Why the this pic??? IDK, it just seemed right in the moment tbh.

A/N:  Hello lovelies!!! I'm back and I'm so excited to be sharing this chap with you all!!! I hope you like it as much as I do. Are you ready??? I don't think I'll ever be ready tbh but here goes...  

Chapter 10

“Come on, guys!” Taehyung encouraged excitedly, clinging to Hoseok’s hand to avoid getting lost in the crowd, his carryon bag slung over his shoulder. It seemed the whole airport had been given a shot of adrenaline as the masses hurried in search of a better view of whatever was happening outside. A light path of debris had been left in the Korean Air plane’s wake like a trail of cookie crumbs.

Once they had finally found a good spot to watch, they found the plane had already come to a stop near the middle of the concourse, its nose butted up to the back end of a Lufthansa plane that had been parked at the first gate on the other side of the concourse. Emergency vehicles had flocked to the scene along with airport personnel. Red and blue lights flashed along the outside of the plane adding a sense of chaos to an already chaotic scene.

“Ah, man. I thought it’d be on fire at least.” Taehyung stated, sounding a little disappointed.

“Tae!” Jimin admonished his best friend before Jin had the chance to. “That’d be a death sentence. Look, they’re going to be rescued.” He pointed out the window as a staircase was being driven up to the front door of the plane.

“I don’t want anyone to get hurt.” Taehyung clarified sheepishly. “It’d just be cooler is all.” He received a number of judging looks from his friends as well as a few other bystanders at this last statement. There was no way to save face however so he just let the statement lie, not adding to it in case he just made himself look worse. Turning their attention back out the window, they saw a man dressed in an orange reflective vest and jeans quickly ascend the staircase to the door of the plane.

“Don’t the passengers usually open the doors on their own by now?” Hoseok asked in a quiet voice as he watched out the window, hand still intertwined with Taehyung’s. “Then they all slide down those giant inflatable slides, right?”

“That’s what I’ve seen on the news.” Yoongi agreed as the man atop the stairs seemed to put his whole weight into wrenching the door handle upwards to open the plane. The whole airport seemed to go silent, holding their breath as one, as they all awaited what would happen next. No movement was seen inside the darkened plane at first. Instead, the man in the vest stepped inside, disappearing from view.

All of a sudden, the ground crews swarmed the plane. The soundproof windows kept those on the inside of the airport confused as to what was happening but it was obvious something was happening. Within moments five other men dressed in orange vests were swarming up the staircase. Just as the first breached the top, someone emerged from the plane, face and clothing covered in blood.

“What the hell?” Jin wheezed breathlessly as the airport seemed to take a collective gasp of surprise. Other similar exclamations took to the air as well, panic beginning to swell as the female passenger that had just emerged latched onto the airport employee at the top of the steps. Those behind him tried to pull him free of the woman but more bloodied people began to emerge from the plane as well, pushing them back. They stumbled backwards down the stairs, one man falling to the ground. Emergency personnel rushed to his side, a stretcher in tow.

“This is not good.” Jungkook exclaimed under his breath, shaking his head adamantly. His heart was in his throat as the implications of what his mother had told him finally began to hit home. He wanted to leave, to get as far away from those diseased vessels as possible but he wasn’t sure how. As long as they stayed outside then inside was the safest place to be, right?

The ground crew and emergency personnel were being overrun by the passengers as their numbers kept flowing out of the plane and into the early afternoon sunlight. There were easily 300 or more passengers to the 50 or so rescue men and women. Those in the airport watched in horror as they were engulfed, bodies lying on the ground, surrounded by bloodied people who appeared to be biting and eating them even as they squirmed, mouths hanging open in pain and seemingly silent screams.

“Oh, .” a nearby woman moaned before rushing away from the scene, her hand raised to as she tried to fight off her nausea.

“Look!” another man exclaimed, pointing to the top of the stairs. A man in a familiar orange vest was descending the steps, a very noticeable bloody hole in his neck. “How is he even alive?” he asked rhetorically.

