♫  click the music note for music !

"Thunderstorms are as much our friends as the sunshine."
― Criss Jami, Killosophy

“What’s her condition like?”

The woman holding a clipboard in her arms shook her head and looked back at him.

“She’s already starting to lose her hearing, sight, and her lack of body coordination is becoming more evident. The cells have spread and damaged most of the tissue in her body. Her life expectancy is no more than a year.”

Soohyuk let out a shaky breath. “Then we have to perfect this drug as soon as possible.”

The woman pressed some buttons on the monitor. “It’s estimated to take at least another two years of research for the first batch and we still have many tests to run after that. The long-term effects of the drug are still unknown and we won’t be able to give the public access to it.”

“Then do you suggest I let my sister die?” Soohyuk hissed. The woman stepped back in surprise at his outburst and she held up her hands in surprise. “Soohyuk-”

“You know my original purpose when I started this project was to help people and now there’s someone I want to help more than anyone but you’re telling me I won’t be able to?”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’m just giving you the information I know. I’ll take my leave.”

Soohyuk watched her leave and he in a breath. He pulled out the chair beside the hospital bed and sat down. His expression fell when he saw the pale complexion of the girl in front of him. She was wearing the knit hat that he had gotten for her because she had grown self-conscious after losing her hair.

He reached out to pick up her hand, and her bony fingers only made him more depressed.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to speed this up, I promise. Hang in there, little princess.”

“We’ve been waiting for that kid for five days now. Where is he?” Taehyung sighed, throwing another small pebble into water. Nari shrugged. “It’ll take some time.”

“I know, I know. I’m just whining,” Taehyung said, grinning.

Nari looked up. “I don’t know how long we can stay here for until Soohyuk finds our location again. He’s smart enough to know we’ll try to find another method of transportation aside from land.” Taehyung nodded in understanding.

“I believe in Jungkook. I just hope he makes it here alright.”

Nari tilted her head. “Wasn’t he always the top ranked out of the seven of you during our physical examinations?” Taehyung turned to her and raised an eyebrow. “Why do you remember that?”

She smiled. “I remember quite a lot about you guys.”

Taehyung let out a snort. “But to answer your question, yes he did. He’s proven that age doesn’t matter in terms of skill.”

He got up suddenly and Nari looked up at him in question. He pointed to the forest and gave her a crooked smile.

“Give a man some privacy while he does his thing, would ya?”

She rolled her eyes, turning her head back to the front when she heard him cackling behind her.

After spending more time with him, she realized just how long it had been since she saw him last. Though his personality had remained much the same, his face had grown more mature and he had grown even taller. Her heart ached when she thought about the rest of them and she felt guilty remembering all those months she spent resenting them.

She heard the sounds of the rocks moving beneath his body weight and she turned around. Her eyes rounded when she saw the gun in his hand and the fresh spots of black blood on his arm.

He jerked his head in the direction he came from. “An Erratic came through the clearing as I went to look around. If there’s one out here, there’s bound to be more around here since they travel together. It wasn’t a manmade one, thankfully.”

Nari nodded, pushing herself off the the small log she had been sitting on. “I don’t think there will be so many that we can’t hold them back but we should scout the area.” She reached for her rifle resting on the side of the log and tightened the laces on her boots.

“Let’s go.”

“We’ve got enough fuel. Let’s make our way back before it gets any darker,” Namjoon said, looking at the stacked cans in the back of the vehicle.

The rest of the members piled back onto the vehicle and strapped themselves to their seats as Yoongi reversed out of the parking lot.

They drove for about an hour, making their way out of the passing city. Jin looked out the window and he frowned. “I think we have another storm incoming.”

Jimin was quick to check the weather on his wrist device and he nodded. “It’s another severe thunderstorm. We won’t be able to stay in the vehicle if lightning strikes.”

“Is this not the one with metal plating?” Hoseok asked. Yoongi shook his head, looking up into the rear view mirror. “It’s not. The storm was not on the forecasts so we took the regular armoured one.”

