outbreak | bts

019

Jungkook fumbled with the device in surprise.

"Yah, yah, yah, yah, yah!" He cried out, causing his friends and Jimin to dash over to him. Jungkook's head ducked down as he answered the phone breathlessly.

"Yugyeom-ah? Hello?"

"Kook-ah." A voice, slightly weak, finally answered him. Jungkook exhaled and he felt tears prick at his eyes.

"What's wrong with you, why didn't you answer the phone?!" He whined, dropping into a squat with his head still bent low. Jimin breathed out a sigh of relief at Jungkook's reaction and placed a hand on his friend's head. Others began approaching and the teachers of the children looked over at them curiously. There was a tired chuckle from Yugyeom's end.

"We put our phones on silent because we were leaving the school. We took the school minibus but when we got out onto the road, there was this massive crowd of zombies. Like they were waiting for us. And the crowd just happened to be an insane number of our schoolmates and girls from this school." He informed, his voice fading out briefly. He was getting emotional. Jungkook put his phone on speaker so that everyone else who had come over to him could hear.

"They chased after us for the longest time so we were just driving everywhere, anywhere to try and lose them. Do you know how insane it was just seeing them all like that? I even saw Bambam and Minghao." Yugyeom whispered. Jungkook was silent, not knowing what to say to comfort him. Seeing just Mingyu had been enough to throw him into despair. To have seen their cheerful and sarcastic friends in such a state must have been heart shattering. There was a shuffling sound before Eunwoo's voice spoke gently down the line.

"Jungkook-ah? There was this insane explosion and smoke covered everything everywhere. The minibus was like pushed really hard by the impact, but luckily we didn't roll over. The side crashed into a lamp post but Joohyun noona was still able to drive so we used the smoke as cover." He briefed them of their current state. Jungkook nodded even though he knew Eunwoo couldn't see him. Blinking, he cocked his head. Wasn't Joohyun a teacher? Why was Eunwoo suddenly calling her noona?

"All these zombies just started appearing from nowhere. I guess they're going to the source of the explosion. Thanks to the smoke, as long as we drove slow, they didn't seem to notice us, even if they bumped into the minibus. It was like they were under some kind of homing hypnosis. Right now we're on our way to Nambus Bus Terminal." Eunwoo continued. Yoongi stepped forward and leaned down towards the phone.

"When you get here, go to the entrance for buses and coaches and call. We'll let you in." He instructed. There was a short pause, likely because Eunwoo hadn't anticipated someone else speaking on the phone.

"...yes, thank you." He finally said. The sound of murmuring a small distance from the phone indicated that Eunwoo was speaking to someone. His voice got louder again as he moved back to the phone.

"Okay. Joohyun noona said we'll be there soon, so-"

"Stay on the line." Jungkook interrupted. There was a taken aback silence both from the people around him and from Yugyeom's phone side.

"Stay on the call in case anything happens. I don't want to stop hearing your voice until I see you with my own two eyes." The defiance in the young man's eyes blazed through his tone too. There was a small breath of laughter from the phone.

"We get it." Yugyeom and Eunwoo replied. Jungkook's lips lifted a little and he decided to get comfy on the floor.

Not even twenty minutes later, Yugyeom's voice, which had gone silent, spoke in a flurry of excitement.

"Yah, yah, we're here, we're here!" His hurried words pushed Jungkook into action and he rose to his feet, jogging to the security room.

"Ahjusshi, is there are minibus nearby? Like approaching or something?" He called before he even reached the room. Uncle Kang who had been seated there with Mr Son, lifted his head to scan the cameras and saw that there was indeed a vehicle approaching the bus and coach park entrance from around one hundred and forty meters away.

"A minibus from J Sports High?" He asked. Jungkook nodded his head eagerly. Namjoon, who had approached the security room after Jungkook ran over, stepped in and locked eyes with Uncle Kang. Grinning, he nodded.

"We agreed that if they came in a car we would let them in." He shrugged. Uncle Kang chuckled and rose to his feet. They strode after Jungkook who had run to the gate that led to the entrance, Seokmin and Jaehyun dashing after him. The other young men save for Byunhyun, Baekhyun and Hosoek made their way out after them.

After unlatching the restraints they had used to secure the door, Jimin pressed his head against the gate and gestured for everyone to wait for a moment. As silence fell upon them, Jimin listened. For a minute, there was no sound save for the the gentle whistle of the wind in the air. Then he heard it. Low at first, the hum of a vehicle engine began to grow louder in his ears. Jimin stepped back with a nod at Jungkook and his friends, giving them the clear as they braced their arms and heaved one of the gates open.

Yoongi stood by the gate that had remained closed, peeking out and indicating that the gate needed to be opened more when he spotted the minibus. It seemed that whoever was driving the minibus gained a bolt of energy upon seeing the opening gate, if the vehicle roaring one time before zooming forward, spurring through the gate in a similar manner to Hoseok was any sort of indicator.

Everyone outside jogged over to help close the gate quicky as the minibus skidded loudly to a halt. When the gate was closed, they worked to secure it again before turning to the bus. Strutting to its side, Jungkook nearly gasped. True to Eunwoo's words, the left side of the minibus had basically caved in, metal painfully crunched in on itself so deeply that Jungkook wondered if it was possible to even sit on this side.

The sound of the door on the other side opening drew his attention and he sped around, colliding with somebody. Stepping back, he grinned as he lifted his head slightly to make eye contact with his friend who beamed back at him. The smile was there but tears of relief also fell as he, Seokmin and Jaehyun grabbed the figure into a tight embrace, dragging an additional person who had just stepped out into the fray.

"Eunwoo-yah, Yugyeom-ah!"