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“The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

“He’s stayed in the same area for a few days. Do you think he’ll still be there by the time we make it into the city?” One man asked, looking over to the driver of the vehicle.

“I doubt it. We’ll just have to sniff him out,” the driver replied. The guy sitting behind him groaned. “If we don’t find him, Soohyuk is going to kill us.”

“I heard he’s been injured. Especially since it’s his arm. Wasn’t he a sharpshooter?” One guy asked. The man beside him nodded.

“He won’t be able to beat us in close combat right now either.”

The driver shrugged. “Let’s just hope he’s alone. Running into her won’t be good for any of us.”

Jimin opened his eyes when he heard the alarm ring throughout the Innermost. He pushed himself up and ruffled his hair, letting out a yawn. He grabbed his shirt off the hook and pulled it over his head before opening the sleeping chamber to get out.

He met up with Jungkook and Taehyung, who had just woken up also. Not seeing the other four, they figured they were already in the eating area.

They went their separate ways to get their food rations for the day and then met up with the rest of their team members at a table far off into the corner.

“What time did you guys wake up?” Taehyung asked, swinging his legs over the bench to sit down. Hoseok looked up from tray of food to respond, “About an hour ago. We all woke up with a headache and couldn’t go back to sleep either.”

“Headache?” Jungkook perked up. He tilted his head. “I remember waking up in the middle of the night and my head felt like it was splitting apart but I’m fine now.”

“Maybe we just got a bug from the Surface. We can go in and see the medic if you guys want,” Namjoon suggested. The rest of them shook their heads.

“It’s not that serious,” Yoongi replied, waving off his hand. “We’ll be fine.”

“What’s the plan for the rest of the day?” Jimin asked.

Namjoon looked up. “We can go train for a bit and then head to the weaponry to see if we want any upgrades for our guns.”

“Sounds good to me.” Taehyung shrugged.

“Are you ready?” Nari asked, looking behind her to see Baekhyun struggling to hook his injured arm into the straps of his bag. She chuckled, walking over to help him get it securely onto his back. She looked up to see his face and he cast her a helpless look.

“I really can’t do anything and it’s already been days,” he sighed. She reached out to run her fingers down his other arm. “You know all their bullets are steel cores because they’re made to shoot Erratics. I don’t know how long it would take someone like you to heal.”

He looked around their makeshift shelter, which was an apartment room on one of the top floors of the towering building. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his chest.

“I wish we could go back in time and live in this apartment when the world wasn’t a mess,” he whispered. She pulled out of his arms to reach her hands up to his face. She tiptoed, and kissed his cheek.

“We’ll find a way.”

Nari walked over to the coffee table and picked up her bag. “Do you think we can let these three loose? As long as we get onto the staircase before we release the bars, we can leave quietly.”

Baekhyun shook his head, unsheathing the dagger from his thigh holster. “You know we can’t do that. I’ll go put them down.”

“I know, I just,” she sighed. “I feel so bad.” She took one last glance at the apartment before following him out and closing the door behind her.

Baekhyun pushed open the door to the apartment adjacent to the one they were in. He lifted the candle higher so he could see around the dust-filled room.

“Do you want to stay out here?” he asked, turning to see her face. She shook her head and gripped onto his arm. “I’ll come with you.”

They walked together to one of the bedrooms where their makeshift cage was set up for the three Erratics. She wrinkled up her nose when she smelled the rotting flesh. Their arms and legs were chained to the window pane. Once they saw the candle, they starting making noises and lunged for them.

Baekhyun handed her the candle and he stepped forward. He walked towards the one on the left, a young male. Nari walked towards the right to distract the other two so that he could reach the dagger across and slit the throat of the Erratic. The process continued until the third one dropped onto the ground.

They walked out of the apartment, not bothering to look back when the sounds stopped.

“Well, if it isn’t the top crew amongst the Selected.”

Yoongi turned when he saw the male, leaning against the workbench. He narrowed his eyes, seeing all the members of BTS walk in.

“Does being a top group mean you get rest days more often? Man, I should’ve worked harder to make everyone believe I actually had potential,” joked his friend.

“If you have something to say to us, say it,” Hoseok said, raising an eyebrow.

A few more guys inside the weaponry walked over, sensing the tension. However, most of them stood on the side with the other guys, leaving BTS to stand there on their own.

“Nothing, we have nothing to say,” said the guy. Namjoon tilted his head. “That doesn’t seem to be the case, Jackson.”

