Home (I wish you could stay)

IX. The End

Night had fallen, meaning any form of light could be seen for miles, so when Jeongguk had shouted about "a light! I see a light up ahead!", the boys couldn't believe that he was right. They had either made a great time getting to the haven, or it wasn't nearly as far as they had thought it to be. With the large iron doors (barely) insight, the group gathered as much strength as their sore, bloody bodies could muster and hurried. Jeongguk got too excited and sprinted ahead of them, failing to notice the haven's traps that lay just outside to catch stray infected.

It was almost slow motion, watching Jeongguk trip over the wire between two trees, his ankle getting snagged into a mess of rope. The whole thing was connected somehow to a net full of cans, rattling, and waking up any infected nearby. Groans and whines came from all around them, shadows moving in towards them, moving towards a caught Jeongguk. Jimin and Jin took off to try and free Jeongguk, but that left Yoongi and Namjoon with two boys, both injured and impaired, to try and catch up to the others and defend at the same time.

The infected were fast approaching the three struggling in the net, cans rattling like a death song in the dark. Yoongi watched in horror as a horde ran straight for them, and like a coward, he did nothing. Again.

Just as they were about to make contact, someone yelled from above and gunfire broke out. Bullets ricocheted this way and that, and just as fast as the infected had appeared, they were bleeding out on the ground beneath them. Whipping his head to his friends, they were alive and in one piece. Unharmed. High above the iron door stood about twenty men of varying ages, each with assault rifles in hand. Huh. Just then, the huge doors opened, light bleeding out into the trees. Jin and Jimin quickly finished cutting the ropes around Jeongguk's ankles and helped him stand. A man about their age stepped out into the night, just barely crossing the threshold.

"Yoongi and friends, I'm assuming?"

Yoongi and Namjoon approached the three boys from behind as Jeongguk, Jin, and Jimin leapt back until Yoongi was the one in-sight. "Yes. Uhh, thank you for- for that."

The man nodded. "Of course. We haven't had an infected trip that in a while, so I only figured that it was our new guests that got tangled up. My apologies, by the way." He bowed slightly, hand pressed to his chest. "Oh, sorry. I'm Chris, the leader." The man held out his hand, the distance only now acknowledged by Yoongi and the others. Handing Jin the rope to Hoseok's stretcher, he made his way ten feet or so to the other. Shaking Yoongi's hand, Chris spoke up again. "I believe an introduction is in order, eh?"

"Yes, uh.." Yoongi turned to his group to begin naming them off when two men came to stand on either side of Chris, rifles glistening. Temporarily stunned by fear, Yoongi composed himself and cleared his throat. "Right, so, uh. That's Namjoon, Seokjin, Jimin, Jeongguk, and Taehyung. And-"

"You said there were seven of you?"

"Yes, Hoseok. He's on a makeshift stretcher behind-"

"Yoongi. Is he infected?"

When Yoongi hesitated, the two men beside Chris pulled their guns up, one to face Yoongi, and one pointed at his friends. Chris waited for a few more seconds before asking again.

"Yoongi. Is Hoseok sick?"

"Yes." Yoongi could hear Jin and Namjoon suck in a breath. Jimin whimpered as Taehyung held him, shifting their combined weights along with Jeongguk in between Hoseok and the line of fire.

"Yoongi, you know I can't let him in. I have families inside. I can't risk it."

"But you said you had medicine! You said you could help us!" Jimin wailed from beside Taehyung, who shoved his face back into his chest, silencing any more outbursts.