Apocalypse | BTS

Chapter 48

As the civil twilight began to set in, shreds of purples and pinks could be seen through the rare gaps in the three canopy, casting a warm glow between the shadows that littered the floor beneath their feet. It wouldn't be long before they were out of the woods, and as pretty as the forming sunset appeared from what they could see, just the concept of night approaching was enough to make their skin crawl.

The original feeling of comfortable isolation that Jungkook felt within the confine of the trees started to slowly dissipate, and he didn't like it one bit. The increasing eerie sensation in the pit of his stomach indicating that they were not alone caused him to stretch an arm from beside him, signalling for the squad to freeze.
"What is it?" Leanne asked from beside him, Jungkook narrowing his eyes and looking around. He silently pulled a flashlight from his belt, everybody now hyperaware of their surroundings.

"We're being watched." He said, just loud enough for the group to hear, which made everyone snap their heads up and look at their surroundings. The youngest drew his pistol in the other hand, pointing the flashlight just ahead of them and flicking it on with caution. About fifty yards in the distance, his suspicions were immediately proved correct, Yoongi and Taehyung now coming forwards with their guns in hand as four pairs of green eyes were illuminated between the trees ahead of them.

"Borgs." Yoongi breathed through gritted teeth, Jungkook nodding from beside him as they each shut an eye and aimed their guns straight forwards. The creatures must have taken noticed of the torch light, their bioluminescent scales glimmering in its light as they screeched and growled, suddenly running towards the group at shocking speeds. Taehyung shuddered as he shot a borg through the chest, only to see it continue running until he got past his shock and lodged a second bullet in its skull. Four borgs wouldn't stand a chance against the mercy of the three men's guns, each of them taking charge of the situation as the echo of gunshots bounced from tree to tree, the creatures only reaching half the distance towards them before their limp bodies fell heavily to the woodland floor.

"Damn, I don't think I've ever seen borgs run quite so fast." Jimin breathed out as he lowered his bow, luckily not needing to use it as those with guns took care of the heptoids rather quickly.
"They were mutated." Namjoon cut in, walking past the front of the group and to the alien corpses. He crouched down in front of one, presenting a small glass tube from his pocket and collecting a sample of the glowing green blood from its open bullet wound.

"What are hell are you doing?" Yoongi asked with a disgusted look on his face, the scientist quickly stuffing the sample back into his lab coat before walking back to the group.
"By running some tests on the mutated DNA we can get closer to finding out why this is happening and how to combat it. Pretty simple." He stated matter-of-factly, the others just nodding as they continued to move on, but now more cautiously.

"We're lucky it wasn't a cluster, that would have been tricky." Taehyung sighed.
"If borgs are getting quicker, does that mean other species could develop different, new strengths?" Hoseok asked, hating the fact that he was pretty much spot on.
"Exactly. We're yet to discover all of the affects that the mutations can cause, but we have some theories." Jin said, all eyes now turning to him.

"Like?" Jungkook asked curiously.
"Like the fact that draths may gain eyesight." Namjoon replied, making a chill run down each of their spines simultaneously.
"Oh god I really hope not." Taehyung muttered, thinking about how deadly and intelligent the draths were even without their eyesight. For the monsters to gain another sense, it would make them overpowered killing machines.

"The mutations are a way in which the aliens can evolve and adapt to a new environment very quickly, learning hunting instincts every passing day. It's all rather interesting." Namjoon added, those in front of him turning to send him incredulous looks.
"And rather terrifying." Leanne mumbled, the others leaning more to her statement.
"Well, I guess there's only one way to find out. We need to find a way to stop it sooner than later." Jungkook said with a sigh, everyone knowing that the dark statement was true. The only way to find out how the brain mutations of the aliens would affect their behaviour is by seeing it for themselves, and they were all hoping that the opportunity to find out wouldn't be particularly soon.

As they continued to walk, slightly more cautiously this time, Taehyung turned his head to Jungkook with a frown. Jungkook noticed this and furrows his eyebrows.
"What is it?" The raven-haired asked, Taehyung bringing a hand to his own face and running it over it in a confused manner.
"Where did you shoot the borgs back there?" Taehyung asked, Jungkook raising an eyebrow and shrugging, returning his gaze to ahead of them.

"Both in the head I'm pretty sure. Yoongi got a quick headshot in on the one in the centre. Why do you ask?" Jungkook asked, Taehyung sighing a little.
"I think they're becoming stronger, like the draths. Not nearly as strong but clearly more so. It's probably because the mutation's take over the alien at the brain that a headshot is the most effective. The borg I took care of took two shots. One to the chest wasn't enough." Taehyung said, Jungkook squinting at the floor at Taehyung's words as he thought about it.

"That would make sense. I suppose we'll have to just keep an eye on them, and maybe we can get some shooting practice in for us and the others." Jungkook said, Taehyung nodding eagerly to the idea. They had enough guns for everyone in the team, but the fact that some members didn't really ever use a firearms weapon meant that they'd be at a disadvantage.

Practice would be key for survival until they can work out how to stop these things for good.