Seated beside Qiyu, Joon Woo was as twitchy as a fresh undead corpse. He watched with increasing anxiety as tensions escalated in the group with every new revelation. The woman they rescued from the trunk, Sinjin, was like a flamethrower, dishing out miniature bombs at them before dealing out one big fiery explosion. 

He couldn't even keep up with the stuff that had been thrown at them. His thoughts were jumbled like spaghetti in a pot. He glanced at Shula who was sitting a distance away. She was chewing her bottom lip in deep thought. If she hadn’t outright rejected Sinjin’s theories, that meant the theories had some merit to them.

Meanwhile, the debate was getting more heated, with people getting to their feet and throwing accusing fingers at Sinjin. Finally, Ah Long had had enough. 

“Stop this madness,” he shouted over the rising din.

The yelling ceased. Ah Long got up and crossed his arms over his chest. “Fighting will get us nowhere. What Sinjin has told us is concerning but we have no concrete proof of what she has said. It is clear that most of us are split into two factions - those who want to try heading to Zone 2 in Paya Lebar and those who want to hedge their bets across the causeway.”

Heads nodded. Joon Woo slid a glance at Aqra seated behind him. His friend seemed more intent on crossing the border to Malaysia where his parents were. He had a feeling Shula would want the same thing. That solved his dilemma. He was firmly in the faction of causeway crossers.

“So let’s divide into two groups then,” Ah Long said.

“W-What about the car?” Devi piped up. “We only have one.”

“We’ll find another car together tomorrow. Then, we’ll split ways.”

Murmurs of agreement spread across the group. Seeing that everyone was satisfied, Ah Long clapped his hands together. “Great. Seeing that we’ve now reached an agreement, we should rest. Tomorrow, we should leave by six, before the sun is up. Who wants to take the first watch?”

Joon Woo raised his hand. “I can do it.”

Shula stood up. “I’ll accompany you.”

Ah Long nodded. “Who’s taking the second watch?”

As the others volunteered their service, Joon Woo twisted around to face Aqra. They hadn’t spoken since Aqra had saved Sinjin from her fate and Lee had died in the process. He plastered on a wry smile.

Aqra cleared his throat. His cheeks flushed and he looked down. “Can I talk with you for a while, Joon?”

“Sure.”

By his side, Qiyu silently melted away, joining Ah Long and his two kids at the far end of the atrium. Shula walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll see you at the drop-off point.”

“Grab two chairs for us, will you?” he called as she headed to the front. 

Now that they were alone, he faced Aqra awkwardly. “What’s up?”

“I…I just want to say I’m sorry.” Aqra paused. He dug his fingers into his legs, his eyes narrowing in distress. “For everything.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was so intent on rescuing everyone until I…I forgot about saving the people we already had with us.” Aqra’s voice grew hoarser by the second. His eyes were moist but the strong man blinked the tears back. “If I hadn’t tried to save… that woman, Timo would still be here. And so would that boy from your team.”

Joon Woo gulped hard. He knew it wasn’t Aqra’s fault. He had a role to play in Lee’s death as much as him. Still, Aqra was the one who bothered to check the trunk of the car, a small voice in him whispered. Aqra was the one who wanted to save the woman.

He silenced the voice with a firm shake of his head. “It’s not your fault, Aqra. You saved a lot of people today. Focus on that.”

“But it’s not just that,” Aqra protested. “I called you a…a…”

“A coward?” Joon Woo finished his sentence for him, a coy grin on his face.

“Y-Y-Yeah. That was terrible of me.”

Shrugging, Joon Woo dealt a playful smack to Aqra’s knee. “Come on, you were just calling me out. Nothing wrong with that.”

“I still shouldn’t have said that.”

“Okay, fine. You owe me then.” Joon Woo hummed in thought. “Give me two packs of cigarettes and I’ll forgive you.”

Aqra brightened up. His eyes twinkled and he slapped Joon Woo on the back. “You’ve got a deal.”

“Good.” Joon Woo chuckled, glad to see his friend was back to normal. “Now let me take the first watch and you head to sleep.”

“Don’t fall asleep on me,” Aqra joked as they got to their feet.

“Well, if I have a little nightly activity, I will be wide awake.”

Groaning, Aqra slapped his forehead. “You are incorrigible. Who would you even sleep with in this kind of situation?”

“I don’t know. The doctor seemed like my type.” Joon Woo dashed a look at Dr. Yu who flushed when their eyes met. “And apparently, I’m his type too, of course. Who could resist my dashing looks?”

Aqra waved a hand in dismissal despite the laughter building in his chest. “Okay, I’ve had enough. Good luck, Joon.”

