The Survivors | BTS ✓

Final Chapter

{the answer}

The gloom of the winter air crept into them like the damp into bare timber. It seeped into their pores, travelling into their hearts which beat more morosely. Even the faint sound of a birds song from outside the lab came to them as if from a deep well, rather then travelling down from the high trees. 

"Taehyung." Jungkook spoke grimly, walking side by side with the dejected male. The squad had decided to remain with Hoseok whilst Taehyung and Jungkook went in search for the files they so desperately needed. Jungkook could still hear the pained cries of Hoseok replaying over and over in his head like a broken record, and he couldn't help but let his lower lip tremble. 

With a blank and mindless stare, Taehyung turned to face Jungkook. "Mmm?" he hummed, short on words as he tried to soak up everything that had just happened. Daisy was gone, and it seemed whilst others cried out in pain both Jungkook and Taehyung were in too much denial to mourn. 

Biting down on his lower lip, Jungkook's eyes were covered by his tousled brunette bangs as he diverted his gaze to the floor. "It... it wasn't your fault." he muttered, a small sniff sounding from the younger as he brought his forearm across his face. Although Taehyung couldn't see the male's eyes, he could tell Jungkook was wiping away his stray tears. 

Drawing his eyes away from the brunette, Taehyung's gaze fell to the ceiling as they walked down the hallway, combat boots landing heavily against the polished concrete floor as they neared his father's office. He remembered how once his father told him regrets were like 'moral residue.' Like something hard to remove got stuck on your shoe when you did something you felt was wrong. Taehyung didn't understand his father's words until he felt he did something wrong himself, now the residue seemed impossible to remove, like an indelible stain. 

Guilty. 

That was how Taehyung felt at the very moment Daisy was thrown to the floor. He wished for a time traveler, so he could go back and rectify his 'mistake'. But he couldn't. Impossible. He had to live with it. 

As remorse etched at his heart, guilt gnawed like a worm at the core of an apple. Without even noticing, a tear trickled down his cheek. Why did Daisy take so much pride in this? Just because he was smarter and more well off in the apocalypse, doesn't mean that her life was any less valuable. Why was Daisy's life any less important?

It wasn't anything he could bare thinking about any longer so instead, he drew his mind out of the past and back into the present moment. They had a mission right now, a mission to find the files that would confirm as to whether or not Taehyung's hunch about Jungkook's immunity was correct. 

And he prayed to god that he wouldn't be correct. 

Bringing his gaze back down from the ceiling, Taehyung narrowed his eyes on the door coming into view. Although he'd only walked this corridor once before, he could easily recognise it as the office of his father's belongings. Letting out a sad sigh, Taehyung shuffled to a stop in front of the door, "This is it." he spoke dejectedly. 

Jungkook couldn't help but frown at how distant Taehyung now seemed. After the ordeal, it felt as if Taehyung had shrunk back into his shell and put up his defensive wall once again. Like he had gone straight back to square one. 

Shaking off his thoughts, Jungkook focused back on the task raising his arm as he placed a steady hand against the metal door handle. With teary red eyes, Jungkook collected himself as he swung open the door to the office and stepped inside. 

The office was painted grey. On the white desk sat an old desktop computer, a notebook laying open and a stack of papers sitting under a paperweight. There was a swivel chair toppled over in the centre of the office, a dusty bookshelf bursting with knowledge and last but defiantly not least, a filing cabinet.