#faebelleau

“I know each and everyone of you will do your best to see that we succeed.” Ambassador Carrol had said as his staff prepared your cars behind him, “I have high hopes for this mission and this team.”

His presence was calming and his fatherly smile quelled your nerves for the impending trip. No one knew how long the mission would last, especially once groups from all over came into contact in hopes of finding a way to end Death’s sudden reign of terror.

“Hoseok. (Y/n).” He called for the two of you as everyone in the group went to the cars. He made sure to isolate you both from his daughter as he carefully waved her off to a designated car. He made sure she was out of ears reach before he turned his attention to the two of you. His confident smile has weakened, “Take care of Lina for me, okay? I know you always do, but please make sure she comes home.”

“We’ll all come home safe and sound.” Hoseok assured him with his radiant heart-shaped smile. Always so confident and sure of himself and others. You knew if you couldn’t take care of Lina while on the trip, he would do anything in his power to bring her back safe, “It’s your plan anyways, so we know it’ll work!”

You had merely nodded in agreement before being ushered into the car with Lina and Bomi, the beautiful sight of city hall fading from view as you drove away.

2 and a half weeks. That’s how long it took to assemble a team after Death’s reappearance and send you on your way with everything that you would need. In that time, the death toll had grown larger, nearing 300,000 people in such a short time. In your life, you couldn’t remember a time when so many people had died, you couldn’t even name 2 people that had died back when it was a normal occurrence. To witness such an atrocity after so many years without a single death, it was a lot to handle. But at least you’d have your friends there with you.

And the new members of your team.

There wasn’t much time to acquaint yourself with the others that had joined the task force when you arrived at City Hall. As soon as you’d arrived at the building, you were all debriefed on the mission with a case file for each of you before you were sent on your way in a government car to the train station. Now, you were left awkwardly sitting on a train car with 3 people that you knew well and 5 people that you’d never met before in your life.

“What do we even do?” You ask, peaking over Hoseok’s shoulder to look at the men spread around the car.

The space itself is very luxurious and spread out, filled with large, brown leather armchairs on swivel bases along the windows up to the back where you sit at a mahogany table with four chairs on each side, a couch just off to the right by the windows before it. 

One lone man sat at the front of the car opposite to the door, nursing a glass of what you assumed to be brandy or whiskey in one hand with his eyes shut in content. Two chairs from him, two more men sat opposite to one another. One with blue hair and a boxy smile, and the other a deep chestnut brown with a cheeky grin. They looked to be making small talk with one another, getting excited every so often during their conversation. Finally, there were the two men sitting on the only couch in the car, a blonde with his nose tucked into the manila folder gifted to everyone and a man with purple hair resting his chin on the man’s shoulder - presumably to read along with him.

It wasn’t like you weren’t comfortable working with others on the spot. Working at the hospital, you’d worked plenty of shifts with nurses from all over your hospital, as well as other hospitals within the city. You were more than happy to work in a team, but with these new guys joining your already established group?

Lina spares a glance your way, “We need to read the files my Dad’s team made and make sure we understand them before we make it to ITA Sanction 5,193 to meet with the other teams.” She says, returning to the file in front of her to continue reading through her own manila folder.

“Yeah, I get that part.” You sigh, looking once more to the men behind them. You catch the eyes of the broad shouldered, purple haired man sitting next to a blonde by the window. You keep his gaze until he winks at you, causing you to roll eyes, “I meant them.”

Hoseok laughs, “What are you? 112? They’re just boys, (Y/n).”

“Wow, Hoseok, you’re so funny. Do you do stand-up on weekends too?” Bomi asks, sarcasm evident in her voice. Hoseok himself only pouts, a slight glare pointed back at the woman next to you, “Now, who’s the funny one?”

”Don’t act like children!” Lina scolds, closing her folder for the first time since you’d arrived on the train and sat down at the table. She moves a strand of dirty blonde hair behind her ear, closing her eyes to give herself a moment's peace before speaking again. “We are here to work together for who knows how long, so we’re going to have to introduce ourselves.”

“I’m just concerned to be working with strangers on something like this.” You say, trying to emphasize the importance of the mission you’ve been assigned.

“Then let’s fix that.” You watch as Lina stands from her chair, adjusting her shirt momentarily before placing a hand on Hoseok’s shoulder for balance. “Hey!” She grabs their attention, “Did you guys want to go over this together? We can toss some ideas around and get to know each other while we still can.”

”I was hoping someone would ask!” The bored, purple haired man is fast to stand from his seat and approach the table. “Kim Seokjin-” He grabs the chair next to Lina and pulls it back for him to take a seat next to her, “I volunteered to be here, but I don’t know if there’s much I’ll really be able to help with.”

”(L/n) (Y/n). Nice to meet you.” You say, offering a small nod his way.

Lina takes her seat between him and Hoseok, ”I’m sure there’s something you can do to help.”

Seokjin flashes her an appreciative smile before turning in his seat to look behind him, his eyes landing on the blonde now standing behind him. ”Joon, sit down already.” He says, reaching his arm over the table to pat the empty spot in front of him for the man to sit. “Joon” moves to do so and Seokjin turns to everyone again, a proud smile on his face, “This is my husband.”

Namjoon offers a shy nod and a bashful smile, ”Kim Namjoon. I’m the Research Scientist assigned to the mission.”

”Good to see we have someone that knows what’s going on.” Bomi says.

“Taehyung-” The blue haired man from the center of the car plops down next to you, “I will be your weapons expert for this trip.”

His title takes you by surprise. Why you needed a weapons expert was beyond you, and it seemed like you weren’t the only one. Hoseok speaks up for you, “We need a weapons expert?”

