CHAPTER ONE
JUNMYEON

I wake up to nothing but the sound of blaring sirens and distant screams. My hair's a mess, covering the top part of my vision. I brush my fingers through it to help me see a bit clearer. I stretch my arms as I yawn, the sirens continue and flash a combination of blue and red lights.

I get up, my legs immediately responding to the sudden activity. They shake with energy and adrenaline. I walk over to my window, and when I see the sight, my heart stops. There are cars crashing into each other and metal debris skidding about the streets. In the distance, I spot explosions and bodies of the innocent and maybe the not-so-innocent flying away from the impact. I swallow hard and close the blinds again.

I grab my black leather jacket, along with my phone and my handgun. Maybe this is a bad idea—going out there, where people are dying and cars are exploding. But something about the scene interested me, I couldn’t help but investigate the chaos.

The lock to the front door clicks as I shut it behind me. Goosebumps form on my arms and shoot down to my wrists from the cold breeze that greets me when I exit.

I start to walk out to my truck, but suddenly, I'm pushed over and I fall onto my back by the rather big entity that looks to be anything but human, but unfortunately enough, it is a man. They use one hand to claw at my neck in attempts to choke me, using his other hand to reach into the pockets of my jacket. I gasp for air, my face beginning to sting. Once I process what’s happening, I manage to pull my gun from the pocket of my jacket, aim it at his forehead, then pull the trigger. The body jerks backward as the bullet flies through its head. I'm covered in blood, and the smell of the atmosphere is tacky and dank. Instead of sitting and thinking about the shock I just experienced, I move quickly to pick myself up and run to my truck. Putting the key in the ignition, I hear more shouts of help as I look back on the street behind me. Without thinking, I floor the gas pedal and I'm zooming forward and away from the commotion.

As I'm driving, I hear desperate screams and shouts in the distance. I pay more attention to the person, and when I reach them, I find a young boy lying on the ground, holding his leg which appears to be gushing out blood. I stop the truck and park it, grabbing my keys and dropping them in the same pocket as my gun.

"Hey, you alright there?" I ask the boy as I squat next to him. His face is covered in dirt and blood, a black eye noticeable as well. He shakes his head as he grimaces. His chest rises as he takes in deep breaths.

"What happened to your leg?" I ask him as calmly as I can.

"I got shot..." he trails on before groaning in pain.

"Yeah, it's a gnarly wound. How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen."

"What's your name?" I ask after a few moments of silence, except for him occasionally letting out soft cries. He moves his eyes up to look at me.

"Sehun," he answers while shutting his eyes.

"Alright. Well, Sehun, let's get you some help." I pull his arm around my shoulders and help him stand up. He bends his wounded leg, keeping it above the ground so there's no pressure. He grips onto the handle of the door that leads to the passenger seat tightly and puts most of his weight on the car. To keep him from falling and hurting himself worse, I wrap my arm around his torso and hold him up. Opening the door, he throws his body onto the velvet seat. Blood immediately stains the seat, but I don't care at this point. This helpless boy needs the care, and he needs it bad.

As he situates himself to sit normally, I grab my keys and my gun from the pocket of my jacket, set it on the center console, and take off my coat. I wrap it around Sehun's leg to stop the blood from pouring out of his body because soon enough, it would kill him.

I walk around to the driver's seat, and once I sit down, and look to my left, what looks like a gas station not far from us burst into flames. People start running towards us and away from the rubble. Sehun has his eyes shut tightly, his hand grasping the handle of the door. I'm in shock as I stare out on the scene.

Soon enough, we're trapped inside what feels like a hell hole. I follow my first instinct and drive to our right which is nothing but grassland. I see houses in the distance, and for a minute, I think they could help Sehun. But then again, they could easily be sick.

"You got a family?" I ask Sehun, just to pass the time. He lifts his head up to look at me. His face still shows pain and agony.

"I did. They all got sick a while back, so I had no choice but to leave them. I couldn't catch it," he explains. His voice is barely audible. I feel sad for him.

"Sorry," I say with sincerity.

"How about you?" he asks me, turning the tables.

I stay quiet for a moment, trying to think of a response. “Not important.”

Once we reach a friendly-looking house, I park the truck in its backyard. Sehun seems to have calmed down now.

"Are you okay to stay here? I'm gonna make sure these people aren't sick or anything," I ask him before I leave the car. He nods, but it doesn't seem convincing. I pat his shoulder and give him an encouraging look as I open the door. I quickly grab my gun then exit.

Once I reach the front door of the house, I make sure the safety mode on my pistol is off and the gun is loaded—just in case. I knock three times on the door, but after a few minutes, nobody answers. I knock louder and harder. I soon hear footsteps, and my heart begins to beat faster in fear.

The doorknob turns.

The person behind the door slowly opens the door, then before I know it, they swing open the door sharply. I immediately recognize the fact that the man in this house is holding the biggest rifle I've seen.

"Put your hands up! Now!" he demands in a harsh and loud tone. I drop my gun on the doorstep and raise my hands.

