outbreak | bts

018

Baekhyun thundered down the stairs, jumping the last four steps in his hurry. Uncaring for how loud he was, he slammed the door to the terminal open and dashed to the exits for the coach and bus park. Skidding to a halt at the coach door, he blinked at it. It was closed. Huffing, he gently tapped on the door with the palm of his hand, one tap, two taps, three.

As he waited, he inspected the windows. None seemed to be broken, though certainly some had cracked. After a pause, the door to the coach hissed open and he found himself face to face with his brother and the faint sound of sniffling and whimpering from within the coach. Grabbing him, Baekhyun gave Byunhyun a speedy pat down.

"Hyung! Are you okay? Are the kids okay? What about the others? Did you hear the explosion?" Byunhyun gripped his brother's shoulders.

"Baekhyun-ah, breathe. We're all fine. It seems the vehicle's insulation was able to handle to shockwaves. What's going on in there? Is that zombie still trying to break in?"

"The noise drew the attention of all the zombies, so they're leaving right now for the smoke pillar over there." Baekhyun sighed. What exactly was going on? Byunhyun nodded.

"We still need to ensure that it's safe in the terminal so that we can bring the children in- they need to eat." He stated. Baekhyun tilted his head in agreement.

"Mr Son, please keep everyone inside for a little longer. Everyone! That must have been scary huh?" Byunhyun stepped back into the coach and Baekhyun followed after him. He was met with hums of confirmation. Children peeked out from behind seats. Baekhyun's breath left him in an exhale. They had done as Jin had initially instructed and gotten to the floor. Nobody seemed to be injured.

"Aw, you must have all been shocked. Don't worry, we're just going to make sure that nothing else that's scary will happen again. Then, we can eat breakfast!" Byunhyun finished cheerfully. Some children made happy sounds while others still seemed unsure. Nodding at the teachers and Mr Son, Byunhyun ushered Baekhyun off the coach. When they got off and the door closed behind them, Byunhyun's face dropped. The brothers paced back into the main terminal.

"Anybody want to tell me what just happened?" He called upon entry. He paused in front of Jin, who was gazing blankly at a covered up window, his phone dangling loosely in his hand.

"Jin-ssi?" Byunhyun placed a cautious hand on Jin's folded knee, jerking the man back to attention.

"Yes? Oh, hey Byunhyun. Are the children okay?" Jin blinked up at him, eyes still distracted.

"Yes, all of us in the coach were fine but what...?"

"The explosion took place near the school district where some people we confirmed to have been safe were hiding." Namjoon briefed him, sending a concerned look towards Jin. The young teacher had gone silent since witnessing the plume of smoke rise up in the air.

Jin had initially been unable to move from where he sat, staring at the smoke in shock, until Yoongi and Taehyung pulled him to his feet and brought him back downstairs. He had been stationary since then, solely lifting the hand holding his phone to look at it, only to lower it. He had tried calling Joohyun forty-six times since the explosion. Still no answer.

The students were also huddled in a distressed bunch at one of the tables that had been put together. Seokmin's normally sunny face was stony, Jaehyun's eyes were cast blankly onto the table and Jungkook was leaning back against the table with his arm thrown across his eyes as he felt his hope sink. Mina and Yuju had taken seats as well and were fidgeting. Neither of them had ever seen the normally playful and cheerful boys like this before. Yuju felt tears well up in her eyes. This isn't right. It's not fair!

Eunha stopped pacing and placed a delicate hand on Jungkook's arm to get his attention. The youth lowered his hand and blinked at her. If this had been a different situation, he would have been flustered that the person he liked was in such close proximity, looking at him so intently, but all he could think was that Bambam and Mingyy weren't here to overdramatically tease him, and they never would again. Now Yugyeom and Eunwoo had potentially joined them and he wouldn't get to see them again either. Eunha searched his eyes before taking a quick breath.

"Them not responding to calls doesn't mean they're gone." She stated. Mina tilted her head. What was Eunha talking about? Attempting to reason with her, she replied,

"Eunha you know how close they were to the-"

"But their phones still rang." Eunha rebutted. There was silence in the hall. Everyone looked at her with confusion. The problem was that their phones were ringing and nobody was answering, why wasn't she getting that?

"If they had gotten caught in the explosion, their phones should be destroyed, right? But their phones rang." Eunha shook Jungkook's arm desperately as she tried to get him to understand. More than anyone, Jungkook couldn't lose hope. If he gave up, then they really couldn't keep going. They would never survive this nightmare.

Jungkook was resilient. It was one of the things she liked most about him. If he hadn't been determined to get them, she and her friends would have still been trapped in school, like lambs waiting for the slaughter. Throughout all that had happened so far, she had been able to keep her cool in spite of how terrified she was because Jungkook's hope and resilience was contagious and gave her courage that she certainly didn't have on her own yet. If the light in his eyes faded, she feared she too would lose all hope of escaping. Jungkook's eyes glimmered as he began to process what she said. He sat up straighter.

"You-you're right! It just rang the full time and said the caller is unavailable, it didn't say that the number is unreachable." He reasoned, more to himself than anyone else. Jaehyun sent him and Eunha measured looks.

"But if they're okay, why aren't they answering at all?" He mumbled.

"They could be underground, where there's no cell service, or trying to move to a different space. If it's the second one, they may have all put their phones on silent." Namjoon interjected from where he stood with Yoongi and Taehyung beside Jin. When everyone looked over at him, he wondered if it hadn't been the right time to speak up.

Not that he knew much about these kids but certainly Jungkook seemed to be someone who wanted to try all possible means to ensure that people survived. The youth in question gazed at him with an indecipherable expression. His eyes travelled around the room, from his friends looking back at him to Jimin who was observing his reaction from the other side of the hall.

"...let's not give up just yet." He finally said, tapping the table. Eunha released the breath she had been holding while the others hesitantly nodded in acceptance. As if the play button had been pressed by his words, everyone was set in motion, with Byunhyun going to get the children off the coach and the older ladies beginning to prepare food in one of the food stores.

The children trooped into the bus terminal, chattering amongst themselves as they were directed to sit around the tables that had been placed together. Their teachers who had come in after them composed themselves and cheerfully got brought them food to eat. The high school students gathered together to eat. Yuju and Seokmin began to play around, causing them to chuckle.

The university students sat with Yerim and the adults, discussing thoughts on the situation. Jin gazed around at the hall. Though the situatiom was uncertain, he was at least glad that this many people had been spared from the tragedy outside. With that thought, he gratefully picked up his spoon and began digging in to his meal.

A few hours after they had finished eating breakfast and washing up in the changing rooms, Jungkook strolled over to where everyone had left their phones to charge. He had been periodically doing so ever since Eunha had prompted them to think positively. Just in case one of their friends really had managed to make it out okay. Absentmindedly, he picked up his phone. And very nearly dropped it.

Yugyeom
Missed Call (4)

Eunwoo
Missed Call (7)

As he was getting ready to call Eunwoo back, his phone lit up.

Yugyeom