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“Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love.
Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent than the one derived from fear of punishment.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

Everyone else had fallen asleep while Yoongi stood behind the wheel. After Taehyung showed him the location on the map, he calculated it would taken them at least another two hours before reaching their destination.

He let out a yawn and blinked his eyes to fight off the drowsiness.

The sun had fallen and the sky above them enveloped everything in darkness. There were no stars in sight and not even the moon was out tonight. Yoongi looked up and when he felt the cold breeze, he shivered.

He turned around and looked down at the members resting and he made sure each of them had sufficient warmth and covering before he turned his attention back to the front.

His mind wandered to Namjoon and Jin and he couldn’t help but feel saddened by the thought that the two were not here with them. He was even more perplexed when he tried to understand everything he had learned today.

And as his mind wandered, the guilt that he had been able to forget for so many years began to resurface and he felt suffocated by his own thoughts.

If only he had been a little more brave, a little more courageous, he could have stepped forward and pulled her back. However, at the time, he was so scared of the growing number of Erratics, he had stepped back and watched as the creatures separated him and Nari. He watched as her eyes called out for him frantically but all he could hear was his own heartbeat and shallow breathing.

He ran away from her. He was the last one to see her but he couldn’t save her and when the seven of them had returned to base that day, he couldn’t bring up the courage to admit what he had witnessed.

He was brought of his of train of thought when a loud roar of thunder sounded above him. He looked up and narrowed his eyes when he saw no change of colour in the sky above him but the unsettling feeling rising in his stomach told him otherwise.

He stopped the boat immediately and turned around to wake the other members up.

In less than 30 seconds, the guys were awake and alert.

“What’s going on?” Jimin asked. Yoongi pointed above. “It’s a storm. We won’t make it back to land in time and without our devices, there’s no telling where the storm is coming from or the magnitude.”

Their eyes widened. Hoseok looked around. “Then what are we supposed to do?” Yoongi shook his head, defeated.

“Do we have any containers? Or air-tight bags? Don’t we have any suspension air bags?” Taehyung asked, turning around to open the compartment of the boat. The others began checking through their bags, dumping out whatever could be used as a floatation device.

“We only have two air suspensions. It’s not enough to keep all of us afloat if we flip,” Taehyung said, turning around and holding up the air bags. Yoongi cursed under his breath and he paced around, figuring out what they could do.

Jungkook looked down and his eyes rounded when he realized Nari was still unconscious. He bent down and lightly shook her shoulder.

“Nari?” Hey, we need you to wake up,” he whispered. He frowned when she made no movement at first but when her eyes finally fluttered open he let out a sigh of relief.

“Hey, you alright?” Taehyung asked, crouching down beside Jungkook to look at her. She opened to speak but when no sound came out, Taehyung quickly handed her some water. She coughed a few times, feeling her dry throat begin to bother her.

She looked around and her she scrunched her eyebrows seeing the expressions on everyone’s faces. “What’s going on?” she asked, her voice hoarse and cracking.

“A storm is coming and we’re trying to figure out what we can do,” Taehyung explained. He helped her sit up against the side of the boat.

“How far are we from the island?” she asked. Yoongi shook his head. “Far enough we won’t make it back in time to avoid the storm.”

She stayed quiet for a while as she looked around the boat. Her eyes landed on the helmets piled against the corner and she tilted her head.

“Aside from Taehyung and Jungkook’s broken visor, the rest of you still have your helmets, right?”

They nodded and she clucked her tongue at the thought. “We’ll have to patch up Taehyung’s and Jungkook’s helmet right now. I don’t know how much oxygen is left in your tanks but with the suit and helmet, you should be able to stay above the water.”

They got to work right away and she sat there, watching them suit up.

Her vision began to blur and she felt herself nod back into a sleepy stupor. She dug her nails into her palm to keep herself awake and when Taehyung turned around to check on her, she gave him a small smile.

“Don’t use the oxygen unless you go under. Otherwise, open the air vents on your helmets,” she instructed.

“Wait, what are you going to use?” Jungkook asked, ripping the tape off and putting it over the small hole in his visor. The others stopped and turned to look at her.

“I can swim,” she said.

At once, they all stepped forward with their helmets in their hand and she leaned back. She looked up at them and she shook her head. “No, you guys need your helmet. I’ll hold onto the suspensions.”

“You’re injured, you should take the suit instead of us,” Hoseok said, already starting to take it off. She grabbed onto his leg and he stopped, looking down at her.

“Hoseok, please. Just trust me.”

He frowned, but said nothing else.

