POV: Jin-BTS
Time: 07:24
I wake up. Panting, crying and breathing heavily.
"No... no... no..." I mutter.
"Seokjin? You okay?" Bang Chan says from across the room.
Him and most of the people in the room are already awake.
Oh my goodness... It was just a nightmare...
"Yeah... Yeah... It- It was just a nightmare... Don't worry about me..." I say, furrowing my brow.
He nods and turns back to Stray Kids, helping them pack tools and resources from the room inside of makeshift backpacks from folded up aprons.
My breathing calms down.
I hear a snore next to me.
Ni-ki.
I tap his shoulder and he wakes with a start, sitting straight up and looking around him.
"Where am I-"
"Just don't worry about it. All you need to know is that we escaped from the mall and moved here. Everyone is fine... Well... nearly everyone..." I say.
"Oh... ok..." He says.
"Mhm..." I mutter.
"Well then... who's not fine?" He asks.
"You don't know? Did you pass out that early?" I say, astounded.
"Well... I mean- Yeah... but tell me, who isn't fine? Are they ok? Do they have a broken leg or something?" He says, repeating the same question.
My shoulders slump down a bit. I take in a deep breath and say,
"No... they don't have an injury... I wish they did though..." I reply.
"So then, if they're not injured, how are they... Oh... forget I said that..." He says, realising what must've happened.
"It's Seungkwan. If you needed to know. He blocked the zombies from us even after he got bitten. He died a hero for us." I blurt out, keeping my voice quiet so that Seventeen don't hear me.
Ni-ki's face droops in sadness.
"He died a hero, Ni-ki. He wouldn't have wanted us to mourn over him. He would have wanted us to move on, stronger than we were ever before." I say.
He gives me a reassuring smile. It isn't a happy one; his eyes show deep sadness.
...
"Guys, wake everyone else up, we're leaving soon." Bang Chan calls across the room.
Most of the people are awake by now; only a few stragglers are still sleeping.
Yoongi would've slept for forever if he was still here.
The last person to wake is Vernon. He must've been crying all night.
Bang Chan stands and opens the door of the storage room, peering outside.
"It's safe out there. Is everyone ready to leave?" He asks.
We all nod and stand up, some taking their knives out.
"We're all ready." Nayeon says, pulling Tzuyu on her back.
"Unnie, I'm fine, I can walk." Tzuyu says, getting off Nayeon's back.
"Are you sure?" Jeongyeon asks. Tzuyu nods at her.
"Ok then, if everyone is ready, let's go." Wonwoo says, leading the way.
He walks out of the room, his huge cleaver in hand. We all follow.
We go through the main door of the bakery, exiting the building. All what was once a friendly street in Gangnam-Gu has turned into ruins; decomposing bodies litter the floor and the horrible stench of it lurks in the air. It's maybe my tenth time smelling this, but I'll never ever get used to it.
"Where to, Wonwoo?" I ask.
"We need to search for a car. If we're lucky, we'll find a working one and take it to the nearest gas station where we can loot some supplies." He says.
"Ok." I respond.
We walk through the street, using signs to find our way to any place that might have some cars, whether that be shops, theatres or leisure centres.
The only problem is, none of those three things are close to us, some of them are multiple miles away.
I spot a sign that says 'Car Dealership'.
It says that it's only a mile away.
Bingo.
"Let's continue down this road, the sign says that a car dealership is only a mile away." I say to the others.
I start to walk down the street and look back multiple times to check that everyone's following me.
"Good find Seokjin!" Wonwoo tells from behind me.
"Thanks... " I reply.
We reach the end of the street. It's a T junction. It's either a right turn or a left turn.
I don't know which one to take.
"So... which way does it say we have to go?" Hyunjin asks.
"I... I don't know.... It didn't say on the sign." I say awkwardly.
Bang Chan lets out a huge huff.
"Ok then... uhm... who wants to go left and who wants to go right? We'll split up for a bit and relocate here once we find where the car dealership is, ok?" He says.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'll only go where the leader goes." Yeji says.
Twice, Seventeen, Stray Kids, Itzy and Ni-ki agree.
Everyone but Blackpink agree.
"Are you implying that the leader is me? And you'll go where I go?" I ask.
"Well... yeah... I mean, what else?" Ryujin says.
"What about you, Blackpink? Where will you go?" I ask.
"Jisoo unnie, where will we go? Should we just go with them?" Lisa asks.
"If we go with the group, how are we supposed to find the car dealership quicker? It only makes sense that we go opposite of you guys." Jisoo says.
I nod. It is agreed then.
"Ok, Blackpink will search left while we search right. Everyone is back to this point in an hour, got it?" I say.
