Infected

Chapter 5

Seungmin, Minho, and Jisung walked down the long driveway to the bottom of the hill, occasionally tripping on chunks of broken asphalt. Right now, they all shared one collective thought. If only they had a car. If they had one, they could quickly raid the hospital and come back without worrying that one of the injured members died while they were away.

    Plenty of cars lay abandoned in the streets. However, there was a problem. They were all broken. Hordes of zombies had torn the cars apart as they hobbled by, survivors using what was left of the cars for supplies.

    "As long as we don't run into any survivors or zombies along the way, we should be fine," Seungmin said calmly.

    "We all know that there's no chance of that happening," Jisung replied dully. "Hyunjin said we need more antiseptic, bandages, and stitches if we can get our hands on them."

    Their journey to the hospital was only put on pause by a few stray zombies and an occasional small horde of them. Unfortunately, their good luck soon ran out.

    Minho pushed open the doors to the hospital and led the group to the supply room. Their nearly painless mission had come to an end. The supply room was swarmed with zombies.

    "You gotta be fucking kidding me."

~~~

    Hyunjin paced up and down the guest room, running out of options for what he could do. He wished he had a radio that he could use to communicate with Seungmin and the others. It was driving him insane that they were out in the chaos below on their own and there was no way for him to know how they were doing or if they were still alive.

    A few minutes earlier, he had sent Jeongin out to the living room to keep watch, not wanting him to see the condition that his friends were currently in. Changin had started becoming aware of the world around him and even talked with Hyunjin for a few minutes, but he was in unbearable pain, slowly drifting in and out of reality.

    On the more gruesome side, Felix and Chan's conditions had taken a terrifying turn. Felix had begun to throw up blood, which was displayed in a bowl that Hyunjin had placed in front of him to prevent him from bloodying the sheets. Chan, on the other hand, was throwing up an inky black substance almost like he was throwing up his insides.

    "Hyung, try to breathe, okay?" Hyunjin soothed, gently rubbing Chan's back. "The others will be back soon. Just hold on a little longer."

    None of them could keep any food or drink down. Changbin had refused to eat from the beginning, saying that it hurt too much to eat.

    "Oh god, please come back," Hyunjin pleaded, checking out the window every few minutes for any sign of the others.

    They had been gone for almost an hour and a half now and he was growing more and more panicked by the second. He had run out of antiseptic and bandages and the others would die very soon if he couldn't treat them.

    "Hyung, just leave us alone," Felix pleaded in a raspy voice, wiping blood away from his mouth. "You're wasting your time on us."

    "Shut up, Felix. Just shut up," Hyunjin snapped, immediately regretting his words. "Sorry... But I'm not giving up on any one of you. You're my friends. I don't care if you're infected or if caring for you is fighting a losing game. I'll try my best to help you guys get better."

    Felix opened his mouth to say something else when Jeongin rushed into the room, the   door slamming against the door frame. Hyunjin sprinted to the door, covering Jeongin's eyes so he couldn't see inside.

    "They're back," Was all Jeongin said, stepping away from the door.

    Hyunjin rushed out, meeting them at the door. Other than a few minor cuts and bruises, they came back unscathed. Minho handed him a bag stuffed with anything a doctor could ask for.

    "We don't know much about medicine so we grabbed everything we could," Minho said, his voice shaking.

    "What happened to you guys?" Hyunjin asked, noticing how they were all visibly shaken.

    "I'd rather not talk about it," Jisung dismissed. "Get to work."

    Hyunjin went back into the guest room, Changbin eyeing the bag suspiciously. Hyunjin sat down on a wooden straight-back chair by Changbin's bedside and took the stitches out of the bag.

    "What are you doing?" Changbin asked weakly, flinching away from the needle in Hyunjin's hand.

    "Helping you," He said simply. "Stay still okay?"

    Hyunjin guided the needle through Changbin's wounds, slowly stitching the wound together. Changbin bit his bottom lip so hard that Hyunjin was surprised he didn't bite a hole in it. The wound was too big and would never heal fully, but that wouldn't stop him from doing the best he could to treat him.

    He moved down the line, stitching the wounds closed through it was already too late. They had already bled out and the wounds had already been infected but it was better late than never.

    Soon.