The sunrays beat mercilessly down on the desert sand.

The air is dry, hot, and silent.

The desert cacti and other plants offer little in the way of shade, and the animals have all retreated to their underground dens to escape the heat.

Or, perhaps they’re hiding from something else.

I drag myself through the desert, praying to find refuge soon. It’s been over a day since I’ve been lost in this sandy hell, and the only signs of life I’ve seen are lizards and the occasional jackrabbit. Surely there has to be a town nearby.

At least, that’s what I keep telling myself, with every hour that passes without any hint of civilization.

    “This is it. I’m going to die out here.” I tell myself out loud, when the sun begins to set and I’ve yet to make any progress finding shelter. However, as the setting sun lowers in the sky, the rays catch something in the distance. I squint to try and make out what could be reflecting the sunlight, but it’s just out of my vision. I decide to head toward whatever it could be. At the least, it could be a broken bottle, which would mean that there’s a town or something nearby, right? And at the most...well, I don’t want to get my hopes up too much.

    I try to reach the glittering light in the distance before the sun buries itself behind the hills and my direction is lost, and adrenaline gives me the strength to push forward. Finally I climb a barren hill, and stare at the sight ahead.

    It’s a house. A ramshackle, old brick house. The sun must have been glinting off the broken window, and I sigh because it looks like it’s been abandoned for decades. I decide to check it out anyway, because at least it could offer shelter from the sweltering desert sun. Every part of me is exhausted as I approach the house, and twist the doorknob, swinging the door wide open.

    Five pairs of eyes stare at me as I stand in the doorway. Am I hallucinating? Was I so desperate to find other humans that I was imagining to just happen on a house in the middle of the desert, miraculously inhabited by other people? There’s no way this could be real.

    I start to sway back and forth, either with exhaustion, frustration, or relief, I don’t know, and the people jumped up from their seats to steady me. They lead me to a couch, and sit me down. I think somebody shouted at someone else to fetch some food and water, but I’m not sure. All I know is that someone kept repeating, “What is your name? What is your name?” Over and over, and I managed to reply with, “Jimin… Park Jimin…” Before sliding into darkness.

I wake up the next morning with a dull headache. As I blink my eyes open and sit up, I notice that I was in the house from before, lying on the couch. So it hadn’t been a dream.

    “Hey, hey he’s awake.” I hear someone say. Looking around, I can see a handsome blonde man walking over to me with a dark haired man trailing after him.

    “Taehyung, go grab some food.” The first said, and the other, whose name is apparently Taehyung, runs out of view for a moment. The first guy sits next to me on the couch, and hands me a water bottle.

    “Thanks.” I drink the water in large gulps, aware that I hadn’t had anything to drink in days.

    “You said your name is Jimin, right? I’m Jin.” The man says, and I nod at him. When Taehyung returns with a can of beans, I eagerly accept the food, even though I’m really not that fond of beans. As I’m eating, Taehyung introduces himself, and leans against the wall across from the couch.

    “I thought there were more of you?” I ask in between mouthfuls.

    “There are five of us. Yoongi, Namjoon, and Hoseok are out getting lunch. They should be back any time now. You know, you really scared us. You just fainted like that, then you slept straight through the night and all morning. We thought you might have had a concussion or something.” Jin says. I smile at his concern.

    “Nah, I’m Park Jimin. I’m always fine.” I say lightheartedly, making Taehyung chuckle.

    “So, what’s your story?” Taehyung asks. Jin shoots him a sharp glance, but Taehyung doesn’t notice and continues talking.

    “My family was overseas when it happened. I was never able to get a hold of them, but I know they’re okay. I just know it. I’ll find them when this is all over.” He says, his voice confident. My heart hurts for him, I understand what it was like to be worried about your loved ones, not knowing whether or not they’re safe.

    Then again, everyone nowadays knows that feeling.

    “I um… I just…” I start, stuttering.

    “You don’t have to tell us anything if you don’t want to.” Jin interjects. I nod in relief, and curl up in the corner of the couch, continuing to eat. After a minute or two Jin and Taehyung remove themselves from the living area, and busy themselves with straightening up the small house.

    “How did you guys find this place?” I ask to the empty room, expecting Jin or Taehyung to come back in and keep me company. However, instead, the front door swings open and the missing three fill into the room.

    “Same way you did.” One of the taller ones says, carrying something...furry? In one of his hands. He walks down the hallway, but the other two stay in the living room.

    “He’s awake!” One of them exclaims, and basically leaps over the other furniture in the room to sit next to me. He smiles happily, a blinding, toothy smile. I’m at a loss for words for a minute, when the last guy, who was a bit shorter than the rest, attempts to shoo the other one away.

    “Scoot back, Hoseok, I think you’re scaring him.”

    “No I’m not, he’s perfectly fine!” Hoseok says, then begins drilling me with questions while the other sits on a chair next to the couch.

