"They're piling up, again," Namjoon sighed with a fearful shake of his head, referring to the large gang of monsters pushing against the fence. The fence was the only thing, currently, keeping us safe from the outside world. "It really won't be long until they push it down." 

"I know," I mumbled my agreement, trying to think of a way we could stop that possibility from happening. "It's not going to be easy, taking them down. But, maybe, if we group up, we may be able to thin them out, somehow."

Joon nodded, keeping his eyes focused on the wire fence around us, mentally trying to count just how many of those foul creatures there were.

"I'm gonna go and get Yoongi hyung," Joon stated, after a moment of silence. "See if he has any idea on how to fix this mess." 

"Okay," I just nodded. I didn't want to be outside for too much longer, as the winter air was sending chills through my spine and my leather jacket wasn't much of a windbreaker. "I think he's in the storage room with Hoseok, either that or he's with Jimin." 

"I'll check their truck first, it's closer," Joon just shrugged and walked off. 

I watched after him until he was out of sight, but then turned my attention back to the fence. Shoving my hands in my jeans pockets, I looked over at how many there were. There must have been at least two, maybe three, hundred - pushing up against the wire, threatening to destroy the place we were now forced to call home.

I missed our dorm room, the cosiness of it. The warm, family feel it held. But when the outbreak was announced, and we were told to run, our humble little dorm became nothing more than a wreck. 

We were chased out by the dead, into our cars and onto the road. We were just incredibly lucky that Joon knew about this storage place. We would have run out of everything and would have probably died on the road if it wasn't for him. It's crazy how that was two months ago!

I turned to the sound of footsteps behind me, only to be met by Joon and Yoongs walking over. The slightly older man looked absolutely freezing, he had clearly forgotten to put his coat on. The look on his face told me he regretted it, as well. They both nodded to me, as I did them, and Joon went on to explain what was going on.

"There's even more of them now that it's getting colder," Namjoon said, bleakly, leaving Yoongs to look at him with a questioning expression.

"And if we don't do something about it," I added to give the man a bit more information. "They're going to push it down. We need to try and thin them out, somehow. Get them to break up and spread the weight so it doesn't get too much to hold up."

"How do you suggest we do that?" Yoongs asked me, placing his pale hands into his jeans pockets. His cheeks were turning rosy as the winter air bit at them. 

"We wait for Jungkook and Taehyung to get back from their run," Namjoon shrugged, his voice wavering slightly. "Maybe get Hoseok to go on watch as we group up and take them out, through the fence."

"Where is Hoseok, anyway?" I asked, turning to see if he was around anywhere. I hadn't seen him all day, which was pretty unusual for the overly-social being he was. 

"I believe he's sorting out the food rations for next week," Yoongi answered, shivering pretty harshly now. I shot a look of concern and annoyance. I guess it was his own fault for not putting a jacket on, but it was clear he wanted to leave the conversation now. I nodded at him, understanding. Hoseokie was usually the one to sort out the food. I think he just liked arranging it and having a meaningful job to do. "I took him the fresh veg from the garden, a little while ago, which reminds me... We need to find a way to protect crops from the wind. It's too cold and the strong winds are just ruining all of them." 

"We'll ask Taehyung," I shrugged. I didn't know much about plants or anything like that, but I knew the younger boy did. "He knows more about gardening and farming than we do."

"Kook and Tae should be back soon," Namjoon continued to talk, ignoring the side subject. It was obvious he wanted to get back on topic, so I just let him. "They promised to be back before it got dark."

"They have a little while yet," I shrugged, again. The sun was still pretty high and it didn't seem to want to go down, just yet. The boys still had a few hours, at least. 

"Well, if you don't mind," Yoongi said, his voice shaky from shivering. "I'm going to go back to my room. Let me know when you need me." 

Namjoon and I just nodded and watched as the shorter man walked off, pretty quickly, back to the room he shared with Chimmy.

"Want to scout the perimeter, again?" Joon asked me, in his leader's voice, making me smile slightly. I just nodded and we walked down to where the fence stood. I looked around as we reached the end of the field, not really believing what I could see before me. There seemed to be a hell of a lot more, now that I was looking close up. 

"How long do you think we have left?" I asked the younger man next to me, sincerity in my voice. I didn't think we would be able to sort this problem out. There were too many, and it looked too dangerous. Maybe it was safer if we just left? "They're only gonna keep ganging up, no matter how many we take down."

"A couple of days... At max," Namjoon answered, though his tone didn't hold much faith. "If we do as we said and thin them out as much as possible, we may be able to buy ourselves a little bit longer but we do need to start thinking about moving. Thinning them out won't help forever." 

I sighed, shaking my head.

 "We can't be on the road for winter," I said, eyeing Namjoon carefully. I didn't know how he'd respond to my statement, but I hoped he agreed. 

It was way too cold out, freezing, and being on the road in the cold was a dangerous game to play. We'd be slowed down, the dead would be faster. We'd, mostly, like run out of all our supplies before even finding somewhere to stay. Not to mention the fact that we could get ill. My mind flipped back to Tae and Jiminie, and I started to worry. If we left, they would be the most at risk with Taehyung's asthma and Jimin's epilepsy.

"It's too dangerous," I continued, voicing my concerns. "We'll be out of food and water in days! And Taehyung and Jimin... They're way too vulnerable."

"I think we might have to, hyung," Namjoon just sighed. The sympathy and shake in his voice told me that he didn't want to leave, either. But he just didn't feel safe here, anymore, I don't think any of us did. 

I just nodded and placed my arm around his shoulders.

"Let's go see what Hobi's up to," I said, he nodded in agreement, and we headed up the main resource building.

"Hey, Hoseokie," I smiled as we entered a large resource room, thankful to be out of the cold. The size of the room was deceiving since it was pretty empty, it just looked like we had a lot of supplies, when really we were running on close to nothing.

