The Final Bell (Zombie Apocalypse AU) (NCT127 x Reader)

The Prodigal Son

Chapter warnings: Mild language

Word count: 1322

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Jaehyun was staring. Intently. Once they had gotten back into the van, Taeyong had lined up how they were going to search for Taeil. They knew he wasn't in the city, so they would search the path they took from the old breakdown site. If that was unsuccessful, they'd start working their way out from the area, likely towards the North direction. Again, Y/N was driving, which she thought would be peaceful. But now, Jaehyun was staring at her.

Technically, there was no reason she would need to use the rear view mirror. There were no other cards, and no hordes chasing them. Still, she glanced back every now and then out of habit. On one of these occasions, though, she made eye contact with Jaehyun. She figured it was an accident, so she just looked back through the windshield, thinking nothing of it. That is, until it happened a second time.

Starting to get irritated, she adjusted it slightly, putting it out of view of his face. He was in the row directly behind the driver's seat, so it wasn't too difficult. When she looked back up again, though, he had moved back into view. The corners of he mouth twitched as she glanced over to survey the rest of the passengers. Mark was out of sight, indicating that he was laying down. Doyoung was in the very back, practically concealed behind the boxes. Taeyong was directly next to her in the passenger seat, but his eyes were closed and his earbuds were in, the faint bump of the bass leaking through. Finally, she decided it was safe to address him.

"What the fuck do you want?" She whispered, making eye contact with him in the mirror.

"You know something, don't you?" He asked under his breath.

"What are you talking about?"

"Johnny told you something."

"No he didn't." She could at least say that much truthfully.

"You're such a liar, Y/N. I hate liars. It's hard enough to make it through all of this when we all have all the information. And now you're keeping things from us."

"I'm not keeping anything-"

"I don't believe you."

"Believe what you want."

"I will." This was starting to make her even angrier. Who did Jaehyun think he was? Was he satisfied that he was right all the time, even at the cost of his friends?

"Why are you such a jerk? I've never done anything to you."

"I disagree."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked. Still, he didn't respond, only giving her one last look in the mirror and turning around.

"Drive."

She didn't like being told what to do, but what choice did she have? They were still looking for Taeil, and he evidently wasn't planning on engaging in any more discussion with her. Not to mention that if she were to raise a fuss, the others would notice. If they all cornered her and demanded the "information" that Jaehyun suspected she held, she doubted she'd be able to keep it from them.

They drove for about an hour 40 minutes. They stopped three times along the way. Twice was due to the prospect of finding their missing friend. The first time, it war just a rotting zombie corpse. The second was a living man, but he seemed older- maybe in his mid-forties? He wasn't the keen on talking to them, and simply grumbled and shook his head when asked about a younger man walking around. The third stop was simply to refill the gas tank.

Y/N was starting to get tired, legs aching to walk around. Their very few pauses gave her a minute to stretch her legs, but it was nothing compared to her longing to get out of the car. Hungry and fatigued, she became irritated that she was the only one who had to do any work. To be fair, she was the one who had to drive in the absence of Taeil, but the others could at least help her look, right? Her eyes shot over to Taeyong, who was no leaning against his seatbelt and breathing softly, eyes closed. The sight made her feel a bit guilty about becoming angry. They were all tired, she should be happy that she could at least do her part.

Taking a deep breath, she looked back out the front windshield, she put her eyes on the road too. Oh, just in time, too. She thought as she saw an obstruction. If I hadn't been paying attention, I would have hit that... what is that? Peering into the hazy frontier, she tried to get a better look. It wouldn't kill her to slow down and look, right? It was probably the eight-hundredth bag of trash they had passed, but she had nothing better to-

"Oh my God!" She screeched, slamming on the brakes as she finally caught a clear glimpse of the thing. It was a human being, sprawled out in the dirt. Her scream brought everyone to attention, causing Taeyong to practically jump out of his seat.

"W-what?" He asked, rubbing his eyes hastily as she threw the vehicle into park, basically launching herself out of the seat and into the open. Kneeling down beside the person, she saw that it was indeed Taeil- but... barely. Brushing the hair out of his face with the tips of her fingers, she looked at his face.

His skin was dry and his eyes were shut. His lips were cracking and blood was drying around the corners of his mouth. The shirt he had been wearing when he had left them was hanging off his body. Although it was clear that the collar was stretched, probably due to him trying to get it off, it was also hanging off him as if he had lost weight. His fingernails were long and had dirt lodged underneath, and she saw no movement in his body.

"Taeil!" She screamed, shaking his shoulders. His frame was so light. "Taeil, you have to wake up!" She yelled.

"Hey, hey! Stop it!" Mark said, pulling her back by her upper arms. When had they gotten out of the car? She should have expected it, but for some reason, the sudden touch caught her by surprise. Wrenching her off, Mark managed to hold her as Doyoung put his ear near Taeil's mouth, hand on his ribcage.

"He's still breathing!" The boy said, head popping up. "Jaehyun-"

"On it." The man stepped in, hooking an arm under his shoulders and his knees. "Open the door." Everyone began to move back towards the van.

"Y/N..." She could barely hear through the fog. "Y/N!" It was Mark. "I know you're scared, but you need to drive."

"Drive... Y-Yeah, yeah I can- Yeah." He looked at her, then got up as well, running to the vehicle. She shakily followed, jumping into the seat and getting ready to go.

"W-where do I-"

"Northeast." Taeyong commanded, moving through the gap in the center of the van to kneel in front of Taeil. She couldn't see anything, as the mirror didn't bend that far down, but she heard them talking. "Hand me a water bottle." Taeyong said, popping the cap a moment later.

Coughing.

"He's waking up." Mark said.

"Grab me an empty bin." Taeyong responded. Some more rustling followed, then another round of coughing. Then, the sound of heaving.

"He's dehydrated." Jaehyun said. "If I had to guess, he hasn't had water since he left."

"How is he alive?" Doyoung asked.

"Don't worry about it now, we have to find a way to help him keep it down." As if on cue, the heaving began again. She wanted to close her eyes, cover her ears, do anything to make it stop, but she had to keep going.

"Come on, Taeil..." She muttered, silently praying to whatever cruel god tried to kill her friend.