2:30 AM
"Run! Now!" Seungkwan cried out.
"What? No!" Dokyeom said. "We're not leaving you!"
Seungkwan stood as Joshua rushed at them. "Save Soonyoung," Seungkwan told him. Before Dokyeom could say anything, Seungkwan dove over the counter and tackled Joshua to the ground.
"NO!" Dokyeom screamed, standing up as well.
Vernon, whose left arm was shot, was still able to shoot with his right. He aimed right at Dokyeom, who met his eyes for a moment.
"DK!"
Dokyeom cried out as Soonyoung pulled him back down, just as the arrow embedded itself in the wall where his head was.
"Dammit!" Vernon shouted.
Seungkwan wrestled Joshua on the ground, tears rolling down his face. "Joshua, please!" Seungkwan sobbed. "Please Joshua, don't do this!"
"I have to!" Joshua shouted. For a moment he felt his heart sink when he saw how emotional Seungkwan was.
But that was short lived.
Joshua had his pistol against Seungkwan's stomach, and, without thinking about how this was once his friend, he pulled the trigger.
It made everyone jump.
Vernon looked over, giving Soonyoung and Dokyeom enough time to stand and sprint to the back room of the bar. "Seungkwan!" Dokyeom screamed.
"He's gone!" Soonyoung shouted.
Dokyeom took one last look at Seungkwan before Soonyoung pulled Dokyeom into the back and slammed the door.
Seungkwan stared down at Joshua. There was a burning sensation in his abdomen that seemed to be spreading. Joshua pushed him off of him and stood quickly.
Vernon grabbed the arrow from the wall and turned to Joshua. "You go after them. I'll take Seungkwan."
"Why?" Joshua asked.
"He shot me," Vernon said.
Joshua looked down at Seungkwan, who was holding his abdomen. The blood had soaked through his shirt and onto his hand. He was sweating and pale from the blood loss.
"Alright," Joshua said.
Seungkwan gave him a sad look, but he looked away before it could affect him. Joshua hurried to the door to get to Soonyoung and Dokyeom.
Vernon stood in front of Seungkwan. "Seungkwan... why did you shoot me?"
"Y-You're trying to kill everyone," he said, tears still rolling down his face. Vernon wasn't sure if it was from sadness or from the pain, but he figured it was a bit of both.
"I'm just trying to survive," Vernon said. He actually did feel a bit bad about Seungkwan. He and Seungkwan were very close, arguably closer than he and Joshua were. Vernon felt his heart actually skip a beat as Seungkwan laid there, bleeding to death.
"I never thought you'd be the person to kill me," Seungkwan said weakly. He wiped his eyes. "I never thought I'd die like this."
"I'm sorry Seungkwan."
He was. He actually was.
He reloaded his crossbow and aimed it at Seungkwan's heart.
"Goodbye," Seungkwan whispered.
"Goodbye."
Vernon shot Seungkwan in the heart.
He died immediately, falling back and going limp. His head turned to the side and his eyes stared forward. The light left them.
Vernon pulled the arrow out of Seungkwan's chest. He had to be careful not to use them up so soon, so he put it back in the quiver.
Joshua had been slamming himself against the door, but Dokyeom had locked it and propped a chair against it. He cried as he made his way back to Soonyoung, who was on the far wall. "We need to get out of here. That door is not going to hold for long."
Soonyoung was crying too, both for Seungkwan and his injured hand. "Okay Dokyeom. I... I'm so sorry about Seungkwan."
"I-It's okay. I have to focus on getting you out of here."
Dokyeom looked around. He noticed some alcohol in the back room, and, hurried to go grab some.
"DK? What are you doing?" Soonyoung asked. "This is not the time for this."
"It's for your hand. We don't have a first aid kit right now. And, I mean... if we get thirsty once we escape this place..."
Soonyoung laughed softly.
Dokyeom noticed some curtains and a bit of light. Joshua was still trying to get in the room, so Dokyeom wasted no time. He ripped open the curtains and opened the window quickly. "Come on Soonyoung! Hurry!"
Soonyoung, despite the arrow still being in his hand, was able to climb out the window gracefully. Dokyeom hurried after him, not as gracefully, but that didn't matter right now. He closed the window and the two sprinted around the front and toward the farthest street, with the houses.
Joshua let out an angry growl as he kept trying to open the door. "It's not open yet?" Vernon asked in slight annoyance.
"No!" Joshua grunted. He sighed.
"Okay, look out."
Joshua moved to the side so Vernon could try. After two tries, Vernon is able to body slam the door and get it open. He stumbled inside and looked around for Dokyeom and Soonyoung.
"They're gone!" Vernon shouted.
They both noticed the window at the same time.
Meanwhile, Dokyeom and Soonyoung ran to the house next to Seungcheol and Mingyu. They both hurried inside and Dokyeom shut the door, locking it quickly.
"Oh my god," Soonyoung said as he silently cried.
Dokyeom wiped his eyes and walked into the living room, collapsing into one of the leather recliners. He knew he cried a lot, but now he couldn't stop. He wanted to save Seungkwan. The three of them were supposed to all survive together.
He should have done something.
