Jungkook has never felt so lost.

He moves his eyes around the parking lot, searching, looking, but not really finding anything except for the black smoke floating around, fire consuming the grocery store and some corpses.

He’s numb, he can hear a loud ringing on his ears, and it will probably take time to recover his hearing sense after he was hit so close to the explosion.

He feels hands grabbing him from the back of his jacket that pull him up quickly from his position on the floor, some yelling that sounds similar to his name and a familiar face that panicky looks at him with worried eyes.

He’s still out of it when the familiar body pulls him away from the still roasting fire, his feet are clumsy and trip on anything in particular constantly, but the firm grip of the other person is what keeps him up and running.

It’s only twenty minutes after that he finally comes to his senses, after running for what seemed like forever into the forest with no real direction. The familiar body from earlier - that he has finally identified as Taehyung- had dumped him and let Jungkook sat on the muddy floor to catch up some air. Running immediately after inhaling some smoke is not a smart idea, his lungs are burning in protest inside his chest, and now the pure air from the woods has Jungkook on a fist of dry coughs that threaten to make him puke out his insides. But not running would have been worst, Jungkook thinks.

He takes the bottle of water that Hoseok offers him and takes a couple of shy gulps, just enough to wet his chapped lips. He wants more, he is dehydrated and probably still in a state of shock, but he also knows that they are running short on water and has to save for the others. He’s part of a group, of a family, and they need to take care of each other. Jungkook only has them now.

“What the happened?” asks Namjoon with his hands on his hair, his hands nervously on greasy locks of hair. They are black on the roots and blond on the tips, it looks ugly but it’s not like they have time to bleach Namjoon’s hair back to blond. What would be the point, anyways.

“I don’t know.” pants Taehyung from Jungkook’s side while taking the water bottle from the younger’s shaky hands. “I was guarding the perimeter before I heard the explosion.”

Jungkook coughs again but shakes his head when Taehyung offers the bottle. He nulls out from the conversation for a second as his eyes roam around the area an counts one, two, three people and himself. He frowns.

“Where are the others?” he asks with a hoarse voice before coughing a bit more. The other three halt on what they are doing and he frowns deeper.

There are three others missing.

“I don’t know.” mumbles Namjoon, his eyes immediately darkening with sadness. He looks tired, wrecked, the same as Hoseok and Taehyung, and probably Jungkook looks like a mess also.

“Wasn’t Jimin with you?” asks Hoseok carefully. Jungkook looks up at him and his eyes get teary immediately at what the other is implying.

“I… we were-“ he chokes with his own spit as he tries to recall what exactly happened.

He’s a bit confused as the tries to remember; one second they were splitting to find supplies on the gas station they had found and the next one there were dozens of zombies coming from nowhere and trapping them inside the store. Jungkook and Jimin had been inside when they heard some yelling and guns shooting and quickly grabbed what they could fit on their bags and tried to exit the place. But there was no escape, the front door they had used to come in had been surrounded by hungry and groaning zombies, their rotted hands slamming the doors urgently trying to come inside because of the smell of two juicy humans inside.

Both boys had tried to run for the back door of the store, getting jumped on by a tiny group of dead people. Fortunately, they are already pretty used to it, they are quick to react and took the corpses down within seconds; and they managed to come out the store after killing a couple more of walking corpses on the way. Once outside, the two found themselves surrounded by what would probably be the largest group of zombies Jungkook has ever seen.

It became a mess then; they had tried to run without getting caught by sharp teeth or grabby hands, using the rush of adrenaline as their push to go through the mass of zombies and kill as much of them as possible as their darkened blood splashed against their clothes and skin. Jungkook had spotted Yoongi and Jin at the distance shooting a group, Hoseok a top of a car and shooting some more, Taehyung and Namjoon nowhere to be seen. It was bad, they were surrounded by too many and they had been running low on ammo, their knives, machetes or baseball bats weren’t fast enough for them all either. Their only hope was to find a hole from where they could run and run and not look back. But it was risky, too risky.

