Apocalypse | BTS

Chapter 36

Taehyung's sudden exclamation caused all heads to turn to him, everyone freezing in what they were doing as Taehyung jumped up and walked quickly over to Namjoon.
"You said that the heptoid's bodies are made out of similar alien materials that are found in their poison, right?" Taehyung checked, the purple-haired male nodding as confirmation. Taehyung then turned to the rest of the group, raising his hands either side of him suggestively.

"And what do we use to stop the effects of the poison?" Taehyung asked the group with raised eyebrows, them all still looking at him in confusion.
"Sanberries, duh." Hoseok replied with an eyebrow raise, Taehyung clapping his hands together and pointing at him.
"Exactly!" Taehyung exclaimed, frowning as he only got blank looks in response.
"Taehyung, what on Earth are you getting at?" Yoongi queried with a judging expression, Taehyung groaning and rolling his eyes.

"You guys really don't get it? If the aliens are practically made out of their own poison, and the sanberries get rid of the poison-"
"Then we can weaken and destroy the aliens with a the sanberries themselves! Tae, you're a genius." Jungkook exclaimed, Taehyung flashing him a boxy smile as the others stood there, dumbfounded. Namjoon, for one, was lost for words.
"Holy shit, the kid might be onto something." Yoongi mumbled, all of them then turning to the scientists to see what they thought.

"You know... that might actually work. How did I not think of that?!" Namjoon yelled, running into his van to get a notepad to write all of this down. He quickly returned, hastily ripping the lid of the pen off with his teeth before pressing the tip to the paper.
"If we could create a concentrated enough solution of the sanberry juices, simply a drop would have to be administered for a single alien to fall dead or weak." Namjoon explained, Jin coming to his side.
"As we all know how quickly the sanberry antidote works, it could be both efficient and effective." Jin added, everyone sending each other glances of shock at the sudden revelation.

"But now we have another problem. Sanberries are scarce, and we're gonna need quite a few for testing so that we can make the most effective weapon. We have quite a lot, but we certainly can't afford to waste any." Leanne said with a sigh, the new hope that they had found slowly sinking away.
"We really need to find a way to farm these things." Jimin added to that, noticing hows smile crept over Namjoon's face.
"And that's where our recent research comes in. We're so close to discovering how to create a micro environment to grow the plants, we just need to find out how to reproduce them and we're good to go." Namjoon explained, smiles and thoughtful looks being shared all around.

"I need to sit down, this is all too much for one evening." Yoongi mumbled as he placed a hand on his forehead, and Jungkook chuckled a little at that.
"Okay, now it's really time to rest. It seems like we already have a way forwards, so I want everyone well rested for a busy day tomorrow." Jungkook said, receiving nods in all directions as the nine of them (and Kwan) returned to their respective vehicles.

The moment they had got into the RV, Yoongi practically collapsed on the passenger seat, falling asleep almost as soon as he'd curled up with Kwan laying in front of him. Hoseok sat in the driver's seat with a coat over his cold legs, smiling softly at the mint-haired male who slept peacefully beside him. He noticed Leanne coming in and looking at him with a smirk, Hobi just glaring at his best friend who chuckled silently and went to sleep on a mat in the back.

Finally, Jungkook and Taehyung made their way over to the old sofa, sitting side by side and sighing into the darkness. They decided not to put the small fire out, which therefore left small flickers of light to dance around the shadows that clouded the inside of the cold RV.
Jungkook turned to Taehyung and smiled at the older's triumphant expression.
"You couldn't have come up with that one sooner?" He teased, Taehyung turning to look at him with a half-hearted scowl.
"Hey, not even those two nerds could put two and two together." Taehyung growled, Jungkook laughing with a stupid grin.

"I know, I'm just messing with you. We wouldn't be getting anywhere if it wasn't for you." Jungkook hummed, Taehyung shrugging in response.
"Damn right you wouldn't." He attempted to reply coolly, yet he failed to hold back a smile and a chuckle that caused Jungkook to do the same back.
"Right, I need some sleep." Taehyung yawned, lifting the blanket and shuffling back into the sofa so that his head was resting comfortably on the worn cushions.

"Me too." Jungkook nodded, standing up and walking towards the back of the RV, but Taehyung grabbed his wrist and stopped him.
"Where are you going?" Taehyung asked, lifting his head slightly to meet Jungkook's puzzled gaze.
"To... to get my sleeping bag?" Jungkook said with a confused chuckle, Taehyung groaning and pulling him onto the sofa, which elicited a small sound of surprise from the leader as he did so.
"We're not going through this conversation again Kook, get in." He said, Jungkook unable to refuse as he lay next to Taehyung again and pulled the blanket over himself.
"Okay fine, now sleep." Jungkook ordered, Taehyung smirking and rolling his eyes at that.
"Whatever you say, chief."

The night was quiet. Too quiet for Hobi's liking. He was so used to staying up and watching over the others that he found it hard to sleep, and the silence that was ringing in his ears certainly did help him to relax at all. He had a bad feeling in his gut that was telling him that something was going to happen, that the newfound peace that they had was going to be short-lived. He tried hard not to think like that, he was the hope of the group after all, but something inside him made it hard to doubt his hunch.

It turns out he didn't have to.