Trigger ↬ [ P.JS ]

Chapter 38:

Jeno analyzed Mark's unconscious body. He was placed on the ground, head on top of Rina's lap. Jeno was still carrying Hwayoung, who was currently sleeping. He stared at Rina's arms carrying Hayoon, also fast asleep.

It was dark, probably midnight, he assumed. It was the right time to roam around and explore, try to find the others, but they were still tired because of the chase earlier. He wanted to sleep, but one of them has to keep watch. Rina is already tired, and he can't bother to wake her up. He's just collecting his thoughts, still shocked from the crash. He doesn't even know how he survived, how all of them survived.

He glanced at Mark, finding him steadily breathing. "How do we figure out where we're going next?" he whispered to himself. It was always Mark who planned stuff or the others. He never contributed to things like these, he doesn't know what to do. He doesn't want to be a burden to Rina, letting her plan and do decision making, but he doesn't know how to help.

When the sun rises, what do they do?

"He'll wake up soon enough. And I'll help, so don't worry."

He jumped slightly, hearing Rina speak. Nodding to her words, "Yeah, we'll figure it out. We always do."

"Do you blame him?" Rina whispered, almost having no energy to form a sentence. She trailed her eyes into Jeno's arms, staring at Hwayoung's peaceful face. "If you ask me, I would say yes. But I'm not mad at him. I kinda am. I would never forgive him if anyone of us dies." she closed her eyes, rocking the baby in her arms.

"Donghyuck isn't dumb. Most of the time, he knows what he's doing. This, this is the only time he messed up. Yeah, I blame him. But like you said I'm not mad. Maybe disappointed, not angry. The weight on his shoulder, the fault he's handling himself is probably enough for him to suffer. He's self-destructive." Jeno bit his tongue realizing what he just said. If his friend was awake, that's what he would be doing. Blaming himself.

Rina agreed, she thought it would be the best if they didn't let anger get the best of them. It would only fuel the fire. "Mhm," she hummed. "on a different note, are we going to wait for Mark to wake up or are we going to find the others with him unconscious?"

"I'm so close to being built like Mr. Steve Rogers, I don't think I can handle lifting both of them up."

"Yeah, right. I forgot about your almighty muscles." Rina rolled her eyes, saying the sarcastic comment

Silence engulfed the night again, making them hear the sound of nature, the hums of other creatures, and the deep state of the evening. This should have been comforting, but it was eerie to them. Jeno doesn't like this feeling, so he drowned himself in thoughts. He thought about Jisung, the youngest of his friend group. He knows he's more than capable of taking care of himself, but he remembered that the guy was with Astrid. Jisung's ready to be very selfless for that girl, for everyone, honestly. Jeno noticed how Jisung took quick glances at Astrid throughout their journey. He probably likes her.

Then he moved on to Chenle, he didn't know who he was with. When they split up, they were behind him, so he really had no idea. What he does know though, is that Jisung and Chenle already made up. He discovered that Chenle didn't like how they trusted strangers for their safety and even doing them favors. But Jisung made him understand that we're all fighting for our lives at this point and it wouldn't hurt to help.

Jaemin is probably awake too. He's thinking about walkers and runners as if they're the most interesting thing in the world. They are interesting, but Jeno wouldn't be as interested as Jaemin is. He thought that it was good since his friend can provide them information that can help, but he wanted him to rest first.

Jeno admitted, he doesn't know what Renjun could probably be doing. Wasn't he unconscious? Oh, no he was awake. He sighed, getting more worried about his friends.

His thoughts were cut off by Rina hesitating with her words.

"Uhm, Jeno?"

He looked at her, confused.

"I think we need to go to a hospital."

"What? Why?"

"Mark... Mark's breath is slowing down."

Jeno immediately landed his eyes to the said boy. His chest was indeed going up and down scarily slow. He put Mark over his shoulder, as gently as he could, while still carrying another human on his other arm. He tensed up, "Where are we gonna go?" he asked Rina.

"Uhm, let's follow the city lights over there." She hushed the waking Hayoon in her embrace, hoping that he wouldn't cause them a hard time.

Jeno and Rina walked briskly towards the city, currently on a mission to find a hospital. While they're almost running, Jeno tried to feel Mark's pulse, not getting relieved when he felt it pound excruciatingly slow. He cursed under his breath, earning a worried huff from Rina.

They noticed that they're correct, and the track they're in leads to a very busy city.

Rina stopped in her tracks, staring at a hospital poster offering free treatment. She reached her hands to stop Jeno, pointing at the sign.

"Are we really gonna trust this?" Jeno said breathlessly, stomping forward.

"No! Jeno," she catched up to the muscular boy. "—what could go wrong?" she gave him a meaningful glance and pleaded. "I just have this gut feeling, please."

Jeno sighed and walked towards the entrance of the hospital, Rina following him shortly. They noticed just how busy the place actually is.

"Hi, sir, ma'am, I'm guessing you need help, this way please." a nurse smiled at them and stepped into an empty room.

Rina followed the nurse, glancing around from time to time.

They both got into the room. They proceeded to place Mark into the bed, along with the kids.

Jeno let out a tired breath, eyes naturally landing at the door. As it was about to close, a blur of a boy in a wheelchair crossed it.

............................................................................

Another update!! They're so close to seeing each other aaaaaa!! I'm thinking of writing the other's pov soon. So far we got Jeno's and Rina's scene. I'm also going to make the meeting up process very hard and difficult because why not?

What do you think of the plot so far?

Are the chapters getting repetitive?

What should I include more in the chapters?

thank u so much for being patient and waiting for updates!! <3