As the orange vested man made it to the ground, a similarly dressed woman rushed to his side. Those inside were dismayed, several crying out, as the man grabbed at the woman, pulling her to him and taking a bite out of her neck. The woman’s concerned looked turned to terror and then pain as her face went white with shock.

“This is so not good.” Jungkook reiterated to no one in particular.

People who had appeared to be dead after being attacked were beginning to gain their feet once again and then they join in on the attack. The emergency crews who had managed to stave off attacks to themselves at the start had now found weapons, guns for the police, a few axes for the firefighters and tools like wrenches and crowbars for the airport staff. One guy had even found a ski pole and was stabbing it at an approaching passenger, managing to keep his distance but not stopping it from lunging at him again and again. There were maybe ten or so people still standing, fighting their way towards awaiting police cars to make their escape.

“Are they just going to leave like that?” Namjoon blurted out in astonishment as the first police cruiser managed to speed away from the scene.  

“! Over there!” Yoongi pointed out the window, a number of people turning their attention from the left where the plane had crashed to the right where Yoongi had pointed. Across from the tail end of the plane a stewardess was standing at the top of the docking port for the next gate over. A set of stairs was in place and three different passengers and a police officer were headed up them as she stood stone still, watching their approach in horror.

“No! Run, run!” Jimin exclaimed impotently. There was no way the woman could hear him and he knew it. Before anyone could try to make their way down the long bridgelike skywalk towards the stewardess she was attacked. She tried to fight the older looking woman off who had grabbed onto her, her arms flailing as she tried to beat the woman off.

Hoseok watched, wide-eyed as three security officers inside the airport hurried into the skywalk to rush to the woman’s aide. “What do we do?” he asked an equally wide-eyed Taehyung, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him.

“Okay, okay, calm down.” Taehyung replied. He took a deep breath, trying to take his own advice. He looked around, spotting his friends all standing nearby. “First, we need to stick together.” he thought out loud. Hoseok nodded in reply.

“Attention all DIA visitors. All flights have been cancelled at this time until further notice. Please proceed in a calm manner to the nearest exit. Repeat; all flights have been cancelled…” an automated voice proclaimed over the airport PA system on repeat.

The announcement seemed to mobilize many of the onlookers, a mad rush of people headed towards the underground train system to get back to the first concourse where the main doors out of the airport were located. Needless to say, no one wanted to go outside of the B concourse where the attacks were taking place.

“Over here, guys.” Taehyung called out to his friends, grouping them into a corner to stay out of the way of the near stampede that had begun as people pushed and shoved to get towards the underground escape route. He tried to keep calm and think of where they could go but it was hard with the commotion all around. The group had to huddle close together, grasping their bags in death grips as they did their best not to get pulled into the stream of moving bodies. As they waited out the worst of the mob’s momentum they could hear multiple people calling out names as they got separated from their own groups.  

“No! Sarah! No, no!” a man screamed. Yoongi’s head shot towards the yelling just in time to see a little girl get taken to the floor by what looked like one of the security guards that had rushed to the stewardess’s side not long ago. He tried to race to her aide but Jimin’s firm grasp on his hand held him in place.

“No, Yoongi, don’t.” Namjoon pleaded adamantly as he also stepped in Yoongi’s way.

“The , you guys?” Yoongi yelled at the two impatiently. “We can’t just stand here and do nothing!”

“No, we have to get away from here.” Jungkook insisted. He had latched hands with Jin on one side and Hoseok on his other.

“This way.” Taehyung instructed, finally knowing where to go. He pulled the down the hall in the opposite direction of the flow of people. They hugged the wall as they moved, Jimin, Yoongi and Namjoon right behind them. Hoseok was breathing heavily, his heart in his throat with fear, as they passed the small number of attacking passengers and emergency crew who had found their way inside the airport.

