insomnia | stray kids ff

lvl 11: separation

"You think I'm what?" I ask them to repeat again. We are all in the main railcar and everyone has been crowding around me and investigating my bite.

"You've got to be immune." Jeongin cheers. I sigh and shake my head.

"That would be impossible," I say.

"We checked the zombie that bit you to see if she was a human or not and she was a full zombie when she bit you," Jisung informs me.

"Maybe give me a few more hours. I could turn then." I say.

"Why do you want to turn so badly?" Changbin asks and all eyes turn on him. "You should be happy, you're alive." I sigh and look at the ground.

"It wouldn't... it wouldn't be fair," I say quietly. "Why do I have to be immune when there are so many people who don't deserve to die too?" The rest of the group turns silent and sighs.

"No one outside the group can know," Chan states. My eyes widen.

"Why?" I ask.

"They could take advantage of you, Hana," Seungmin reasons. I nod my head. I hate feeling special. They won't treat me the same anymore.

"We should leave." Hyunjin insists.

"Why? The train has been fine for us." Minho argues.

"We will know how to survive if we are stuck in this train." Hyunjin states. "Plus, the train gets us into these types of situations."

"He's right," Chan says and everyone's eyes lay on him. "We should get to the safe zone on foot."

"We could die," Minho says.

"We can make it." Chan reasons. "We just have to stick together and watch each other." Chan looks over at Woojin who nods in agreement.

"Get your things together, we'll leave as soon as possible." Woojin states.

[look at it from afar,

take your time]

We all abandon the train once all of us have packed. In groups of threes, we each trail behind each other except for the two leaders, Changbin and Jisung who are in the front leading. Sana and I are holding hands while Jeongin is next to me. I notice him side-eyeing my bite on my wrist. He's nervous. He's afraid I'll turn.

"It doesn't hurt." I casually let out a breath as we hike through the forest. Jeongin flinches when I speak.

"Sorry, it's just I thought you were going to die," Jeongin says. "It doesn't make sense." I shrug and sigh.

"We'll see what happens," I say with a soft tone as I stare at my bite, trying not to sound optimistic.

"I don't think you will turn," Jeongin whispers to me as if he was telling me a secret. I shrug.

"Don't get your hopes up," I tell the young one. "I don't want to endanger any of you if I do turn."

"I'm just grateful you're alive right now," Sana says and we both turn to her. "I'll be tougher now." I smile to comfort my sister who looks in deep thought as she speaks. The sunshine she used to be has dimmed.

"Shhh!" Changbin exclaims and stops the whole group.

We all look around cautiously at our surroundings. I hold my sister's hand tighter as we analyze the area. I hear a crack from the distance and squint at the dark, green woods. I notice Chan and Woojin holding out their weapons in defense. A figure slowly emerges from the darkness. It's a human. He has his hands up in surrender.

"Who are you?" Chan speaks loudly. They lower their weapons as the man lowers his hands.

"I'm here to save you all," He smirks.

"What do you mean?" Woojin asks.

"I'm a scientist. I have a group just a walk from here. We can help you guys," The man states.

He is wearing a black t-shirt and has baggy pants on. He looks pretty sane to me and as if he is in his early fortys. We all look at each other warily. Chan and Woojin talk a little before answering.

"Half of our group will travel with you to check if it's safe," Chan replies. All of us look at each other with confused faces.

"That's fine," The man says. "My group is harmless. You guys will be reunited in a few hours, I promise." Chan nods and looks back at us.

"I'll go with him. Who I call next is coming with me," He says. "Felix," Felix nods and walks over to Chan. "Jisung," Jisung sighs. "Ryujin,"

Ryujin looks over at Changbin who nods at her. She nods slowly and walks forward.

The man suddenly interrupts. "What if you guys are dangerous too?" Chan turns back around before finishing his line up.

"Excuse me?" Chan questions.

"I can't trust you guys either. I mean, you guys might raid my people," The man reasons. "Let me choose who gets to go with you."

I shiver goes down my spine as I tighten my grip on Sana. I look at Chan who looks frazzled. He nods as the man smiles. The man observes our group very closely. He smirks when he sees the tall boy of our group. He points at Hyunjin. My heart beats faster when I see Hyunjin step forward. The man then pauses when he sees Sana and I clutched together. I hold my breath as I squeeze Sana's hand.

He slowly points his finger at me. I sigh as Sana looks at me with fear in her eyes. I glance over at Chan who tries to stay calm even though I could read his nervous emotions. I nod at Sana who is breathing heavily.

"You're strong," I mouth to her. She takes a deep breath and continues to stare at me.

"I'll go." Sana volunteers.

She lets go of my hand as I watch her in disbelief. I look over at the man and hoped he would refuse to take her but he nods slowly. I watch as Sana walks slowly to the group chosen. I stare at my group of friends as I feel my heartbeat rapidly.

"Let's go," The man smiles and turns around.

I stare at Chan who gives me a comforting nod as he starts to walk behind the man with the rest of the group following. I could only feel suspicion and fear in the air as the man left with my friends.