“Did you want to beat Death up in a fist fight?” You turn to see the man from the front of the train leaning against the wall to your left instead of sitting in the chair closest to the table.

“I’ll do it!” The man that sat across from Taehyung slams a hand on the table, making you jump. “Jeon Jeongguk. I’m always ready to throw hands, just name a time and place.”

“Min Yoongi.” The red haired man scans over the table with an unamused expression, “I don’t recommend throwing hands with me if you plan to use them later.”

“Nice to know…” Bomi mutters, pulling a laugh from both you and Namjoon.

“It’s nice to meet you all! I’m Jung Lina and this is my husband Hoseok-” Lina turns to him and he raises a hand, “Good to meet you. We’re both volunteers for the mission.”

Bomi leans forward a bit so the men on the other side of you can see her, “Lee Bomi. I’m a volunteer as well.”

An awkward silence falls over the car, no one really knowing where to go from there. You exchange a glance with Hoseok and turn to the folder you haven’t even touched in front of you. When you signed up for this mission, you forgot that you’d have to revisit teachings that stopped years ago, “So...do we just jump into it?”

Lina is quick to dive in, “Reading over these files, it looks like our main priority should be to take in as much information about Death as possible.” She plays with the folder in front of her, a brief, faraway glance taking over her vision. Hoseok places a hand over hers after noticing her brief silence, pulling her back from her slump. She squeezes his hand and smiles, “I know I myself haven’t thought about Death much since we welcomed the New Age.”

“Agreed. I know a lot of information about Death, but not as much as I hear they do in ITA Sanction 5,193.” Namjoon says, adding in his own two cents, “I heard they still teach about Death in their classrooms.”

“Not every full sanction was as convinced as ours that Death just disappeared.” Yoongi moves closer to the table, choosing to sit on the edge over leaning against the wall, “I’ve been to plenty of sanctions across Pangea and there are plenty that talk about Death more than you would think.”

“You’ve left the KOR Sanctions?! What are you? A government employee?!” Taehyung asks, a new light to his face. Leaving full sanctions is a big deal, mainly only for vacations, work trips, or volunteer work with missionaries. It would seem even “weapons experts” are excluded from that list.

Yoongi gives Taehyung a once over before shrugging, “Sure.”

Jeongguk leans on the table, the cheeky grin you’d seen earlier now resembling that of a child who got a new toy, “Well, I’m no government official or anything, but I’ve been out once or twice myself to visit the other Old Asia Sanctions. A few have a whole festival that celebrates Death!”

“I don’t see what good comes from celebrating a monster...” Bomi says. You can’t really blame her for feeling that way. If you lost your husband like she had, then you’d probably feel the same way.

“Well, maybe we can learn something from them that will be useful.” Lina reaches out and takes Bomi’s hands in her own, giving them a reassuring squeeze. She turns to everyone else at the table and offers a bright smile, “I’m excited to work with all of you!”

“Likewise.” Seokjin nods.

*

*

*

Working with everyone slowly became easier than you thought it would. Everyone at the table had something to offer to the cause, whether it be survival skills with Yoongi and Jin - as he’d prefer to be called - or to communication skills with Lina and Namjoon. Somehow, everyone just seemed to fit into the mold. Even Jeongguk fit in with the weird personality you’d picked up from him, but you could only blame that on Taehyung and Hobi. Even so, it was clear as day why they all were there.

Jeongguk may be overly confident, but that’s what makes him fearless. At least, that’s what you’d picked up from the various stories he’s already told you in the span of 3 hours. Not only that, but every time someone even mentions Death, a light shines in his eyes like a puppy being offered a bone. Having a trained fighter on your side with no fear of jumping in and taking charge is a big plus for your team.  

Then there’s Jin and Namjoon. Namjoon is a wonderful asset to the team, bouncing theories and ideas back and forth with Lina so easily. Hoseok would probably be jealous if it weren’t for the fact that Jin has Namjoon wrapped around his finger. In the short time that you’ve all been talking, it’s easy to see that Namjoon finds comfort in his partner. Every time he’d mention a new idea or theory he’d been working on, he’d squeeze Jin’s hands on top of the table. Jin in return would run his thumbs over Namjoon’s knuckles, and you’d see the tension just leave his body. They remind you of Hoseok and Lina.

You almost let Taehyung slide at first. Being a weapons expert seemed simple enough, but his attitude will shift every now and then. For the most part, he’s all smiles and jokes, but he’ll slip into a more serious facade when the conversation shifts to the actual hunt for Death. He and Yoongi seem to be much more alike than you thought they’d be. Especially, since the only time Yoongi talked at all was to go over the plan or demean someone. Not necessarily out of hatred, but more so annoyance than anything. Either way, you’d have plenty of time to figure him out. Or at the very least, get used to him.

You certainly weren’t going to do that over dinner.

It wasn’t like the car you were eating in wasn’t a nice place to start a conversation, but it was surprisingly very packed, to say the least. Talking to anyone about what you were really doing there wasn’t an option, and there was no room to talk about some of their real jobs lest anyone overhear that information. Instead, your dinner was filled with the clatter of plates and utensils, and minor chit chat from everyday life.

Of course, Hoseok was more than happy to rave about everyone of his 127 children, Lina jumping in every now and then to correct him when he’d mess up a detail. But they had Namjoon, Jin, and Taehyung to add in with their own children as well. Namjoon was more than happy to tell the table about his girls, pulling out his wallet to show off the photos he kept there. Of course, Taehyung countered with his own personal photo album dedicated solely to his children - including his pomeranian. At one point, after you’d all moved back to the comfort of the caboose, Bomi even got in on the child praising! But it was easy to tell that it was more of a distraction for her than anything. Even so, it makes you happy knowing she’s still taking care of herself after everything that happened.

