Apocalypse | BTS

Chapter 44

Unlike the fitful rain that had fallen the previous night, the noon that greeted them that day was broad and unblushing, the sun shining shameless and bright, doing them the favour of drying their wet equipment before they decided to move on. Leanne, Taehyung and Jungkook led the way across the vast expanse of countryside that stretched out in front of them, Leanne having stepped in as navigator due to Yoongi being deemed out-of-action for a little while. Yoongi himself was close behind the three, hand-in-hand with Hoseok and keeping his eyes glued to the floor while they began on their trail, with Jimin, Yuri, Namjoon and Jin walking towards the back of the group.

"Considering the rumours that we've heard in camps, the abandoned villages are located past the mountains, probably around ten miles from here." Leanne explained, Jungkook nodding at her words while Taehyung just groaned.
"My God, I don't know if I'm mentally stable enough for this." He mumbled, Jungkook chuckling and placing a hand on his shoulder, just to squeeze it lightly.
"Then a few hours of walking will do you some good." He said in a joking tone, Taehyung throwing a playful glare in his direction as they continued to walk. Taehyung was honestly just glad that his ankle was no longer slowing him down.

With the verdant land that they trudged across, it would be easy to see a cluster or an alien from a mile away, which somewhat put their minds at ease. Yet they were always on high alert, with weapons close by and eyes trained to catch even the slightest movement. They had to pass over one particular mountain to get to the other side, because it was the fastest way, and travelling between the volcanic valleys of the mountains would be far to dangerous to even consider.

An hour had passed when they reached their first obstacle; the mountains. The steep sloping gradient of the land proved to be taxing on their tired bodies as they had to walk over one of the great, green and rocky mounds that towered about three hundred metres above them. The old volcanic landforms may only just have been tall enough to be classified as a mountain, but it didn't make the journey any easier. However, as tiring as it was, it wasn't anything that the squad couldn't handle.

Or at least they thought.

Apparently, this one mountain that they had to pass over had a few tricks up it's sleeve, meaning that they had to be a lot more careful than they first thought. They were about halfway to the top when Jungkook suddenly stopped the group, turning and pressing a finger to his lips to signal for them to be quiet, while his other hand pointed elsewhere.

Following Jungkook's finger with their eyes, they noticed that he was pointing towards a small cave that was carved into the face of the rock a few metres above them. With the whole mound covered in a blanket of bright green grass except for the grey rocky summit, it would have been difficult to spot if Jungkook wasn't quite so vigilant, but they're glad that he did. Just the sight of a cave was enough to make their breaths hitch and nod in understanding to Jungkook's warning, all eyes trained to the youngest to silently ask, 'so what do we do?'

Walking into, or even just by a cave could be incredibly risky, because they were the places where you were most likely to find clusters of ravenous cynoids. The bat-like creatures would hang from the rocky ceiling, disguising themselves within the shadows to catch any unfortunate victims that would walk right into their lair. The dark and damp conditions of caves were a perfect place for this species of heptoid to hide and feed, which left humans knowing that any and every cave could result in a complete bloodbath.

The cave entrance sat above a small ledge that they were only just underneath, and so Jungkook used his hands to signal the other eight to keep their heads down and look at him.
"Okay, here's what we're going to do." Jungkook began in a hushed voice, ensuring that all eyes were trained on him before continuing.

"The last thing we want is to battle a cluster of aliens on the side of a hill, so we're going to have to try and avoid being noticed." The raven-haired male said, noticing how Namjoon furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head.
"And how are we going to do that? Cynoids, as you know, have incredible hearing and sight; we'll have to be more than silent to go unnoticed." He said, drawing a pistol from his pocket.

"Our best bet is by splitting up and each going around in a different direction, so that if they do hear something, they won't be able to work out where it's from." Jungkook explained, everybody ready to agree with the plan as both of the scientists nodded at his suggestion.
"You're smart, kid. I'd say that it could work, but everyone needs to be on their guard. If one of us gets attacked by a cluster alone we're screwed." Hoseok mentioned, but he could feel how Yoongi tensed up beside him at the mention of splitting up.

Taehyung also noticed this, turning to Jungkook.
"Why don't we go off in pairs? It's always safer if someone's got your back." Taehyung suggested, Jungkook thinking for a moment before nodding.
"Okay. Considering we're an odd number, I'm okay going on my own. Taehyung, you go with Leanne, Yoongi with Hoseok, Jimin with Yuri and Namjoon with Jin. Sound good?" Jungkook said, earning a range of nods and quiet hums of affirmation.

"If something happens, we need like a code word we can shout or something. We won't be near to each other, but it should be enough for at least someone to hear." Leanne suggested, the others agreeing that this would be a good idea.
"I honestly think screaming help will do." Taehyung said with a quiet chuckle, Leanne rolling her eyes with a small smile as Jungkook just shrugged.
"Sure, lets go with that. Everyone ready?" Jungkook asked, watching as the others all drew their weapons readily from their heavy bags and turned to their partners, mirroring their looks of determination.

"Ready."