    “What did you say your name was? How did you find us? Where did you come from? Where’s your family? How long are you going to stay with us? How come you’re so handsome?”

    Needless to say I don’t have time to answer any of his inquiries, and I’m not sure I even have an answer for some of them, when the tall one yells at him from another room.

    “Hoseok, shut up. Let Jimin speak.”

    Finally Hoseok is able to calm himself enough to be quiet for a bit. The one in the chair chuckles, and Hoseok shoots him a look.

    “Quiet, Yoongi, you know you’re curious too.”

So the short one is Yoongi. Which must mean that the tall one is Namjoon.

    After a moment I realize that Hoseok is still looking expectantly at me, so I clear my throat and begin speaking.

    “Yeah, my name is Jimin. I was lost in the desert, but I saw the sun reflect on your window and found this place. How come all of you are here?” I ask. Hoseok and Yoongi share a look, and Hoseok lets Yoongi speak.

    “We all have our reasons for being alone. But we found one another and promised we’d never leave each other the way so many others have. It was hard, and sometimes we barely made it. I found Namjoon and Jin hiding out in an old bomb shelter, then we stumbled upon Hoseok and Taehyung at an abandoned subway station. One thing led to another, and we ended up stranded in the desert, before Namjoon led us here. We’ve been here for a couple weeks now, and so far it seems the most isolated out of everywhere we’ve tried to hide. It should be safe, at least for a little while…”

    He tapers off, and I don’t say anything. We all know that “safe” is a relative term. I’m impressed, however, by the resolution of these men to stick together even through all the crap that is going on, and I can see even at a glance that they’re like family to one another.

    “Come on, you want a tour?” Hoseok says, standing up and offering me a hand. I take it, and allow him to lead me throughout the old house.

    It is a bit larger than my first impression, and we walk through the kitchen to see Namjoon and Jin lightheartedly arguing over how to cook whatever it was Namjoon brought back. I assume the argument was won when I hear Jin shout, “If you want to cook it yourself, be my guest!” followed by silence, then a gruff, “Fine, you win.” I subconsciously chuckle, and Hoseok grins.

    “Namjoon and Jin kind of act like a mom and dad, though they won’t admit it. They always argue, but Jin always wins. That, and Namjoon has absolutely no idea how to cook. He tried once. It was awful.” Hoseok pulls a face, causing me to laugh some more. We then walk through the rest of the rooms in the house, and I’m impressed by how homey they’ve made the rundown building.

    The first bedroom Hoseok reveals is the largest, and is shared by Jin, Namjoon, and Yoongi. They each have bedding and blankets that they had rolled up neatly against the wall, and the room was littered with papers and illustrations adorning the walls. According to Hoseok, both Yoongi and Namjoon enjoy drawing and writing music, and they’d often work on things together. It keeps them busy, Hoseok says.

    The second room belongs to Hoseok and Taehyung, who found a queen mattress and dragged it into the room. There was little stepping room, but apparently the two didn’t mind, and preferred to share the large mattress. This room is far more cluttery than the other, with blankets strewn about the bed and shoes and clothing flung about the room.

    “What about that room?” I ask when we come back into the hallway, pointing at a door farther down.

    “Ah, that’s the study. It’s full of crusty old books.” Hoseok opens the door, and I can see why they didn’t use it as a bedroom. The room itself is fairly small, but adorned with a stunning wraparound bookshelf, which is littered with tons of dusty and worn out books. I walk to the bookshelf and pull out a book, the pages withered and the cover missing. It feels like memories and sadness and hope all at the same time, and I stare at the book for who knows how long, until Hoseok clears his throat.

    “So uh, where would you like to sleep?”

    “Huh? Oh, I’ll sleep in here.”

    “Suit yourself. You can use my old bedding, and I’ll show you where we have some spare blankets.”

    For the next little while, I busy myself making the study an acceptable place to sleep. I’m not sure myself how long I’m planning to stay here, but it seems a far better option than wandering aimlessly in the merciless desert. Plus, I’m already sort of fond of these five.

    After clearing the dust and the cobwebs, and setting up a bed-like area, the study really didn’t look so bad. I grin to myself, and Jin comes to check on me.

    “Wow, it looks good!” He claps me on the back, then motions to the kitchen.

    “Come on, dinner’s ready.”

    It wasn’t exactly a gourmet meal, but the rabbit stew is the best thing I have tasted in all my life, I decide.

    “Jin, you’re an artist.” I compliment, after finishing my second bowl. Everyone laughs, and Jin beams with pride.

    “I’ve been cooking since I was a toddler. I wanted to be a famous chef one day.” He says.

    “Well, you could have done it. Man, that was delicious.” Smacking my lips, I help Yoongi gather all the dishes and head to the kitchen to clean up. Using water from a large bucket, we rinse the dishes then leave them out to dry, before we return to the living room with the others.