Hoseok frowned. “Then that means we’re camping up here for another night until the storm passes. Where’s the nearest fortified building?”

“There’s a science museum in the city east from us with lightning rods,” Jin said. “If we can get there, we can avoid the lightning.”

“We have a head start against the storm but as soon as we reached the border of that city, we’ll be driving at its edge. Get the cans into the building as fast as possible and secure a safe spot inside,” Namjoon instructed.

Jungkook looked out the window at the darkening sky and he tilted his head. If he wanted to disappear, he would have to take this opportunity and do so with the storm.

After successfully moving all the cans into the building, the six of them took refuge in what used to be the observatory of the science museum on the second floor. There was no possible way to board up all the windows in the observatory so they resorted to sitting in scattered areas where the glass wasn’t broken.

Nothing besides their guns were soaked, and they were now in the process of cleaning out the liquid.

“How long is this storm going to last?” Jimin asked. Jin looked up. “At least through the night. It doesn’t show any signs of getting smaller.”

Even through the walls of the building, they could hear the roaring wind outside.

“If we’re stuck here all night, I’m going to get some rest,” Yoongi said, placing his backpack under his head. He looked up at the black sky and yawned, placing his arm over his eyes.

“I can keep watch,” Jin said. Jungkook, who was nearest to him, nodded. “I’ll keep watch too. You guys rest first.”

The others nodded, shuffling around to find a comfortable sleeping position.

After a while of chatting with Jin, Jungkook got up to walk around and with his headlight after hearing another roar from the thunderstorm.

His eyes passed over some of the informational posters left on the wall. As he walked by one of the windows, he froze. He took a step back and tilted his head, seeing the green peek through the clouds.

He took the night vision goggles strapped onto his bag and he placed them on. He blinked, letting his eyes adjust to the green and black contrast. He looked up towards the clouds and his mouth parted in confusion when he saw the swirling haze under the clouds.

His eyes landed on the unusual sight of debris floating at the base of the cloud and he stepped back in realization.

It wasn’t just a simple storm.

It was a tornado.

“Doesn’t the sky look darker than usual tonight?” Taehyung tilted his head up, looking around.

The two of them were sitting at the back of the pickup truck, staring in the opposite direction of the water.

“There’s probably a storm not too far from here,” Nari pointed out. Taehyung blinked. “At least it’s not where we are.” He shivered. “But it sure is windy.”

“I hope the storm doesn’t get in the way for him,” Nari whispered, referring to Jungkook.

“There’s so many clouds we can’t even see the moon.” Taehyung pointed upwards to the moon behind the clouds. Nari looked around. “We’re going to have to be extra careful tonight since we can’t see that far ahead of us without the moonlight.”

“Won’t it be funny if an Erratic snuck up on us?” Taehyung laughed. Nari shot him a look. “No, it wouldn’t be funny.”

“Isn’t there any way we could track his location?” Nari asked. Taehyung hummed in response. “I can try using my communication device but powering it on might broadcast our location.”

She sighed, shaking her head. “Never mind. We’ll just wait.”

“To think that if we never ran into you, I would’ve still been operating like a mindless idiot under the Forerunner’s orders,” Taehyung whispered. Nari stayed quiet as she let him speak.

“Isn’t there any way for us to get all of the guys out here with us?”

She thought about it for a second. “Not if we want Soohyuk knowing where we are. And it wouldn’t be good to cause an uproar among the Cover about their most trusted soldiers turning out to be traitors.”

“Everything you’ve told me has just sunk in, you know? I’m just confused,” Taehyung said, letting out a sigh. Nari softened with guilt, not knowing what to say.

“Why are we crossing the waters again? What’s on the other side?” he asked.

Nari leaned her chin onto her knees, which she had brought up against her chest. “Over six months ago, Baekhyun and I received a radio transmission from a location South from us. It cut off after a few seconds and all we heard were muffled noises. We didn’t have enough resources to travel that far with all our research.”

