DAY 804

Ves traces his finger down the scar on his wrist: the zombie bite. Jungkook watches each second, gulping down his nerves. Out of fear, even days after it had happened, they kept him locked up and didn't treat the bite. Now it was on Jungkook to do that. And he attempts to, approaching the young kid and offering him his hand. Ves glances up, taking Jungkook's outstretched hand and allowing him to guide the younger of the two to the nurse's office.

They enter, Jungkook motioning for Ves to sit. He does, Jungkook grabbing the supplies he needs before coming over to Ves. The kid blinks as if none of this is happening, Jungkook sighing and staring at the wound. He shuts his eyes, trying not to see the woman he failed. Even basic injuries has his head spinning, but he needs to pull through. Surgeries he can leave to Katherine, but not this.

Jungkook opens his eyes and applies disinfectant, noticing how it doesn't appear infected in the first place. After, he wraps it, Ves remaining silent. Jungkook doesn't question the kid's reluctance to speak to dear Uncle Kook. Mostly because he understands. Ves must have a million things on his mind right now. And of course, most prominently, he's thinking one thing.

How in the living fuck is Ves immune?

Even Jimin said he's never seen that before. Park motherfucking Jimin. The king of outside experience, and he hasn't seen that before. When Y/n told Ves he's special, fucking hell, she wasn't lying. But that's not necessarily a good thing. Jungkook sees it as one, but Ves's furrowed brows and frowned lips tell a different tale.

"If I asked what was on your mind, and I promised not to tell your mom and dad, would you tell me?" Jungkook asks, continuing to wrap the bandage, making sure not to go too tight.

"Sneak me an extra bag of chips from the snack room."

"Greedy little shit."

"Is that a yes or a no?"

Jungkook considers his options, then, he sighs and gives in. "Fine, but only one. No more, no less. What do you say? Deal?"

Ves agrees, Jungkook finishing off the bandage and backing away to clean up what he took out. It's nice that he's able to do basic medical procedures again. He wonders if he'll ever be able to look at blood again. Speaking of medicine and blood, Jungkook notices their antibiotics are seeming slim. No penicillin, which is a death sentence anymore.

"There's not much on my mind, I think that's the scariest part."

"Can't disagree with that."

"Hey Uncle Kook?" He hums, checking up on their stock while they speak. "How would you treat a gunshot wound?"

Jungkook freezes for a moment, letting out a breath. The memory taps on the wrinkles of his mind, slivering its way around his thoughts. But he forces it away to instead rifle through the rest of the few antibiotics they have. "Depends on the severity. If it's something like a thigh shot or stomach, there's a lot of blood there, so it takes a while to patch up. Then stomach shots have the added joy of risking tearing the stomach lining, in that case, that's a big oopsie and a pain to clean up."

"But in general, any wound."

He comes over, taking Ves's arm and poking his nail against it. "Well, when a bullet hits a person, the tissue on their skin is completely crushed. So fixing it means more than just stopping the bleeding and bandaging. You have to determine if there's an entrance and exit wound. Locate both. The problem with gunshots is that there's so much that goes into it, not every case is the same. Sometimes the bullet will come into contact with a bone and fragment. Sometimes there's no exit wound, and those fragments are still inside. And of course, it varies based on the gun actually shot. The caliber of the bullet is a huge part of it too."

"Caliber?"

"It's a form of measurement. Like diameter," Jungkook says, tracing a small circle on Ves's arm to demonstrate a bullet hole. "You have to check breathing first, make sure they have stable airways. Check their mental state too. See how in the moment they are, ask questions, keep them talking. Look for other signs of trauma too, such as trauma to the neck and head, even if the gunshot isn't there. You want to assess the whole situation before you do anything about it. Sometimes these checks can take seconds, and other times a full minute."

"And what about after it's healed? What do you do for treatment?"

"Someone's curious," Jungkook says with a chuckle. "Planning on getting shot?"

"Louis got shot."

