Chapter 5

(Solo Days)

Jungkook’s Point of View    

The amount of stress that I had gone through in the last month is enough to shorten my life by 20 years.

It all started when I was separated from my friends. The government came to get us and bring us to the safe house, which was a load of crap, by the way, but I only figured out something was wrong when they shoved Taehyung, Hoseok, Jimin, and Yoongi in two other vans, separate from mine. When I tried to ask questions and get to my friends, the dude with me in the van slammed his gun against my head, knocking me out cold.

So much for hospitality, right? I’m pretty sure I got my first wrinkle during that car ride.

After that, I woke up in a house in southern Florida with two guys I’ve never seen in my life. This didn’t do a hell of a lot to reassure me. Both were older than me, but completely incompetent. I had no idea how they survived this long. Neither knew how to fight, or shoot a gun, and they both refused to kill any zombies. I was the only one in the group with the slightest idea of what to do, so they put me in charge, which was a total one-eighty from what I was used to.

They would always ask me questions like: “Jungkook, how do you shoot this gun?”, or “Jungkook, why do you kill the zombies? They were people, too.” or even, “Jungkook, how do you know your friends are in Minnesota?”

The nerve of the last question always put on me on edge. I knew they were in Minnesota, because that’s where Jin and Namjoon are. It was an unspoken rule that if we ever got separated, we were supposed to go to Minnesota. But the sheltered idiots I was stuck with couldn’t seem to understand that.

Needless to say, they didn’t last long. I tried my hardest to keep them alive, but there’s only so much one guy can do, especially when they wouldn’t help me fight back. They refused to kill the zombies, right up until they joined them. They only lasted until a couple days before both were overrun by runners. There was nothing I could do. I had to keep myself alive, first and foremost, until I could find my friends.

Once both of them were dead, I was left all alone to fend for myself. It was easy at first, without their dead weight dragging me down, and I could move a lot faster without them, but as time passed, it got harder. It was lonely, and some days, I thought I was going to lose my freaking mind.

After another few days of traveling, I came across a truck that had the keys in it and enough gas to make it to the next station. That made the going a lot easier,but without having to worry about zombies attacking me, my thoughts started to wander more and more. I was worried about my friends. Even if I did make it to Minnesota, there was no guarantee I would find them, or that they would be alive. The thought was driving me insane. We’re practically brothers! It was painful not knowing if they are alive or dead.

Then, as if my prayers had been answered, I came across a burnt down gas station. While there was practically nothing left, there was one thing that caught my eye: a giant V painted in the parking lot. I leapt out of my truck to go take a closer look. I felt like crying. V was the nickname we gave to Taehyung. There was no other person who would leave a V like that. He was alive, and he had been there. Others could be with him, too. Maybe more of our friends.

Seeing the V fueled my drive to continue on. It gave me something to fight for. I found it easier to ignore the horrible things that had happened now that I had an end goal. I had to find another V, something to show me I was on the right path. Soon enough, I started to find several them on random buildings. It seemed like he painted one every time he stopped, leaving me a trail of breadcrumbs.  

Days passed as I followed the trail of V’s. It seemed like Taehyung had the same plan as me and was heading towards Minnesota. I could only hope the others were doing the same.

After one excruciatingly long day, I wanted to stop and get some rest. The zombies had slowed me down considerably, and I had minor injuries in several places. I had to stop somewhere to patch myself up, and catch some much needed sleep.

As I was driving on the highway, I passed through a quiet area of suburban houses. Most of them had broken windows, or doors thrown open and abandoned. I slowed down, wondering if there was one that would be safe enough for me to stop at. As I drove, I saw another one of Taehyung’s markers. It was painted on a garage-- a large red V that was impossible to miss. The paint didn’t look worn at all-- maybe they were just here.

The house attached to the garage was nice, and one of the few that looked like it still had all of its windows and doors intact. Upon entering, I could tell that somebody was here recently. Some of the house looked like it had been ransacked, but the main rooms such as the kitchen and living room looked okay.

It actually looked like several people had been here. Maybe Taehyung was still with his group. Maybe I knew them. Maybe they were my other friends. There was no way of knowing, since the V was my only clue. But I really, really wanted to find out.  

Thoughts like these raced through my mind every day after discovering the first V, but upon finding this house, they practically pounded against the walls of my skull. I was catching up to them. I was close. Part of me wanted to get back in my truck and keep going, but I knew it would be ridiculous. I needed sleep, and my wounds were starting to throb. If I was going to catch up to them, I had to be in one piece.

After looking around the house for a bit, I went into the kitchen to find some food. Dirty pots and pans littered the stove.  

How rude. They didn’t even do the dishes for me.

I opened the dusty cupboards to find two packages of ramen left, hidden behind a few cans of prunes, which I ignored. At least they left me something. I have to ration it, so one package was for dinner and one would be for breakfast. This would be the best I’ve eaten in days.

The ramen was delicious, bringing back memories of home and the friends I’d been separated from. Jin was a great chef, but I always made the best ramen. I made it just right, the way everyone liked it. Jin said it was another of my many talents. I mean, my friends didn’t call me the golden maknae (youngest) for nothing.

After eating, I retreated to the living room to bandage myself up. I got in a scrape with a few zombies when they snuck up on me at the last gas station. I wasn’t bit, thankfully, but I had bruises and shallow cuts running up and down my arms and legs. I pulled a few bandaids and a pack of antiseptic wipes from my bag, and started checking cleaning myself up. The wipes stung, and my entire body ached with exhaustion, but it needed to be done.

Finally patched up, I sat on one the couches and leaned into the cushions. I was physically exhausted, but my mind was running a mile a minute. I couldn’t stop thinking that Taehyung had been here, in this very room, only days ago. I was so close now. I’d catch up soon, and everything would get better from there. It had to.

I take a deep breath, turning on my side and pressing my face into the cushion to block out the lights I left on in the kitchen. There was a faint smell on the fabric, too new to have been from the previous owners, but nothing like Taehyung’s. The smell that filled my nose was of soap and something light and flowery. I couldn’t identify whose smell it was, but it smelled good.

I buried my face deeper into the cushion, so that I could surround myself with the smell. Whoever’s smell this was, it was intoxicating. It was so human, so different from what I’ve become used to. I want so badly to find who it belongs to. I haven’t seen another person in so long, I could feel the ache for conversation and touch like a physical hole in my chest.

I sat up abruptly, tearing myself away from the smell. I could feel tears threatening to fall. I’ve been so lonely for the past month that I forgot what other humans looked, smelled, and sounded like. The only thing that pushes me is the fact that I may see my friends again if I continue on.

I lightly slapped myself, trying to snap out of it.