Downpour

WIND IN THEIR HAIR

He opens his eyes slowly.

There's nothing immediately wrong, no violent awakening. Nothing to echo what had just happened, the split second of absolute agony before-

nothing.

It's quiet and calm, and his head is resting on the window of a car. The glass is pressed up against his cheek, cooling his face, and his cheek vibrates as the vehicle drives over bumps in the road. There's the low hum of an engine and tinny music of a radio in the background.

He's tired.

His eyes are already closing again, like they're superglued together. His limbs are heavy.

He yawns, rubbing his eyes. He's never felt this tired after waking up before. It's almost as if he's still asleep, stuck in a strange kind of half-awake dream.

He shifts in his seat, trying to make himself comfortable against the seatbelt that digs into his neck. It's hard, and the back of his head hits the window as they go over a particularly large bump with a large crack.

That wakes him up.

The remnants of sleep are still there, and his body still feels like there's no energy in it at all, but he can keep his eyes open now.

Beside him, Soonyoung sighs in his sleep.

Chan's breath catches in his throat as he see's the older. It could just be the lighting, but it looks almost as if his colour's been drained. His skin is pale and the vibrancy of his hair is dulled. If it wasn't for his occasional breath, he'd pass as a dead body.

The seats suddenly seem claustrophobic.

He climbs over Soonyoung, trying not to look, into the aisle. There are rows of seats on each side of the bus, each containing a sleeping person. He stumbles down the rows, making his way to the front, starting at each person as he goes past.

Seungkwan.

Seokmin.

Junhui.

"Chan? Is that you?" There's a voice from the drivers seat, just as Chan reaches the very front of the vehicle.

"Mingyu." He breathes, glad to see that there's someone else awake. He doesn't quite feel stable enough to be on his own at the moment, too scared of his own thoughts and memories. The older pats the seat next to his, gesturing for Chan to sit there. He does, collapsing onto the soft fabric, his head hitting the head rest.

A passing car honks at them, and in the corner of his eye, Chan sees Mingyu's hands tighten around the steering wheel. He doesn't mention it.

Instead, he stares out of the window screen, watching. The road is mostly empty, with hardly any vehicles on it except for theirs. Nothing seems to be travelling the other way, either, and on either side huge green fields stretch out into the distance. The occasional tree casts long shadows onto the tarmac.

In front of them, the road is completely straight. It wavers slightly in the heat.

Completely quiet and empty.

Just like the bus feels.

The fact that everyone is sleeping has given it a certain eerie quality that he can't quite put his finger on. Even the silence seems slightly off, pressing against him and muffling his other senses. Just like Soonyoung, everything seems slightly dimmed.

Eventually, the quiet gets too much. Eager to get some sort of conversation going, Chan fumbles for small talk. "Where are we going?" he asks, hoping that he doesn't appear stupid.