The Pitch || EXO

Chapter 3

It has been several months since that incident of the convenience store, and the boys have found themselves constantly looting other places in the search for food. They have seen more people on the streets however the odd thing is that they are all of their age range, some a few years older, some a few years younger.

Jongdae sits in the driver's seat of a large van, preparing to drive the boys out of Seoul. As far as they know, all people over the age of thirty have disappeared and all people under the age of twenty have as well. Due to the lack of running water and soap, disease has begun to spread on the outskirts of Seoul, worrying the young men. They drive for almost an hour and a half before Baekhyun suddenly shouts to stop the vehicle. Jongdae complies out of shock and the van skids to a halt. The door is slid open and the small male jumps out, hands outstretched as if visually impaired. Just as the others are about to ask what on earth he is doing, his hands press against a shimmering surface and is propelled backwards, landing flat on his back.
"Baekhyun!" Junmyeon calls out in panic and the boys run over to their best friend, who lays on the grass in a daze. He gasps for breath before it slows back into its regular pace.
"What the fuck is that?!" Chanyeol exclaims, glaring holes into the odd structure. From afar, it seems almost invisible apart from the slight sheen of the odd sphere shaped dome.
"It's a magnetic field." Jongdae suddenly speaks.
"A what?" Asks Sehun, a frown displayed on his face.
"It's what keeps us bound to the earth, somewhat." Yixing explains, hands stuffed in his jean pockets. Kyungsoo gasps.
"So that's why nothing electric is working! The magnetic field must be interfering with electrons, since they move through wires, while ions move through non solids!" He exclaims, the others shocked by his sudden knowledge.
"Since when did you get so smart, Soo?" Chanyeol jokes, his smile wide as he finally (sorta) understands at least a little bit of what is going on. However, he then receives a sharp smack to the back of his head by a certain (short) male.
"But then, why is there a force field or whatever it is here?" Jongin asks, slightly nauseous at the thought of not being able to leave. They all shake their heads or shrug, unable to answer his question.
"Anyways, we have more important things to think about, such as our food supply getting low? Guys, we barely have enough." Minseok explains, eyes looking down towards the ground.
"Well, since it's nearing March, we could start planting our own food?" Sehun suggests.
"That's perfect! There's a large supermarket only a few miles from here! There's a flower centre right next to it so we will be able to find vegetable seeds!" They all clamber into the van and drive away again, unaware of the watchful eyes from a distance.

After collecting their seeds and gardening supplies such as soil, plant pots and spades, they head back home. As they drive through the centre of the city, they notice a large plume of thick black smoke billowing upwards, the wind carrying it skywards. They slow their speed to see many people gathered around stores, raiding and getting away with shopping carts full of food, while others draw their weapons and face competitors to a fight to the death for their supply. It is brutal. Men and women lay on the sidewalk either unconscious due to blood loss or lying dead, eyes wide and still, mouths slightly hanging open as if they are still screaming in horror at the situation at hand. Small fires are dotted here and there and half of the street is blanketed in a thick, dark grey smog. They speed past the scene, a few people taking notice of them but not many willing to follow the van. That is, until they realise that there is no electricity, and so the boys have the only working vehicle in the city. Twelve or so people chase after the van, Jongdae pressing on the accelerator and leaning forwards, as if to allow the vehicle to become more streamlined and to move faster. They see many corpses on their way home after losing the small crowd, but one figure laying on the side of the road catches their eye. Not one person dares to speak as they drive past him, the man laying face down, bathed in his own pool of crimson red which causes a few of them to tear up, knowing that it is one of the young men who believed in them before their debut, somebody who put all of their faith in them. Jongdae forces himself to turn back to the road, trying to avoid accident as his vision becomes blurry, due to salty tears begging to be wept.

After arriving home, not one of them speak as they remove the soil, pots, seeds and spades from the van. They work in complete silence until one person dares to utter a word.
"He's never coming back. And it's because of this place." Sehun growls. "I hate this place! People are dying, either being killed or starving! And we're doing nothing to prevent it! Don't you think that we're being selfish! There are people that are suffering out there, alone, and we have enough food, enough water and shelter! I don't want any more people to end up like-like-" He abruptly stops his sentence as he bursts into tears, the liquid spelling over his waterline and dancing melancholically down his cheeks. He raises a shaking hand to his hair and pushes it back, running his trembling fingers through the strands.
"I can't do this anymore, I can't watch this anymore. If I can't stand this, then how can you guys?" Sehun asks, lip quivering while taking uneven breaths.
Sighing deeply, Yixing tries to relax the youngest by placing an arm around him. Chanyeol advances towards him.
"Look, Hun. You need to calm down. This isn't-" Chanyeol is cut off by Sehun.
"How can I 'calm down'?! Don't tell me what to do! 'Home' isn't what it was anymore! We aren't safe here - people are dying, suffering! And instead of helping, we are only adding to their worries!" He explodes, arms flailing so that Chanyeol and Yixing have to take a step back. The others listen, eyes cast downwards or looking to the side, hiding their faces. Sehun continues to fire word after word until he falls to his knees and lets out a distressed scream of anger, a sudden strong gust of the wind almost knocking his friends off of their feet. He stands back up, wiping his face with the back of his hand before running into the house to try and calm his temper. The door slams closed and the others look at each other with wide eyes and open mouths.
"What-" Kyungsoo begins.
"The fuck-" Junmyeon continues.
"Was that?" Baekhyun finishes.
"I guess that he found his power then. It was so . . . Strong, though. Did you guys feel it too?" Asks Yixing, rubbing the palms of his hands together to gather a little bit of warmth.
"Yeah. I think that we should just leave him alone for now, he is obviously really upset about his death. Do you think that he'll want to talk about it after dinner?" Jongin asks, a concerned expression on his face.
"I think that we should just leave him for tonight - we can try again tomorrow and see if he feels better by then." Baekhyun suggests. "And besides, we have a hell of a lot of planting to do, so, c'mon guys! Get your backs into it!" He exclaims trying to lift the atmosphere. His eyes drift over his friends, until they train onto a disheartened looking Chanyeol. He wakes over, standing beside him before asking what is wrong.
"I just, kinda feel like it's my fault, y'know. I guess I should've heard him out first but instead by telling him to calm down, I only made things worse." Chanyeol grumbles, stabbing the dirt with his spade, before cutting it into little squares with the edge of the tool.
"It's not your fault, you were just wanting to make sure that he wasn't hurting, it isn't your fault, Chan. So don't put the blame on yourself, let's just look past this and we will help him to move on. After all, Juang Li was a really important person to him, almost like another older brother. So we can't just expect him to get over it within a five minute period." Minseok explains softy, crouching down next to Chanyeol and gently putting down his spade.
"I know but I was only trying to help the situation, Min. I didn't mean to make it worse." Chanyeol explains, vision warped by tears.
"I know, Chan. I know." Baekhyun wraps his arms around the taller, hugging him tightly. The pent up frustration and guilt washes away along with Chanyeol's tears as he hugs his older friend. However, a dark feeling hangs over their heads and there is the thought that things are going to get worse, a lot worse.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! So, two of the members have already had their first argument but will the members be able to work out their differences and strive to survive? And with the threat of disease moving throughout the city will they be able to keep safe in this time of despair? I will update tomorrow and I will see you then, bye my peanut butter cookies! ❤️🍪

Word Count - 1638