(A/N; And we are back everyone! Sorry for the long wait~~~Anyway this is the second part of Chapter Thirty-Four by Charlotte. Next chapter will be the last chapter for this story so stay tune to find out! ><)

CHAPTER 34 (ii)

Eunwoo's Pov

Upon walking into the front yard, my eyes instantly zeroed to the blurry ‘x’ in red paint on the pathway. I froze for a while, letting my two companions walk before me, as I looked up at the old house. It looked inhabited, so it would probably be okay, right?

Just as I was occupied by my mind, i accidentally stepped on a fat twig. It broke into two, the cracking sounded loud in the quiet condition. After a while standing like a statue, the two person infront of me turned around, each giving me a glare, in which I replied with a nervous “sorry.”
Jungkook led the way again proceeding with a few knocks on the door but there was no reply. I guess it is safe, right?

We walked into the house, me being the last one. I shut the door softly behind my back and continued taking in the room in front of me. Whoever lived here before must be filthy rich. Huge old family paintings hung down on the walls, giving me an eerie feeling that they were looking at me, and thick carpet adorned the entire floor. Yet it was missing its habitants, and it did look empty, like it wasn’t used for the longest time. I let out an audible sigh, I hope we will be okay here. Only for a night, and I’ll bring them somewhere else.

Jungkook suggested us to search in every possible rooms, and we did a quick search, but as the night was becoming late, and we didn’t see anyone, we dropped into the living room and took our break. There was a big fireplace in the living room so Jungkook lit it up, instantly I felt warm. The couch beneath me felt so good, I could feel the dizziness kicking in, just as Chorong spoke.

“I’m sorry…” she said forlornly. I turned to her, Jungkook gave me a brief look but didn’t say anything as they exchanged a few words.
While listening to their conversation, I voiced, “Betrayed?”

I waited for their reply but it didn’t happen, so i guess it must’ve been before we met each other.

My mind fleet to my sister, how was she now? I hope she’s fine. I will meet her after I settled everything I have to with these guys. I made a promise to myself and her that I will always be there to protect and take care of her. It was what I told her when we left Korea five years ago to the States.
Chorong then asked about a girl named Suzy, and I sighed. I knew what this was, this called for privacy. After a moment, I stood up, throwing a last look at them who didn’t seem to notice me, and walk away. Well I’m sure one of the rooms have an equally comfortable bed. I just hope they wouldn’t be so loud.

I walked deeper into the house, manoeuvring the hallway that we ventured once today, looking for a suitable bedroom. I didn’t want to take the rooms near the living room, just in case they wanna get rowdy later.

At the end of the hallway was another room, I opened the door just a crack giving it a brief scan before I swung the door wider. The windows were closed by blinds. The electricity was most likely cut, which I’m quite sure of, and I didn’t want to attract any attention from the walkers by using any source of light… maybe I’d just open the blinds up a bit just enough for the moonlight to shine into the room.

I padded closer to the window, my shoes clattered against the wood floor and pulled the blinds just a bit. I peered outside the house which oversaw the backyard and was surprised when I saw shadows moving. I focused as much as I could with the dim light and saw about a dozen of people out there. It might be the walkers…
…but they were interacting with each other? I bit my lip, and turned toward the door. I have to investigate this.

* * *

Oh my god, I was hoping that I was wrong. I can feel my knees quaking under me as I watched them doing their work expertly in silence. My ears rang as my eyes were tearing up, I had to warn them. But as I looked back at the back door where I sneaked out just now I froze. Two people were ushering about a dozen of walkers into the house.

I sucked in a breath. The red sign on the pavement…I should have brought them away! I should have- but I didn’t. Now I will have their blood on my hands. I can still warn them now, but if these people notice my presence it will be pointless. My mind was a ruckus as I watched the way they controlled the zombies. The walkers have chains on their hands to prevent them from clawing anyone, whilst their heads were constricted with some kind of huge metal square with holes for their necks. These walkers were placed facing each other, constricted by the huge neck chain. They were growling and their teeth chattering when they made an attempt to bite the people who ushered them into the house, where Jungkook and Chorong was in.
I stood up from crouching and was about to walk out and warn them but stopped when more people came with a van. Even in the dim surrounding, I can see the huge red ‘x’ on the van door. I shuddered. The thing I was scared the most apart from those flesh eating fuckers were these people, who held the biggest part of this town. They wanted not only to enlarge their territories, but also their men. They didn’t do allies, its either win or die for them, and with one of their rival destroyed, which was us, I bet they wanted to clear any trace of survivors around the camp.

To make things worse, this was their house, and we’re trespassing it.

