Chapter 16

(Battle Pt. 3)

Desi's Point of View

I fell through the floor, trying to grab something to hold onto, anything to keep me from going over. But there was nothing, so naturally, I kicked the big zombie in the face, and accepted my fate.

The explosion had completely disintegrated the floor I'd been standing on with the pack of zombies. Massive metal supports, already weakened from neglect and disuse, collapsed under the pressure, and the concrete and wood, well… let's just say that stuff never stood a chance. The edges of the hole were jagged and smoking hot, and they left scrapes and burns along my side. I heard a rip as I fell, and felt something sharp slash across my ribs.

Goddammit. This was my favorite jacket.

The zombie released my ankle as we fell. He reeled back, his jaw hanging at a funny angle from my kick. We plummeted to the floor below, but to my surprise, we didn't stop there. The blast had apparently not only destroyed our floor, but the floor below us.

Honestly, what the was in those grenades? And why the hell did Taehyung always throw them in my direction? I needed to have a serious chat with that kid. My face and my body couldn't take any more beatings than they already had.

We hit the the sixth floor hard. The wind was knocked from my lungs, and pain exploded through my body. The fall might have killed me, but somehow I'd managed to fall right above the big zombie, and I used him as a landing pad. I had to say, he was pretty effective, but I still felt like hell in a handbag.

I rolled off of him and onto my side, gasping for breath. My vision was spotty and I had a metallic taste in the back of my throat. My neck and back ached. I couldn't draw a full breath. Every movement sent a burst of fire through my limbs.

I gritted my teeth and rolled onto my stomach. All I wanted to do was lay down for a few hours-- or maybe days. But I knew the others would be looking for me, and let's be real, the idiots would be lost without me. I couldn't give up so easily.

With a grunt, I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees. My muscles shook, and the room began to spin. I froze. I thought for a second that my arms might collapse, but they didn't. I stayed upright, and took in a deep breath.

Okay. That was a good start. I shook my head and squeezed my eyes shut. If the room would stop spinning, I could start looking for a way out of this freaking place. That was my number one priority. I had to find my friends.

As I got to my feet, slowly, so my muscles wouldn't collapse on me, I heard a groan coming from behind me. It was quickly joined by a second, and then a third.

Goddammit. Why were these bastards so hard to kill sometimes?

I turned around and reached for my gun. My fingers met an empty holster, and I swore loudly. I must have dropped it when I fell. And my backup was in my bag, which I spotted across the room when I turned to face the zombies left in the room.

Thankfully, I had a large hunting knife strapped to my belt. I quickly yanked it free of its sheath, and moved toward the nearest zombie. Much to my delight, the big guy was first on my list. This was going to be sweet, sweet revenge. I would teach this bastard not to mess with Desi.

I limped over to him as pain burned through my joints. He was still sprawled out on the ground, his jaw broken, and one arm tucked beneath him at an unnatural angle. His legs were snapped, having taken the brunt of both of our falls, and leaving him mostly immobile. He was on his stomach, his good hand stretching out to claw in my direction and his bloodshot eyes rolling in fury.

I stood over him for a moment, just out of arm's reach. Then I leaned over, and stabbed my knife through the base of his skull. Black blood bubbled out from the wound and the zombie jerked once before going still. I yanked my knife back out and wiped it clean on his ratty shirt, and moved on.

There were only two more zombies in the room, both pretty messed up from the fall, and the blast. Even feeling like crap, it wasn't hard for me to deal with them. Once they were dead, I headed for the nearest staircase, hoping Taehyung, Hoseok, and Jungkook would be able to get over to it around the blast site.

I snatched my backpack from where it had landed in an old trashcan on the other side of the room, and finally found my gun lying close to the door. I almost kissed it I was so happy to have it back. Once I made sure I was reloaded and ready to go, I hobbled into the stairwell. I put a hand to my side, which was still stinging from whatever had cut me during the fall. When I pulled my hand away it came back slick with blood, though it wasn't much. I'd had worse, but this still hurt like a .

The stairwell was quiet again, apart from the distant of zombies coming from more of the floors above me. I suspected that only a handful of the ones from upstairs had made it down in time for the battle-- mainly runners-- and the rest were probably on their way down. I wanted to call out to my friends, but I didn't dare. I couldn't risk being heard if there were more zombies running around nearby, and I also hadn't quite gotten all of my breath back yet.

Red exit signs illuminated the steps enough for me to creep upward quietly. It was an internal battle not to cuss every time I took a step. The pain had finally caught up to me as my adrenaline started to wear off, and I was feeling a lot more banged up than I had originally thought.

Above me, I heard a door creak open. Several footsteps pounded into the stairwell, shoes slapping against the pavement and heavy breathing amplified in the small space. I looked up and froze, squinting as I listened harder. They didn't sound like zombies, but I had to be safe. I lifted my gun, and waited.

“How far down did it go? I didn't see her on the floor below us, or even the one below that! Please ing tell me that that grenade didn't blow up three floors and you let Desi get--”

“It was an accident! I thought she was farther away! The grenade wasn't supposed to be that strong!”

