ODDS OF SURVIVAL - TAEKOOK

CHAPTERTHIRTYFOUR

Walking on the open road was terrifying, but so was walking through the uneven terrain and wild foliage along the side of the road. He felt far too vulnerable wandering alone, injured and defenseless, without even his jacket to protect him.

It was too hot for a jacket, but ever since Jungkook's jacket had been the only thing that saved him from having his arm gnawed off he always wore his, no matter the weather.

Now he was exposed; no margin for error. One slip-up could end him.

He had to stick to the roads because without them he'd be hopelessly lost. He saw the map in his mind, he knew where he was and what an astoundingly long way he had to go, but he couldn't let himself think about the full distance.

It seemed impossible that he could ever walk so far, so he tried to focus on shorter distances. He just needed to make it to the next turn off for now.

Once he made it that far, he could worry about getting to the next turn, the next landmark, and then the next, until he got home.

After mentally debating the pros and cons for the first half mile or so, he opted to walk on the road itself.

It increased his risk of being seen by anyone or anything that may want to harm him, but the trade off was that if he did encounter more zombies he would see them coming, and wouldn't be surprised by zombies that might be trapped in the mud or untamed plants off the road.

Also, the even surface of the road was so much easier and faster to walk on, particularly in his injured, exhausted state. He only hoped if any other survivors came travelling down the road that he'd hear them in time to hide before they saw him.

Of course, if he encountered another massive horde of zombies like they had that day so many weeks ago, he was absolutely done for. He added that to the list of things he was trying very hard not to think about.

Abandoned vehicles were scattered sporadically along the road. Every time Taehyung passed one, he was torn between trying to hotwire it and fear that he would only be wasting time if it was out of fuel or beyond repair.

The sun was veering close to the treetops now, though, and it wouldn't be safe travelling at night.

He needed to stop to rest, anyway, so he resigned to stop at the next car he passed. If he couldn't get it started, then at least maybe it would give him shelter for the night.

He walked for hours, the sky growing progressively darker with every step. Just when he was beginning to think he'd either need to keep walking through the night or try to hide somewhere in the bushes until morning a car came into view around a bend in the road.

No, not just one, three. Three cars, three chances. Maybe one of them would still run if he could get it started.

With a small spark of hope rejuvenated in his chest, he hurried on weary legs toward the collection of vehicles.

The first car he tried was locked, which seemed completely stupid to Taehyung that anyone would lock a car when they were abandoning it, but whatever! If he had no success with the other two, he could come back to the first one and try to break in.

The second one he spent God-only-knew how long working with his knife and his pliers to crack into the steering column and get the correct wires stripped and connected only for absolutely nothing to happen.

He popped open the hood to see if there was any obvious problem he could fix only to find that there was no fucking battery in the car.

He wanted to scream and kick something but he kept control, clenched his fist until his nails dug into his palm, bit his lip, breathed until he could form coherent thoughts again.