It was another thirty minutes after Eunha's update before the food supply group were able to return to Nambu Bus Terminal. Once the gate had been open and shut, Baekhyun and Jaehyun carried Jimin out of the vehicle where he was then gathered up onto Jungkook's back and sped to the medical bay, Eunha hot on his trail.
They burst into the terminal, ignoring the stricken faces of the others at the sight of Jimin's flushed, drenched form. Laying his hyung down tenderly on a medic bay bed, Jungkook paced the space as Eunha, Jihyo and Sunoo fluttered about. When Jungkook had carried Jimin through, Jihyo had called Sunoo to come too.
"He's been the one taking really good care of us all this time. He seems to have some great nutritional and medical knowledge." She explained when Eunha looked over at him questioningly.
Accepting Jihyo's recommendation, Eunha didn't even question the new face among their ranks and took to assigning Sunoo and Jihyo to locate thermometers, clean towels to dry Jimin's wet body, smaller ones to dampen for his forehead and fever reducing medication while she got to checking Jimin's vital signs, running a firm finger down his damp sides. He flinched when she touched his left area, his face scrunched up in pain as he huffed weakly. He wasn't conscious yet but it was much better than his state on the minibus.
"Jungkook-ah, come and lift his shirt for me please." Eunha called over her shoulder, knowing that she needed to get the young man to do something before he flipped out. Jungkook sped over and pulled up Jimin's shirt, exposing most of his torso and a massive purpling mark that was forming on his left side. Eunha blinked as her eyes followed the trail of the bruise. Ah.
"I need you to get him out of those jeans. Erm...Sunoo-ssi? Could you please fill up these hot water bottles with hot water and come and press them against oppa's side please? Jungkookie too." She requested, turning away from the bed and busying herself with trying to find something.
Jihyo, who had sat down after her tasks had ended, bit down on a laugh, despite the tension in the space. Eunha's embarrassment at the sight of the male body seemed to still be very much apparent. All that first aid and medical training hadn't yet erased Eunha's conservative nature. Sunoo and Jungkook got to work pressing the heat against Jimin's side. He winced at first, then his body relaxed as he warmed up.
"We need to apply some kind of compression so that his blood circulation can get back to normal." Eunha stated. Sunoo nodded at her words, his eyes and hands still focused on holding the hot water bottle gently against Jimin's side.
"Do you think we should apply some heat patches before doing that?" He asked after a short silence. Eunha cocked her head to the side.
"I think after a few hours and when oppa gains consciousness again, he'll probably want to clean up and take a shower or something. After he does that, then I think we can apply the heat patches- good call." She agreed with a nod, continuing to rummage around the room.
Sunoo didn't reply but Jungkook didn't miss the way his ears tinged and his back straightened a little at the praise. Smiling at the boy, he turned back to Jimin, exhaling with relief at the sight of his now even breathing. Apparently he had come down with a fever from being in the rain and exerting himself for so long.
After a few minutes, the four of them worked to lift Jimin's body so that Eunha could apply the compression tape to his side, with Sunoo taking over when they got to Jimin's hip. With his first aid treatment done, Jungkook brought Jimin a new shirt and some shorts while they hung his clothes to dry. They found a small heater and set it to a moderate temperature to warm the space before departing.
As Eunha was making her way out after Jihyo and Sunoo, Jungkook pulled her back into a tight embrace. He didn't say anything, but the way he held on told Eunha just how grateful he was that his hyung was safe.
Spinning around in his arms, Eunha searched for his eyes and cracked him a smile. He grinned back, leaning down to press a soft kiss to her forehead before exhaling a laugh, spinning her back around and nudging her towards the main terminal.
~*~
Everyone gathered around Baekhyun, Jaehyun and Seokmin as they recounted what had happened. Yugyeom approached them with towels to dry themselves with before sitting down beside Seulgi.
Namjoon's face was grim as he listened to the events that had taken place outside the bus terminal. This was an...expected development. It made sense that the infected would evolve, especially if feeding off of the uninfected had been how they initially gained energy. Now there were more infected than uninfected to get energy from. Of course they would need to adapt.
That didn't make the rate of this evolution any less insane though.