* * *

It was beginning to get brighter when I jolted up. I must’ve fallen asleep while waiting for the guys in van to drive away. I finally stepped out of my hiding and quickly went to the back door which was left opened. Just as I walked in, I ducked beneath the big couch when I saw the two people whom I recognised as the people who controlled the zombies passed by, talking in hushed tone, but still within my earshot.

“I guess the boy will wake up first, they always do, then we’ll release the zombies into the room and watch them have their breakfast.”
The other one chuckled. “Then what about the other boy? Grey told us he was outside snooping around when we’re doing our job.”
“We’ll take care about him later.”

I was stoned. They knew I was there! I cut myself from my reverie and stood up, they were gone to do their dirty job while I was stuck in the place, thinking whether I should escape or not. I was panicking, what should I do? Just then I felt hand on my shoulder and I jumped, thinking the men have found me.

“They know we’re here, they have been watching. There’s no escape…” I started, the jumbled words fell from my tongue in a rush. “We’re all going to die…”

I keep mumbling things that even I can’t comprehend until that loud scream that pushed me to the edge of my sanity, and I barely comprehend the guy who ran away from me to the direction of the room. No he can’t, he’ll die!

Chorong was being feasted by the dead, those that was brought by those bastard and I just watched helplessly. But remembering the words they shared in the living room, I quickly pulled Jungkook, trying to get him to escape with me, but he kept sitting there, tears streaming down his face. I swallowed, it was only a matter of time until the zombies were finished with her and turn to us. I can’t die, I have to meet my sister!
So I ran, leaving Jungkook to his demise.

Eunji's Pov

My biology clock woke me up and instantly I knew it was already morning. With anxiousness now added into the pile, it was harder for me to sleep, but now for what it seemed like forever I had a decent sleep. I opened my eyes and straightened up, I fell asleep while sitting but my neck wasn’t hurt at all…

“Had a good sleep?” Kai’s husky voice surprised me and I turned to him, noticing that we were sitting very close to each other that our shoulders were touching. I must’ve fell asleep leaning on him then…

“Yeah, well, did you?”
He smiled and nodded slightly, making me smile too.

“I guess the walkers are already gone.” He said, “it was really quiet outside and I really need to eat something.” He trailed off, his ears turning red. I laughed softly, cutie.
“Well then let’s make it our aim to find food today.”

“Think the others are alive?” He asked, as we’re walking down the empty street. Weird, wasn’t it supposed to be filled by death right now?

I turned to him briefly. “Yeah, I mean, we’re alive right? Just more reason why they are too. Those people are tough, which is good considering that we’re only a bunch of high schooler.”
He sighed. “My whole life i only struggled to stay alive at school, now I’m struggling to survive a zombie infested world. What are the odds?”
I shrugged. “I would of trade this situation for high school anytime.”
“Yeah…me too. Hey isn’t that a grocery store?”

“Think it’s safe?”

“Only one way to figure out.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me across the street, in a mission to find food.

The automatic door was stuck open, and I’m sure it had been since the power outage was cut. Things were strewn all over the floor; you would have thought monkeys invaded this space, and the remnants of musky smell of the food lingered in the air. Nothing that I wasn’t used to. The dead smelled so much worse.

“I think the vegetable and meat section is out of order,” Kai pondered, reading the signs of the aisles. “Perhaps go to canned food section?”
“And they’re out of order too.” I sighed as we arrived at the start of the section. True enough, most of the racks were empty. I bet this grocery store still had their regular customer every once in a while. “Well at least we have canned beans. It’s better than nothing, right?” he said, holding out a single can that had a small dent at the top. Usually, I would not take any canned foods or drink with defected tins, but I decided to look past it. Beggars can’t be choosers.

I found myself sharing that small can of beans with him, and to be honest it wasn’t bad at all. We’re talking about our memories where the world was still okay and none of our friends died. Of course no one touched the sensitive topics, but I knew we both were searching for solace, and that was found in each other’s presence.
“…It was all he cared for, and Chanyeol teased him for a year.” Kai spoke animatedly, licking his spoon that we found on the kitchenette section. I smiled, watching his profile from the side. Funny how sharp I’ve become since the zombie apocalypse begun. I guessed it was the defence-mechanism that my mind forced me, and I quickly adapted it into a habit.
I noticed every small things about him, how one corner of his lips quirked up as he tell me his memories from high school, his eyebrow shot up as he went through the interesting details, even the most embarrassing ones. Those were the gold. Who knew embarrassing moments could be the most treasured memories when the world ended. I studied his face for what it seemed like forever, entranced by the smallest movement of his nose whenever he scrunched his nose. God must’ve taken his time creating this man, not that I’m complaining.

