Home (I wish you could stay)

I.

A lone gunshot rang out.

Across the horizon, birds sent to the sky in a panicked flee for their life as an eerie stillness washed over the wooded terrain.

Somewhere in the thick foliage, a body slammed roughly against the rooted ground. Blood oozed from the gaping hole piercing the skull, staining the leaves and globbing up the surrounding dirt into dark brown pools. The bitter stench of iron and dirt mixed with the smell of oncoming rain.

The forest was silent, as if collectively holding its breath with a racing heart.

A group of boys had been sent out to become skilled scavengers and hunters. Their training was interrupted by a twig snapping somewhere behind them. Without a second of delay, a sharp 'thwack' followed after the sound.

A rabbit raised its ears and twitches its nose cautiously towards a throwing knife sticking out of a thin tree before scurrying off.

"False alarm." One boy muttered, slightly disappointed. That rabbit could have meant more food for the night. Another boy grumbled a reply.

"Doesn't matter. Get it together. We can't afford to miss kills."

"Hey, Yoongi. Let up on him, alright? He's tired."

An eye roll followed by a scoff.

"Yeah? We all are. Tiredness will get you killed. Now, get it together."

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Long forgotten vehicles littered the roads, moss clinging to the rusting structures. The smell of iron mixed with sewage hung in the air. Rogue fires dotted empty alleyways as plastic bags and newspapers blew roughly across the pavement, stopping only to hit mud-clad shoes before tumbling on. Disregarding the trash, the boys stepped inside the destroyed convenience store.

Glass crunched under their feet as one spoke, irritation hanging from his lips. "You honestly think we could find anything of use in here?" Yoongi tsked, earning a sideways glare from Namjoon. "No, but we won't know unless we try. Now focus, Min."

The tiny shop had been ransacked long before they got here. They all knew deep down that this place didn't have what they were looking for. Any food that was there had been exposed and molding for some time, all but inviting roaches to crawl across the floor. Jeongguk kicked a crumpled can across the tan tile, sending a family of rats scurrying under the abandoned old shelves.

"Alright. Three of us will search one half of the place, and three will search the other. Meet back here in five. Got it?" Yoongi snapped, earning grumbled replies as everyone walked away.

Everyone except Hoseok, who was tossing his hunting knife in between his hands absentmindedly, serrated edges catching slightly on the ridges of his fingertips.

"Hoseok! Get moving already." Yoongi ordered. His friend gave a small smile and a nod, placing the knife back in his belt before getting to work.

Yoongi knew he was too rough on them sometimes, but he also knew what they were like. They get distracted too easily, even if lives were on the line. They simply couldn't afford any more mistakes.

Taehyung, Namjoon, and Seokjin went towards the left while Jeongguk, Jimin, and Hoseok all went right. Taehyung and Namjoon started searching the freezers while Yoongi kept a close guard. Pulling out a bag of food, they inspected it closer and found it was too good to be true. It had black fuzz growing around the edges so they threw it aside. The others each took an aisle to rummage through. Tossing the obvious choices away, like snack cakes writhing with maggots or chips that had turned green and were covered in flies. They decided to look for any canned food to take instead.