Soon enough, everyone but you had retired for the night. For some reason, you just couldn’t convince yourself to sleep. It was like a part of you just wasn’t ready to sleep after the fiasco you’ve been through in the past two and half weeks.

Instead, you opt to change cars, choosing to get a drink or two to coax yourself to relax before the real work begins. At this point in the night, it shouldn’t be a problem to get a quick drink without being bothered by anyone. Hopefully, they’d all be asleep on their arms or returning to their own cabins. However, you’re surprised to see the same red head from earlier perched on a stool. To your knowledge, alcohol was all he’d been drinking since you got on the train. You weren’t one to judge, it’s not like he could really do any major damage.

But still...

You take the seat next to him, setting your card on the counter in front of you. When you don’t see the bartender, you decide that now would be as good a time as any to try and make conversation. “Can’t sleep?”

He takes a sip from his glass, “Sleeping is something I do at my own convenience.”

“Wouldn’t now be convenient?” You ask. When you’re met with a blank stare, you turn to face the wall of liquor in front of you, “Sorry. I’ll be quiet.”

After a couple minutes of awkward silence the bartender comes back from another car and makes his way over to you, “Sorry about the wait. What can I get you?”

“As much as I need a drink, could I bother you for a Coke?” You ask,

“Sure thing.” He turns to grab your drink and you rest yourself on the counter to help yourself relax from such a long day. You’d taken in so much information in such a short span of time. History you’d forgotten existed being shoved down your throat almost as violently as the sudden realization that Death had returned.

Of course, unlike most of the other members in your group, you didn’t have much to worry about. You had your parents to worry about, as well as your god children and their children. But you didn’t have anyone immediate of your own. It was just you. You don’t mind though. You haven’t cared for 1,000 years, so why start now?

Then again, it would be nice to have someone there to comfort you in times like these. Times when you rely on some carbonated liquid to lift you up.

You thank the bartender as he hands you a glass of coke, deciding to leave it resting on the counter before you take a sip. Instead, you let your hands sit on either side of the glass, letting your mind wander in thought as you stare into the dark pool of bubbly liquid.

Do you regret not putting yourself out there to find someone? Sometimes. It wasn’t as if you really needed anyone by your side to make you happy, but it wasn’t as if you never tried. You’d had more than several relationships in your many years of life, and you’d had strong feelings for the other party on many occasions! But living in a world where no one dies, where you can do anything with seemingly no dire consequences...

It’s a world where no one wants or needs to settle down.

A love like Lina and Hobi’s or Namjoon and Jin’s is a love so rare it’s almost unheard of. Even if Jin did mention it took them a few hundred years to find each other, you can’t help but envy them and their happiness together.

Yoongi suddenly stiffens and turns towards you, his right hand covering one of your own, “Do not make any sudden movements.” You freeze. You knew Yoongi was shady, but you didn’t think he was this shady! He’s got you blocked from view of the rest of the car, making sure the only thing you can see is his face and the bartender. Not only that, but his stare is intense and completely focused. If it weren’t for the serious look on his face, you probably would’ve screamed for help.

“I’m going to stand up and you’re going to smile and wish me goodnight. Tell me you’ll see me in a bit and keep doing what you were doing. Do not leave until I come back. Do you understand?” He asks. You nod, trying to turn your surprised expression into a smile. Yoongi wastes no time for you to act the part correctly and stands up, “I’m going to bed.”

“I’m going to stay here a bit longer, but I’ll join you soon.” You say, trying to keep a steady voice. Your left hand is balled in a fist, your own thumb rubbing at your hand to keep yourself calm. You have no idea what changed Yoongi’s mood to suddenly wanting you to pretend you’re buddy-buddy, but you weren’t going to question it. “Sleep well!”

Yoongi leans in close next to your ear, his hand coming to rest on the arm making a fist, “Don’t tell anyone why you’re on this train or who you are. Tell them you don’t want to talk and it’s not any of their business to know. Now, laugh and pretend I told you something funny.”

“I get it! Don’t be vulgar.” You say, faking a laugh and playing along as he asked. To say you were terrified of him leaving you now would be an understatement. You place your free hand on top of the one on your forearm and squeeze, keeping a smile as you face him, “I’ll be there soon. Promise.”

Yoongi nods and walks away. To anyone around you, it looks like a regular interaction, but you know it was an understanding of what you were trying to convey to him. He tells you to do what he says, gives you vague instructions for a hypothetical situation, and then leaves you alone like you couldn’t go with him in the first place? You were going to need a better explanation than that to remain calm, and he better come back soon and explain to you what mood he just went through.

Toughing it up, you return to your drink, choosing to keep your head downcast instead of where people can see it. There were still plenty of people in the room, so anyone one of them could have set him off. The only question is why?

“Mind if I have a seat here?” You turn your head to see a tall man with short black hair swept back out of his face, revealing a scar from his chin to his left temple that cuts through his haughty grin. His green eyes would have held you captivated if not for the clear warning Yoongi had given you about talking to anyone.

“There’s an empty seat over there.” You point to the seat two chairs away, trying your best to be as standoffish as possible. You turn back to your glass of soda and pick it up, trying to keep a steady grip over a hard one. This guy didn’t look sketchy, but if Yoongi wasn’t assigned to your group, then you’d never suspect him either.

The man ignores you, deciding to sit right next to you anyways, “You don’t have to be shy.”

You take a deep breath, refusing to spare another glance at the man, “I’d like to enjoy my drink in peace and quiet, thank you.”

He rests his arm on the counter, moving his face to get closer to yours, “My name’s Im Hajun. You?”

