I try to fight off the dread crawling into my veins and analyze the situation before me. It's all my fault...the cleaing lady must have been infected with the Angello virus, and she got exposed to the Rebirth catalyst when she found my shirt in the garage.
Y/N- I'm so sorry...
Lady- Help...me...
Her words make me freeze in place. Could...could she still be alive? The woman slowly approaches, repeating the same two words over and over again.
Y/N- Stop, please! I don't know how to help you!
Lady- Heelp....AAAHHH!!
She throws herself at me, and I realize it's too late to escape. I echo her scream, shielding my face with my arms.
Jungkook- Y/N, duck!
Instead of that, I fall backwards. Jungkook leaps in front of me, wielding a baseball bat. He slams it on the lady's head, breaking one of her fangs and making her stagger.
So much blood...another hit to the head sends the corpse to the ground, while Jungkook continues to bash it until she stops twitching. He then turns towards me, covered in tiny specks of blood.
Jungkook- Are you okay?! Did she bite you?!
Y/N I'm okay. Just shaken. You?
Jungkook- I went to the gym to get my bat in case...well, in case Jin really was a necromancer. All of a sudden there were screams, and I couldn't believe my eyes. So many monsters!
He helps me up, his eyes wide with the terror he's experienced. I forgot he hasn't encountered the monster before...poor Jungkook. I wish he didn't have to go through this.
Y/N- We need to find Jimin and Taehyung.
Jungkook- I can't, Y/N. I need to find Seokjin first.
Y/N- I know you're worried about him, but Jimin and Taehyung are in greater danger!
Jungkook- I know that! I just...I can't abandon Seokjin to go look for them. Taehyung has a gun. Jimin is safe with him.
Y/N- We don't know that!
Jungkook - I'm sorry, Y/N. I can't go with you.
Y/N- Okay. I understand. Good luck, Jungkook
Jungkook hesitates, just when it seems he's about to say goodbye, a horrifying mass of foaming mouths and uncoordinated limbs stumbling in the hallway interrupts him.
Jungkook- I'll hold them off. Run!
Y/N- I'm done letting others fight my battles. I'm not leaving until we win.
Jungkook- We might not win against so many of them.
Y/N-T=hen I'm sure as hell not letting you die alone.
Jungkook smiles, his eyes melting with something that could be pride.
Jungkook- You're going to need this, then.
Tiny trickles of blood flow down his bat as he passs it to me. This is the blood of out colleagues...no. This is the blood of monsters.
Y/N- What about you?
Jungkook- Don't worry about me. I'm much more dangerous without a weapon.
Y/N- Wait! I'll never forgive myself if you get bit.
Jungkook- I better be careful, then.
I nod, ready to avenge the blood of my fallen colleagues, even if they wouldn't do the same for me.
Jungkook- Here they come!
I grip my bat so hard my knuckles turn white, yelling out a battle cry as I swing it at the head of the first zombie that reaches me. And then another. And then yet another one.
Jungkook- That's it, Y/N!. Just keep swinging!
Y/N- I am! They just keep coming!
I turn towards him for a split second, just as he's kicking another zombie into the chin with such unbelievable grace. He's like a dancer in the middle of a battle, predicting the enemy's movement with such precision.
The zombie Jungkook took out twitches for a moment. Then it stops moving entirely. I don't understand....how does it spread this fast? Just yesterday, they were--
Jungkook- Y/N watch out!
Out of nowhere, a zombie jumps in front of me, and I almost drop my weapon.
Y/N- Get the hell away from me!
Not knowing what else to do, I push the tip of the bat straight into the monster mouth, trying to keep it at a distance.
Jungkook- Hold on! I'll be right there!
He grabs a zombie's hand, throwing it into a wall. Then he spins and takes the bat out of my hands. He twists it back and swings it at the monster.
Jungkook- You know...you're not such a bad fighter for a microbiologist.
The zombies stop coming for a moment, giving us a few moments of rest.
Y/N- Yeah? You're not bad yourself for an ecologist.
