The After part six
Pairing: Jongup-centric
Rated: PG13
Length: 3.6K
Songs Again
Part Five
“There it is.” Yongguk stopped so suddenly that Jongup ran face-first into his back. “God, it’s huge. We’ll need hours to search through it.”
They both stared up at the massive building, the floors at least twice the square footage of their apartment.
“First somewhere to sleep, Yongguk. We can’t be out in the open like this for much longer.” The sun was sinking lower and lower in the sky. They probably had less than two hours until sunset and being out side in a new area in the dark was asking for it.
He could see that Yongguk didn’t want to just walk away from the building he had been working so hard to reach even if he had to agree it was smarter to wait it out.
“Alright. Which one looks less like a scary nest of monsters to you?”
The first building’s windows were completely shattered all around the first floor so Jongup led them towards another one across the street. “I think this one’s good.” Only a few windows are broken and the front door had a layer of untouched dust piled against it. “It hasn’t been entered in a while. Let’s see if we can get in through the window on the side so no one can tell we’re here.”
They slid through the glass and held their weapons at the ready. “I say second floor so we can stay close to the ground in case we need to make a run for it.”
Jongup agreed and they quickly headed up the stairs. The first door was hanging off the hinges so they bypassed it and stopped at the second. He picked the lock and they entered the small abandoned office. The desk was tipped over on to its side, spilling out piles of folders and loose-leafed papers.
They dragged it over to block the door, giving them an extra cushion of protection.
“I think we’re as safe as we can possibly get here. Should we open the curtains and keep watch or keep them shut try to stay incognito?”
Yongguk peered through the crack in the curtain. “I’d feel safer knowing what was out there. We can do two hours or so apiece and switch off.”
After sharing a can of mixed vegetables and a jar of meat sticks they were still starving and trying to ignore their growling bellies.
“It’s a weird thought, you know?” Yongguk sat back against the wall, his fingers smoothing over a tiny action figure in his hand. Jongup remembered seeing Junhong set it on their dresser when they had moved in. “Knowing that I’m here eating canned carrots while my brother’s dying.”
“You did the best you could. And little brother’s will always worship their older brothers, no matter what.” Jongup’s eyes closed for a second. “Believe me.”
“What would you do if you saw your brother again?” Yongguk watched him seriously.
He smiled, his grin not quite reaching his eyes. “I don’t know. If you had asked me that a year ago I could have answered. But now? Now I don’t know.” Lie, his brain whispered.
“Because of Himchan?”
His throat clenched. “Yeah.” He licked his lips and tried to pull the happy face of the boy he had left behind to the front of his mind. “Because of Himchan.”
---
The first watch went to Yongguk. After claiming to be too full of adrenaline to sleep he ushered Jongup into the corner and pulled off his button-up shirt for him to use as a pillow.
He shook Jongup awake a little later, concern dotting his features. “You were starting to get a little loud. I don’t want to attract the zombies because of your nightmares about the zombies.”
“Sorry.” Jongup croaked, reaching up to make sure his face wasn’t streaked with tears. The other boy was barely visible in the dim room. “I’ll take over. I’m used to running on little sleep so I’ll just stay up the rest of the night.” There was no way he could attempt sleep again without Himchan pressed against him.
Even though Yongguk didn’t look too comfortable falling asleep when he was so close to his goal he knew he needed his rest.
Watch was always boring, but it was a nice change to have new scenery to look at. He spent twenty minutes counting all of the windows he could see and then twice more just to make sure his first count was correct.
Then he sang all of his favorite songs from his childhood in his head. It had been so long since he had heard music.
After the sixth rendition of the same four minute song, he let his mind drift back to their apartment. What would everyone be doing? He knew Youngjae would be on watch duties tonight. The only way he knew how to express his frustration was to throw himself into his work. He was probably staring out the window just like Jongup was, his mind racing through the dozens of ways Jongup and Yongguk could be hurt while they were gone.
Himchan was sleeping. He would be in Yongguk and Junhong’s room. He wouldn’t be able to leave the sick boy by himself. Falling asleep would have been hard for him, worrying about Junhong and Jongup would put a crease in his brow. Jongup’s finger itched with the need to flatten it out, feel the smooth soft skin against his own.
