The moment the door clicked open, Eunha used her full body strength to shove through, uncaring for how loud the sound may have been. Jaehyun dashed in after her and the other scouts crashed through, with Jungkook coming in with Baekhyun and Jimin hot on his tail.
From the side of the door there was a handle and Jimin gripped it with mass restraint as he worked to shut it without making any noise. There were breathy sighs as the scouts attempted to remain as soundless as possible, listening carefully for any sign that they had been noticed.
There was the tell-tale thudding that showed that the zombies had reached the platform, but there seemed to be no inclination that the scouts were being searched for. Exhaling, Jimin released the door handle, waiting and observing for a minute before deeming the immediate danger to be over.
Turning around, he gestured with his head for Jungkook to lead the way again and they resumed. The corridor wasn't all too wide so they had to walk in a single file down short groups of steps.
After pacing for around seven minutes, Jungkook came to a halt in front of a door. Giving the handle a squeeze, he quickly determined that this door too was locked.
Eunha wasted no time in this instance, ducking under his arm to get to the door, successfully able to undo the latch in record time. Quietly proud if herself, she stepped back and allowed Jungkook to scope the outside.
Not noting any threats, Jungkook stepped out and made a beeline for the area directly under the bridge. The rest of the scouts followed. Satisfied that they were almost entirely covered by the massive pillars supporting the bridge, Jimin pulled out his phone to check the pictures he had been sent.
Ms Ryu's boat was supposed to be a cabin cruiser with the word "Graceland" printed on the side. She had said that her son had it delivered to the riverboat station that worked on the Han River. It was a ten minute walk fron where they were right now. Jungkook gestured to the shoreline with his head and Seokmin walked with him to the edge.
Seokmin bent down and glanced at the water. He had switched from pure track athletics to triathalon athletics a few years back and during the planning back at the terminal, had brought up that he was willing to scope out what might be a suitable location to position the boat.
Jungkook continued to scan the area as his friend inspected the water. Seokmin rose to his feet and placed a foot in the water. Normally he would have removed his shoes but city rivers usually had insane garbage pollution and he didn't really want to lose his foot to a jagged can lid or something.
The sensation of the water surging around his leg and into his shoe, soaking his sock and foot, made an uncomfortable chill run through his body. Seokmin pushed down his repulsion, promising himself that he would take a nice, hot, cleansing shower when they returned, and focused on the sensation of the ground beneath his shoe.
The dirt was soaked so his foot sank in a little and there was a lot of resistance when he lifted it. The boat would get stuck for sure if it got too close to the shoreline. Looking back at Jungkook, he shook his head and strode back to where the others were hiding, taking a sharp turn to the shoreline that was hidden beneath the bridge.
Grabbing a rock, he tossed it underhand to a relative spot and listened carefully for the sound. Picking another rock, he threw it again, slightly closer to the shore this time, just to be sure. Collecting a third rock, he turned around to face the group that watched him curiously.
"The boat can only go as far as- there. Any closer and it'll probably get stuck." He grunted as he threw the rock to around the same location as the first rock. It was about seven metres out from the shoreline. Hoseok placed his hands on his hips as he eyed the distance. They definitely could not jump it.
"How are we supposed to get from the shoreline to the boat then?"
"Should we swim?" Yuju asked, glancing at the water with distaste. Seokmin held up a hand with an agonised expression on his features.
"No, please."
"Then we'll have to find something that we can use as a kind of plank, right?" Eunwoo guessed, glancing around to see if there was anything laying around. There wasn't. Seokmin said nothing, nodding his head as his eyes scanned the ground.
"Then let's do this. Jungkook, Jaehyun and I will find the boat and bring it here. Everyone else, pair up and look for things that float so that we can create some kind of walkway for ourselves." Jimin suggested, aware that staying still when outside was more dangerous than the group splitting up.
Nodding in agreement, the group paired off and began to creep along the bank as Jimin, Jungkook and Jaehyun headed to the riverboat station. In order to access it, they would need to go up onto the bridge's road- thankfully the river bank was safely inaccessible to the general public.
The trio paced as far as they could before the shoreline disappeared completely under grey waves. Grimacing as the water began to sludge around his feet, Jungkook stablised himself and bent down, Jaehyun mimicking his motion and the pair held their breath as Jimin used their thighs as stepping stones to reach for the ledge.
While Jimin and Jungkook both had agility and speed and strength, they were leg strong, not arm strong. Jaehyun had good sensibilities and instincts suited for being outside in the way they were as scouts. His time spent playing lacrosse meant that he was just as fast and agile as Jimin needed. He was also arm strong, making up for what Jungkook and Jimin lacked.
Gripping the edge of the stone wall that had been constructed to prevent people from falling off the edge into the river, Jimin peeked over. There were abandoned vehicles scattered across the bridge road, some with unsettling streaks of browning substances splattered all over them. How did they...?
Shaking his head, he refocused on the goal. The coast was clear. Hauling himself over, Jimin checked that there was nothing in sight once more before pressing his toes against the wall and leaning over with his arm stretched out.
