Astronomy // Duty After School

Chapter Forty-One.

(Y/n) watched the rain fall pleasantly, holding the earmuffs Jang-su had gotten for her closer to her ears. She was finally going out as part of the search team. While she loved the rain and even enjoyed being in it for short periods, she wasn't fully thrilled about needing to travel in the rain. Empty jugs and containers were strung about to collect the rain to later filter it and use it. It had been a few days since they left. Chun-ho had been right in that their journey would be short as they made it within a day with only one break for rest. They presently chose a police station to reside in, one that still had running water but as it was in the center of the city, it wasn't ideal due to the high chance they could be attacked during the night. On the bright side, they found boxes of bullets, which were immediately added to their stash.
On their first full day there, the first search group had been sent out to search an indicated area, one on the outskirts of the city that could be used as a more permanent home. (Y/n) wanted to go out on the first day (so she could stay back until the next cycle), but was shut down due to her injury. Bo-ra, Tae-man, Na-ra, So-chul, Jang-su, Il-ha, Yeong-shin, Deok-jung, and Wu-taek were the ones to go out on the first day. They returned emptyhanded in terms of buildings, but they did find combat-suited clothes (because Chun-ho wasn't strict about their uniforms) and other items of entertainment. The second group— So-yun, Jun-hi, Yu-jeong, Ae-seol, Yeong-su, Yeon-ju, Yeong-hun, So-yeon, and Chi-yeol— had also been unsuccessful with finding any buildings as their group had been actively avoiding Cells instead of shooting them and continuing on their way.
For the third day, (Y/n), Ha-na Sun-yi, and Hui-rak were the only ones that hadn't gone out yet. That left them and five others, specifically from the first group, to head out. So-chul, Yeong-shin, Il-ha, Tae-man, and Wu-taek were those five.

"Maybe you should stay back," Jang-su gently suggested, having no intention of angering (Y/n). "You get sick a little too easily."

"Do not," (Y/n) denied.

"You think she'd develop a better immune system," Yu-jeong commented, pulling the hood of (Y/n)'s camo poncho further over the girl's head.

"What the hell?" (Y/n) moped. Given that it would be difficult to reach beneath her poncho to grab a magazine, she instead wore a belt over her poncho. The belt had holsters for her magazines, so it was a win in her book. The rest of the search group also wore different forms of raincoats. Sun-yi and Hui-rak were the only other one wearing the camo ponchos they had as the boys considered the ponchos to be silly and instead wore clear plastic raincoats. When the rain stopped, (Y/n) skipped down the steps to go join Ha-na and Sun-yi. The latter pouted and linked arms with (Y/n), leaning into her. "You heated your hot pack, right?"

"Yeon-ju's warming it until we leave," Sun-yi answered.

"Same for me," (Y/n) said.

"I don't want to go out today," Sun-yi said. "But I will if I'm going with you."

"Platoon Leader," Ha-na called, jogging to said man. "I'm scared I'll get sick with all this rain..." A look of disbelief crossed Chun-ho's face.

"If you find someone willing to go in your place, I'll let you stay," Chun-ho reluctantly relented.

"Me!" Deok-jung said bravely, raising his hand. Chi-yeol flinched at the sudden outburst. "I'll go in Ha-na's place." Sun-yi pursed her lips.

"He totally likes her, doesn't he?" Sun-yi asked. Before (Y/n) could answer, Sun-yi shrieked as she was hit with the majority of the splash caused by Hui-rak jumping in a puddle. "Hey!" Sun-yi seethed, kicking at the puddle and splashing Hui-rak right back. (Y/n) turned on her heels, moving away from the pair to avoid getting wet just yet. The other members didn't have it much better as they had to stay far from Tae-man, who had roped Deok-jung in on hopping from puddle to puddle. She strode over to Yeong-shin, So-chul, and Chun-ho to get a better idea as to where they were going and how long they'd be out.