chapter 4; worrisome

unbetaed, please excuse!

Night comes, not the very first but it feels like a first, because they’re actually sleeping in a half-to-not appropriate location with tents and all. Luhan’s set up his own tent with Minseok, courtesy of Kyungsoo, who when asked for a place to sleep, just thrown them a tent kit and told them to set it up themselves. To no surprise, Minseok sets it up within fifteen minutes, and even offers Luhan to sleep on the inner ends so he doesn’t have to deal with the wind outside. Luhan gladly accepts, thankful to be friends with someone who knows way too much for an outsides person.

It’s probably near the edges of midnight now, and slumber’s just taking them by target, one inch-by-inch. They’re still frightened, scared for that one quiet boy who might come in and kill them with his crossbow. But Luhan laughs it off, because whenever he saw Kyungsoo shot Sehun, some triumphance was relayed through for how horrible the aim was and how Sehun looked like a total moron. He’s not afraid to say that either.

“Is it fine over there?” Luhan asks, and he turns over to the other side, no blankets being of comfort but just a layer of thin materials of the tent separating them from the bloody grass.

The other shrugs, and he just turns and rattles, scooting closer to Luhan once he sees that there’s a boulder on where his position’s lying. Luhan offers space, no hesitance at all, and even feels safer when he can sense the polyester on Minseok’s shirt clutching onto his moist skin.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Minseok says, eyes closing over and just dawning off into the edges of the world, near the border and off into outerspaces, somewhere out of this damned axis where it doesn’t include flesh-eating creatures and horrible human beings. When he opens his eyes again, he’s still there and he just mutters profanity inwardly, cursing the creator above for being empty of mercy.

Luhan sighs, wind drifting through but the zipper’s broken so they can’t do anything about it. “Hey, Minseok?” he calls, and he makes sure that there’s no audible snoring, because he’s learned that Minseok snores a lot.

“Yeah?” the other boy says, metaphony and dissyllables drifting off through the narrow openings, ends somewhere across the fields of plains where animals probably lurk, even them knowing about how the Infectious are especially dangerous at night.

Rustles he can hear and the one pillow they’re sharing becomes colder. “How long do you think we’re going to last? Moving from place to place, meeting new people and them dying before we finally lose our own lives?”

Minseok purses his lips, tries to think of something and his eyes come off tired, so he closes his eyes. And whenever his eyes are closed, he can’t really do anything like think so he just rambles on with his words probably just meaning bull. “I think we’ll be fine, Luhan. I think when our times are ready, we’ll know because there’ll be something different about killing the Infectious. Something different whenever we wake up like the winds being especially cold, and maybe we’ll just see the sun. First time, and last time. But that’s just my guess. I doubt we’ll die anytime soon, so just keep in there. Maybe you and I will just both wake up, and we’ll wake up from this all as a nightmare. School will continue like school, and we’ll still have chem together.”

“Hm,” Luhan hums, and he laughs at the final comment. “You really think that this is all a nightmare?”

Laughing, Minseok shakes his head though he knows Luhan can’t see it. “No, but I mean I’m not going to be pessimistic over this whole ordeal. Like holy , Luhannie. We’re in an apocalypse with these practical creatures that are like zombies. They kinda are, but I mean, this is our own Walking Dead show. It’s my time to shine.”

And Luhan laughs back, turns over and just hugs his friend because sleeping alone with yourself is just not as enticing. Minseok snuggles against with no objection, turns to his side so his back’s facing Luhan and they just stay like this, watching through the horizontal lines of moonlight, uninvited winds, and the horizons of where people are dying.

“You’re too positive.”

“I know.”

“That’s what I like about you though.”

“I know, Luhan.”

Sleep’s never been more satisfying.

--

“Aren’t you going to sleep?” Sehun asks, sitting criss-crossed the side he was directed towards, gun in his hand but hands not complying with holding it.

The apparent leader is sitting near the flaps of the tents, arms crossed and Glock 19 sitting on his lap, the bullets just jaunted. It’s one of the bests he’s managed to snag from the last raid, but he doesn’t know because aren’t all guns the same?

“I would, but who’s going to keep watch? Plus Kris and Yeol aren’t back, those damn bastards,” Joonmyun mutters, peeking his head further out to see if there were any outlines out, silhouettes in the dark skies. No lights were permitted because they would attract the Infectious (learned the hard way) so it was all pitch black, dark blue, moonlight being the only source and the lanterns dimmed down inside the tents.

“Yeol?” Sehun asks, puzzled. “Like Yeol as in Park Chanyeol?”

Joonmyun turns around, gives a frail smile and nods. “The freak who dyed his hair red during senior picture time? Yup, he stays with us too. Best friends with Kris. The two grew up together in an orphanage, so they’re pretty much bonded for life. They usually always go raiding for supplies, but they always come back before the sun dawns. I just don’t know where they are today…”

“Hm,” Sehun hums, and he lies back down onto the sheets, turning his head to the side so he could still see the brunette. The gun lies underneath his palms, but he slides it out a few inches because he’s sure that Joonmyun wouldn’t try to kill him in his sleep, and he doesn’t want to risk setting it on fire. There’s no harm in asking, though. “Hey, y