"Hyung!" Hoseokie grinned as Namjoon and I walked over to him. He was in the process of counting out the tins of food we had left. My heart dropped slightly when I saw the amount. There were only five tins left, not even enough for one each. Hopefully, Taehyung and Jungkook had found some food on their run. If they didn't, we'd be living off of slightly bruised tomatoes for a while. "Please tell me those maknae's are back with more!"

"Not yet, I'm afraid..." I sighed, curious as to how Hoseok seemed to read my mind at that moment. "They'll be back soon, though. Let's just hope they bring something back."

We stood around chatting for a fair while, just taking stock of food, weapons, water, and bullets. We didn't have a lot left, but it seemed to be enough to sustain for a while. We were all about to head back to our small units when we heard screams coming from outside.

"Hyung!" I heard Jungkook scream, sounding more panicked than I had ever heard him before. 

"Hyung!" Taehyung shouted, not seconds after the maknae. "The fence is coming down!" 

I grabbed a pistol and a box of ammo from the weapon bench and ran outside without a second's hesitation. Namjoon and Hoseok followed me, quickly. Yoongi and Jimin were already running over to the boys, who had jumped out of their car and were trying to kill some of the dead, that had pushed the fence to the ground. 

"Yoongi!" Namjoon shouted, throwing a crowbar at the man. Yoongi caught it and ran down to Jungkook as Taehyung stood back, shooting the dead from behind them. 

Namjoon and I were quick to catch up to the boy and we stood in a line, shooting as many of the creatures as we possibly could. Hoseok handed Jimin a rifle and they were behind, making sure nothing got too close to any of us. 

"Take out as many as possible!" Namjoon ordered, shouting over the gunfire. I didn't think there was much point to this. It was dangerous and we should have just left, right then and there. But Namjoon looked determined to kill as many as he could. I wasn't about to fight with him over it. "Yoongi, Jungkook, don't get too close!"

I kept my eyes on the two with melee weapons, making sure nothing ganged upon them.

 Jungkook swung his large knife round, taking out a dead one in front of him. He didn't notice the one about to chow down on his shoulder until I shot it in the head. Jungkook stumbled back from it before looking up at me, shooting me a thankful smile. I just kept shooting the ones getting too close, again.

"This isn't possible!" Jungkook exclaimed, knocking one of the dead to the ground. The physical strength of that boy was amazing. "There's too many!"

"Jungkook, Yoongi, fall back!" Namjoon called out to them. We kept the dead off them while they ran back to us, reaching for their guns. 

We stood in a line and kept shooting at the dead. Though, it seemed to be a losing battle. The more we killed, the more that came. It was like something out of a horror movie, and I didn't want to be stood there for the climax. 

I looked around, catching Yoongi's eye as he did the same. He was thinking the same thing, I could tell. He looked behind us, as did I, and I caught the concerned look he sent Jimin, who seemed to be struggling to fire the gun that was nearly the same size as him. 

"Fuck this!" Yoongi shouted, sounding pretty frustrated now. 

"Hoseok, take Jimin. Go and collect as much as you can from the resource room and get it to the door. Don't forget food, water, and medications." He ordered. I was shocked at him suddenly taking control, but I wasn't against it. I was glad someone finally decided to use sense. To be honest, I was about to do the same thing, but Yoongi just beat me to it. I glared, slightly, at Namjoon - who was meant to be the one making these decisions. He was too caught up in the moment though. "Taehyung, Jungkook! Go and get your cars ready to leave. We will hold them off for as long as possible, but make things quick!" 

Everyone nodded, accepting their new jobs. Hoseok dragged Jimin away, causing him to call out to Yoongi with a cry. I saw Yoongi just smile at him.

"Just go, Jagi. It's okay!" Yoongi shouted to the boy. Jungkook and Taehyung ran to the cars, following the other two up to the main building. 

I locked my eyes on Yoongi for a moment. The man had set his focus back on the task at hand and was shooting the dead down, not missing a single shot. I felt proud. I felt proud of all of them, and that pride filled my heart. I was even more determined to keep them safe.

We kept shooting until we were on our last bullets. We had to fall back a bit, the dead now closing in on us, but luckily it didn't take Hoseok too long to pull up, behind us. 

"Hurry up!" He shouted, swinging the passenger door open. I and Namjoon ran up to the car, not even hesitating before getting in. But Yoongi just stood there. 

"Where's Jimin?" He asked Hoseok through the window. I sighed, just wanting to drive off.

"With Tae and Kook," Hoseok told him, shortly but his tone wasn't harsh. It was clear he just wanted to leave as well. "He's fine, safe. Jump in!" 

"No, I'll go to the maknaes," Yoongi quickly shook his head and ran off to the building before any of us had the chance to say anything.

"For Christ's sake," Hoseokie mumbled, pulling the car into gear and driving up the field, towards the building.

I turned and looked out of the back window, grimacing as the dead followed us up the grass. We needed to hurry.

Hoseok pulled the car up next to Taehyung's and noticed Jungkook was the only one in it.

"Kook, what the hell is going on?" Namjoon shouted at the youngest through the window. Jungkook just threw his arms in the air, not really seeming to know the answer. "Where is everyone?" 

"Jimin buggered off!" Jungkook shouted back, annoyed that he was the one being interrogated. "I don't know what they're fucking doing!"

"Yah," I scolded, glaring at Jungkook and Namjoon. 

"Joon lay off. They won't take long. And you..." I pointed to Jungkook, a disapproving expression firm on my face. "Do not talk like that!"

Not a moment later, Taehyung jumped into Jungkook's car, looking angrier than ever. I couldn't help but worry. What was going on?

My mental questions were quickly silenced when the car door next to me opened. I quickly moved into the seat next to me and Yoongi forced Jimin into the car. The small boy was sobbing hysterically and was trying to get back out. 

