05.

Jihoon was up in a matter of seconds, standing behind Sahyun and Soonyoung for her protection. She could hear the clicking of his gun, his body close enough to spread warmth across her back as she stood with her face practically smashed against Soonyoung. While in most cases the position would've been awkward or uncomfortable, she felt safe and secure and was highly grateful not to be able to witness what exactly was happening beyond the male in front of her.

The sound of groaning, the painful kind mixed with grunts and whines, and the thick stench that suddenly took over the entirety of the building left her gagging.

", why are Walkers in your house, Soonyoung?" Jihoon's growl echoed behind her as she felt his arm reach over her shoulder, their height is not too far from each other, to shoot. She heard the gunfire followed by the sound of something she couldn't even put into words. "."

"I just sent a few for you to fight, and you've already forgotten regular bullets don't work, ?" Soonyoung spit out, yanking Sahyun along with him as he moved to the side. She whimpered when his grip became too tight but did nothing to loosen it, the fear of whatever was closing in on them worse than the dull ache he would give her.

His hand wrapped around a staff he had placed against a wall, and with skills she could never possibly understand, he swung it forward with one hand, and she heard a similar sound of the bullet hitting the creature, though more intense.

She decided the only way to describe it would be squishy. It was not solid, it was goo of some sort and she was too terrified to know what.

"Not all bullets are absorbed by them, idiot." Jihoon retorted, and Sahyun cautiously cut her eyes over to where he still stood by the table, finishing switching out whatever ammo he had. She regretted taking the chance the moment she finally laid eyes on what these men were calling 'walkers'.

It was by far the most disgusting thing she had ever set her eyes upon, the remnants of a man with melted - or was it still melting? - flesh, empty sockets where its eyes should've been, and no face other than a gaping hole for a mouth, a sticky liquid seeping out beyond it. Whatever limbs it did have were as gooey as its face, and she realized the horrible stench that followed them could only match that of a decaying body.

It was like a zombie amplified by a hundred, and it was something she would never wash from her brain.

She didn't have time to ponder on it, however, because Soonyoung's grip was pulling her away yet again, keeping her as close to his back as possible, while swinging his staff around to delay them long enough to get out.

"There's got to be at least fifty of them." Minghao's dull voice suddenly spoke from behind her, and she jumped slightly at the chill that followed. His eyes glowed a transparent white now, a strange field surrounding the expanse of his body. She almost screamed when one of the creatures reached out from behind him, but the sound stopped short when it touched the field, the flesh actually melting away.

She was almost certain she would vomit once they were out of dodge; if they managed to get out.

"I really didn't want to risk taking her out of the house and into the Middleground, but we don't have much of a choice at this point. We need to get to the tunnels. They won't be able to follow us down there." Soonyoung stated back, steadily moving them toward the door.

Somehow they made it, and despite barely knowing them, a feeling of relief washed over Sahyun when she glanced over her shoulder and saw Jihoon trailing behind them, a grip of his own on Seungkwan.

They ran the moment there was an opening between the swarm, her legs hardly managing to hold out from the exertion, no doubt from the lack of nutrition she had been receiving over the last few days.

Had she been given a chance to, Sahyun probably would've marveled at how normal everything appeared outside. For some reason, she was expecting everything to be as gray as the food she was eating and for it to be eerily quiet. Instead, she found it to look like any normal house, with a yard, a sidewalk - Hell, it was even in a neighborhood of sorts.

"Where's Jun?" She found herself asking when they rounded the corner of the house. Her question fell flat when she saw the man already standing in front of two latched doors in the backyard.

"Compellers have the ability to transport. The bastard probably got out the moment there was a sign of trouble. Wimp." Seungkwan muttered behind her.

"You're only saying that because you couldn't do the same. You would've gladly left us behind if you had the chance." Jihoon commented, letting go of the boy with a glare.

Jun snickered as they approached. "I didn't run away. I was simply waiting for you guys so we could make an even quicker escape. I had complete faith you wou