pointed teeth || iz*one

33

Nako violently sputters out water over the side of Sakura's side under her arm, hands fisting into the taller girl's hair as her legs tighten around her waist. Sakura can feel her trembling on her back.

No matter how bad her situation was before, Nako loves the ever-familiar of riding on Sakura piggyback. She presses her cheek into the older girl's shirt and nuzzles it warmly. Somehow, she finds it in herself to muster a small smile.

"Can you sit with Hyewon for a while, Nako?" Sakura whispers in Japanese, walking round to where the other girl is splayed on the ground, hair spread in a fan around her head. She tries not to think about it as she sets Nako down, but the too-obvious ache in her muscles is taking over. Sakura stands up without a (visible) problem anyway.

The two Japanese exchange brief nods before Sakura is off again, hurrying to bring every one of her friends together.

She's seeing in something akin to the patterns of a snake's vision: blotches and shapes of two vivid colours and other monotones. The yellow of her eyes are the only thing guiding her.

I should find the lever...

Sakura doesn't function that well right now. Her biceps burn from the strain of moving so much after being tied up for that long of a period on the truck and her wrists feel like the head of a loose bobblehead that's about to snap off. Another strained step towards the shape of Chaeyeon's body tugs at her sore calves, and she falls to her knees.

She drags herself into a kneeling position with her legs tucked beneath her and crouches at Chaeyeon's side, cups her soft face in her hands, hoping they aren't too dirty, or that Chaeyeon doesn't mind the grime and remnants of salt too much.

"I'm here," Sakura barely manages to say. She wants to go to Eunbi and Chaewon too; she sees them together, leaning against the scaffold of one platform.

"Chaeyeon, I'm here. I'm safe," she croaks out. Her vision goes out for a second, a black veil falling over it, before it returns like a faulty lightbulb. Then it happens again, and Sakura's eyes return to their brown colour, dull in the darkness.

She shuts her eyes tight and tries her hardest to make the bright yellow come back again and fails.

A painful burn spreads throughout her body, searing hot and numbingly freezing cold at the same time. It wracks her body with sharp waves of pain, drawing sharp unabashed wails from her hoarse throat. The last one makes her voice crack softly.

Sakura's body is starting to fail her. The veil comes back, thicker this time, completely blinding her. She lets her eyes close and fumbles for Chaeyeon's hand. Her fingertips find the other girl's upturned palm. She closes her hand around it and brushes the bruised knuckles with her thumb before she goes unconscious and the prickling burn intensifies.

...

"Wonyong," Yujin grumbles, too lazy to pronounce the syllables of the other girl's name properly. She swats at her shoulders in an annoying fashion to wake her up. "Nyong, nyong, wonyong..."

....

STORY WILL CONTINUE WHEN THE BOOK REACHES 600 VOTES

a/n are there any international readers and where are yall from