It Follows {Book One}

01

Monday, July 30th
33 days

·Taeyong·

"What if we run out of food?"

Taeyong blew hair out of his eyes as he pushed crates against the windows at the front of the store. Taeyong had been the manager at Target, and when everyone else took off after hearing the news of the end of the world, Taeyong stayed behind to transform the store into a home for him and his friends. It had everything they'd need for the next month. Food, water, and more than enough comfort items. Good thing, too, because Taeil really, really liked blankets.

"We have more than enough, Kun. It's only a month, remember?"

"I don't know, there's a lot of us."

Taeyong stepped closer to Kun in an attempt to block Jisung and Chenle, though the two weren't paying any attention. Still, he didn't want to risk them hearing anything, and Jisung had always been pretty good at reading lips.

He and Chenle had built a fort of cardboard boxes that they had dragged out from the back of the store. Chenle somehow managed to create a second floor using the metal shelves that he had cleared, and the two spent most of their time adding on to their already impressive (and unnecessarily complicated) creation.

They'd even slept in it for a few days, until Taeyong decided that no, they needed a real bed. Or the closest thing he could find, a mattress with dozens of throw pillows and plush blankets with cartoon characters printed on them.

Jisung liked to carry around one blanket in particular, and Taeyong had even called him Linus at one point. But he ended up very disappointed when Jisung only looked back at him, asking who 'Linus' was. Taeyong looked to Chenle, hoping maybe he knew, but he only mirrored the same confused expression that Jisung wore.

"When will the boys' parents be back?" Kun suddenly asked, lowering his voice as much as he could.

Taeyong frowned. "They were on vacation when the announcement was made, and the airports are pretty hectic right now."

"But they haven't called? Sent a text? Anything?" Kun looked over his shoulder when Jisung poked his head out of the 'window' he had made in the fort.

"Can we get pizza tonight?"

"Sure," Taeyong gave a warm smile, one that faded almost immediately after Jisung disappeared back into the fort. "Great. Kun, go find a pizza in the frozen foods aisle. Now I gotta find something to cook it in. Great."

"Could've just said 'no'," Kun muttered. He bit the corner of his lip nervously. "You don't think anything happened to them, do you?"

"No way," Taeyong answered immediately. "They'll be back soon, and if not . . . well, we'll just keep going like this. This is fine."

Kun was about to argue when the store alarm went off. Loud complaints sounded from the fort, and soon Chenle and Jisung had crawled out with both hands over their ears.

"Fucking Ten, god damn it," Taeyong huffed, slamming his fist down on the switch that shut off the alarm. "I told him to use the front freaking door."

"Like he's going to listen to you."

"One day he will."

"You've been saying that for years."

"Shut up."

Taeyong huffed and leaned back against the wall. He couldn't wait for Jaehyun to arrive. He and Johnny had still been in their dorms a few hours away.

Sure, it was July, but the two had been allowed to stay during the summer due to their job on campus running the town's radio show. Taeyong was impressed that they'd managed to get such a good job, and even more impressed that the original DJ's were getting ready to retire, and wanted shorter hours so they let two college students take over for the night show.