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“In the future, violence would clearly become a valuable form of social cement.”
― J.G. Ballard

He strapped on the buckles of his boots and made sure the laces were tied with double-knots. He straightened up from the bench and walked towards the full-length mirror to adjust the gas mask onto his face.

After making sure it was on tight, but not to the point of becoming uncomfortable, he zipped up his suit and made sure no part of his skin was showing underneath. Then, he put on his gloves and tightened the straps over the hooks.

“You ready?” came a voice from behind him. Taehyung looked back to see Hoseok behind him, ready in full combat gear. He nodded and walked over to the weapon box to grab his handgun, rifle and knife.

“Done,” Taehyung responded. He stood in line beside Jimin, who was older than him and beside Jungkook, who was younger than him. He made sure his posture was straight with the other six before their sergeant came in for an inspection.

“Air supply?” he asked. Namjoon leaned his body slightly forward to look down the row of his team members before looking back at their sergeant.

“Full,” he replied.

“Weaponry?” the sergeant asked.

“Loaded.”

“Medical kits?”

“Supplied.”

“Water and food rations?”

“Sufficient,” Namjoon replied again.

“Communications?”

“Connected.”

The sergeant walked down the line and scanned them from head to toe. Satisfied, he walked back towards the door.

“The vault door will open half past six. I wish you a safe return and a worthwhile journey.”

“Thank you, sir, we will do the Forerunner proud."

“Weather conditions on the surface are extremely windy. There is still the chance of a dust storm incoming within the next few hours. Please be mindful and keep your air filters clean in case of dust infiltration.”

Namjoon looked around at the barren forest where the only thing standing was the dead branches of what used to be towering canopies. He adjusted the goggles over his eyes and turned back to look at his other team members.

“Remember, this mission is a search and rescue for a missing Selected. We are to find the target and then return as soon as possible and with as little confrontation with the Erratics as possible,” he spoke. The others nodded their head after hearing the order and they walked behind their leader who led the way out of the winding forest.

“How exactly do the Erratics stay alive when there is no water or food on the Surface?” Taehyung asked, kicking his boot onto one of the empty pop cans rusting away on the ground. Hoseok turned to him.

“Don’t they feed off the flesh of each other?”

Jin raised an eyebrow at the comment. “They have a lifespan of a month or so and if they are unable to find a food source within that time span, they begin to starve.”

Taehyung wrinkled his nose in disgust and shuddered at the thought. “Cannibalism sounds horrifying.”

“Where was the soldier last spotted?” Yoongi asked. Namjoon looked down at the device on his wrist. “His last log on the location device was inside the city. We won’t make it to the city before it gets dark so we’re going to have to find somewhere to make camp for the night.”

“We’re camping on the highway?” Jimin asked, cutting in. Namjoon nodded. “There’s no other choice.”

Hoseok looked around at the parked cars and frowned. “Let’s just hope none of the Erratics wake up at night and get out of their cars.”

After travelling for another hour, the sun started to set and the light they had guiding them into the city started to fade away.

“There’s a school bus up ahead. If it’s empty, we can use it as shelter for the night.” Yoongi pointed out.

Namjoon and Jin, who were walking ahead of the rest, treaded closer towards the school bus. Namjoon held a hand out behind him, signalling for them to wait for his order. He put a gloved hand onto the door of the bus and gently pried it open.

Waiting for any noise or sign of movement, he took a step onto the bus. He was now fully facing the back of the bus and he surveyed the rows of the seats to see if there was any sign of life.

He was just about to turn back towards his crew members when in his peripheral vision, he saw something crawl out from under the bus seat. He aimed his rifle and his eyes rounded when he saw the eyes of a young girl staring up at him.

Yoongi followed him onto the bus and froze when he saw the girl with her head tilted up at them. Her limbs were bent at irregular angles, and her skin was so ghostly pale and dry that it looked like it would peel off at the slightest of touch.