"And he's up and moving again, doing a lot better. He's been instructed by Katherine to clean it out with water, not any disinfectants, once a day. Twice if he's feeling he needs it. Keep it dry otherwise. We don't have much antibiotics, but I'm sure she gave him something to stop any infections, and I'm sure she gave him either alcohol or painkillers."

Ves absorbs everything Jungkook says, then, he nods. "You explained all that in-detail to me, and you obviously know what you're doing."

"Yeah. What about it?"

"So why can't you do surgeries?"

Jungkook moves back, letting his hand fall away from Ves's arm. "Because... I can't."

"That was the equivalent of you saying 'because I said so'. Y/n told me you have bad memories, but do bad memories really stop you from saving people's lives? You're a doctor and that didn't stop you from taking lives to save Y/n."

"As good of a point as that is," Jungkook says, staring right at Ves, "you'd do the same no matter your moral compass. She's Y/n, she's our heart and soul. Don't know what I'd do without her."

"Well, I know one thing wouldn't change." Jungkook raises a brow. "You'd still never take off that stupid leather jacket."

"It's not stupid, it's cool. You wouldn't know what cool is if it hit you in the face."

"Kinky."

Jungkook glares, Ves only smiling at his suffering. The doctor sighs and points to the door, Ves getting the hint and departing the room. Jimin, who was hiding behind one of the screens, comes out and stops by Jungkook's side. "How do you think he's doing?" Jungkook asks, peeking at Jimin from over his shoulder.

"That's the thing, I don't even know. I think Y/n would be better at this than me."

"He sees you as a father."

"Is that a good or bad thing in your eyes?"

Jungkook shifts, scanning Jimin's form up and down before snorting, nudging the man's shoulder. "You're sleeping with my best friend now, Ves seems to be the first fucking immune person in this world, we got kidnapped by the Ranglers, and more than half our campus is gone. I'd say I don't give a fuck anymore, what that kid considers you is the least of my concerns. I'm much more worried about the state of our school and how the hell we're gonna rebuild."

"Namjoon put me in charge of it, and we're doing pretty well. The whole Ves situation kind of made us stall our projects, but we're getting there again. I'll resume all our efforts today," Jimin says, dipping his head.

"Don't worry too much about it, we could all use a break after that hell. I'm just glad Ves is okay, as ground-breaking of a discovery as it is, I'm still more grateful than I am curious."

"Do you think he can survive any bite, not just this one?"

"I'd assume so, but I don't want to find out, if we can avoid it. And let's not get cocky and think we're all immune, I mean, you said yourself you've never seen this happen," Jungkook replies, him searching his cabinets one more time for any remnants of the old supplies they used to have. Nothing good. It's all the same bare shelves that wish they could have more. Their local pharmacy is dry. The only way they get more supplies is venturing out farther, or going to the hospital. Venturing out farther would be a much better choice at this point.

"You're right..." Jimin trails off, Jungkook turning to raise a brow in question. Jimin sighs, leaning back on the balls of his feet. "I promise you Jungkook, I'll take care of her."

Jungkook chortles, flicking his shoulder. "You're a man. You're gonna fuck up at some point."

"Gee, thanks."

"That wasn't an insult, it's a fact. She's a woman, you're a man. Two biologically and psychologically different types of people, it just means arguments are bound to happen. You'll fuck up, she will too knowing her dumbass, and you two will fight like hell and might even breakup."

"Are you going somewhere with this?"

Jungkook shakes him off, smiling, "But you're a man. I know that no matter what, you'll protect her with your life. You get the masculine urge to protect her and treat her like a princess yet?"

"Since the first day I laid eyes on her and her pretty dog."

"Love that dog," Jungkook mumbles, chuckling and departing the nurse's office. Jimin follows hot on his tail, rounding the corner and walking in-sync with one another. "I don't trust a lot of people, Jimin. Not even everyone here, but I know you'll save Y/n when needed. Whether you take care of her emotionally or not isn't my business. It's her life and yours, and unless she asks for help or you do something horrible - which you won't - I won't interfere or threaten you. Have fun, it's the fucking zombie apocalypse, I don't care if I hear your moans at 3 a.m. while I-"

"Okay, that was sweet at first, now I'm starting to think you just want free porn."