"I'm not sick," I say in a rush. The man, who looks to be around middle ages, quiets down and nudges the door open with his gun. He steps outside and lowers his weapon, and I bring my arms back to my sides.

"Who the hell are you?" he asks me in monotone. I take a deep breath.

"Junmyeon. Kim Junmyeon," I tell him. He looks past me and at the truck, then back at my eyes.

"Why are you here?"

"Well..." I start, turning around, gesturing to the distant chaos, "My friend is hurt. Badly. We need shelter, could we maybe just stay the night? Just for now?" I ask him as politely as I can. The guy stays quiet, lowering his gun. He looks behind me at the truck, then back at me.

“Just bring him inside,” he gives in after a few moments of contemplation. I nod in thanks before running back to get Sehun.

When I reach him, Sehun’s face looks the same, but it's more washed out now. I can tell he's trying to hold on, but he's just about ready to let go.

He looks at me but doesn’t say anything. I help him wrap his arm around my shoulders as I hoist him out of the car. He grunts as his feet meet the ground, and shuts his eyes in agony as he puts pressure on his wounded leg. I grab his wrist with one hand and wrap my arm around his torso to give him the support to walk.

Once we reach the house, the guy holds the door open for us. He glares at Sehun, suspicious of both of us. He follows behind us, then quickly speeds in front of us.

Sehun falls onto the couch, grabbing his wounded leg, trying to stop the pain. He gently and slowly unwraps my leather jacket. He pulls up the pant leg of his basketball shorts just a bit, showing a larger portion of his wound. I try to think of something I can use to bound his leg to keep it from bleeding out even more, but nothing comes to mind except for wrapping it in some sort of cloth.

"Where's your bathroom?" I ask the guy, whose name I still don't know.

"Down this hall, first door on your left." He nods his head towards the hallway where I had assumed the bathroom was.

I walk to the bathroom, and on the rod behind the door were two folded towels. I grab both of them, then checking the cabinets for gauze or maybe an ointment to heal the pain. All I find that might be somewhat useful is a bottle of Ibuprofen. I take it anyways.

When I enter the room where Sehun sits on the sofa, and the guy who owns the house sits on a recliner in the corner. I ask him for water, and then he gets up on his own to get the glass.

I sit down next to Sehun and ask him to pick up his leg so I can wrap the towel around the wound. He gives me a worried expression before lifting his leg. I quickly wrap the towel underneath his thigh and above towards the lesion. He looks away from where I work on his leg, not wanting to see the hole going through the area above his knee. Once I have the towel wrapped securely, I ask the man if he has any duct tape to keep it in place.

"Yeah, hold on." He sighs from the kitchen. I hear him messing with drawers and cupboards.

"You holding up alright?" I ask Sehun as he breathes heavily.

"I’m trying," he answers honestly, wiping his eyes. I stare away from his bloody leg and wait for the guy to come back. When he does, he has a tall glass of water and a roll of silver duct tape in his other hand. He throws me the roll, and I catch it at the last second. He sets the water on a small table next to the couch. I rip off a long piece of tape and start wrapping it tightly in the towel. Sehun lets out deep breaths.

Once the towel is wrapped in place, I open the bottle of pills and take out two for Sehun to take. I hand him the antibiotics as he grabs the glass of water. He puts the pills into his mouth, then takes a gulp of water.

"Where do you guys come from?" The house-owner asks us, grabbing our attention.

"I found Sehun on the street, obviously bleeding himself dead. I'm not really important. Just as long as you know that we're human and haven't caught the sickness." I explain to him politely, "What's your name?"

"I'm Chanyeol. I'm not very important either," he replies. "I would take the kid to the hospital, but they seem to be packed, and if not, they're in flames or contaminated with the plagued," he adds after a moment of stillness. I nod and look around the living area of his house. It's a nice home, especially for our small and rural town, along with the turmoil occurring outside.

"Well, Chanyeol, thanks for the help. We'll be on our way," I thank him, grabbing my gun from the coffee table in front of us. I stand up and help Sehun as well.

"No, you can stay. The kid can sleep in the guest room, you can sleep in mine, and I'll sleep out here. It's fine." He stops us from reaching the door. I look to my side at Sehun whose face isn't as worn out as it seemed to have been before.

"Are you sure?" I ask Chanyeol, trying my hardest to keep Sehun on his feet.

"Yeah, it's no problem. I'll stay up, keep on the lookout," he offers nicely, definitely more polite than before, now that he was convinced we were just normal humans.

"Thanks. It means a lot," I tell him. He then leads us up to the bedrooms, where he also helps Sehun get up the stairs. I feel uneasy about Sehun sleeping, since I have a feeling he could just die in the middle of his rest. I tell myself not to worry, though, since I know none of us would probably be sleeping anyways.

Chanyeol shows me the guest room once Sehun gets situated in his. I set my gun on the nightstand, making sure it's safe and secure.

I'm then all alone, and I think to myself, this may be the last time I fall asleep.