“I’m sorry, kiddo,” Namjoon whispered before shooting off a bullet. Her skull collided with the ground of the bus and she lay there, lifeless. Yoongi put a hand onto his shoulder in comfort before moving past him to pull the body of the girl off the bus.

The others, who had been waiting patiently outside and keeping guard, stared at the body of the young girl that Yoongi threw onto the ground in front of them.

“Is there any more?” Jin asked, eyes not leaving the girl’s body. Yoongi shook his head. “The bullet would have woke up any others on the bus.”

Following him, they piled onto the bus.

“I can keep watch tonight.” Jimin offered. Jungkook raised his hand also. “I’ll second that.”

The others made themselves comfortable within the seats of the bus.

Namjoon tapped the roof of the bus lightly. “The weather should be clearer tomorrow. Get some rest. Jimin and Jungkook, wake me up in a few hours. I’ll switch in with Taehyung.”

“Do you think we’ll find the guy?” Jimin asked, looking around in the darkness.

The two of them sat together on the roof of the bus, giving themselves a better vantage point from a higher position.

“He’s been out of contact for a week. If anything, wouldn’t he have made his own way back to the Cover? Or at least tried to get in contact?” Jungkook asked. Jimin shrugged. “I just feel bad for him, having to be out here alone and all.”

“I can’t imagine being out here alone without any form of contact,” Jungkook whispered, looking down to pick the dirt off his boots.

“How important is he that the Forerunner had to send all of us down?” Jimin questioned. Jungkook shrugged. “He probably wanted to minimize the number of casualties if only half of us went. The weather isn’t cooperating, either.”

“The Forerunner’s never mentioned it but what if there are camps out here set up by survivors not from the Cover?” Jimin asked suddenly. Jungkook looked up at the question and stayed silent for a few seconds as he thought it over.

“How would they survive through the radioactive air? The constantly changing weather patterns?”

Jimin shrugged. “Maybe they found a way. Maybe there’s other places like the Cover. There has to be, right?”

Jungkook shook his head. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t.”

Jimin sighed at the answer from the younger boy and was about to speak again when he saw something move from behind one of the trucks. He tapped Jungkook on the shoulder and the two of them stayed silent to observe.

“It’s an Erratic,” Jungkook whispered, watching the creature crawl out from the window of the truck.

“Leave it,” Jimin said, eyes still on the moving shadow. He squinted his eyes as he watched the creature turn its head around.

“Down,” he whispered, pulling Jungkook into a lower position.

The creature cracked its head back into the other direction and let out a low growl. It took its first step forward, reaching its mangled arm out to the car in front. Jimin and Jungkook watched as the creature pulled on the handle and opened the door successfully.

They watched as another Erratic from the back of the car lunged forward and grabbed onto the neck of the other Erratic.

“They’re fighting?” Jungkook asked.

The two Erratics bit at each other, tearing away pieces of flesh. However, the bigger one seemed to dominate the battle and managed to pin down the other Erratic onto the dashboard of the vehicle.

“Wait, they’re close to the-” Jungkook pointed out when they heard the blaring horn of the vehicle. It resonated through the silence of the night and their eyes widened when they heard noises from the vehicles around them. The alarms of the other vehicles began ringing when the Erratics opened the locked vehicles from the inside.

“, , ,” Jimin whispered, bringing his gun over the edge of the roof to tap it against the window where Namjoon was resting.

Namjoon was already awake from the honking, and he looked out from the window at the number of Erratics crawling out of their vehicles, attracted to the noise. He got out of his seat and walked down the aisle, making sure the rest of the team was awake before informing them of the situation.

“Okay, if we stay here until morning, there is a good chance that the Erratics will be able to sniff us out. If we head out now, we’ll have to fight the Erratics along the way,” he stated, laying out the options for them.

“If we manage to jam the door of the bus and stay here until the commotion dies down, would that work?” Hoseok whispered.

Yoongi shook his head. “Not if the cars don’t shut the up. The alarms won’t stop ringing until the battery runs out and it’s just going to attract the attention of more Erratics. We need to get out of here.”

