyeon. She loved you, and she couldn’t stand watching you die—”

“If she loved me, she should have chosen to live, not save me!” Soyeon said, running away before Minnie could even catch her, Jaechan nodding at Minnie as he chased after her, Minnie sighing at that.

We’re all lost here, Minnie thought, staring at the grave one last time.