'I promise, I'll come back to you, Kook... just don't worry... Okay?'

'Jimin-ah...'

'You promised us...'

'You...

promised... Me...'

*****

Jimin suddenly woke up from his blackouts, gasping for air frantically. There was excruciating pain every time he tried to take a deep breath.

His face and body were drenched in sweat. He tried to move, but his whole body felt crushed and his head was throbbing so badly. He lifted his hand, aiming to that certain spot on his head.

'Wet,' he thought as he touched the stinging area, wincing in pain. He wiped it with his hand, bringing it to his nose.

Blood.

His head was bleeding. Much. He could feel the blood was flowing down the side of his face to his neck. His eyes followed the drip of the blood from his right collarbone, going down to his torso area. And that's when he realized there was a branch stuck in the area of his abdomen-just below the rib cage.

"Shit! I'm in trouble," he muttered as he touched the base of the branch, brushing his fingertips around the wound.

Sucking air through his teeth while wincing in pain, he looked around to find a backrest to lean his exhausted self. He crept aside, trying to reach the flat surface of a huge stone-two feet from his left side. With great difficulty, he finally managed to get there. His breath was unstable-fast and shallow-from the insignificant yet draining movement. Every cell in his body was screaming in agony from the tormenting sensation.

He leaned backward, hand crawled on his bare stomach to the piercing spot, once again feeling the area around the wound that had torn open his flesh. He held his breath as he bit his bottom lip hard when he tried to pull out the stuck branch. He was halfway from getting it all out when his hands started shaking.

He stopped for a moment, taking the time to gather his remaining energy. Inhaling a big amount of air with certain trouble, he continued his attempt but fresh blood flowed nonstop along with the gradual removal of the branch, leaving him to drop limply. He tried to open his eyes, but his vision began turning blurry.

'Jimin-ah...'

'Wake up...'

'We will wait for you, just come back to us safely...'

'Sergeant Park...'

'You won't make it, why are you so stubborn?'

'I'll come back, I promise'

The voices coming from his subconscious forced him to survive, to stay strong against the excruciating pain. His body wanted to give up but his heart and mind instructed the opposite. It was like he had his whole existence in autopilot mode-he reinforced his heart and made up his mind, whispering to himself to live.

'You promised them you'd come back. You will die, yes, but not today, Park Jimin!'

'Wake the fuck up!!'

He jerked his eyes open as he sucked in a sharp breath. Beads of sweat were formed on his forehead and his chest heaved up and down irregularly. He shook his pulsating head and blinked several times to get a better vision. Once he was fully conscious, his eyes once again darted to the wound on his stomach. He drew a long breath and held it until the veins in his neck and temple protruded, then pulled out the rest of the branch at once.

"Aish!" He gasped, suppressing his whimper by biting his own tongue.

The blood rushed out from the wound, causing him to automatically press his palm against it to stop the bleeding. He had nothing to bandage the wound except for his undershirt that was wrapping around his ankle. Having no choices left, he decided to unwrap that undershirt and use it to bandage the wound on his stomach instead.

He noticed that the bloodstains on his foot had already dried up, no fresh blood flowed out of the wound. 'It's still really bad. One night would not be enough to heal it completely,' he thought upon seeing the horrible lacerations in his ankle.

With his teeth, he tore the tip of the already-change-into-red undershirt, using it as a bundle to quell the bleeding. He used the rest of the cloth to wrap that bundle around his stomach, then tied it tight.

"Finally!" He sighed as he leaned against the cold stone, looking up while shutting his eyes. His breathing was getting steady even though all parts of his body were still in pain.

"Not that easy to kill me, isn't it?" He murmured, a smug grin crept across his face. But one second later, the grin change into a horrified expression as he remembered one thing. He jerked up, bulging his eyes.

"Archer!"

Still in an alarm state, he squinted his eyes, trying to see in the darkness to his surrounding. From a sliver of moonlight, he could see Archer lying rather far ahead of him.

Putting aside his pain, he tried to get up but all muscles in his body felt sore and rigid, making it hard for him to even change positions. He bent down to adjust the searing pain from his abdomen and moved bit by bit.

The cold weather made the pain even worse. He sipped through his teeth as he felt the sliced sensation from all of the open wounds on his naked upper body. A thin white mist came out of his mouth and nose as he let out the shaky breath.

Looking ahead, he continued limping towards Archer. It took more than ten minutes for him to get there. When he got closer, he could see that Archer was lying on his stomach-his face touched the ground. Jimin crouched down, placing his knees next to the unconscious boy. Shaking Archer's body gently, he whispered, "hey Arch, you okay?"

Jimin was examining Archer's body from any injury when the boy finally stirred from his position.

"I think... I-" Archer's voice was barely audible, it was shakily cracked.

"I think... I'm okay... it's just..."

