Take the ing jacket off of him, it will only be a burden.” A harsh voice commands.

“Yes sir!” Another follows, walking over to Yugyeom’s limp body harshly ripping the jacket off of him. The man with the gruff voice squats down to Yugyeom’s level.

Patting his cheek with a smile he says, “Don’t worry. We will treat you real well.” He stands up and walks halfway across the alley before stopping abruptly, “Never try to run away from Maddox.”

—-

“I found some!” Jaebum whisper-yells across the room to Youngjae who perks up immediately. When he sees the jug of water in Jaebum’s hand he sighs in relief.

“Finally!” He runs over to Jaebum, grabbing the jug of water and cradling it to his chest like it was his baby. 

Jaebum chuckles, “If you are excited to see just a jug, look in that room.” Youngjae tears his eyes away from the single jug in his hand up to the storage room. Shelves upon shelves of water and non-perishable items were gleaming in front of Youngjae.

“Holy god! We hit the jackpot!” Youngjae squeals in excitement, jumping up and down.

“Go wash up in the bathroom, I will keep an eye out.” Youngjae nods his head and walks down the hallway to the bathroom. He has been counting the sun rises since he met Jaebum, it has been 23 sun rises. He has been looking for Yugyeom for 23 days. He has lost his best friend for 23 days. He had made a new best friend in 23 days.

Even though Jaebum and Youngjae were close, the search for Yugyeom was never over. Everyday when Youngjae and Jaebum would wake up, they would go to places they didn’t the day before to look for him. Youngjae still cried over Yugyeom and Jaebum was there to comfort and protect him.

Youngjae pushes the door open, not expecting much light, but was pleased to see there were a few windows scattered across the top of the walls letting in light. The mirror was cracked and damaged, but Youngjae could see his face perfectly fine.

Cuts and bruises scattered his face along with dried zombie blood. His clothes had caked on mud and more blood. He sighs loudly at his reflection, dripping some water on his hands to pat on his face. 

Creeeeaaakkkk

Youngjae’s movements halt when he hears the sound of a door opening. He then smiles to himself.

“Jaebum, you are supposed to keep watch.” He lifts his face to look back in the mirror but he doesn’t see Jaebum. 

He sees a man with long brown hair, staring at him with a piercing look. 

“Who the are you?” Youngjae turns around speedily, gripping on to the porcelain sink. The man walks closer, still staring at Youngjae.

“I said, who the are you?” Youngjae repeats grip still on the sink. Before Youngjae can blink, the man lunges forward wrapping his hands around Youngjae’s neck. Youngjae’s hands start to rapidly hit the man in front of him. The man slams Youngjae’s head against the mirror, making it crack under the pressure. Youngjae screams in agony before the man hits his head against it again and again and again.

‘This is it.’  Youngjae feels blood start to trickle down his face as his vision goes blurry. The man suddenly stops, letting Youngjae’s body hit the floor. He feels the mans finger run across Youngjae’s face and then he exits the bathroom.

It feels like forever Youngjae was on the floor, with his vision and audio distorted. But then he hears a distant, “Youngjae! Are you okay?” Along with strong arms picking his limp upper body to sit up straight. Youngjae tries to focus on the man in front of him but every time he does, a searing pain courses through his head. 

The man must have noticed, “It’s okay. Don’t try to focus. It’s okay.” The man rubs his back, lulling him into deep, painful sleep.

—-

Youngjae awakens with a throbbing head and bandages all over his body. He sits up, with much pain, looking around the room. He sees in one corner, Jaebum reading an old magazine peacefully.

“What happened?” He tries to say but his voice comes out broken and hoarse. Jaebum’s head shoots up and he looks angered.

“I have no ing idea what happened in that bathroom,” Jaebum walks over to Youngjae and takes his face into his hands, “But we are going to find and ing kill Maddox.”