    They’re sitting in silence, lounging around the room. Namjoon is on the floor with a notebook and a pencil, and is scribbling something down furiously. Jin is sitting on the chair, his eyes closed, relaxing after making food for everyone. Taehyung and Hoseok took up the couch, Hoseok sitting upright, with Taehyung laying across the couch using Hoseok’s lap for a pillow.

    “Yah, move your lazy .” Yoongi said as he pushed Taehyung’s legs off the couch. Taehyung made a face at Yoongi, but obeyed, sitting up next to Hoseok so that Yoongi and I could sit next to them.

    After a moment, I clear my throat and speak up.

    “Hey… I wanted to say thank you. I kind of just showed up at your door, and you gave me food, and water, and a place to sleep...I can’t thank you guys enough.”

    “It’s no problem, Jimin. That’s what people should do in times like these, they need to be there for each other.” Taehyung says. Hoseok nods, and adds, “You’re welcome to stay with us for as long as you’d like.”

    I am surprised by the bold statement, worried that the others would disagree, would say that, “there’s not enough food,” or, “he’ll take up too much space,” but no one says anything, and I’m overwhelmed with gratitude.

    I in a deep breath.

    “I want to tell you all what happened to me.” I say quietly. Namjoon drops his pen and looks up. Jin opens his eyes to stare at me in concern. The others are quiet, looking at me with curiosity.

    “Jimin, you don’t have to -”

    “No it’s okay, I want you all to know. That way you perhaps will know me a little better. It’s a small price for what you’ve done for me.”

    I pause, and they all nod, allowing me to continue.

    “Before all the earthquakes, the tsunamis, the virus, all of it, I was a college student. I went to school abroad, and left my family back in a small town where nothing ever changed. Suddenly, the reports started. Thousands dead in a freak tornado storm, millions dead or injured in hurricanes around the world. The earthquakes started and there was even more devastation, some of it close to where I was studying. I received a call from my parents, telling me that they were fine, but they wanted me to come home. I didn’t want to, but they insisted, so I dropped everything and caught the next flight back home.

    This was before I knew anything about the virus. I had heard word about a couple strange “zombie-like” attacks, but everyone then just attributed it to extreme drugs. The plane finally landed, but nobody was there to pick me up from the airport. I caught a bus home, where my parents and little brother greeted me, but something felt off. My parents said I was being ridiculous, but I talked to my brother about it, and he said he noticed it too. He said that they hadn’t been the same since their trip into the city a week ago.

“A month went by, all of the news reports getting worse and worse. More and more bodies seemed to pile up every day, and here we were, living like nothing was wrong. Then came the reports of the virus. The virus that took weeks to incubate, but caused people to be extremely hungry. And what they were hungry for was horrifying - humans. You all probably know this, but until then I had no idea that the virus could be dormant for weeks, maybe even months. It depended on how much the host fought the sickness, I soon realized.

    One night my father called us down for dinner. My brother and I came down the stairs to see him staring at us with a weird look in his eyes.

    ‘There’s no food on the table?’ I questioned. I started backing up the stairs, keeping my brother behind me, when suddenly veins of red shot through my father’s eyes. He looked demonic, and he replied to my question in a growl,

    ‘That’s… because… tonight’s dinner is YOU.’ I would laughed, except my father didn't look like he was joking. His face was serious, almost murderous. He revealed the knife he had been hiding behind his back, and I started shoving my brother back up the stairs as fast as possible, as my father began chasing behind us. However, he only got one foot on the stairs, because my mom came barreling down the hallway and tackled him, sending them both flying.

    ‘Run! Get out of here! NOW!’ She screamed at us, struggling to keep him pinned down. My brother and I ran back down the stairs, past the scene, and out the front door. I held the door open for a moment, motioning and yelling for my mom to join us, but she shook her head as she continued wrestling with my dad. She looked at me with so much pain and sadness, but I could see it. I could see the red veins decorating her eyes. I knew she was a goner, yet still she fought my dad with all she had to keep him from getting to us. So we ran. With tears in our eyes, we ran to the airport, where we managed to get on a plane immediately, headed back to my college city. I assured my brother we would find safety there.”

    I pause to look around at my new house-mates. They are focused on my story, some with sorrow in their eyes, others with understanding. I take a deep breath and continue.

    “Unfortunately, we never reached our destination. Mid-flight, my brother grabbed my arm, his face pale with fear.

    ‘Look at their eyes.’ He said, pointing to the hostesses. Sure enough, all of their eyes were an inhuman red. Unfortunately, nobody else had noticed it yet. We stayed silently in our seats until we noticed something even worse - when the pilot had removed himself from the cockpit to use the restroom, we caught a glance at his eyes.

    Red.

