The Good Land: No More | TWICE & ITZY Book 2

10) Knowing Who We Are

"W-We have to keep... going." Dahyun sobbed as she wiped her tears.
"Dahyun's right, we don't know if there's more coming." Momo gave an assuring look and held her hand towards her.
Dahyun nodded and accepted it, pulling her up to her feet. Sana held out her compass, following the direction of South East where the sun was almost positioned perfectly.

The walk seemed forever, they already lost a lot of time by resting soon maybe more infected people would come. They picked up the pace and the group was silent, too silent that Yeji noticed.
"For a group of thirteen, you guys are quiet." She smirked.
"It usually not like this." Ryujin spoke.
"So, what's all of your stories?" Yeji asked the group of four people with her.
They all looked at her weirdly.
"Come on, I've heard their story. Where's all of yours?"

Ryujin just shrugged, "Well, what the heck?" and proceeded to tell, "When the electricity went down, I was at a friends house. I stayed there waiting for my parents... then, apparently a huge fire broke out in the hospital where they both worked. That's when I decided to run away. A few hours later, I met up with a group of teens. From there on, I stayed with them." She sighed.
"I'm sorry about your group." Yeji said.
"It's fine. They were dumb idiots who always liked trouble, we promised each other to never shed a tear for another."

"Does that mean you'll never shed a tear for us?" Yuna asked with a smile.
Ryujin laughed, "I wouldn't shed a tear ever."
"Alright, whatever you say." Lia smiled, "I guess I'll go." She took a deep.
"Before my parents died, we just spent all our lives in that house and even with the electricity gone, we were pretty happy. The only thing that reminds me of them is this picture." She took out a small photograph she kept in her back pocket showing her mother, her father and herself as a baby.
"You look cute." Chaeryeong smiled.

"I just wished I could have saved them."
"Hey, it's okay. We couldn't have seen this." Ryujin gave her a reassuring smile.
Yeji nodded and looked over to Chaeryeong.
"Ah yes, well—It was always my sister and I, together even back then, when everything went down we lost our parents in a riot and we just always seek for safety. Now that we're separated, I just hope she's safe."

They all listened carefully and then turning to Yuna.
"Right... to be honest, I really don't remember."
"You don't?" Lia asked.
"Yeah, I just remember being in The Good Land, that's all. There's nothing exciting." Yuna shrugged her shoulders.
"Are you kidding me?!" Yeji exclaimed, raising her vice just enough to startle everyone, "From what I heard from the others that it's what everyone dreams of."

"Well, I guess so. I just haven't experienced that much of the outside world after that incident." Yuna said.
There was an unnerving silence, Lia quickly butted in, "What about you Yeji? What happened to you?"
Yeji smiled and shook her head, "Hmm, I don't know. I don't feel comfortable with people I don't know."
They all gasped and with a sharp look they scoffed at her.
"That's not fair, we told you our story." Chaeryeong said.

"Fine, I'm just joking. Somehow I do trust you in some ways. I'll tell you." Yeji took a while to speak, "I ran away from home just a few days before the electricity was gone. I just wanted to be free from the restrictions and negativity. My parents never supported me and so I ran away."
"Is that when you found your group?" Ryujin asked.
"Not exactly, I secretly stayed at a friends house and when the power went off, I panicked and ran left and I saw what happened at the Assembly hall." She paused, "For days, I was on the streets trying not to get myself killed and that's when I found a group that accepted me in..."

"But?" Yuna spoke.
"But I never actually felt part of the group, I was always the outcast and yet I still followed them around... for years... and now they left me, shows how much I was right." Yeji just sighed.
Yuna walked by her side grabbing her arm, "You have us, we would never leave you."
The others nodded and gave her a promising look.
In a way, it made Yeji feel better and a little more trusting. These were the friends she needed, those who actually made her feel welcome.
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They came to a stop, Jihyo heard their desperate gasp for rest, those at the back were struggling to keep up.
"We should stop here." Sana turned back, she looked for her friends approval as well as the youngest group who were lagging behind.
"Let's rest, but I suggest we should continue through the night just to be safe." Jihyo said.

The cold night had just rolled in, nothing but the stars filled the empty dark space, the crescent moon illuminated their surroundings. No fire was present; it would be too risky, only the cold air that welcomed them, rushing around them.
Momo grabbed a few blankets she had packed and gave it to the youngest of their group. They accepted it gratefully and wrapped themselves together.
Momo had one to spare, she offered it to the others, but they refused.

The only person they thought needed it the most was Dahyun, who was slightly out of the group's perimeter. Without hesitation, Momo covered Dahyun with the blanket and sat beside her.
"You didn't have to do that." Dahyun slightly smiled.
"Thought you need someone to talk to." Momo inched closer, "Don't beat yourself up for what happened, it's naturally to freeze like that."
"But... I wanted to prove myself that—I can do it. I don't want to be useless anymore." She grunted.
Momo shook her head, "You're not useless, you out of all people kept morale high in this group. You don't have to prove yourself or anyone anything."

Dahyun nodded her head, "And yet somehow, I want be like one of you. Helping each other, I just cowered and hid, almost getting myself killed."
They both kept silent, Momo looked at her friend with a bright smile.
"I know you want to help, but you can't do it for the sake to feel a part of the group. You already are." Momo stood up, "Just remember that."
Dahyun watched her as she rejoined the group, she didn't know how to respond and yet she decided that being part of the group wasn't enough. Only herself can prove her worth of the group, but her cowardly self was not helping.
She didn't want others to think of her as sweet and innocent. All she wanted to be is brave.
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It was around midnight as they would believed it to be, the moon rose to the top towering over them like a spotlight carrying on with their journey on the long pathway.
The tiredness did not bother them, only the act of adrenaline still lingered around their bloodstream, still leaving a lot of them shook.
The awkward silence did not help with the walk in the dark. It was time for them to learn, Mina thought that Chaeryeong knew more about the infected beings and decided to ask.
"So, Chaeryeong? Do you know anymore of those things?"
Chaeryeong scratched her head, "I know that it's not an infectious disease, so a scratch or bite could infect you, but it's the bile you should be worried about."

"You mean the black sludge they were drooping?" Jeongyeon asked
"Yup, what I heard was that this was a failed experiment for a cure and so it created a monster and a made the bile even more disgusting. They soon realised that this bile had the chemicals to change someone's biology and become savages as seen in the experiments."

A lot was to take in, only Chaeryeong knew what happened and how they worked. Surprisingly, she remembered so much before running away.

"So watch out for the bile especially in open wounds, it's quite a thick substance and distinctively a dark colour." Chaeryeong said.
"None of the infected released bile except from their mouths." Ryujin spoke.
"Yes, I remembered in school I was taught that bile is produced in the liver and stored in the gall bladder and that was a more yellowish colour. But in the lab, they tested that the biology changed somehow and even their saliva was filled with the substance turning it more darker."

"This is a failed experiment?" Jihyo questioned.
"To find a cure, yes." She nodded, "Well that's what the scientists told me."
"Interesting." Mina mumbled.

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