“Eunji?” He repeated and waved in front of me. I blushed hard when I noticed that I was staring at his mouth, for a long time.

“Uh- sorry. I was, distracted.” I mumbled, sucking on my own spoon trying to collect myself.

“I can see that. You were ogling me.” He said, and I can sense the cocky smirk on his face. I scoffed, “Yeah right. As if I would.”

“And why not? I was quite popular back at school too you know.” He added and I glanced at him.

“You’re okay.”

He laughed then, a full blown laugh that echoed through the vast space of grocery store. I didn’t even care then, his laugh was contagious, making a smile crept onto my face.

“Damn, never in this entire life of mine did I imagine myself getting a compliment from Jung Eunji.”
I giggled. “Well now you do, rest assured, your last wish is fulfilled.” He smiled.

If only I know.

* * *

“I don’t feel good about this.”
He eyed me incredulously. “Hey, where’s the daredevil Eunji I know?”
I scoffed. “I was never that, Kai, and you are with me, I don’t dare to risk that.”

“You should give me some credit, Eunji, I survived till this point, no? Besides, our friends could be down there.”

“I still don’t feel good about it.” I muttered, eyeing the escalator warily. He smiled.

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you. I promise.”

The subway was just as I thought, damaged and empty. The escalators that once moved the passengers up and down the subway was deserted as tangy smell hung thick in the air. If I said the grocery store had it bad, then I take it back. This is definitely worse. It smelled like death down here, and I don’t like it one bit.

“Come on.” Kai spoke shaking me out of my thoughts and I stepped instantly, losing my balance. Suddenly I felt a pair of hands circled my waist, pulling me to their strong embrace, my face stuffed into a broad chest, and immediately blush collected at my cheeks. I stayed still, mostly because I didn’t want him to see my reddened face, but also because my head laid where I could hear his thudding heart clearly. It was oddly comforting, and I cherished the heat of his embrace.

“Are you okay?” He asked, his voice low and smooth. “Uh, yeah… I’m-” I stammered, starting to push away, but he held me firmly.

“Let me hold you for a while.” He said. I wanted to, I desperately want him to. But at the same time Luhan’s face came fleeting into my head like a gentle breeze. A sob choked in my throat as I started to push Kai away firmly. His grip became stronger to the point where he completely wrapped his arms around me; his left hand held onto my waist tightly as I found his right hand squeezing my shoulders, trapping me in this embrace.

“Please.” His soft voice was pleading and instantly I melted. I let my arms slide down and gripped onto his shirt, wishing that this moment was endless.

“That was a good way to recharge.” He grinned, as he held onto my hand while we’re stepping down the escalator. I was far from glad with the support, I didn’t want to lose my balance again and fall on my neck. The train track was visible by a few flickering emergency lights and I did a quick sweep around the area with my eyes.

“Yeah, I was pretty much trapped with your steel arms around me so I couldn’t push you away.” I muttered, and he chuckled. “That was not what I see.” He leaned closer to me and whispered, “You secretly like the hug too.”

“Don’t worry, Eunji. I won’t force you for anything. Maybe next time.” He said, giving me a kind smile.
I bit my tongue, letting him to lead me. My eyes fell to our entwined fingers. That could’ve been Luhan’s. Lu, why did you have to leave me so early…

“Hey, do you think there’s a control room?”

I snapped my attention back to him. “There’s always control room for trains.”

“Good, I think I have an idea.”

“Aw these are broken.” He sighed, falling back onto the chair. I took a deep breath. He thought it would be a good idea to find the control room for the radio that every train stations have. But the only thing was, it didn’t work like we hoped it would.

“Why does everything have to be so hard.” He whined, and I sat behind him on a desk, fiddling with my fingers. I didn’t know what else we could do anymore. The camp was a bad idea, and I am pretty sceptical of looking for another one, seeing that the last camp we’re found were ruled by a bunch of sadistic morons. The only option was to stay alive, that’s the only plan.

“This is such a nightmare.” He murmured. “One that we can’t escape. But I’m not giving up.” He stood up. “Let’s find some weapons, maybe we can use something from here…” He started searching the entire room.
I joined him, looking through big drawers. Papers, paperclips, a crooked ruler? Very helpful.

“Uh, Eunji?” I turned and my eyes widened when I saw him holding an old-fashioned handgun. “I found it back there.”

“You found a gun in the most unlikely place.” I commented, moving toward him to inspect the metal thing.
He opened the cylinder. “It’s got four bullets in it.”

“Do you know how to work with a gun?” I asked.

