Hoseok stepped towards the edge of the parking lot, trying to understand what caused the turmoil by the cafes. He looked towards the river, noticing how the slimes – both tall and small – had frozen in place, no limbs or claws hanging out in any way.

He wondered if it was a sign of hope or just a short pause before chaos erupted again. Hoping it was the former, he then looked to his left towards the circumference of the barrier; there were a few people outside, cameras and phones and microphones all set up at a safe distance, while a small number of men used various gadgets and mechanisms to try and cut through the barrier. He scoffed at their attempts, knowing that all of their efforts were in vain.

“Hoseok-hyung?”, Soobin asked as he left Kai for a moment. He stood next to Yeonjun’s driver with concerned eyes, confused at the sudden silence, yet another similar scream of the same voice echoed across. “! Okay, we’re gonna have to go and check what’s up.”

Hoseok turned around and mentally counted the number of people behind him, of which one was heavily injured. He breathed in heavily and nodded towards Taehyun, who immediately stepped to the front. He looked at Felix with an apologetic smile, before returning his attention to the others.

“Taehyun, Yeosang, Yuqi. The three of you, come with me. It doesn’t sound like a pleasant thing happened, so we’ll see what’s actually going on. The others, stay here and take care of yourselves. If anything happens, take your things and run towards the block of buildings over there.” He pointed at a few tall buildings several metres behind the parking lot, abandoned and dark yet safe from the monsters by the river.

For once, the others didn’t argue on wanting to tag along.

Hoseok led the way, with the others following him closely. He crossed the empty road, the markings still clear and fine. He frowned at the way the civilians pushed and pulled against each other, trying to either fight their way through or free themselves out. He spotted a police officer standing just outside the cafe that the others were surrounding; he gestured the man to make way for them, and the officer complied immediately.

The people stepped aside, their voices all mixing together into a harsh cacophony that almost seemed like a rebellion, yet the fear in their voices was clear as ice.

Taehyun immediately scanned the room, and sighed in relief when he didn’t see Beomgyu and Kai’s mothers, as well as Yeonjun’s father. He assumed they were in another restaurant or cafe.

“Changbin’s still asleep.” Yeosang spotted the latter lying down on a sofa but there was no one around him. He then let his eyes trail towards an unexpected gathering at one corner of the dark cafe. He his flashlight and directed the light towards the centre of the mass, a suppressed gasp leaving his lips at the sight.

The unfortunate woman that was transformed by the dangerous rain from earlier was being held down by at least three or four people; her arms were thick and bulged, veins uncannily visible at the surface of her extremely pale skin, her legs twisting around uncontrollably, her entire body covered with patches of blue and black, foam dripping down her neck, and her bloodshot eyes were wide open with dilated pupils.

“W-Whoa, whoa, Jungkook!” Hoseok immediately dropped his stoic expression, rushing towards the butler. He cringed at the petrifying sight of Jungkook’s arm, scratches and bruises covering the skin, dull blue patches growing slowly.

“She… She bit you?”

Yuqi crouched down and observed the poor woman’s cadaverous face, resisting the urge to throw up at the horrible smell. She reached out her hand with a tissue to wipe away the froth at the corner of the lady’s dry lips. “What h-happened here? How did she just… What happened?!?”

“The rain…”, Yeosang paused for a moment, turning off his torch as there was one being held by a security guard anyway. He was disturbed by the woman’s low growling. “It started off as a small sort of poison, and when she got worse, she was tied down to a couch back at the building. I guess it just got even worse, and if she bites anyone, it spreads… An infection. Kind of like an infection.”

“W-Wait, hold up. You knew about this?” Taehyun didn’t know if he was furious at not being aware of this woman’s state, or if he was more at unease with Yeosang’s lack of trust in him, despite the two of them sharing their ideas together just a while ago.

“Kind of, yeah. I thought Soobin already told you all through the phone?”

“But the woman was fine back then! She even talked!”

“Like I said, she got worse when Hoseok-hyung and I went to check the people and the barrier, when we returned with Minho in the car.”

“Well, you should’ve told us!”

“Hey, Kang Taehyun! He’s older than you! Don’t talk to him like that!” It was a different voice this time.

Taehyun whipped his head around with raging eyes, his shoulders relaxing slightly as Yeonjun approached him. He turned his face back towards Yeosang. “Age has nothing to do with this, hyung. What if this spreads to all of us? Then what? Can we stop keeping stuff hidden? We’re in the middle of a ing apocalypse and all we can do is pray and communicate, and you just decide to bottle it all up?!?”

“If we’re going to stop keeping stuff hidden, then it’s about time you tell us how you know so much about everything, red-head!”, one of the security guards argued back with a sick smile.

“What is it with you all and blaming Taehyun?!? He’s just trying to help us!” It was Wooyoung this time, stepping up to protect the younger. He was about to say something more, his heart beating loud against his chest, but the woman on the floor roared violently.

“Kill me… Just kill me… Before it’s too-” The woman snarled and gritted her teeth, her lips trembling incessantly. She shut her bloodshot eyes, trying to restrain herself, but she was losing control. She rumbled and growled, thrashing against the others’ hold. “Please!”

Taehyun flinched at the woman’s pleading voice. He stepped back and turned around with his arms folded, contemplating on what to do. “T-There’s no way to treat her? Can any of the nurses stop the poison or whatever it is that’s hurting her?”

He sighed heavily at the declined answers of the only qualified nurses in the cafe. He glanced at Changbin, looking for any injuries on the other’s lifeless body. With an idea climbing up to his mind, he walked over to the sofa, bending over to take a closer look at Changbin.

“The slimes. Whoever got swallowed came out with all their wounds healed!”

Several whispers and murmurs filled the room, some of the civilians looking at Taehyun with doubtful eyes.

“That’s a risk. What if it doesn’t work?”

Taehyun turned around and looked at the owner of the voice – Minho – with hopeful eyes. “A risk we must take. There’s no other way. We can’t just shoot her! Haven’t we already lost enough-”

He forced his eyes shut, muttering words of encouragement to himself. He recalled the gym in which they let two police officers die helplessly; the guilt cruised through his body, causing an uncomfortable ache in his chest.

Yeji noticed the change in atmosphere and she kn