It was only a few feet away.

Holding in his slowly escaping breath, Baekhyun looked around at his surroundings until he found Taeyeon hidden in the shadow of a busted ceiling fan, just a few feet above her head. A majority of her body was concealed, but her eyes that were glazed with a light coat of anxiety stood out. Baekhyun can lightly make out her figure; she was soundlessly leaning against a wall decorated with what seemed to be cracks on the side opposite from him, carefully eyeing every single movement that thing was making. They exchanged knowing glances for what didn't even feel to be half a second, and in that moment he knew what to do. With a slight nod of her head she signalled him to make a move, and he reciprocated the action in acknowledgement. 

Slowly and oh-so-carefully, he crept towards the decaying brown table near the exit.

It only takes one mistake, Baekhyun reminded himself after every single step he took, just one mistake can cost us our lives. 

As Baekhyun made his way across the room, the corner of his eyes caught on to an empty soup can only a few centimeters in away of his toes. He quickly turned his foot away to avoid stepping on it, but by a slight miscalculation, his heel collided with the tin object and sent it rolling down to the direction of the monster.

In his frantic state he emitted an almost inaudible wheeze.

Taeyeon stared at him with panicked eyes and stuck herself even closer to the wall, messily trimmed fingernails digging into the chipped paint behind her. It took almost all of the crumbs of self control that still existed in her to not step away and grab the can from reaching its likely destination, to avoid the confrontation, to possibly save their lives—but it was too great a risk, and instead she bit her lip as if to stop herself from screaming.

Neither of them dared to move from their spot, and their eyes followed the rolling can. It rolled.....

and rolled....

and rolled......

....right into a gray wall.

A loud clink echoed throughout the room, all the more prominent in the silence of their restrained voices.

The two flinched as the monster reared its head sharply with a gutteral growl ripping through its throat. Its eyes were piercing in an almost unbelievable level, but the creature was actually close to being completely blind. Fortunately ("They can find us either way so I don't think fortunate is a particularly fitting word," Baekhyun had hissed upon the news) these types were only capable of making out blurry silhouettes of the objects surrounding them.

Or at least, that was what the government had claimed.

In its frustration it let out scream after scream, and the two could only hope that they wouldn't be spotted. The monster trudged violently over to the book shelf near Baekhyun, trying to search for any source of living flesh, only to retreat back to its original position in the center of the room. As if to check again, the creature screeched once more.

(These were called screechers, for obvious reasons; each shriek signalled that one is close by and served as an unpleasant forewarning for an upcoming confrontation.)

Baekhyun turned his head to look at Taeyeon. That was close, she mouthed. He nodded back curtly, and diverted his attention back on to the screecher.

It was somewhat reassuring to know that screechers possessed weak eyesight. However to make up for this their ears were unusually developed, so even one stumble could have them chasing after you—thus walking around a screecher was a very bold thing to do; running was suicide.

And Baekhyun had learned that the hard way.

With the screecher standing in the center, it was impossible to loot the closet behind it safely. But the two survivors were low on supplies, and while they did have a sufficient amount of cache, it was all put away at Chanyeol's settlement. The two planned to stay there after hunting for merchandise that could keep them alive for at least two years. Right now, Baekhyun and Taeyeon needed supplies that could be used immediately, and that closet was the only sure way to get them.

There's no ing way we're getting past this screecher without killing it, Baekhyun thought numbly.

Baekhyun shuffled through his bag—continuously checking back to make sure the creature took no notice—and checked his gun's magazine. 

Not a single bullet left. 

.

Baekhyun's teeth dug into his lip from exasperation and he waved around his hand to get Taeyeon's attention. Her eyes caught movement and she stared at him questioningly.

Got any ammo? he mouthed.

She slowly bent her waist down and browsed through her small gray pouch with a few minor flicks of her fingers. After a minute or so, she looked back up at him and shook her head.

He sighed inwardly at the response. Then we have to take this thing down on our own.

Baekhyun's eyes travelled around the room, studying every single corner, only hoping that he'd find something to use as a weapon. As he looks around a light gleam only a meter or two away from Taeyeon caught his eye. 

Baekhyun pointed at the scissor, and nudged his head. Grab that. I'll get ahold of the screecher. When I say now, you shove that through its head.

Tayeon furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, How the hell are you going to manage to grab it? 

I'll figure it out somehow, he gives a firm nod. Just get ready to plunge that scissor in. 

Baekhyun closed his eyes and swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing uncomfortably in his tightly closing throat. Slowly, he stepped forward with his left foot. Then his right. Then his left foot again. He placed each stride with extreme precision.

Only he stepped once too hard. The sound of a single footstep rung in the uncoordinated space, causing Taeyeon to flinch and the screecher to turn around in bewilderment. Given the fact that Baekhyun was only a mere foot away from the creature, it was nothing but obvious that the screecher could see him. And of course, by instinct, it jumped up.

"Oh ," Baekhyun swore, slowly retreating back to his original hideout. "Taeyeon. Now."

But his fellow companion was frozen solid in the place she was in, clutching the scissors tightly. Too tightly, actually. Her knuckles were white and it was the same for her face, in which her eyes radiated a pure sense of fear.

"Taeyeon, do you hear me?" he asked again, swiveling his eyes back and forth with urgency. "I said, now. Now." The monster emitted a low growl and advanced on the male, limping with a severed leg.

The female still refused to do as she was told.