Jimin suddenly let out a panicked gasp as a heavy hand fell on his shoulder, pulling him backwards. Instantly, Yoongi and Namjoon turned to face the threat, reaching out for Jimin simultaneously. Taehyung had stopped to help too but had no need as he watched Namjoon kick the bloodied police officer in the stomach causing the man to bend forward, Yoongi following up with a kick to his lowered head. Jimin was freed from their opponent’s tight grasp but it had not been stopped in its pursuit. It lurched after the trio as they shoved at the others, yelling at them to hurry.

“This way!” Taehyung called behind him as he rushed towards the store he and Hoseok had looked through earlier. The chaos in the airport was growing as the attacks escalated and more people were becoming infected. A few others had followed after the group as well and were fighting off any attacks as they headed towards the stores lining the long stretch of the concourse.

As they ran into the store, dropping their bags to the side for the moment, Jungkook called to the others, “Find a weapon! Anything you can fight them off with!”

Meanwhile, Taehyung headed straight for the pimpled teenage store clerk he had seen earlier who was standing behind the cash register in shock, his mouth gaping open. “This place has a gate or something doesn’t it?” he asked in a rush.

“Wh-what?” the boy asked, bewildered.

“To close the store.” Taehyung reiterated. “We need to keep them out!” The boy nodded, pointing to a metal box near the entrance. “Do you need a key?” The boy nodded again as he fumbled with a large ring of keys attached to his belt. Taehyung pulled him from behind the counter, pushing him towards the lock box. He was thankful the keys were attached to the kid as he dropped them twice while trying to find the right one to operate the gate.

Seemingly out of nowhere a loud screech pierced the air, Hoseok overcome by panic as bodies began stumbling towards the store. “Keep them out!” Fear had completely encapsulated him making his body worthless as his knees unhinged, spilling him to the ground. His muscles quivered uselessly as he watched the scene unfold. Before he could call out again, Jimin and Jungkook had stepped just outside the store, wooden baseball bats in hand, Jin and Yoongi joining them a moment later with spears. Hoseok couldn’t fathom where they had gotten spears from but he wasn’t in a mindset to be asking questions.  

“Attack!” Namjoon yelled out as he whisked past Hoseok on the floor. He threw a three foot tall metal wire postcard stand at an approaching assailant, the postcards flying every which way before he dashed back into the store to find another weapon. The metal rack bounced off the attacker’s chest, not slowing it down in the least. The other four joined in the attack as soon as Namjoon was out of the way, baseball bats swinging and spears piercing flesh indiscriminately.

“The heads!” Jungkook hollered as he remembered his mother’s words. “You have to go for their heads!” His words were punctuated by the heavy bass thud and the distinct crunch of breaking bone when his bat connected with the nearest infected’s frontal lobe. It was a sickening sound and he was sure he’d be hearing it in his nightmares from now on but he continued anyway.

A high pitched whirring sound took to the air as the electronic metal gate finally began to lower in front of the store’s wide entryway. Taehyung left the clerk on his own to continue closing the gate as he dashed up onto the counter, remembering the katana he had seen earlier hanging above it, and pulled it from the wall. Namjoon positioned himself in front of the cooler just inside the store, hurling bottles of water, juice, and pop at the approaching infected like grenades.  

“Take that, and that, and that!” Namjoon yelled as bottles bounced off skulls and chests. Carbonated drinks exploded as they hit the ground, wet syrup drenching everything in it’s blast radius. The ground in front of the store was a giant puddle and the other four combatants were having a hard time keeping their feet beneath them in the mess.

“, Namjoon! Quit it!” Yoongi snarled as he fell to one knee. The cop he had fought off earlier lunged for him but Jimin quickly stepped in his way, swinging his bat at full force and caving the front of the infected’s face in with a satisfying yet nauseating crunch.

“You okay?” he asked Yoongi in a breathless voice as he reached out his hand to help the older man up.

“Yeah, thanks.” Yoongi huffed, also short of breath.

“Hurry, guys! Get in here!” Hoseok called to them, his voice still filled with panic. The gate had finally made it a little over half way down and they’d soon be out of time getting into the store if they didn’t hurry. Jin and Jungkook were already on the other side as well as a middle aged couple that had rushed through the opening when they noticed it was closing. Yoongi and Jimin dashed towards the gate, sliding under it as more infected advanced on them.