    ‘We’re all going to die.’ My brother said. I wanted to comfort him, but I knew he was probably right. I was terrified. I noticed all of the hostesses gathering together toward the back of the plane, and their smirks were only what I could describe as ‘evil’. They looked as they were about to move toward the cabin, toward the passengers, when suddenly the plane jolted. We had entered a thunderstorm. A bad one.

The winds threw the plane back and forth, one moment it felt like the world’s bumpiest roller coaster, and the next I swear we were dropping through the air. Unfortunately, the hostesses decided that would be the opportune moment to strike, and they began using crude knives and even their bare hands to snap necks, and begin their feast. It was a grisly scene, and I had to cover my brother’s mouth to stop him from screaming and calling attention to us. All I could do was pray that something, anything, would happen to stop this horrifying moment.

That’s when the plane started falling. I don’t know the reason why, I don’t know if it was caused by the storm, or the pilot, but the plane was falling, and fast. It felt like we were falling for an eternity, but all too soon we felt the collision. I out, and when I came to, we were in the desert, with fragments of the plane surrounding us. Not to mention the bodies, they were everywhere. Some of the bodies, mostly the hostesses, were nearly a mile away from the wreckage. But none of that mattered, because next to me, buckled down, was the lifeless body of my little brother.”

    I have to stop my story for a moment, as tears start flowing freely down my cheeks. After a few shuddered breaths, and a hand patting my back, I continue.

    “I unbuckled his seat, and frantically began looking for any signs of life, but it was too late, he was gone. I checked around the plane for any other survivors, but if there were, they must have left when I was unconscious, because all I found was a bunch of corpses. I decided to bury my brother, and I walked until I found an acceptable hill marked with a large desert tree. After I buried him, I began wandering, searching for any still-standing cities or towns nearby. I’d been in this desert for nearly two days when I found you guys.”

    My story came to a close, and everyone was quiet for a moment.

    “My father was studying the virus. He said that it wasn’t airborne, but he couldn’t figure out how it was transmitted. He did say that the virus could manifest itself in as little as a few hours, or as much as two months, depending on how easily you give in to it. He also said that even people who are afflicted can act like normal people, they just have an insatiable and uncontrollable hunger for other humans. Then...well, one day he got a little too close to it.” Hoseok said grimly. Taehyung put his arm around Hoseok comfortingly.

    “We’ve all been affected by the virus. That, or the disasters. My family was killed in an earthquake.” Namjoon stated, trying to be matter-of-fact, but pain laced his words.

    Jin and Yoongi nod.

    “My brother managed to take a flight out just in time, but I haven’t heard from him since. My parents died in one of the firestorms.” Yoongi shared solemnly.

    “My mom and dad were at a military base when everything started happening, and they assured me that they were fine, but that was over a month ago. My brother… we had a run in with some of the afflicted. He sacrificed himself so I could get out.” Jin said quietly.

    The mood is somber, and we all silently take in one another’s company, the company of those who have gone through different, but equally horrible and painful experiences. We then knew that we had each other, and we all understood one another. Whatever demons pursued us, we’d always know we’d have each other’s backs.

    “There’s one more thing I haven’t told you guys,” I say quietly.

    “What is it, Jimin?” Jin asks gently.

    “Well, at the time, I thought he was crazy, but now I’m not so sure…”

    “Who? What are you talking about?” He prods, all of them looking at me in confusion.

    “Well… while I was still away at school, just before everything started happening, I ran into a man. I… can’t even remember exactly what he looked like, just that he was wearing a tan jacket and carrying a deerskin suitcase.”

    “That’s...weirdly specific, but go on,” Namjoon says.

    “The thing is, he told me something. He said that something bad was going to start happening. Lots of bad things. But he also said that I could stop it. He said that I’d have to pay a price though. I didn’t...I mean, I thought he was crazy!”

    “What was the price?” Taehyung inquired.

    “He wanted...memories. My memories. He sounded crazy. I didn’t listen to him, I just waved him away and went to class. If I had known what I know now… I could have stopped all this. I WOULD have stopped all this”

    All five of them shake their heads.

    “How could you have known what would happen? Plus, there’s no guarantee he wasn’t just on a buttload of drugs. I bet he didn’t even know what was going to happen, he probably just wanted to sell you something. This isn’t your fault, Jimin.” Namjoon says. The others agree, and I am grateful for their support. However, I can’t help but feel like there was more to it than that.

    I decide to forget about it for now, since there’s nothing I can do to change the past. We all make lighter conversation for a while, choosing to live in the moment, instead of our damaged pasts. Yoongi makes a joke and everyone laughs. It’s the most at home I’ve felt since before I first moved away to college, and when we all retire to our rooms, I can’t help but be grateful that in the midst of all this tragedy, circumstances allowed me to meet these five kind, selfless, persevering men.