"HELP!" A girl screamed as she tried to move the log that was currently crushing her left foot. She almost can't feel it, a sign that blood circulation had stopped on that part of her body. Moments later, another person who had a big gash on her head came running and immediately tried to lift the log. Several attempts were made but because of her small frame, she had some difficulty.

"Just hang in there okay?" Her savior said and after a few more attempts, she was able to lift it and what they both saw underneath it was more heart wrenching. It was black, swollen and most definitely broken. Not minding the blood dripping on her head, she engulfed the other person in a tight hug. Both now in tears as they cannot believe they survived what just happened to them.

Shouts were heard from different areas of the beach where they were just partying a few hours ago. They just graduated after all. Cries of help lingered in the air and as Chaeyoung walked around the shoreline, she couldn't understand how in the world she survived as well. The last thing she remembers was talking to her mother when the tsunami hit. They were swept away and with no chance of survival as they were trapped inside the car, she wonders how she woke up on land. She checked her friends as she passed by. Some are already getting assisted, some still in shock and as she looked into the water, it's crazy to think as if nothing happened at how calm it is now.

******************************
Most of them took refuge at their school while some stayed at the small villa they rented when school started. Two weeks after disaster struck, as they held on to hope of being rescued, they managed to partition certain tasks.

Mina, being the daughter of a doctor, was tasked to help with anyone injured. Her current patient is Jennie who suffered the most compared to the others. Given the fact that no cast was placed on Jennie's leg, she did everything she could to ease her classmate's pain.

"We're running low on pain killers so we're gonna rely on alternatives unless the others find some okay?" Mina said to Jennie who was holding her girlfriend Jisoo's hand as she was being examined. The discoloration and swelling had not subsided. There really wasn't anything Mina could do at this point. And if worse comes to worse, unless they get rescued, she might lose her foot. Which was really a sad case as Jennie was a brilliant dancer.

She left the room and left Jisoo, Jennie and Seulgi.

"Hey Jisoo. Thank you for making my sister happy. Even if you used me to get to her. I can see how happy she is when she's with you" Seulgi said smiling.

Jisoo's eyes widened and Jennie just rolled her eyes.

"I.. I'm sorry Seulgi" Jisoo replied with her head bowed.

"Don't worry, I'm over it"

"You better be over it or else" Jennie jokingly threatened her older sister.

Seulgi then just raised her hand, hugged both of them and left the room. When they were alone, Jisoo kissed Jennie.

"I love you Jendeukie"

"I love you more Jichu"

****************************
On another part of the beach, atop a small hill, three people gathered. Tzuyu was checking the battery percentages of the phones they gathered from their friends. An idea their president Jeongyeon had, to see if they can get a signal to ask for help. It was a good idea at that time and no one really questioned it. But it had been two weeks and no update so the others were getting antsy.

"Any luck there Tzu?" Joy asked as she and Jeongyeon joined her.

She turned off one of the phones she was holding and labeled the battery percentage it got left. "Nope. To be honest, I don't think we'd be able to get any signal. I mean, if the surrounding islands also suffered the damage here, especially in the mainland, they're prolly still fixing the towers"

"What do you think we should do Jeong? The others had been asking to have their phones back" Joy asked again.

"But they agreed to this plan, right? I think we should wait for a couple more days"

The other two just sighed.

"Chaeng said there was an old military bunker in the forest. Maybe if we find it we can check if there's any radio we can use" Joy said once again.

"This island's small but to be honest, I don't think any of us has ever explored it. And I don't think Chaeyoung has as well. I don't trust her" Jeongyeon responded.

"She's the only one among us who was actually born and raised here you know," Tzuyu said in a subtle yet sarcastic way.

Jeongyeon shook her head in disagreement then walked out. Leaving the two to sigh once again.

****************************
Back in the school, food was being rationed by Nayeon and Soojin. After getting their portion, the other classmates left and looked for their own space to eat. Some were just swallowing it just so they wouldn't get hungry, some were distracting themselves by watching SaiDa making out in the corner, while some just took a few spoonfuls and secretly gagged. They don't know how long they had to take the food they were given but with not much resources, they just try to settle with it. While eating, Wendy and Irene ran inside carrying some sort of luggage.

"Yo guys we found something!" Wendy shouted as she and Irene placed the box in front of everyone. Tzuyu, being the techy one in their batch, went closer and inspected it. She opened the latch and everyone was curious so they gathered around.

"This is a reel player. Did you find any tapes as well?" Tzuyu said after inspecting the device.

Irene then showed her a smaller package with the words The Classic written on the cover.

"That's an old movie' Rosé said as she came closer as well.

Disappointment painted on the face of their peers, Tzuyu closed the box and stood up.