They parted ways and Joon Woo skipped to the front where Shula waited. Her legs were propped up on a chair and the other remaining chair was for him. A table sat between them with a bottle of water resting on top. They had a good view of the scout car basking under the night sky. Rain still drummed down on the rooftop like the incessant pounding of drums in the background. 

“How was your little chat with your buddy?” she said, craning her neck to see him. 

“Good.” He plunked into the chair and unslung his rifle, propping it up beside the table. “He apologized for calling me a coward. I demanded cigarettes from him. It was a fair trade.”

Despite him being flippant about it, Shula took his words seriously. “You’re not a coward, Joon.”

“I know.”

“I mean it.”

He sighed and looked at her. She gave him that deadpan expression of hers which said not to fuck around. Grimacing, he lifted his hands in defeat. “Okay, okay. I hear you.”

“You’re thinking about her, aren’t you? Winnie.”

His eyes fluttered shut. Of course he was. His hands balled into fists by his side. No matter how cheery he acted, he couldn’t displace that nagging ball of guilt and grief that burrowed deep into his soul. A part of him felt incomplete. Like her death had caused something in him to follow her into the afterlife.

It was hard to forget her. The way she laughed, the little twinkle in her eyes when he told her a joke, the dimple in her cheeks when she smiled. Those were the good things that he wanted to keep with him. But the bad came with the good. 

He remembered the fear in her eyes, her sweaty complexion, the blood on her hands. Swallowing past the lump in his throat, he tried to stop the images from flooding his brain. Images of how she looked at him for help and how he had backed away, afraid that she had been infected. She had whispered his name. One last time. And then, she had been snatched away by the zombie they hadn’t seen coming.

It was his stupid inaction that had caused her death. If he hadn’t backed away, if he had taken her in his arms, trusted her. She would be here with them.

“Winnie would have wanted you to move on.” Shula’s voice shook him back to reality. “I know she would.”

Joon Woo opened his eyes. He forced his feelings back into that little shell of his and mustered a smile. “Yeah, she would. But let’s not talk about that. We have to move on, right?”

Shula let out a rare chuckle. “Turning my words on me, huh? Fine. What do you want to talk about?”

Joon Woo stretched his legs out and folded his arms behind his head, glad they were closing that book on his feelings. “How about our plans for tomorrow?”

“I think we have a better chance crossing the causeway.”

“So you still think something’s wrong with our plasma shields?”

“Definitely.”

“Then that means you trust that woman? Sinjin?”

Shula shook her head. “Not in the least.”

Joon Woo frowned. “Then why?”

“It’s too coincidental.” 

Shula straightened in her seat. Resting her arms on her knees, she leaned forward. “Look, her explanation makes sense. Eden can’t be trusted. I can’t put a finger on it but I’m willing to bet Eden had a hand in all this. That’s the most logical explanation for everything that has happened.”

“Fair enough. But how about that stuff about Eden wanting her?”

A smirk flickered across Shula’s lips. “I could care less.”

“Yeah, but we’re going in the same direction as her.” Joon Woo snorted. “I’m not sure I want to travel in the company of a wanted person.”

Shula snuck a glance behind them. The rest of the survivors milled around the atrium, far from where they were seated. Even if their voices had carried, it was impossible to hear them over the loud rain drumming on the rooftop.

Still, out of caution, Shula lowered her voice. Her eyes trailed the mysterious Sinjin down the corridor. “Well, she can come in quite handy if she says she is who she is.”

“True.” Joon Woo leaned forward, his head barely an inch away from hers. He injected as much solemnity into his voice although the twinkle in his eyes told a different story. “Plus, I think someone here, not me of course, might find her a bit handsome for her tastes.”

Shula leveled a glare at him. When he chuckled, she shoved him in the shoulder and he landed back in his chair with an exaggerated ‘oof’.

“Come on, isn’t she your type?” he laughed.

“I’m not even going to answer that.”

“The two of you have so many things in common,” he crowed.

Shula busied herself opening her bag. “Joon Woo, stop it.”

“You’re both logical. Smart.” Joon Woo paused, a grin lighting up his face. “Mean.”

She threw a pack of cigarettes at him. “Here you go. Now get out of my face.”

Joon Woo howled with laughter. “Now I know you really like her.”

Raising her fist, Shula made to punch him. He dodged and scurried out of the chair. Her curses trailed him as his nimble feet did a small dance on the vinyl floor. He didn’t need to look over his shoulder to feel her glare scorching a circle into his back.

Well, unlike Shula, he was more than happy to pursue his desires. He took out a cigarette and placed it between his lips. His lidded eyes found the handsome doctor as he headed out. The corner of his mouth twisted into a flirtatious smile. Looks like taking the first watch was turning out to be a fun night after all.