And Junhong…
No, he shook his head. He didn’t want to think about what Junhong was doing right now.
A movement out of the corner of his eye had him jerking upright. His heartbeat was whooshing through his ears as he watched the woman crossing the street below him. Her movements were slick, the predatory walk that Jongup was all too familiar with. He had once compared them to snakes which earned him a snort from Youngjae, but it was the best comparison he could think of. The smooth slither horrified him.
“Yongguk?” His voice sounded hoarse in the darkness. The words could barely come up his throat. No matter how many of the monsters he had seen it was always terrifying.
He backed towards Yongguk’s sleeping form and roughly shook him awake. “Shh.” He put his finger to his lips as soon as Yongguk’s eyes flew open, hands immediately flying to his gun. Jongup pointed to the window, the boy’s making their way over to peer outside.
“How many?”
“I only see the one.”
They quietly watched her, both boys barely daring to breathe for fear she would hear the very air leaving their lungs. As she slowly made her way down the street another flash of movement caught Yongguk’s eye and he tugged on Jongup’s shirt motioning his head to the side.
Before the woman knew what was happening a man was on top of her, teeth ripping into her flesh. Jongup gasped and backed away, not wanting to see the blood pouring out of her over the concrete. Even though the windows were shut they could still hear her wails loud in their ears.
“This part of the city isn’t safe.” Yongguk whispered, eyes unable to move from the sight outside. “We need to get in and get out as quickly as possible.” He suddenly had a moment of regret and wondered if he had made a mistake coming here and bringing Jongup with him. He didn’t want another boy’s death on his conscious.
The woman’s screams finally faded away but Jongup knew they would be stuck in his head for future nightmares. He had been sheltered from the killing side of the world for so long because Youngjae preferred doing it himself knowing it upset Jongup to see it. That isn’t to say he hadn’t killed one, he had. Several. But it took Youngjae weeks of hearing Jongup’s vocal nightmares after each one to decide for the both of them that he was in charge of disposal from now on.
“I could probably shoot him right now and he’d never even feel it.” Yongguk muttered, turning his fingers into a gun. “Bang and you’re dead.”
Jongup leaned his head against the wall, trying to push the faint feeling out of his skull. “You’d alert all of them we were here. There’d be nowhere for us to hide.”
“I know. That sucks. God, he’s still going at it. This must be why they don’t like to form groups. They could attack each other at any moment.”
He didn’t want to think about the man still pulling chunks of skin and muscle off the woman’s body. They were going to have to walk by the aftermath tomorrow when they left and that was enough to make his stomach roll.
“Try to get some rest, Jongup. I’m too keyed up to sleep again. Sunrise should be here in a few hours anyways.”
There was no way he would be able to sleep without screaming through his dreams. But he could rest, that was something he had perfected over the last few years. Lying motionless with his eyes closed and arms crossed across his body. Youngjae told him he looked like a corpse but for Jongup it helped clear his mind. Himchan had caught him once and called it meditating. He liked that word. It sounded important.
By the time he had meditated the woman’s voice out of his head and pushed the image of her flesh being torn off in strips away, it was an hour past sunrise and Yongguk figured they should be trying to head out.
“We need to be back home by nightfall so we’ve probably only got a couple of hours, three at the most to search. I was hoping for more but I don’t want to risk being stuck here again tonight.” He shuddered. “Not after watching what happened earlier.”
They left quietly, trying to walk back to back across the street was difficult, but they felt safer being able to see from all angles. Jongup kept his head held high when they passed the fly covered body. He could smell the foul stench but refused to look, listening to Yongguk’s quiet murmurs of where to step to ignore it.
“The hospital’s front door is smashed.” Yongguk sounded disappointed but he had to expect that after three years the building with the most drugs was going to be pretty ransacked. “Let’s head to the pharmacy first. Himchan said it’s on the first floor near the entrance.”
