Minho felt numb. Hongjoong and Seonghwa took turns trying to talk to him, let him know he wasn't alone. But he hardly even heard their questions.

Chan was dead.

Hyunjin was dead.

For all he knew, Jeongin and Seungmin were dead.

Hell, the other three were probably dead.

This was real.

People were really dying.

All of the zombies in the hallway—they were real people. And now Chan was one of them.

He couldn't ever face him. And he couldn't even imagine what had happened to Hyunjin's body since he'd last seen it. He never wanted to leave the closet again.

But he knew Hongjoong and Seonghwa had plans to get to the control room. And he knew they were only waiting around because they felt bad.

He knew he was ruining their mission.

But he almost wished they would just leave him and get on with it.

Clearly he wasn't in any condition to make it there. He would only slow them down. Logically, they should've just left him behind by now. But they refused.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Hongjoong asked, coming over to sit down as Seonghwa walked away to stretch his legs.

"Well—in case you hadn't noticed—there's a bullet lodged in my thigh. So I'm not feeling great."

"That's...not really what I meant."

"You mean how am I mentally coping with the fact that I looked directly into the soulless eyes of two of my best friends? I'm gonna have to go with not well."

"Minho, you know you couldn't have done anything to save them. It's not your fault."

"Clearly. I'm not the one who fucking bit them."

"Look, I'm sorry. This is a really shitty situation. But you need to believe me when I say that Seonghwa and I are on your side. We may not know each other the same way we know our own members but that doesn't make a difference. We're not going to abandon you."

"At this point, I kinda wish you would."

"I know you're lashing out because you're upset. So I just wanted to tell you that we're here for you. Okay?"

"You really don't have to be. I'll be fine on my own. Why don't you two go ahead and find the control room? You can always come back for me if you feel guilty."

"Minho, we're not just going to leave you here. You're more important than getting to the control room."

"But if you get to the control room you can save everyone who's still alive. So theoretically, it is more important."

"It's not a guarantee. And even so, it's not worth it to sacrifice a life for others. That's not a bargain I'm willing to make."

Minho looked away, signaling that he was done talking. Hongjoong sighed, standing and walking over to Seonghwa.

Seonghwa put his arms around Hongjoong, holding his waist at arms length and crossing his wrists over each other. Hongjoong looked up at him with a glum smile.

"So? How is he?" Seonghwa asked, keeping his voice low.

"Certainly more talkative than before."

"That's good," Seonghwa said encouragingly but Hongjoong shook his head.

"He's still being difficult. He won't stop talking about staying behind. He wants us to just go ahead without him."

Seonghwa looked down at the ground.

"I mean, he might have a point."

Hongjoong forced his chin up, making eye contact.

"Hwa, no."

"I'm not saying we should give up on him. But we made a promise to our members. They're waiting for us. We can't stay here forever, Joong."

"I know. But we have an obligation to save as many lives as we can. And I'm not willing to sacrifice anyone else for the sake of others."

"I'm not saying we have to leave him to die! I'm just saying, if he wants to stay back, we shouldn't force him to risk his life. Once we get to the control room we can gauge the situation in the rest of the building and figure out an escape plan. And maybe we'll be able to find the rest of his members. Then we can go back and give him supplies and even a little bit of hope. He's not going to starve overnight."

Hongjoong thought it over. He knew it was logical. He just wasn't sure if he could stomach leaving Minho alone. He wasn't sure what he would do if left unsupervised.

"How can we be sure that he won't do anything stupid?"

Seonghwa glanced over at Minho who was twisting his weapon of choice in his hands, eyeing the material blankly.

"I don't know, honestly."

Hongjoong bit his lip, crossing his arms over his chest. Seonghwa pulled them apart, taking his hands in his.

"Hey, you know we've done everything we can."

"No, we can still find a way to get him to the control room. It's possible."

"Joong, not every problem has a solution. We can't just save him with sheer willpower. If he doesn't want to get there, he's not going to make the journey. We have to let him decide what he wants."

"But he's clearly not in a great place right now. Should we really let him make any decisions? I'm just worried he'll do something..."

Seonghwa squeezed Hongjoong's hands, rubbing his thumb over his small knuckles.

"Hey, this isn't a situation we're equipped to handle. The trauma he's been through is beyond anything we could've ever expected to deal with. I know this doesn't mean we should just give up on him, but we can't expect to figure out what he needs. He's going through something horrible, I know that. But if I'm being honest, he's handled it a hell of a lot better than I could. I think he knows better than to give up just yet. He's still got fire in his eyes. Just a little."

Hongjoong nodded. But his expression was still unsure. Seonghwa placed a hand on his back, inviting him in for a soft embrace, stroking his back lightly.

"I know why you're so focused on this, Joong."

Hongjoong stayed quiet.

"You know that being a good parent doesn't mean having all of the answers. Even the best parents are left helpless when faced with difficult situations. I know you're trying to prove to yourself that you're ready to take on a child but you don't have to do that. We both know you'd be an incredible father."

"But what if the zombies never go away. What if the world is really ending? How would we ever protect a child from a zombie apocalypse?"

"I don't think it would be something we could do, especially not if we adopt. There will probably be thousands of children left without parents..."

As Seonghwa realized the future of so many children, he felt himself tearing up. How many of their own staff members were infected? And how many had children? He knew some of them personally...would their parents ever come home?

Then he realized, he didn't even know how far the zombies had spread.

What if they were attacking schools? What if they had infected hospitals? What if the whole world was being hit at once?

It was Hongjoong's turn to comfort Seonghwa, holding onto him tightly as he began to hyperventilate.

"Hey, hey, it's okay! Don't cry, don't cry! I'm right here," Hongjoong whispered, pulling Seonghwa close to his chest.

"How did this happen?" Seonghwa whispered between tears, his hands gripping Hongjoong's frame tightly.

"I don't know. Some sick freak, probably."

"Who would do such a thing?"

"I don't know. But we won't let them win. They want to divide us, to make us turn on each other. But I won't let it happen."

Seonghwa pulled back a bit, pressing his forehead into Hongjoong's.

"You mean, Minho."

"Yeah," he whispered.

"You still think you can do it?"

"No. But I have to try."

Seonghwa nodded.

"Okay. Whatever we do, we do together. We're a team."

Hongjoong turned his head so his eyes looked up into Seonghwa's, their noses inches apart. He smiled sadly, leaning in and placing a soft kiss on Seonghwa's lips.

He pulled away slowly, reaching a hand up to Seonghwa's cheek and holding it lightly.

"I love you, Hwa. We're going to make it out of this, okay?"

Seonghwa nodded.

"As long as I have you, I can make it through another day."

With another quick kiss, Hongjoong let his hand slip down to Seonghwa's side and he wrapped it around his tiny waist, pulling him along as they walked back over to Minho.

"Executive decision. We're getting you out of here. So it's time to get up and get ready to kick some zombie ass."