Jimin lifted and swiveled Archer's body slightly, helping him to turn around. And how shocked he was to see the sight in front of him; Archer's face was too pale with blue-purplish blotch all over it, his hair was drenched in sticky sweat, and... There was white foam at the corner of his mouth.

"No way..." Jimin shook his head in denial, taking Archer in his embrace. And he felt it-Archer was also burning hot. In that desperation, Jimin whimpered, "how? How can I save you this time? Tell me what should I do?"

'He got poisoned by the air pollution, he won't survive any longer. What should I-'

"Leave... me, I won't... survive this..." Archer's words glided out thru his trembling lips. His breathing was shallow and quick with that strange noise in every breath he took.

'Antidote! He needs an antidote!'

"No, I won't leave you! Jimin pulled away, staring at the weak boy in full concern.

"Just... leave-"

"Shut up, kid! I'm in charge here, so don't boss me!" Jimin answered sternly.

He put Archer in his left arm and use the right one to loosen the knot of his shirt from the boy's waist.

"Are you... a... Blueties...?" Archer asked in his frail voice but got no answer from Jimin. The sergeant was too focused on what he was doing.

In that silence, Archer recalled the memory when they fell off the cliff. He remembered how they rolled over on the surface of the rocky, slopy ground, how they hit every single thing on their path. And especially, he remembered how Jimin used his arms and all parts of his body to envelope him, keeping him from getting a bad injury. He remembered it too well how that older guy in front of him let his own body be a crash shield for him.

'But I'm just a boy that he just met today.'

He burst into tears when his eyes landed on Jimin's half-naked body. The whole area was covered in bruises and scars. From just scratch to deep, big slit, they covered it all. And the bandage that had once been on Jimin's foot, now wrapped around his stomach. The wound was still damp from fresh blood. He flinched at the sight. One question was on his mind...

"W-Why?"

"Huh?" Jimin asked back in bewilderment, lifting his lashes at Archer.

"Why... did you do this? Why... did you sacrifice your own... safety... for me? You... don't... even know... me..." Archer's weak voice sounded even weaker as he sobbed in between.

They locked eyes for a moment but then Jimin looked away with a deep sigh. Didn't bother to respond to the questions, Jimin rose on his weak feet, trying his best to straighten his body. He flinched at the intense pain but he stood still. With one long shaky breath, he lifted Archer and once again put him on his back.

"We head to camp four, come on!"

*****

"Camp... four? Isn't it... the research center...? why-"

"It's closer. We don't have enough time, you need an antidote immediately." Jimin said, cutting him off. "Don't worry, the head doctor over there is my friend, he's another Blueties," he added.

"Arch, you okay?" He glanced to his back, rubbing Archer's hand on his shoulders.

"I-I guess... So..."

Jimin frowned hearing Archer's weaker voice. He noticed how quick and shallow his breath was. And when he heard Archer coughing and his body convulsing for a few seconds, that's when it hit him.

'Stage three. His respiratory and nervous systems will keep deteriorating at a fast rate and in the next stage, he'll lose consciousness. My time is running out.'

And with that, he quickened his pace without considering his own state. He gritted his teeth to stifle his own desperate grunt. His steps were no longer wobbly and his movements were fast and agile.

They walked through the forest with trees that had grown sparse, leaving bit by bit the silence behind. The tall bushes and scrubs began to disappear, replaced by a short, not-so-dense grass until they finally reached the edge of the forest.

The sun was shimmering a soft orange glow when they entered a new area with some large, abandoned buildings lined up at each side of the road. Jimin kept going fast through a few narrow alleys, hiding behind one big wall to the next one. His cautious instinct worked at its finest.

He occasionally stirred his gaze around, not wanting to meet the creature he hated the most-not with his current unfit state and the dying Archer on his back.

"Arch, you ok, boy? We will be at camp four in a moment," he tapped Archer's knuckles on his shoulder as he turned to the left at the corner of one narrow alley with charred brick wall on either side.

But just right after he said that, his eyes caught the thick black smoke rising from where camp four was.

"No way..." Shaking his head, he dejectedly stopped in his track.

'What the fuck is going on?' He cursed in his mind, his eyes fixed on the black soaring smoke.

His face was blank and his stance began to wobble. He could barely stand on his feet any longer. The reality smashed him to the edge of his sanity. The only thing on his mind was how to save Archer.

Yes him, the Redties. He brought his hand to hold Archer's, reminding himself to focus on his initial mission: Saving Redties. He might be dragged down by the view he was witnessing but his mind tirelessly was looking for a way out.

'We have to get there, camp four, one way or another!' He told to himself. In that high tension situation, he tried to keep his calm composure. 'No, not now! I promised them, I promised them all...'

He forced himself to continue the walk, heading to the emergency exit at the back of the camp that led directly to the central lab. Slowly and silently, he crept closer to the outer gate of camp four while adjusting Archer on his back several times. He moved further to the back, tiptoeing while bending his body forward. He hid behind every wall they passed, concealing their presence at his best.