The bodies in the lobby were so decayed that they no longer smelled or even resembled humans anymore so Jongup had an easier time dealing with them. When they saw the pharmacy Yongguk let out a mournful whimper at the sight. It was obvious that it had been emptied long ago, the shelves completely bare and covered in thick dust.
“There’s more places in here to search.” He told Yongguk sympathetically. “They keep medicine in other spots than just here.” Not to mention the other finds they might get their hands on: bandages, topical ointments, boxes of sterile gloves. Jongup was hoping for a goldmine somewhere in the hospital.
Yongguk nodded. “You’re right. We can’t waste time. Let’s head up to the intensive care floor. They probably had the stronger stuff up there.”
They moved very slowly, their eyes scanning back and forth for any sign of movement or trouble. The intensive care unit was three floors above them and they refused to stop and check any of the other ones on their way. Time was slipping by faster and faster and Jongup never wanted to be home and safe in the apartment more than he did at this very moment. The hospital was too quiet, too still. He didn’t trust it.
“Here.” Yongguk turned the corner with his gun raised. “I think we’re clear. Let’s do a search and get out of here. I have a bad feeling, Jongup.”
They both did. Jongup’s stomach was twisted tight and sweat was pooling in the small of his back as he waded through every drawer and closet he could find. The feeling didn’t go away even when they found an unopened bottle of ibuprofen and a small package of cough drops.
All of the rooms were empty. No matter where they searched they kept coming back to each other with empty hands and slowly dimming hopes.
“This is a bust.” Yongguk slumped down in a tattered computer chair and buried his head in his hands. “All this way for some headache medicine and throat lozenges.”
Jongup wiped his wet forehead with the back of his hand and leaned over the main desk. “Well those things are useful at least. And we tried, Yongguk. That’s all we can do.”
Yongguk lifted his head to agree when his eyes widened and he shot out of his chair shooting his gun right overtop of Jongup’s shoulder. “Get down!”
He twisted around as he ducked, the snarling woman behind him already crumpling to the ground from Yongguk’s good aim.
“What the-“
“Come on!” Yongguk grabbed his wrist and jerked Jongup behind him, their guns raised high in the air as they walked back to back towards the staircase. “Jesus Christ! She was just above your head, Jongup!”
He didn’t want to think about his close call. If he was going to get that close to one of them then it was going to be with his brother, not some mangled version of what used to be a middle-aged woman.
Yongguk kept panting under his breath, the adrenaline pouring through his veins and keeping him alert. “We have to get out of here. Let’s get out on the street and start running. If there’s more they can’t be very fast. They’re all tired and hungry and not near as in shape as us. Plus it’s daytime and that makes them weaker.” They made it to the wide open door of the hospital with no more spotting’s, but neither of them were stupid to think they were in the clear yet. Three zombies in the area meant there the place was crawling with them.
“You ready?” Jongup nodded and took his spot to Yongguk’s side as the older man counted down from three before they burst out into the street and took off at a run, Yongguk’s pistol already firing a half a dozen rounds before they had even made it halfway down the block. “God, they’re everywhere!”
Jongup cocked his shotgun and blew the one nearest to him away but quickly realized his gun was too slow for what he needed it for. The shotgun was good for one on one combat because of its power, but they needed quick right now. He shoved it into Yongguk’s hands and fumbled around behind him trying to get his backpack unzipped, clothes and spare water bottles falling behind him in a trail. He finally got his handgun out and took the lead, letting Yongguk calm down and save some of his bullets.
“Not playing nicely!” An older man, still pudgy around the middle so not turned for very long, chastised him after Jongup missed and caught him in the shoulder instead of the head. “Little boys should respect their elders!”
He ran past him, not even slowing to let go of another precious bullet. The wound would become infected soon and take of him anyways.
A rock whizzed past his face coming just inches from slamming him in the temple and he could hear someone braying with laughter from somewhere up above them.
“This place was infested with them, Jongup! How did we miss them last night?” Yongguk took aim at a woman charging towards them from the side, knocking her to the ground with one shot. “Run faster!”
They could see a group collecting up ahead and Jongup knew there was no way they could make it through them all. There had to be at least a dozen blocking the street and if he calculated right then they only had about ten bullets left between them.
