WHO ARE YOU?|ATEEZ FANFIC (In Editing Progress)

Chapter 5|Time is running

Wooyoung didn’t know exactly what was the worst part of all this. That they had been on the road for four days and four nights, their strength was completely drained by the heat and the exertion? That they hadn’t seen a drop of water since day three and were therefore totally dehydrated? Or that their only progress in four days was that they were no longer walking on sandy dunes, but on reddish-brown stone slabs, the only advantage of which was that occasionally they’d find rocks big enough, that they could provide the boys with shade for a at least few hours, which they used to rest, before they had to keep moving. Not that it would use anything. The heat kept them from sleeping properly and even though they got some shade from the rocks, it didn’t change much about the burning temperatures around them. The only time of the day, where they were able to find at least a minimum of three to four hours of sleep, was during the night and even then they could hardly fall asleep due to the headaches they all had from sunstroke and dehydration, but as they couldn’t sleep most of the time they just kept walking and walking. It also didn’t help that Seonghwa’s condition hadn’t exactly improved since they had left the oasis. It was actually quite the opposite. His ankle was terribly swollen and red and caused him immense pain in addition to a rising fever that made him feel nauseous and dizzy, making it almost impossible for him to walk on his own.  It forced him to keep relying on the boys taking turns carrying him on their backs, which wasn’t only extremely exhausting and pulled on their strength, but also slowed them down a lot. The whole situation weighed heavily on Seonghwa. He hated that he was a burden to everyone and kept them from making big progress on their journey, but at least he was the only thing holding them back. Since Hongjoong, no one had fainted again, which was a miracle considering they hadn’t seen water for over a day. At some point, while walking straight ahead, Wooyoung started to feel his vision get more and more unclear. He was incredibly tired. The lack of sleep made it hard for him to keep his eyes open and his body felt sore, making him feel like he would collapse any second if he didn’t keep walking. And he wasn’t the only one. All of them were in terrible condition. They were tired and craving  proper food and water and at this point all of them were badly sunburnt, adding to the pain they were all in. It was clear, that if they didn’t find a place to stay soon with water and safety from the sun, they eventually wouldn’t make it. When the sun was up high in the sky, the boys had found another rock, the first in hours, where they sat down in the shadow, close together, getting a little bit of rest. Most of them with their eyes closed, leaned against the stone, trying to relax, taking deep breaths and trying to think of nothing. Seonghwa was holding his forehead gently rubbing it with the tip of his fingers, frowning in pain. He was extremely pale and sweat was running down his face.

“I think I’m going to die.” He said, feeling like he was going to throw up any second. Hongjoong next to him just sighed in frustration.

“What did I say about dying?” He had his face buried in his hands, trying to endure his the pain his headache was causing him, which seemed to have gotten worse with each moment since he had fainted. Yeosang next to him rolled his eyes at Hongjoongs words.

“That was the day before yesterday.” He said, making Hongjoong raise his head to look at him.
 
“Today, we don’t have food, no water and literally no chance to survive.” Frustrated, he ruffled his hair and shook his head.

“In our situation, dying doesn’t actually sound too bad.” A weak sob escaped Yunho’s throat as Yeosang finished his sentence. The big boy had his head leaning against Mingi’s shoulder and he looked like he was about to break out in tears.

“I don’t want to die…” He whimpered. Hongjoong looked at him with sad eyes and shook his head.

“You won’t, Yunho.” Gently, he patted Yunho’s shoulder, before he took the map out of his pocket and unfolded it to check their position.