Sehun sifted through the contents of his pack, mentally ticking off the items as he checked for the billionth time that day.

With what remaining items left in the basement, he packed their blankets, a flashlight with extra batteries, whatever medical supplies he could find, a white shirt and trousers (despite the fact they were slightly soiled with dust), and tools such as a screwdriver and a wrench just in case anything mechanical needed fixing. He also gathered all the remaining bottles of water and food they had left, splitting them evenly with his friend, Baekhyun, to pack into his own backpack. He managed to securely tie a sleeping bag each onto his backpack and Baekhyun's, and resorted to also carry a foldable tent with them so they could camp out, if possible.

Sehun was also able to locate a handgun and extra bullets discreetly stowed away in a secured toolbox which was stored at a corner of the basement. Weapons weren't so much common in Korea, especially in such a peaceful area where they were--or what the area used to be, anyway--but at such a time as this, Sehun was glad whoever used to live here had the gall to acquire such a weapon and stash it without the authorities ever knowing. With the weapon, Sehun could definitely shoot out baddies with ease, given his training years ago. The problem was whether he could still aim perfectly as he used to.

Although it had been years since, Sehun trusted his past military training and experience to return to him on the right times. Thus, combat should be fairly easy, and surviving wouldn't be so much of a problem. However, there was still a slight chance things could go wrong.

On a different note, Baekhyun proved to be quite irritating on the upcoming journey. Sehun had a high level of endurance to various things deemed very annoying to those without training, but Baekhyun seemed to be on a different level of "irritating" altogether. Even though he agreed on the new plan to travel all the way to Anjeon, the man wouldn't cease complaining about how ridiculously crazy the idea was, how his life used to be better before the apocalypse happened, and whining about towing a heavy pack around if the car ever ran out of gas. Nevertheless, Sehun continued to keep his growing temper, though it wouldn't be long before he would snap at his companion.

"Here, take this," Sehun ordered as he handed a baseball bat at Baekhyun, "Swing as hard as you can with it."

"How come you get to use the gun?" Baekhyun frowned, taking the bat anyway and testing out a few quick swings at the air.

"Because I can aim," Sehun carefully dodged Baekhyun's swings, placing the items they would bring with them at the side of the only staircase.

"Oh really?" Baekhyun snorted to the side as he continued to practice swinging, "What—Are you a soldier or something?"

"Actually, I was," the man answered, lifting a brow nonchalantly. Baekhyun seemed to shut up for a moment as the answer sunk in. He didn't expect the man to be an ex-soldier at all, but it made sense given the man's build and calm nature towards the whole situation.

"Fine," the shorter man mumbled in finality, walking over to his backpack to pick it up.

"We'll get you a better weapon on the way," Sehun said, then picked up the remaining baseball bat off the floor, "Are you ready to go?"

Baekhyun slung his arms through the backpack's slings with a short huff of breath, disliking the fact that they were really going to do such a crazy feat. Nevertheless, Baekhyun followed Sehun as the man seemed to give off the vibe and what's a leader without a follower? Additionally, he didn't want to be left on his own either. If Sehun really was a soldier, as he said he was, his chances of surviving would increase since Baekhyun knew little to none about survival especially on his own.

"I'm ready," he said, gripping tighter on the bat in his hands.

Sehun nodded, "Alright. Here's the plan: I'm going to open the door and start battling through as best as I can. You wait here until I come back to get you once the coast is clear, got it?"

"What do you mean 'wait here'?" Baekhyun questioned.

"It means to wait here," Sehun answered simply, not exactly sure why Baekhyun asked such a question.

"Why can't I go out there with you?"

"Because it's dangerous."

"What happened to fighting together, then?" Baekhyun quirked a brow, annoyed by such a ridiculous reason. Anyone in their right mind knew that. "What if you get injured? There's probably hundreds of them outside."

Sehun weighed his options at the question. Baekhyun had a point—one of his reasons in escaping the area was they would watch each other's backs, and his current plan wasn't reflective of that. Though a problem in counter was Baekhyun looked small and fragile, and the man didn't know how capable Baekhyun was in defending himself.

"I'm fighting out there with you," Baekhyun insisted with irritation laced in his words, breaking Sehun's train of thoughts. The man continued to frown as he thought before deciding to give in.

