A/N: I will be taking a study break, so the updates will be affected. Until my exams done, the updates will be once a week (usually Monday). I will post the owed chapters after my exams are done, and before April ends!

XG 109 - Pretend to be dead bodies

"What are the plans now? Please say we have a plan?" Among them, Ash was the most fearful of the turn of events, because he was the weakest in combat power. He had joined today's outing just to help out with carrying stuff, mostly, but why would it suddenly turn into territorial war?

"Ask Brother Xunsu," Wong Xue Guo said uncaringly.

Ash gazed sadly at Wong Xue Guo, as he had hoped she would say something because Kang Xunsu always listened to her. But she ignored him in favour of the message she just received. Smiling cutely, she relayed what she read.

"My father says Sister Lan Yan will be coming over with Brother Hong Yan to help us." That was the most modest translation she could say. Her father had said it was enough with only sending the siblings because no human would be difficult for them to beat up into submission.

"... It will take a long time for them to arrive, right?"

"Umm. They are coming straight from the lab."

Ash covered his chest with his palms. "Ugh, I miss muscles."

"You mean Brother Xunsu's muscles? He makes you feel safe with them, right? Let me tell you, Beom Seok has nicer muscles than him." With a saintly smile, Wong Xue Guo sent Ash's attention to Beom Seok.

"How do you know that?" Kang Xunsu asked suspiciously.

"I saw you guys compete who among yourselves had more impressive muscles." She had never thought men would be so silly and boring. It was like women comparing among themselves on who had bigger boobs.

When she saw Chen Yibo was staring at the naked torsos rather avidly, she had warned him not to follow their retarded behaviour.

Beom Seok turned his head away to look out of the window, acting dedicated to his guard duty to hide his embarrassment of having a young lady see his childish antics.

"Sister Xue Guo..." Kim Sung-Ho called out softly. After getting her attention, he asked, "Are we really going to bomb the place? Then kill everyone inside?"

"... Who told that?" The flabbergasted Wong Xue Guo asked.

Turns out, it was the smiling Kwangsu that told Kim Sung-Ho what could possibly be the plan.

"While one of the brutal ways to reduce new zombies was to kill humans, we could also create more soldiers with humans. That cult guy might be the only one we need to eliminate, including his hardcore followers if they refuse to 'reform' themselves," Beom Seok said.

Wong Xue Guo stared at the public hall with lifeless eyes and then turned to Kang Xunsu. "We are only here to get supplies, and spy on what the cult guy is doing for Jihyo. Why do we take on such difficult tasks now with no necessary preparation done? Just because those idiots have the urge to suicide does not mean we need to follow them."

Kang Xunsu stretched his neck, easing the tight spot. "Your father isn't coming?"

"He isn't coming." Resting her head on the window, her thick braid hit the window with a small thud. "Our strength isn't enough to go against a group of survivors, much less an ability user, or knowing if there is really only one ability user. We do not know how many people there are, and what their strengths are. It's too risky."

"Agreed," L.L. spoke up. "But if we want the next golden opportunity, it will be seven days later."

L.L.'s hint was caught by Wong Xue Guo, who then pursed her lips in annoyance. Next week would be the time for a trial experiment and everyone would be called back to protect the base.

"Of course, we could also ignore the alliance and rob what we need from them," Kang Xunsu suggested. "If we are able to suppress them all."

That was not a good idea either. Musihada does not start off with a good reputation among the survivors. It was only now after they actively hunted for zombies did their reputation get better. Just one small act of cruelty would send their reputation back down to shambles.

"There are some other electronic stores, but if we go around searching, we will be alerting other people. It would also be dangerous to back out first in the alliance. We will be making them our enemies," Beom Seok shared his concern.

"Then how do you plan on dealing with the cult people?" Wong Xue Guo pressed. "Start a fire before they start theirs?"

"Now, now, missy, that is a dangerous idea. We are the good people, not bad." Kang Xunsu chastised.

"What are you thinking? The fire is there to lure them out of the public hall so that L.L. and Sung-Ho could shoot them from the top in open space," Wong Xue Guo said righteously as if she was wronged.

Kang Xunsu's arched eyebrow told her he did not buy it.

"I like that plan." L.L. rubbed his gun with fierce eyes.

"Don't. The fire will have them abandon the innocent people and flee by themselves. Why are we helping them burn people?" Kang Xunsu said exasperatedly.

"What if Ash and Kwangsu sneak in when the fire starts and rescue the people?" Kim Sung-Ho suggested.

"Then risk them inhaling smoke and faint? Too dangerous," Beom Seok shot it down and then asked Chanyeol and Kwangsu, "Do you know what the leader of their group looks like?"