“What do we do?” They stopped a short distance away and huddled together. If they went down a side street they risked the chance of getting lost and god knows what else they would encounter. Oddly enough he didn’t feel as terrified as Yongguk looked. His heart was pounding from the exertion but he was calmly evaluating what they could learn from the infected. Something was different, this wasn’t how they usually came across the infected.
Yongguk stayed in front, a valiant act but nevertheless worthless. Once the zombies converged on them there would be no point in fighting. They were outnumbered and low on arms.
“They’ve grouped.” Jongup suddenly realized. “This is the first time I’ve seen more than one together without them fighting!”
“What does that mean?”
Jongup watched them as they quietly talked with each other. You wouldn’t even have known they had been turned if you couldn’t see their blood-stained clothes and dirty bare feet from where they stood. “They have a leader.” His heart finally kicked into high gear. “They’ve formed a faction, Yongguk! I told Youngjae this would happen!” He took a step towards them, ignoring Yongguk’s protests. “I’m looking for someone named Daehyun! Have you seen him?”
They went silent, their quiet conversations stalling as they watched him with dull eyes.
“Do any of you know Daehyun?”
“Jongup…” Yongguk sounded frightened beyond his wits behind him. “We have to go a different route. If we get lost at least we’re still alive.”
“Jongup.” Someone in the crowd parroted back to him, their voice high and teasing. “Daehyun’s gonna find Jongup. Gonna drink him dry and make him our brother! Jongup will lead us to the great feast!”
His body jolted in their direction and he could barely feel Yongguk holding him back with a tight grip around his waist. “Stop.” Yongguk tried to sound forceful but his voice shook in Jongup’s ear. “They say whatever they can to get to you, Jongup. “
A little girl, barely big enough for the ragged t-shirt on her thin frame, emerged from the group, her dark eyes wide and pleading. “You will be our brother.” She held out a hand still covered in baby fat to him. “You will lead us to the great feast. Daehyun says his brother will save us.”
“Shit.” Yongguk could see the wanting in Jongup’s eyes and he didn’t know if he was strong enough to hold him back if he tried to break free again. “Whatever he’s told them, it’s not true. Daehyun isn’t the brother you remember. You know that, Jongup. The Daehyun you love isn’t there anymore, don’t listen to the fake one!”
The shotgun was yanked out of his arms and aimed at the monsters slowly stepping towards them, the little girl screeching in pain as she collapsed, her arm blown off at the elbow.
“Run Jongup!” Yongguk pushed him towards a side street and begged him to listen until Jongup’s instincts kicked in and he started to follow. No matter how much he wanted to see his brother he didn’t want to be left alone with the others to do it. A tiny part of him still trusted Daehyun but he could never trust one of them. “Hurry, before they find more and trap us!”
They zigzagged through narrow streets with Yongguk practically holding Jongup up as they ran, his arm around the delirious boy’s waist. “He’s alive, Daehyun is alive, Daehyun is searching for me.” His lips kept mouthing the words but he still couldn’t make his brain believe them. He had been saying for three years that his brother wouldn’t give up on him and Youngjae never listened. Jongup and Daehyun were more than brothers, they were best friends and he knew without a doubt that Daehyun would spend every waking hour trying to find him again. “My brother is alive.” He came to a sudden halt, his shaky hands covering his mouth to hold back the scream.
Yongguk was still looking around in a panic, trying to make sure they hadn’t been followed. “We can talk about this as soon as we get somewhere safe, Jongup. I don’t want to head for home yet, just in case we’re being followed. Let’s find a building far away from the main road and hole up. If Daehyun’s looking for you that hard he’ll have look-outs all over the city.”
He managed a nod before Yongguk had him sprinting again, the gun banging painfully against his thigh without him noticing. There would be a nasty bruise on it when he woke up the next morning but he wouldn’t even remember having hurt it.
The only thing on his mind right now was that his brother was in the same city as him, leading an army just to find him.
The smile that crossed his lips wasn’t seen by Yongguk. It was just for him. Him and his brother.
