bcdef
abbbc
 z
y
 reddit
abcdef
 abc
aaa
 y
z
 cbxz
aaaa

bccdb
 z
 dfdeed
 aab
 y
 abac


import java.io.*;
import java.math.*;
import java.util.*;

import static java.util.Arrays.*;

public class C {
	private static final int mod = (int)1e9+7;

	final Random random = new Random(0);
	final IOFast io = new IOFast();

	/// MAIN CODE
	public void run() throws IOException {
//		int TEST_CASE = Integer.parseInt(new String(io.nextLine()).trim());
		int TEST_CASE = 1;
		while(TEST_CASE-- != 0) {
			char[] oleg = io.next();
			char[] igor = io.next();
			char[] ans = new char[oleg.length];
			int[] cnt1 = new int[26];
			int[] cnt2 = new int[26];
			for (char c : oleg) cnt1[c-'a']++;
			for (char c : igor) cnt2[c-'a']++;
			int[] sum1 = new int[27];
			int[] sum2 = new int[27];
			int l = 0, r = ans.length - 1;

			int olegTurn = (oleg.length+1) / 2;
			int igorTurn = oleg.length / 2;
			
			for (int i = 0; i < cnt1.length; i++) {
				cnt1[i] = Math.min(olegTurn, cnt1[i]);
				olegTurn -= cnt1[i];
				
				final int j = cnt2.length - 1 - i;
				cnt2[j] = Math.min(igorTurn, cnt2[j]);
				igorTurn -= cnt2[j];
			}
			
			LOOP: for (int i = 0; i < oleg.length; i++) {
//				dump(cnt1, cnt2);
				for (int j = 0; j < cnt1.length; j++) {
					sum1[j+1] = sum1[j] + cnt1[j];
					sum2[j+1] = sum2[j] + cnt2[j];
				}
				if (i % 2 == 0) {
					for (int j = 0; j < cnt1.length; j++) {
						if (cnt1[j] > 0) {
							if (sum2[26] - sum2[j+1] > 0) {
								ans[l++] = (char)(j+'a');
								cnt1[j]--;
//								dump(0, (char)(j+'a'));
								continue LOOP;
							}
						}
					}
					for (int j = cnt1.length - 1; j >= 0; j--) {
						if (cnt1[j] > 0) {
							ans[r--] = (char)(j+'a');
							cnt1[j]--;
//							dump(1, (char)(j+'a'));
							continue LOOP;
						}
					}
				} else {
					for (int j = cnt2.length - 1; j >= 0; j--) {
						if (cnt2[j] > 0) {
							if (sum1[j] > 0) {
								ans[l++] = (char)(j+'a');
								cnt2[j]--;
//								dump(2, (char)(j+'a'));
								continue LOOP;
							}
						}
					}
					for (int j = 0; j < cnt2.length; j++) {
						if (cnt2[j] > 0) {
							ans[r--] = (char)(j+'a');
							cnt2[j]--;
//							dump(3, (char)(j+'a'));
							continue LOOP;
						}
					}
				}
			}
			io.out.println(new String(ans));
		}
	}

	/// TEMPLATE
	static int gcd(int n, int r) { return r == 0 ? n : gcd(r, n%r); }
	static long gcd(long n, long r) { return r == 0 ? n : gcd(r, n%r); }
	
	static <T> void swap(T[] x, int i, int j) { T t = x[i]; x[i] = x[j]; x[j] = t; }
	static void swap(int[] x, int i, int j) { int t = x[i]; x[i] = x[j]; x[j] = t; }

	void printArrayLn(int[] xs) { for(int i = 0; i < xs.length; i++) io.out.print(xs[i] + (i==xs.length-1?"\n":" ")); }
	void printArrayLn(long[] xs) { for(int i = 0; i < xs.length; i++) io.out.print(xs[i] + (i==xs.length-1?"\n":" ")); }
	
	static void dump(Object... o) { System.err.println(Arrays.deepToString(o)); } 
	
	void main() throws IOException {
		//		IOFast.setFileIO("rle-size.in", "rle-size.out");
		try { run(); }
		catch (EndOfFileRuntimeException e) { }
		io.out.flush();
	}
	public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException { new C().main(); }
	
	static class EndOfFileRuntimeException extends RuntimeException {
		private static final long serialVersionUID = -8565341110209207657L; }

