Area One

26

When they were nearly in sight of the city gates, they ducked into the outskirts of a little forest. Jongin waved at them with a smile that was supposed to seem unbothered but appeared a little shaky. He vanished and returned a few moments later, grabbing a conscious, panicked soldier by the neck. Baekhyun took hold of him and the teleporter went back to get the uniforms.

Jimin sat down next to the soldier and eyed him with his lips pressed together. Taehyung patted his shoulder in an attempt to cheer him up. His other hand, clutching the writing pad he had been scribbling on for the past few weeks, was shaking.

They changed into the frightening uniforms and gathered back around Jimin. Namjoon observed him with a frown on his face.

"We don't have to do this if you don't want to," the other leader told his friend. "We can get into the City anyways and we will find another way to get to the labs."

Jimin shook his head. "This was my idea." He took a deep breath. "I can do this."

Junmyeon hesitated a few moments. He copied Jimin and concentrated on his breathing until he was confident enough. "Alright, this is the last chance." That was enough to get their attention. "If someone wants to stay here, that's fine. No one will judge you. You all know what is waiting for us over there."

He gave them a while to think about it. Some looked at the ground, a few whispers were exchanged, but in the end, everyone met his gaze again.

He nodded, gripping the helmet to his uniform tightly in order to hide his shaking hands. "Fine. If we want this to work out, we need to act quickly and coordinated. Which means that everyone will follow orders." His eyes found Jongin and remained on him specifically. He still remembered that one incident from the beginning. The teleporter was undoubtedly feeling bad for it, but it was a good example for things that happened if you didn't act as a team.

The younger guy nodded seriously and Junmyeon figured that everyone had gotten the message. "Luhan-" his voice failed him when he remembered what had happened the other day. "I don't know what you've been preparing yourself for, but do you think you can link all of us together when we enter the gates?"

"I already figured whispering among each other would look rather weird to them," Luhan answered. "That's not a problem."

He let out a shaky breath when one of his biggest worries was solved. "Thank you. It's also important that everyone stays closely together so Jongin can get us out anytime." His gaze returned to the teleporter. "Before that, use your power only in absolute emergencies. Jongdae, Sehun, you will protect him and Yixing." Jongdae gave him a mischievous smile. Sehun straightened his back and nodded seriously. "Baekhyun, Taehyung, I need you two to walk in front and lead the way to the labs. Can you do that?" The two brothers looked at each other. Taehyung gave Baekhyun his typical, broad smile. It didn't reach his eyes. His older brother patted his shoulder and nodded at Junmyeon.

"Remember that our cover will be blown the second one of us uses his power," Namjoon added. "We will try to get as far as we can without them." He threw a gaze at his six guys specifically. "Don't overestimate yourselves. The more you use your powers, the more exhaustion will you feel."

It was painful to see these seven guys who had never been able to test their powers in a real fight stand in front of the City right now. It wasn't like the others were ready for it or anything, it just felt even more unfair to Junmyeon. He looked down at the helmet in his hand. Everyone was here out of their own free will. They were following him because they wanted to.

Junmyeon shook his head. He had already decided. If he died today, he would do so without guilt and self-doubts. He had lived with them for long enough and he was tired of tearing himself apart every day. So tired.