Part Seven
Rated: PG13
Length: 3.6K
Songs Again
Part Five
“There it is.” Yongguk stopped so suddenly that Jongup ran face-first into his back. “God, it’s huge. We’ll need hours to search through it.”
They both stared up at the massive building, the floors at least twice the square footage of their apartment.
“First somewhere to sleep, Yongguk. We can’t be out in the open like this for much longer.” The sun was sinking lower and lower in the sky. They probably had less than two hours until sunset and being out side in a new area in the dark was asking for it.
He could see that Yongguk didn’t want to just walk away from the building he had been working so hard to reach even if he had to agree it was smarter to wait it out.
“Alright. Which one looks less like a scary nest of monsters to you?”
The first building’s windows were completely shattered all around the first floor so Jongup led them towards another one across the street. “I think this one’s good.” Only a few windows are broken and the front door had a layer of untouched dust piled against it. “It hasn’t been entered in a while. Let’s see if we can get in through the window on the side so no one can tell we’re here.”
They slid through the glass and held their weapons at the ready. “I say second floor so we can stay close to the ground in case we need to make a run for it.”
Jongup agreed and they quickly headed up the stairs. The first door was hanging off the hinges so they bypassed it and stopped at the second. He picked the lock and they entered the small abandoned office. The desk was tipped over on to its side, spilling out piles of folders and loose-leafed papers.
They dragged it over to block the door, giving them an extra cushion of protection.
“I think we’re as safe as we can possibly get here. Should we open the curtains and keep watch or keep them shut try to stay incognito?”
Yongguk peered through the crack in the curtain. “I’d feel safer knowing what was out there. We can do two hours or so apiece and switch off.”
After sharing a can of mixed vegetables and a jar of meat sticks they were still starving and trying to ignore their growling bellies.
“It’s a weird thought, you know?” Yongguk sat back against the wall, his fingers smoothing over a tiny action figure in his hand. Jongup remembered seeing Junhong set it on their dresser when they had moved in. “Knowing that I’m here eating canned carrots while my brother’s dying.”
“You did the best you could. And little brother’s will always worship their older brothers, no matter what.” Jongup’s eyes closed for a second. “Believe me.”
“What would you do if you saw your brother again?” Yongguk watched him seriously.
He smiled, his grin not quite reaching his eyes. “I don’t know. If you had asked me that a year ago I could have answered. But now? Now I don’t know.” Lie, his brain whispered.
“Because of Himchan?”
His throat clenched. “Yeah.” He licked his lips and tried to pull the happy face of the boy he had left behind to the front of his mind. “Because of Himchan.”
---
The first watch went to Yongguk. After claiming to be too full of adrenaline to sleep he ushered Jongup into the corner and pulled off his button-up shirt for him to use as a pillow.
He shook Jongup awake a little later, concern dotting his features. “You were starting to get a little loud. I don’t want to attract the zombies because of your nightmares about the zombies.”
“Sorry.” Jongup croaked, reaching up to make sure his face wasn’t streaked with tears. The other boy was barely visible in the dim room. “I’ll take over. I’m used to running on little sleep so I’ll just stay up the rest of the night.” There was no way he could attempt sleep again without Himchan pressed against him.
Even though Yongguk didn’t look too comfortable falling asleep when he was so close to his goal he knew he needed his rest.
Watch was always boring, but it was a nice change to have new scenery to look at. He spent twenty minutes counting all of the windows he could see and then twice more just to make sure his first count was correct.
Then he sang all of his favorite songs from his childhood in his head. It had been so long since he had heard music.
After the sixth rendition of the same four minute song, he let his mind drift back to their apartment. What would everyone be doing? He knew Youngjae would be on watch duties tonight. The only way he knew how to express his frustration was to throw himself into his work. He was probably staring out the window just like Jongup was, his mind racing through the dozens of ways Jongup and Yongguk could be hurt while they were gone.
Himchan was sleeping. He would be in Yongguk and Junhong’s room. He wouldn’t be able to leave the sick boy by himself. Falling asleep would have been hard for him, worrying about Junhong and Jongup would put a crease in his brow. Jongup’s finger itched with the need to flatten it out, feel the smooth soft skin against his own.
