DAY 787

Jimin wraps the utility belt around him, slipping a knife inside. "So how does this work exactly, we pile into a SUV and drive to a potential town?" he asks.

Fiona shrugs, loading her pistol. "Pretty much. Since it's your first time, you're staying in the middle so we can all keep an eye on you. Don't think we trust you yet."

"Ah yes, cause the twenty-six year old loner who hasn't had a shower in months and has only ever killed two people is so interested in killing all twenty-nine residents of this campus to take their stuff. Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to sabotage the mission and get us all killed," he says with a huff. "Shouldn't I be the one not trusting you?"

Fiona goes to protest, then sighs and shakes her head. "Can't really fault you for being upset. Sorry, I think everyone gets on edge whenever a stranger is around."

"How many bad encounters with strangers have you actually had?" he asks.

She thinks, pursing her lips as she does so, "Not many. I can probably count them off the top of my head. Why?" He chuckles and slips an extra knife into his belt. They don't exactly trust him with a gun yet, so multiple knives it is. He's not sure what difference it makes if he's armed with a rocket launcher or a toy knife. Regardless, he's in no position to argue.

He slips his backpack over his shoulders, not replying at first. She stops gearing up, turning to face him. Her eyes reiterate the question she asked before: 'Why?'. "I mean no offense," he says. "But everyone here, even Y/n and Jungkook, have been surrounded by walls throughout the whole apocalypse. I didn't get that luxury. I had to run every day of my damn life to survive. If this were my group, any new member would be locked up and heavily tested before even being let out let alone around weapons. But here I am, and first day I got here I was assigned night watch alone with one of your higher ups. Armed. Dangerous."

Jimin licks his lips for a moment, considering his next words. "My point is you have no fucking idea what it's like out there, and the way you handle strangers shows that. You're lucky you've lasted this long. Be grateful those Ranglers haven't decided to come take your stuff, because whether you under or outnumber them doesn't matter. You're not prepared no matter how many people you have. That needs to change, and I'm willing to help you, but only if you don't half-ass it anymore."

To his surprise - Fiona cracks a smile. They're interrupted when Y/n enters the armory. Well, the study they converted into an armory, anyway. She takes a Desert Eagle off one of the racks, eyeing the two. "What'd I miss?" Y/n asks.

Fiona trots over, patting her on the shoulder. "I like him." Without another word, she stalks away. Jimin leans against the metal shelves that the guns are on, watching Fiona saunter out of the room. As soon as the door clicks shut, Y/n turns to him.

"What was that all about?" she asks.

Jimin wants to answer, but the truth, is he isn't entirely sure himself. "Not sure. I told her about how I can help this place with my outsider knowledge. Also pointed out how I should be the one not trusting you, not the other way around. None of you have the same experience with the outside world that I do, and that shows. But I can help."

She brings a few extra mags of ammo, stuffing them into her bag. "And what is it like? The world, I mean."

"Hell on Earth. Whatever you're imagining, it's probably ten times worse."

Y/n shivers at the thought, stuffing more ammo into her bag. "Remind me not to spend too much time there then," she mumbles.

"You won't. This place has potential to last forever, but only if you choose to make it that way."

She slows her movements and glances back at him. "What do you mean?"

"If you aren't careful, this place can easily be overtaken by outsiders. I may not trust any of you, but I don't want to see you gone either," he says.

She stiffens. "Not even me?"

"Hm?"

"You don't trust me?" she asks, leaning against the shelves to stare at him.

"Of course not," he replies.

"But... the locket..."

"You think just because I showed you a locket, I trust you? Woo-hoo, I showed you a childhood picture of me. Doesn't mean we're best friends. I still don't know if you're serious about your intentions."

Although her jaw drops, she still manages to narrows her eyes. "I'm sure as hell special to you, huh?"

It's his turn to be confused. "What?"

"You told me that I'm special. You know, the night we cuddled and slept together? The night before this morning where you kissed my head and told me that you're only going on this mission because I am? Yeah, that night. Ring any fucking bells, Jimin?"

He lets out a soft breath and runs a hand through his hair. "Listen, it's not that I don't like you. I just don't trust you yet. Do you trust me?"

"Would it be bad if I said yes?" she asks. "Would it be bad if I want to like and trust you?"

"Yeah actually, it would be."

"Why?" Her tone isn't angry, it's perplexed. It breaks his heart.

"Because I'm a stranger, and you shouldn't want to be best buds with a stranger."

She laughs, but it's void of any humor. "You're one funny, charming, attractive stranger, Park Jimin. Hell, you had me convinced that you were trustworthy, but thanks for showing me I was wrong." She shoves one last mag of ammo in her bag. Then, she slings it over her shoulder and storms away. 

