The night was stygian. The moonlight blocked by high canopy leaving nothing to be seen. The night lullaby of nocturnal creatures filled the space within the quiet trees. JongIn had long since cried himself to sleep in Tao's arms, whom too had fallen asleep in what had to be an uncomfortable position. The older members, on the other hand, all lie awake. The regret, guilt and painful hurt of losing KyungSoo weighed heavily on their minds preventing sleep from taking hold. They could still hear the echoes of those haunting screams of fear and oncoming death. 

The sounds forever ingrained to taunt them.

In someway, they all felt as though they were to blame. They should have just stayed on the beach like Tao wanted and never ventured into the forest. KyungSoo would still be with them if they had. 

"So...what do we do now?" LuHan asked, staring down into the flashlight he swirled around in between his hands absently. The light casting a shadow that illuminated his sad brooding features. "D-do we still look for the others? Or..." He trailed, leaving his words to linger in the air as he was unsure how to finish them.

There weren't really any options left. It was too late to try and go back to the plane. Being so far deep into the jungle, it was impossible to remember the direction in which to go to find it and with dinosaurs lurking around every bush, they couldn't wonder around aimlessly either. 

JongDae sighed as he rested his chin on his knees. "Honestly Hyung, after everything that has happened, I-I don't want to look for the others anymore. What would be the point?" He tightened his hold on his knees, a hopeless ache throbbing in his chest and the want to cry. "I just want to go home."

Silence lingered in between the males. No one could fault JongDae for feeling the way he did because they all felt similar. There was no guarantee they would even find anyone on the island and although they hoped for it, no certain of a rescue. At any second one or all of them could be dead. If it wasn't from one of those creatures, it could be exhaustion, starvation, infection or exposure. To them, death was inevitable on this Island so why would you want to wait to die?

The three jumped in fear when something below gave a deep boisterous bellow. Quickly, LuHan turned the flashlight off casting them all into stark darkness as he was afraid the brightness was what attracted the beast to them.

With bated breathes, they listened as branches and leaves rustled while something monstrous trampled them. Hard footsteps, soft bellows and nasalized whines echoed into their ears as the creatures moved underneath the trees before silence rose once again when the creatures had passed. 

"We should try to sleep. We'll figure out what to do in the morning." Kris whispered trying to get as comfortable as one could in the tree. He felt LuHan snuggle into his side and instictively pulled the older close, figuring that after everything that has happened, he might need the extra comfort and safety. Never know when it would be the last time they saw each other. 

"Hey Hyungdeul?" JongDae whispered in uneasiness, shuddering in the dark before hugging himself to keep warm. Despite his sweatshirt, the cool night air still managed to penetrated through the cotton fabric. "Dinosaurs can't climb trees, can they?" 

LuHan gave a low whine as he pulled his cardigan tightly to himself and snuggled into Kris. "I hope not." That would be just what they needed, dinosaurs climbing trees.

As the night passed quietly, morning soon rose all to quickly for anyone's liking. It represented another day trapped on the island. Another day to wonder if they were going to survive. 

Leaning over the branch, JongDae checked the ground below before lowering himself down first. His eyes scanning the neighboring foliage for any movement as his ears listened for any noise. Not detecting any, he ushered for the others to follow suit. 

They found themselves walking quietly in a loose forming line through the thicket of forest. After yesterday's events, everyone was on edge for what could jump out or bombrush them. There was no noise save for the birds -or rather, what they hoped were birds- chirping and cooing. Occasionally, there would be the echo of a dinosaur call in the distance.

Tao yawned as he rubbed his left eye. His body sluggish and exhausted from the lack of sleep. He hated that the something he once looked forward to was now becoming something he was beginning to dread. Each time he tried to sleep, he was awaken with fright by nightmares of KyungSoo and those creatures until eventually he just out. He felt his heart clench in pain at the thought of KyungSoo. He wanted his Hyung back.

Silently, Tao glanced over his shoulder at the grim and forlorn JongIn. The younger lagged behind the group with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans slowly closing himself off to the rest of the group. In his eyes, Tao could see the fresh deep scarring wound. A deep non-physical wound that they all carried like a fire-brand.

He felt himself wince as he recalled the younger's desperate calls to help KyungSoo. The anguish, the hurt. He knew every time he would look at the younger, that would be all he heard.

Releasing Kris's hand and pointing at JongIn when the older looked back at him perplexed, Tao lagged behind to walk alongside the grieving younger. Tao didn't speak as he was unsure of what to say to help the other. Honestly, what could he say? So instead, he leant JongIn his presence to let him know he didn't have to mourn alone.

