{questions and answers}
Taehyung was pulled from his trance as soon as the the front door of the small cottage was slammed open, wood almost falling from its hinges as Jin stormed inside, a girl cradled limply in his arms. The male's exertion brought on breathlessness, like the air around him was devoid of oxygen. His lungs heaved up and down as he stumbled tiredly inside, speckles of blood cast over his heated skin as he turned to his cousin in plea. "Clear the m-medical room," Jin gasped, struggling with the weight of the girl in his hold, "she needs attention." he commanded.
Taehyung froze for a brief moment, warm chocolate brown eyes landing over the petite girl. Her short, shoulder length black hair was a tousled mess of dried blood trailing slowly down her heated forehead. Her loosely fit shirt was torn at the side, tainted with deep red blood flourishing slowly out from the wound on her side. But that wasn't the worst of it. Taehyung's eyes flickered down to the large gash against her lower leg, deep claw marks engraved around the irritated skin, suggesting that a monster was to blame. She was slowly bleeding out, "Follow me." Taehyung spoke, a hint of nervousness laced throughout his deep and commanding tone as he led Jin down the tight hall of the cottage. Quickly bringing a hand to the door, Taehyung wrapped his fingers tightly around the metal handle, swinging open the wood before quickly ushering Jin inside.
The brunette fumbled with the frail girl in his arms before moving to the side of the room, quickly but gently laying the girl against the single bed by the window. The soft rays of the setting sun filtered through the slightly open blinds, casting their golden glow against the female's sickly pale skin. Her thick lashes were closed peacefully over her eyes, but the heavy rise and fall of her chest suggested otherwise. Inflating her lungs felt like pushing up a lead weight on her chest. She sucked in the air as if it were treacle, even though the cool breeze from the open window provided fresh air. She just couldn't breathe.
Taehyung didn't fail to notice the girl's laboured breaths as he rummaged around the room, trying to locate all the emergency medical equipment he owned. The room had been fully equiped with his science equipment, but some of the medical supplies still remained scattered around the house. Running a stressful hand through his choppy brunette hair, Taehyung sprint back over to the bedroom door, leaning a hand against the wooden doorframe before calling out down the hallway, "I need medical supplies!" he bellowed, hoping that at least someone was still inside, "It's an emergency!" he finished, heart pounding against his chest. Their was a moment of stone cold silence... a moment of collectively shared fear between Jin and Taehyung as they waited for any sort of response.
The two male's thankfully didn't have to wait long, the sound of shuffling and cluttering sounding out from the direction of the kitchen. Before long, a familiar blue haired male quickly raced down the hall, dressed in nothing but a loosely fit shirt and track pants as he sprint into the bedroom, a medical kit clasped tightly in his grasp. Yoongi's eye's widened as he lay his eyes on the mystery girl laying on the make-shift infirmary bed. He stumbled to the bedroom wall, leaning up against the concrete as he stayed clear out of Taehyung's way. He gulped, "What happened here?" The male felt a shiver run up his spine as he assessed the female's wounds from afar, gaze then turning to Jin for answers.
Jin grimly shook his head at the blue haired male, "To be completely honest... I have no idea." he sighed, placing his head in the palms of his hand. "She was just there? Like out of nowhere I found her being attacked by a horde." he let out a shaky breath as he recalled the gruesome scene, the fight the girl had put up before she'd collapsed, "She's strong."
Strong? Just how strong could a girl be? Yoongi's mouth opened to ask further questions, but he was abruptly cut off by Taehyung's worried banter, "She's lost too much blood," he muttered, taking a bowl of warm water and salt into his hands before shuffling over to the bedside, placing the bowl at his feet before taking a cloth into his hands, "She'll need a blood transfusion, or she's a goner." he stated in an almost emotionless tone, no hint of nervousness in his voice as the stern side of him took complete control. Taehyung found it was a good thing to let go of remorse in these situations. It allowed him to stay focused. "Seeing as we don't know her blood type, we need to be careful." he explained, soaking the cloth into the warm bowl of salt and water, "Blood type O is the only type of blood that can be donated across all people. I'm AB... so I can't give her any." he explained, wringing out the soaked cloth before bringing it to the girl's pale skin. The mud and grit had become enmeshed with raw pink flesh, spotted with blood. One thing Taehyung knew for sure was that it was going to be very painful to clean, so it was a good thing the female was knocked out cold.