Jimin grunts. He didn't want to do that. What he really wanted to do as soon as she gave him that scared, confused look, was hug her and tell her how special she is. That although he doesn't trust her, he's getting there. He's opening up to the idea of trust again. He wanted to kiss her head again, reassuring her that everything would be alright. But for both of their safety, he didn't. For now, he has to gain some distance and observe them. He glances up, peering at the place Y/n just was. He can't forget his training.

He's come too far to forget now.

~~~

Jimin creeps behind the other three scavengers. Fiona, Ves, Y/n, then him. Four person team. So much for being in the middle, huh? They're in a town that's pretty close to the school. Last time, when they went to Jimin's district, it was far away for them. They can't be using as much gas since it gets harder to find. Gas stations don't exactly have... well, gas anymore. He can't blame them for wanting to stay local now.

"Any visuals on any Divas?" Fiona asks.

"None," Ves replies, keeping his gun by his side. Jimin scans his environment. It's no city, but there's certainly some enormous buildings surrounding him. Apartment complexes, if he were to guess. He wonders if anyone is still alive, waiting for the military to come rescue them. That's what Jimin's family did. His father paid the price for that foolish belief. Hell, he was in the military. Despite all that, he still paid with his life.

The area itself is put-together. There's no zombies roaming the streets, the stores aren't boarded up. If he wasn't in the apocalypse as long as he was, Jimin would think this place wasn't impacted by all the infections going around.

He sighs, glancing up at Y/n. God, he feels so bad for earlier. He wants to see her smile and laugh at something dumb he said. But at the same time, he can't get this attached this early. For both of them. If he falls hard for a stranger, what if he gets hurt? What if these feelings are just a result of the loneliness? No matter what he does, someone gets hurt. He may care about Y/n, but he needs to put himself first. Whenever he doesn't, he almost dies. Literally.

"This looks promising," Ves says, pointing to a grocery store on the other side of the street.

"Maybe some good ole Chef Boyardee will be inside," Jimin replies.

Fiona and Ves crack a smile at his words. He's not surprised Y/n's frown increases. "Let's go," she says, leading the way. Ves follows in an instant, Fiona staying in the back with Jimin.

"I thought you wanted me in the middle," Jimin says.

"Well that was before you made a good point. Plus, we need to talk. What's going on with Y/n? She seems... distant."

"My fault. I was kind of rude to her, told her I didn't trust her yet even though I showed her my locket."

Fiona peeps at him, then at Y/n to make sure they're out of earshot. "You like her, don't you?" she asks, but it's more of a statement.

"That obvious?"

"Oh please, the second I saw you two walking together it just... I don't know, it felt right. Like you two should be walking side-by-side. Always." Half of Jimin wants to blush at that while the other half manages to calm down.

"I can't argue with that. You're not wrong, after all. We fit pretty well. To be honest, if there was no apocalypse, I would've made out with her by now."

"Okay, tmi. Cool and good for you, but tmi," she replies, groaning at his words.

"Sorry, I used to be an open book before the end of the world happened. Maybe some of that is slipping back in now that I'm with humans again."

"And don't look like a caveman." He agrees, following her inside the grocery store.

"This looks decently promising," Y/n says. "Good find, Ves. Split up, pairs of two."

"Can I go with Jimin?" Ves asks.

Y/n goes still, eyes flickering up to his. He knows what she's going to say. After he was cold to her, she has every right to snap at Ves for even considering the option. Jimin braces himself, then, Y/n chuckles. 

"Of course kiddo. Make sure you're in yelling distance though," she tells Ves. The kid agrees in less than a second and goes to Jimin's side. Fiona and Jimin share a 'what the fuck?' look before the woman shrugs and goes over to Y/n.

Jimin gazes at Y/n, who peeks back. He mouths 'thank you', and she hesitates before nodding. Y/n takes Fiona and guides her down a bit. She turns over her shoulder, being careful to still be quiet. "Meet in the meat aisle in five minutes."

Jimin hums, Y/n giving Ves a worried look. "I'll stay close," Ves says, grabbing Jimin's hand with his small one. Ha, funny. Their hands are practically the same size.

"I'm not going anywhere," Jimin says.

"Consider this your test, Mr. Park," Fiona says. "If anything happens to Ves, I'll kill you with my bare hands."

"Wouldn't want that," he replies with a small whistle. "We'll go first so you can see where we go, how about that?" They don't disagree, Jimin taking Ves forward. Fiona and Y/n watch him and Ves go down to the produce section, the four still in eyesight of each other.