“How do we do that?” Jungkook asked, his voice coming through their earpieces.

“Are there more coming?” Namjoon asked, directing his question to the two on the roof. Jimin and Jungkook looked around before Jimin replied,

“They’re coming in from all directions. The more there are, the more noise they’re causing.”

“We have to leave,” Namjoon ordered, “Pack up everything and get your tactical gear out.”

They adjusted their gun holsters and stood behind Namjoon as he stood inside the darkness of the bus.

“Where do we go towards?” Jungkook asked. Jin looked out the window. “We can’t go back the way we came because there’s no light and we’d be fighting to our disadvantage if we run into any of them. We have to make it into the city.”

“Isn’t there another path we can use to head into the city?” Hoseok asked. Taehyung nodded. “There’s another highway east of us but we have to make it through the forest first.”

“Well, either it’s a highway of Erratics or a forest where we can take our chances. We’re going to go around,” Namjoon said.

“The sun doesn’t come up for another two hours. We’re going to travel in the dark?” Jin asked. Namjoon turned to him. “We have no other option here.”

“What if we hotwire the bus and use it to drive through the forest? That way, we can cut time and be able to position our guns through the windows. The bus would also offer some extra protection,” Yoongi suggested.

Namjoon stood there, contemplating the idea. “But the engine of the bus will attract more attention.”

“We can kill off the ones following us. It’ll be faster and safer than going by foot.” Yoongi argued. Namjoon sighed. “Fine, we can try that.” He stepped out of the way for Yoongi to sit down into the driver seat.

After a few minutes, Yoongi was able to turn on the user interface. He frowned when he saw the flashing sign that the fuel tank was empty.

“, we need fuel,” he whispered, looking back.

“We can go extract it from the other vehicles but it’ll be risky and it’ll take some time before a tank is full,” Jungkook pointed out.

Namjoon shook his head. “We will go. We need you two up there to scope the area.” He lifted his gun off the seat and put one into the holster on his back.

“There should be fuel cans in the storage under the bus. Check if those are empty,” Yoongi remembered.

“I’ll go check,” Taehyung offered, walking down the aisle. He gently opened the door to the bus and looked around.

“You’re clear,” Jimin said. Taehyung hopped down and crouched towards the doors to the storage area. He pulled on it and groaned in frustration when he realized it was locked.

“I’m going to have to lockpick this. Give me a minute,” he whispered into the earpiece. He fumbled with the piece of metal and it took him longer than usual to bend it to the right shape due to the absence of light.

He had just put it in when the metal piece fell out of his hands and onto the ground. His eyes widened and he ducked down to pick it up when Jimin’s voice came in.

“Erratic heading your way. Get back onto the bus!”

Taehyung turned around and his mouth fell open when he saw one of them heading straight for him. He noted that the Erratic was looking straight ahead, and had yet to look down. Without another choice, he rolled onto the ground and under the bus.

“Taehyung!” Jungkook hissed in alarm, seeing his position.

The others squatted down and out of view from the window of the bus when they heard the snarling of the Erratic walk by. They held their breath when the Erratic stopped and turned its head towards the bus.

Taehyung clutched onto his dagger in case of close combat.

After what seemed like forever, the Erratic finally turned back ahead and continued its way towards the center of the noise and commotion. Taehyung let out a sigh of relief and crawled back out, quickly opening the storage compartment. He spotted the fuel cans and reached out for them.

“We’ve got two full cans here. That’s enough right?” he whispered, pulling them out of the compartment. He set them onto the ground and gently closed the door before climbing back onto the bus.

Yoongi nodded, and Namjoon took the cans from Taehyung’s hands to pour them into the fuel tank on the side of the bus. Once the tank was full, he got back onto the bus.

“Jungkook and Jimin, can you strap yourselves down on the roof? If not, you’re going to have to get back in here,” Namjoon asked.

The two of them looked around and saw the bars on the roof. After tugging on it a few times and deeming it sturdy enough, they pulled the heavy-duty rope from their backpacks to tie their waists securely to the bars.

