Taehyun kept glancing towards the river, fearing the motionless slimes. He was startled by a soft touch on his hand; he turned around to see Beomgyu by his side, the latter looking away.

He couldn’t help but smile, tearing his gaze away from the river and focusing his eyes on the older. He had to talk to him later, he had to apologise.

“Don’t…”, Beomgyu started off. “Don’t bother, okay? Save it for later.”

Taehyun would’ve been scared, knowing that he was in huge trouble, but there was a reassuring tone in the other’s voice that told him that everything would be fine. He slowly nodded and with a hint of hesitation, he intertwined his fingers with the other’s chilling ones.

On the other hand, the civilians were scattered around; some returned to the stores by the petrol station, grabbing more food and supplies for the unpredictable days ahead, while others tried to stay close together in an attempt to comfort each other.

The team, however, stood frightened on the empty roads.

Yeosang shot down the windows of some of the cars, pressing down on the cracked glass, shards shattering and scattering all over the interiors. He scanned all the vehicles, pulling out more bottles of water, and much to his luck, ammunition.

Meanwhile, the rest of the squad lay on the ground with defeated faces. Exhaustion and apprehension were only two of many emotions that were running through their minds. It was the utter fear of unpredictability that sent waves of worry down their spines; it was the utter fear of death that silenced them and held them firm on the ground.

Jisu broke the silence first, pushing forth a question that put everyone in deep thoughts. “Why? Why, when all of us have the tattoos, did only four of us find themselves protected from the claws? Did we do something wrong, or are these powers just discriminatory?”

“I… I have a theory but…”, Soobin trailed off in doubt. He tried not to frown as Yeonjun stepped away from him in surprise; he was already missing his warmth.

He lifted his head to look at the curious faces of the others, and he knew that they were anticipating much from him. Wondering if his thoughts linked up, he explained: “The four basic elements seem to be the strongest, I suppose. Fire, water, earth and air, or in this case, wind. Those powers formed shields and hurricanes out of reflex, just naturally.”

Yeonjun nodded and furrowed his brows in agreement, before delivering a strong glare to his side. “Fair point, but does the whole theory about the slimes protecting us still stand? I guess it doesn’t, yeah?”

Soobin tried not to frown at the way Yeonjun’s words were accompanied with a scowl towards Yeosang. He knew that his best friend was still overwhelmed with rage from that conversation. He hated the fact that he stood in the middle of Yeonjun and Yeosang, but he knew that he shouldn’t step back.

“I’m sorry, but yeah.”

At that, all eyes turned towards Yeosang.

The latter continued, “Hear me out, okay? The slime only hurt that woman and Jungkook-hyung, and both of them were infected. As for Changbin, he collapsed as he reached here but he didn’t die, did he? The same goes for Soobin, who seems fine for now. It’s different with Felix though.”

“Oh, so they need to die to prove your theory wrong?”

“No! See, Changbin and Soobin were both in the slimes. Soobin managed to get out on his own, and I suppose Changbin was supposed to get out on his own too, but he didn’t. With Felix trying to help him, the slime attacked. It’s like a warning. The slimes or the machine or whatever’s behind all of this, it’s warning us that only those with the powers should go towards the river. Anyone else will be hurt, like Felix. On top of that, Changbin shouldn’t come because he doesn’t have a tattoo anyway.”

“Then neither should us.”, Minho interrupted with a confused look.

He glanced at Taehyun, who seemed a little disheartened by the comment. He then looked at Beomgyu, who stood with no light in his eyes – he immediately knew why Taehyun seemed so dispirited in an instant, and out of instinct, he tightened his hold on Jisung’s hand, the latter standing close to him.

The lingering silence only lasted for a mere second, before Yeonjun burst into utter rage again. “This is pure bull! Why are we trying to apply logic to this ing apocalypse?!? We’re trying to stay alive, not solve a math problem!”

Taehyun wished he could go back in time, feeling immense pity for the older. He knew that these few days were far too unimaginable, but he had to take Yeosang’s side. He was a man of rationality, and he knew he needed to be such a man at a critical time like this.

He cleared his throat and responded, “Hyung, we’re not applying logic here. We’re just trying to find patterns that can help us predict what to do, what we can do, what we shouldn’t do.”

Before anyone could speak up, they were overcome with a terrifying darkness that they couldn’t push aside easily. They looked in all directions, trying to make sense of what just happened, and why it seemed like they were trapped in a prison of sheer gloom.

It only took them a few seconds to realise that the barrier was no longer translucent; it was harshly opaque now, letting no light through, shrouding the area in utter darkness, almost like a giant replaced a plastic bowl with a ceramic one. If they could rely on the sunlight or the distant streetlights outside the barrier, they couldn’t anymore.

A chorus of panicked whispers and screams resonated all across, civilians pushing back and forth with alarm, startled by the obscurity.

“Everyone, stay still!”, a security guard yelled, stunning the others in place.

Taehyun took that split second as his chance to drift away from Beomgyu; he bent over, pushing his hands out, searching for a bag. He sighed as he felt the surface of a wet fabric, before rummaging through and pulling out a torch. He turned it on and waved the flashlight around, taking the others by surprise.

“We need to be careful with our use. We’ll use a few torches and stick close. The rest of the civilians can form groups and use their torches wisely too. We need to save up.”

He tossed two more torches to the others, before standing back on his feet. He handed over his flashlight to Beomgyu, and headed towards the security guard from earlier; he needed to make sure that the civilians had some light to help them, but he also needed to make sure that they were using a set number of torches cleverly.

For a moment, everyone sat or stood helplessly, adjusting to the dim light within the barrier. They knew that things were only going to get more complicated with no light to help them along. It was now all up to sheer luck between staying alive and dying.

“What do we do now? What can we do now?”, Seungmin asked away as he leaned against a streetlight. He looked over his shoulder and saw Changbin resting against a vehicle, a clear expression of distaste on his face despite the lack of light.

“Honestly… Honestly, there’s nothing to do.”

Seungmin raised an eyebrow at the defeated look on Taehyun’s face. He cleared his throat and insisted, “What? So we just give up? We need to get out of this sick place!”

San, who remained quiet all this time, noticed the desperation in Seungmin’s voice; he looked around him, trying to decipher the faces of the others within the fearful darkness. With his instincts telling him to speak up, he suggested, “Can we just take a break? Things aren’t right. Let’s just wait and see what happens. Felix is still healing, Changbin’s feeling sick, and the people are only going to panic if we keep on rushing out like this.”

The others had no choice but to agree, as they knew that they needed everyone to