Ashes Of A Body

3

To say Joshua was in shock would be a minor statement. Sweat rolled down his back, but despite that he was still cold. 

The entire apartment they had been operating in at the moment was trashed. The tv was laying in pieces on the floor, the glass shattered trough the whole room. 

The dining table was on it's side, multiple wooden chairs broken. 

The entire kitchen was turned upside down, spare bullets all over the floor. Very clear signs that there had been a fight. 

The faint smell of chloroform was still in the air, but it was not enough to have any effect on them. 

Beside Joshua sat Seungcheol. The olders face was pale and his eyes were red. The rest of the members were spread across the floor, either softly whispering useless words to each other, or completely silent. 

Minhao was spread on the couch, a frozen bag of peas on his head. His eyes were closed but it was so obvious that he wasn't asleep. He kept sighing and was fiddling with a lost pea between his fingers. 

Joshuas eyes however were fixated on the laptop on the ground. It was still on, the glass screen in pieces but it still somehow worked. The place of their cars were still two red dots on the screen. 

To know that Jihoon had been making sure they were safe on their mission was almost frightening. To know that he could have been hoping that they came home sooner. 

Tears began to run over his face. He really wanted to be silent, but he couldn't help the pathetic sob that escaped his lips. 

"Come here," whispered Seungcheol in his ear. Wrapping his long arms around the younger boy. 

"We have to do something," sobbed Joshua. 

The rest of the members now looked their way. Joshua covered his face with his hands as he sobbed into Seungcheols shoulder. 

The older immediately wrapping his arns around him. 

"I mean," Soonyoung spoke up. "We are a gang aren't we?" It was silent for a while. All eyes on him now. 

He looked around as he stood up. "Shouldn't we show them that we don't mean business either?" His voice lacked confidence and tears were running down his face too. 

Seungcheol looked around him as he cupped the back of Joshuas head in his hands. Some people looked slightly more confident, wich was reassuring. 

He knew that he was the one that should speak up. He was the leader after all. He should have control and know what to do in all situations. 

Soonyoung already began to sit down when Seungcheol spoke up. 

"We can do something," he said slowly. "We're gonna need to go silent for a little bit, and disappear. But I think we can do this." 

"What do we do hyung?" Chan asked. There weren't any tears running down his face, but Seungcheol could see that he felt hopeless and also didn't know what to do. 

"Well," he started. "Since Jihoon was usually the one that finds people we can't really depend on him. And the closest we get to his level would be Dokyeom. Can you at least find some sources?" 

DK hesitated before nodded. 

"For the rest we need a new place to stay," Seungcheol continued. "Can Vernon and Chan get on that?" 

The two called gave their signs of confirmation. 

"For the rest I'm afraid we're gonna have to wait."