Finding Safe Haven ⚊ &Team Nicholas

prologue

"The end arrived not with a roar, but as a subtle shift in the air that went unnoticed until the world was already lost."

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Ignorance is the real enemy, lurking in the corners of our minds, easily dismissed until it’s too late.

When the world crumbled before your eyes, turning your nightmares into reality, the regret is overwhelming. You wish you hadn't taken for granted the love your boyfriend gave you. You wish you hadn't harshly dismissed your best friend Sunghoon.

Most of all, you wish you hadn't ignored your mother’s desperate cries for help, mistaking them for yet another of her pointless lectures.

That morning, you woke with a start to unsettling noises from outside your room—moans and guttural growls merging into a chilling symphony. As you cautiously crept toward the door, a series of gunshots shattered the chaos, echoing with a sinister urgency.

The moment you stepped into the living room, a vile taste rose in your mouth as you took in the gruesome scene. Two strangers, their faces obscured by shadows, loomed over your mother’s mangled body. Her nightdress was shredded, her blood pooling beneath her. Her intestines, grotesquely exposed, hung from her torso.

Horror gripped you as you realized these strangers were not just attacking her—they were feasting on her flesh. Your mother’s head turned towards you, her eyes wide with terror, her groan a haunting plea for escape.

Her lips moved silently, urging you to run.

You didn’t hesitate. Your heart raced as you sprinted back to your room, locking the door behind you with trembling hands. You grabbed a backpack, stuffing it with anything you thought might be useful. The items felt insignificant and uncertain in the face of what you were about to endure.

Survival was all that mattered now. The pain of leaving your mother behind gnawed at you, but you knew she was beyond saving. In a few hours, she would be one of them, her humanity lost to the virus coursing through her veins.

“Sorry,” you whispered into the empty room, your voice barely audible. With one last glance around, you threw open the window and leaped into the unknown.

The cold air and the horror of what lay ahead filled your senses as you began a relentless escape, knowing that each day would only bring more terror and uncertainty.

_______________________________________

Days turned into months as you ran through the apocalypse, navigating a world where you hadn’t seen another living soul for ages. Only the undead hunted you, their relentless pursuit an ever-present nightmare. Each day was a battle for survival, scavenging for food in abandoned houses and hiding in makeshift shelters.

The hope of encountering someone alive slowly dwindled. Each night, alone in your secure corners, you cried, questioning the meaning of your continued existence.

But everything changed the day you met him—Wang Yixiang.

You were on the streets, scanning for danger with every cautious step. The sounds of moans and growls echoed around you, but you focused on a pharmacy you had spotted the previous day. As you approached, the air was thick with tension. You opened the door carefully, your heart pounding as you stepped inside the silent ruin.

The pharmacy, once a place of sterile cleanliness, was now a mess of broken glass and muddy footprints. Desperation drove you to search for anything useful among the scattered remnants. You moved towards the back, where you hoped the medicine stock would be.

In the dim light, you found a cupboard with canned food—three cans of precious sustenance. Just as you began to feel a glimmer of hope, your focus on the food made you vulnerable. Without warning, a rough hand grabbed your ankle, and you were thrown face-first onto the jagged glass strewn across the floor.

The stench of decay filled the air as the zombie’s gnarling growls grew louder. Its cold fingers reached for your exposed foot, and your heart raced with fear. Memories of regrets flashed before your eyes—missed love, harsh words, and the ignored pleas of your mother.

It seemed to be like this might be the end.

As the zombie’s teeth closed in, a deafening shout pierced the air, followed by the crack of a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. The bat smashed into the zombie, splattering thick green blood across your face.

The creature crumpled, its lifeless body falling beside you.

"Open your eyes, whoever you are. You’re safe with us," a voice commanded.

You hesitated, then opened your eyes, stunned by the sight before you. The zombie lay still near your feet, and above it stood your savior—a man gripping his weapon tightly. Two others, smaller than him, peeked out from behind. One of them waved at you.

"Who are you?" you managed, distrust evident in your voice.

"Your savior. Be thankful we arrived when we did, or you’d be dead," the man replied coldly. The one behind him, who hadn't waved, approached and offered his hand.

"Don’t mind Nicholas. Trust is hard these days," the man said, his tone softer. "We’re all good people here." You took his hand and stood, nearly staggering. Nicholas, in a black jacket with holes, cleaned his bat with the zombie's shirt.

The man who had helped you wore a green shirt stained with blood. The smallest of the group wore bright clothes that seemed oddly out of place in this dark world.

"I’m Hanbin. And you are?" he asked, offering a warm smile that contrasted Nicholas’s harsh demeanor. Nicholas continued wiping his bat, his face stern.

Speechless, you looked at the three of them. Hanbin's smile, Nicholas's coldness, and the young boy’s innocent face filled you with a mix of hope and apprehension.

"This is Taki," Hanbin introduced, pointing to the youngest boy who smiled shyly. Taki, unarmed, seemed vulnerable, and you couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for him.

As you sized them up, the tension in the room grew palpable. The moans outside grew louder, and the trio exchanged worried glances.

"Great. Thanks to all this socializing, we’re now in deep trouble," Nicholas grumbled, grabbing your hand and pulling you towards the door. He signaled for Hanbin and Taki to follow.

You struggled to keep up with Nicholas’s long strides, with Hanbin and Taki close behind. As you looked back, your heart sank. A horde of zombies, grotesque and twisted, advanced from the other side of the road. Their faces were covered in lesions, their bodies contorted in horrifying ways. The sight of them, hungry for blood and flesh, was enough to haunt your nightmares forever.

As you ran with the others, the terror of their snarling, relentless pursuit became the nightmare you’d never escape from. Each step you took was a desperate attempt to outpace the horror that would forever linger in your mind.