A Day In September - BTS Zombie au

63: Familiar Faces

The unconscious stranger laid on the infirmary bed, only minutes after being struck by Taehyun. Namjoon, Jin and Taehyung stood around him, staring down at his conditions and looking amongst each other with concern. Blood and mud had stained the bed, and the man's steel boots had torn up the duvets after a struggle to lay him down. He was tightly bound by his ankles and wrists to the bed posts, the side tables stripped of anything he could use as a weapon. Taehyung was quiet despite Namjoon's attempts to get every detail out of him. The aforementioned had shown the leader one thing, and it seemed to render him speechless.

"Ateos..." He muttered, sinking down into the chair across from the bed. Jin had never seen Taehyung's shoulders sag and his eyes dim as much as they had that moment. It almost looked like Taehyung was afraid, and Taehyung was never afraid.

"What did he say to you?" Jin asked, "What exactly did he say for you to knock him unconscious?"

Taehyung seemed to be deep in thought, "He said he needed shelter and food. He said he could protect us from...them," Taehyung shook his head and shrugged, "I didn't believe him. I thought he was just some freeloader," he gulped, "And then he threatened to kill us all if we didn't help."

"He...He what?" Jin was utterly confused, "What does that mean?"

"He'll have to explain himself once he wakes up," Namjoon sternly replied, still eyeing the stranger with doubt, "These people will say anything to save their own ass," he looked at Taehyung, nodding, "I would've done the same thing if I were in your place." Taehyung blinked away his fogging thoughts and looked at Namjoon with a slight daze. He almost expected Namjoon to be angry. The leader, however, was calm and collected. His reassurance was genuine, but the guilt seemed to not leave Taehyung eyes.

"So Mara was telling the truth?" He asked, more so to himself than to those around him. Jin and Namjoon shared a look. Namjoon slowly nodded, and Taehyung mirrored this.

"She's been through it huh?" Taehyung almost chuckled nervously, but he stopped himself.

"She had no reason to lie about her past," Jin stared at Taehyung, as if trying to figure him out. He was unsure if Taehyung was trying to be funny, or if the man was going through the seven stages of grief. He looked just about constipated.

"You good?" Namjoon raised a brow, strangely eyeing Taehyung. The latter's head seemed to be elsewhere, so Jin changed the topic. He looked somewhat satisfied, though.

Jin patted Taehyung's shoulder, "We've gotta figure out what he really wants and why he's really here. If you'd just let him go, who knows what would've happened. He was clearly running from something, so now we figure out what."

"For now let's keep someone on watch..." Namjoon turned to his two friends, noticing their eyes expectantly on him. He pursued his lips, "Me, it is."

"Should we let everyone else know?" Jin asked.

Namjoon nodded, whispering in Jin's ear, "Ask for everyone's silence inside. We can't have him knowing how many of us there is. The more he knows about us, the more leverage he has. Draw the blinds and keep the door locked—always," Namjoon instructed, the two men doing as told before stepping out of the room. Namjoon took Taehyung's spot on the chair and calmly waited, fingers drumming on the polished wood of the armchairs.

After Mara spoke about her experience with the Ateos, a sense of dread had lingered in the back of everyone's mind. She had detailed the length of her captivity and every cruel punishment instilled onto innocent slaves behind closed doors and out in the open. A brutal display of authority and merciless torture awaited anyone who dares try to escape, who dared to question or even look at anyone in power the wrong way. Everyone had gotten deep insight into Mara's past, one she rarely delved into in fear of reliving every event that had scarred her. She'd done it for their sake and hers, but not for pity. She knew better than to ask for their pity, but all she wanted was to make them aware of the dangers that seemed to expand, slowly until fighting back became futile.