“I’m not looking to make friends.” You say, turning your body away from him.

“C’mon~ Just tell me your name.” He whines.

Persistence will only take a person so far, and this guy was not going to get anywhere if he kept acting like this. Even if Yoongi hadn’t told you not to talk to anyone, you’d still be a little standoffish to this type of advance. Still, you force a polite smile, “Why don’t I buy you a drink and you forget about getting to know me?”

“Playful...I like it.” His cocky smile sends a shiver down your spine. Men like him were what made you curious for a few hundred years. To have your boundaries brushed away like a bug in his shoulder was not what you came to get a drink for. You didn’t sit down for his enjoyment. “Where are you headed?”

“Away.” You respond shortly.

“Really?” He asks.

“Yes.” You nod, taking a sip of your drink to distract yourself.

“Are you here alone?” He asks, leaning in closer to you.

You pull away from him, as far as you can without falling back, “That’s none of your business.”

“You gotta tell me something!”

“I don’t owe you anything. I don’t know you.” You remind him.

“Just tell me why you’re going to the ITA Sanctions!” His outburst makes you pause. This train makes several stops along the way, so how does he know you’re getting off in the ITA Sanction?  

“Baby.” You turn away from the man in front of you to face Yoongi who’s changed from the nice clothes he was wearing earlier. Sporting jeans, a grey tee, and a leather jacket, he stands just a few feet away from you.

You glance over his new appearance, “I thought you were going to bed.”

“I want to talk to you...about what I said earlier.” His hands are inside of his jacket pockets, the one on the right hanging out just a bit more than the one in his left, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Let’s go back to the room and talk.” You leave the glass in your hand on the counter and move yourself to hop down. As you turn, you look to Hajun, “Sorry to cut- uh...this short.”

He nods, “Nice talking to you.”

You hop down from your stool and join Yoongi, his left arm leaving his pocket to wrap over your shoulder and pull you closer to him to his into your ear, “I told you not to talk to him.”

“I didn’t tell him anything!” You whisper back. You enter into the next car holding your cabins and see light at the end of the hall in the caboose, “Why is everyone in the other car?”

Yoongi ignores your question, leading you to your cabin three doors from the end of the car, “Get your stuff. Pack light.”

The door closest to the last car opens and Taehyung steps out, carrying a medium sized handgun in his right hand and a bag on his back, “Why is Taehyung walking around with a gun?!”

“No time to ask questions! Now, move!” Yoongi pushes you into your car by the small of your back, causing you to stumble for a moment. You want answers, but you’ll have to do what he asks first. You grab the backpack that held your laptop and pull it onto your bed, deciding to fill it with a change of clothes, your medical bag, and a few toiletries. You had a feeling you weren’t staying on this train.

“Done?” Yoongi asks as you pull your bag onto your back. You nod and he takes your arm, “Let’s go!”

He exits the room first, pulling you along behind him into the narrow corridor. As soon as you're both out in the open, the car door at the opposite end of the car slides open. You turn to look, and catch a small glimpse of another gun before you're pushed back into your cabin. You fall to the floor with Yoongi’s body covering your own, shots ringing out from both sides of the train car. Your face is tucked into his chest with his forearms resting at the top of your head to shield you from any stray bullets.

“Are you okay?” He asks, unmoving from your current position.

“Classify ‘okay’!” You yell back, voice muffled by the closeness of his body.

“Ah, good, you’re fine.”

‘Fine? Did he really just say that to you?!’ You wonder. You were slowly starting to figure out why Yoongi’s job was so secretive, and a part of you wished you’d never been so curious.

“As soon as I land a hit on this guy, you need to run!” You hear Taehyung call out as the bullets continue to ricochet off the walls of the outside corridor.

Yoongi removes himself from you and crawls to the door, keeping himself low and close to the ground, “C’mon, we need to be ready.”

“Are you crazy?!” You ask. Did he really expect you to just run in the middle of gun fire? “No way!”

He glares at you, “You can run when we get an opening or you can stay here and die. I couldn’t care either way, I’m just trying to be nice and do my job.” You didn’t like how blunt he was. Nor did you like how willing he was to let you die. He’s a teammate, but he’s willing to leave you behind? You’d have to really listen to him if you don’t want to end up dead.

Two last shots ring out before you hear a thud followed by silence, “C’mon! I’ll hold it!” Taehyung calls out. Yoongi takes your arm to pull you out again when another shot rings from the end of the hall, stopping the both of you before you can make it out the doorway.

“God damnit!” Yoongi yells. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handgun of his own, reaching his arm around the doorway and just peeking over to see the other gunman, “Piece of shit!”

“Why are they shooting at us?!” You ask, clinging onto Yoongi’s jacket.

“Do I look like I fucking know?!” He asks, pausing his shooting to glare at you before returning to the matter at hand. He and Taehyung fire a few more rounds until the gunfire from the opposite end stops.

“They’re pulling back!” Taehyung yells.

Yoongi doesn’t waste a second to grab you again, “This is our chance!” You both run from your cabin to the car door where Taehyung awaits with his gun. The area surrounding the door frame is covered in bullet holes; however, Taehyung himself doesn’t seem to have a scratch on him.

“(Y/n)!” Bomi yells from behind a chair as you enter the room.

“I’m fine,” You assure her. At least on the outside you can say you’re okay. In your head, your thoughts race a mile a minute trying to comprehend what just happened. How did that guy know where you were going? Why do Yoongi and Taehyung have guns on them? You didn’t mind so much given the fact that they saved your life, but they shouldn’t have had to do that.