I quickly pulled the boy back by his waist, holding him back as Yoongi got in the car.

"Jiminie, calm down..." I tried but it was no use. 

Yoongi got in the car and pulled the boy close to him, letting him sob into his chest, before yelling: "Drive!"

Hoseok pulled the car away and followed Jungkook away from the storage building. They drove and drove, and didn't stop until the engines started to splutter, indicating, they were empty.



-

I stood, leaning against Hoseokie's car, keeping an eye on the road and waiting for three members to return.

Joon, Hoseokie and Kook had gone on a run to see if they could find any gas or somewhere to stay. We needed to find somewhere to spend the night, since it was way too cold to sleep in the cars, especially without gas.

I held my nearly empty pistol in my hand, with no intention to use it. Kicking the dirt beneath me, I just sighed, sucking the icy air into my lungs.

Jiminie and Yoongs were softly chatting in the car, which I could hear, and Tae was sitting in the front probably eavesdropping or something. He got mad at Jimin last night, but I could tell the boy was worried about him. I was too, but I was sure Yoongi would be able to solve whatever had happened.

The slam of the car door pulled me out of my trail of thoughts. I stood up a bit straighter as Tae came and stood beside me, a small pout on his lips.

"I never want to sit in the backseat of that car again." Tae joked, looking down at the dirt road, making small indentations with his feet as I had done.

"Are they at it again?" I cocked an eyebrow, curiously turning to see what he was going on about

. I caught sight of the couple in the car, kissing. I smiled sweetly at the scene, feeling happy for them. I turned back to Taehyung but saw he was still pouting so I made a fake gagging sound which made him giggle slightly.

He leaned back against the car, briefly, but quickly stood back up straight when he looked down the road. I followed his gaze and saw two, maybe three, figures walking in our direction. I held my gun up cautiously, not quite able to work out what/who it was.

I sighed a breath of relief and Taehyung relaxed as we recognised our brothers walking up to him. I dropped my gun and smiled slightly, happy to know they were safe.

"Anything?" Taehyung asked as they walked up to us.

"Nothing," Namjoon answered, harshly, through gritted teeth as he stormed past, going to the car. He hit the back window of the car, causing Yoongi and Jimin to scream a little. "You two, knock it off!"

"I take it the search went south?" I asked Hoseok, shaking my head at Namjoon's behaviour.

That was completely uncalled for!

Why was he so riled up?

I watched as he walked back and forth up the road. I wasn't about to go and talk to him, the way he was. It was safer to keep my distance.

"Not south, necessarily," Hoseokie shrugged, with a sigh, also watching the leader pace back and forth.

"Not north either, though," Jungkook added, quickly cringing at his own words. I heard Taehyung stifle a giggle at the wordplay, and I found it quite amusing myself if I was being honest. "We didn't find anywhere to stay."

Jimin and Yoongi had now gotten out of the car. I suppose Namjoon had killed their moment.

Jimin tugged on his sleeves, rocking back and forth on his heels, as Yoongi listened closely to Jungkook.

"We 're gonna have to spend the night in the cars," Jungkook continued, shaking his head slightly.

"We're going to freeze to death," Yoongi stated in a firm voice.

I saw him shoot a glare over to Namjoon and knew, instantly, that this would most likely lead to a fight. Luckily, Hoseok caught it too and quickly defused the situation.

"It wasn't his choice to stop looking before you start blame-placing," He said with a cold expression that told Yoongi to calm down quickly. "We decided to call it a day. The sun's setting and it's only getting colder. We'll be safer in the cars then if we were still out looking."

Yoongi just scoffed, clearly fighting the urge to walk off and he stared at the ground, fists clenched. I watched with a faint smile as Jimin gave him a small side hug.

"It's okay, baby," Jimin said to him, giving him a classic Jimin smile. Yoongi just shook his head though. I empathised with him, I didn't think it was safe staying in the cars either, but it didn't seem like we had much of a choice. "We'll be fine. We'll get the blankets, huddle together, and take turns keeping watch like usual."

"There's one tiny fault with that plan, Jiminie," Hoseok said in a small, sheepish voice, causing us to all look up at him with confused, worried, expressions.

"What would that be, Hoseok?" Yoongi asked, sounding annoyed and as if he already knew the answer. Hoseok looked down, keeping his gaze firmly on his feet.

"I didn't have time to grab any blankets before we left... After grabbing food, water and medications - clothes, blankets and pillows just didn't seem that important." Hoseok mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

Yoongi expression fell cold and harsh, and I felt like I might have had to step in front of him to stop him from attacking the younger.

"I'm sorry!" Hoseok cried. I could tell he was genuinely apologising from the way he bowed his head to Yoongi. "I just didn't have time and I didn't think. It was too chaotic!"

"It's okay, hyung," Jungkook piped up, stepping closer to Hoseok and placing his hand on his shoulder. Hoseok smiled at him, his eyes still apologetic. "We'll be okay."

"We're always okay," Jimin added, hugging Yoongi tight, not bothering to see if the hug was wanted or not. Even if Yoongs fought back against the hug, Jiminie wouldn't have let him go. He always knew how to calm the elder down in the best way. I smiled warmly at him. "As long as we have each other, we'll be fine." 

-

I was sat in the front seat of Hoseok's car, keeping a close look on the outside. We had pushed the cars around so one was facing one end of the road, and one facing the other. We took turns keeping watch, the younger ones doing the early shifts and us older ones watching throughout the night.

It was freezing and we had all put on our warmest clothes, but we didn't have much on us, so it just got colder and colder by the minute. I had my woollen jumper and thick gloves on, but that didn't stop my body from feeling like it was in a block of ice.

It was my watch now but Yoongi was still awake in the backseat, despite being able to fall asleep an hour ago. He just sat there, stroking Jimin's hair as he slept with his head on his lap.

"You should sleep," I said to Yoongi, softly, not wanting to wake Hoseok who was sleeping in the passenger seat, next to me.