"Hey..." Soonyoung sat on the couch, looking at the arrow in his hand. "How the hell am I supposed to get this out of my hand?"
Dokyeom looked up and gasped. "I'm so sorry! Here, let me help!"
Dokyeom sat on the coffee table and inspected Soonyoung's hand. "Okay... We can't pull this backwards, that'll just do more damage... we might have to break the arrow in half and pull it out carefully..."
Soonyoung nodded. "I-I think that'll be for the best."
"Here..." Dokyeom got up to look around for a towel. "I'm going to get something to use to put pressure on it."
He was able to find an old towel, which would do the trick. He searched around for a first aid kit, but found nothing. Wonderful. They did have the wine to clean the wound, and he figured he could use something to wrap around Soonyoung's hand. He also found some scissors, which were a bit rusty, but it was fine.
He hurried back to his friend.
"Okay, let's do this..." Dokyeom pushed thoughts of Seungkwan away as he focused on helping Soonyoung.
Soonyoung sat forward and held his hand out. Dokyeom didn't like gore and could barely handle it, but he was in such a state of shock it barely bothered him. He took the scissors and tried to cut the arrow, right at the spot on top of his hand. They were wood, so it didn't really work. Soonyoung whimpered as he watched Dokyeom.
"Okay, I have to snap the arrow," Dokyeom told him. "I'll do my best not to hurt you."
"Thank you."
He gulped and held the arrow tightly. Soonyoung closed his eyes and prepared for the pain, clenching his jaw nervously.
"Okay... one, two three!"
Dokyeom snapped the arrow in half. Soonyoung gasped from the sudden pain as the arrow jerked and moved a bit. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Dokyeom gasped.
"It's okay," Soonyoung said, his voice a tad shaky. "We're almost there now."
Dokyeom nodded. He turned Soonyoung's hand over gently so it was palm up. The arrow head was sticking out of his palm, so all he had to do was pull the remaining four or five inches of the arrow out. Soonyoung took a deep breath. "I can do it if you want-"
"No, I got it," Dokyeom said. He grabbed the arrow head with his thumb and pointer finger and, looking up at Soonyoung for a moment, he pulls the arrow out slightly.
"Ahh!" Soonyoung cried out. He didn't move, and Dokyeom didn't stop until he pulled the broken off arrow completely through the wound. As soon as the arrow is out, Soonyoung's hand started bleeding much harder.
"Ah! Okay, okay!" Dokyeom poured a bit of the wine over his wound, then pressed the towel to Soonyoung's hand. "I-I got it," Soonyoung said quietly as he gritted his teeth. He was trying to talk through the pain. The wine made his hand sting like hell, and what made it even worse was he watched as some of the wine actually dripped through the hole in his hand and onto the floor.
Dokyeom watched too, eyes wide.
"My god."
"I know," Soonyoung agreed.
Dokyeom let Soonyoung hold the towel down. "You're gonna be okay," Dokyeom said. "We're gonna live."
Soonyoung nodded. "Okay Dokyeom."
Dokyeom sighed, his stomach suddenly churning as he remembered Seungkwan. "God... Seungkwan..."
Soonyoung said nothing at first, then he began crying. He cried hard, covering his eyes with his non-injured hand. Dokyeom cried too.
Seungkwan was just the fun guy, the one that could make everyone laugh. He was definitely just a sweet guy who wanted to make everyone happy.
Dokyeom ran a hand through his hair as tears rolled down his face. "We gotta survive, for Seungkwan. I just..." he sighed.
"We will, okay? It's gonna be fine." Soonyoung gave him a small smile.
Dokyeom nodded slowly.
It had only been about three hours since this started, and already three of them were dead. At this rate, it wouldn't even take twenty-four hours.
Dokyeom looked at Soonyoung. They were going to survive this. Dokyeom didn't want to think about the others right now, because if he did, he would just get more upset. He just wanted to make sure he and Soonyoung made it out, and if that happened, he would be happy for whoever else did.
But it would be hard, knowing his old friends were gone.
"Surprisingly, I am so tired," Soonyoung said as he wrapped the towel around his hand. The bleeding had slowed down a bit, thank goodness. "Like... I should not be tired in this situation, but suddenly I feel as if I can barely keep my eyes open."
"Sleep," Dokyeom said. "I'll keep watch."
"Are you sure?" Soonyoung asked.
"Of course I'm sure." Dokyeom forced a smile. "You need some rest. If anything happens I'll wake you up."
Soonyoung nodded. "Thank you for everything. I... I know I can trust you."
"Of course! I would never hurt you!"
"Good," Soonyoung said. He stretched out on the couch. "And I would never hurt you either."
Dokyeom smiled. "Thank you."
Soonyoung nodded, then turned his head toward the back of the couch.
He was asleep within minutes.
Dokyeom laid back in the recliner and curled up in a ball. He just wanted to go back to sleep, then wake up at home. Maybe this was all a big dream. That was a reasonable explanation.
Then, something crossed his mind that he never really thought of.
This is an experiment... why on earth are we here? How did they know about us? How did they knew we were friends?
He fell asleep before he could even try and answer those questions himself.
10 REMAINING