He chuckled. “I wouldn’t be surprised if I do, zombie apocalypse triggered my survival instinct.”
“But I didn’t find anything useful.” I sighed.
“It’s okay, I’ll protect you.”

We were just going to leave the control room when he pushed me back quickly behind the wall, trapping me again with his arms. “Quiet.” He whispered.

I gave him a look and he nodded where the door was. “There’s walkers, a hella lot of them. Imagine a train station during its peak time.” My eyes bulged. “Yeap, they’re all here. As if they’re waiting for the train to come.”
“Fuck, now what should we do?”
He was thinking for a while. “I’ll go out and distract them, you run.”

Wait did he rammed his head onto something or what? I whipped my head around.

“I’m not going to let you do that, Kai! That’s stupid.”

“We don’t have any choice! I’ll go the other way and you’ll run up the escalator okay? You should find a place to lay low for a while and then escape this place. Okay?”

“No I won’t let you do that. Are you insane? That’ll be a death wish, I’m not taking that Kai. We could stay here until they’re gone.” I said, fear starting to crawl up in my chest. Why did this feel so familiar? I feel like I’m going to lose him soon.

“Until when?” He asked, and I shook my head again. “It will be days, or weeks, Eunji. Until the smell of fresh meat attracted them again, and I doubt that will happen. We will die if we wait, this place isn’t suitable for a short stop and you’re saying about days? Or maybe weeks? At least out there you can find another place to hide, preferably one with easy excess to food.”

He held my face and gazed into my eyes. “I have the gun, four bullets are all I need. I won’t use them all I promise. If you didn’t hear the fourth shot that means I’m alive, so I need to you to listen carefully, okay? If I didn’t use the fourth bullet I’ll find you. So I need you to be survive until then.” His eyes softened and I felt his thumb on my cheek. “Please don’t cry.”

“I won’t let you, please don’t leave me.” I gripped tightly on his sleeves. “Why don’t everyone listen to me? Lu- I told him to go back to the camp but he didn’t,” I was fully crying then, but I didn’t care, “and now he’s gone. Please Kai, don’t leave me.”

He gave me a small smile. “That’s how stupid love is.”

“I don’t want you to go too,” I hiccupped, “don’t leave.”

He hugged me and caressed my back gently. “It’s our only chance, Eunji. I don’t care if it means death, your safety is my first priority.” I pushed him back harshly.

“I can take care of myself, god damnit!”

He grinned. “’Course you can, but sometimes you need saving too.” His eyes trailed to the window.

“Wow looks like bee hives out there.” He looked at me. “Remember what I said, okay? If it’s not more than three bullets then I’ll be fine. I’ll shoot only when I have to.”

“Kai…”

“I need to you run once they’re running after me, okay? Work those legs super hard and escape. Can you do that for me?”

“Kai, I…” He silenced me with a kiss. It was brief and urgent, I was still stunned when he pulled away, grinning like he had won something.
“Sorry, I told you I was going to wait but shit happens. Thanks for the recharge again.” He winked at me. “I’m going now.”

“Wait Kai.” I pulled him for a hug. “Come back to me.”

He eased into the hug for a brief seconds, then without saying anything released the embrace and ran outside. I crept farther behind the walls, listening the sound of zombie growling and thousands of insistent footsteps. After a few moments, I heard the first shot. My heart was ramming harshly beneath my ribs.

Second shot. I found it hard to breathe. I feel myself shaking as my tears kept falling, as I cried in silence. I didn’t dare to make a sound because I was worried some of them were still outside. Third shot. I started praying to anyone that it stopped there, that he may be alive. After a few moments of silence, my fear diminishing as my hope slowly intensified. My heartbeat spiralled in accession. He’s alive!

Then I heard the fourth shot.

Kai's Pov

I whimpered softly as I tried to run with a bleeding leg. The smell of blood was attracting more and more walkers to the point that I knew there was nothing I can do.

I looked back and saw darkness, I made it this far and that meant I managed to ward off any zombies from her. I smiled inwardly. So this must be the feeling Luhan felt before his death, one with no regrets attached. I regret nothing, I saved her.
I fell down on the ground with a thud and I quickly turned myself to face the walkers. They were catching up really fast, and I really didn’t want to do it because she might hurt profusely, but I didn’t want to be one of those thing.

I groaned in pain and pointed the gun on my temple.

“Live, Eunji.”

And I pulled the trigger.

* * *
I felt awful for the long wait so I wrote a long chapter. This may be the last chapter from me so I thought I’d pour some drama into it  please don’t hate me.

Thank you so much for your support all these while. See you again <3

- Charlotte.