And Junhong…
No, he shook his head. He didn’t want to think about what Junhong was doing right now.
A movement out of the corner of his eye had him jerking upright. His heartbeat was whooshing through his ears as he watched the woman crossing the street below him. Her movements were slick, the predatory walk that Jongup was all too familiar with. He had once compared them to snakes which earned him a snort from Youngjae, but it was the best comparison he could think of. The smooth slither horrified him.
“Yongguk?” His voice sounded hoarse in the darkness. The words could barely come up his throat. No matter how many of the monsters he had seen it was always terrifying.
He backed towards Yongguk’s sleeping form and roughly shook him awake. “Shh.” He put his finger to his lips as soon as Yongguk’s eyes flew open, hands immediately flying to his gun. Jongup pointed to the window, the boy’s making their way over to peer outside.
“How many?”
“I only see the one.”
They quietly watched her, both boys barely daring to breathe for fear she would hear the very air leaving their lungs. As she slowly made her way down the street another flash of movement caught Yongguk’s eye and he tugged on Jongup’s shirt motioning his head to the side.
Before the woman knew what was happening a man was on top of her, teeth ripping into her flesh. Jongup gasped and backed away, not wanting to see the blood pouring out of her over the concrete. Even though the windows were shut they could still hear her wails loud in their ears.
“This part of the city isn’t safe.” Yongguk whispered, eyes unable to move from the sight outside. “We need to get in and get out as quickly as possible.” He suddenly had a moment of regret and wondered if he had made a mistake coming here and bringing Jongup with him. He didn’t want another boy’s death on his conscious.
The woman’s screams finally faded away but Jongup knew they would be stuck in his head for future nightmares. He had been sheltered from the killing side of the world for so long because Youngjae preferred doing it himself knowing it upset Jongup to see it. That isn’t to say he hadn’t killed one, he had. Several. But it took Youngjae weeks of hearing Jongup’s vocal nightmares after each one to decide for the both of them that he was in charge of disposal from now on.
“I could probably shoot him right now and he’d never even feel it.” Yongguk muttered, turning his fingers into a gun. “Bang and you’re dead.”
Jongup leaned his head against the wall, trying to push the faint feeling out of his skull. “You’d alert all of them we were here. There’d be nowhere for us to hide.”
“I know. That sucks. God, he’s still going at it. This must be why they don’t like to form groups. They could attack each other at any moment.”
He didn’t want to think about the man still pulling chunks of skin and muscle off the woman’s body. They were going to have to walk by the aftermath tomorrow when they left and that was enough to make his stomach roll.
“Try to get some rest, Jongup. I’m too keyed up to sleep again. Sunrise should be here in a few hours anyways.”
There was no way he would be able to sleep without screaming through his dreams. But he could rest, that was something he had perfected over the last few years. Lying motionless with his eyes closed and arms crossed across his body. Youngjae told him he looked like a corpse but for Jongup it helped clear his mind. Himchan had caught him once and called it meditating. He liked that word. It sounded important.
By the time he had meditated the woman’s voice out of his head and pushed the image of her flesh being torn off in strips away, it was an hour past sunrise and Yongguk figured they should be trying to head out.
“We need to be back home by nightfall so we’ve probably only got a couple of hours, three at the most to search. I was hoping for more but I don’t want to risk being stuck here again tonight.” He shuddered. “Not after watching what happened earlier.”
They left quietly, trying to walk back to back across the street was difficult, but they felt safer being able to see from all angles. Jongup kept his head held high when they passed the fly covered body. He could smell the foul stench but refused to look, listening to Yongguk’s quiet murmurs of where to step to ignore it.
“The hospital’s front door is smashed.” Yongguk sounded disappointed but he had to expect that after three years the building with the most drugs was going to be pretty ransacked. “Let’s head to the pharmacy first. Himchan said it’s on the first floor near the entrance.”
