“Here again, Mr. Lee?”
“Like I said Granny, call me Jeno.”
The old woman who was like a Grandmother to him, wiped the leaking blood off his cheek and rubbed the ends of the band-aid over the cut. He held onto her hand, feeling it close to his cheek, his eyes closed and a small smile on his lips. She smacked her lips but smiled, rolling her eyes at the adorable boy.
“Jesus, why did you ever get in here?”
“You know why.”
Jeno let go of her hand, his own landing in his lap with his gaze downwards, until he felt her hand travel through his hair. It caused him to smile and lean into her touch. Despite the hatred holding in the prison, the cold nights and hot mornings, the arguments he held with everyone, it all made up to him if he got to be with the sweet old lady in the nursing room. He couldn’t help but be spoiled and filled with affection by her, even when she is simply speaking to him, he always smiles and listens carefully to her words.
“You should stop getting into fights Jeno, you’re always covered in bruises and cuts.”
“I tell them not the face.”
“I know, but you should also control your strength, we were forced to send one to the hospital because of you! Naughty boy.”
Jeno threw his head back laughing, kicking his legs like a child over the bed.
“He deserved it, racist and sexist, I’m pretty sure he did disgusting things to people. I’m not sure why they put him in here, he deserves to die.”
“Jeno, those are terrible quirks of a human, but you know you can’t kill every one of them off the face of the Earth. The least they could do is put them here for a couple years or for life.”
He stared down at his nails, lifting his legs and crossing them over the other.
“I say that’s too good for him. This place provides food, medicine, these people don’t have to pay for taxes and they are in perfect health. This system is bullshit.”
“I have to say I agree.”
Jeno looked up, and smiled.
“This is why you’re my favorite Granny.”
“Ah, whatever, come on they’re waiting for you.”
Jeno nodded, sliding off the bed and placing a kiss in her hair. The security grabbed him and pulled him away from her, earning a growl out of him and he threw his head back to knock one of them in a nose. She sighed. Outside of the nursing room, when he isn’t with her, he is a man filled with anger and is capable of being a killing machine. She hated this side of him. Jeno was roughly pulled back towards the two security men, now one of them with a nosebleed, then forced out and back to his cell. He was shoved in there, once they immediately shut the door he was already there, gripping the bars as he stared at the man with a bloody nose.
“Hey, you got something there.”
He spit at him. The security wanted nothing more but to punch his sorry face, but left to calm himself down. Jeno's hands slid and he backed up, his body swing left and to the right slightly until he felt the bed at his legs and he sat down. He turned his head to look at the markings on the wall from previous inmates. Usually in every sale, two people were in there but Jeno had a special case where he wasn’t allowed to have a partner. The last one he had was a person too easy to handle, they should have seen it coming.
“Guess what? You’ve got a roommate.”
Jeno was shoved into the cell, almost falling over but turned around and held onto the cell before it could close. They couldn’t pull it, despite how he looks with the baggy clothes on, he was strong and wouldn’t let go. Then one of the guards reached in and pushed the stick into his chest, knocking him to the ground, forcing him to let go. They quickly locked it. Jeno stood up, wiping his clothes and gripped onto the bars.
“They deserved to die. Your way of things is the shittiest I’ve ever seen, she would have died if I hadn’t done something you stupid fucks!!”
“Shut up, skinny. They don’t care about what you did, stop yelling like a mad man.”
Jeno ignored him, climbing onto the top bunk and laid down with his head landing in the rough pillow.
“Mind your business. I’m not a mad man.”
He said something else, but he didn’t listen.
“You know, we’re all rats here, rats on a ship.”
This caught his attention, so Jeno opened his ears to this one.
“In the end, when the ship sinks, we’re all scurrying to survive and it comes push and shove. There is a very low chance for all the rats to survive. That’s what I think of this place.”
“I see, I think of it as a race, someone wins. Whether it’s you or me, no one cares who wins.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Goodnight.”
That night, Jeno stayed up. He slowly climbed down the bunk with his pillow, sitting down on the ground in front of the bed. He didn’t notice how buff this guy was, but it didn’t matter. Jeno crawled forward, then stood up and bent over, before shoving the pillow over the mans face. It took a moment, but he began to squirm and grab at his sleeve. Jeno smiled at this.
“It doesn’t matter who wins in a rat race, in the end, the winner is still a rat.”
Jeno was forced to work more after killing his roommate. He thanked them for it, due to that he got stronger. But he was also given a bad reputation, people mocking him for killing someone on the first day and asking if he would kill them too. He almost did, nearly choked them to death if he wasn’t knocked unconscious by security. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t have much patience, nor the cause of his anger issues. Then the day happened when Jeno realized the world was going to end. October 23rd. The outside was loud, and the inside of their prison was quiet.
“We are going under lockdown.”
Jeno could hear through the walls of the insides of the building moving, locks were clicking and it was then he heard a scream. He didn’t pay much attention. He only stared up at the ceiling until he fell asleep. When he woke up, there was a guard in front of his cell, banging his fists against the bars. Jeno sighed, standing up from the bed and rubbing his eyes as he walked towards him.
“Woah.”
