Soobin could faintly see through the increasingly opaque barrier; he noticed the way several groups of people fled away as the barrier began to grow, revealing an intersection of roads and a petrol station just beyond, a small park on the other side. He let out a sigh of relief upon seeing no traces of blood on the road, knowing that the civilians outside were safe.

“Okay, a petrol station and a park…”, he trailed off in doubt.

He whipped his head to his side, widening his eyes at the sight of the survivors within the barrier rush forward, carrying boxes and belongings. He couldn’t help but frown at the exasperated yet hopeful expressions of the fleeing people.

The barrier stopped just at the edge of the park, almost as if a mysterious figure was controlling the extent of expansion.

Yeonjun noticed that Soobin was caught in a daze. He cleared his throat and nudged the other’s arm, “We have to move too, and when all of us are ready, we’ll have to come back and head towards the river.”

He instinctively intertwined his fingers with Soobin’s, pulling him along and gesturing the rest of the team to follow. As he picked up his pace, he bent over to pick up a hammer that was lying on the ground; he assumed a citizen from outside the barrier might’ve forgotten to pick it up. He tightened his hold against the heavy metal, just as he tightened his grip around Soobin’s soft fingers.

He began slowing down as he approached the petrol station. He dropped the hammer to the ground, leaning against a pillar and exhaling heavily. Lifting his head, he noticed the team assembled together – but someone was missing.

“Where’s Hoseok-hyung?”

At that, Soobin turned around in circles, trying to catch a glimpse of the aforementioned within the crowd by the park. He squinted his eyes, feeling a tinge of panic settling into his heart. “I don’t see him…”

“. He’s with Jungkook-hyung!” Kai’s claim only lingered in the air for a few seconds, before the younger rushed back towards the parking lot they just abandoned. He ignored the desperate calls from behind, his head focused on the front, his eyes darting between the dispersed cars on the ground and the towering monsters further away – still unmoving.

But his eyes stopped on the slimes for a short moment, and in that moment, they began to move, as slow as they could be, but nonetheless, they were not frozen anymore.

“Hoseok-hyung!”, he yelled as he saw the latter kneeling on the ground. He felt an immense feeling of pity for the man that sat helplessly next to the body covered with a sheet. He crouched down and gently pulled the other’s arm.

“K-Kai… We can’t even bury him in peace… We can’t even hold a proper funeral for him… He is more than just a butler, you know? He’s a friend, he’s like a younger brother to me. And I failed to protect him.”

“Hyung, I understand, I really do, and I’m sorry, but we need to move!”

“I can’t leave him…”

“I can’t leave you! Ugh, okay, umm, help me out!” Kai immediately jumped back to his feet. He hesitantly grabbed hold of the corpse’s feet, trying not to react to the putrid stench. He gestured Hoseok to grab the body from under the arms.

They nodded towards each other, carrying the heavy body towards the petrol station. They gently laid Jungkook down, adjusting the white sheet and taking a step back. The awful smell almost made them gag, and they wondered what they could do with the body, knowing that they had no equipment for a burial.

“The slimes are moving again!”, Kai explained as he refused to leave Hoseok alone. He wondered how long they would stay in the barrier, how long they would have to carry the corpse, how long Hoseok would have to feel so dejected.

He reluctantly turned away from the other, facing the rest of the team with desperate eyes. He saw the worrying expressions on some of the members, the others clearly occupied in their thoughts. He then looked to his side, letting out a sigh of relief to catch a quick glimpse of his mother within the large crowd.

Soobin broke the silence first but his voice was only audible to a few. “O-Okay, umm… Yeonjun-hyung, what’s with the hammer? You know that no weapon works against the machine…”

“Huh? Oh, umm, no. I just thought it’d get in the way. Umm… Free hammer, I guess? Haha…” Yeonjun had no strength in him to smile, but he mustered up enough energy to pick up the hammer from the ground, gently putting it into one of the bags by his feet.

He straightened his body again, before an aching sensation spread across his physique. He stumbled backward and fell, but Soobin’s arms provided him safety. He let out a soft cough and pushed himself back up, thanking the other.

