The car cautiously made its way along the road through the eerily-silent city, headlights off and deliberately avoiding areas illuminated by street lamps so as to draw the least possible amount of attention to itself. There seemed to be little to no other activity save for the occasional silhouette of a disoriented humanoid spotted stumbling between structures on either side of the road. Obstacles, including corpses and wrecked vehicles littered the path in front of the car, much to the annoyance of its driver as he worked to navigate his way around the hindrances.

The silence within the car echoed that of its surroundings for a long moment, until it was broken by Jin. “You’re all idiots, you know that?”

“Not now, Jin hyung,” Namjoon sighed, before turning to the three students behind him. “Is everyone alright?”

He was replied with a series of grunts and nods from the back seats. The boys were clearly shaken up by that whole ordeal back at the university and probably needed some time to get themselves together. He was impressed at how they had managed to make it out and hold their own for that long, but they were getting overwhelmed when he and Jin had shown up, and he was glad that they had decided to stop by.

“Are we heading home, hyung?” Taehyung asked, more than ready for this entire horror show to be over.

Jin shook his head. “No, we’re going to the nearest safe zone. The military and police have managed to secure Black Swan Resort and several other locations across the city. All civilians have been instructed to remain within these areas until this issue is dealt with. Actually, your campus should have been evacuated much earlier, what were you guys still doing inside?”

“We… probably missed the whole thing,” Taehyung guiltily explained. “Jimin and I were sl-”

“Studying,” Jimin interjected.

Taehyung turned to his friend, who was shooting him a glare. “Uh, yes. It was a really quiet spot so we were likely overlooked when that was happening.”

Namjoon raised an eyebrow. “Right… Anyway, good to see you again, Jimin.”

“Good to see you too. Thanks for picking us up,” the younger gratefully replied.

“No problem, mochi.”

“Wait, ‘mochi’?” Jungkook repeated as he glanced at Jimin in amusement, earning a round of snickers from the Kim brothers.

“Oh, shut up!” Jimin groaned in slight embarrassment.

“So, who’s this one now?” Jin asked, jerking his head towards the youngest of the three in the back.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Jeon Jungkook,” Jungkook introduced himself with an awkward grin.

“He’s my roommate,” Jimin added. “He entered just this year.”

“He’s also just as crazy as you two, no doubt,” Namjoon muttered.

“Crazy is us taking a detour to the university,” Jin pointed out to Namjoon. “There was everyone else wanting to get to the nearest safe zone as soon as possible, and then there was us. Remember the look on Hoseok’s face when we said we had to pick Tae up?”

“Hoseok hyung?” Taehyung asked, familiar with this particular colleague of his brothers. “Is he okay?”

“He followed the military convoy from our office building to the safe zone,” Namjoon answered. “He should be at Black Swan Resort by now. He was kind of freaked out that we had to drive off on our own, but he likes you enough to let us go get you.”

The rest in the car chuckled a little at the dry remark, but the mood quickly changed as the car slowed to a stop in front of the entrance of a brightly-lit tunnel. The vehicle lingered just before the lighted area, allowing its occupants a full view of what stood in their way. Numerous infected were concentrated within the tunnel, hobbling about aimlessly. This was the case for as far in as the group could see, and the horde they were currently facing was most likely much larger than the one back at the university carpark.

“Is there another way around?” Namjoon asked hopefully.

Jin gravely shook his head. “We’re out of options here. I’m going to have to ram through.”

That announcement caused a set of agitated gasps to emanate from the rest of the group, each of them considering anything and everything that could possibly go wrong with that move.

“Hyung, you do know that if there are enough to trap us, we’ll be dead, right?” Taehyung nervously pointed out.

Jin raised an eyebrow and nodded as he stared right ahead. “I’m hoping to reduce the chances of that happening, and that means doing this with full concentration, so if no one has a better idea, then trying your best to keep the noise down for me might just be key to getting us out of this alive. Everybody good to go?”

At the hesitant but agreeable responses of his companions, the eldest took a deep breath before he moved the vehicle forward into the light. As expected, the car immediately caught the attention of the infected right at the entrance, who started to chase after it. It gradually drew more of the horde as it accelerated through the tunnel, occasionally slamming into one or two of the vicious creatures unfortunate enough to be right in its path.

Jin kept in mind not to do this too often, however, as every collision, especially with larger groups of infected slowed them down a little, and they needed as much speed as they could get. He swerved around any whenever he could as he continued to step on the gas. The mood within the vehicle could not be more tense. Silence filled the interior, every member of the group anxious for this life-or-death race to be over.

The car eventually burst through the line of infected blocking the exit of the tunnel after what seemed like ages to them. A wave of relief washed over the gang, but only slightly, for they still had not escaped immediate danger. The activity of the horde they had pulled from the tunnel and the revving of the vehicle as it sped along the open road was attracting more unwanted attention. The savage humanoids were swarming in from both sides of the road, and Jin could only keep the car moving in hopes of losing at least some of them around corners or obstacles.

Muffled ringing was suddenly heard coming from the pocket of Jin’s jacket, distracting the group from their current situation for a moment.

“I wonder who that is,” Jin commented, keeping his eyes on the road. “Could you get that for me, Namjoon?”

Namjoon fished the phone out of his brother’s pocket and checked the caller ID before answering. “Yes, hi Hoseok, uh… horrible timing by the way.”

“Namjoon? Are you guys alright? Did you get Tae? Where are you?” Hoseok worriedly questioned over the line.

Hoseok had arrived at Black Swan Resort not too long ago, and he was currently some distance away from the barricaded border of the safe zone. Armed military personnel were patrolling the border and facilitating the entry of civilians into the area. He watched military and private vehicles continuously stream in as he spoke to Namjoon.

“Listen Hoseok, we’re alright, for now. I really have to call you ba-”

“We have to try to lose them at this turn!”

“Jin hyung, look out!”

Hoseok heard Namjoon getting cut off by yelling in the background. He then flinched slightly when the sound of a crash followed right before the call was cut.

“Namjoon? Guys?!”

He stared blankly at his phone in horror, trying to figure out if there was anything he could do to help them. However, he was about to find out that he had his own problems to deal with. What sounded like screams accompanied by inhuman shrieks could be heard in the distance. He turned to look at the border, and his eyes widened in fear at the crowd stampeding in his direction…