In the Dead of Winter || •PJM• ✔️

Taken

What the fuck.

Y/n rushes forward and pushes one of the men out of the wagon, the other hopping up in surprise. Jimin dives into the man's waist, sending him flying out. Out of fear of shooting the horse or accidentally shooting through the wagon and hitting their driver, they choose not to fire on Y/n and Jimin. So, they pant together, Jimin turning to her.

"You're fucking crazy," he says.

"Well somebody has to save our skins." She waited for them to gain a lot of distance, them leaning against the sides of the walls. Whoever the driver is must've assumed that the commotion was turbulence the ground caused them. Jimin isn't complaining.

He glances over at the woman besides him. Running off of no sleep is fucking with his head, but something about her is... different. Like she's not mentally here despite doing, well, that. A few minutes pass, the other two men long gone now. They can't keep up with a fast-moving horse, so they probably went back to the school to raid it. "What do we do?" he asks.

"You're asking me that? I got us as far as I can, I'm not sure what to do from here."

Jimin glances at her, wondering what's going on inside that pretty head of hers, but he knows now's no time for that. He glances at the ground, eyeing the city not far from them and the zombies scattered around. "We can't make it back to the school now. Too much in the way, we'll die trying. Best we can do is loop around through the city, look for the kids on the side they took them in, then return to the school."

"So we leave them? My people?" Jimin gives her a side eye that has her agreeing. "Alright. City, what do we do?"

"We have zombies coming at us of all types, I spotted some runners. The noise is attracting them. I think this may be that government you told me about. They're kidnapping us for more people, more spots in their camp so they can have more soldiers. We've proved ourselves as capable. My bet is we're being taken to a north camp while the kids are going to a south. It'd do no good to stay on and try to overthrow them by ourselves with no weapons."

Y/n agrees, him doing his best to hold her hands despite them being tied. She peeks down at their hands, then into his eyes. "What...?"

"Together. Let's jump together."

She dips her head in a manner that resembles a nod. Then, Jimin counts down. "3... 2... 1... now!" They hop out, using their shoulders to take most of the fall. He almost shouts at the feeling of rocks and dirt digging into his skin. The grunts of zombies has him scrambling, clawing at the dirt and getting to his knees. By the time he looks up, a runner is about to tackle him. That is until a rock hits it in the face, the zombie staggering back in surprise.

Y/n throws another rock, distracting the runner. "Come on! We can still outrun it!" He follows her advice, rushing after her as they storm down the road. The wagon is already long-gone, they didn't even notice that they jumped. Jimin's fine with that. He's sure Y/n is too, but they don't have time to process it.

Good news - zombies are decayed. That means even runners aren't that fast. Bad news - they also don't really have lungs, so they don't run out of air. They have never-ending stamina. Y/n and Jimin don't, they have to find somewhere to hide eventually.

"The city, the bells go off at the churches every hour, we can lure them there, hide, and wait for the bells to go off," Y/n says, pulling him further down the road.

Jimin's hands are still bound, but the ropes were made weaker thanks to the jump. Doesn't change how vulnerable he feels. Jimin gnaws at his ropes while running, remembering some old tricks. He agrees with her in the form of a grunt, pulling the ropes apart. That earns him a peek from his girlfr- Y/n, but he doesn't pay it any mind. "This way, I see an auto shop, we can lock down the gate and hide," he says, pointing.

The two rush into the streets of the city, runners and other zombie variants following as closely as they can. Jimin dashes inside and shuts the door, noticing a fire axe and using his elbow to break the glass, the pair turning their heads away from it. He firstly cuts Y/n's ropes off, then he contemplates sliding the tool between the door handle. He decides against it, instead grabbing one of the two metal cabinets and pushing it towards the door. Y/n helps, guiding it in front of the door just as the pounding starts.

The tools inside clatter, Y/n grabbing a screwdriver and keeping it with her. They rush into the other part of the room, seeing that this isn't really an auto shop after all, it looks more like a storage compartment for the auto shop. The gate is already sealed and locked, meaning no zombies can get in through there. Otherwise, it's a large space with metal racks all around, various canned foods and to Jimin's surprise - bottles of water. They're thrown about, most of the stuff looking old and unused meaning it's abandoned, but they left Y/n and Jimin with some good supplies. Not that that matters if they don't survive.

Jimin takes her hand and guides her over to the industrial-looking room. There's a mattress on the ground, same with a lamp. Someone was surviving here for a long time, probably. He turns and sees a small closet, him pulling her inside and shutting the door, locking it for good measure. Y/n lets out a soft breath, the darkness of the closet surrounding them. It's more of a pantry than a closet. Well, it's literally a pantry, not a closet. But this place doesn't have food inside.

He notices the woman hyperventilating, him furrowing his brows as more pounding sounds off. They'll break in. They probably won't find them, but they'll break in. He places the axe down behind him, her keeping her screwdriver tucked in the waistband of her pants. Despite them being armed and hidden, she still has bloodshot eyes and fiddling fingers.

The tiny space of the pantry has them close together, but they're still apart. It's too far. "Y/n?" he whispers, resting his hands on her hips and pulling her closer. "We're okay. Don't cry, we're okay. We'll save the kids and get back. Please stay with me."

"They're all leaving me," she whispers back, "all my friends and family. The people I love - they're all gone. Just like that." She calms herself, but her tears are still flowing. He can't let her believe that. He can't let her believe that everyone is gone. There's still at least one person left. One person who cherishes her in a way that she couldn't even begin to comprehend. So, he acts on that. He uses one hand to tilt her chin up, the two locking eyes. Hers are covered with tears. His are filled with compassion. He does the thing he's wanted to do for so long. The thing that he believes can remind her that her loved ones are closer than she thinks.

He kisses her.

Their lips press against one another's just as the door breaks down, Y/n whimpering against him. Then... she kisses back. The two close their eyes and focus on breathing in-sync, the kiss calming both of them down. She relaxes into it, gripping at his locks and pulling him closer. They're careful not to make any smacking sounds, the two only keeping their mouths pressed against each other's and their eyes peacefully shut.

Zombies fill the space of the storage area, them parting but refusing to move any farther away. His look says it all. All he's ever wanted to tell her. She stares back, the two keeping their hands on each other, his even moving to her cheek to make it more intimate. But it's still not enough. Not even sex would be enough. Being inside her wouldn't be enough for him despite how close that would be. He needs her in a way he can't begin to describe. Jimin isn't in love with her yet, no he's saving those feelings for after they do the big things like sex and dating and making out, but he's already pretty damn close to it.

The noises don't bother them as they gaze at each other. But Jimin needs more. So, he hugs her, wrapping his arms protectively around her and stroking her hair. She repeats his actions as quickly as she can. His eyebrows knit together, his eyes squeezed shut and producing wrinkles near his lids and nose. The fear of losing her hits his core, his breath nearly being ripped from his body. He holds her tighter.

He has something to fight for again. It took a long time to get here... but now he does...