“So Sunny, Junhyung, Suga and Nichkhun you’re going towards the town centre. Nichkhun, lead them well. Ravi, Eli, Victoria, and Sungmin you’re headed towards the housing complexes in the east, Eli, you’re in charge. Chansung, Gongchan, U-kwon, and I are going to go to the homes in the south. We will all meet back home at the underground at eight this evening. Good luck and stay safe” T.O.P said before the three groups went their separate ways.

 

~ ... ~

 

“Hey, this used to be the super market. Let’s raid here first for food supplies. They never ventured this far before so the food should still be untouched” Nichkhun said to his team. Luckily each team had a large wagon that the others had brought back with them before on the last scout for food. The wagons were nothing more than four wheels with a large flat board on top but they meant that they could take heavier and a larger quantity of items back much easier. There were 4 wagons, Nichkhun’s group and Eli’s group had one each and T.O.P’s group had two because they were going the furthest.

 

“What are we taking? Everything or just the non-perishables?” Suga asked.

“Anything that will keep for a long time is to be taken as we can store it up. Also anything that will for a few days as long as it has a few days still we can get it eaten and it won’t go to waste. Anything that was fresh will be any good anymore anyway. Remember to take other stuff like clothing, medical supplies and toiletries too. Basically, just take anything that is useful and isn’t too mashed and mangled from the bomb” Nichkhun replied and then the group set to work.

 

They took everything from cans of soup and vacuum-sealed packets of meat to boxes of snacks and bottles of alcohol. They took all of the bottled water they find in the first wagon full as that was the most important thing. By the fourth wagon full they had exhausted the food in the ruins and were now grabbing toiletries like shampoo, soap and woman necessities.

 

 After exhausting the supermarket they moved along, what used to be the high street, to the pharmacy and clothing shops. Sunny and Junhyung raided the pharmacy while Nichkhun and Suga salvaged any useable clothing from the shops. Everything was taken from the clothes shops as even if damaged it could be used to make something else. The pair at the pharmacy was grabbing things like plasters, pain killers, cough medicine, bandages, antibacterial spray etc and anything else they deemed useful. The two took everything that was unopened and visible. Sunny even picked up the pregnancy tests to which Junhyung gave her a confused look.

“Why are they going to be useful?” Junhyung asked her to which she shrugged.

“You never know. There are alot of couples down in the group and probably more to form. You can’t expect them not to be intimate” she replied which made Junhyung blink, a little surprised with her blunt but logical reasoning.

 

~ ... ~

 

Eli and Ravi were just finishing off loading up the wagon to capacity for the 7^th time today. They had already taken 12 double beds, 30 mattresses, loads of bedding, 3 wardrobes, 7 sets of draws, 4 sofas, 8 armchairs, 6 rugs and 13 boxes full of knickknacks such as ornaments, vases, posters, paintings, fake plants, toys, packs of cards and board games. This was going to be their last load before retiring for the night and it consisted of 5 large dining tables and 40 dining chairs that were in surprisingly good condition.

 

Sungmin and Victoria were scouring the rubble to find any small items that could be of use such as knickknacks, cutlery, plates, bowls, glasses and mugs. Sungmin was looking around when he saw what looked like it used to be a nursery because of the flashes of baby blue paint and cartoon pictures on the crumbed walls. He lifted some stones and found a stuffed toy rabbit. His eyes began to water. He looked a bit further along and there was a crib, somehow perfectly intact. Now his watering eyes poured out tears like they never had before. He sank to his knees and began to sob with the plushie rabbit still in his hands. After a minute or so Eli had noticed Sungmins sudden fall to his knees and ran over thing that he hurt himself.

“Sungmin. Calm down, look at me. What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Eli said in a quick, worried tone while looking Sungmin up and down for any injuries. “What have you got in your hands?” he asked after seeing that the crying man was holding something tight, pulling it in close to his chest. Sungmin looked up from and straight at Eli with tears still streaming down his cheeks but now not sobbing. After a moment he then buried his face into the group leader’s chest and wrapped his arms around him for comfort with the rabbit still secure in his grip.

“This was a nursery here, where we’re standing now, a baby boys room. It’s so sad. He will never get to grow up and experience life, never get to have fun, fall in love, have a family. By the look of the stuff in the rubble, he was so young that he won’t have even been able to remember anything of his life. A life that young to be lost is such a waste. It’s just not fair” Sungmin said quietly and slowly. Eli wrapped his arms around the other boy and held him close, rubbing his back and hair to soothe and comfort him. To hear such strong and passionate words of sorrow from Sungmin changed something in Eli. Sungmin had always been chipper and happy with a constant smile, one to bring up the mood in these hard times, so to see him so broken and emotional was a shock. He had never expected the other to be so passionate and the fact that it was over a child melted his heart. Eli realised in that moment that he had fallen for the other.

 

After about 5 minutes Sungmin took a deep breath before looking up to Eli. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to burden you with that. It just upset me. I’m sure the last thing you want is me crying all over your shirt. Thank you for comforting me. It means alot” Sungmin continued quietly before looking down out of embarrassment and attempting to pull away from the other man. He was surprised when the other wouldn’t let his out of his grasp. He looked back up to the taller man to see a tear run down his cheek. This surprised him even more. 