“Jungkook!”  had screamed Jimin. “I’ve got an idea, you run that way I will catch on you soon!”

Jungkook wanted to say no, to stay close and together but Jimin had already ran off to the opposite direction and then was when hell broke down. Jimin had shot twice in the air to get the zombies’ attention, waiting for them to approach before directing the third one to the gas dispenser.

Jungkook didn’t have time to cover himself and simply closed his eyes when the explosion happened, just allowing his body to get flewn over to some direction.

“It was Jimin…” he says after a minute of silence. “He blew off that thing, to give us a chance to scape.”

The other three don’t say anything. There is nothing to say, anyways; they are probably thinking the same as Jungkook.

“We… we have to go back.” Jungkook says with a knot on his throat. “They- they may be-“

“It’s not a good idea.” cuts Nanmjoon, his voice thick from holding back the urge to cry. “If they were caught in the explosion-“

“We can’t leave them there!” screams Jungkook. He looks at Hoseok with imploring eyes but the older turns his head to the side with a clenched jaw. When Jungkook moves his head to the side to ask Taehyung for help, his friend just ducks his head down. “What if they are hurt and need help? We can’t simply keep going without them.”

“There were too many zombies, Jungkook…” mumbles Namjoon. Jungkook will feel horrible later for making Namjoon go through this, make him the bad guy when he knows it’s a suicide mission to go back there, but he can’t help feeling miserable for abandoning the other three at their mercy.

He stands up and starts walking to somewhere, tears threatening to fall down from his eyes anytime but gets stopped by Hoseok’s hand on his shoulder.

“Where the are you going?”

“I’m gonna go get them.” he answers determined and tries to shove off Hoseok’s hands of him but the elder grabs him firmly and pulls him back.

“You can’t do that Jung-“

“Let me go!” he screams, wrestling against Hoseok and now also Namjoon’s grip that try to force him to stay where he is. Taehyung rushes to help the other two to hold him down as the younger keeps trying to wriggle free from their hold. He keeps screaming incoherences, now crying fully and digging his fingers into the flesh of someone’s arm.

“Jungkook please…”  begs Taehyung from behind him, his lanky arms embracing the younger’s torso firmly. “We can’t lose you too.”

At that Jungkook stops moving and falls limp against Taehyung’s chest. The other two let go of him, and Jungkook lets Taehyung drag him down to sit on the floor. And he cries and cries and keeps crying with Taehyung’s arms hugging him tight.

“I didn’t- I didn’t tell Jimin…” he mumbles incoherently, clutching the fabric of Taehyung’s sweater with so much force it will probably be all torn out later. “I never told him.”

Taehyung turns him around so his head is resting on the older’s shoulder and rocks them back and forth, patting Jungkook’s head softly. No one says anything, they just listen with silent tears Jungkook’s heartbroken sobs.

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Night comes silently but quickly, enveloping them in a dark blanket of coldness. Winter is approaching and they should try to find shelter before the cold gets too strong and freezes them on their sleep.

They sit in silence around the tiny fire they lighted up, sharing a couple of food cans and the last remains of water left. They will have to find a river the next day. Getting food is important, but staying hydrated is much more.

No one has uttered a word since hours prior, all of them feeling too consumed in guilt and sadness or too exhausted from all the crying. It had taken Jungkook over an hour to stop sobbing like a child but he still feels like he’s living an out-of-body experience. It feels so unreal to not have Jimin by his side, his warm body pressed against his arm trying to cuddle with him with the pretense of being too cold. Jin would be cracking some old-fashioned jokes that everyone will complain about but laugh anyways while Yoongi would be cleaning carefully his knives as he stares at them all fondly. They had been a family, close and protective of each other. They had been surviving for long the seven of them together and it took just one hour to get that shattered into pieces.