Jackson, ran his fingers through his blonde hair and stepped forward. “You know you’re only placed on a high pedestal because you’re the Forerunner’s lap dog.” The six guys behind him, stepped forward to back him up.

“Is that jealousy I see?” Jimin asked.

“Jealousy? I’m just wondering how you guys managed to keep up this act of actually being useful. What have you guys actually accomplished in your years of service?” Jackson sneered.

“We’ve found more resources in total than your group ever has. We’re physically and mentally above you. What are you saying?” Yoongi asked.

“Aren’t they the one that lost a member too? The only female soldier?” laughed the guy beside Jackson. Jackson nudged his arm with a smirk. “Don’t mention her, Yugyeom, they’ll get defensive.”

“Nari,” Jungkook whispered, looking up at the seven guys in front of him. “That’s the name I was trying to remember this morning.”

“It’s so sunny,” Baekhyun groaned, bringing an arm up to shield his face. Nari nodded, stepping over the fallen rubble on the road.

They were headed East, towards the lakes where they would be able to replenish their food supply and have fresh water

Baekhyun reached his free arm back and Nari looked up. She saw the smile on his face and chuckled before slipping her hand into his so they could walk side by side.

“I miss having those devices to detect the Erratics,” he said. Nari looked around as they were leaving the city borders, reaching the farmlands.

“It’s a straight terrain here, so we should be able to see if any are coming our way. We just won’t have cover if there’s any sudden weather changes.”

They continued their travel the whole afternoon, making good progress.

“It’s going to get dark soon. We should find somewhere to set camp,” she suggested. They stopped by the tallest tree they could find within their vicinity. Baekhyun looked up and raised an eyebrow. “How will I climb this?”

Nari looked around. “I’ll boost you up and then I’ll stand watch down here.” Baekhyun turned to her with an incredulous look.

“There’s no way I’m leaving you down here on your own.”

She let out an exasperated sigh. “What do you propose we do then?” He took a quick scan around before squinting his eyes off to the right. He raised a hand and pointed.

“There’s a farmhouse over there. We can empty it out and use it as shelter for the night.”

“His tracker has stayed still for the past two hours inside that farmhouse. He must be asleep,” the male reported, pressing something into his wrist device.

The driver from earlier adjusted the mask on his face before giving a hand signal. “We’re going in.”

Baekhyun woke up to someone tapping on his shoulder and he squinted his eyes in the dark to see Nari with a finger against her lips, telling him to stay quiet. She pointed downstairs and he stayed still, finally hearing the sounds of footsteps.

“It’s not an Erratic,” she whispered. Baekhyun set his blanket down and gripped onto his dagger in one hand, and his pistol in the other.

They found a spot on the balcony of the farmhouse and waited until the footsteps made its way onto the second floor.

“Baekhyun, we know you’re in there. Come out without your weapons and we’ll spare your life,” came a voice from outside the door. Baekhyun frowned, finding the voice familiar, but made no movement or sound.

“Please, just cooperate. We don’t want to hurt you,” came another voice.

Nari looked up at him, mouthing something along the lines of, “Who are they?” Under the moonlight, Baekhyun could barely see what she was trying to ask him but once he pieced it together, he shrugged as a reply.

They held their breath when they heard the door break open and the footsteps were now inside the room.

“Are you alone?” the first voice asked. “If you are, let us know. We don’t want to hurt any innocents.”

Baekhyun looked down at the ground beneath the balcony and debated whether or not they should jump. Nari shook her head, seeing his gaze and pointed to his arm, knowing fully well he would not be able to stick the landing from this height.

He held out a hand, telling her to stay in her spot. Her eyes widened, realizing what he was about to do.

He held the dagger behind his back and kicked open the balcony door. Immediately, lights from the helmets of the three people in front of him blinded his eyes and he staggered back.

“Are you alone?” repeated the first voice.

Baekhyun opened his eyes to see three familiar faces and he dropped his dagger in shock.

a u t h o r ' s     n o t e

      Alright, alright. I know, cliffhangers but I didn't want the chapter to be too long. And it's always fun to add a cliffhanger in here and there, right? And I'm sorry to those GOT7 fans because I made them the sort of bullies. But Jackson as a bully seems to really fit, especially when he had his bleach blonde hair (or maybe it's just me).

  I'll hopefully update the next chapter within a week becaue half of it is already written. And don't worry, Nari will meet BTS soon, but it may not be under desirable circumstances. Bye, bye!