𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙚 ||

I.

❶

"𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙄 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙄 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣'𝙩"

⊹ ➵ ⍟ ➵ ⊹
__________

The sun shone brightly in the clear blue morning sky, illuminating the darkness inside the mound where the three teenagers kept for the night.

They had made some makeshift beds with mats they found at the campsite and used their clothes for comfort and warmth.

The brightness from the sun shone onto Jeongguk's face, stirring him in his sleep. He slowly gained consciousness and opened his eyes, squinting at the sunshine.

While the world was going under, nature still remained at its full beauty. It was almost as if Mother Nature was mocking them.

The brunette boy slowly sat up, yawning loudly in the process, and started stretching his neck and limbs. Then he climbed to his feet, a little unsteady from sleepiness, and eyed the two others in their deep slumber.

Jeongguk was generally a heavy sleeper, so he couldn't figure out why some sunshine had awoken him. Or maybe it was the bothering fact that they were sleeping in the woods, hiding from cannibalistic things.

Jeongguk thought about what Lyra had called them, then snickered once he remembered Murphy's nickname for them. He couldn't exactly blame his friend either, they practically were zombies...

Good thing Jeongguk had watched a lot of apocalyptic movies and played a countless amount of games. Maybe he'd survive for longer.

He lowered his head when walking out of the mound so he prevented bumping his head, and felt at ease once he saw the peaceful view.

The sun made an illusion of sparkles dance across the blue water, and the vibrant green leaves on the trees were slowly swaying and rustling to the careful breeze. Not a single cloud was resting in the sky that was matching the blue river below.

The birds were chirping despite the possible end of humanity, and Jeongguk engraved the scene into his mind in case he never got to see such beauty again.

He sauntered over to the river with stiff limbs, bending down to cup up some cold water in his palms and splash it on his face. He winced at the contact, shaking the droplets off his face and feeling much more awake.

"Good morning, bunny boy!" a feminine voice rung from behind the said bunny boy, and Jeongguk turned around with a bright smile, ignoring the nickname.

"Morning, Lyra. I'll go clean up while you figure out how to wake up that stone," Jeongguk spoke, referring to Murphy.

Lyra snickered and showed a thumbs-up, before turning around to wake up the so-called stone.

The corners of Jeongguk's lips twitched up ever so slightly and he ran to get a towel, then turned around to walk to the water stream.

He crouched down beside it –making sure not to be as stupid as Murphy – and dipped his hand into it, grimacing at the icy cold temperature.

"Still gotta do it," he muttered and sat down completely to take off his shoes and socks so he could wash his feet.

After scrubbing his legs, torso, arms, and neck, he hauled the towel over his shoulders, and then he shook himself violently like a puppy to get rid of the cold dripping water on his freezing skin and in his brown locks.