Seventeen Zombie Apocalypse AU

🧪Twenty five🦠

Seungcheol and Jeonghan walked beside Vernon, staying towards the back of the group as they started on their way back to the warehouse. Jeonghan stayed quiet, not really sure what to say as he wasn't familiar with anyone apart from Vernon, but he didn't know Vernon that well either to be able to make conversation with him so he chose to stay silent. Seungcheol observed each of the males in front of him, making mental note of how they acted, trying to figure out what type of people they were.

As Seungcheol was deep in thought, his face turned apprehensive and he turned to Vernon.
"How confident are you that Y/n would be able to make it back to your base by herself?" he asked, concern evident in his voice. Vernon hesitated for moment before answering,
"...she's smart, I know she'll be able to make it back...she's stronger than you think". He knew his sister was smart but he couldn't help but worry about her being on her own.
"Why didn't you follow her? why did you let her run off on her own?" he asked, trying to restrain himself from getting mad at the younger boy next to him, but finding it hard not to blame him for loosing his sister.

Vernon clenched his jaw, he was already beating himself up for letting her go but he wasn't able to do anything else.
"we had too...the situation was complicated, it would have made it worse if we tried to follow or help her" he paused and looked at the males in front of him.
"It was hard for me to watch her run off on her own, it's not like I wanted to let her go, none of us did. I know you don't know these guys but they care a lot about your little sister and would do anything to protect her...we're all worried, it's not just you" he replied, struggling to stay calm. He knew Seungcheol was worried but Vernon was one of Y/n's closest friends, he would never let her go if he didn't have to.

Jeonghan couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation.
"you know you don't have to be so harsh on him, he's only a kid" he chimed as he watched Vernon walk away to catch up with the rest of the group. Seungcheol rolled his eyes,
"Y/n is a kid too, and who knows where she is right now" he sighed, annoyed that Jeonghan wasn't taking his side.
"How is it any different to when we were separated from Joshua?" Jeonghan retorted, catching Seungcheol off guard. He wasn't wrong, and that annoyed Seungcheol even more, he just wanted Y/n to be safe and for him to be able to protect her and it killed him that he couldn't, so he took it out on the people that could.

The sun was starting to set and they knew that by the time they would make it back to the warehouse it would be dark so they picked up the pace in order to return sooner.

Some of the group tried to make conversation with the two new comers. Jeonghan being a lot friendlier and open to conversation, whereas Seungcheol was passive and brushed off most of the things they said.
"Well the attitude definitely runs in the family" Mingyu mumbled after being ignored by Seungcheol for the second time.
"yeah no kidding, being scary must be a requirement to be a Choi" Seokmin added. Jeonghan chuckled,
"he can be really intimidating at times but that's just when he's mad or worried, he's a really good guy once you get to know him, he's cares a lot for the people in his life so give him a chance. I'm sure you thought the same of Y/n when you first met her" he said. He was right, when they all first met Y/n she was very cold and stand-offish. But now she was a lot more open and carefree and it was obvious she was a very caring person, even though sometimes she could be very stubborn and argumentative and a little scary too, they all grew a soft spot for her over time.

After the sun had set completely and the sky was dark, the group had finally arrived back at the warehouse. Seungcheol stared nervously at the building in front of him. He hasn't seen his sister in a long time and he was worried she would think he had changed, and not for the better. Soonyoung pushed the door open and immediately scanned the room looking for Y/n.
"you guys were gone for a while, find anything useful?" Minghao asked as he walked over to them.
"you could say that..." Jihoon said as he gestured to Jeonghan and Seungcheol who were standing behind him. Joshua's eyes lit up and he immediately ran over to them, pulling Jeonghan into a tight hug.
"We accidentally found Seungcheol, Y/n's brother" Mingyu stated, causing everyone's eye to widen.

"Where is she?!" Soonyoung exclaimed as he stepped out of their sleeping area, looking visibly stressed as he couldn't find the girl he was looking for.
"Y/n? she was with you so shouldn't you know?" Wonwoo spoke up, confused as to why Soonyoung was looking for her in the first place. He brushed his hands through his hair anxiously, pacing back and forth across the room,
"fuck!" he yelled, kicking a random glass bottle that was on the ground.
"what's going on? where's Y/n?" Chan asked, his and Seungkwan's faces filled with worry.
"We got separated from her earlier because of a horde, she should have been back by now..." Seokmin muttered, his features etching into a frown.

"You said she would be here! It's your fault she's alone right now!" Seungcheol yelled as he stormed over to Soonyoung, taking the collar of his shirt into his fist.
"Aren't you the one in charge around here? and you couldn't even protect her and stop her from going off on her own?!" he shouted. Soonyoung knew he was right, he shouldn't have put Y/n in a position where she could be separated from them in the first place. Now he didn't know where she was and that terrified him.