Jungkook closes his eyes when the tears threaten to fall again. He’s cried enough and doesn’t want to put the others through more pain, he still feels horrible for what had happened earlier, for making Namjoon have to say no.

None of them are willing to go to sleep even if the four of them feel like passing out; only one is supposed to be on watch for the night, but they stay awake together around the fire the whole night. Probably closing their eyes would make them have nightmares of rotting teeth pulling flesh apart; or maybe make them dream about the seven of them still together. Jungkook doesn’t know what he’s more afraid of, the nightmares or the never dying hope of something better.

The next day comes soon as the night, and right when the sun is up the four of them are on their feet and walking around the forest. They manage to find a river, tiny and almost dry, but the water seems clean enough and they fill as much as they can the water bottles after cleaning themselves up a bit.

They walk and walk with no real destination. To be honest, they had never had a route nor a place to go but being together had been enough. Whenever they were was ok as long as it was with the seven of them.

They stop when they find a rail that cuts the path they were going. They look right and they look left and they don’t know where to go.

One of the bad things of running for your life without paying attention is that you end up not knowing where you are. They can’t go back because they don’t know where they are coming from, and hesitate to keep going because they don’t know where it will take them.

They discuss for a while which route to take, the first words they all have spoken in hours, and the conversation is stiff and a bit tense and Jungkook just listens to the other two talk, because Taehyung seems to be in the same mute state as himself. In the end, it’s Jungkook who decides for them when the conversation runs for too long and turns to the right, following with dragged steps the rail. Why think too much were to go? It’s not like they need to be somewhere specific.

The other follow silently with heavy hearts.

It’s only some kilometers down the road when they stop, and it’s at the sound of dragged feet coming from their side. By the sound of it seems it’s more than one person, though they can’t pint point if they are dead or alive, which is even more scary. There are times when the living people are more dangerous than the dead, and Jungkook and their group have learned from previous experiences to evade having encounters with others.

Jungkook turns around, and sees the others as panicked as he is. They are too tired and low on stamina to fight whoever is it coming their way so they silently decide that hiding is their best option. The group runs to the other said of the rail with fast steps but as silently as they can, and stop to hid behind the third row of big trees. They are far enough to not be seen, but close enough to watch who’s coming. Jungkook, just for precaution, takes his knife out the sheath.

They wait and listen the unknown sound approach, now more clear it’s from living people taking in consideration the sound they make while walking. Jungkook has learned to identify between them.

Jungkook can’t hear exactly what they say once they get to the rail, but only makes out two different voices and sighs in relief. A small group is more likely to not be aggressive -or, at least, it will be easier to take down if needed. He turns his head to Taehyung when he hears him gasp loudly, ready to make him shut up, but the bewildered look on his face makes him stop. He frowns and peeks out from behind his trunk to observe what has Taehyung in shock and he almost slaps himself to make sure he’s not hallucinating.

“What the…” mumbles Taehyung while stepping out form his hiding spot and Jungkook follows soon after, ignoring Namjoon’s warning to stay where they are and sprints his ways to the two man standing on the rail.

Here they are. Yoongi covered in black dust and with his knife on his hand pointing to his right while Seokjin says something back at him before readjusting the unconscious body perched on his back. Jungkook thinks he’s going to pass out anytime soon and ignores the panic that runs on the other’s eyes when they hear someone running to them. Taehyung has Yoongi on his arms before the other has the chance to blink and Jungkook tries to do the same to Seokjin when finally notices that the one on his back is no other than Jimin.

They are alive.

Jimin is alive.

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Jimin’s brain wakes up before his body. There is cold and darkness surrounding him but also a comforting hand his hair. He turns his head a bit to the side and the hand stops its movement, eliciting a soft groan from his throat that sounds too deep and hoarse, maybe a bit pained also.