Yoongi had his gaze out of the window, and he seemed to be shaking but I don't think that was due to being cold. He seemed scared, and paranoid, and it was starting to make him look sickly.

"I'm fine," He replied quietly, not looking up. I sighed, keeping my eyes on him through the rearview mirror.

"You need to sleep," I said, trying to persuade him to get some rest. "You're not going to be any good tomorrow, if you're exhausted, Yoongs. We'll probably have a long walk ahead of us, in the morning."

Yoongi didn't answer, he didn't even acknowledge that I was talking to him, which kind of annoyed me, to be honest.

I hated seeing him this way. The way he was looking out the window like he was paranoid something was going to jump out of the trees, or the way he shuddered every time the wind travelled through the trees, thinking it was something else.

It brought back bad memories of when he used to really struggle with his anxiety. I didn't know how to help him then, and I didn't know how to help him now.

"I know for a fact you won't show it but you can't hide how tired you are, Yoongi," I continued, despite the fact that he probably wasn't listening. "Not from me, us, especially not from Jimin. He knows, Yoongi. He knows you're struggling. I know it too, we all do. And you're hiding behind the act of looking after us, but you're not looking after yourself. It's no good taking care of everyone else if you don't take care of yourself as well."

"You guys come first," Yoongi said, his tone sounding rather snappy. I felt I had probably struck a nerve but he needed to hear it. There was no way I was going to let him sink into depression the way he did before, no way. "You guys will always come first."

I kept my eyes on him for a moment longer, noticing just how tired he looked. His eyes seemed sunken, with dark bags underneath them, and he was jumpy. Every noise outside of the car startled him, causing his hand to tighten, protectively, on Jimin's shoulder.

It was admirable how much he cared for us, but he always seemed to neglect himself. There were occasional times, even before the world got so messed up, when he would put us first and forget about his own well being. It was deeply concerning, especially since he had already expressed just how low he could get. When Yoongi got depressed, it put him in a scary place.

Luckily, at Yoongi's lowest moment, he managed to express his love for Jimin. He thought the boy didn't love him back, but it was the exact opposite. Once all was confessed between the two, they became inseparable, spending every possible minute together. They made each other happy, they kept each other safe. They gave each other someone to truly live for.

It made me proud to call myself their hyung. I was incredibly proud of all my dongsaengs, of how far they had all come in this new world.

I turned away from the mirror and went to refocus on the road when there was a slight tap on the window. It wouldn't have made me jump but, it was so deathly silent outside that the knock sounded much louder than it actually was.

Hoseok woke with a start, beside me, but we were all quick to calm down when Namjoon pulled the passenger door open.

"It's your watch, Hobi," He said in a tired voice, waiting for Hoseok to leave the seat so he could sit back and go to sleep. Hoseokie nodded, rubbing his eyes with his hands, still half asleep.

"Okay," He mumbled, slowly moving out of his seat.

"Thanks, Hope," Namjoon thanked him, sitting down in the car. I watched carefully as Hoseok made his way to the other car, making sure he was safe, before turning my attention to Namjoon.

"You alright, Joon?" Yoongi asked from the back seat. Namjoon just sat back in the seat and closed his eyes; pulling the door shut and putting his feet on the dashboard, crossing his arms across his chest.

"I'm fine, hyung," He said, shortly, getting himself comfortable to sleep.

"Get some rest," I said, gently rubbing his shoulder. "You can relax now."

Namjoon just nodded before letting himself drift off to sleep.

I looked back at the empty road in front of us. It was really, really quiet. The sky got darker with every passing minute, and I could feel myself growing colder.

In the silence, I could hear Jimin whimpering slightly. I turned and looked through the mirror again.

"He okay?" I asked Yoongi, concern in my voice.

It wasn't good if the boy got too cold as it triggered his seizures. He looked pale and I knew he'd wake up before long. Yoongi's expression also showed how worried he was, as he brushed Jimin's hair away from his eyes.

"He's cold," Yoongi sighed, shaking his head. I watched as he carefully shrugged off his coat, shivering the second he got it off and laid it over the small boy. He grabbed his small hands in his own and held them tight.

"You're going to freeze now!" I scolded, believing there must have been a better solution to keeping Jimin warm, rather than have Yoongi freeze to death. The man shot me a glare, which I knew was telling me to shut up.

"He can't get too cold, you know that," Yoongi said, harshly. Of course, I knew that! I was just worried about him as well. I watched as he shivered like mad and his teeth started to chatter. "And I told you, you guys come first."

"You're a crazy man, Min Yoongi," I sighed, shaking my head, not having the energy t argue with him. I just turned my attention back to the window, as did he.

Intense silence ran through the car as the hours passed. Soon, it was pitch black and I was the only one awake. Yoongi had finally called asleep, exhaustion probably taking over. The road stayed empty for a while, but I suddenly started to hear growling from nearby.

I glanced around the outside area I could see, but couldn't see anything but shadows. It wasn't until they closed in on the car, did I realise the growling was coming from a herd of about fifty dead ones, I couldn't tell just how many there were but, it was a lot. My throat clamped up and I temporarily forgot how to breathe, until I remembered my brothers in the car.

I quickly grabbed Namjoon's shoulder and shook him awake.

"Guys, wake up!" I hissed, turning to Yoongi to wake him and Jimin up.

Namjoon looked around, his hands quickly going to his belt, to grab his gun.

Yoongi woke up, looking like he wasn't even asleep. He was just suddenly alert and seemed ready for anything about to happen. Jimin, however, woke up scared by the ruckus outside. He sat up straight, but Yoongi pushed him back down so he wasn't seen through the windows.

The dead brushed past the car, causing it and us to rock slightly. The noise they were making was deafening.

"Stay low," I whispered, getting the other three to lower their heads so they weren't noticed. "Don't move, don't make a sound."

