[CONTENTID1] CHAPTER THIRTY NINE - PARANOIA  [/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]

Long chap ahead! I know y'all love it...right? xD Well i sure hope so!

I tap Tao’s shoulder as he slings his bag over it. “Yah.” He looks at me and raises his brows. “Have you tried again, yet?” He sighs and nods, indicating it still hasn’t worked. For the past couple of days he’s tried using his satellite navigator to locate the other AIs. So far, there hasn’t been a trail which has left us all worried. What could it mean? Did the others get out of the mall okay? Why are Hakyeon, Taeyeon, Neon, Jade and Dre’s own navigators not working?

It could be that they’re in an area that is not locatable by satellite, or we could be in a similar situation. Either that or something’s happened to them.

I sigh and rub my eyes. “I hope we find them soon…or that they find us.” 

“Same here,” Hyoyeon says and I glance at her over my shoulder. She speeds up and catches up with me, falling into stride with both me and Tao. “I kind of miss Kyu-oppa’s crude jokes.”

“Me too,” I pout and she grins. “And I miss the bickering between you and Daehyun-ah. It was annoying…but entertaining.” She smiles to herself and tilts her head. A thought pops into my mind but I’m skeptical as to whether or not I should voice it. “Hyoyeonnie…”

“Ne?”

“Do you…could you…is it possible that maybe…” I mumble, I can’t seem to say the words out loud. They’re ridiculous but they also make sense. At first, I never thought it could be true. Back at the mall, I was sure that it wasn’t. But now, look at my best friend, I’m not sure if I was too quick to judge. “Do you like Daehyun?”

“MWO!?” she exclaims and Sehun shoots her a glare. She throws her hand over and bows in apology. “Mianhae~” She looks at me incredulously. “Like Daehyun? Me? Are you crazy? Do you want to die?”

I giggle and shrug. “I don’t know, you’re acting pretty suspicious now.” She scoffs and elbows my ribs.

“You’re crazy. Of course I don’t like Daehyun, why would you think such a thing?” she questions, shaking her head all the while. “So crazy. I mean, yeah, he’s cute. Sure, he’s funny and really skilled at sniping and stuff. I mean, yeah, he has a really nice voice and…really good hair.” Her voice grows quieter and I narrow my eyes at her. She looks at me and her own eyes widen. “Oh my God.”

“Yep, you like Daehyun,” I conclude. She looks as if I just told her that her puppy died…or she has herpes. “How does it feel?”

“Like hell!” she gasps, shaking her head. “Aish, I’m really crazy. I must be if I’m…if I like a guy like Daehyun. Aish, jinjja.” She keeps shaking her head and smacking herself over the head. “Snap out of it, Hyoyeon!”

“Yah, get over yourself. Daehyun oppa’s a good man,” I tell her and she snorts. “What about Mino? How do you feel about him?” She shrugs and makes a face.

“He’s hot and I’d sleep with him but…” she mumbles and shrugs again. A dreamy look sets on her face and she stares upwards. “But Daehyun oppa…have you heard him sing? He sounds like an angel~!” I giggle and she gasps, slapping herself on the cheek.

“Yah, stop it!” she scolds herself. I shake my head and go on my tiptoes to peer over Julien’s shoulder. I sigh when I see that we’re not close enough to see the city of Andong yet. As I child, Appa often took me to visit my grandfather there. He was a very spiritual old man and being the kind of kid I was, I loved going there to tour the city and spend time cleansing my body and mind with him. 

“Tao-ssi,” Jungkook utters, nudging the AI. “Any word from the others yet?”

“Ani,” he replies. “None, not yet. But don’t worry. From what I can tell, they’re in a region that has little reception. I’m getting static but no message.” Jungkook frowns and looks away. “We’ll hear from them soon.”

“You might be able to contact someone when we get to Andong,” Julien says. “But we’ll have to find a modern hotel. That way, we can connect you to a radio so we’ll get a clearer reception.” The AI nods and we all fall into a comfortable silence. 

We walked for a further thirty minutes before arriving at the entrance to Andong. The path was long and wide, and surrounding by lots of greenery. The wind blew the trees softly and animals dashed through the long, uncut grass. Nature was taking back the world — bit by bit, square by square, city by city. 

I look up; the sky is grey and it’s cold. I tug on my jacket and let out a breath. Condensation forms in front of me and bite my chapped lips. Hyoyeon nudges me and I glance at her.

“Here,” she says, handing me a circular tin of lip balm. “Since I forgot my other one back at that camp, I took this one from the mall.” I spread a coat over my lips and rub them together. I feel an instant rush of relief. “Better?”

I nod. “Much. Komawo.” She smiles and bumps shoulders with me. A low groan sounds and everyone freezes. We slowly reach for our weapons and take them out, holding them out in front of us. We go into a formation with Julien at the front. I narrow my eyes and scan the area around us. “There. Look.” Their eyes follow my gaze and land on an Infected walking out onto the street we’re on.

“Don’t shoot…we want to remain under the rada—” Before Sehun can finish his sentence, Jungkook pulls back the string of his bow. His fingers brush his cheek and he has one eye closed. He releases the arrow and it shoots forward, going right through the centre of the Infected’s head. 

“Wow,” Tao breathes, staring at him with wide eyes. “Nice shot.” Jungkook lowers his bow and a small smile forms on his face. I feel a smile form on my own face and chuckle, shaking my head. 