He flinched back and laughed at the guards attempt at grabbing him, then realized he looked uglier than usual. Jeno tried to take a closer look from a distance, then tried to take in the outer surroundings of the cell. The floors were covered in blood, he saw the torn open bodies of guards and criminals scattered on the bottom floor. Jeno noticed the gun in his pocket, and crouched where he quickly grabbed it then stood back. How did the others get out? Did they unlock their cells? If so.. Jeno could leave. He aimed the gun, then he had a thought. If there were others who wanted to kill him, shooting a gun wasn’t a good option. He had an idea, he grabbed the pillow from his bunk and slid open the cell, jumping back. The guard inched towards him, until he sped up and that’s when Jeno jumped onto him, pushing him to the ground and stuffed the pillow in his face. He pushed the gun to where his brain would be, and pulled the trigger. The guard stopped moving, thankfully it wasn’t loud. He then escaped, running down the stairs and halted. The nurse. Jeno ran the opposite direction to her room, and knocked hastily. She peeked through the window, realized it was him and let him inside.
“Of course, you’re safe. You’re Jeno.”
“Glad to see you’re alive too.”
Jeno scratched his head with the muzzle of the gun. He turned off the lights so the room wouldn’t catch their attention.
“We need to run.”
“Jeno, we don’t know if it’s safe.”
“I do, none are out there, they must be wandering upstairs or in their cells. So, unless we make noise, we can get out of here, together, and find somewhere safe.”
She sighed, but eventually succumbed because there was no other option. He counted down, before he swung open the door and they both ran until they made it to the doors where they could escape. Jeno turned to her, taking her hands in his and holding them close to his face again like he did earlier.
“Thank you for treating me so kindly, but..”
“But?”
“You will only be a liability to my escape.”
She looked at him confused, until he took out the gun and shot her right leg. She screamed loudly, falling to the ground and soon more of the things he saw earlier began to pour out. Jeno turned around, he had stole her ID card and scanned it over the electrical panel, the door unlocking and he opened it. She continued to cry out his name, but he only walked through the door and watched the murderers bite into her before shutting the door. Jeno ran through the seemingly endless halls, until he found the exit door and escaped through it. There were a few outside, so when they saw a chance of food they chased after him, but he was faster than them. On the other side of the gates surrounding the prison, Jeno saw a car with multiple people inside including two people hanging out in the rear end.
While he was running across the field, the men noticed him.
“He’s going to die.”
“Probably.”
“Shouldn’t we help?”
“It’s too risky– holy shit.”
Jeno made it to gate and jumped onto it like a cat, taking a moment to adjust before he began to climb, he did so until he made it to the top. The men in the car were freaking out, thinking he was so cool but also he might get injured. The man in the drivers seat drove to where he was, waiting beneath while Jeno carefully climbed down. It was when he felt one of the things grab his ankle through the tiny holes, he let go and fell into the arms of the two men in the rear of the car. It was a series of groaning between the three men until someone inside yelled.
“Are you guys alright?!”
Jeno apologized and quickly crawled off them, they slowly got up but one with black hair made the ‘okay’ sign while the brown haired only nodded.
“We’re good!”
The car started up again, and they continued on the road.
“So, what’s your name?”
“I’m Lee Jeno, and you both?”
“I’m Huang Renjun, and that is Mark Lee.”
“Woah! Mark Lee, you’re the one who killed my great grandpa! And you were that artist whose fame was growing, I love the fireflies painting you did, gorgeous.”
Mark noticed this Jeno guy didn’t seem upset about his great grandfather, and nodded. Renjun couldn’t help but smile, someone had actually known of his work and genuinely liked it. He mumbled a small thank you.
“Yep, and why were you here?”
“Damn, well, I killed my father and sister. I had stayed for only a good four years, I’m twenty-two right now, I’m pretty sure years were added due to killing my cellmate.”
Mark blew raspberries, pointing at him laughing but Jeno only shrugged with a grin.
“It doesn’t matter now though, considering those things have taken over, and I assume out here too.”
“Yes, this morning actually, we call them Lurkers.”
“Nice, I like that.”
Jeno nodded, leaning back while unbuttoning a few buttons on his orange uniform shirt. The two only awe’d, thinking he was so cool, only to treat him like the rest of them very soon. The driving continued for what seemed like an two hours, it was late afternoon and they were beginning become afraid. If they don’t find somewhere to hide for at least the night, they were destined to die.
“Where are we even going?”
“Uh, not sure yet, actually. We just need somewhere to stay, even if it’s for tonight considering the sun will be setting soon.”
“I think I know a place, I’ve been around town here and there.”
They arrived at a warehouse. They didn’t care where they were by now, but when Taeyong tried to open the door and it wouldn’t open, they weren’t impressed.
“You guys really think I would let someone snatch this hideout? Wait here.”
“Uh, be quick thanks!!”
They were all up to their necks and couldn’t help but anxiously wait for the sun to go down and disappear, leaving only darkness. Jeno then slid the door to the right from the inside, his shoes pushing against the dirt before letting go.
“Come on in.”
Kun drove in the truck so if there were any greedy survivors out there, they wouldn’t have a chance of stealing it. Then he hopped off once he shut it off. Jeno closed the door, locking it then turned around, taking off his shirt.
“Woah, cowboy.”
Mark snickered, but Kun nudged him, Jeno looked at the both of them with a confused expression.
“Those four years payed off.”
Jeno whispered to Renjun with his eyes drawn to the six pack adoring the males body, who got angry and punched his shoulder. Jeno walked up the wooden stairs, where he opened one of the crates in the corner and took out a fresh shirt. He dropped his previous clothes onto the ground, replacing them with all black clothing, then pulled out a crossbow.
“Is that your signature weapon?”
“No, I prefer guns, but I thought someone would want this. My father always had it, so I decided to take it.”
“Well, we’ve got guns to spare.”
Jeno walked down the steps with the crossbow in hand, before placing it in the car then looking at Kun with a hopeful smile.
“Do you have a machine gun?”
A/n : Things gonna get spicy :)