I saw Namjoon grip his gun so tight that his hands looked like they were at breaking point. I shot a look at the two in the backseat, checking on them.

Jimin still hadn't mentally come to terms with how the world changed, and the dead terrified him. It was understandable, they terrified me too. I saw the boy tremble in his boyfriend's arms. I could hear him start to cry and felt horrible when his breathing started to speed up. He was having one of his panic attacks and it seemed like Yoongi was on the verge of one as well. I felt helpless.

"What about the others?" Jimin asked with a small sob, his voice cracking into a squeak.

Namjoon harshly shushed him, causing me to shoot a glare at him for being inconsiderate. We were all scared and needed to stay quiet, but he didn't have to be so harsh.

Yoongi just pulled the boy close to his chest and whispered to him to keep him somewhat calm.

I kept my eye on the men around me but jumped out of my skin when a loud thud came from the back window, where one of the dead walked into it.

Jimin let out a loud high-pitched scream, luring most of the dead back to the car.

Yoongi pulled the boy close to him, quietly whispering to him that it was going to be okay.

Namjoon and I locked eyes and I could see the panic in his eyes. I just shot him a wavering, reassuring, smile which he managed to return.

We stayed as quiet and still as we could but the car was literally rocking! A loud shot rang out, making my eyes pop wide open.

Were the others safe?

-

I sheltered my eyes from the bright, red-tinted, sunlight. As my eyes flickered open, I noticed just out filthy my hand was and how the windows were blood-stained.

It took me a moment to work out what was going on around me. I saw my brothers, still in the same position in the car as they were last night, only now they had dark bags under their eyes and were laying uncomfortably.

I rubbed my temples, trying to clear my mind from the fuzziness I could feel.

Last night? What happened last night?

"Jimin, get back, be careful! Yoongi, stay with him! Do not leave each other's side!" Namjoon shouted, nearby, as I took down the dead around me. "Jungkook, fall back, it's no use! Do not let them get too close!"

I kept stabbing my knife into the head of the monsters that had forced us out of the cars. They had smashed the windows, we had no choice but to fight.

Our ammo had run out quickly and we were having to use knives and random tools we had at hand. We had been going for what had, already, felt like an eternity - but the dead just kept coming.

I could feel my feet stumbling beneath me as I killed as many as I could.

"Hyung, help me!" I heard Taehyung call out for me, desperately. I could hear the strain in his voice, he sounded hurt but also extremely out of breath. He was very clearly having an asthma attack, and I had no idea where his inhaler was. I turned quickly on my heel, sending myself dizzy, and saw him surrounded by at least twelve monsters. They were grabbing and snapping at him, and it made my heart rate pick up. "Hyung... Please!"

I made my way over to him as quickly as I could, knocking the dead, that was in my way, out with the hammer in my hand. He was swinging his machete around but wasn't getting far at all. I only just managed to grab him, just before he fell backwards into the arms of a dead one. I wrapped my arm around his waist and threw his arm over my shoulder so I could drag him back to the car.

Taehyung couldn't breathe at all, violent wheezes were tearing through his throat, almost choking him.

"Hold on, buddy," I said, dodging our way through the dead, pushing them away when they got too close.

I got back to the car and rushed to lay Taehyung down in the back of it. All the windows were broken, but he was safer there. I grabbed his inhaler from the back of the seat, quickly, and placed it in his hand, hoping he would be able to help himself as I went back to defending the door.

"Just hang in there, Tae!" I shouted through the window, trying my best to comfort him while still killing the dead in front of me.

It was chaos, I couldn't focus on anything! My head was spinning and my body was on auto-pilot, killing anything that got too close.

"Yoongi!" I heard Jimin scream out. He sounded really weak and terrified. I couldn't do anything because I was surrounded, yet all I wanted to do was run to his rescue. "Where are you? I can't do this!"

I cringed, hearing my little brother cry out, desperate for help.

If only there was more of me. I could help everyone, not just uselessly trying to kill the creatures. But there wasn't, there was only one Seokjin...

All I could do was pray they'd be alright.

"Jiminie, I'm here!" Yoongi was yelling back but I couldn't see where his voice was coming from. The only thing I could see was the demons, threatening to rip apart my family - literally. "Hold on, baby!"

"Jin hyung!" Namjoon's voice came from beside me. I was still busy taking down the monsters, which I nearly didn't notice when he worked his way over to help me. I was feeling myself grow more and more exhausted and felt like I was about to fall, but Namjoon's questions of concern clouded my mind. "Where's Tae?"

"Inside," I shouted over the creatures' growling, nodding behind me towards the car. "It was an extremely close call! I think he's having an asthma attack."

I was going to keep talking, to try and keep my mind focused on the living rather than the dead, but my vision started to fail me. The monsters in front of me were starting to become fuzzy, and were moving much slower than I remembered.

Despite my brain, somewhat, malfunctioning, my body managed to keep working. Everything in front of me kept going black and then back to fuzzy. My head was still spinning, and I could hardly hold myself up straight, anymore. What the hell was going? I needed to focus!

"Jungkook's in trouble!" I made out Namjoon's voice but his voice sounded like echoes as if he was underwater. Nothing was making sense anymore.

"Where's Hoseok?" I yelled out, concerned about the man I hadn't heard shouting yet.

My eyes were now half-closed but I tried to keep focused. I really did try!

I looked around as much as I could, to see where everyone was. Namjoon was next to me, helping take the monsters down. I could hear Taehyung struggling behind me, calling my name every so often, wanting me to help him.

Jimin was a little far away, but I could tell it was him. He was standing back-to-back with Yoongi. They were both clutching each other's hands, managing to kill what was in front of them, despite tears running down their cheeks. From what I could see, Jimin looked like he was about to collapse, and Yoongi didn't look too great himself.

Jungkook was surrounded by dozens of dead and I couldn't see Hoseok anywhere, which scared me deeply until I finally heard the man's voice.