"Taeyeon!" Baekhyun shouted. The screecher was making a grab for his arm, and its hideously bloody face was only a few centimeters away from his. "Now!!"

Crack.

The sound of a splitting skull reached his ears as the screecher let out its final howl and slumped over, the red scissor plunged into its bashed, bloody head.

"Holy ," Baekhyun spoke, wiping off the disturbing crimson liquid from his jeans. "That was close." He wrinkled his nose.

Taeyeon was still standing still in her position from where she had thrown the scissor. She looked slightly stunned, and she couldn't take her eyes off the gruesome corpse of the dead screecher. She looked frightened, something Baekhyun sympathized with- but only a little. It was a bit peculiar that she was showing such a reaction, because the Taeyeon he knew wasn't that soft.

"Better get used to it," he remarked, attempting to put her at ease, or at least back to her normal state. "It's been six years, and we still have a long time ahead."

"I guess so," Taeyeon replied, an odd expression forming on her face. "God damn it, I don't know what's wrong with me today. Maybe it's the scissor weapon; guns are a lot less violent." She gazed at the lifeless screecher meaningfully.

"Well, violent or non-violent, at least we put this er down." He bent down and pulled out the scissor with a simple motion of his hand, to which Taeyeon choked with disgust.

"That was ing disgusting." she said darkly, her voice full of loathing. 

"You've got to do what you've got to do," Baekhyun responded, shrugging. He slipped the scissor inside his bag after a few hasty wipes. "Check out that closet. Hopefully there are bullets in that thing, like Sehun told us." Sehun was a good friend of the duo.

"And there are," Taeyeon remarked, her eyes widening. "There's a whole shelf full of supplies."

"Really?" He shuffled towards the closet, kicking the corpse aside from his way. "Well, seems like we're giving Sehun kudos for that."

The amount of risk they went through was worth the amount of merchandise. The closet could have passed off as a mecca for supplies- there were fifteen packs of bullets, a hunting knife, soup cans, a box of cup ramen, wrapping bandages for possible injuries, painkillers and disinfectants. Without a single moment of hesitation, Baekhyun and Taeyeon snatched the items and stuffed them in their small knapsacks briskly, and examined every corner of the closet anew.

"Our business is done here," Baekhyun declared, heading toward the exit. "We better get to Sehun and see if he's been doing well alone."

Baekhyun noticed a rather unfamiliar aspect of his hideout from far away.

The windows in the third floor were wide open, which allowed the yellowed white curtains to dance freely in the breeze.

Sehun would never open the windows.

A feeling of apprehension washed over him at the odd sight.

He peered at the windows from afar. It seemed as if the glass was slightly cracked. Or broken. Baekhyun wasn't sure though, since he wasn't close enough to the window to examine it carefully.

Who knows? Maybe he needed fresh air for a change. he told himself, assuaging his uneasiness.  

As he approached the hideout door, small chills ran down his back. The metal locks were smashed to pieces and the copper hinges were bent, some removed from the rusted door. The doorknob was lying on the floor. It was an understatement to say that the door was 'broken.'

"I don't like this." Taeyeon whispered. 

Neither do I, Baekhyun thought to himself. He stepped inside the building. The first floor didn't seem any different. Their hideout was on the third floor. All it took for Baekhyun and Taeyeon to get there was a flight of stairs. But neither of them could step up the stairs in ease; the tension in their bodies stiffened their movements and their nervous breaths slowed them down. 

After what seemed like forever, they reached the third floor. The room in which they all stayed in was at the end of the hallway. 

The metal door itself seemed pretty well off to Baekhyun. But his feeling of dread was still surrounding him, and with nervous steps, he crossed the corridor. The distance between him and the door shortened as he took step after step.

At last Baekhyun was facing the entrance. He placed a slightly shaking hand on the doorknob, but he kept his face expressionless. As he turned the doorknob, the door screeched and fell flat on the floor. All he was left with was a doorknob and an unprotected doorway.

He could hear Taeyeon gasp behind him. And as he flickered his eyes around the space, he saw Taeyeon rushing over to a particular corner of the room. 

"Oh my ing god." Her voice cracked.

Baekhyun's eyes wandered over to the place Taeyeon was.

She was sitting there, her body shaking, her lips moving without sound. She shook her head over and over, and held someone's hand....a bloody hand. A bloody hand...a bloody leg...a bloody face and a bloody corpse. Even though the face was bloody...it was a familiar face, a face that Baekhyun would probably never forget.

And his worst fears were confirmed.

"He's dead," Taeyeon finally spoke, her eyes full of disbelief. "Sehun is dead," She inspected the corpse. "He was shot in the heart and the head. Oh god. I..."

Baekhyun stayed quiet, but then his eyes caught a piece of black cloth sprawled next to Sehun's corpse. He snatched it, and scrutinized the object. 

It wasn't very clean, but the drawing was unmistakable.

A dove.

Anger boiled up inside him as he threw the cloth on the floor. Silent fury emanated from his eyes, and Taeyeon watched him, confused. He stood up, and stalked over to the window. Far ahead in the town square, he saw a black van driving down the street- also with a dove graffitied on the back.

"," he growled. "."

"What? You found out something?"

He gave her the cloth, raging with ire. "Look at it. Look at it, and tell me what you see."

"A dove." Taeyeon said. She frowned, not understanding.

Then it came to her.

"A dove." She whispered with fury.

"The Demonstratives."

Hope you liked that chapter c; it's a little short;; sorry for the late update and thank you all subscribers!!