The Final Bell (Zombie Apocalypse AU) (NCT127 x Reader)

A Lose-Lose Scenario

Chapter warnings: Mild language, heavy violence/gore

Word count: 1345

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Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

The bell. She had forgotten about the bell. So much had happened since she had last heard it. Still, the ringing was eerily the same as the first day she had witnessed it. Jaehyun even had a near identical look on his face. This time, though, the tension surrounding the moment was all too real. She watched, unmoving, taking it all in.

Jungwoo seemed the most shaken, eyes wide and skin glistening. He was just as frozen as Y/N. Next was Mark, torn between staring at the final corpse and attempting to shake his friend out of his state. Taeyong was muttering something under his breath, but she couldn't make it out. He was evidently fading in and out of reality. Doyoung wasn't moving either, but it was more from an observatory standpoint. Jaehyun was the most focused, grabbing Taeyong and Y/N by their wrists and pulling them out of the way. Mark finally snapped into action and did the same for Jungwoo. Doyoug followed easily.

"Why is the bell ringing?" He snarled, trying to get an answer out of Taeyong. "This place is already crawling with zombies. How is it just now being declared completely overrun?"

"Wait, declared?" Y/N cut in. "So there's a real person ringing the bells? In that case, where are they? And why do they stay? What kind of job is-"

"Cool it down. We have no idea who rings the bells. They could be auto-generated. All the more reason why this ringing is strange." He was right- regardless of why, the bell was ringing. Were there more zombies coming?

"We have to get to safety." Taeyong prompted, agreeing.

"We can't leave WinWIn." Jungwoo argued.

"We're not going to leave him. We'll stay close by, and.. figure out what to do." Their leader consoled him.

"What are you talking about?" Doyoung asked. "He's basically dead. We should... deal with it. Don't pretend like we have the resources to-" This earned him a glare as he trailed off.

"Now is not the time, man." Jaehyun whispered under his breath.

"Let's go, one of these buildings has to be intact." Taeyong said, walking the opposite direction. The others hesitantly followed, Jungwoo still practically being dragged. The zombie-fied WinWin attempted to follow, but he was fairly easy to outrun. It wasn't long before Taeyong settled on an old, abandoned McDonalds. The tiles were just as grimy as they were when the restaurant was functioning.

"Look." Jaehyun started, uncaring of the discomfort. "We should just go. It's too late for him. I don't even know how he got all the way out here."

"Stop talking about him like he's just another zombie!" Jungwoo yelled. "We could still save him!"

"How? You saw him! There's no guarantee his human body is even still alive."

"Shut up!" Jungwoo shouted in his face. "I swear, I can get the cure right. We just need to bring him back and-"

"Jungwoo, it's not even done. We can't just cart around a zombie, it's too dangerous. You're putting everyone here at risk because of your feelings."

"You should be ashamed of yourself!" He screamed, tears beginning to run down his cheeks. "At least I have feelings regarding WinWin! You just want to pretend like he's still dead and move on! How can we do that after... after what happened?"

"You're just trying to make up for the fact that it's your fault he's dead!" Jaehyun shouted back. The accusation rang through the empty space, echoing in their heads. What did Jaehyun mean, it was Jungwoo's fault? Had something happened? WinWin had died before Y/N joined the group, so she had never asked...

"Jaehyun, that's enough!" Ty pulled him back by the elbow, placing himself between the two. "Jungwoo, he's right about one thing- we can't afford to risk everyone's lives to take WinWin with us. We can let him live in peace here, he-"

"Live in peace?! Are you fucking kidding me? That's the most ridiculous shit I've ever heard!" Now Y/N was really starting to worry. Out of all of them, Jungwoo was the last person she expected to have such an outburst. As she thought this, though, he ran out the front door, pulling their barricading bar out from the handles and rushing down the street.

"Fuck... we've gotta get him." Doyoung said. Well, obviously. All of them went out, trying to follow in his footsteps. As soon as they made it into the main road, zombies started pouring out of buildings and rushing towards them.

"How did he get through all of this?" Mark asked, breathing heavily as he took out a few.

"Who knows? We need to find him before he gets himself hurt." Jaehyun growled, firing his shotgun into the crowd.

"Y/N- I know this is a lot, but we actually need your help this time around." Doyoung muttered, joining the fight himself. It only took them a few minutes to clear the vast majority of the bastards, making a path in the direction they had seen their friend go. Still, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Hurry!" Taeyong motioned to the gap. "Let's keep moving!" Staring at the closing pathway, she shifted her weight, natural instincts kicking in. Mark quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her along after their leader, moving back towards the South side of the city.

"There! I see him!" She heard Doyoung's voice above the footsteps. Sure enough, Jungwoo was running towards a lone zombie.

"WinWin!" He yelled, still crying. "It's me! It's Jungwoo!" The creature didn't respond, its dead eyes staring back at the source of the closest loud noise. "I'm sorry, WinWin! I'm really sorry! This is all my fault! I can fix you, though! Just come home with us, fight the disease, we can fix it!"

"Jungwoo, you idiot, get back here!" Jaehyun snarled, running past the others to try and get to him. Breaking through, he jammed his arms under Jungwoo's, pulling them up so that his inner elbows were settled in his armpits. "Stop it! You don't know what you're doing!" In a strange fit of athleticism, Jungwoo stepped on his foot, then jammed his leg into Jaehyun's knee, surprising him with the pain. Breaking free, he approached WinWin again.

"Just listen to me! We can-" Opening his mouth at an inhuman size, the purple-fleshed man wasted no time in biting down on his aggresor's shoulder. Jungwoo made no indication that he was in pain, still pleading with his former friend. "Please, WinWin, I can fix this, I can..."

"Jaehyun. Take everyone and leave. He's done."

"But we-"

"I said he's done!" Taeyong demanded, now crying as well. His voice lowered drastically. "Please, we need to go. I don't know what I'd do if... if you ended up like this, too." Jaehyun's face twitched, and for a moment Y/N thought she would finally see him display an emotion other than anger. He just turned around and flicked his wrists to the others. Doyoung followed easily, and them Taeyong. Mark, still hanging onto Y/N, pulled on her arm. Still, she didn't move.

"Y/N, come on, you don't want to see this." She was frozen, watching in horror as Jungwoo was eaten alive. WinWin wasn't himself anymore- whatever that was was long gone. She stared as Jungwoo begged for him to come to his senses, even as his blood spilled and his intestines fell out of his stomach, pieces of him flying in every direction. Finally, something covered her eyes.

Mark had placed a hand on her face. Trapped in the darkness, she knelt to the ground, throwing up in the dirt, still unseeing. When he was sure she had finished, he jammed an elbow under her knees, awkwardly picking her up and beginning to run. Even over the sound of his boots in the dirt, she could make out the last requests of Jungwoo, still trying to atone for whatever unknown sin had been committed.

The score had been settled.