"Jungkook!" Hoseok shouted, though I still couldn't see him.

My vision was getting worse and I felt myself start to sway. My breathing was getting shaky and I felt completely drained. My head was hurting now, and I didn't even feel like I was standing anymore. Everything was in slow motion. I stepped forward to kill the monster heading my way but...

"Hyung?" Namjoon's voice rang in my ears, bringing me out of my trail of fragmented memories. I looked over at him and saw him holding up a bottle of water. "Drink, it'll help."

"What happened?" I asked, refusing the water. My throat was dry but we didn't have much left, I'd rather save it for someone who really needed it. "Where is everyone? Taehyung, Jungkook, Hoseok?"

"They're fine," Namjoon said, gripping my wrist and forcing the bottle into my hand. I just sighed and rolled my eyes at him. "Exhausted, worn out, but... Fine. Hoseok, Kook and Tae are back in the other car now, sleeping most likely. It's you I'm worried about, right now."

"I'm okay, there's no need to worry about me," I sighed, shaking my head before leaning back into my seat.

I reluctantly took a sip of the water, feeling my voice becoming scratchy, and turned back to the two in the back seat. They were both asleep.

Yoongi had both arms tightly wrapped around Jimin's waist, holding him close. They were both pale, dark bags had formed under their eyes. They looked completely exhausted. I saw their clothes, stained, dirty and torn - just like mine and Namjoon's.

Last night truly was a mess.

"You've never done that before," Namjoon sighed. I could feel his eyes on me but decided to ignore them. I felt bad, possibly even ill, but I didn't want the younger ones to worry about me. "Passed out like that."

"Yeah, well..." I shrugged, just wanting him to drop the subject. It was bad enough I couldn't help them all, and then they were in even more danger because of me!

I rubbed my temples, trying to shake the guilt but I couldn't, it was too much.

"You need to take care of yourself as well, you know?" Namjoon told me, causing me to scoff and shake my head. I was just giving Yoongi this lecture! How ironic! "You are the most important asset to this group, hyung."

"I don't think so somehow," I shook my head again, disagreeing entirely.

I most definitely wasn't! In fact, after last night, they would probably be better off without me. I was just deadweight last night.

"Taehyung would be dead right now if it wasn't for you!" Namjoon snapped at me, making me jump slightly. I frowned at him, but I was met by a glare.

"And if it weren't for Hoseok, Jungkook would be!" I shot back. I don't really know what I was trying to prove to him. Maybe that I wasn't worth worrying over, maybe that anyone else was more important than I was... I felt small beads of sweat forming in the palms of my hands. Maybe I had fallen ill, or maybe it was just psychosomatic guilt. "If it weren't for you..."

"Jin hyung," Namjoon cut me off, his voice strained and emotional, as if he was trying to stop himself from crying. I suddenly felt even worse, noticing just how worried he was. I couldn't just brush his feeling off, I had to acknowledge them... "When you passed out... I was really scared, I didn't know what to do."

"Namjoon, honestly..." I tried talking but he just interrupted me again and continued on.

"I felt completely alone, hyung. Hoseok and Jungkook, Jimin and Yoongi; were still fighting a losing battle. I could hear Tae crying and choking from behind me. All I needed to do was turn to you but..." He just sighed and shook his head, rubbing his hand down his face. I could tell he was fighting back tears, but I didn't quite know what to say. "But... But you were laying on the floor, unconscious, with dead getting dangerously close. I had no idea what to do."

"Joonie," I sighed after a moment, letting his words sink in. I opened my mouth, finally thinking of what to say, but was cut off yet again by a hurried knock on the window.

Hoseok stood there, his eyes wide with panic and alarm. Namjoon quickly shoved the door open, taking in the man's expression.

"Thank God, you two are awake," Hoseok sighed, relief lining his tone. I looked up at him, confusion furrowing in my brows. "You need to come with me."

"What's wrong?" Namjoon asked, jumping out of his seat.

We both quickly got out of the car, but dizziness filled my head. I had to steady myself on the door frame, thinking I was going to fall. I felt pretty nauseous but I felt their eyes on me, so I just pushed through it and walked around to them

"Is everything okay?" I asked, getting the attention back on the main problem and off myself. I followed Hoseok over to the other car, with Namjoon. Hoseok shook his head, rather vigorously, telling me something was really wrong. As we approached the car, Jungkook stood by the backdoor looking really worried. "What's happened?"

"It's Tae," Hoseok told us, his voice wavering. "He's in a really bad way."

-

"Namjoon, get a bottle of water out of the other car, now!" I called to the leader, leaning over Taehyung and fanning him with my hands. "We need to cool him down. Also, there is a spare inhaler in my backpack. Grab it, this one's empty."

"We checked him, hyung," Hoseok told me, towering over the front seat. Taehyung was laid in the backseats, overtaken by a really high fever and was struggling to stay awake. He was really pale and was wheezing really badly. I just kept fanning him, to try and keep him cool. "There's no bites, no nothing."

It was a relief hearing this, but a part of me already knew. A bite from one of the dead is fatal. It causes a fever that burns you from the inside out and, once you're gone, you come back as one of them.

That wasn't happening to Taehyung. He had fallen ill, that much was obvious, but it was something much more mundane.

"He's exhausted, overworked," I explained, hoping to calm the man's nerves. "I wouldn't be surprised if he has fallen ill. We are all malnourished and tired, it was only a matter of time till one of us went down. He is more susceptible, as well."

I was under the impression that it could have been the flu, from being out in the cold for so long or something. The fact that Taehyung had asthma made it more like for him to catch a cold and have it travel to his chest.

Namjoon came back and handed me the items I had asked for. I held Taehyung's head up, holding the water bottle close to his lips so he could sip the drink. The boy coughed slightly, letting his eyes flutter until his gaze fell on me. I sighed, feeling the urge to cry. I hated seeing my brothers fall ill, but this was worse than ever.