"I thought you didn't like me much, little man," Jimin says, picking up a package of long-expired lettuce. He winces and tosses it back down.

"I don't, but I'd love to change that."

"Me too," Jimin murmurs, hearing Y/n's voice in his head. In order for Y/n to like him, Ves has to like him. That's the rule, right? Jimin kneels in front of Ves, placing his hands on his shoulders. "Here's some rules. Don't go out of my sight. Don't touch anything you don't know. This place may look nice, but you never know what assholes came and set something up."

"Set something up?"

"Yeah, like traps. Something with noise to draw Behemoths and Divas to our location. Something to stop us from taking their stuff. Back when I was running with a group called the Hounds, we learned about walking amongst the dead and using them as a weapon. Sound is the most important way. Set up underground or somewhere near here, keep this place as a storage compartment without needing to waste men for security. Use the dead instead."

Ves seems only more confused, so Jimin points to one of the packages sitting in the cooler that doesn't work anymore. "What do you notice about this?" Jimin asks.

"It's yucky." Ves grimaces, sticking his tongue out at it.

Jimin chuckles, standing and pointing to one of the packages that looks fresh. "Whoever set this place up must have a farm." Jimin touches the package, maneuvering it until he reveals a small wire on the back of it.

"What the hell is that?" Ves asks in a hushed tone.

"The wire is connected to the shelf. If you pull it off the shelf, my guess is either an explosion or an alarm will go off," Jimin replies, setting the bag back down. "Long story short, don't just take things. Look first, ask me if you're not absolutely sure. Got it? Even chocolate bars are a risk. Someone rigged this place to make it look too good to be true."

"Shouldn't we tell Fiona and Mom?" Ves asks. Jimin's heart stings. Poor kid even calls Y/n mom. He probably never had his biological one there for him. Poor guy...

"They're like me, Ves. Survivors. They've been scavenging more than me I'll bet, they know what they're doing. They wouldn't have made it this long if they didn't know what to do."

"Alright, where to now?"

"The meat section is all the way in the back." He peeks over, seeing that Y/n and Fiona are long gone. Him and Ves are truly alone now. "We'll make our way down, check for any traps along the way, but take anything we can. For example..." Jimin picks up the lettuce and uses his knife to cut the wire. Ves flinches. "It's okay, the wire has to be pulled to activate. Now we have one fresh pack of lettuce thanks to whoever's good at farming in this group. Let's mentally thank this group for a moment." Jimin mentally counts to three. "Okay, moment done. Let's go."

He guides Ves down the pathway, picking up anything they see. They end up getting a few bags of chips, cutting more wires attached to some items. Jimin almost hums while doing it. "It's scary how good you are at this," Ves says.

"Not to sound like a dick, but I'm scary overall." Jimin turns and makes a tiger pose. "Very scary."

"I wet my pants," Ves says, huffing with an eye roll.

Jimin snickers and kneels, ruffling the kid's hair before swiveling to the shelf in front of him. He takes a Hershey's bar because why the fuck not? "You like these?" Jimin asks.

"My favorite."

Jimin places it in Ves's hand. "They're my favorite too, kiddo. Looks like you have good taste." Ves softly smiles, holding the bar. "It's yours," Jimin says. "Make sure you don't eat it all in one bite."

Before Ves can protest, Jimin stands and takes the kid's hand again. Five minutes pass, and they're in the meat aisle, their bags stuffed. They got a lot of snacks, nothing really fresh other than that one pack of lettuce. Whoever set up this place was smart. Leave the fresh thing right in front so other survivors would get excited and grab it without thinking. Fresh food is way too valuable these days. Normally that's a grab and go. Jimin almost smiles. They didn't fool him.

"Wow, there's a few packs of meat," Ves says, his eyes scanning over all the packages that are actually good.

"Damn, they must have animals too. Any chance those Ranglers your people mentioned are the ones behind this?" Jimin asks.

Ves shrugs. "I don't get paid enough to know that."

"Woah, you're getting paid? Shit little dude, you got game." Ves cracks a smile at that, Jimin raising his fist for the young one to bump. He does. It makes Jimin's heart beat faster. He's always wanted to be a dad, maybe he can get that here.

"Remember what I said, there could be traps," Jimin says. The young boy agrees and checks, noticing how the first one he picks up has a wire. He freezes. Jimin offers Ves a knife, kneeling to be eye level with him. "Don't panic or freeze up. What did I teach you, hm?"

"Calmly cut the wire."