The bodies in the lobby were so decayed that they no longer smelled or even resembled humans anymore so Jongup had an easier time dealing with them. When they saw the pharmacy Yongguk let out a mournful whimper at the sight. It was obvious that it had been emptied long ago, the shelves completely bare and covered in thick dust.
“There’s more places in here to search.” He told Yongguk sympathetically. “They keep medicine in other spots than just here.” Not to mention the other finds they might get their hands on: bandages, topical ointments, boxes of sterile gloves. Jongup was hoping for a goldmine somewhere in the hospital.
Yongguk nodded. “You’re right. We can’t waste time. Let’s head up to the intensive care floor. They probably had the stronger stuff up there.”
They moved very slowly, their eyes scanning back and forth for any sign of movement or trouble. The intensive care unit was three floors above them and they refused to stop and check any of the other ones on their way. Time was slipping by faster and faster and Jongup never wanted to be home and safe in the apartment more than he did at this very moment. The hospital was too quiet, too still. He didn’t trust it.
“Here.” Yongguk turned the corner with his gun raised. “I think we’re clear. Let’s do a search and get out of here. I have a bad feeling, Jongup.”
They both did. Jongup’s stomach was twisted tight and sweat was pooling in the small of his back as he waded through every drawer and closet he could find. The feeling didn’t go away even when they found an unopened bottle of ibuprofen and a small package of cough drops.
All of the rooms were empty. No matter where they searched they kept coming back to each other with empty hands and slowly dimming hopes.
“This is a bust.” Yongguk slumped down in a tattered computer chair and buried his head in his hands. “All this way for some headache medicine and throat lozenges.”
Jongup wiped his wet forehead with the back of his hand and leaned over the main desk. “Well those things are useful at least. And we tried, Yongguk. That’s all we can do.”
Yongguk lifted his head to agree when his eyes widened and he shot out of his chair shooting his gun right overtop of Jongup’s shoulder. “Get down!”
He twisted around as he ducked, the snarling woman behind him already crumpling to the ground from Yongguk’s good aim.
“What the-“
“Come on!” Yongguk grabbed his wrist and jerked Jongup behind him, their guns raised high in the air as they walked back to back towards the staircase. “Jesus Christ! She was just above your head, Jongup!”
He didn’t want to think about his close call. If he was going to get that close to one of them then it was going to be with his brother, not some mangled version of what used to be a middle-aged woman.
Yongguk kept panting under his breath, the adrenaline pouring through his veins and keeping him alert. “We have to get out of here. Let’s get out on the street and start running. If there’s more they can’t be very fast. They’re all tired and hungry and not near as in shape as us. Plus it’s daytime and that makes them weaker.” They made it to the wide open door of the hospital with no more spotting’s, but neither of them were stupid to think they were in the clear yet. Three zombies in the area meant there the place was crawling with them.
“You ready?” Jongup nodded and took his spot to Yongguk’s side as the older man counted down from three before they burst out into the street and took off at a run, Yongguk’s pistol already firing a half a dozen rounds before they had even made it halfway down the block. “God, they’re everywhere!”
Jongup cocked his shotgun and blew the one nearest to him away but quickly realized his gun was too slow for what he needed it for. The shotgun was good for one on one combat because of its power, but they needed quick right now. He shoved it into Yongguk’s hands and fumbled around behind him trying to get his backpack unzipped, clothes and spare water bottles falling behind him in a trail. He finally got his handgun out and took the lead, letting Yongguk calm down and save some of his bullets.
“Not playing nicely!” An older man, still pudgy around the middle so not turned for very long, chastised him after Jongup missed and caught him in the shoulder instead of the head. “Little boys should respect their elders!”
He ran past him, not even slowing to let go of another precious bullet. The wound would become infected soon and take of him anyways.
A rock whizzed past his face coming just inches from slamming him in the temple and he could hear someone braying with laughter from somewhere up above them.
“This place was infested with them, Jongup! How did we miss them last night?” Yongguk took aim at a woman charging towards them from the side, knocking her to the ground with one shot. “Run faster!”
They could see a group collecting up ahead and Jongup knew there was no way they could make it through them all. There had to be at least a dozen blocking the street and if he calculated right then they only had about ten bullets left between them.