Jungkook smiles, dropping his bat to the ground. This could be a good chance for me to inspect these zombies. I step one of the corpses lying on the ground, failing to notice how slippery a pool of blood can be. Jungkook catches me right before I crash on my face.
Jungkook- Careful.
I try to reply, but then I become aware of how close we are, and my face suddenly gets very hot. What's going on with me?
Y/N-Uh...thanks.
I move away form Jungkook, trying to approach the monster more carefully but I don't get a chance to inspect it.
Another horde crashes into the hallway, their hungry eyes fixating on us. Jungkook picks up his bat, but I grab his hand before he can charge at them.
Y/N- There's too many of them! Let's retreat and lock the door!
Jungkook- Get ready to do that as soon as I pass through!
I do as he says. The zombie bang at the heavy glass door, but it holds in place. For now.
Jungkook- I've changed my mind. There's no way I can let you look for Jimin and Taehyung on your own. Not with so many of these monsters in the hallways.
Y/N- Thank you, Jungkook...
Jungkook- However, as soon as you're safe with them, I'll have to look for Seokjin.
Y/N- I understand. How will we find them?
Jungkook- They must be in the lab. We're going to have to fight through the zombies to get there.
Fighting through zombies turns out to be slightly less difficult than trying to pass through mobs of panicking students. From time to time, we witness someone being transformed.
Jungkook- Stay behind me Y/N.
I do my best to control the morbid curiosity that defeats the gut-wretching dread that images of blood and exposed flesh cause in me. Seokjin, what have you done...?
The fastest way towards the lab turns out to be blocked, as someone locked the door behind them as they passed. Groups of crying students swarms the door, screaming for help.
Jungkook- We need to find another way! Come on!
Student- Wai! Do you know how to fight those things? Please, let me come with you!
Y/N- Okay. Stick close and watch out for any danger.
Student- Thank you so much! I watched my best friend get turn...I just want to be away from this hell!
I can't even imagine how it must feel. I have to hold on to the hope that my friends are safe!
The three of us run through a parallel hallway lined with empty classrooms.
Student- we can hide in there...somebody must eventually come to save us.
Jungkook- We can't hide yet. We need to find our friends.
Student- Suit yourselves. I'm going inside!
In a split second before she enters the classroom, through the glass window I notice an unnaturally bent shadow.
Y/N- No! Don't go in!
Too late. As soon as she enters, the zombie leaps on top of her and bites her cheek.
Student- No! NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!!
I step towards the door, but Jungkook is faster. He closes it preventing me from going inside.
Y/N- What are you doing?! We have to help her!
Jungkook- I'm sorry, Y/N. I t's late for her. We need to keep moving if we hope to stay alive.
Y/N- But...she's still alive! We can't leave her!
Jungkook- She's already turned, look.
Through the frosted glass, I now see two figures. One is standing in place, presumably the girl, and the other stumbles away, losing interest.
Jungkook- Behind us!
Five students, all covered with bite marks from head to toe, appear in the hallway behind us. We recognize them form the group we encountered just a little while ago.
Student- Their...fault...
We start running towards the other end of the hallway, when another group of zombies burst through the door ahead of us.
Jungkook- Stay close to me.
Y/N- There's too many of them, Jungkook we're never going to make it!
Jungkook 0I'm not going down without a fight!
The classroom door directly behind our backs suddenly opens. Jungkook lifts his bat, ready to attack whatever comes through. Instead of a zombie, a familiar face greets us.
Taehyung- Get inside.
Y/N- Taehyung! Oh, thank--
My last words get drowned by the sound of a bullet fired into a zombie's head.
Taehyung- Inside, NOW!
The image of the bullet hole in the forehead of one of my colleagues makes me dizzy as I follow Jungkook into the classroom. Taehyung fires at the zombies two more times before coming inside.
Taehyung- Help me block the door again.
For a moment I think he's talking to Jungkook, but a look around the room tells me otherwise.
A dozen students or so stand around the classroom, half of them in tears.
Y/N- How did you get here? Where is Jimin?