Yoongi removes himself from your grip - one you didn’t realize you even had on him, “Let’s get the car uncoupled before they come back with more ammunition, there’s no telling how long they-”  

Yoongi is cut off by an object flying through the window, a light beeping noise and red glow coming from the small object. You have a good idea of what it is, but Taehyung seems to know exactly what it is as he picks it up and throws it back through the window, “Get down!”

You reach out for a chair in front of you, but your body pushes itself forward before you can grab it. You feel your body fly into someone else's, knocking you both into the hard wood of the table at the end of the car. You feel warm and cold at the same time, a slight breeze rushing over your face. A window had to be open, but you can’t hear the rumble of the train over the buzzing in your ears. Your senses feel muffled and overstimulated, leaving you feeling as if you’re walking on a boat in the middle of a storm with nothing holding you down to the boat deck.

You feel yourself slide back into something solid and cold, a dead weight landing on your chest. The sensation of your falling backwards with your stomach dropping to its lowest point pulls you down headfirst with the weight on your chest rolling off your body to cushion your next fall.

You’re falling.

Falling with someone.

You’re playing a game of tag as you go back and forth cushioning the fall for one another until it stops and you’re left laying on top. It’s dark and your ears hurt, most likely from the explosion that pushed you into whoever you’ve landed on. If you were like this, then the others were probably just as bad. You have to get to them and make sure they’re okay.  

You have to help them...

*

*

*

“..hey…”

The darkness that covers your vision is familiar, almost like a haze of fog on an early Sunday morning after a fresh rainfall. Something you hadn’t even thought about in a very long time.

“..(Y/n)...wake up..”

The voice is familiar. You’ve heard it before, but where?

“..has a pulse…..grab snow...put it down her shirt...” Another voice adds in.

Yoongi.

The train.

The explosion.

Your group.

You force your eyes open, meeting the harsh shine of a flashlight. Behind it, you see the outline of Namjoon as he sits off to your right in the dim moonlight. You can’t see much of him - even with the glow of more flashlights behind him- but he looks to be in good enough shape. Even if he has an injury, he still manages a relieved smile in the limited lighting you can see him with, “There you are. I thought you’d never wake up.”

“Is everyone okay?” You ask, voice hoarse and groggy. You took quite the beating before you passed out, you can only guess what kind of injuries you must have with the headache resting at the top of your neck. Surely, others had it worse than you did. You push yourself to sit up with help from Namjoon. You look around, seeing outlines of others, but not seeing who is who,  “Lina! Bomi! Hoseok!”

“We’re okay!” Hoseok calls out from another side of the car. Namjoon shines his light to him to give you a better look, placing Hoseok in the middle of the train using a slightly broken chair to lean his back against. The light shows off a bruise forming on his jaw, just slightly glistening in the light. He turns his head away from the shine, wincing as it hits his eyes. He seemed to be coherent enough, but he most likely has a concussion at best. His right hand rests on a pair of legs behind him, most likely Lina’s, “We’re just...getting used to our new surroundings.”

“I’m okay..” Bomi groans, peeking her head around the chair Hoseok leans against. She looked to have a few scrapes of her own. As soon as you’re able to pull yourself together, you’ll have to walk around and assess everyone’s injuries to make sure they’re okay. You have no clue how far the train fell, nor do you have any idea how long you’ve been out. If anyone’s injuries were fatal, you could be too late at this point.

“We should do that again!” You hear Jeongguk say from across the train.

“Are you serious?” Namjoon asks, pointing the flashlight in his direction over Hoseok’s. He - just like the others - had injuries of his own. His face looked to be fine, and he didn’t seem to have any bruising on the appendages visible to you. You’d have to really look him over when you find the will to stand.

However, Jeongguk didn’t seem to have any remorse for the statement he made. He looked more excited than anything, “Hell yeah!”

You feel someone stand, seeing Jin move with a slight limp into the light where Jeongguk is, “Someone give me a gun. I just wanna shoot him.”  

“Nobody is shooting anyone!” Lina yells.

Figuring now was the best time, you add in your own thoughts, “I want to know why they were shooting at us!”

“Yoongi, you didn’t tell her?” Taehyung asks, his body partially being uncovered by the flashlight still focused on the man-child wanting to roll down the hill again. He was standing, but he looked to be leaning against something as well. Most likely another person based on how he teeters in and out of the light.

“Sorry, should I have told her in between the gunshots or while we were taking cover from the explosion?!” Yoongi scoffs, his voice coming from the shadow holding Taehyung. The both of them were closest to the explosion with you, but they both probably had fast enough reflexes to grab something unlike you.

Did you know that guy?” You force yourself to stand, ignoring the pain in your back and chest as you stretch out.

“That’s not important right now.” Yoongi pushes from the darkness into the light so everyone can see him. He still has his bag on him, but it looks to be torn in a few spots, “We need to gather our stuff, make sure everyone can move, and get the hell out of here before they come to make sure we’re dead.”

“Dead?” Bomi asks.

Taehyung looks over to her, squinting to see her in the darkness, “Why else would they be shooting at us?”

“Facism?!” You answer.

Yoongi glares in your direction and adjusts the bag on his back, “Let’s not waste anymore time and get moving.”

Not wanting to anger the man who saved your life, you follow his lead. You - as well as Bomi - take some time to look over everyone before you all move out, cleaning up any scrapes or cuts and securing any hurting limbs. Debris from the wreck was collected and placed into bags, stored away for later if needed. Some of it came in handy for creating a makeshift brace for Jin - lucky for him. Any head injuries couldn’t be helped, but at least no one had any broken bones. For now, it would be enough to start.

Under the cover of night, Yoongi leads your group back up the hill with Taehyung taking the back. Over the broken trees and melted snow - stopping occasionally so everyone stays with the group - you all make your way back up the hill and cross the train tracks where you first went over the side. The debris from your cabins lay scattered across the winter snow and metal tracks, the beverage car you’d been in earlier that night sits just around the edge of the turn.

