In the Dead of Winter || •PJM• ✔️

Wrath

You rub your lips together, nodding shortly before sniffing and averting your eyes. He gets the message and stands, his warmth leaving your body. Jimin goes to the window and peeks under the curtain, his eyes wandering the scenery. You stay seated, tucking your knees against your chest and waiting for his plan. However, what comes is not what you were expecting.

"Shit," he mumbles, and the small edge in his voice alerts you that this isn't over yet. You don't get to mourn peacefully and go back to your child and hug him. There's more problems to deal with, so, you get up and wobbly go over to him. Now it's your turn to take in the sights, and your jaw drops upon seeing some zombies scattering across the terrain.

"What the hell?" you ask in a whisper.

"The speakers must've stopped working. Maybe the rain, or a Howler got to it now since they're active in this area. Not sure what exactly, and as much as I'd love to find out, I really don't want to go over there and find out. What do you want to do? Run? There's not that many, we can outrun them. Plus, we got guns. They don't look like Runners to me."

"I don't think so," you say, observing the way they're wobbling and barely standing. "They seem like regular zombies. If we can get by them, the school isn't far. But what if there's zombies there?"

"Then we keep running. Run back here if we have to. Or, we hope someone's in the school and can help us get in. The zombies were banging on the fence last night, not just waiting near it. There had to be a reason for that. Like they were chasing someone in."

"And if we yell for help, they're smart enough that they probably set up patrols, so they'll find us easy enough. Sounds like a great plan to me."

Although your mind is elsewhere, just like yesterday, you know that no matter how badly it hurts, you need to put it aside for now. You had your chance to cry and scream. You can do it again later, but for now, you need to focus on getting back. It won't do you and Jimin any good if you're not ready to go. So, you gather your few belongings, tug on the sleeves of the jacket that's too big on you, and get ready to go.

Jimin pulls the desk away from the door and opens it, grabbing your hand and pulling you through. The zombies don't notice yet, and that gives you a headstart. But after you get into the forest, they notice, and zombies start popping out from behind trees and throwing themselves at you. Out of fear of attracting more if you fire your gun, you and Jimin silently agree to beat them with the butts of your pistols.

One comes close to you, and you whack it in the head. The trees are surrounding you, groans alerting you that you've woken up the entire neighborhood. Shit, you don't have much time, and both of you know it. The forest is littered with loud noises resembling groans and shrieks, you hyperventilating from the overstimulation your ears are being subjected to.

Jimin is in the same boat as you, and more zombies are coming by the minute. Some Runners too. Jimin pulls you along, and you forget fighting to instead run with him. The undead are rushing at you at top speed, and your panic keeps rising as their speed does. Jimin remains calm - or he has the façade that he is - and he keeps pulling you along until you're out of the tree line and instead on the concrete road.

There's more zombies, and you and Jimin realize this is the part where you need to shoot no matter the consequences. The pistols come out, and gunshots follow that action as you go. You shoot while running, downing any zombies that dare come near you, but the number is overwhelming. There's far over two dozen at least, and they're all blocking the path to the school. You and Jimin shoot the ones in the way and keep going, doing your best to keep your distance.