Yoongi stepped away from his leant up position on the wall, "I'm blood type O" he spoke up, willing to give blood as he extended an arm willingly.
Across from him, on the other side of the room Jin rolled his eyes, "I heard you were malnourished less then a month ago." Jin scoffed, gesturing towards Yoongi's smaller form, "You look like a freaking ghost! I'll donate." He spoke, "I'm also type O" he stated, earning an impressed look from Taehyung as he continued to dab gently at the girl's open wounds.
"That's convenient." Taehyung said, bringing the blood stained cloth away from the girl's skin before chucking it in the bowl at his feet, water splashing up a bit at the impact. "You're both type O."
Jin nod, peeling himself away from the girl's bedside as he turned to the equipment propped up on the table located at the back of the room, "I'll get everything set up." he explained, leaving Taehyung to tend to their patient, "You make sure she stays stable."
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After a few hours of hard labour, the procedure was a success. With the help of Jin, Taehyung was able to successfully perform a blood transfusion, ultimately saving the girl's life. Colour was beginning to return to her cheeks, and her skin began to loose it's terrifying pale glow.
"That's enough stress for one day." Yoongi sighed, placing a hand against his heart as he clutched his shirt tightly in-between his fingers, "I'm heading to bed." he breathed, giving a weak wave to the two males who sat tiredly by the girl's bedside as he head out the door, retreating down the dark hallway of the cottage and into his room for the night.
Taehyung cupped a hand over his mouth as he let out a tired yawn, letting his eyes roam across the room and out the glass window. The sky was now black tranquility married to a poetry of stars. It was the softness that called body and brain to rest and let the heart go to it's steady rhythm. Night came as a reward of sorts, a restfulness above to calm the soul.
Jin on the other hand glued himself next to the bed, back of his head rested up against the wall as he sat by the girl's side. Her breathing was now less strained, less painful to watch as her chest rose and fell with a slow rhythm. Jin hesitantly reached out a hand, brushing loose strands of midnight black hair from her face as he cast his eyes to the girl's soft features. Small button nose, rosy red lips, Jin couldn't help but find himself curious to see the colour of her eyes.
Surprisingly, he didn't have to wait long.
Jin slowly edged himself away from the side of the bed as the girl began to stir, a gasp of air escaping through her plump lips as she shifted restlessly in place. She brought a hand to her eyes, rubbing them with her fists before letting them drop limply back to her side. Then, without any warning her eyes snapped open. As if it were an emergency, as if sleeping had become a dangerous thing. She jolted up into a sitting position, back slouched over and hair shielding her face from view as her heart began to beat fast, a buzzing in her brain as it leapt into a panic. Jin jumped quickly to his feet, sensing the girl's fear as she began to gasp for breath, "Woah, woah woah!" he called, quickly grabbing the girls attention as he waved his arms about. He froze the moment their eyes locked on one another. Through the dim light of the silvery moon seeping through the open blinds, Jin found himself fascinated by the girl's piercing blue eyes. He sucked in a breath of air and let his hands fall calmly back to his side. She was almost cowering into herself, frightened and scared, so Jin knew that waving his arms about would only cause a greater scene.
So he gave a soft smile, one of warmth and kindness as his eyes softened on the girl, "You're alright now," he spoke softly, voice as smooth as honey sending the girl into a state of relaxation, "We won't harm you."
Her eyes peeled themselves away, landing themselves on the second male present in the room who was standing over in the corner with his arms crossed over his chest. Taehyung let out a sigh, "He's right." the male spoke bluntly, removing his back from the wall as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his lab coat, "We're neutral... not part of any camps or anything." he reassured, watching curiously as the girl let out a sigh of relief.
There was a pause. A brief moment of hesitation before the girl spoke, "Thank you." she breathed, before turning her eyes back to Jin, "Both of you." she smiled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Jin returned the smile, "It's not a problem." he grinned, "I'm Seokjin, but you can just call me Jin... and that over there," he gestured towards his cousin, "is Taehyung."
Feeling a little safer, the girl parted her lips, "I'm Venus... but it's a weird name, so I just go by Vee." she smiled, earning a nod from the male beside her.