“Guys, shut up. We need to find her, now. And I swear to god if she's hurt, Taehyung, I will rip you to pieces.”

“It was an accident, Jungkook! She's had worse! I'm sure she's fine!”

I sighed in relief and lowered my gun as I listened to the hissed argument. They made it. They got back to the stairwell. Thank God. I tucked my gun into my waistband and leaned against the wall, exhausted and aching.

Their footsteps pounded closer to me, closing the distance in a matter of seconds as they argued quietly. They came into view a few moments later, and I finally opened my mouth to speak.

“I can hear you, you idiots,” I said.

The three of them froze in place, just a few steps above me. Their faces were bathed in red light, and their eyes were wide in shock. Taehyung and Hoseok breathed in a collective gasp of surprise. I smiled. And winced, too, but I hoped they didn't notice that as much.

“Desi?” Hoseok gaped, his eyes automatically welling up with tears. I smiled wider and lifted my arms, despite the ache it sent through my side.

“You're alive!” Taehyung cried happily, his face lighting up in a grin. He didn't look guilty in the slightest, but he did look happy to see me, so I couldn't really hold it against him.

“Yep! You'll have to try harder than that to kill me!” I joked. That one seemed to get him. His expression turned sheepish and he reached up to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. He glanced at me through his eyelashes, trying to look sweet and innocent, though I didn't buy it for a second. “Sorry about that,” he giggled nervously. I made a face at him and turned to look at Jungkook. He met my eyes, his expression unreadable. I raised an eyebrow at him.

Without a word, Jungkook leapt down the last couple of stairs and launched himself at me, nearly sending us both crashing into the wall. His wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest. I could feel his heart pounding through his shirt. I blinked in surprise. Was he actually… scared? His arms tightened around me and he buried his face in my hair. My chest grew warm and I leaned into him, reaching up to hug him back just as tightly.

“Desi,” he choked out. His breath was warm against my neck and it sent a shiver down my spine. I rubbed his back gently, wincing in pain as his arms crushed my already sore ribs. Honestly, I couldn't have cared less. It just felt so nice to have him hold me.

He pulled back quickly, his hands on my shoulders as he peered down at me, searching for visible injuries. “Are you okay? What the were you thinking? Why didn't you run?” He asked, giving me a slight shake. I rolled my eyes and mourned the loss of our sudden ‘moment.’ I threw up my hands in frustration.

“Well, how was I supposed to know Taehyung was throwing grenades at me? It's not my fault he blew the floor up! And then there was this big zombie, who--”

“Okay, seriously, you two can fight like an old married couple later. Right now, we need to get the hell out of here!” Hoseok interrupted. He glanced over his shoulder at the stairs, like he expected another horde to come racing down after us. Jungkook and I glared at each other.

Hoseok hopped down the stairs and grabbed Jungkook by the arm, and tugged at him. “Come on, let's go!” He said impatiently. The younger boy huffed, but did as he was told and started down the stairs. The two walked quickly down the stairs, leaving me alone with Taehyung. I looked up at him and he stared at me, wide-eyed and grinning. I glared.

“I ain't done with you yet, either!” I snapped. Taehyung yelped, and took off down the stairs after the others, giggling uncontrollably. I followed behind them, cursing with every step as pain lanced through me.

God, I hated grenades.

The four of us reached the first floor again in under a minute. It was louder this time, not so eerie. More zombies must have been drawn in by the sounds of us shooting and blowing things up, and come running, or shuffling, I guess, in search of food. The sound was coming from up ahead, where the first horde had been hiding out.

Well, I guessed that meant that the West entrance was a no-go. It would be totally blocked off by zombies. No way to get through now. We just had to hope that the bastards stayed on this side, so we could find another exit instead.

Hoseok led us back the way we came, until we reached a side hallway with a big sign that read: “South Entrance” with a big arrow pointing to the left. We all paused for a moment and exchanged a look. We had no better options, and I could hear more and more zombies moving into the building behind us. If we didn't move fast, we'd be dead meat before we could even get out of this stupid building.

“It's better than nothing!” I said, pushing past the others. I limped down the hallway as fast as I can, and Jungkook jogged up beside me as we zig-zagged our way through the dark hallway. We followed the signs as best as we could, since a lot of them had been destroyed over time, but we came up with a lot of dead ends and had to turn around at least six times. I was surprised we hadn't been eaten yet, but also relieved.

As we jogged down another hallway, Jungkook reached out and slipped his hand into mine. He glanced at me, his expression worried and uncertain. I raised an eyebrow at him, but he didn't say anything, just squeezed my hand. I gripped his hand tightly, trying to stifle my smile.

We ran on, working our way out of the creepy building. I was ready to kiss the pavement if we ever got outside at this point. But then again, I'd probably get some nasty disease and die as soon as we reached the stupid safe house. Behind us, the zombies were shuffling ever closer. It sounded like we had accumulated a freaking mob at this point, and I really hoped we didn't run into any more dead ends.