The Gifted (Txt x Itzy)

三十

Yeonjun walked back to the others, who were gathered outside, looking defeated. "She left?" Yuna asked, quietly but stunned. "Doesn't matter," Yeonjun said in a dull tone, "Let's just keep moving." They packed swiftly, and Taehyun tore open the notebook. "It's quite far away I think," He told them, "It's- What the shit-"

"What?" Jisu poked her head to look over his shoulder. "It's missing the end. The cross."

"It was there before?" Jisu asked, turning the book around.

Taehyun clenched his eyes, "It's because it needs all ten of us. We need to get Yeji-" He quietened at that hard stare Yeonjun had. "She'll come back," Yeonjun muttered.

Jisu shook her head dismissively, "In the meantime we need to figure out the route." She glanced at the map. "That'll take roughly a week for us."

"We don't have a week," Kai points out, "They're probably looking for us already. We can't afford to stay out in the open for so long-" "Do you have another option?" Jisu cut in. The younger stops, but not because he was speechless. Everyone stilled, barely breathing. Yuna whispered, "What's that sound-"

"Shh."

"Choppers," Yeonjun muttered, "Run."

They ran, dodging tree trunks and hopping over roots and branches. Jisu was slowed down by her shoes, which clanked helpfully on the floor, a wonderful flare to alert the enemies of their location.

Yeonjun cursed. "Can you take those off?"

Jisu shot him a look, "And make one of you play pinata with me? No thank you."

Ryujin looked up quickly as she ran, then asked, "How high will you go? The trees aren't that low."

Jisu uncoiled the rope around her waist frantically. "A metre if you want to be able to run. I won't weigh a thing."

"I'll take her shoes," Chaeryeong said, and the two girls worked fast to undo the latches of the lead shoes. Chaeryeong swiped the shoes off the floor and ran, her fingers solidifying into glass as they clenched around the shoes. Jisu floated up, but was yanked off by Ryujin. The poor girl looked like a very odd balloon. The wind gushed beside them, their hair rustling madly. "I'll hold them off for as long as I can," Taehyun decided, turning abruptly and ropes of earth snaked up towards the helicopters.

The helicopters maneuvered smoothly, dancing through the spikes, and returned the gesture with bullets that whistled at the high speed. They viciously pursued the gifteds, ready to meet their mark.

One helicopter sliced a section of tree branches off, causing it to fall down to them. Chaeryeong scrambled to duck, and swore as one branch landed heavily on her arm, making her lose her grip on the staff of glass.

Kai groaned in frustration. "They're out of my range! I can't shift them." Chaeryeong wrinkled her nose in frustration, "I lost my glass pole, and I probably can't bring a helicopter down with glass the size of a fingernail."

The humans hollered as another volley of bullets were unleashed, Yeonjun swearing as one embedded itself in his shoulder, and Kai sucked in a sharp breath as another fired into his arm, where a bleeding cut was already occupying the space. The trees bent to Taehyun's will, but that soaked up a lot of energy. "We need to find shelter," Taehyun shouted, "I'm gonna run out of energy soon." Ryujin's fingers moved rapidly, plucking and tugging at her strings, and one helicopter tilted to a side, narrowly missing the other helicopter. "Dang it," Ryujin said as she yanked her hand to another side, and the helicopter righted itself. "You're doing that?" Chaeryeong asked in amazement. Ryujin flushed, "Yeah, did that to you last night, sorry, but now isn't a really good time to talk about that." Chaeryeong stifled a yelp as her white shirt began to stain with dark blood. "There's a cave there!" Taehyun yelled, "Get to safety and I'll distract them!" The wind began to swirl, bellowing as the helicopters veered to a side to try and avoid it, but they were sucked up in the spinning air. Sweat dripped down Taehyun's neck, and soon the sky began to darken, and the rain started pouring down. "He can do that?" Kai asked as he limped to the shelter. "Who cares, just get in," Ryujin said hurriedly, supporting a limping Chaeryeong. Everyone stumbled into the dry cave, slumping down. Beomgyu hissed in pain, and Soobin looked helplessly as the warm red blood seeped through the injured boy's sleeve. Pants filled the air as the group leaned against the cave walls, their breath forming misty water vapour. Taehyun slipped into the cavem exhausted and out of breath. "Any...anyone got a plan?" He asked weakly. Kai winced in pain, "We'll be trapped here if they find us. We need to-" Yeonjun tried to sit up. "I could-" He stopped and groaned in pain. "No, I'll lead them away," Soobin said, standing shakily but quickly. Beomgyu choked out through a haze of pain, "But what will happen to you-" Soobin silenced his brother with a look, sad but sure. He dropped a kiss on his twin's head and clenched his hand. He tapped a few beats on Beomgyu's hand.

.. ._.. ___ ..._ . ._

Then without another word Soobin raced out into the darkness, and he was swallowed by that big dark monster, they heard him shouting, diverting the attention of the soldiers from the cave, the flashing searchlights training on him and the thunderous grumble of the helicopter engines approaching like a stampede. Beomgyu was stunned from the pain and shock, a single tear weighing down on his chin as the unmistakable sounds of gunshots rang out.

And then it all went silent.

AN: The dots and lines are Morse code for "I love u"