Infected

Chapter 9 - finale

Read at your own risk

Minho's eyes were transfixed on Jeongin's corpse, his left hand clutching the stump where his right arm had once been, pain frozen on his lifeless face. Chan turned away from Minho, kneeling down next to Jeongin with ease. The infection had not yet fully taken over him to the point where he moved like a zombie.

    Chan was going to eat Jeongin. Minho wouldn't allow it as long as there was life in his body. He turned his gun around and hit Chan in the back of the head with the butt of his gun. He couldn't bring himself to end Chan's reign of terror. Zombie or not, he was still his friend. Killing one's friend did not come easily.

    "Get your filthy hands away from him!" He cried, hating how fearful he sounded.

    Chan slowly stood up, all attention turned towards his attacker. An inky black substance leaked from the wound in his head, turning the blond hair around the wound jet black. Without thinking twice, Minho turned and ran straight into the forest, Chan following close behind.

    His heart was pounding so hard he could hear it in his ears, adrenaline running through his veins. He couldn't stop and shoot now. He didn't have the time. Low-hanging tree branches and bushes scratched at his face and exposed skin, occasionally ripping holes in his clothing. He didn't know where he was going, the only objective was to get as far away from Chan as possible.

    He felt his heart stop as a net dropped down on him from above. No matter how hard he struggled, the net wouldn't give. He could do nothing but watch in horror as Chan stopped in front of him, kneeling down just as he had with Jeongin.

    The house was just barely in view between the branches. The gray paint and rotting boards had never looked so comforting. Help was just inside those walls. If only they could see him.

    Chan bit through the netting, tearing a piece of his shoulder off. Blinding pain gripped his body as he screamed in pain, feeling warm blood run down his arm. Crows that had settled in the branches above, flew into the air creating a cacophony of noise as they took into the air. If the others hadn't heard him scream, they surely had to hear that.

    One taste of Minho's flesh wasn't enough for him, however. Chan sunk his teeth into Minho's side, ripping away a more than decent amount of flesh. More than a human could afford to lose. He screamed again, netting sinking into his exposed wound. Warm blood stained the forest floor.

    In his blurring vision, he could see three people running into the forest. His body went limp, preparing for more pain to come tearing through his body when a gunshot echoed through the forest. The same black substance exploded from Chan's forehead as he slumped forward, as dead as a zombie could possibly be.

    "Minho hyung, are you okay?" Hyunjin's voice cried, running up to him. "Oh my god."

    He began to feverishly rip apart what was left of the net, carefully lifting it off Minho's body. Jisung immediately dropped the gun he was holding to the ground, the barrel still smoking.

    "I'm sorry, hyung. There's not much we can do for you," Jisung said apologetically, tears stinging the backs of his eyes as he intertwined his fingers with Minho's.

    "It's okay," Minho said weakly. "Jeongin-"

    "We know," Seungmin said sadly. "I'm sorry we didn't arrive sooner."

    Everyone's eyes were fixated on Minho's side. His wound exposed nothing but muscle and a part of his ribcage. Hyunjin could have sworn he could see Minho's heart beating weakly inside, blood pouring out of the wound as it did so.

    "Hyung, listen closely okay?" Jisung began, looking into Minho's glassy eyes to make sure he was still listening. "I can't sugarcoat this...We can't do anything to help you and I'm sure you know that. You'll be joining Jeongin, Changbin, and Felix soon. Maybe you'll even be able to see Chan. Wait patiently for us okay? When our time comes, we'll be by your side too. We promise that you'll never be lonely."

    "Don't rush to join me," Minho said, coughing up a worrying amount of blood.

    "We won't," Hyunjin promised, tears streaming down his face. He bent down and grabbed Jisung's gun, handing it to Seungmin. "Can you.."

    Seungmin took the gun and aimed it in between Minho's eyes which fluttered shut, preparing for what came next. He pulled the trigger, ending Minho's suffering. He immediately dropped to his knees, horrified at what he had just done even if it was for the best.

    "It's okay, Seungmin," Hyunjin said gently. "Now's not the time to fall apart. We still have things to do."

    Jisung lifted Minho's corpse, Hyunjin taking Chan's and Seungmin taking Jeongin's as they walked by. The best option would have been to dump them off the side of the hill to the zombie's below, but that option was impossible for them to even imagine.

    They dug makeshift graves at the back of the house, moving Changbin and Felix's remains outside as well. One by one, they lowered the remains of their friends into their graves, paid their respects, and covered their bodies with dirt. They did their best to hold back tears, knowing that the others wouldn't want them to cry. The shock of their group of eight dwindling down to three in the span of a day had left them feeling shocked and empty.

    They began to clear out as the sun began to set under the trees, hastily marking each grave so they could remember who it belonged to before leaving.

    "We'll meet again soon. I promise."