July 2 | DAY 8
03 : 49 pm
Namjoon was gone, Jimin was gone, Hoseok was gone, Jungkook was gone, Taehyung was gone, all hopes were gone.
Seokjin hadn't moved from his crouched position in front of the cold-storage door, his mind was dead, his heart had burned out. Nothing was left to be done, nothing was there to be done, he wished that he was dead.
But no.
He had made a promise, a promise that he'll save Yoongi, a promise that he won't give up and he was determined to fulfil that promise.
He stood up, gathering the little strength he had, only to realise that his body was becoming weaker by every passing second. He had to get to the bathroom and somehow find a way to get himself and Yoongi out of here, safe, sound and alive.
A long deep sigh escaped his chapped lips as he looked at the metal door for the last time. He knew that both Jungkook and Taehyung were behind that door, just a few feet away, but they were so far away from him, they were so out of his reach.
"May your souls rest in peace..."
Seokjin sighed again as he uttered the words in hushed silence, his eyes welling up with tears, some already finding their way down his cheeks.
The silence was deafening. Nothing moved, nothing echoed. It had been days since he heard nature, a lonely bird chirping it's sadness away or a hungry dog howling in the middle of the night. Everything was dead. The only thing that made him believe that he wasn't dead, was sound of his own heart beating.
He placed a hand on his chest, felt his heart and wondered how long it'll continue to throb. His days were numbered and he knew that.
Suddenly, a sound of something crashing to the ground tore through the silence, which made Seokjin snap his head to the direction of the sound. He listened for more, his breath hitched, his heart pumped, he could feel the adrenaline kicking in.
But silence revived.
Seokjin checked in all directions, there were no sounds, no movements, nothing to be seen. He made up his mind to go back to the bathroom immediately, it was a long walk and he had to get there, unscathed.
Faint sounds of footsteps arose as he walked briskly, that same uneasy feeling had clutched his mind taut and he did not feel safe. He moved quickly.
Another sound of metal clanking made him stop abruptly. He looked all around him again to find nothing suspicious. He turned back and continued walking. A strange feeling crept up to the back of his head, a feeling that somebody was following him, which sent shivers up his spine.
He increased his pace, almost close to running. He hadn't seen anything, but he knew that something was wrong and that he was in danger.
He started running, his footsteps echoing through the big hall of the abandoned supermarket. He was almost at the bathroom door now, he could see it, but that's when something caught his attention from the corner of his eyes, something moving.
Seokjin paused quickly. The door was literally a few metres away from him, but so was a dark figure, leaning on to the wall near the door, swaying its entire body from side to side, dead.
"Shit."
He froze, his entire body stood still like a statue, he took in quiet shallow breaths.
The creature looked dormant, Seokjin realised that with a quiet sigh of relief.
"Think Seokjin. Think!"
His mind froze too, he was standing face to face with potentially what could be the end of his life.
He thought if he could make a run for the door, a quick sprint, but realised that by the time he reaches the door and Yoongi opens it, he'll be dead meat.
So scratch that.
A distraction was what he wanted. He considered his options, that was the only plan that could work. Distract the 'zombie' and get in safely before it could reach him, he made his mind up. Whether or not the plan would work, he didn't know.
He sucked in a deep breath of the rotten stench filled air, something that has been with him for the past eight days, eight gruesome days. His heart continued to pump blood through his body with all its might, he felt it throbbing in his ears.
He started looking around and his eyes landed on an aluminium soda can, almost an arm length away from his feet. He squatted down on the floor slowly and quietly, and stretched his arm to the can.
He couldn't reach it, he had to move from his current position. He slowly tried to move forward on his knees but he slipped, his hands landing with a thud on the floor while trying to save himself from falling.
"Shit. Shit. Shit."
Seokjin froze again in an awkward position, his body started trembling. He quickly looked at the creature to see whether it had heard him but thankfully, it was still dormant.
"Oh thank God!", a deep breath fell from his lungs.
He stood back up, gathering all the courage he could find. He had grabbed the can and was now ready to put his plan into action, but something about the creature was bothering him.
It had moved more into the light now and Seokjin could see its rotten body, its torn bloody clothes and a hint of its face.
"No, it can't be..."
Seokjin felt as if his lungs had collapsed, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't swallow his spit. He refused to believe what his eyes were telling him, what he was seeing, that the bloodthirsty 'zombie' who stood in front him was... Namjoon.
What once used to be Namjoon.
Every cell in his body wanted to scream out the unbearable pain that suddenly flickered through his heart, the hollowness in his abdomen widening as he watched his friend stand right in front of him, but as a completely different being, as a monster. It was the strangest feeling. A feeling that Seokjin thought he'll never experience in this short span of time allowed to us that we call life.
He couldn't even let out a sob, he bit his lips to hold his emotions in. He could not possibly give in because he had a promise to fulfil.
The grasp on the aluminium can in his hand tightened as he sucked a deep breath in and pulled his arm backwards, his eyes teary, to throw it away from where he was standing, to the other side of the building.
It ricocheted off the ceiling and flew down, the clanking noises tearing through the shrill silence, grabbing the creature's attention, just like how Seokjin wanted.
The 'zombie' quickly shook awake from its dormant state and staggered towards the noise, twitching its legs as it moved, leaving bloody footprints.
Seokjin waited for a few seconds to make sure that the zombie was out of sight to walk closer to the door, slowly and carefully. On reaching the door, he knocked on it, three distinct knocks as they had agreed, but received no answer.
He knocked again but still, silence.
Seokjin feared whether something happened to Yoongi, what if had fallen unconscious in there. He tried to open the door by pushing it, still, nothing happened. The only way now was to bust the door open, but if he did that, one, the noise could attract the 'zombies' and two, the 'door' wouldn't be much of a door after that.
Seokjin started knocking, then tapping on the door, the sound getting louder and louder, but nobody answered.
"Fuck! Yoongi, open the fucking door!!"
Seokjin blurted out accidentally, a bit too loud for his liking, immediately shutting his mouth with his hands. He paused for a while, to see whether he had attracted any attention and also, to calm himself down.
That's when he heard a low moan followed by a deep growl from the side of the hall to which he had thrown the can. He slowly twisted his head, praying that it was just his mind playing tricks on him, just that his mind was too dead to play any kind of tricks.
"Oh... shit."
~~~
OH SHIIIIIIIT. Do you think Seokjin's gonna die here and I'm gonna end the book in the next chapter:) Maybe... maybe not. Wait one more week.
Next chapter out on 19 November, 2020 which is ONE DAY BEFORE BE I'M SO EXCITED.
Love,
PAPRIKA 💜