Jimin nods, letting Ves take his knife. Then, the wire is cut. "There you go. Not so hard, right?" Jimin asks, nudging Ves. Ves shoots him a soft smile he's quick to return.

A pad of footsteps sounds off, Jimin instinctively getting in front of Ves. He relaxes when Y/n and Fiona come over. Y/n eyes Jimin's protective nature, a glint of... no, no way. A glint of pride is shimmering in her eyes, but it fades as soon as it comes. "You got meat?" Y/n asks in surprise.

"Yeah, it's been hard though. A lot of wires to cut," Jimin says.

Y/n furrows her brows and goes over to one of the packages, tracing her finger down the side of it. "Wires to cut?" she asks, picking up the package. Jimin's eyes widen.

They don't know.

"No, Y/n!" he shouts. The wire hiding beneath the package snaps, Y/n's eyes almost bursting out of their sockets. "Ves get away!" Jimin says, grabbing Y/n and throwing their bodies on the ground together. Seconds later, an explosion is heard. It was small, probably only a standard issue grenade, but it was enough to make Jimin's ears ring.

He groans, amazed that he can feel all his limbs. Jimin blinks himself back into consciousness, leaning up and seeing a terrified Y/n beneath him. He places a hand on her cheek, admiring her pretty eyes and her face now covered with dust. "Are you okay?" he asks, brushing his thumb across her cheek.

She opens her mouth to speak, then panics. "Wait- Ves?!" She practically shoves Jimin off her, searching for the kid.

Fiona, who was far behind the other three, comes over and glares at the sight. "What the hell is going on?!" she asks.

"Whoever set up this place rigged a bunch of their stuff to explode," Jimin replies.

Fiona glances at him while Y/n helps Ves up, the two coughing from the dust entering their lungs. Jimin turns back to observe the hole created in the meat section. They may have got a lot of goods, but meat is a hard score nowadays. The only good news is that the campus has two good archers, Louis and Fiona, so at least they can hunt when they need to. But damn, it really sucks that they lost all that meat. However, Y/n's okay. That's what matters most.

A chorus of shrieks and groans sounds off outside, Jimin gulping. "Guys, form a square, now," he says. The others follow his lead without a second's hesitation. They form up, taking out their weapons. Ves gives Jimin his knife back, Jimin nodding his thanks.

"Here's what's going to happen," Jimin says. "We're about to be surrounded by a bunch of angry Divas and walking undead. If we're really unlucky, maybe a few runners will come. There's no way out of this no matter how fast we run. Our best option is fighting them right here, right now. Use knives only."

"What?! Are you fucking insane?" Fiona asks with a quiver in her tone. 

"The more noise we make the more we draw to us. Do you want to fight half the zombies in this area, or all of them?" At her silence, he takes that as agreement to his plan. They all switch to knives, reluctantly holstering their pistols. "Only use your guns if you absolutely have to. Last resort only. If you want to survive this, you have to listen to me, understood? I'm not asking you to trust me, I'm asking you to believe this plan will work." They stay quiet. Obedience to him, that's what the silence means. He's grateful for it, if he's being honest.

"Fight like hell and watch each other's backs. Ves, I got yours and you got mine. Fiona, you and Y/n take care of each other. Make sure no zombies sneak up on us. Be observant and fast. Don't panic, if you panic, you die." More groans get closer, some footsteps fast, some slow. They're out of time. "Here they come," Jimin mumbles, eyes widening upon seeing the Divas and zombies coming their way. Only three runners so far, the zombies sprinting towards Ves and him. Jimin grits his teeth and stabs the closest one in the head, Ves yelping but managing to down the other. Jimin gets the third one before it can lay a hand on the kid.

Y/n turns back to help, but Jimin holds his hand up. "Focus on your side L/n, we'll focus on ours. This is the part where I ask you to trust me," he whispers, the word 'trust' hurting his throat as it passes. She doesn't reply. Not that she has the chance to. A loud roar rings out, bouncing off the walls of the grocery store and hitting everyone's ear in a screech. They wince from the contact of such a high-pitch noise. 

Jimin swallows as much saliva as he can, the shelves and walls getting bashed. Amongst the Divas and zombies coming at them, there's one giant one not too far away. One without a face and as big as a sumo wrestler. The spores poking out of its skin pop, creating a grotesque aroma that makes Jimin gag. The scarlet and black bubbling membrane on the creature glimmers under the flickering lighting of the store, its hands getting ready to attack. 

A Behemoth. A motherfucking Behemoth is here, about to fight them, and guns are their last resort weapon. Jimin lets out a low whistle, realizing just how fucked they are. He sighs, then, he opens his mouth to speak.

"What a wonderful world."