	static
	public class IOFast {
		private BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
		private PrintWriter out = new PrintWriter(System.out);

		void setFileIn(String ins) throws IOException { in.close(); in = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(ins)); }
		void setFileOut(String outs) throws IOException { out.flush(); out.close(); out = new PrintWriter(new FileWriter(outs)); }
		void setFileIO(String ins, String outs) throws IOException { setFileIn(ins); setFileOut(outs); }

		private static int pos, readLen;
		private static final char[] buffer = new char[1024 * 8];
		private static char[] str = new char[500*8*2];
		private static boolean[] isDigit = new boolean[256];
		private static boolean[] isSpace = new boolean[256];
		private static boolean[] isLineSep = new boolean[256];

		static { for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++) { isDigit['0' + i] = true; } isDigit['-'] = true; isSpace[' '] = isSpace['\r'] = isSpace['\n'] = isSpace['\t'] = true; isLineSep['\r'] = isLineSep['\n'] = true; }
		public int read() throws IOException { if(pos >= readLen) { pos = 0; readLen = in.read(buffer); if(readLen <= 0) { throw new EndOfFileRuntimeException(); } } return buffer[pos++]; }
		public int nextInt() throws IOException { int len = 0; str[len++] = nextChar(); len = reads(len, isSpace); int i = 0; int ret = 0; if(str[0] == '-') { i = 1; } for(; i < len; i++) ret = ret * 10 + str[i] - '0'; if(str[0] == '-') { ret = -ret; } return ret; }
		public long nextLong() throws IOException { int len = 0; str[len++] = nextChar(); len = reads(len, isSpace); int i = 0; long ret = 0; if(str[0] == '-') { i = 1; } for(; i < len; i++) ret = ret * 10 + str[i] - '0'; if(str[0] == '-') { ret = -ret; } return ret; }
		public char nextChar() throws IOException { while(true) { final int c = read(); if(!isSpace[c]) { return (char)c; } } }
		int reads(int len, boolean[] accept) throws IOException { try { while(true) { final int c = read(); if(accept[c]) { break; } if(str.length == len) { char[] rep = new char[str.length * 3 / 2]; System.arraycopy(str, 0, rep, 0, str.length); str = rep; } str[len++] = (char)c; } } catch(EndOfFileRuntimeException e) { ; } return len; }
		int reads(char[] cs, int len, boolean[] accept) throws IOException { try { while(true) { final int c = read(); if(accept[c]) { break; } cs[len++] = (char)c; } } catch(EndOfFileRuntimeException e) { ; } return len; }
		public char[] nextLine() throws IOException { int len = 0; str[len++] = nextChar(); len = reads(len, isLineSep); try { if(str[len-1] == '\r') { len--; read(); } } catch(EndOfFileRuntimeException e) { ; } return Arrays.copyOf(str, len); }
		public String nextString() throws IOException { return new String(next()); }
		public char[] next() throws IOException { int len = 0; str[len++] = nextChar(); len = reads(len, isSpace); return Arrays.copyOf(str, len); }
//		public int next(char[] cs) throws IOException { int len = 0; cs[len++] = nextChar(); len = reads(cs, len, isSpace); return len; }
		public double nextDouble() throws IOException { return Double.parseDouble(nextString()); }
		public long[] nextLongArray(final int n) throws IOException { final long[] res = new long[n]; for(int i = 0; i < n; i++) { res[i] = nextLong(); } return res; }
		public int[] nextIntArray(final int n) throws IOException { final int[] res = new int[n]; for(int i = 0; i < n; i++) { res[i] = nextInt(); } return res; }
		public int[][] nextIntArray2D(final int n, final int k) throws IOException { final int[][] res = new int[n][]; for(int i = 0; i < n; i++) { res[i] = nextIntArray(k); } return res; }
		public int[][] nextIntArray2DWithIndex(final int n, final int k) throws IOException { final int[][] res = new int[n][k+1]; for(int i = 0; i < n; i++) { for(int j = 0; j < k; j++) { res[i][j] = nextInt(); } res[i][k] = i; } return res; }
		public double[] nextDoubleArray(final int n) throws IOException { final double[] res = new double[n]; for(int i = 0; i < n; i++) { res[i] = nextDouble(); } return res; }
	}
}