Soobin nodded and turned around, seeing the distress written all over the faces of the others. He cleared his throat, “Taehyunnie, please tell me that you’ve got a plan… What do we do now? Those slimes are going to get here and if the barrier doesn’t expand, we’re stuck.”

He frowned at the lack of response, but he knew that the younger had too much on his mind already. He didn’t want to force the other to speak, but he knew that Taehyun was clever and quick with his thoughts.

However, Yeosang spoke up instead.

“No. We’re not stuck. If the slimes do come close, and if the barrier has us trapped, we’ll have to take a detour from the sides, avoid the route of the slimes, and head towards the river. But judging by the speed of the slimes, they won’t be here so soon. Besides…”

“Besides?”

“Besides, Taehyun and I have something to share. Umm… I think it’s fair to say that the slimles are selective, at least the small ones. Umm, this could just be a coincidence, and this is just a theory, but the small slimes specifically attacked the infected woman and Jungkook-hyung, who was bitten. It’s like the slimes were trying to protect us from being infected…”

Yeonjun raised an eyebrow and stuttered with his words, “Y-You’re saying that they were m-meant to die? They were s-supposed to die?”

Soobin noticed the furious look on the other’s face; he knew that if another second passed, his best friend would be throwing a tantrum with his temper. He immediately stepped in between, placing two firm hands on the older’s shoulders. “Hyung, that’s not what he’s saying. Calm down, o-okay?”

He felt his body go stiff as Yeonjun leaned forward and rested against his chest. He in a deep breath, hoping that his heartbeat wasn’t booming against the other’s ears. However, he fought the urge to pull away as well as the urge to embrace Yeonjun tightly. He let out a long breath he held back, ruffling the older’s hair, knowing that the latter needed to be saved from his sorrow.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I really think we should figure out what to do now.”

Soobin lifted his head to see Seungmin standing before him, a concerned look on his face. He nodded and let his eyes trail over to Taehyun, who was as still as a statue, but he knew that look – the younger was developing a plan already.

As expected, Taehyun his heels with a hint of light in his eyes. He pushed down a lump in his throat, clasping his hands together as he spoke: “Okay, umm… We wait. We wait and heal, just as we discussed. Be careful with the supplies of food and water that we have, and try and get some rest even in the daylight. Then… Well, we wait for the powers to show up, and we try it on the barrier. Then we split. Those who were trapped in the slimes should group together and head towards the machine and the river, and the others should join the civilians.”

“What about Changbin-hyung and Minho-hyung? They don’t have the tattoos.”

Taehyun was not surprised at Felix’s question. He shook his head despite knowing it would worry the other. “They’re coming too. Maybe the ones who were captured by the slimes had a reason to be captured that way. Maybe it’s all connected…”

“Well, I’m coming too.”

“No, Felix-hyung, you’re not. You’re injured, terribly injured. You need to rest. I promise I’ll keep them safe. We’re all going to keep each other safe. We’re a team, okay?”

“Yeah… A team… Okay, yeah, I am sorry.”

Taehyun noticed the knowing look that Felix shared with the other two; he then looked at his own group, smiling softly at the sight of Yeonjun being hugged by Soobin, while Kai and Beomgyu were vulnerably checking their phones. He needed to protect them, he needed to keep them safe.

“!”, Yeosang let out a scream. He dropped to his knees, pressing his hands against his ears with all his strength, his eyes squeezing shut. He felt breathless for a second, a ringing sound in his ears, strikingly loud and harsh. He felt an oozing liquid trail over his fingers. Hesitantly, he brought his hands to the front, panting heavily at the sight of blood.

Before the others could react, Yuqi, who stood just a few metres away, began to stumble carelessly. She felt a sense of imbalance within her limbs, feeling lightweight and feathery. Her legs continued to wobble, cool air escaping her lips, before she crashed to the ground, unable to call the others for help. She saw Yeosang in greater pain, she saw the way the team surrounded the latter.

“Jisu!”, Yeji yelled as she caught the aforementioned into her arms. She flinched at the sudden chill that spread across her body; she knew that Jisu was shivering persistently now.

“Oh, h-here!” One of the nurses approached wit