They all winced when they heard another roar of thunder and this time, they could see the lightning far off into the distance. The boat swayed from side to side as the waves began to pick up.

“Leave the bags in the compartments of the boat. We can’t carry much with us,” Yoongi pointed out. The others nodded, shoving their bags in and closing the lid.

“One of us should stick with Nari. Who has the most oxygen left in their tank?” Taehyung asked. Jimin raised his hand and he walked forward and crouched down beside her.

He took out a thick rope from one of his pant pockets and tied it around his utility belt. He then tied it around her waist, making sure it was tight.

“You guys don’t have to. I can manage-” she started but when Taehyung turned around and shot her a look, she sunk back down and closed .

The boat jerked to the side and some of them lost their balance. Jimin fell forward, throwing his arms in front of him to catch himself.

Yoongi pushed himself up and he looked around. “It’s getting close.” He gripped onto the wheel and turned back to the others.

“Since the storm seems to be coming from behind, I can get us ahead as far as we can so even if we go under, we’ll be as close as we can be to the island.”

Namjoon and Jin, with a single bag over their shoulders, made their way out of their sleeping chambers. Namjoon opened the door and they began walking down the halls to the main door between the Innermost and the Cover itself.

As they passed by the cafeteria, they couldn’t help but notice the stares and the silence from the other soldiers as they walked by.

“They’re staring, aren’t they?” Jin whispered, his eyes not moving.

“I’d say so,” Namjoon replied, his eyes kept in front of him.

They made it to the vault door and two guards greeted them. One guard stepped up and opened up his palm.

“The Forerunner gave us orders for you to take your pills before entering.”

Namjoon took the pills and dropped one into Jin’s hand. They popped the pills into their mouths and swallowed. Then, Namjoon took the badge from under his shirt and showed the guard. After scanning it, the vault began unlocking itself and they stepped back until the door was fully open.

Immediately, the stench of the rotten sewer water greeted them and they in a breath at the putrid smell. Namjoon gave the guard a quick nod before the two of them walked on.

They heard the vault close behind them and Jin felt the bile rise in his throat and he walked over to the edge of the bridge and crouched down. Namjoon walked over and gave him a pat on his back.

“You alright? Do you need a mask?”

Jin shook his head, wiping the back of his hand against his mouth. “I don’t want to stand out more than we already will here.”

They began walking down the bridge and the noises of chatter and blurs of people walking by became closer.

“We’re being sent to the slums, aren’t we?” Jin asked. Namjoon nodded beside him.

“He went easy on us. We should be grateful.”

As they got closer, people began to recognize their faces and the noise got louder as they greeted their two Selected soldiers.

Jin gave them a meek smile when the crowds parted for them to pass. He turned to look at Namjoon, who held his head tall and looked nowhere else but forward.

When they reached the building they were looking for, they ducked under the tarp and stepped inside. A man with a thick beard stepped out from the back and he didn’t seem surprised to see the two of them.

“Your sleeping arrangements are upstairs. Once you’ve placed everything down, I will give you your tasks for the day. The streets need cleaning down in one of the sectors.”

They looked around at the dusty room. The ceiling was built so low that they had to crouch to navigate around and when their eyes landed on the thin cloth sprawled on the ground, they realized that was where they were sleeping.

“How are you feeling, by the way?” Namjoon asked as they began taking things out of their bags.

Jin looked back. “I feel fine, why?” Namjoon turned back around and shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ve never experienced anything like what we did back there. I was just a little taken aback and worried. How do you think the others are doing?”

When he heard no reply, he turned around but just as he turned his head, Jin spoke.

“We come across weird occurrences all the time. Hasn’t this only started recently? The weird situations, I mean. And we’ve never been so defeated as to losing over half of our own team.”

Namjoon thought about it but he immediately felt a headache form and he shook his head. “I feel like I’m already forgetting the face of that girl. We should get back to work. It’s my bad I brought it up.”

a u t h o r ' s     n o t e 

           Hey guys, I've got a new story for you, if you're interested. The main characters are Wonho and Minhyuk from Monsta X! It's a really personal story to me because it's one that I'm going to use as, what do they call it, a memoir? Or it's just a sorry excuse for me to get over all the that's been thrown at me. Anywhoo, if you're interested, click the poster below! 

            It is on 'subscribers only' because unfortunately for me, my ex and some of the guys that read this story have AFF accounts. Their friends are also active readers on AFF so just in case they stumble across the story, I'd want to at least be aware of it, you know? 

           Let's pray that the boat gets to the island safe! Or in this case, survives the storm! And I do feel bad for Namjoon and Jin but there always has to be those characters that we both hate/love.  See you in the next.