With his hands still stuffed in the pockets of his lab coat, Taehyung strode over to Vee's bed. Everything about this situation screamed 'danger' to him, the girl a complete mystery. How the hell was she out this far away from any camps? There was no chance she could've made it through the city alone, and why the hell was she inside the lab? Slipping a hand out from his pocket, Taehyung ran his fingers through his hair, "So... Vee then." Taehyung piped up, snatching the girl's attention away from Jin, "Care to explain the bite on your forearm?" Taehyung spoke bluntly, cocking a brow as the female completely froze in place, clutching the bed sheets tightly in her grasp as she felt her body go numb.
Jin's eyes widened, "...Bite?"
Taehyung snorted at how clueless his cousin seemingly was, "She has a healed bite on her forearm," Taehyung explained, eyes narrowing on Vee's form. She almost looked like a deer caught in headlights as Taehyung took a step closer towards her form, "Unless she managed to get her hands on my temporary vaccine, there's no way she could have a bite as old as that." he explained, gaze falling over the small signs of scarring against her skin.
Sucking in a breath, Vee bit down on her lower lip, eyes falling to her lap, "I guess I should explain," she gulped, gaze trailing up to meet Taehyung's intense stare, "shouldn't I?"
Taehyung gave a stern nod, "Sorry, but we've been through a lot of shit recently... I've gotta make sure everyone we encounter isn't a total douche." he explained, crossing his arms over his chest in a defensive manner.
"Alright then, if I must." she frowned, realising that the scientist wasn't gonna cut her any slack. "Not everyone evacuated this town on day zero." she explained, earning a raised brow from Taehyung before she continued, "With a small group of people, we made a living in this town," she smiled to herself, "It wasn't bad, all of the supplies here were practically ours and ours alone. There were no camps to worry about, it was just us against the world." she continued. But her smile was quick to fade, expression dropping into one of regret, "The government science facility was one of the places we always went to for shelter. So it came to us as no surprise that whilst we were there, we stumbled upon some old notes of study." she sighed.
Taehyung on the other hand felt a shiver run down the back of his spine... he had a feeling he knew where this was going. "We studied the notes for a good three years before developing our own temporary vaccine, one that only had to be injected monthly in order to stay alive."
Jin's lips parted in awe, "Seriously!?"
Vee nod, "Seriously." she confirmed before she continued on with her explanation, "Today however, on our visit to the lab, we had no idea infected had recently made their way inside." she breathed, voice shaky as she began to recall the incident, "We were outnumbered," She chuckled lowly with no humour, "I guess I'm the only one who made it out."
Jin's gaze fell to the floor, "That must've been awful." he spoke grimly, thinking of how tragic it would be if he ever lost his squad. No, more like his family. They were all he had in this messed up world, in a way, the only thing that kept him sane.
Whilst Jin conversed alongside Vee, Taehyung was still in a state of complete and utter confusion. How was it possible that this girl managed to create a more advanced vaccine than his!? It seemed almost unreasonable. Gnawing at the inside of his cheek, Taehyung's mind went into overdrive as his gaze fell over the single bloodstained backpack laying up against the corner of the bedroom. It was no doubt her's, a small golden keychain with the letter 'V' hanging loosely from the open zipper. Taking in a breath, Taehyung made his way over to the bag, reaching a hand inside the open zipper pocket as he rummaged through it's contents. The corner of his mouth ticked up into a smirk as his finger tips brushed over a few pieces of crumpled paper. He grasped onto the notes as he pulled them out from the bag.
Straightening out the paper in his hands, Taehyung locked his eyes to the blurry black ink sprawled over the page.
His heart sunk into the pit of his stomach.
It was his father's handwriting.
Shaking his hair from his eyes, Taehyung suppressed his sombre feelings as his eyes trailed over the page, soaking in all the scientific terms he was familiar with. Until he came across something new... something very new. "Jin." Taehyung spoke, no emotion evident as he stare blankly at the page. "This explains it"
Eyes flickering over to Taehyung's star struck form, Jin cocked his head to the side, "Explains what?"
Taehyung shuddered,
"This explains everything."
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{Author Note}
Dun dun dunnnn. I wrote this at like 4am so sorry if it's poorly edited compared to my other chapters.
Update soon xox
(unedited)