“Is this thing moving in slow motion?” Yoongi asked about the gate as he speared an attacker through the slats, pushing it away so it wouldn’t knock the gate off it’s track.

“I-I-I…” the sales clerk stuttered.

“Push them back!” Jin yelled over the clerk. He and Yoongi continued using the spears, Jimin, Jungkook, and Namjoon looking for smaller weapons and Taehyung using the sheathed katana to prod the growing number of infected back from the gate.

“Do you have a back room?” Taehyung overheard the woman ask the clerk in a calm voice despite the unmistakable quiver of fear.

“B-back room?” he repeated, thoughts clearly not processing as quickly as Taehyung would like.

“Yeah, like a break room or where you clock in?” the woman verbally prodded.

“Uh, y-yeah.” the kid replied, nodding his head up and down. Finally the gate came to a halt as it reached the floor and the boy pulled the key from the operator box.

“Show us, please.” the woman asked gently.

“Oh, uh, yeah but, it’s not for customers. I don’t want to get in trouble.” the boy argued submissively, obviously unsure of what he should do.

“I know.” the woman reassured him. “But this is an emergency. RIght now we need your help. Please.”

As Jin listened he was very impressed with the woman’s calm and patience with the boy. He knew it was the right approach and was glad to see the boy begin to bobble his head up and down.

“This way.” he told the group, still looking unsure but moving towards the back of the store anyway. Taehyung and Jungkook helped Hoseok to his feet, partially supporting him as they and the others followed quickly behind the clerk, the gate rattling behind them as bodies pushed against it, trying to get to the people just out of reach.

They followed the teen through a door just behind the counter, Jungkook, in the rear, closing it behind them. It led into a small kitchenette-like room. Just to the side of the door was an old metal time clock with a rack mounted next to it with paper time cards. In the middle of the room, taking up most of the space, was a round, beige laminate table with four chairs pushed in around it. To the left was a door, the simple picture of a man and woman on it declaring it to be a uni bathroom. Across from the main door was a stretch of white laminate countertop with a sink and a microwave, a yellowed refrigerator in the corner of the same wall. Said walls were painted cream with a sky blue border of wallpaper littered with purple and pink columbine flowers. ‘For a break room it doesn’t look too bad, although it’s really small.’ Jin thought to himself.

“Well, now what?” the middle aged man asked the group as a whole. He looked a little embarrassed to be asking such a question to those who were obviously so much younger than him.

Jungkook took the opportunity to look over the three new faces as he debated what to tell everyone. The clerk looked to be around his age, possibly a year or two older. He had a messy mop of shaggy brown hair, glasses, and was wearing khaki pants, a navy uniform shirt for the Western novelty shop they were in, and worn white tennis shoes. The couple looked to be in their forties, both appearing polished and to be living comfortably. The woman had shoulder length auburn hair and was wearing a chocolate pants set with a cream blouse. The man was balding slightly and going grey at the temples. He was in a suit as well, his being black with a white dress shirt and a red tie with yellow and green paisleys.

“How about introductions first.” Jin suggested as Jungkook observed the newcomers. “I’m Jin. This is Jungkook, Hoseok, Taehyung, Jimin, Yoongi, and Namjoon.” he introduced, pointing to each man in turn as they all stood in a loose circle around the table.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Belinda and this is my husband, Ted.” the woman introduced with a small smile.

Everyone turned to the clerk expectantly for his introduction. His face turned red at the sudden attention and he hunched his shoulders involuntarily to shy away from all eye-contact. Sensing his discomfort, Jin read the boy’s name tag quickly before speaking.

“Sam, it’s nice to meet you too.” he smiled his brightest, most welcoming smile.

“Wh-what’s going on?” Sam asked the room at large, refusing to make eye-contact with anyone, instead watching his feet as he scuffed one toe along the floor. “What’s wrong with all those people?”

“Do you know what’s happening, Kookie?” Jimin asked in a quiet voice. “Tae said something about phone calls before everything happened.”

