Vengeance

forty two

Han glanced over at Minho, watching him as they ran. He knew he'd healed pretty quickly but he was using too much of this strength too fast. He'd only just recently graduated to one crutch to walk. He was undoing all of the progress he'd made. Even though he didn't show it on his face, he knew how much pain he must be hiding.

"Where the hell did he go? I didn't think we were that far behind him?" Minho groaned, seeing a crowd forming up ahead.

"He couldn't have gone this way, it looks like it's gonna be blocked," Han sighed, looking at the rush of people.

"What are they running from? I think Changbin probably ran towards that."

Han knew he was probably right but a sound behind him made him turn, pulling Minho with him.

"What??"

"Someone's in the stairwell. They're running fast. Maybe he went down to the lab to check on Felix!"

Minho nodded, pushing through the doors almost running right into the two who were on their way down.

"What are you doing out of the hospital wing, hyung!? It's too dangerous for you to be running around!" Jeongin stopped, grabbing Minho by the arm.

"Who are you to tell me what's too dangerous? And what happened? Why did I hear a gunshot?"

"The specials. They're on a rampage."

He turned to Han who'd stood silently behind him as he finally jumped into action, turning back towards the stairwell doors.

"Shit! Changbin can't take them all on his own!!" he started pushing his way out of the stairwell but Jeongin stopped him.

"Other than Hongjoong, all of the zombies are on the first floor. You should go upstairs where it's safer. Seonghwa and Yuta are up there hiding from Hongjoong."

"What do you mean hiding from Hongjoong?" Minho asked releasing Han from Jeongin's grip.

"The zombies are targeting individuals. For some reason, he's only chasing Seonghwa. And..."

Jeongin's voice lowered.

"Chan was only chasing me."

Minho's eyes widened.

"So even the members are up here?? What about the others? Where's Seungmin??"

The expression in his eyes spoke for him and Han and Minho had to take a step back, shaking.

"I told you. It's too dangerous. You're better off staying somewhere safe until the rest of us stop this."

Things were finally starting to settle deep in the pits of their stomachs. This was real. This was serious.

"We need to go, Jeongin. You two get out of the way. We'll fix this," Jinyoung said, pulling the maknae along with him as they raced towards the lab in the basement.

Minho looked up the stairs, biting his lip. It was possible Seonghwa and Yuta needed help. He could try to do something to help them. It wouldn't require as much skill as taking on the masses.

But he knew Han would be determined to follow Changbin. If he went with, he would only get in the way. He looked over at Jisung, at how he stared at the doors, desperate to chase after their friend. He reached down, grabbing his hand.

"I'll go up, you go after Changbin. But don't you dare put yourself in danger. After this is all over, I'll find you again, okay? Don't you dare die on me."

Han nodded, gripping his hand tightly.

"Same goes for you," he said seriously and Minho nodded.

They let go, turning their separate ways as each took off towards the ones they thought they could at least try to save, separating once more.

Minho raced up the stairs, noticing few drops of blood as he moved up the levels. There must have been some sort of scuffle.

He just hoped Jinyoung and Jeongin wouldn't have left the others in a dangerous situation.

Once he'd reached the top, he threw open the stairwell door, glancing left and right before a thudding sound caught his attention.

He followed it, finding Hongjoong, pounding his fists against the door, just as Jeongin had said. But now streaks of blood flecked the door as the soft flesh of his hands started to tear against the constant assault. He was persistent.

"Ya! Seonghwa? You in there?"

The zombie hardly even flinched at his voice. So it was true. They were targeting individuals.

"Minho?? Stay back! You're injured!"

He scoffed.

"Says the one who was also staying in the medical wing. How did you end up all the way up here?"

"He insisted he didn't want to hurt the guy and wouldn't let me just shoot him so he had him chase us all the way up here so he wouldn't hurt anyone else," Yuta answered, sounding like he was getting bored behind the door.

"You're really something else, Seonghwa," Minho sighed, gripping his crutch as he started to move forward.

"What are you doing up here?? Shouldn't you be in the medical wing?" Seonghwa asked, unable to hear Minho's movement through the loud banging.

"Saving your idiotic ass."

He took the crutch, swinging it ahead of him as he knocked Hongjoong away from the door. Seonghwa crashed against it on the inside but Minho shushed him, continuing his work. He took the crutch back, holding it out in front of him as he pushed Hongjoong away, gripping it forcefully. It took all of his upper body strength and eventually what he could give of his leg strength to finally push him into one of the neighboring rooms, shutting the door and blocking the handle with his crutch, arranging it so the handle stayed locked in place.

After admiring his handiwork, he finally turned back to the door where Seonghwa was protesting quite loudly, trying the handle.

"Open up. It's safe to come out."

"What did you do to him?!" Seonghwa shouted as Yuta begrudgingly moved the furniture from the doorway.

"I only knocked him back a little. Trust me, he's hurt himself worse trying to break down this door. I think as long as you're out of range, he'll relax and settle back to mindlessness in the room he's in now."

Seonghwa was quiet a moment, until they'd finally cleared a path to the door, unlocking it and pulling it open. He immediately turned to look at it, covering his mouth in shock as he traced the bloody lines.

"He was pounding his hands into pieces. I figured you might not like that very much," Minho said a bit sarcastically, but his eyes softened as he inspected his injuries. "Jesus, did you fucking fall down a flight of stairs or something?"

"That's exactly what happened. Hongjoong caught up and he made a fuss about me hurting him and took the tumble instead. He ended up slowing us down more than anything," Yuta groaned.

Minho laughed softly.

"You're fucking crazy," he sighed, offering an arm to Seonghwa as he limped.

Seonghwa raised an eyebrow, looking down at Minho's leg.

"You're seriously offering me your support?" he scoffed and Minho chuckled softly.

"I'm sturdier than you think. I mean, I just locked up a zombie without my crutch so, I'd say I'm pretty much good as new."

Seonghwa looked back at the crutch propping the door shut. He knew Minho should keep it on him. But there was no other way to keep it closed.

"Fine, we'll support each other. We can both hobble like idiots," Seonghwa laughed and Minho smiled.

Yuta rolled his eyes, cocking his gun.

"While the two of you limp to safety, I'll go on downstairs to see how I can help. I'm sure they will let me shoot something."

The two nodded, watching as he took off before continuing on their way back to the medical wing.