Walkers {Kun // NCT au}

two

21 weeks earlier

• • •

It had finally stopped raining.

Before the Outbreak Seoyeon didn't mind the rain much, but these days it meant staying put and it could feel somewhat claustrophobic at times. She understood why her group had made up this rule, though. Wet clothing felt heavy on the body, which in turn restricted a person's movements and ability to fight, should they cross paths with a zombie. 

Seoyeon had been eager to go out, though. Lately she hadn't been feeling like she belonged anymore. The thought of running away had crossed her mind several times over the past few weeks, but she couldn't do it. She knew she wouldn't be missed per se, but she was good at killing zombies and had a sense of duty to keep everyone safe. Also, there was food. Enough to survive on for a few more weeks. She'd be stupid to leave now, not knowing when she'd have a proper meal again.

She was sensible enough to realize that leaving wasn't the right choice, but there were countless moments when the cabin fever set in and she felt like she'd go crazy if she didn't get out. Rainy days included. It just wasn't always easy to live with people who weren't anything like herself. People she didn't know before the Outbreak nor would have wanted to know — most of them, anyway. They were nice enough, just... different.

When the world started ending, a lot of people were persuaded to change their beliefs and latched onto apocalyptic religions such as the Wanderers of Shadows, the one Seoyeon's group believed in.

The beliefs of the Wanderers of Shadows might have been a bit crazy, but they seemed like good people. They took in nonbelievers like Seoyeon, so they were alright in her book. She herself wasn't sure which — if any — of those new religions were right about a cure, a better world or Heaven and Hell. The only thing she did know was that avoiding Hell meant avoiding death, and she had been doing a pretty good job at that so far.

Looking out of the barrack window, Seoyeon could see the sun coming through the white clouds that were slowly starting to vanish, signaling that it would be a good day. She made her way over to her bed and reached under it, her hand searching for her worn-out leather satchel. Grabbing on to it, she swung it on the bed and filled it with some items that could come in handy on her trip, such as an army canteen filled with water, some candy bars and a flashlight.

She flung the bag over her shoulder and clutched her fingers around her favorite weapon. The Katana was great for killing the Undead from a fairly safe distance. It allowed her to sever the spines or decapitate zombies without getting too close and putting her life on the line.

Before heading out, she made her way over to the cafeteria to grab some toast and to let Taeyong know that she would be going out for a walk. He was the group's unspoken leader, something that had always seemed ironic to Seoyeon as he wasn't a believer like the others. She understood why, though. It was the same reason why she listened to him. He simply exuded the aura of a natural-born leader.

"You know I'm not going to stop you from going outside, but are you sure you want to face the dangers that lie out there?" He asked her.

Taeyong had asked her this on many occasions in the last couple of weeks and she had always given him the same answer.

"I just need some time away. I'll be okay."

"At least take one of the walkie-talkies with you so you can communicate with us if something does happen, alright?"

Seoyeon nodded.

They had only found and occupied the military base recently, something they were all very thankful for. Even two years after the Zombie Outbreak it still had a lot of useful working items lying around. Of course no one knew how long it would all last, but they were grateful for anything that they could still use. Nothing was taken for granted, especially the fully functional kitchen and showers.

"I won't stay out too long," Seoyeon told Taeyong before she left.

She had planned to train with Jisung, a 14 year old boy, in the afternoon. Seoyeon had been on the fence about it for a while, thinking he was still too young to fight zombies. But as Jisung begged her to learn him a few tricks and skills, she realized that maybe it was only the right thing to do. She knew attacks, either by zombies or people, were inevitable and it was better for the group's sake if everyone knew how to defend themselves. The younger kids included. If something were to happen to Jisung in a situation like that because he didn't know how to, Seoyeon would just end up feeling guilty and she didn't think she could live with that.

On her way towards the main entrance she bumped into the young boy, promising him she would be back on time for their training. After reassuring him, she continued to walk up to the gates and waited for them to be opened.

"Any activity out there?" She shouted up to the guys guarding the watchtowers.

"Nothing so far," one of them replied.

And with that, the petite girl left the safe grounds to venture into the nearby forest. One that could have zombies lurking behind every tree, but she was confident enough to know she'd make it back in one piece.

Being surrounded by trees, plants, insects and birds made it seem like nothing bad had ever happened to the world. For a moment Seoyeon forgot about the catastrophic nuclear accident that had occurred two years ago, that had caused the dead to rise again and roam around the Earth as disgusting, flesh eating creatures. She forgot about the heartbreak of losing the people she loved so dearly and not being able to enjoy fancy meals or going to the cinema to watch the latest blockbuster.

She was snapped back into reality in an instant at the faint sound of ruffling leaves in the distance.

Looking in the right direction, she could see a single zombie that seemed to be stuck on something. She decided to walk towards it instead of taking another turn. As she got closer she could see that it couldn't move as it was punctured by a sharp branch right through the stomach.

The zombie smelled pretty rank, but Seoyeon had gotten used to the smell of death. As much as anyone could get used to it, anyway.

She reached for the Katana that was hanging from her back and pulled it out of its carrying case. As she stepped forward, the desperate, needy roars that erupted from deep inside of the zombie became louder and louder. They were followed by the sweeping sound of the sword and a muffled thump of the zombie's head hitting the muddy ground, and once again, Seoyeon found herself in silence.

She looked down at the head that had fallen at her feet. Its mouth was still open, but no longer moving around in order to bite her.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly as she studied its discolored skin that was falling away from the skull, the unfocused eyes and sunken in face.

The Undead in front of her had once been a living being like herself. Someone's son, maybe even someone's father. She felt bad for them. Even the ones who tried to kill her. They hadn't chosen the life. It chose them. It just wasn't fair, so she would say sorry at some of them. Not for killing them, but having had to live like that until she came along to put them out of their misery. Even if they didn't realize this themselves.

• • •

The remainder of her trip in the forest was peaceful and quiet. She had enjoyed the songs sung by birds and the sunshine, but it was time to head back so she wouldn't let Jisung down.

Besides, she had been out in the sun for too long anyway. She could feel it at the lightest touch of her cheeks. Having fairly light skin wasn't ideal in a world without sunscreen. The military base had a lot to offer, but beauty products weren't included.

Seoyeon sighed, knowing it was going to hurt later on, but if that was the only pain she'd feel today, she really couldn't complain.