"It's all my fault." JongIn mumbled almost to quietly for the older to hear. Tao furrowed his eyebrows in puzzlment as he was unsure of what JongIn was talking about. "When we were running, I tripped. KyungSoo Hyung helped me. I thought he was behind me. I should've checked." He whispered brokenly.

Tao remained quiet as he listened. It was all he could do at this moment, just walk alongside JongIn and listen. It was what he needed right now.

"I regret not telling him how I felt about him back on the plane and not fighting harder to go help him." JongIn looked at Tao giving show to the deep hurt and emptiness he was feeling. The raw view of emotion cause Tao's heart to squeeze. "I gave up too soon...I-I gave up and now..." He swallowed down the lump forming in his throat, "The pain. It won't go away, will it?"

Tao glanced downwards at the ground. It was understandable that losing someone was always hard...but to a creature that shouldn't even exist was so much worse. "I...honestly don't know." He whispered in sincerely. Tao didn't know, this was the first time he has ever felt such a feeling and he hated having to know it would be a constant aspect within his life.

"!" Tao heard Kris whisper seconds before he slammed into the older's back when he had came to an abrupt stop. Steadying himself, Tao leaned to peek over Kris's shoulder to see what had caused the older to stop. 

He wished he hadn't.

Tao's mind shut itself down and his body froze. He couldn't find the air to breath, his lungs refusing to expand as he took in the remains of a mangled corpse. He was dimly aware of JongIn toppling over and vomiting into a nearby bush because all he could see was the body and it's scattered bloody remains.

Television never gets anything right. You would think seeing a dead body in movies or television, you'd be used to it, but there is a stark contrast between seeing a dead body on a screen and seeing one in real-life. Reality is far more frightening and tramatic. It's something you wish you could forget, but knew you never could. 

There on the ground was the torso of a person.  It was bloated and ripped open with the outer edge with slow rot and dried blood. Organs were missing and scattered, the ribcage had been exposed and bitten. A trail of dried blood littered the ground as it lead off into a dense brush. 

A bloodied half eaten leg was off to the left with the disfigured head of the victim to the right. Some of the scalp was peeled away from the skull leaving it to be exposed and consumed by maggots, the jaw was broken and  the left eye had been ripped out. 

He felt the bile rise up in his throat.

"We should've tried...." JongIn whispered in anguish jarring Tao's attention from the body and to the younger. "H-Hyung would still be here if..." No one had to question for an explaination as to what JongIn meant. His expression and tone of voice had already told them perfectly well what JongIn was talking about. Tao felt the world around him collapse into darkness and the tears he were fighting back fall from his eyes. 

"No." JongDae answered back firmly. The singer stood off to the side with his eyes clamped shut as if he were trying to will the image of the body away. "No, it's not KyungSoo....it can't be. He got away. He got away. It's not him." He repeated the whispered words like a mantra trying to convince not only JongIn but himself and the others. 

JongIn growled, his face flushed red and eyes gleaming with unshed tears. "Who else could it be, Hyung?! The body is right there! He was the only one who-" he choked down his sob before once again breaking down. 

It was Kris who stepped towards JongIn and pulled the younger into a tight one-arm embrace allowing him to cry on his shoulder while trying to give as much comfort as he could. Despite looking so calm, Tao could see the sorrow in the EXO-M leader's eyes. Kris was not only hurt by the death KyungSoo, but also not being able to do anything to help ease JongIn's pain and heal his sanity.

After a moment when JongIn began to calm, Kris whispered something in the younger's ear before pulling away and saying aloud in a gentle tone. "Come on, we've gotta keep moving."

JongDae looked at Kris with a disheartened look. "Where are we going to go?" 

"Away from here first, we'll figure that out later." 

As everyone began to walk a large circle around the body and gather to head off in a direction away from the body and blood trail, Tao found himself still staring at the body unable to move. An overwhelming sense of despair spread through him like thick molasses. This was it. As much as he didn't want to accept it, this was their future. 

LuHan, who hadn't said a word since stumbling on the body, pulled himself away from the tree he was pressed against and walked over to Tao. "Tao...we have to go, man." He said softly resting a hand on the younger's shoulder and gently nudging him along. "TaoZi, come on."

"Yeah. Yeah okay." Tao answered back in a hushed tone. 

It's been a while, but I'm back and I'm so sorry for the wait.

I lost internet connection and then some of the writing for this story ended up lost while I was moving things from one ipad to another, but I'm going to try to upload a bit faster because I hate having you guys wait.

See you soon!

       Sincerely, Lilikoi