“They probably uncoupled the car before setting off the explosion,” Taehyung explains, watching Jeongguk and Hoseok follow Yoongi to collect anything they could salvage for the rest of your trip. He turns to you, a gun you didn’t know he had casually hanging at his side. He smirks in the low glow of the moonlight, “They probably weren’t expecting me to throw it back.”

You take a moment to think before answering him. You’d been through a lot in one night, and the events from the past 2 weeks were still weighing on you. However, at this moment in time, you felt more numb than anything. You sigh, “I don’t think anyone would expect you to grab a live explosive with your bare hands and throw it.”

*

*

*

Trekking through cold winter snow was not a part of the plan. It was never on the agenda, and no one had packed for this weather. It wasn’t necessarily harsh or overbearing, but the climate was still killing your stamina. It didn’t help that most of you were starting to feel the effects of your injuries after hours of walking. It would seem you weren’t the only one feeling the same way.

Bomi stops walking, causing those behind her to stop as well, “We shouldn’t put so much stress on our bodies after an accident like that. We should rest for a bit.”

Yoongi continues walking without sparing a glance behind him, “Well, unless you want to die from a bullet wound, we’ll keep going.”

“Do we really know that they’re going to come back for us?” Hoseok asks, watching Yoongi’s back as he continues to walk ahead of you.

“My body isn’t really bulletproof, so I don’t want to take any chances.” Seokjin says. He was probably hurt the most besides you and Namjoon. If anyone needed to take a break it was Seokjin, but you can’t really blame him for not wanting to take a chance.

On the other hand, you knew better than anyone what hidden injuries could do if not treated properly or as soon as possible, “We won’t know the extent of everyone’s injuries if we don’t take a break and rest soon.”

Yoongi stops walking to turn and look at everyone, “We’ll rest as soon as we get far enough away from the train cars.”

“Shouldn’t we have followed the tracks? Or maybe a stream or something?” Namjoon asks.

Jeongguk scoffs, “Dude, following the tracks is the sure fire way to get us caught if someone is following us.”

“It’s best if we head Northeast away from the tracks. That’ll take us towards the outer CHN Sanctions and we can find a smaller train back to KOR Sanction 34.” Taehyung explains.

“We’ll still have to change to a larger train to get into the city.” Lina says.

Yoongi sighs and turns back around to continue walking, “We’ll deal with that when we get there.”

So, the journey continues with everyone trudging along. Even as the sun begins to rise into the sky and stomachs begin to ache, Yoongi refuses to stop. If you weren’t scared by the notion of someone chasing you down with a gun, you probably would’ve stopped a while ago to ice your bruised midsection. But your survival skills were not as strong as your medical abilities, and if you wanted to make it to a safe, warmer space, then you’d have to continue following behind Yoongi to get to where you need to go. Thankfully, you didn’t have to go much further.

Yoongi stops at the top of the hill you all climb, having taken the lead. He turns to everyone and nods, “We can rest here.”

As you finish climbing the hill covered in a thin coat of snow, you all come to the entrance of a cave covered in shards of ice and frozen snow. The large, frozen crystals hang off the cave’s mouth like jewels on a wealthy woman’s neck. Just below the longest shard, loose powder can be seen dusting the rock floor inside and disappearing into the darkness of the cavern.  

“Are you sure?” Hoseok asks.

“We’re up high enough and far enough from a real trail that anyone walking won’t be able to smell clearly anymore.” He explains, “We can make a small camp here, rest until tomorrow morning, and continue on foot to the next town.”

“You’re very knowledgeable in things like this...” Namjoon points out, looking Yoongi up and down, “You knew that guy was a hitman that was supposedly locked up, and you’ve been carrying a gun this whole time.”

There were only so many jobs that would give someone access to that kind of information and resources. After spending the past few hours really getting to see him in action, there was no doubt what Yoongi’s job really was.

Hoseok meets Yoongi’s eyes, “You’re a hit man too.”

He only shrugs in return, “I’d like to think of myself as a lethal bounty hunter.”

“Your whole personality is really starting to come together.” Bomi mumbles.

You all enter the cave, ducking under the large crystals and stepping into a narrow cavern. Yoongi turns on his flashlight, showing off a tunnel leading to another opening, “We should head further into the cave so we don’t attract any large animals.”

You all follow Yoongi further into the cavern, two more flashlights roaring to life from Namjoon and Jeongguk. When you reach the next opening, you’re shocked to see the much larger cavern that opens for you, illuminated in a soft blue from spare light that hits the ice lining the cave’s walls. At the far end of the shaft, are two more dark tunnels leading further into the cave.

“I think we’ll be safe in here.”

Namjoon removes his bag and hands it over to Jin, “We should see about finding dry wood for a fire or collecting snow for drinking water.”

“I’ll come help.” Taehyung says. He pulls off his own bag and turns to you, “Can you take this for me?”

“Sure.” You take his bag, struggling at first to keep it from falling from it’s unexpected weight. You had an idea as to what Taehyung had stored in his bag, and it wasn’t spare clothes or toiletries. It makes you wonder why he hasn’t asked for a break sooner, though there is another part of you that probably doesn’t want to know or imagine why in the first place.

It didn’t take long for them to come back with a pile of sticks and snow for the group. After they returned it was a lot easier for everyone to settle down after a long morning of walking. Taehyung made sure to bring as much snow as he could carry for you and Bomi to tend to the small injuries from the crash, and Yoongi helped Namjoon get a fire started as soon as he set the wood he found on the cavern floor. They were taking this situation in fairly well considering the circumstances, and that alone scared you. Granted, Seokjin was also calm and Lina and Hobi were huddled together talking among themselves, but all three were very level-headed and knew this wasn’t the time to start freaking out.