"I'm gonna play with this and see if we can get this working" she said then left the hall.

The rest just continued with what they were doing. Mina went back to the makeshift clinic to check on Jennie, Sana and Dahyun went to find another place to , Irene and Wendy went back to their room and did god knows what, Jeongyeon, Momo, Nayeon, Jihyo, Yeri and Seulgi went put to scavenge for things they can use, Rosé and Lisa went out to walk in the beach while Chaeyoung went out to her spot to draw.

*****************************
Before Mina got to the clinic, she approached Joy and asked if they could find painkillers as they were already low in stock.

"Hey Joy, Jennie's condition is not improving. Do you think you can find any pain killers?"

"I'll ask Chaeyoung to go with me tomorrow Mina. We have also been talking about exploring the island in hopes of finding this bunker. Who knows, maybe we can call for help"

"Thanks Joy"

*****************************
Tzuyu was still working on the device they found and was tinkering some of the knobs and screws when Sana came to her claimed room.

"Whatcha doing there?" She greeted.

"What are you doing here?" Tzuyu answered without looking up.

"I got bored. Dahyun's knocked out high so got nothing to do"

"I'm just checking the parts so I know how to put it back once I decipher how it works"

"Why are you so into these kinds of stuff?"

"I don't know. It's fun"

"Fun like hacking all our accounts?"

Tzuyu rolled her eyes but didn't answer.

***************************
"Do we still have some alcohol here?" Irene asked as they settled in their claimed quarters. Wendy shuffled through their belongings and found one bottle of vodka. She then showed it to Irene.

"Tada! This is the last bottle I think. So we have to go out and look for more"

Irene set out two make shift cups and let Wendy pour on each.

***************************
Night came and everyone gathered in the hall. Jeongyeon said she has some announcements to make.

"It's been two weeks now and we still have not gotten any signals. I was thinking we could form a group and explore the other parts of this island. I heard there was a military bunker here somewhere. Maybe there's a radio there we can use"

A loud chatter came next. Some were more concerned about getting their phones back. Some were excited to explore. And then there were some who just went with anyone.

"If they plan to rescue us, they should've been here already. So since you got our phones and used it for nothing, I'd like to have it back" Shuhua said and some agreed.

Everyone was voicing out their reasons and Jeongyeon was trying to calm them down. So Joy stood up and towered everyone and that got their attention.

"Look, I'd like my phone back as well. Be rescued and get the hell out of this place. I miss my family. Heck I miss my dog Haetnim more. And I know you miss yours as well. If we won't be able to get out of here soon, we can at least look at the photos on our phones. In that way, we can gather our strength to face the next few days, weeks or even months here. We are all what we got and if we can't agree on something, then we might as well go our separate ways"

Seeing the opportunity, Jeongyeon joined Joy and basically just reworded what she said. After a few more discussions, they were handed back their phones and they all did what they wanted to do with it. Music was played, videos were watched, photos were stared at. They don't know how long they have to stay on the island, but Joy's words made an impact on all of them.

***************************
Early the next morning, Chaeyoung went to the beach and did some spear fishing for them to have breakfast. This was one of her tasks as she was the only one who knows how to. When she caught enough fishes, she placed them on a net and went to the hall so Miyeon and Soojin could cook them. When she was on her way out, Joy called her.

"Good Morning Chaeng"

"Good Morning Joy"

"Mina said to look for some pain killers. D'you think the chief's house is still standing?"

Chaeyoung thought for a moment. "His house is on higher grounds so it's possible"

"Wanna check it with me?"

"Sure"

They made their way to the chief's house passing by several other houses that were destroyed. Chaeyoung was the most affected as she knew the people who once lived in those houses. They got to their destination and saw the door damaged. They went inside and started checking all the cabinets.

"So Chaeyoung, you've never experienced leaving the island even once?" Joy asked as she was rummaging the drawers.

"Was supposed to but it's like the island didn't want me to leave"

"Nonsense. We can't really predict a tsunami, you know"

Chaeyoung nodded, not sure if Joy saw her response.

", marry, kill"

Chaeyoung didn't understand what her friend meant.

"You don't know that game? Okay. Options are Mina, Sana and Tzuyu. Who among those girls would you , marry and kill?"

"For real?"

Joy sighed in disbelief.

"Not for real, real. Just for the game"

"Ahhh. I don't know. Probably Sana cause who wouldn't? Kill Tzuyu cause she's weird and" she paused for a moment. Joy was already smirking. "And marry Mina"

"Nice nice"

"What was the medicine Mina wanted us to look for again?" Chaeyoung asked.