“What do we do?” They stopped a short distance away and huddled together. If they went down a side street they risked the chance of getting lost and god knows what else they would encounter. Oddly enough he didn’t feel as terrified as Yongguk looked. His heart was pounding from the exertion but he was calmly evaluating what they could learn from the infected. Something was different, this wasn’t how they usually came across the infected.
Yongguk stayed in front, a valiant act but nevertheless worthless. Once the zombies converged on them there would be no point in fighting. They were outnumbered and low on arms.
“They’ve grouped.” Jongup suddenly realized. “This is the first time I’ve seen more than one together without them fighting!”
“What does that mean?”
Jongup watched them as they quietly talked with each other. You wouldn’t even have known they had been turned if you couldn’t see their blood-stained clothes and dirty bare feet from where they stood. “They have a leader.” His heart finally kicked into high gear. “They’ve formed a faction, Yongguk! I told Youngjae this would happen!” He took a step towards them, ignoring Yongguk’s protests. “I’m looking for someone named Daehyun! Have you seen him?”
They went silent, their quiet conversations stalling as they watched him with dull eyes.
“Do any of you know Daehyun?”
“Jongup…” Yongguk sounded frightened beyond his wits behind him. “We have to go a different route. If we get lost at least we’re still alive.”
“Jongup.” Someone in the crowd parroted back to him, their voice high and teasing. “Daehyun’s gonna find Jongup. Gonna drink him dry and make him our brother! Jongup will lead us to the great feast!”
His body jolted in their direction and he could barely feel Yongguk holding him back with a tight grip around his waist. “Stop.” Yongguk tried to sound forceful but his voice shook in Jongup’s ear. “They say whatever they can to get to you, Jongup. “
A little girl, barely big enough for the ragged t-shirt on her thin frame, emerged from the group, her dark eyes wide and pleading. “You will be our brother.” She held out a hand still covered in baby fat to him. “You will lead us to the great feast. Daehyun says his brother will save us.”
“Shit.” Yongguk could see the wanting in Jongup’s eyes and he didn’t know if he was strong enough to hold him back if he tried to break free again. “Whatever he’s told them, it’s not true. Daehyun isn’t the brother you remember. You know that, Jongup. The Daehyun you love isn’t there anymore, don’t listen to the fake one!”
The shotgun was yanked out of his arms and aimed at the monsters slowly stepping towards them, the little girl screeching in pain as she collapsed, her arm blown off at the elbow.
“Run Jongup!” Yongguk pushed him towards a side street and begged him to listen until Jongup’s instincts kicked in and he started to follow. No matter how much he wanted to see his brother he didn’t want to be left alone with the others to do it. A tiny part of him still trusted Daehyun but he could never trust one of them. “Hurry, before they find more and trap us!”
They zigzagged through narrow streets with Yongguk practically holding Jongup up as they ran, his arm around the delirious boy’s waist. “He’s alive, Daehyun is alive, Daehyun is searching for me.” His lips kept mouthing the words but he still couldn’t make his brain believe them. He had been saying for three years that his brother wouldn’t give up on him and Youngjae never listened. Jongup and Daehyun were more than brothers, they were best friends and he knew without a doubt that Daehyun would spend every waking hour trying to find him again. “My brother is alive.” He came to a sudden halt, his shaky hands covering his mouth to hold back the scream.
Yongguk was still looking around in a panic, trying to make sure they hadn’t been followed. “We can talk about this as soon as we get somewhere safe, Jongup. I don’t want to head for home yet, just in case we’re being followed. Let’s find a building far away from the main road and hole up. If Daehyun’s looking for you that hard he’ll have look-outs all over the city.”
He managed a nod before Yongguk had him sprinting again, the gun banging painfully against his thigh without him noticing. There would be a nasty bruise on it when he woke up the next morning but he wouldn’t even remember having hurt it.
The only thing on his mind right now was that his brother was in the same city as him, leading an army just to find him.
The smile that crossed his lips wasn’t seen by Yongguk. It was just for him. Him and his brother.
Part Seven