Jin wasn't sure if his heart was pounding too loud or if he had suddenly been submerged in ice cold water but he couldn't hear very well right now, even as the other adults and students that had left the terminal clamoured to look with dismay at the front doors that had clearly been forced open.
"We, we need to check up them. We need to get inside." Someone was saying. The voice sounded so very much like his own but it sounded so so so far away, so so watery. I never should have left. How could we all have left? We just put a group of young children in charge of an even younger group of children by themselves in this madness. I- A heavy palm landed on his shoulder and shook him.
"Hyung. Jin hyung!" The sharp call shifted Jin's attention away from the window and into Yoongi's worried, but stern eyes.
"Hyung, you need to breathe. Breathe, hyung!" He pressed down on Jin, who finally took a trembling inhale and exhaled out just as shakily. When Jin's breathing reached a slightly fast but steady rhythm, Yoongi released his grip.
"Jimin's already messaging the kids that were in there, we need to wait for their reply before we do anything else." He tipped his head in the direction of the minibus' front door where Jimin as well as several other scouts were furiously tapping at their phones.
"And if they don't reply?" Jin's lips were stiff. All he could imagine was the terror the children must have felt when those doors opened. And if they screamed, then more zombies would surely have come running. Yoongi swallowed, his mind following a similar scenario.
"Then we messed up, big time." A yelp from Yugyeom drew their attention.
"Jungwon replied! He said that his batch of kids and Sunghoon's batch are in hiding spot two."
"What about Jihyo, Sunoo and Jay?" Jimin called out to nobody in particular as he pocketed his device.
"Jay's typing!" Eunha responded from the back of the minibus. "He said they're in spot one." Jimin observed the doors again. There hadn't been any movement from the terminal in the two minutes that they had been stationary in front of it.
There was likely one of three things happening:
1) the zombies had broken in but the children had hidden so the zombies had left.
2) the zombies were still roaming around in the terminal.
3) the zombies were being coordinated by an abnormal and were lying in wait.
Jimin twisted the rings on his fingers and ruffled his hair, agitated. Damn it, we can't afford to wait to find out!
"Let's go." Jimin nodded at Baekhyun who nodded right back at him, the two of them departing from the minibus without a further word to anyone else. Waiting half a beat, Jungkook and Jaehyun ran to the door.
"Please go round to the bus park, the minibus is too exposed out on the street." Jaehyun murmured to Seulgi before following behind Jungkook, off the bus and into the terminal. Jin watched them as they made their way in and desperately wanted to follow them.
Holding himself back, aware that if there really was a confrontation he would be nothing more than a liability, Jin waited with the rest of the adults as the bus rolled off the main street to wait in front of the bus and coach park entrance.
"Teacher Kim? What do we do if...?" Wonyoung's voice and presence were so quiet that Jin hadn't even noticed her standing in the row behind him. The rest of his students looked at him with worried eyes. The lump in his throat felt dry and scratchy and he had to briefly look away to compose himself. Turning back, he decided to be honest.
"We're going to have to adjust to things as they come, do you understand?" He stated. The girls shared nervous glances, shifting around uncomfortably. Exhaling, Jin felt a small bubble of desperation rise in his chest. They had to understand that there was no certainty of anything anymore. He couldn't give them the comfort he knew they wanted right now.
"I need you to listen to me. No matter what happens, your life is important. We are doing all of this because our lives are important. You must be prepared to preserve your life at any cost, as humanly as possible. Be ready, to run at any time." He instructed, his words ringing loud across the silent vehicle.
Checking his own phone for the first time in a while, Jin realised that neither Jihyo or Sunoo had replied to Jimin's tagging but Sunoo had read the message. He lifted his head when Seokmin and Yuju began making their way to the door.
"What are you doing?" Yoongi asked. Seokmin held up his phone, eyes glinting with a steel resolve.
"Baekhyun hyung said we need to get the kids in spots one and two out of the terminal."
"How will you even get inside? We're too far from the entrance and the gate-" Yoongi's question was cut off as the gate creaked a little and was pulled open. Jungkook's head peeked out before pulling back and Seulgi, ever alert, steered the vehicle gratefully into the bus and coach park.
Yoongi peered out of the window at Jungkook and Jaehyun who had just managed to shut the gate by themselves. He still couldn't believe that there was more than one insanely strong kid roaming around and they were friends. Well, that's probably why they survived.
"And it'll be just the two of you?" He asked, turning back to the youths in the bus.
"No, I'm going too." Eunwoo had risen, phone in hand.
"The rest of us are to stay on the minibus." Eunha explained.
"Well if you're getting them out, where will you take them?" Uncle Son asked.
"We'll be boarding them onto their coach and waiting for clearance." Eunwoo answered.
"Surely one of us should be there in case we need to leave?" Uncle Son pushed on the matter. Seokmin shook his head.
"We don't know what's going on. For now, laying low while the others scope out the terminal may be the safest option." With that, he, Yuju and Eunwoo departed from the vehicle and Seulgi shut the doors.
Silence.
Silence as everyone in the vehicle watched the young people jog toward the terminal and then split, Eunwoo and Seokmin going off to the left while the rest went into the main terminal. Jin felt his eyes burning with how wide he kept them, trying to spot any signs of movement.
Spot one was the staff only bathroom that could only be accessed from the bus and coach park. It was the ideal place to be as it was lockable from both the inside and outside, so as long as whoever was inside remained silent, nobody that passed by would be the wiser that there were people around.
Spot two was in one of the offices in the staff recreation area upstairs. The most obscure room had been chosen with the intention that if anyone did look around, they would give up before being successful.
Breathe in, now out. Jin repeated that in his head as he rooted his feet to the floor so that he wouldn't instinctively move. Yoongi stood stock still beside him, eyes sweeping one way out the window, then another. Prickling, he grabbed Jinms forearm.
"Hyung." Yoongi whispered, lifting his hand minutely to point in the direction of spot one. Jin watched with air filling up his lungs as Eunwoo and Seokmin peeked out from in front of the coach the children typically slept in and waved before moving properly into view and opening the door for the coach, ushering the children, Jungwon and Sunghoon into the vehicle, Eunwoo closing the door shut once they were all inside.
Jin released his breath, grateful and itching to go over and check on the kids himself. Instead, he reminded himself that Eunwoo and Seokmin were skilled and compassionate enough to care for the children. Turning, he directly his focus to Eunha a few seats back in the aisle who was staring at her phone with a concentrated frown.
"What's the matter, Eunha-ya?" Jin asked her softly. The young woman lifted her gaze with level with Jin's own.
"Yuju said she saw zombies in the main terminal. And they were surrounding Jihyo and Sunoo's groups." Jin felt all air and strength leave him. Gripping the headrest of the seat he stood at, he blinked rapidly. His fears had been founded after all. A small hand reached up to his shoulder and brought him down into the seat.
"Jay's group. What about Jay's group?" Joohyun's tone was level, even as her hand on Jin's shoulder trembled minutely. Jay hadn't read any of the messages Jimin had sent earlier either, just like Jihyo. Eunha scrolled through the chat but eventually shook her head.
"Nothing from him." She murmured. Jin swallowed and peered over at Joohyun, who looked back at him with grave eyes. Was Jay and his group in danger?