"Yes." Everyone says.
"Stay safe ok? Zombies and gangs are out there. Try to keep in the shadows." I tell Blackpink.
Jisoo nods, taking out her knife. She disappears across the left side of the street. Lisa, Jennie and Rose follow her.
"Ok team. Let's go." I say, turning right.
I look down the street.
"What in the world..."
Everything is absolutely trashed; broken cars are literally everywhere. Houses and stores look like they've been blown up and pounded down to a pulp.
"We'll have good luck finding the car dealership here, huh? These cars are literally an 'American Ninja Warrior' obstacle course! It's going to slow us down so much!" Ryujin exclaims.
"It's fine... Uhm... I'm sure we'll find something... Oh, ooh! Let's start with taking resources from that shop there!" I say, pointing to a shop right next to us.
I walk over to the shop and look through the window. No zombies.
"There's no zombies in here let's-"
"Shush...." Ryujin interrupts.
"What? I-"
"Shush... Do you hear that?"
I listen. There're footsteps coming our way. A lot of footsteps. It sounds like a stampede.
I also hear screaming.
It's Jennie.
"NOOOO!!!!" She screams.
Without saying another word, Ryujin and I dash back through the street and into the left side of the junction.
We're way too late.
I see Jennie getting mauled by zombies, so many of them. A huge horde.
She's ripped to shreds and all Ryujin and I can do is stare in horror.
"NO!!!" I scream.
"Seokjin... we need to leave."
"Wha-"
"Now."
She takes my hand, and she drags me back to the others who are waiting, too shocked to move.
"Zombies." She says in a quiet tone, trying to not attract the hoard.
"We need to get out... quickly and quietly." I say.
"But what happened to-"
"Shut it, we're leaving. Now. There's no time to waste. Be quiet and-"
I hear a groan. It's a zombie. They've found us.
"RUN!!!!" I yell.
I weave beside the cars, hopping and jumping over mounds of rubble. I take a glance behind me. Everyone is following my movements, the zombies hot on our tails. Some zombies are stuck on some parts, not having the mentality to weave correctly.
I jump over a discarded bike, but my foot catches on one of the handles in mid-air.
I fall down, hearing a metallic snap near my belt.
I push myself up, discarding my broken knife on the floor and continue on running.
I duck under a sharp metal pillar that's been pushed over. It's so low that I have to army crawl to get underneath it. I turn around to help the others get underneath. I pull multiple people out and they help each other get under the pillar too.
The zombies are edging in closer.
Nearly everyone's crossed the pillar by now and are running onwards. I stay back to help the last person through.
Chaeyoung crouches and tries to slide under. Her shirt catches on the sharp edges of the pillar.
She grunts and tugs at it, but it won't come free. And the zombies are getting dangerously close.
"CHAEYOUNG!!! GRAB MY HAND!!!"
She takes my hand and I try to pull her out, but I make a big mistake and pull her upwards, cutting her stomach on the sharp edges. She groans in pain.
"CHAEYOUNG!!! COME ON!!! PULL!!!" I scream.
"SEOKJIN!!! GO!!! LEAVE ME!!!" She says, the zombies catching up.
"NO!!! YOU NEED TO COME!!!" I yell, pulling at her shirt.
She pushes me away, sending me tumbling back away from her.
A zombie latches on to her leg and takes a bite out of her calf. She lets out agonising screams as more zombies pile up on her, soaking her t-shirt with blood.
"AAAAAAAAHHHH!!! SEOK- SEOKJIN!!!! AAAAAHHHH!!! PROTECT THE OTHERS-- AARRGHH, PLEASE!!! GO!!! NOW!!!!"
I curse and tears build up in my eyes. I turn around and vault over a car, running away from the zombies.
From Chaeyoung.
I curse at myself. I could've saved her. She was in arms reach.
I cry as I run for minutes, nonstop vaulting over cars and debris.
I get tired and I come to a stop. I listen around. No zombies.
The car dealership stands tall in front of me.
"SEOKJIN!!! OH MY GOD!!!" Ryujin screams, coming out of a building and hugging me.
I hug her back. But I say nothing.
I burst into tears in her arms.
"Oh, what- why, why? Why are you crying?!?" Ryujin says, shocked at my expression.
"I'm sorry... Chae- Chaeyoung... I'm sorry..." I stutter.
I hear Mina sob as she realises. Nayeon doesn't get it.
"What? Isn't she with us?" Nayeon says, looking around at the group. They look around, and, once they notice she isn't there, they start to cover their faces in realisation.
Nayeon looks at me, tears in her eyes,
"Wait... wait- please, Seokjin don't tell me-"
"She- she's gone... And it's my fault..."