Next to you, Bomi sits with her back flat against the floor staring off into the space above her. You can’t help but wonder what’s going through her mind at a time like this after losing so much already.

“Hey, you okay?” You ask, placing a gentle hand on her arm.

Her body jerks at the contact, dark brown eyes looking to your hand and then to you, “Huh-?” She tilts her head in confusion and then a look of understanding comes to her face. She gives you a smile, “Oh! Yeah, I’m fine!” She turns back to the ceiling of the cave and you watch as her smile becomes forced, “I just need some rest is all.”

It doesn’t take a lot to tell that she’s not okay, but you know better than to pry at a moment like this. Instead, you muster your own sincere smile, “Okay, just let me know if you need anything. We have a lot of walking to do.”

Maybe if she hadn’t lost her husband, if you hadn’t been targeted, if you hadn’t been in a train accident, if you hadn’t been walking all day in the cold you would have asked if she was okay. But you didn’t want to bombard her and add another stress on top of her pre-existing ones.

Bomi smiles in your direction again, this time more sincere, “Of course. You get some rest too.” You nod, taking one last look over the room of everyone else who seems to be doing the same before settling yourself on the cave floor with your head on your bag and closing your eyes.

“Hey!” Bomi calls. You open your eyes to see her staring back, “Thanks for looking out for me.”

“Anytime.”

You can’t help but let your mind wander to yesterday. You had been so sure of this trip yesterday morning, so sure that this would be the best decision you’ve made in hundreds of years. But with the events of last night and the high tension of trying to survive in an area where winter was at its peak, it’s hard to truly let your mind rid itself of the fears ahead of you.

*

*

*

"This next one will be easy." A man whispers, his words so clear it feels as though he’s right next to you.

"And if not?" A more delicate voice asks.

"More fun." The first voice growls, his tone making him sound so pleased with himself you can almost see the invisible grin.

They’re both so close, yet you know they’re distant. The anxiety within you pulses as you recognize both owners from that very first night.

You bolt up, having willed yourself awake in hopes that what you’ve heard is a nightmare. However, as you look around the fire it’s easy to see that the other’s have heard their whispers as well.

A dark chuckle resonates in your ears, "Its heart beats fast now!"

"It knows..." The more feminine of the two voices taunts, "Your time has come."

Everyone looks to each other, none of them coming to the realization of what’s happening around them. It’s hard to tell if the voices are far or close now that they echo off the cave walls. However, chills run down your spine as the gruff voice of the male resonates off the walls again, much closer than anyone had realized, "Ready or not!"

“Go.” Yoongi demands, jumping from his spot on the floor, “Everybody, go now!”

Chaos ensues as everyone grabs their things, shoving whatever they may have taken out back into their bags. The dim embers of your fire are easily forgotten as Jeongguk and Namjoon lead the way to venture further into the cave away from the taunting voices that follow you. Yoongi takes up the rear to cover the path behind you.

"We have your name." The ghostly woman calls, a hint of pleasure laced in her voice as you all move through the unknown caverns. There’s another area, another open source of light if you can just move faster.

"And your scent!" The man yells.

Their voices never seem to waver, never falter. It’s impossible for them to be right behind you, but you can’t help but feel as if they’re right on your heels. The light is so close, but there’s something keeping you back. Something that only has you moving slower.

Someone that can’t move any faster.

You stop for just a moment to turn around, seeing Bomi stumble over herself as Yoongi tries to hold her up, “Bomi! Let’s go!”

She stops when she reaches you, her hands forming a loose grip on your arms, “(Y/n)...I can’t…”

“We have to move!” You remind her. You can hear how weak she is, you can feel it in her grip as she tries to hold onto you. Even so, now is not the time for her to stop moving.

Yoongi takes Bomi by the arm and firmly pushes your shoulder, “Stop standing around and get moving!”

“She’s hurt, we have to help her.” You argue, trying your best to keep your friend up on her feet.

Yoongi groans in frustration, “Open your eyes! They’re here for her!”

“Shouldn’t we try and stop them?!” You ask. You know he’s right. Every part of you knows he’s right but it doesn’t change the part of you that knows you can’t leave her.

“We don’t know how to kill them!” He tries to remove Bomi’s hand from your arm, but you grab her wrist to keep her close, “Shoot them!”

“I’m working with the dumbest people alive.” He mutters under his breath.

Within a moment, you’re taken by surprise. Bomi’s hands are ripped off of you as another hand takes the back of your shirt and pushes you forward again, rougher than the first time Yoongi had done so. You try to fight against him, but the lean man is much stronger than he looks.

“Hey! NO!” You yell, pushing back against him to go back. His grip only tightens on your clothing as his pace picks up. You have no choice but to match his pace even as you try to wiggle free, “Let me go! We have to help her! BOMI!”

“You’ll die too if you don’t move your feet!” Yoongi warns.

Tears stream down your face as you move forward, hearing the dark voice of the man again, “The scent’s grown stronger Lamb, but this one’s become yours.”

“Oh, how sweet it is to end the suffering life brings.” His partner responds, sounding almost satisfied with what they were implying.

Yoongi doesn’t let you go until you’ve hit the next part of the cavern that’s gifted with light, pushing you in front of him towards the rest of the group.

“There. You can thank me later.” He says, voice void of any emotion.

“I can thank you later?!” You ask in utter disbelief. You could understand his strange behavior on the train to save everyone, his reasoning for wanting to keep moving in the mountain was justified, but leaving Bomi behind didn’t have to be an option! “You let them kill her!”