"...so these zombies were different to the abnormals?" Jin asked for clarification. Baekhyun nodded.
"Mm. Different bodies completely, totally mangled. But they had almost superhuman speed and senses, maybe be in exchange?" He theorised. Yoongi exhaled a huge breath.
"Wow, it's a good thing we're getting ready to go now. Any longer and we really might die." He said, chuckling humourlessly.
"How's Jimin doing?" Taehyung asked when he saw Jungkook and Eunha approaching. The pair gave him a thumbs up and the group released a collective breath.
"He's pretty badly bruised on one side, but nothing broken considering he jumped off a building." Eunha outlined, seating herself beside Jungkook at the table that Jaehyun and Baekhyun were sat at. Taehyung's eyebrows skyrocketed.
"He what?"
"He either jumped or fell from the rooftop since he was running from the zombies." Eunha clarified.
"On the roof?!" Jin gasped.
"Uh-huh. I think I saw them up there when we got him."
"You think?" Yoongi furrowed his eyebrows.
"It's raining like crazy outside, and it's dark, and their figures didn't really seem human, so I'm not too sure, but if they were zombies then they really were up there. We can ask him once he wakes up." Eunha held up her hands with a slightly wary expression.
It had been easier getting close to Jimin because they scouted together. She could now mostly read Jimin and understood his personality. Her interactions with Yoongi however, had been limited. He was only a little less intimidating than when she had first met him, and that was only because of how he interacted with Jimin and Jungkook. The teacher noted her tense posture.
"Alright, I believe you." He sighed. Eunha lowered her hands and looked awkwardly at them in her lap. After a short silence, she lifted her head again.
"Um...have we ever talked about getting things to defend ourselves with?" Namjoon cocked his head at her.
"Like weapons? No, we always focused on avoiding confrontation with the zombies. Do you think that needs to change?"
"Wait, you've been going around without anything to protect yourselves with?" Jihyo was incredulous. "Isn't this a zombie apocalypse?"
"Only a small group of us have been travelling outside of the terminal at all, and the focus has been on avoidance, not confrontation tactics." Hoseok informed her from where he sat beside Jin.
"But what was the plan for if a confrontation were to occur?"
"We would run like hell- we've been running like hell. Jihyo, even when I was able to kick one of them down, they'd only be down for a short while before getting up again." Jungkook explained. Jihyo's eyebrows raised. Jungkook was well known in the junior sports committee for his sturdiness. That a kick of his leg power wasn't enough to incapacitate was almost a shock.
Almost as shocking as a zombie apocalypse breaking out.
"Also, they're people." Taehyung interjected. Silence fell on the group as they all turned to him. Taehyung looked back at them with an equally surprised face.
"The zombies are- or were- people; have we forgotten that?"
"Taehyung-ah's right. When the outbreak first happened, we saw people that Jungkook knew, how much it hurt him. To willingly want to inflict harm on people who are unwillingly acting out isn't right." Jin agreed.
"They may not be willing but the fact of the matter is that they have made the city a dangerous place." Yoongi countered.
"That's why we're taking ourselves out of the situation. So, Eunha, what's caused you to want weapons?" Namjoon steered the conversation back, looking at the girl intently.
"When we all gathered here, you and Jimin oppa told us how Tae oppa used his saxaphone case to neutralise the zombies that were after you. When we leave the terminal, it's not going to be just the scouts that'll be going." When nobody countered her, she continued.
"Not all of us have martial arts or insane agility. I know that the path we've set is pretty secure, but Baekhyun and Jimin oppa are always saying we should think of all the things that could go wrong and try to mitigate it. If we could just neutralise any potential attacking zombies enough to let us run away, then I think we need to get something that could do that."
"...you said neutralising. Neutralising how?" Namjoon continued appraising Eunha as he waited for her answer. She started and stopped several times, unable to produce ideas on the spot.
"Like tripping them up and stuff?" Hoseok volunteered. Eunha nodded eagerly at him.
"Mm, exactly like that. Nothing confrontational at all." She said.
Yoongi glanced around the bus terminal at the various stalls. Non-confrontational, huh? Walking over to the mart, he returned with his arms full of items which he dumped onto the table that Seulgi, Yugyeom and Joohyun sat at.
"How about these?"