outbreak | svt

eight

12:00 AM

junhui and minghao were climbing down the ladder of the aircraft.

they got off, thanked the pilot, who took the aircraft back up into the air, and headed back to facility.

junhui went over to the edge of building and looked down on the dark shadows.

minghao slowly followed, arms wrapped around his torso, shivering.

"wow, it's cold." minghao says, also looking down at the shadows of the buildings and trees.

"tell me about it." junhui says.

"where should we wait for the others?" minghao says, taking a seat on the edge of the building.

"I don't think we'll have to. look over there." junhui says, pointing to the adjacent building.

they could, ever so slightly, make out the shape of the aircraft.

they didn't have to see it to know. the sound was good enough.

"you wanna go down?" minghao asks, getting back up.

"sure. we can wait by the entrance." junhui says, walking towards the rooftop door.

minghao nods in agreement and follows junhui.

......

"who do you think it is?" minghao asks as they make their way down the building.

"i think it may be soonyoung and jihoon or mingyu and wonwoo. don't really know." junhui answers.

"okay." minghao replied hastily, the cool air stinging his throat.

they walk down the stairwells of the building, currently unoccupied, thankfully.

it was a wonder none of the doors were locked. just their luck.

they exit the entrance of the building in a trance-like state.

silent and cold. very cold. who knew?

they walked down the sidewalk at a leisurely pace, not wanting to waste any energy.

they were tired.

"should we go up?" minghao asks.

"i mean, maybe, it's not a very tall building thought, we can wait down here." junhui says.

a minute of silence passes before junhui hears to his left, "hey, jun. look! i think it's another aircraft!"

and sure enough, when he turned around, there was another aircraft.

"and there! there's another one!" minghao says, pointing to, yet another aircraft.

they suddenly all came in, i guess. junhui thought.

they see mingyu and wonwoo in one, jisoo and seokmin in another.

soon, they were all here, gathered in front of one of the building.

"so, what should we do while we wait for them?" mingyu asks.

"maybe run around. it's freezing as hell out here." jihoon says, wrapping his arms around his small frame.

soonyoung subtly, not-so-subtly puts his arm around jihoon's shoulder, a look of hope splayed on his features.

to his surprise, jihoon did not jerk back and glare at him, instead leaning into his touch.

soonyoung smiles.

mingyu snickers, wonwoo lightly punches him.

soonyoung throws a glare at both of them.

......

jeju island, 12:21 PM

hansol found seungkwan sitting on that one park bench.

"oh my god. hansol, there you are. did you find it?" he asked, getting up from the bench. he seemed to be out of breath.

"no, did you?" hansol asked, before realizing it sounded quite dumb.

"no, of course not! what are we gonna do?" seungkwan says, falling dramatically back onto the bench.

"i don't know." hansol says, suddenly feeling very thirsty.

he felt like he was suffocating, actually.

then an idea struck him.

"seungkwan, did you bring the radio?" he asks.

seungkwan's face lights up.

"yes! why did i not think of that before?" seungkwan shouts at nobody in general, seemingly to himself.

hansol laughs, bittersweet and thrown-out.

"there! here it is. i don't know how to turn it on though. you'll have to help me." seungkwan says, handing hansol the radio gingerly.

"ok, so. you just have to press this black button here," he says, pointing the button out, "and then turn this dial about seventy degrees this way," he says, also demonstrating that step.

they hear a small sound of fizzle from the radio, a good sign.

"hello, this is seungkwan and hansol. if someone can hear us, please respond."

no response

"please, guys."

no response

infact, the line cuts dead.

they both stare down at the radio.

"oh my god, what happened? oh my god. oh my god! what do we do now?" seungkwan says, laying his head down on hansol shoulder.

"it cut dead because there's no one on the other side. or someone or something interfered with the connection. either way, we're not getting anybody." hansol says, dropping the radio.

seungkwan sighs.

"you know what this means, right?" hansol asks, quietly, cocking his head a little to the side.

seungkwan lifts his head and utters a quiet "no".

"it means,"

hansol starts, looking up at the night sky and the pageantry of stars.

"we're all alone now."