Sempiternal: •Broken• || Book 2#

39. Solo decision

They have been silent all the way. They have the idea of going to hide in an apartment soon. The light is not very strong and the clouds cause more uneasiness with the subject. Namjoon with his eyes closed, arms crossed and head leaning back on the seat in front is the source of all the tension.

As calm and charming as usual, as if he didn't kill three people without a trembling pulse. Yoongi glances at him from time to time. The mixture of thoughts is what unsettles him. On the one hand, why not kill that son of a bitch! His way of talking was disgusting from the start, plus he admitted to be lying about Jimin and Gimpo's downfall.

At the same time, did he really have to be killed? Did he do something so bad that he deserved death? Some people talk. He considers himself so when pressed on the exact fiber. Murder is an extreme measure they have gone to not once, but twice. With the second having more than one victim.

Yoongi concludes to himself that meditating on this before he sleeps - if he sleeps at all - will be the solution to his headache. Maybe talk to the others to stop this ambiguous feeling that dominates them.

The cars are parked and as they get out, Jin notices that Namjoon has no weapon on him. Knife, gun, nothing; the taller one just looks around, inspecting at a glance.

"They don't look too fragile and there are no marks anywhere. I think it's a good spot."

"It should be fine." says Hoseok in a shaky voice.

"We should... examine to... be sure don't you think?" proposes Jungkook shyly and Namjoon nods in agreement.

As they go about hiding the cars, Jungkook and Namjoon scour the area. They find one or two other groups accumulated in secluded areas, but far enough away so as not to be a nuisance. Behind the building and ending the parking lot territory, they come across a half fallen metal fence.

Namjoon considered taking the wire. They might need it and this loose one is better than a fully intact one. Jungkook considers that maybe something knocked it down and it could be a threat. Both thoughts are brought to an abrupt halt by what they find on said wire.

"It can't..."

Jungkook takes a step back and Namjoon pales with his jaw unhinged. The infected growls and moves, trying to reach them. Slow, weak, barely steady movements. Black blood in its bite wounds, one in the neck, one in the abdomen and several in the leg, totally dried by time and cold; its eyes weep the same liquid and look bleary in the face of sunken cheeks and crystallized skin.

It is Taemin.

Taemin in a military uniform.

It is the first time they have met a familiar face. They have met absolutely no one who is a friend or acquaintance of another. Their parents don't count in this. Namjoon feels a torrent of assumptions and fears form inside his head.

If Taemin is here where is Jimin, how is he dead, why would he get out of there if he wasn't immune, was he running away from something? The others approach for noticing that they take too long and the same reactions are produced. Full of equal parts surprise and horror. Hoseok covers his mouth and ends up vomiting, bent to one side and his poor stomach churning in his own gastric fluids.

Namjoon staggers, but is the first to leave, in total silence and with the others forcing themselves to follow him into the building. It is getting darker and darker.

. . .

"Maybe Jimin is out here somewhere," Jungkook proposes quietly, stirring the cold noodles of his instant soup. The others barely touching the food alike. "I can ... try to check around a bit and... M-maybe it's around here somewhere. Maybe the two of them ran away from that place; he really did fall and they're looking for him." Her theory is far-fetched and with some holes, however, it's better than having the uncertainty.