He shrugs his shoulders, “She was dying anyways!”

“We could’ve saved her!” You argue. He saved your life at the cost of Bomi’s! If he had picked her up instead of you then you could’ve saved her! He let her go!

“Oh, really?! Enlighten me! How could we have saved her?” He asks, eyes turned into slits as he glares at you. It wasn’t hard to tell he didn’t take you seriously, that Death held nothing against him like it did you. He didn’t care. “Stop acting like a fucking child and open your eyes to what’s going on around you! I’ve saved your life twice and I won’t be doing it again!”

Your rage and grief morph into one, clouding your judgement in your current situation. You can’t help but run at him, resolving to take your guilt out on him even if deep down you know he was in the right to pull you away. You don’t care if you look like a total lunatic as you scream and throw your hands at him, fists clenched and ready to make contact with the stubborn man who claims to hunt others. Even when he grabs your wrists to hold you away and fight against your kicks powered by your own sadness, you don’t stop your outburst until someone grabs your waist from behind.

“(Y/n)! Stop it!” Hoseok scolds, pulling your smaller frame away from Yoongi who doesn’t even look like he broke a sweat during the ordeal. He just casts his eyes away from yours and walks away as you continue to thrash in the arms of your friend. “(Y/n), this won’t bring her back! You need to knock it off and get it together!”

Your thrashing ceases as it all comes crashing down around you. You’d learned about the 5 stages of grief when it came to relationships, but never before did you think they could wash over you as fast as they did. Perhaps part of it was from Hansol’s death hitting you as well, but the fact that you were right there with Bomi and you let her go seemed to be what hurt you the most.

“I asked her to be here,” You fall lax in Hoseok’s arms and let it all flow out of you, “This is my fault…”

“This isn’t your fault…” You feel the man sigh from behind you and pull you closer, his chin resting on your shoulder, “Bomi volunteered with you because she wanted to. If she didn’t want to come, then she wouldn’t have signed up. She knew this could be dangerous.”

“We didn’t even make it to our first stop, Hobi!” You cry, hands flying to cover your face as more tears fall from your eyes.

Another hand places itself on your shoulder, Lina making herself known by gently stroking a small area with her thumb, “I know this isn’t easy, but we have to focus on doing what we can for everyone.”

You know she’s right. You know that in this situation you have no choice but to move on as if nothing happened, even if that choice makes you sick to your stomach. It feels so wrong to just walk away, to from the path you had come from and left her behind. But if you don’t turn away, then what more will you be risking? What will you risk when you finally face everyone else?

Against your own emotions, you turn around. You see the somber expressions of both Hoseok and Lina in the dim lighting the hole in the cave’s ceiling provides you, the small trails still damp on Lina’s cheeks glistening like the tears that refuse to fall from her husband’s. Bomi wasn’t just your friend. She was their friend too. And though you felt all the guilt in the world for dragging her along and allowing Yoongi to pull you away, they felt the same guilt that you did for not being able to help her.

Hoseok - the radiant ball of sunshine that he is - pulls the both of you into a firm hug, “We’ll honor her as soon as we get home and solve everything. She’s gone, but we won’t forget her.”

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this cave doesn’t have another opening.” Jeongguk says. The three of you pull away from each other to look at him, noticing the distress written across his face.

The new area surrounding you is mainly lit where you stand and the area surrounding a small pool of water in the center of the room. Two flashlights still glow behind Jeongguk on the other side of the pool, probably continuing the search for any other way out. Part of you is tempted to find out if the pool goes anywhere, but you know you’ll probably die of hypothermia before you can find out.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…” Seokjin - who stands closest to the pool of water - sighs, “Where are we supposed to go? What if they don’t go away?!”

“Well, we can’t stay here to find out. We’re sitting ducks!” Hoseok reminds everyone.

“Do you feel it, Lamb?” The man’s voice asks, sending shivers down your spine.

“Do I feel the fear?” His partner asks in return. It’s strange how in so little time you’ve become used to their mannerisms. It’s so easy to tell how pleased they are to be taunting you. “I do. Doesn’t it just make your entire being flutter?”

“They’re afraid.” His voice growls in return.

Lina grabs both your and Hoseok’s hands and tugs them towards the other side of the pool where the other’s have unconsciously began to congregate, “We can’t stay here!”

“Where are we supposed to go?” Taehyung asks, the weapon he once held loosely at his side now held firm in front of him.

The soft voice of the woman draws near, “Every elongated step I take fills me with their anticipation for what’s to come.”

“They’re not suffering enough, Lamb.” Her friend complains.

“But Wolf, this suffering is my kind of fun.” Her reply only confirms your suspicion of their enjoyment in your pain. Her deranged excitement reminds you of a child.

“Lina…” Hoseok pulls his wife closer to him, tucking her into his side as if that would shield her from whatever stalks closer to you.

She - in response - is more determined to move, “We can’t back down now, Hobi. Can they really catch all of us?” She asks, confident on the balls of her feet, yet still so unsure of any plan to escape.

“Aren’t they spirits or something?” Taehyung asks.

Yoongi nods, his own weapon having made an appearance in his hands, “That’s probably something they can do.”

Jeongguk interlocks his fingers together and pushes them in front of himself to crack them, pulling them back into fists. With a quick nod of his head from side to side, he grins, “Well, I’m sure I can still show them the old razzle-dazzle.”

“Why don’t you ask them?” Jin asks.

The hair on the back of your neck stands tall, goosebumps popping to the top of your skin. In the short amount of time you spent planning and debating your escape, the beings hot on your trail had made their entrance. Stood in the entryway to the cavern, still tucked away in the shadows you see them.