[CONTENTID1] CHAPTER FIFTY TWO - PERSEVERANCE [/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]

My ears are blocked from the sounds of slashing and tearing around me. Infected drop dead around me but I don’t bothering looking up to find out why or how. “Thanks for saving me, you in—” Hyoyeon’s own scream cuts her off and more Infected start attacking.

Thankfully, Daehyun and Tao are quick to fight them off for her. Hyoyeon drops to her knees and rapidly crawls over. She bursts into sobs, clutching Jackson’s dead body. My own tears continue to flow in a never ending cascade as I fist my engagement ring in my small hands. 

“Oppa!” Hyoyeon whimpers, smacking his chest. “WAKE UP!” 

“F-f-,” Daehyun shudders as his eyes land on Jackson. He falls at Youngjae’s side and puts his arm around him, crying into his shoulder. Someone grabs my shoulder and twists me around. I don’t look up.

“You all need to get up,” Sehun growls, his free hand clutching his heavily-bleeding chest. “Now.” He reaches down and unwinds one of my hands from my necklace. He clutches it tightly and hauls me up to my feet. “Hyerim, snap out of it.”

“S-s-snap out of it!?” Hyoyeon splutters, slowly getting to her feet. Her shoulders are slumped and her eyes are blood-shot, more so than I imagine mine are. “Jackson…” She tiredly motions to his dead body. Tears streak her face ceaselessly. “Jackson’s dead. He’s dead, Sehun. Just…just like that.”

Just like that.

Just. Like. That.

“I…my heart hurts,” I whisper, tightening my hand around Sehun’s equally as bloody one. I stare up at his eyes and watch as they soften, just the tiniest. It’s more than anyone else has ever seen, at least. “I don’t want to…I…” I don’t even know what I’m trying to say.

“You can’t give up,” he hisses, tugging me close to him. He presses his bloody chest against mine, leaning his forehead down on mine. “You can’t give up, Hyerim. Jackson wouldn’t want you to…I don’t want you to. He’s gone but you don’t have to be.”

“How am I supposed to leave without him?” I ask tearfully. “How am I supposed to live without him?”

“HURRY UP, HUMANS!” Taeyeon hollers. “INFECTED ARE OVERTAKING THIS PLACE!”

“Live for someone else,” Sehun tells me, reclaiming my attention. “Live for Karim, for Hyoyeon. For DaeJae, for the Alpha Team.” Or what’s left of it. “Live for Bora and Daeho…live for your lost loved ones.” He gingerly presses his red hand up against my cheek, tilting my head up. His eyes tell a painful, hopeful story. “Hyerim…live for me.”

I bite down hard on my lip to choke down another aching sob. “I’m so tired, Sehun.”

“I know you are,” he whispers, staring right through me. “I know you are. But you need to pull it together…you need to make it out of here with me. I can’t— no, I won’t let you go, Hyerim.”

Please, just do. Let me go.

I don’t want to fight anymore.

I’m tired.

“There’s too much I don’t know about you,” he growls, cupping my face. “There’s too much I want to tell you. So you’re going to pull yourself together and make it through this. Understand?” He kisses my cheek ever so softly, a complete contrast to his harsh tone. “You’re the most important person in my life, Hyerim. I’m a selfish man so I refuse to let you go.”

“HUMANS, GODDAMN IT!” Taeyeon roars.

Sehun glances at her then back at me. “Live for me. Please.” I look down at Jackson one last time, engraving ever line of his features into my mind so that I may never forget him. I never want to forget the way his eyes lit up when I told him I loved him, I never want to forget how his silky hair bounced when we sparred in the temple back in China. I never want to forget how his pink lips pulled into a smile and how they felt against my own.

Bliss.

That’s what they felt like.

I never want to forget the first man that I ever trusted after countless of cruel men stole from me, ruined me. The first man that I ever loved, romantically, that is. The first man that opened my eyes to the true meaning of hope and freedom.

I never want to forget Jackson Wang.

“Okay,” I whisper, my eyes still fixated on his beautiful, limp body. Sehun kisses me cheek again before taking my hand and leading me away. Daehyun and Youngjae force themselves to their feet, Daehyun pulling a weeping Hyoyeon into his arms.

“Later,” he tells her whilst kissing her temple. His own tears wet her skin. “We’ll mourn later.”

“With no body,” she sniffs, wiping her tears. “Like always.” I gulp and look away, burying my face in the crook of Sehun’s neck. He swiftly picks me up, not uttering a single sound of pain even though I know his chest and foot must hurt.

“I can walk,” I tell him.

“I don’t care,” he replies before he starts running towards the barn. The AIs kick back into action, Tao doing everything he can to keep the Infected off me and my friends as we make our way over to them. 

“COME ON, COME ON!” Jade hollers, clapping her hands. “FASTER, HUMANS!” She punches her first right through an Infected’s skull, reminding of Hongbin when he saved Chanyeol’s life back at the aerodrome in Beijing.

We finally reach the barn and Sehun lets me down. Everything is happening so fast, my scrambled, grief-stricken mind cannot take it all in quickly enough. Everyone is rushing to get into the big hole in the ground, where the toilets have been ripped out. A rotten smell is coming from it and I know, without looking, that it's sewage — in every sense of the word.

“We have to go down there!?” Tao questions incredulously, his eyes the side of marbles. “What the—”

“Shut up and get in,” Julien growls, his voice lethal. He shoves everyone aside and grabs me by my shoulders. “You go after Hyoyeon. I want to be behind you to protect you.” I don't respond, merely nod obediently. He points at Hyoyeon then at the hole in the ground. “Get in.”

“I’ll go first in case anything is waiting on the other side,” Daehyun declares and Julien nods agreeably. Daehyun takes a deep breath and winces when he looks down the hole. Then, he lowers himself inside. Squelching and squishing sounds follow, making my stomach uneasy.

“, this is so gross,” Daehyun groans from below. “Babe, come down. I’ll catch you.” Hyoyeon wipes her tear-stained cheeks and lowers herself down, a ‘humph’ sound following to indicate that she was indeed caught by him. “Rimmie, you next.”

“Okay,” I mumble. Julien helps me down and Daehyun puts his hands firmly around my hips, lifting me then putting me down. I gag when I see that I’m knee-deep — almost thigh-deep — in sewage. There are gallons of faeces floating around, mixing with the godawful stench of piss, vomit and rotting flesh. The thick liquid — I refuse to call what I’m standing in, water — is a muddy, greenish brown colour with a tinge of red to it. Probably from the blood. 

“Ew,” Hyoyeon whines, holding her nose. I force myself to stop gagging and cover my mouth with my hand. I can taste the smell, when I’d rather just suffer through my nose alone without bringing my tastebuds into it. The smell is so strong, it makes my eyes water. It irritates my skin but I try not to scratch incase I get a cut and it’s spontaneously infected by the putrid liquid. “This is so gross. I want to vomit.”

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