"He always covered his appearance by wearing a white robe. But we know his gender is male, and seemingly a young man from his voice. His height is about the same as him." Chanyeol pointed to Ash.

"So we don't even know what he looks like. Fantastic," Ash murmured bitterly.

"What time do they start their sacrifice? There does not seem to be any movement," Kim Sung-Ho said as he peered through the binoculars.

Pressing her forehead on the window, Wong Xue Guo scanned the surroundings and caught onto something moving. "There's people."

It was a group of teenagers around Wong Xue Guo's age or younger. They had ditched their school uniforms for comfortable clothes and they did not look well treated during these months, each holding their own choice of weapon. Their arms and legs were wrapped with protective covers and do not look easy to move with them. They were walking rather close to each other, seeking strength and comfort with body contact.

Their car's engine was switched off, but one of them was still able to spot them. At first, the girl looked scared, perhaps thinking they were zombies locked in the car. But after a few glances, she confirmed they were living people and excitedly informed her friends.

"Their eyes are unnecessarily sharp," Wong Xue Guo complained and pulled her head away from the window.

"If they can't see us from this close, they must be blind," Kang Xunsu retorted but was also not happy being noticed either.

"Our windows are tinted. They must have x-ray eyes to be able to spot we are not zombies," Wong Xue Guo mocked.

"Why do they come closer?" Ash asked dubiously when the group started to approach their car.

"Should we drive away? Or pretend to be dead bodies?" Kim Sung-Ho's eyes widened.

"We look too clean to pass off as dead bodies," Ash said.

"Let's see what they want," Beom Seok suggested. He waited until one of them knocked on their window before he rolled down the back window, only an inch wide.

"Are you from a survival base?" A girl with a pair of bright eyes underneath her thick-framed glasses asked hopefully.

"No."

The girl stared at Beom Seok, her eyes silently accusing him of lying. But Beom Seok was not lying, because Musihada Laboratory was not a place where survivors could seek safety. As for those survivors camping at the Musihada Land, they were just staying there without formal permission. It was already generous of them not to kick them out.

"We are going to the church. If you are heading the same way, can we go together?" The girl boldly requested.

"No."

The girl grew disgruntled at Beom Seok's short, unexplained answers.

A lanky boy with a black headband holding his long hair back from his face tugged at the girl's hand. "Seonmi, if they don't want to help, just leave them be."

"But..." Seonmi eyed the people inside the car that was clearly well-armed. They looked strong, except for the masked girl seated on a guy's lap on the passenger seat. The car was not small, but it did not have enough space for five grown men, two boys and one woman.

Wong Xue Guo did not want to squeeze into the back seat, so she treated Kang Xunsu's thighs as her chair. His thick thighs were enough to provide cushion not to hurt her butt.

Beom Seok raised a hand and pointed in the direction of the church, whose building could be seen with naked eyes. "It's not far away, why would you need company?"

They had survived this long, what are they still scared of?

Instead of the courageous Seonmi, Wong Xue Guo was attracted to the only person wearing a school uniform carrying his schoolbag among the group. Unlike the others that had wrapped their hands and legs with some layer of protection from zombies' bite, this guy has no 'armour' at all.

He was clinging onto the only adult in their group like a spoiled little brother that needed protection. That man does not seem to mind it, with his gaze gentle as they rested on the boy clinging onto his arm. He was saying something to the boy in a soft voice, giving the impression that he was coaxing the boy.

Troublesome, was the word that immediately surfaced at the front of Wong Xue Guo's mind when she saw them.

It was not that they gave off a bad person impression, but it was because one was acting coquettish while another let him. Who knew if that coquettish guy would make trouble for the group if he was not happy and the adult let him?

"Seonmi, they might not be going to the church," the headband boy said as he tugged Seonmi again.

"They could help!" Seonmi had lowered her voice, but they could still hear the urgency in her voice. "They don't look like they are from those people from the mall."

"They look more dangerous than them," a cute, chubby guy with a baseball helmet commented without moving closer to the car.

"Do you mean the people from that shopping mall?" Kwangsu asked, pointing in the direction of Duljjae's base. Based on Duljjae's words, the only worthy powerhouse that rivalled his base was the church. Unless he was boasting empty words.

"You are not from that group. You guys look very different from them," the headband boy said with confidence. Those crazy, dirty people would look at people as if they were things to be used, but these people looked sane and clean.

"We are all human. What's so different between us and them?" Beom Seok asked.

The headband boy and the chubby boy exchanged a glance before nodding. "Yup, not them." Those people would have yelled or beaten them if they talked that way to them.

Beom Seok was amused, and also happy to hear they were different from those trashs. 

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