Jungkook hesitantly nodded his head in reply, squirming as all eyes were now on him. ‘, I hate this too, kid. I really do.’ he thought to himself, feeling empathy for the nervous clerk. He took a deep breath before he began to speak, touching briefly on the call from Jin’s mom and the lack of response when the others tried to call home before forging ahead with what his mom had told him.

“So you’re saying this was a biological attack by the North Koreans?” Ted asked incredulously, finding a false bravado in his anger and confusion.

“Viral.” Jungkook clarified with a bashful shrug. He couldn’t help but worry the three Americans in the room would blame him and his companions as ‘fellow’ Koreans even though they were from the South.

“And now we’ve got what? ing zombies taking over the whole world!?” Belinda put her hand on her husband’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him down but he just shrugged it off. “What the are we supposed to do now, huh?”

“I think we should stay here for the time being.” Taehyung chimed in thoughtfully. “We need to let things calm down out there. Maybe the… zombies... will forget we’re in here and then we can get supplies and stuff before we find a way out of here.” The term ‘zombie’ stuck in Taehyung’s throat. He was far from comfortable with the concept in real life even if the term seemed apt.

The room grew quiet at Taehyung’s suggestion. It was a lot to take in. So many things had happened over the past hour or so and everyone seem to need time to let it all absorb.

Jimin withdrew his phone from his pocket before taking a seat on the floor, making himself more comfortable.

“What are you doing?” Yoongi asked in a quiet voice as he sat down next to his soulmate.

“I just thought I’d try to call my parents too.” Jimin replied halfheartedly. He wasn’t really looking forward to talking to his parents but he wanted to know if they were okay. Even if they didn’t fully accept him, he still loved them. Yoongi just nodded his head, understanding Jimin’s reservations. However, when Jimin unlocked his phone he found there was no signal to make the call. “Hey, Sam.” he called to the clerk who had pulled out a chair at the table and was slumped over the top of it. “Is it normal to have no signal in here?”

“Uh, yeah.” is all the boy replied.

With a sigh, Jimin stashed his phone in his bag. Without thought, Yoongi wrapped his arm around Jimin’s waist, pulling him to his side. The younger man laid his head on the blond’s boney shoulder, thankful for the warmth and support he offered.

Ted and Belinda stood in the corner by the bathroom whispering amongst themselves but the other boys were following JImin and Yoongi’s lead, sitting down and getting comfortable for the time being.

“Hey, where the hell’d you guys find spears?” Namjoon asked Jin curiously in a quiet voice. He wasn’t  comfortable with the silence in the room but was uncomfortable breaking it as well.

Jin laughed softly. “There are two wooden Native American statues that had spears and bows and arrows in there. I can’t believe the spears were actually sharp. I bet the bows and arrows are too.”

“They are.” Sam mumbled under his breath.

“And where’d you two find baseball bats?” Namjoon continued to question.

“Over with the baseball stuff.” Jungkook replied, a small smile playing at the corner of his lips. “You know, for the Colorado Rockies baseball team?”

Namjoon huffed in exasperation. “And you, Taehyung-ssi? Where’d you find the katana?”

“Uh, I think we’re way past the formalities at this point, hyung.” Taehyung told Namjoon before replying to his question. “I saw it hanging on the wall when Hoseok hyung and I were here earlier.”

“Someone needs to teach you how to find better weapons, Joonie.” Jin teased.

“Yeah, you about got me killed.” Yoongi agreed playfully. “And my pants are still wet where I had to kneel.”

“Yep.” Jimin agreed, looking at the brown dampness that spattered his clothing from the exploding drinks. Taehyung and Jungkook nodded their heads in agreement as well.

The room was filled with an awkward silence before it was broken by the sound of loud hee hawing laughter. Bewildered heads turned this way and that before falling on the bashful clerk who was sitting upright in his chair, head thrown back, cawing with all his might. Small smiles broke out amongst the others, growing into grins, then tittering chuckles before finally giving way to whole hearted laughter as well.