"Do you need this, honey?" I cooed at him, trying to coax him into using his inhaler.

His chest was rattling and he was having trouble taking in deep breaths. Instead of answering, he just closed his eyes again, letting his head lay limp in my hand.

I sighed and laid Taehyung's head back down, so he was comfortable, before running my hand down my face.

This was bad. His fever was high, really high, I could feel the heat radiating off him. It was clear he needed some sort of medicine. From the sounds of it, whatever illness he had, it had gone to his chest. We would probably be searching for antibiotics if anything. But medicine was the hardest thing to come by, nowadays. I felt useless, my heart sinking into my stomach, as I watched the boy sleep.

"Hyung, what should we do?" Hoseokie asked me, sincerity in his eyes. "He's really unwell."

"I know, Hobi," I sighed, shaking my head. "I think, we need to find him some medicine, for sure. Why don't you give him some space for now? I'm gonna sit here with him, just to make sure his fever doesn't get any worse."

"I'll go and see if Jungkook's alright." Namjoon nodded, agreeing that the boy needed some space.

I smiled, thankfully, at him. I would have gone to the maknae myself but I wanted to stay with Taehyung, in case things did get worse.

"I'll go and wake Yoongi and Jimin. Jimin's gonna want and come see him though." Hoseok said, getting out of the front seat.

"I know, just..." I sighed, deeply, not wanting Jimin to see his best friend in this state. The two were so close, and I just knew Jimin would break down if he saw this. "Just tell him to wait for me to come back. I'll try and get Tae to have some more water, just to try and get him feeling a bit better, first."

"Okay, hyung." Hoseok nodded, and the two walked away from the car, leaving me with Taehyung.

I inhaled deeply, again, before letting it out. I could feel my eyes drooping and I wanted to lay my head back against the seat, but Taehyung's small voice stopped me from doing so.

"Hyung?" Taehyung croaked, coughing slightly.

"You're alright, Tae," I cooed, smiling at him as he looked up at me. "Want some more water?"

"Please," The boy nodded ever so slightly, and I grabbed the bottle, repeating the action of lifting his head and letting him sip the water. I smiled in relief, seeing him take bigger sips now. That was a good sign.

"I want you to use your inhaler, okay?" I told him, laying his back down. He just nodded again, letting his eyes close comfortably. I placed it by his lips, letting him put it in his mouth, before pressing it down, a couple of times. He breathed in as deeply as he could, each time, but ended up having a coughing fit. "Take it easy, buddy. You're alright."

"Can you get Chim?" Taehyung asked me, making me smile. I chuckled, slightly, and nodded. "I want to see him."

"Of course, I can," I said, ruffling the boy's hair before climbing out of the car.

I had just stepped out and was about to walk over to the other car.

"Jin hyung?" Jimin's voice came from behind me, making me jump a little. I turned and smile at him, before sighing. I should have known he wouldn't have been far away.

His small eyes were swollen from crying and his little nose was red. He quickly wiped the tears from his cheeks but I just gave him a sympathetic smile, crouching down by his side.

"Jiminie," I sighed, looking at him with empathy. "You alright, buddy?"

"How is he?" Jimin asked, quickly, but with a small voice. He was, clearly, extremely worried and I wondered what Hoseok had told him.

"Not good, Jiminie," I said, keeping my voice gentle as I placed my hand on his shoulder. "He's resting right now."

I was making sure to be careful with what I said. I didn't want to stress the boy out since that would have been bad for his health.

"Can I sit with him?" He asked me, looking at me with pleading, desperate, eyes.

My gaze caught sight of Yoongi, sitting by a nearby tree. He was watching Jimin closely, the anxiety swimming in his eyes still.

"Of course, you can, Chim." I smiled at him, giving his shoulder a reassuring pat, before standing back up. I nodded to the car and told him to go, and he instantly jumped up and climbed into the back of the car.

I sighed, shaking my head, before heading back to the others. I walked past Yoongi, who was still watching Jimin from where he was.

"He's okay, Yoongs," I said, reassuringly, as I sat by Jungkook, on the grass, by the car.

I was grateful to be able to just sit down, comfortably. My legs were aching, from being crouched in the car, and I felt exhausted, still. I stretched my legs out, raising my arms over my head before looking around at my brothers, who were all grouped up now with concerned expressions.

"I know," Yoongi just shrugged, though he wasn't willing to look away.

Last night had shaken him up, and I'm sure he was still full of panicked adrenaline.

"Is everything okay, hyung?" Hoseok asked, looking up at me. He and Namjoon sat together, closer to the trees than we were.

I laid my arm on Jungkook's shoulders to comfort him, before sighing.

"I don't know what's wrong with him," I said with a shrug, not sure how to answer his question.

Was everything okay?

"I'm pretty sure he has a chest infection," Hoseok said, almost matter-of-factly. I knew he had the most medical knowledge, so if any of us could work out what was wrong, it would be him. "I'm not sure where the fever came from though unless it's pneumonia. Which I doubt. I think it's bronchitis, and he must have caught something from being so run down."

"Well, either way, he needs medicine," Namjoon said, scratching the back of his head. I just dropped my gaze to the floor, listening to what they were saying. "In any normal circumstances, that fever would have him in a hospital."

"Then we find him some medicine," Yoongi piped up, joining the conversation. I looked up at him and saw he had finally torn his eyes away from the car. He looked as worn out as I felt, and I empathised. "We need to move away from here anyway. It's not safe."

"We can't move him, hyung. He's not well enough." Jungkook told him, shrugging my arm off his shoulders. I wasn't shocked though.

Jungkook had a physical contact limit, not being too much of a touchy-feely person, he let you know when you crossed the line. I just pulled my arms over my chest and looked back down at my feet. I heard Yoongi sigh, sounding annoyed.