“We’ll stay up here,” Jimin replied.

“Once I turn this on, the headlights will go off and they’ll be alerted. Are you guys ready?” Yoongi asked, looking into the mirror to look at the people on the bus with him.

Jin, Taehyung, Namjoon, and Hoseok positioned themselves in front of a window, with the window slightly ajar, and gave him a thumbs up. Jungkook and Jimin both gave a quick reply of confirmation.

Yoongi cracked his neck before he placed his gloved hands onto the steering wheel.

“Then, we’re off.”
 

“Holy ,” Jimin cursed when Yoongi ran over another fallen stump in the forest. He was laying on his stomach, with both his hands grabbing onto the two railings on the roof. Jungkook was in a similar fashion behind him.

“Sorry,” Yoongi quickly apologized before swerving out of the way of another incoming tree. He looked up in the rear view mirror and saw the amount of Erratics following him and he shook his head.

Taehyung turned to Namjoon, “Won’t they follow us into the city?” Namjoon nodded.

“We’ll just have to get rid of them all then,” Hoseok said as he got up from his seat and walked towards the back of the bus. He pulled open the latch and the door swung open. The others looked back to see what he was doing when he pulled out his fully-automatic rifle.

For the next few seconds, all they could hear was the gunshots and the empty bullet shells hit the floor of the bus and roll onto the ground. Once the dust cleared from the impact of the hit, the Erratics had fallen and none were following the bus any longer.

Hoseok pulled the door close, locked the hatch, and then sat down into his seat. He set the rifle down to let it cool off and he shot s a cheeky grin, seeing that the coast was clear.

“One hell of a guy,” Jin whispered, chuckling.
 

After another hour of keeping their posts, the members began to grow weary from the lack of sleep and Namjoon had ordered them to sleep for now.

“Do you want to switch out?” Namjoon asked, walking up towards the driver’s seat. Yoongi turned back before turning towards the road in front of him.

“You haven’t slept much either, though,” he replied. Namjoon shrugged, “I got more sleep than you did.” Yoongi contemplated the offer before stopping the bus on the deserted farm roads and got out. Namjoon sat down and looked back to see Yoongi crawl onto a seat and close his eyes.

He checked the location of the bus and the distance to the city. It would take them at least another hour and a half of non-stop driving after going off the main highway. He looked back to see that all s, including Jungkook and Jimin who had gotten off the roof once they got out of the forest, sleeping in their seats.

He drove for around an hour on the straight road until he began seeing the first sights of the towering skyscrapers of the city. He turned off the headlights, seeing the sun rise.

“Are we there?” Jimin asked, the first to wake up after the sunlight streamed into the bus. Namjoon shook his head.

“Almost. I’m just going to park the bus off to the edge of the road before we walk into the city on foot. We can use this bus to go back after we get more fuel.”

Jimin nodded, letting out a yawn. He stretched out his stiff limbs before standing up to walk up beside Namjoon so he could see through the bigger window.

“We’re within 20 kilometres of where the guy was last spotted. We’re going to have to find him in there somehow. Do we even know his name?”

Namjoon shrugged. “We only got a picture of his profile but weren’t told his name.”

“What if he’s already dead by the time we get there?” Jimin asked. Namjoon turned to him.

“Then that’s what we’ll have to report.”

The others began waking up one by one when the sun disturbed them from their sleep.

Namjoon stopped the bus once he got close enough to the city and told everyone to gather their things and get off the bus.

Together, they stood on the side of the road beside the bus. Once they were ready, they headed towards the city together.

a u t h o r ' s     n o t e

Sorry for the late chapters and updates. University has really taken a toll on me and I barely have time for myself. On the bright side, I've switched my major from Psychology to English, so that'll give me more time (and motivation) to start wrtiting again. Thank for sticking with me and for those who are waiting patiently for my other stories, they'll be updated soon too!

  I hope you all have a wonderful day and best wishes to you. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.