"Painkillers or antibiotics"

Chaeyoung held a small bottle and read the label. Showed it to Joy who nodded in agreement. When they got what they needed and a few others, they left the house and walked some more to find resources. They passed by a boulder where they saw a boat oddly placed and hanging.

"No way! That could help us out the island" Joy exclaimed as they came closer and Chaeyoung followed suit.

"It's got a hole on the hull and I'm not sure if I can fix it though"

"I thought your mom was a fisherwoman?"

"Yeah. She taught me to fish and swim but not really to repair boats"

"Well, maybe once we got it down we can find a way to repair it"

Chaeyoung agreed so they started climbing the boulder. Joy was ahead a few meters. Unfortunately, she slipped when the landing she stepped on gave out and she fell on the ground.

"Joy!" Chaeyoung shouted as she saw her friend lying, holding her ribs. She went down right away and immediately carried her back to the school.

*****************************
The class were just hanging out as it was still too hot to go to the beach when Chaeyoung and Joy arrived.

"HELP! SHE FELL AND I THINK SHE BROKE HER RIBS!" Chaeyoung explained while catching her breath. With the height and weight difference between the two, she really struggled. Mina immediately lifted Joy's shirt and true enough, her left side was bruised. She got her stethoscope and checked her breathing.

"! Her left lung is not making any sounds. Let's bring her to a bed" The ones closer to them helped lift her up and they ran to the clinic. After a closer inspection, Mina scrambled to get her dad's medicine book and checked what she could do. Seeing her girlfriend panicking, Jeongyeon asked everyone to leave the room. Chaeyoung stayed behind as she didn't want to leave her friend. Mina was still busy scanning the book so Chaeyoung kept Joy awake.

"That boat can save us, Chaeng" Joy said in a hoarse voice. Her injury was restricting her breathing.

"Save your energy Sooyoung"  Chaeyoung said then Joy held Chaeyoung's hand tighter and whispered. "I'll marry her too"

Before Chaeyoung could answer, Mina came back and said she had to puncture a whole so she can breathe properly so she disinfected the scalpel and positioned her hand on Joy's injury. She was shaking as this was her first time to do such a thing. Disinfecting or bandaging a wound is easy but this was too advanced for her. Seeing this, Chaeyoung held Mina's hand which was trembling and looked straight in her eyes.

"You can do this Minari. I believe in you" it calmed her down in a way so she placed her hand once again where it was supposed to be.

"D...don't b...bother Mina" Joy said. "I...I'm n...not gonna m...make it"

Tears fell on all their eyes and Mina dropped the scalpel the same time that Joy closed her eyes and took her last breath.
On the other bed, Jennie and Jisoo were just listening and they too had tears streaming down their faces. Joy was too young to die.

The news flew by so quickly and everyone was devastated. That night, they covered Joy's body and they surrounded the firepit they made to cremate her body. Burying her was no option as they wanted to bring her back home to her family. The ones closest to her like Irene, Wendy, Seulgi and Yeri said a few words and once the ceremony ended, they left one by one, leaving Chaeyoung who was just staring at the fire.

As she recalled the events leading to this day, she suddenly remembered what her mother said before the tsunami hit. She was given a knife, a knife that once belonged to her real mother. She had so many questions that night but she never got her answer. She did remember being told to listen to a message her mother left and so she got her phone from her pocket and saw that there was indeed a message.

"Chaeyoung, by the time you hear this message, I will probably be gone. I'm sorry for not being able to take responsibility when your other mother left. I know you grew up well. Now that you've also reached the right age, it's now time for you to know who you really are -"

The message stopped and a notification that she had 0% battery popped up. Confused with what the message was and added in the fact that she wasn't able to fully hear it, the ground shook suddenly and she felt like her mind was going to explode.

She was then transported somewhere in the middle of a forest, aware that she was not supposed to be there, she looked around and saw someone from afar holding something. As she tried to get nearer, branches s her legs and pinned her down.

The next thing she knew, someone was shouting at her and when she opened her eyes, she saw her classmate Rosé.

"W...what happened?"

"There was an earthquake so when I heard you screaming I tried to wake you up"

"Wh...what do you mean?"

Rosé sighed. "The shaking stopped when you opened your eyes, Chaeng" she was still trying to catch her breath when Rosé continued speaking. "You saw something didn't you? Something you couldn't explain"

"H...how did you know?"

"Never mind. Let's just go back with the others"

Chaeyoung followed Rosé. Questions piled up in her head and she has no idea where to get answers from. When they got back at the school, their classmates were all fixing up what was messed up because of the sudden earthquake. No one was injured but the damage the tsunami did doubled as there were more cracks on the ground and on the walls.   

TBC

-please tell me what you think guys... thank you...-