“Let’s keep going,” I say and look at Tao. “Where’s the best hotel in the city?” His eyes glow for a few short moments before he addresses me.

“Not far from here,” he answers. “I’ll lead us there.” I nod and he starts walking ahead of the formation. We follow him silently, keeping our footsteps light and our breathing even lighter. From what Taeyeon said back at the camp, those creatures (the Infected) have better hearing and sense of smell than the average human.

“H-help.” 

I jump and whip around with my gun out and come face to face with a young male. He looks to be in his early twenties, with a pretty face and brown hair. However, he’s pale and his veins are more prominent than they should they. They’re bluer, too. He has bloodshot eyes. As my own eyes travel down the length of his body, I see that he’s clutching his bleeding stomach.

“P-p-please…help me,” he croaks before falling to his knees. I keep my gun in hand but crouch down and grab his chin, forcing him to look at me. His pupils dilate at the sight of me before going back to normal. “Are you…are you an angel?” 

I snort and look up at the others. “He’s lost too much blood.”

“So? He’s not our problem,” Sehun says, and Julien and Jungkook nod in agreement. Hyoyeon sighs and nods also. Tao shoots them a glare before walking over to me and crouching down. Sehun groans and rubs his face tiredly. “What is this, a charity? We need to go before Infected catch the scent of his blood and corner us.”

“You’re right,” I sigh and Tao widens his eyes. “We need to go.” I look at the male again. “What’s your name?”

“S-Seokjin. Kim Seokjin,” he answers. “Please, help me. Before…before they find me. They’ll kill me.” I frown and look at Tao, then at the others. They, too, are frowning in confusion.

“Who’s ‘they’?” I ask. He starts shivering and hyperventilating. I tuck my gun into my back pocket and grab his face. “Relax and look at me.” His eyes settle on mine. “Who will find you? Who are you running from? The Infected?”

He shakes his head. “Ani…they’re not the scary ones.” I study his face and realisation dawns on me. “Are you…are you bitten?” He bites his lips and looks away. I quickly release him and stand up, staggering back. Tao sighs and looks down at his feet. “He’s bitten.”

“Then we kill him or we leave him behind,” Julien declares. “That’s all there is to it.” I pinch the bridge of my nose and let out a frustrate groan. “I know you don’t like killing people, Hyerim, but —”

“You don’t know anything about me,” I snap, cutting him off. “I’ve killed before. Many times, actually. I’m not proud of it, necessarily, but I’m also not ashamed of it. Every time I’ve killed, it’s been with good reason. It’s not like I hate killing…it’s that I hate giving up so easily.”

“Sometimes, we have to,” Hyoyeon mumbles, rubbing her arm. “We can’t help this guy if he’s bitten.”

“You put up more of a fight when it was Haru,” I hiss. “What, was it because she was a child? That shouldn't change anything.” She looks down, shame written all over her face. I don’t want to be harsh but I’m also tired of all the double-standards. I turn to Sehun. “Let me ask you something. If it was me who was bitten…would you also give up so easily? Would you kill me so easily?”

“I’d never let you get bit in the first place,” he replies matter-of-factly. “It just wouldn’t happen.”

“You don’t know that. We can’t stop everything and we certainly can’t predict the future,” I say and he glowers at me. “So, what would you do if it were me?” 

“We don’t have time for this. Take the guy and let’s go,” he growls, spinning around and storming off. Julien sighs and goes after him, Jungkook following closely behind. I nod at Tao to pick Seokjin up and he does so without hesitation. 

“Not that I’m against your decision, Hyerim-ah, but…why exactly are we taking him if he’s bitten?” Tao asks as he carries the male over his shoulder. Hyoyeon walks with us as we follow the others further into the city. 

“I know we have to kill him. It’s risky even keeping him with us right now but…something’s going on,” I reply after some thought. I would never jeapordize the safety of my team without good reason. This Seokjin is running from someone — or something — and I want to know who or what it is. “Seokjin-ssi. The people you’re running from, where are they?”

The male groans and lifts his head. “Monsters…the kind you see only in horrors and nightmares.” I purse my lips. “I know I sound melodramatic but believe me, I speak the truth.”

“Where are those people? Why are you running from them?” Hyoyeon asks.

“I don’t know where they are now, the ones that will have been sent to look for me. We have a camp…” He clamps his mouth shut. I know he must be wondering whether or not he should trust us with this information. “How can I trust you? I know you’re going to kill me.”

“We are,” I admit. “But we’ll do it humanely. I can promise you that.” 

“Put me down,” he orders softly and Tao complies. He puts his arm over the shorter male and helps him walk. “The camp, it’s quite a while away from here. Wonju, up north from here.”

“Wonju? Wow, you’re far from home,” I comment and he snorts in response. “How did you get here?”

“I ran.” My eyes bulge out and he smiles. “When you’re trying to escape a place like that, you’ll do so at any means necessary.” What the hell is so bad about the camp he’s from that he ran over 100 kilometres to escape? How crazy can the people there be? My mental questioning brings me to only one conclusion: Kim Seokjin escaped one of those child soldier camps.

“Why are you running from them?” Tao asks, repeating Hyoyeon’s question. Seokjin gulps and his dry lips. “Who exactly are you, Kim Seokjin?”

“I’m a…doctor,” he answers. “That’s why they’re after me. I’m valuable and they need me. Or at least, they did. They won’t be too pleased when they find out t