Part 1: On the Run
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The longhouse was almost ready when the first group found Jericho. Four Chinese men that had fled into the mountains came across the camp during dinner shortly before the first watch started.
"Hey," someone yelled from the shadows of the trees surrounding the camp. Kyungsoo and Xiumin were on their feet in a second with their stolen military guns pointed in the direction of the voice. Kai immediately pushed Jennie behind him as Chanyeol stood in front of Rosé. Sehun and Chen got in front of Lisa and Jisoo as they wrapped their arms around each other with fear clawing at their chests.
So far they had been left alone but the news from the radio hadn't been good. Large cities like New York, Paris, Damascus, Beijing, and Sao Paolo were pretty much the sets of the Walking Dead at that point. Thousands of people were dead and infected; no one wanted to meet a stranger anymore.
"Stay there," Kyungsoo shouted. "Who are you?"
"Kyungsoo, it's me!" Stepping forward, a man shined a flashlight at himself as three figures followed tentatively behind him. "Yixing!" Several of the Jerichos relaxed as the familiar face came at them with open arms.
"Who is with you," Xiumin asked, still warry of the three approaching men.
"Oh, this is Sicheng, Yukhei, and Kun. We all lived in the same building and when everything hit the fan, we all went south together. Great minds think alike huh," Yixing said as he took his rounds hugging his friends and greeting the five new faces.
"Has anyone come in contact with a carrier?"
"No," the shortest of the three said.
"If you don't mind, we'll check for ourselves," Suho told them with a polite smile. All four of the Chinese men nodded and went with Sunho, Chen, and Baekhyun for screening. When they came back they each got a plate of food and water. Rosé handed each of them a blanket as she saw the thin men shivering. It was easy to see they hadn't been as fortunate in their travels as the Jerichos had.
"Thank you," the one identified as Kun said as they sat down to eat. "We've been traveling for a long time."
"Do you know what's going on out there," Baekhyun asked as he watched the skinny trio across the fire from himself.
"We haven't heard anything since we got to the mountains. There was a rumor Taiwan was safe but the lines went down before it could be confirmed. Yixing said he had some friends in Korea and that they'd probably know what to do, so we came this way," Yukhei explained.
"And I was right," said the happy Chinaman.
"It spread," Kyungsoo interjected, breaking the slowly warming atmosphere. "There still isn't a cure and hundreds of thousands are dead. It's pretty much the Walking Dead out there."
"How do you know this," Sicheng asked.
"Stole a military radio," Kyungsoo told him flippantly.
"Stolen anything else from the military," Yixing asked hesitantly.
"Why? Planning on calling the police?" He laughed darkly with Jennie while everyone else stared at them with judgment in their eyes. "To answer your question, we stole: a map, a radio, about twenty guns, enough ammunition to keep the bears scared through several winters, winter gear, navigation tools, survival training gear, and some good water filters. And enough gas to burn down Chicago. Well," he paused thoughtfully. "Burn Chicago down again."
"You are just so nonchalant about stealing," Jisoo teased.
"Shut it Jisoo. Anyway, you guys can take the blue tent for tonight. We'll get you a tent for yourselves tomorrow."