But His energy was getting low, causing him to take a halt and lean on one large concave wall. The big curved wings at the side of the wall could hide him well. And right from where he was standing, he saw something that made him shudder: The white, huge, sophisticated building was destroyed with fire everywhere and thick black smoke rising to the sky.

Camp four had fallen.

There were huge numbers of beasts there, concentrated at the front of the main building. The residents of camp four huddled at the left side near the collapsed communication tower. Unfortunately, they were helpless, becoming hostages to the beasts.

Some of them were dead-the Blueties soldiers of camp four-but most of them-doctors and scientists who ran the research center-were just injured.

"How could this happen?" Jimin mumbled.

He took a better look at the mess ahead of him, poking his head out of the wall. He needed to find him, his close friend, the head doctor of the lab. His eyes explored through the whole crowd, tracing the face one by one but he couldn't find him.

'Does it mean he's safe or he's already-'

His train of thoughts vanished as the roar of beasts jolted him back to his sense. He swiveled his head in that direction. And yes, a pack of beasts was heading at full speed in his direction.

"BLOODY SHIT!"

He bulged his eyes in terror, stumbling a few steps backward. "Arch! We need to run once again, hold on!"

Adjusting Archer on his back, he turned his heels and limply ran in the opposite direction.

'I knew this path.' His mind told him.

Running as fast as he could, he recalled the memory of the narrow path that had been shown to him by his close friend when back then they were escaping from the training center together.

As he passed thru a certain area, he could hear clearly that the beasts were tormenting the humans. Screams, cries, groans, whimpers, those awful uproars filled the air. And it pained him even more that he couldn't do anything to help them at that moment.

His surrounding was gradually got darker as he entered a familiar tunnel. And he recognized it-the brick wall in the middle of the tunnel, next to the entrance of the chemical sewage disposal gutter.

He tried his best to arrive at that certain place before the beasts came but his shaking feet just didn't allow that to happen. He stumbled forward, crashing his knees on the hard concrete. Using his hand to push him up, he tried to get up on his feet once again but he just couldn't. His whole body was trembling. He was too drained.

The sound of the beasts was getting closer and their shadow began to appear in the distance, entering the mouth of the tunnel.

In that dismay, his eyes shifted to Archer's arm that fell off his shoulder. It turned blue. "Arch! You hear me? Arch!!" He tugged his arm but all he got was Archer's faint breath as the answer.

"Shit! He's in the early of stage four!" He grunted.

'No no, I won't give up! I can't! Not now! I won't let him die, not when he's with me!'

There was a war between his body and his mind. But whatever it was, he never let himself give up to help others. Inhaling deeply, he gathered his remaining strength and pulled his body up.

"Argh!" He screamed out loud, boosting his self-trust.

He stood up, shaking. But he forced to drag his feet to the escape door-a red brick wall with white dots all over it. His feet limped to that certain spot, using the wall to support his weak state. When finally he reached the designated wall, with his trembling hand, he pressed the bricks in a certain pattern.

But it was like the whole situation mocked him to the max because suddenly, his hand went numb and fell limply to his side.

"What the fuck, bitch! You can't betray me at a time like this!" He shouted at his own hand, frustrating.

He was so anxious, glancing at the direction of the beasts with his quivering eyes over and over again. And when the figure of the beasts could be seen clearly, he forced himself to lift his other badly injured hand to press the right pattern on the brick wall.

Just right before the front beast could lunge at him, the brick wall before him opened into a narrow door that only allowed one person to pass through. Wasting no time, he entered into it and the door instantly closed right after he was fully in.

He was panting hard but he didn't stop. He had no time to stop. He continued the walk through the narrow path. When he saw a dim light behind a familiar door, he woke Archer up once again.

"Hey, buddy... We're here," he whispered. "Arch! Archer!" He yelled as he shook his back.

"I... can't... breath..." Archer's shaky voice rang just at the moment he arrived right in front of the door.

"You're still conscious! Great! It's okay, buddy! He will help you!" Answered Jimin as he leaned his body on that door, knocking several times.

'What if it's the beast inside?

The door cracked open unexpectedly, making the exhausted sergeant stumble forward and crash his body to someone standing at the doorway.

"Jimin!!"

"Jin hyung... Help me..."

"Y-you... You are... h-him... Y-you are... sergeant Park Jimin...."

A/N

Hey yo, bubs! 🥰

It's been a long time!

So, maybe lot of you don't know that I'm rewriting this story, I edited the words, the plots, the dialogues, and a few other details. I hope this version is better and you will like it better too🥰

And, finally... Welcome to the club Kim Seokjin!!!🥳🥳🥳

Ah, so glad that we have OT 7 already!!

Meet me in the next chapter, will ya?

Much lob ❤❤