"Well, we cannot have a repeat of last night," Yoongi just said, sounding like he was running out of things to say. "We need to move one way or another."

"We do, you're right," Namjoon added, making sure no one's opinion was discarded. "And Jungkook is right. We can't stay here, we need to move. However, Tae is in no fit state to move and we can't split up the group... Unless one of us stayed with him... But where would we go? Even if we headed back to where the base was, we'd already cleared all the pharmacies around. We need to work this out, though. We may have a whole day but we said that last time, and still ended up in the cars."

He went through his entire thought process out loud and it made my head spin. Namjoon always had a tendency to speak his thoughts out loud, but he never caught on to the fact that he confused everyone while doing so.

"I'll stay here with him," Jimin's small voice rang out. I looked up at him with a small, unsure, frown.

"By yourself?" Jungkook asked, his tone rather questioning.

Jimin just shrugged while playing with his long sleeves, like usual. It was a little habit of his that he had for as long as I had known him.

"Not happening," Yoongi suddenly said, shaking his head.

I noticed the small glare that Jimin shot at him and it made me shake my head.

Yoongi was annoyed and Jimin was stubborn. These two moods clashed a lot recently and it never usually ended well. We didn't have time for these two to start arguing.

"It's way too dangerous." He said, still shaking his head, his small eyes narrowed.

"We need to find somewhere to stay right? At least find somewhere that has supplies. We're running low on pretty much everything now." Jimin stated his tone firm.

Yoongi let out a scoff, leaning his head against the tree. I just shook my head again, hoping someone would speak up. If Yoongi got angry, we'd be here all day while he yelled at the boy.

"There is no point in all of us sitting around wasting time. The sun won't be up much longer and it certainly won't wait for us to get our shit to..." Chimmy continued but I interrupted.

"Language," I cut him off, sending him a scolding look. I hated it when the men swore. There was no need for it, and it just made me angry. Jimin just rolled his eyes at me and continued talking, causing my look to turn into a disapproving glare.

"You guys go, find somewhere we can stay," Jimin said, almost sounding as if he was begging us to let him do this, now.

"Hyungs, Jungkook." He said to Namjoon, Hoseok and Jungkook, grabbing their attention. "You three already know which way led to nothing. You're going to need more people with you. You said it yourselves that it wasn't really safe, just the three of you."

"Jimin, you're not staying here by yourself," Yoongi said. His tone was harsh, even making me wince slightly. I could see Jimin getting angrier with him.

"I can do this," The boy said, his voice squeaking slightly with desperation to get his point across. "One person stays here with Tae, the rest look for somewhere safe to stay. I am willingly volunteering to stay."

"Jiminie, are you sure you'd be okay?" Hoseok piped up, actually sounding like he was pretty for the idea. I shot him a questioning look but decided to stay quiet.

I understood why Yoongi was so against the idea. If something were to happen, and Jimin took a turn and had a seizure or something, Taehyung wouldn't have been able to help him - and then they'd both be in danger, and we wouldn't have any idea until we got back.

"Surely you're not okay with this idea?" Yoongi snapped, rather loudly at Hoseok, causing the younger to scoff slightly.

"I think it would be okay," Hoseok said. I sighed, quietly. Hoseok always had Jimin's back, no matter what, but I couldn't help but feel he chose the wrong side in the debate, this time. This one time, Jimin was wrong, but Hoseok wasn't seeing that. "If we make sure we head back to collect them before it gets dark and..."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Yoongi shouted, cutting him off.

"He's not," Namjoon interjected, not letting Yoongi kick off too much. It was always hard to reason with Yoongi when he got angry, so I couldn't help but think Namjoon was acting a little bit too late at calming him down. "If Jimin says he can do this by himself, I trust him enough to believe him. Surely, you should too."

I grimaced, hearing Namjoon say this. If he was trying to calm the man down, questioning his trust in his boyfriend was not the way to go about it.

"Seokjin!" Yoongi called me out. I looked up at him, tiredly, and saw his eyes were practically begging with me. "Surely you're against this."

I was. I didn't like the idea of Jimin being alone, and having to look after Taehyung by himself. It was too much of a risk. I wanted to side with Yoongi on this, but Jimin caught my eye. He was close to tears.

It was clear he just wanted to look after his friend, make sure he was safe, and he obviously wanted to prove himself of being strong enough to do it. The harsh reality was, as much as he didn't want to hear it, he wasn't strong enough by himself. He just wasn't.

I looked back to Yoongi, before shaking my head and dropping my gaze to the ground again. I was too tired for this. I didn't have the energy to get in the middle of it.

"Unbelievable." Yoongi scoffed, a sarcastic chuckle punctuating his short statement.

"Don't you think I'm capable, Yoongi?" Jimin asked, sounding hurt by the man's reaction.

"I think you're being stupid, Jimin!" Yoongi snapped, making the rest of us fall silent. That was a low blow, even for Yoongi, to attack Chimmy's confidence like that.

"Min Yoongi!" Namjoon shouted, also sounding angry now. "That's enough! We do not have time for this. You are coming with us, Jimin is staying here with Taehyung. End of the story. Grab the supplies. We need to go."

We all sat for a moment, silently. Yoongi stormed off to the car, grabbing a few bags out and throwing them on the floor. I pushed myself to my feet, stumbling slightly but Jungkook grabbed my arm to steady me.

"You okay, hyung?" Jungkook asked me with a small concerned frown, not moving his hand from my arm until I answered him.

"I'm fine, Kook," I smiled reassuringly at him. "Come on, we need to go."

I walked with the youngest to the car, grabbing my backpack and a knife from the boot. There was no point in grabbing my gun since there was no ammo in it, so I left it there. I waved slightly to Jimin, who waved back from the car where Taehyung was, and I walked over to Namjoon.

When everyone was ready, we set off in search of somewhere to spend the night.

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