Bracing himself when Jaehyun's hand grasped his own, Jimin pulled him over the wall. Taking a second to catch their breaths, Jaehyun got ready to lean down to grab Jungkook when Jimin halted him, pulling him down. Confused, Jaehyun gave him a bemused face but Jimin kept his finger pressed to his lips. Following his gaze, Jaehyun felt his hackles rise.
A group of zombies were trudging towards where they were located. The group wasn't big in size, with five, maybe six in total, but Jimin knew better than to underestimate them. If they came from somewhere, there would be more approaching behind.
Hidden behind one of the vehicles, Jimin patted Jaehyun's thigh and scooted over. Positioning himself beside a wheel, he tilted his head at Jaehyun and the young man immediately replicated his action.
The group of zombies came dangerously close to the car where they were hid and Jimin felt his heart drop when one of them stopped walking and its feet turned toward their hiding spot. Pressing his back against the wall, Jimin tried to calm down, holding up a hand to indicate to Jaehyun that he shouldn't move.
The feet stepped closer still until they were right beside the vehicle and the blonde felt himself shrink down as it began to knock into the car. Jaehyun was also leaned down and he released sharp, silent exhales, trying hard not to freak out.
It had been a few weeks since the outbreak so all the parts of these zombies that had been ripped and chewed out had rotted. With the collapse of hygiene, the smell from being up close was rancid. Holding his breath, Jaehyun stilled, noting that Jimin had done the same.
There was no telling if this zombie was an abnormal or just had extra keen senses, but both silently believed that any noise at all would give them away. There was the disturbing sound of something sliding across the car windows and Jimin flinched as he realised that the zombie was actively searching the inside of the car.
Thank goodness they hadn't gone inside to hide.
After a short pause, the feet that were visible beneath the car turned and began to gait away. Jimin and Jaehyun waited until they couldn't hear, see or smell them anymore before they both released the breaths they had been holding, sucking in air as their hearts hammered hard in their chests.
Rising on shaky legs, Jaehyun kneeled on the ground and peeked over the ledge. Jungkook was crouched down close to the wall, eyes watching the other side of the river cautiously.
Leaning over, Jaehyun slapped the wall twice to get Jungkook's attention and reached his hand out. Springing up, Jungkook grabbed his hand and pressed his feet to the wall. Jimin wrapped his arms around Jaehyun's waist to stabilise him as he pulled.
Clambering over the wall with their assistance and landing in a squat, Jungkook sent his friends a confused expression. Why had they taken so long to bring him over? He paused when he saw them heaving with small beads of sweat on their brows in spite of the cooling weather and he flew into high alert. Had there been a zombie?
Jimin pursed his lips and shook his head. He couldn't offer an explanation and was quite frankly grateful for their minimal speaking rule. Jaehyun huffed out one final breath before moving into action. If they stayed here, who knew when the next smart zombie would come by and decide to look around the car instead of into it?
Rising, he peeked out from the side of the car to check the coast before looking back and nodding at Jimin and Jungkook. The two of them rose to their feet as well and they all set off toward the riverboat station.
Half-jogging, half speed walking, they managed to reach the riverboat station in eight minutes instead of ten. Ducking under the gate that needed verification before opening, the trio made a beeline for the private boat pier.
Jungkook and Jaehyun walked side by side, each looking in a different direction to read the names of the boats anchored to each side of the pier. Jimin strutted behind them, walking backwards as he scanned their surroundings. Snapping his body to the front when he heard heavy footsteps, he gave chase to Jungkook who was running ahead of Jaehyun. He had found the boat.
Coming to a halt beside it, Jimin noted that it was indeed "Graceland". It wasn't as big as he had thought it would be, maybe ten metres maximum in length. How many trips would they have to make to get everyone out? Climbing up on the boat after Jungkook and Jaehyun, he checked their surroundings again as they began to explore.
The deck was fairly wide with capacity for maybe six adult men to lay down, so they could fit quite a few people here. A clicking sound caught his attention and he turned to see that Jungkook and Jaehyun had entered the cabin, the covered part of the deck. Following behind them, Jimin saw that it was in this cabin that the wheel for the boat was located.
Jungkook was already on his way down a small staircase he had found to the front of the far left of the cabin. There's space below? Curious, Jimin left Jaehyun to continue fiddling with the wheel, trying to figure out how to start the boat, and followed Jungkook below deck.
Deeper than he had expected, the area below deck had a tiny fridge and sink beside the stairwell they had just come down. Going deeper, there were loads of padded benches going around the edge, with some small ladders leading to elevated padded benches with guard rails.
Jimin felt some real hope begin to grow. This was plenty of space. They still probably couldn't fit everybody in all at once, but they definitely wouldn't need to make more than three trips to safely evacuate everyone from the terminal.
Striding further, Jimin found a small toilet and shower cubicle towards the back of the space. He was on his way back out of the tiny bathroom when the whole boat jerked forwards, throwing him back into the bathroom with a yelp.
What the-?!