Taehyung straightened up and he stared at her in surprise. “You mean there’s people over there?” She shrugged. “I don’t know that but it’s worth a try.”

“How far are you with the research?” Taehyung asked.

“Honestly, not very. When we were ambushed and Baekhyun was taken back to the Cover, some of our research was taken back too.”

He pressed his lips into a fine line. “So now you’re backtracking?” She nodded.

Taehyung leaned back, throwing his arms behind his neck.

“Well, we’ve got all night. Why not catch me up on what you’ve figured out so far?”

It was pitch black, and with the roaring of the wind, it was hard to hear one another through their ear pieces. The strong winds had blown through and broken all the windows of the building, allowing small debris to fly around.

The glass ceiling of the observatory had cracked under the pressure, and the six of them were finding it increasingly difficult to keep balance and find their way out of the room.

Namjoon had instructed for everyone to hook onto each other’s waist belt so that no one would get lost amidst the strong winds.

Jin was at the end, with his rope hooked onto Jungkook’s. He winced when something collided with his helmet and he shook his head, trying to shake it off. He took a step forward but the wind pulled him back.

Jungkook jerked back suddenly and he turned around to see Jin struggling behind him. He pulled on the rope and reached his hand out for him. Jin was barely able to grasp onto his outstretched hand and Jungkook wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him with him.

The six of them had finally made their way back to the top of the escalator. Namjoon led the way and the others followed closely behind him.

As soon as he took a step forward, Yoongi felt his foot fall through and he grabbed onto the railings in shock. Hoseok and Jimin pulled him back up.

“Watch your step!” Jimin called back.

Jungkook had successfully dodged the gaping hole in the escalator but unfortunately for Jin, the wind carried him forward and he lost his footing.

Jungkook was tugged back once again and he let out a groan when the side of his body hit the edge of the escalator step. His eyes widened when he heard the snap of the rope that connected him to Jin.

He turned behind him and he quickly reached for Jin, grabbing onto his wrist. His rib cage pulsed with pain when he used his body weight to pull Jin and he placed his hand over it to inspect the damage.

He looked back to see that the rope between him and Jimin had increased in distance and his brain swam with waves of thought.

“Hey!” he called out but nobody in front could hear as they were already too far and the wind blocked out any sounds from their mic and headset. He turned back to Jin and he bit his lip. Without a second thought, he removed the hook from his belt and hooked it onto Jin’s.

Jin stared at him with wide eyes. Jungkook couldn’t quite make out what he was saying but he knew he was probably yelling at him. He pushed Jin forward, urging him to go on first.

He locked his arm around Jin’s and they slowly and carefully made their way back down.

As they reached the floor again, Jungkook’s eyes rounded when a thought crossed through his mind. He looked down at Jin’s arm that held a firm grip on his. He looked back behind him and saw nothing but darkness but he had the entire first floor mapped out since he was one of the ones that scouted out the area.

His heart raced when the panic of the stunt he was going to pull settled in. He gulped, slowing down his pace. He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.

He waited for another strong wind to pass by, and at the right moment, he let go of Jin’s hand.

The last thing he saw before his body was pulled backwards was Jin’s face painted with horror.

a u t h o r ' s    n o t e 

    I came to the realization that I write a lot better when listening to music and then I realized that some of you may also like that while reading. It may be, I don't know, 16 chapters in but I'll place a link to a Spotify playlist. Don't worry, it's all instrumental music so there won't be any lyrics to distract you from reading. If you're interested, click here (and I strongly suggest turning the music down to a very quiet volume)!

   Anyway, wow look at Jungkook. What a gutsy guy. I wouldn't be as brave as him if I were scared of the dark- oh wait, he is afraid though, isn't he?

   And for those who are interested (or are orchestral geeks like me), this chapter was inspired by a piece called 'Into the Storm' by Robert W. Smith!