T H I E F || NCT ✔️

Chapter 02

"Not people like you, but you. They were trying to find you."

"Oh my God," I breathed out sharply.

"And they've found you. I've tried to— I— I got to put some of them down, but the rest got away, and now they're trying to get back to you. We have to be cautious." He said.

I let out a dry laugh. "There's no we. You are going to get the fuck away from me." I said and I stood up from the wet ground.

"Please, you have to believe me. I'm not lying about when I said they're trying to get back to you. They could target anything or anyone just to lure you to come to them. Or maybe ambush you again." He said while tailing me behind my back.

My eyes widened realizing something. What if they knew about my house? What if they knew about my family?

"You've gotta be kidding. Thanks for letting me know just now." I quickly sprinted.

~

I ran to get back to the Safe Zone. As I got out from the woods and stepped on the main road, the infected that were scattered around the area noticed my presence and charged at me. One of them managed to tackle me down.

I didn't have time for this. I still had a 5 minute walk to the Safe Zone.

Then suddenly the infected on top of me flew away by a stream of intense fire and I immediately knew who it was. I looked to my left and found Hendery standing not far from me. I wanted to say thank you but nothing came out of my mouth. I gave him a look and got up to start sprinting again.

Now I had to go over blocks of an abandoned neighborhood. I knew the place better than the woods and the main road so I knew where to go without making myself a dinner for the infected.

The streets were darker since there were no lights in the neighborhood, but I tried my best to navigate myself through the area. I heard footsteps but I didn't know where they came from. I stopped in my tracks abruptly and retreated to hide behind one of the houses' fences.

Then it came to me, maybe it was Hendery. But why would he sneak up on me? It could also be the bounty hunters. I tried to stifle my heavy breathing. I felt like I was sucking my own lungs.

Then I could feel a strong grip on my arms and a hand covered my mouth. "Shhh... Shh... it's me. They're here." The person said next to my ear.

It was Hendery.

He was breathing heavily next to my ear. I tried to tap his arm gently telling him that I was okay and that he had to let me go. He finally let go of me and we both hid side by side.

The sound of the footsteps was becoming clearer as they were getting closer. There were two of them— no three. Then I recognized their voices.

"We have to find Juli first!"

"Of course we will! But now we have to hide first."

"No! We have to—"

"Renjun! Do you think that we all don't want to look for her? We won't be able to do that if we are killed! It'll be game over for us. Maybe for Juli too." She stopped to catch her breath. "For all those years I've been trying to keep us well, and alive, I can say that I'm doing a pretty damn good job. Now, if you'll just listen to what I say, when I say it, we all can find Juli as soon as possible. Are we clear?"

I got up immediately and walked slowly to them.

"Mai!" I said, while putting my hands up in the air. "Renjun! Jaemin! It's me!" I said, almost tearing up when their eyes landed on mine.