"Fucking hell, I miss the internet," Jungkook says with a grunt, Jimin whacking his side. Jungkook laughs and continues his trek, going out to the front yard. Fiona's there with Julia and Omar, the trio repairing the wooden tables as best they can. The gates are demented and look like Jungkook's sexuality, but they're better than they were before thanks to Namjoon, Jin, and Hoseok doing their best to fix it with what they have. The interior is still okay though, so there's that. At least there's one definite positive. Jungkook's not entirely sure if Ves being immune is a positive or not, so jury's still out on that one.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Jimin asks, his eyes scanning over the area.

Jungkook smiles albeit softly, stopping Jimin. The older of the two meets Jungkook's eyes, his hands folded behind his back. "We saved you, didn't we?"

"What? No, I was a loner, I know how to handle zombies-"

"Not from zombies. From yourself."

Jimin plays with his answer before speaking it, but Jungkook knows what he's going to say already. "Yeah. Yeah, I think so."

Jungkook gives him a nod and goes over to the group repairing the tables, Fiona briefly greeting Jimin. Jungkook stays back to observe the way Jimin carries himself. The way he's able to keep his posture straight even while just standing. Definitely a dancer, even if he hasn't practiced in a while. And that's without mentioning how his hands seem to be on the ready for anything. Like a punch. A dancer and a survivor. A deadly combination Jungkook knows they need at their camp.

"Hey pretty boy!" a new male voice says, Jimin excusing himself and turning to face the intruder.

Kim Taehyung comes over, panting and holding his heart. "I don't remember you having heartburn," Jimin says, Taehyung kicking dirt at him.

"Haha. You're so funny."

"Thanks."

"That was sarcasm. Your sense of humor is literally why we broke up."

Jungkook holds a hand over his mouth, Jimin glaring at Jungkook to keep him from laughing. Honestly, Jimin's glare is more cute than scary, but Jungkook decides to give in anyway. "Well anyway, I was gonna say I'm straight now, but Jeon Jungkook decided to exist, so I guess I'm bi and ready to try. But that's not why I'm here. I wanted to talk to you about a potential mission."

"I'm not the one to talk to about that. Talk to boss man." Jimin pauses to point to Namjoon. "I don't want to hear about your problems anyway."

"Fuck off."

"Make me, daddy."

Jungkook grabs Jimin by the ear and pulls him away from the retreating Taehyung. "Not worth it," Jungkook says, Jimin groaning but agreeing. Tae goes over to Namjoon, the pair speaking in voices far too low for Jungkook to try to make out. "He's a bit strange."

"I think you mean a loser," Ves says, approaching from behind.

Both Jimin and Jungkook jump. "Jesus kid, where the fuck did you come from?" Jimin asks, Ves shrugging.

"My mom's womb."

"I'm leaving. I've officially had enough Ves and Jimin time." Jungkook swivels on his heel, about to depart when Jimin takes his hand. "Um. Dude."

"Bro."

"This is a little gay-"

"Jungkook, shut up for once." He did, Jimin letting out a soft breath and shaking his head. "You're an amazing doctor. An amazing person too. I know these are your demons to fight, but I hope you know that everyone here trusts you. Even me." Jungkook holds his ground, staring into Jimin's eyes without fear. Despite that, he has terror clinging to his veins, sailing up to his mind and flooding it with annihilation. Jungkook goes to speak, but Jimin cuts him off. "Just think about it, okay?"

Jimin gives Jungkook's hand a squeeze before leaving with Ves by his side, the two going right back to bickering and annoying each other. Jungkook watches the whole time. The way Ves is hiding his bite with his sleeve, but also the way he's walking right by Jimin's side, eagerness in his gaze. Jungkook has to admit he admires it. The way Ves and Jimin formed such a father-son relationship so quickly. Jungkook smiles, letting out a soft breath.

Maybe there's hope after all.