ODDS OF SURVIVAL - TAEKOOK

CHAPTERTWENTYFIVE

Taehyung was obviously a nervous wreck. Jungkook helplessly watched him out of the corner of his eye as he drove, torn between wanting Taehyung to just get over his fucking problems and wishing there were something he could do to help.

The only thing he could do was to be sensitive to Taehyung's anxieties and try not to make anything worse.

So he did that. He kept loud, sudden noises to a minimum. He put on quiet music in the car in hopes that it might provide a gentle distraction.

He talked softly about where they were going and the key items they should be looking for.

Meanwhile Taehyung sat beside him, clinging to the shoulder strap of his seatbelt like it was a lifeline and taking deep, measured breaths.

He gave short nods of agreement or understanding to Jungkook's statements, and slowly his fists uncurled from the seatbelt and came to rest on his lap.

Jungkook couldn't blame Taehyung for being nervous. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't nervous himself, but if there was one lesson he'd learned in life, it was that he couldn't let fear stop him from doing what he needed to do.

Granted, he had done some monumentally stupid things in life that could have been avoided if he'd given in to fear, but he'd done some good things, too. He hoped the decision to go out today would prove to be one of the latter.

There were a couple of convenience stores in between camp and the department store they were heading to, and Jungkook saw no reason not to check them. If they found sunscreen and aloe there, they could just call it a day and head home.

When he pulled up behind the first one, he couldn't help but think of the very first time they'd done this. How terrified Taehyung had been at the sight of that zombie locked behind the counter. They'd both come so far.

"Do you wanna come in, or wait in the car?"

"I'm coming in," Taehyung snapped before Jungkook could even finish his sentence, already unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out.

Jungkook sighed, arming himself with his favorite steel pipe before getting out and following Taehyung to the door, but he felt a spark of fondness at Taehyung's determination.

Inside the store, Taehyung stayed so close that Jungkook could reach out and touch him at any time as they searched through the picked-over aisles.

Jungkook tried to joke about it, saying that if Taehyung intended to be up his ass he could at least bend him over the counter, but Taehyung only scowled in response, in no mood for Jungkook's teasing.

Ultimately, they found very little of use in the store. There were a few pieces of cheap electronics that might be useful just for their components and a multi-tool pocket knife, but little else other than trash and empty packaging.

The second stop they made proved a little more successful in terms of finding what they were looking for. They found a small, travel-sized tube of sunblock and a few basic first-aid supplies like bandages and alcohol swabs.

There was also an entire unopened case of cheeseburger flavored potato chips, which Jungkook insisted they should take despite Taehyung declaring them "repugnant."

Gross or not, they were still shelf-stable calories, which they couldn't afford to ignore at this point. They found no aloe or anything to treat sunburns with, though, so they moved on to their destination.

By the time they reached the department store, they'd both begun to feel more at ease. Taehyung even allowed Jungkook to wander off out of sight without panicking. Maybe things could get back to the way they were before.