"Alright, but put the weight down," Sehun advised, trekking up the stairs, "It'll only slow you down." Baekhyun did as told then followed the ex-soldier up the steps.

"Okay, on the count of three, we burst outside and fight," the taller man said, gripping the doorknob tightly as he received a nod. His stomach was doing nervous flips and he could fell the adrenaline starting to kick in his system as he heard the low growls and moans from the other side of the door. Sehun could only hope the numbers outside were low. The last thing he wanted was to miserably fail on their only attempt to escape the basement.

"One..."

"Two..." Baekhyun joined in a whisper, his hands starting to feel clammy on the wooden weapon.

"Three!"

Sehun quickly turned the knob and forcefully pushed the door open, conveniently knocking out two undead creatures which were fortunately in the way. At the loud thud noise, some undead heads turned towards their direction and dragged their way towards the prospect of food. Baekhyun charged through behind Sehun, quickly batting their zombie heads off their bodies in quick swipes of his bat. Sehun watched the other man's back, kicking some zombies away and mimicking Baekhyun's idea; he swung his bat with brute force onto their heads, chopping their heads off.

It was no time at all before the zombies in sight and the surrounding area were cleared, leaving the two of them alone.

Baekhyun rested his palms on his knees, breathing heavily. The bat he used as a weapon lay on the ground beneath his feet as he caught his breath. A few steps away, Sehun surveyed the area, his own breathing heavy but he managed due to his high endurance.

"Good work, Baek," Sehun praised, "You're not a bad fighter after all."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Baekhyun shot a glare.

"Well, I wasn't really sure how well you could fight, but it looks to me that you're capable," Sehun explained then turned his head away to the abandoned cars left on the road.

"I'm not as skilled as you," Baekhyun started, picking up his bat, "But that still doesn't mean I can't fight." He received no further comment from the ex-soldier and he rolled his eyes.

His eyes travelled to their surroundings, also surveying the area. He noticed the numerous abandoned cars on the road, some appearing to be worn out and decorated in scratch marks. He spotted a maroon sedan parked at the front gates of the house the pair stayed underground at; unlike some of the abandoned cars, it didn't have any flat tires and it looked decent enough for a long drive ahead.

"Let's take that car," Baekhyun pointed to it.

"I was thinking the same thing," Sehun said, "Let's hope the keys are left inside."

The pair walked towards the said car and peered inside. They breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the keys still left in the ignition.

"Looks like this is our ride. It's got a good amount of fuel left, too," Sehun said, looking over to Baekhyun, "Help me carry our stuff into the trunk."

Both Sehun and Baekhyun took two trips in total into the basement and to the car to load their packed things into the trunk of the car. Sehun mostly carried the heavier things, as Baekhyun was still slightly short of breath and didn't want anything to do with heavy things.

Once done, Sehun looked around once more. The neighbouring houses looked eerie from abandonment. Despite such, they looked to have at least some more supplies he and Baekhyun would possibly need. Canned food could be left in the pantries of the houses as well. Perhaps it would be a good idea to check.

"What are you waiting for?" Baekhyun said while sitting at the passenger seat of the car.

"I think we should loot these houses," Sehun replied, turning his head to Baekhyun, "We could get more food and medical supplies."

Baekhyun frowned at the prospect of searching. He wasn't really up to the mood for that, and if they encountered any more surprise zombies in those houses, he wouldn't be too happy.

"Whatever. If you're going in there, I'm not going with you," Baekhyun crossed his arms over his chest, looking away.

"What happened to working together, huh?" Sehun thought to himself.

What should Sehun do?

​1 - Give in and drive away--another opportunity to loot will come by -
2 - Loot the nearby houses quickly without Baekhyun -
3 - Try to convince Baekhyun to come and loot the nearby houses together -

VOTE

author's note: Hi again! i would to thank you all for the support in this pseudo-interactive fic! i hope you are all enjoying the fic so far :) please comment below of your thoughts currently concerning the fic! feedback is most welcome and encouraged.
i would like to mention (since there may be confusion in the prologue) that the word "vote" is a link to the poll! multiple responses are enabled, so you can vote multiple times for your choice! happy voting :)