And that’s how I came to meet Jimin. The lively boy with chubby cheeks that could bring a smile to anyone’s face. Even in the world we’re living in now. In a place where all hope seemed lost, he’d still be there clinging on to what little we had. Determination like fire in his eyes. If anyone was going to see this epidemic through, I was sure it was going to be him. He took me back to a small group of survivors, mostly consisting of his friends. They were angry at him for running off, scared that he’d been attacked and were just about to leave without him. That’s when I realised just how much he’d risked to come and save me. He didn’t have to but he did.

Suddenly, Jimin rose from where he was sat. ‘Hey, hyung!” he called out to another boy sat on the roof of one of the cars. “Come down and get some rest, it’s my turn to go on watch.” The guy gave a small grunt of understanding before jumping down and handing the riffle he was holding to Jimin. Jimin patted him on the shoulder, sending him off as he walked back to the area where all our tents were set up. Then, he took a few steps over to me. Ruffling my hair, he gave me a warm smile. “You should go get some sleep too, okay?” He said in his usual, warm voice. I shook my head stubbornly as always. “I’ll stay with you” I told him, like I did every night he was on watch. He didn’t even bother to argue with me any more. He knew it was no use anyway. He sighed and held out his hand to help me up. I smiled, feeling successful as I took his hand and he pulled me to my feet. We walked over to the car and as always, he gestured for me to climb up first. The vehicle was huge, meaning that I couldn’t get up without a little help. Jimin held onto my hips firmly, pushing me up until I managed to scramble onto the roof. As soon as I was sat, he passed up the gun to me before pulling himself up to the roof, next to me. We sat there like we had done countless times before.

We sat there without a word. It wasn’t an awkward silence, we were content. Since this whole ordeal, Jimin was the only one I felt safe or comfortable with. If no one knew us any better, they’d sat we were siblings, he really was like a protective older brother to me. “Jimin” I called gently, breaking the silence. “Uh?” he replied, shuffling slightly closer to me. “Do you think this thing will end?” I asked, trying my best to fight the tiredness and stay awake. He chuckled half-heartedly.  “Of course it is.” He smiled, his hand instinctively coming up to pet me head. “I just don’t know when, okay?” His tone always soothed me. I loved hearing his voice before I slept. It sent be off into a peaceful sleep rather than one haunted by nightmares, which I was so used to. It made a nice change from the nightmare we were living in as well. “You look tired.” Jimin stated, chuckling. He reached over and took the folded blanket that had been left there for the watchers to keep warm. He spread it over me and the huddled me to my chest, rocking me backwards and forwards like a baby. “Keep warm and get some sleep. I’ll wake you up when my turn’s finished.” He whispered as I felt my eyelids grow heavier and heavier.

The men take it in turns to be on watch. In case those things stumble on our camp, someone needs to keep an eye open at all times. Usually they switch every 5 or so hours. At night it’s only 3. No one wants to risk falling asleep. I felt someone nudge me. “Hey, time to move now.” Jimin laughed, watching me wake up, confused as always. He helped me down off the roof and passed the gun onto the next guy. Still overcome by sleep, Jimin held my shoulders, making sure I didn’t trip. We walked back over to the tents and he walked me to the one where I slept. “Go get some sleep, I’ll see you at breakfast.” He fingers gently traced his finger down my cheek. I nodded, almost unable to keep my eyes open. He zipped open the tent slowly, not wanting to awake the other women who were sleeping inside. He held it open for me and I climbed in carefully. I turned to see Jimin wave and whisper a last ‘good night’ before zipping it up again. My bed was closest to the entrance of the tent meaning I didn’t have to awkward crawl over anyone in the dark to get to it. However, I still managed to make someone stir with the rusting I made. She yawned, stretching her arms. “You were out on watch with him again?” she asked coldly. “Uh…yeah.” I replied, getting into my bundle of blankets called my bed. “Why don’t you two just share a tent? Do you know how annoying it is when you come back and wake us up?” I didn’t reply. I hated it when I was scolded like this. After a few more seconds of waiting from my reply that never came she huffed and turned over, trying to get back to sleep. Sadly you couldn’t be particular with who you lived with. Everyone had to make do and try to get along although it was difficult at times. Safety was in numbers. It’s much easier to fight off a group of those flesh eaters if you outnumber them or have someone to watch your back.