 

“It’s beautiful that you care so much about it. It’s beautiful that you are so open with your emotions. I feel privileged that you would let me see you so bare and with your guard down, that you would share that moment with me. I think it is amazing that you think about the misfortune of others even though you have your own problems at the moment and that you get sad for them when there are so many things that you could be sad for yourself about” Eli explained with tears still leaving his eyes.

“Thank you, but I’m not all you make me out to be. I am just as jealous as I am sad. I am jealous that this family was blessed with a child as much as I feel the pain at the thought of the loss of the child. I grieve not only for the baby but for myself and the thought of not being able to have my own child. The over emotional display comes from my carrier mutation. Too many hormones heightening my emotions” Sungmin admitted and tried to look away but Eli pulled his chin around so he was facing him again.

“No, Sungmin. You truly are a beautiful person, inside and out. It is only natural to feel jealousy and pain for yourself, it doesn’t make you any less of a person. I promise you, you are 10x more a better person that I will ever be” Eli said openly to the shorter individual who looked into his eyes. That was when Sungmin fell for the other man, when he was so open and caring, showing his soft side and vulnerability. Sungmin got onto his tip toes and kissed the other on the lips softly.

“Let’s be better people together” the carrier said softly. Eli responded by kissing the other again.

 

Later, after the creation of a new couple and the crib being squeezed onto the wagon, Eli shouted for his group to gather so they could make their way back to the underground. Just before she was about to head back to the wagon Victoria saw a shimmer from under a large piece of wood.  Presuming it to be cutlery that caught the sunlight she started to move the wood so that she could pick the item up before heading back because the more the better with the number of people in the underground. It became apparent after moving the wood that the item wasn’t cutlery but a bracelet. Victoria gasped and jumped back in shock when she realised that the bracelet was still on its owner and that they could move their arm.

 

“Help! Someone’s trapped!” Victoria shouted while scrabbling to remove the debris from the person underneath. Moments later the hands of the others were helping to remove rock from the pile. Soon a handsome but dust covered boy with no apparent bruising or injuries came into view. Victoria immediately checked his pulse and was surprised to find it very strong. She was even more surprised to see him looking up at her when she looked to his face, so surprised she fell backwards. She was expecting the impact when suddenly she felt herself being pulled forward. The boy had saved her from falling but had pulled her down onto him. She opened her eyes and, upon seeing her position so close to his face, blushed. They spent a moment looking at each other while the others of the group stood looking on, not believing what they were seeing. How could a boy, who had been buried under rubble for days, be able to do anything? Suddenly the boy pulled Victoria closer and kissed her passionately. She was going to pull away but felt sparks shoot through her and enjoyed it so much that she just kissed back. Eventually, when they both needed to catch their breath, they pulled apart and just gazed at each other. Victoria got up but didn’t break the eye contact.

“Thanks so much for getting me out. I’m forever in your debt. It was so frustrated being perfectly fine under there but not strong enough to dig myself out” The boy said getting up. Victoria offered her hand to him and he accepted it with a smile. “I’m Ilhoon by the way”

 

~ ... ~

 

They had taken 4 good hauls already including an intact floor standing mirror, 6 sofas, 14 double beads and mattresses, 12 single beds and mattresses, 2 cribs, 4 wardrobes, 4 stoves, 5 book shelves and loads of books, 7 sets of draws and 3 coffee tables as well as loads of kitchen ware, toys, clothes and games. They even found a bath tub. T.O.P’s group were checking the last house they had planned for today. It was one of the few mostly remaining houses. It was in here where they discovered a girl and her child, an 18 month old girl, who had been hiding in the house.

 

“Come and join our family. We have, or are currently in the process of obtaining, everything we need to live comfortably for a long time. We can give you a room, a bed, food, water and safety. Please, come with us” T.O.P was trying to convince the brown haired girl.

“I want to but I need to find my boyfriend. He promised me he would come back for us. As soon as the sirens sounded for the bomb he hid us and said he would come and get us after. The shelter he hid us in got ripped to shreds but I managed to get us sheltered in this house. By some miracle this house stayed mostly together. Afterward I went back to the shelter we were in as that was where he would come to find us but then I needed to find Jade some food. I realised that if he saw the shredded shelter while we weren’t there he would think the worse so now I’m looking for him” the girl said nearly crying and holding her little girl close.

“If he hasn’t found you yet then he may not be here anymore. Chances are that he didn’t make it” Chansung said trying to help but obviously not. Gongchan punched him in the arm and he shut up realising that although what he said was the truth it wasn’t very tactful and sounded quite insensitive.

“He’s okay, he has to be. He’s all that we have in the world. He promised he would find us” the girl said beginning to cry. It sounded like she was trying to convince herself as much as she was the others.

“I’m sure your boyfriend will realise that the safest place to be is the underground and will come to us when he can’t find you. So why not come and live safely with us until he finds us?” U-kwon tried and this time the girl seemed to be considering it.

“Okay, I’ll come because I want to keep Jade safe” he said. T.O.P put his arm around the girl’s shoulder and then they made their way back to rest for the night.

 

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