Story WIPS

enha zombie au

“...riki?”

The group stared at the boy as he stared wide-eyed at his bite. A huge, red bite was now embedded into his arm, oozing blood and the black sludge that the Virus produced. Black veins pulsated outward from the festering wound, beginning to spread up and down his arm.

He blinked, stumbling back incredulously, just barely noticing the way the group shifted back as if they were scared of him. Jay and Heeseung now stood in front of the others protectively, separating Riki from the rest of the group.

He blinked again, again, again and again and again and again as if he’d blink and open his eyes and the bite would be gone and he’d be alive and his friends wouldn’t be scared of him and–

he was going to die.

After fighting so hard to find his parents, his sisters, this is where it ended. Suicide or turning. A bullet in his head or hours of an agonizingly slow undeath.

Either way, he was fucked.

But he couldn’t show that now, right? He was their strong little Nikitty. He didn’t get scared. He didn’t cry. He didn’t panic. He only made them smile when things were bleak, and he didn’t want to be anything else.

So he forced his lips to pull themselves into a toothy grin, sniffling as he turned to the others, making sure to keep his distance. They all watched him carefully, waiting for It to happen.

“I-I’m okay, Sunoo-hyung. Promise.” He nodded slowly. “Promise. It’s just a bite. It’s fine. I-I’m fine…”

He was tired. He was so, so tired…

He laughed bitterly as his throat began to close up and his vision began to blow. “Maybe now I’ll find ‘em, right, Jay-hyung?”

Jay looked away, unable to face the younger. Riki nodded to himself in understanding. That was okay. All of this was okay. He was still smiling, even though his chest heaved with effort and his arm throbbed with a kind of pain he’d never felt before. All of this was okay. All of this…was okay…

So why was he crying of all things?

Hot tears streamed down his face, old blood, grime, and sweat mixing in with them as they continued to pour.

“I’m fine. I-I get to see my family again. Maybe haunt them or something…” Riki smiled tiredly as his knees finally gave out from under him. The boy fell to the ground, any hope he’d had of a future in this hell-wrought apocalypse crushed right then and there. 

He bit down on his lip to stop himself from crying out loud, sniffling and whimpering softly to himself. Silence hung in the air, a tense silence of them knowing there was no winning in this scenario.

“i don’t wanna die, guys…” he whispered, his voice trembling as he spoke. “i-i don’t wanna die yet…”

Silence continued to hang in the air, a deafening silence that none of them knew how to break. But something in Riki wanted to beg them to do something, anything. Kill him, leave him, say their goodbyes, do something.

Life had been normal a month ago. A month ago, there was no constant running in fear. There was no constant fighting, no worrying over a next meal, no wondering if he’d ever see his family again. And now here he was, begging for a second longer, begging to live a normal life, begging to live.

“...”

“Sunoo–”

“No, Sunoo–”

“Sunoo, don’t–”

Riki froze, looking up to see Sunoo standing in front of him, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“...hyung,” he began quietly, “listen to the others and stay away from me. please. i don’t…i don’t want to hurt you.”