“Jimin?” someone asks softly, warm breath tickling his ear and then is where he notices he’s lying on someone’s lap. It feels good, it’s been long since the last time he felt so comfortable; he wants to keep sleeping a bit more but the call of his name comes again so he forces his eyes to open.

The sight of a tiny room is what greets him, practically empty except for a desk pressed to the opposite wall, a chair and a cupboard, everything empty and covered in dust. He can hear birds chirping on the distance as his eyes try to get used to the dim light that the slightly torn apart strips of wood aren’t able to filter.

Jimin turns his face and looks up when he feels the same fingers from before massage his scalp and blinks slowly at the face in front of him.

“Jungkook…” he mumbles groggily. The aforementioned smiles, that side smile that shows just the tip of his front teeth and that makes Jimin weak on the knees.

“Glad to know you still remember me.” says the other gently, fingers still caressing the hair of the boy on his lap. The birds still chirp happily and it gives Jimin a sense of security that he hasn’t felt since before the world had went to chaos. “You hit your head during the explosion and have been unconscious since then.”

“When…” he tries to ask but he’s still out of it, as if he’s dreaming. “For how long have I been gone?”

“Three days.” replies Jungkook, and allows Jimin to grab his hand and intertwine their fingers. Jimin loves to hold his hand, Jungkook’s long and slim fingers fit so well in between the crack of his own chubby and short. “Jin-hyung said you probably got a concussion, luckily for you he still had some painkillers to give you.”

Jimin frowns, noticing then the throbbing on his head and the pain that shakes throughout his body. He shifts his position, the back of his head now pillowed by Jungkook’s skinny thigh and squeezes the other’ s hand before resting them both on his chest.

“It still hurts like a .” he mumbles in an attempt to joke when he senses the tense atmosphere surrounding them.

“What were you thinking?” reprimands Jungkook, his voice sounds strained, as if just the simple memory of what had happened pains him.

“I wasn’t,” he says locking eyes with Jungkook. He sees so much on them, pain, sadness, fatigue and something akin to fondness. “I just- I wanted to keep you safe.”

“You could have died.” says Jungkook a bit more louder, obviously getting angry as the conversation keeps going. But Jimin can’t say anything in return because even if he had been close to dying, knowing Jungkook was safe was enough for him, he would do the same again. “I thought you were dead- you have no idea how much I cried for you.”

“I’m sorry…”

Jungkook wipes off the tears of his eyes angrily with his free hand and turns his head to side. Jimin hates himself so much for putting Jungkook through so much suffering.

“I thought I lost you, hyung…” Jungkook shakes his head when Jimin mumbles another apology. “I got so scared-“

“Jungkook…” Jimin sits up slowly without letting go of Jungkook’s hand and faces the younger, his free hand cupping his crying face. “I’m so sorry, but I’m here now. I’m here with you and the others. I’m still here.”

Jungkook finally looks at him but his eyes are so sad that Jimin can’t help but get teary also and before he has the chance to mumble another apology there are lips on his own, touch so soft and delicate that it could pass as a dream.

“Don’t scare me like that ever again, ok?” mumbles Jungkook, his face so close to Jimin’s that their lips brush when he talks. “Losing you once has been enough.”

Jimin nods dumbly, still not really acquainted with the fact that Jungkook had kissed him for the first time. They have been walking on eggs’ shells around each other for too long, afraid of what the other would say if they acknowledged their feelings; what it would mean to be involved with someone during times likes this.

Jimin tilts his chin up to close the little space between them, savoring the taste of Jungkook on his tongue. It’s a slow kiss, they have no rush to be honest, but Jimin makes sure to put into it as much of his emotions as he’s capable of. He wants Jungkook to know and feel how much he cares for him, how much he loves him. And as Jungkook kisses back with the same fervor Jimin thinks that they are going to be fine as long as they have each other. Jimin and Jungkook and the other five, the seven of them, inseparable, unbreakable. Even if they don’t know where they come from or where they are headed to, because they got this far together, and they are still here.