Chapter Text
Jin sighed, staring remorsefully at the last sip of water through the clear bottle in his hand. Everything had lasted for three weeks, which was a miracle in the first place, but the supplies had finally perished. He had no water and enough food for one more meal. With a weak huff, Jin scanned his empty apartment that was littered with old food containers and bottles. The trashcan was overflowing with rotten scraps, but Jin was too nervous to even think about taking it outside.
It was only around two months ago when everything went to utter shit. A promising artificial antibody was being developed to cure all sorts of deadly illnesses, but there was a leak and one of the workers got infected. The antibody reacted negatively and caused aggression to the point of cannibalism. People started to lose their minds and it spread like wildfire through the rest of the world, infecting men, women, and children without prejudice. It starts with a bite, or at least that was what Jin had heard from the TV when it still worked. The bite changes you to something unspeakable, left to rot in this hell on earth and unable to fully die.
“That’s it then.” Jin mumbled to himself as he stood up from the living chair he had bought because it matches the end tables he found online. Not like it matters now.
“I really can’t afford to stay here any longer.”
He walked into the bathroom to use the last bit of water left in the bucket to bathe himself. Jin had filled the bucket when he first heard of the virus spreading just in case the water company cut him off, which did happen the next day. The water was stale and cold from sitting for two weeks, but it did the job to wash away the smell of his body odor. It wasn’t necessary, especially considering the circumstances, but being clean helped Jin feel human. So he washed himself as best as he could.
After changing into some cleanish clothes, Jin grabbed his old school bag to pack some supplies. He stuffed some canned food, two empty water bottles, a pair of clothes, and a first aid kit into his bag. Securing the zipper, Jin walked back into his bedroom to grab the watch his father gave him from the nightstand.
“Rose gold was as close as I could get to pink.” His father told him last year on his birthday. But that was before he died; thankfully, not because of the infection. Jin didn’t know if he could have handled that happening.
For weapons, all Jin had was a pocket knife with his initials carved into the handle; a gift from his brother. He didn’t know if his brother was still alive, but he also didn’t know for sure if he was dead. That kind of blind hope helped him stay positive.
Jin stuffed the knife in his pocket before strapping the watch to his left wrist. Lifting the backpack on his shoulders, Jin took one last look at his apartment room before walking out the door forever.
“Okay Seokjin…” Jin whispered to himself, creeping slowly down the staircase. “Nice and quiet.”
As far as he knew the building had no other survivors, but he was sure that there was plenty of infected creatures hidden in dark corners. Just waiting for someone to find them.
Jin carefully made his way to the street, noticing that everything seemed deserted. Cars were cluttering the road with old bloodstains coating the concrete. Pushing down the sick feeling, Jin followed the road to find somewhere, anywhere, with food.
Thankfully, almost luckily, Jin didn’t have to fight any infected as he traveled out of his neighborhood. He was able to steer clear from any suspicious areas by sticking to the main roads. The infected that he did see were easily avoidable if he saw them ahead of time.
It felt like he walked for hours (a quick glance at his watch confirmed it) before coming across a large parking lot for a mall. Jin was tempted to bypass it, but he needed to find somewhere to stay for the night and the sun was already beginning to set. Surely the mall had plenty of places to hide away.
He wasn’t surprised to see that doors were barred shut; pinned down with wooden planks to keep out any looters when everything had shut down. It wasn’t very effective, considering that Jin was able to find a busted window to squeeze through. Jin avoided the glass, shimming into the small opening until he found himself inside one of the mall’s stores.
“Cool.” Jin huffed, brushing the dust and tiny glass shards off his sweatshirt. He took a second to look around in the dark store front. “Huh, that was easier than I thought.”
A wet gurgle came from the store entrance and Jin’s breath hitched at the sight of an infected swaying in place. It hadn’t seen him, but one wrong move could definitely alert it of Jin’s presence. His palms started to sweat and his heart hammered in his ribcage.
Jin only had to kill one of these in his lifetime, but only because he went over to his neighbor to see if they heard any news about the outbreak. They had turned the previous night and Jin found himself fighting to survive. After having to slice a screwdriver through his neighbor’s eye socket, Jin locked himself away in his apartment until he had no choice but to come out.
Crouched and quiet, Jin approached the infected with his pocketknife in hand. The infected looked like an older man, or at least that was his guess. It was hard to tell at this point. Large chunks of flesh were missing from the infected’s torso and forehead, the meat festering from rot. Jin held his breath, part from the smell and part from nerves, before lashing out and stabbing the thing in the back of the head.
It reeled back, a choked cry escaping its mouth before crumpling to the ground. Jin struggled to yank the knife free from the skull, hands shaking and breathing harshly. The body remained motionless on the ground as old blood oozed from the stab wound, staining the tile floor.
“Oh shit.” Jin cursed quietly, eyes wide before making his way into the rest of the mall.
The mall was haunting. Shadows caused Jin to jump and the creaks of the building made him feel jittery. He made a point of scanning the stores before passing by, just in case any infected were waiting for him. As he walked around on the first floor of the mall, a small shop that sold electronics caught his eye.
“Maybe they have a flashlight…” Jin hummed before inching inside. A beat of eerie silence passed while he strained to listen for any sign of movement. Once he deemed it clear, Jin made quick work of searching the store for anything useful. Most of the shelves were cleared out, but a few household wares were still resting on hooks. Like a miracle, he saw a single keychain flashlight resting against the wall. Jin smiled gleefully as he ripped it from the plastic casing.
“Seokjin, you genius.” He praised himself, fiddling with the small battery that was included. “Now I just have to-“
A hand smacked hard across his mouth, muffling Jin’s scream and causing the flashlight to clatter against the ground. Another arm snaked around his neck to cut off his airway, but before Jin could even understand what was happening, a fist slammed into his stomach. Jin groaned in pain, curling into himself.
Harsh laughter rang against his ear from the person who was covering his mouth, the foul odor of this person’s breath making him gag. Tears pricked in Jin eyes from pain and fear.
“What luck, we caught a little birdie.” A cracked voice mumbled against Jin’s ear.
The man who punched Jin’s stomach leered, “Pretty thing, isn’t he? We don’t find them this nice nowadays.”
Jin’s eyes widened when he felt rope being tied around his wrists. He struggled, muffled curses getting stuck behind the man’s filthy hand. The ropes were rough against his skin, but the adrenaline in his veins blocked out everything. All Jin knew was that he had to get away. He had to run.
‘Run. Run. RUN!’
Slinging his head back, Jin made contact with his captors’ nose, a sickening crunch followed by a yelp. Stumbling due to the searing headache and black dots floating across his vision, Jin tried desperately to move his legs towards the exit. But just as he made it to the door, a body slammed against him and knocked Jin to the floor with a grunt.
“You little bitch!” The guy growled as he slammed Jin’s head into the tiled floor.
Jin struggled and tried to ignore the pain searing through his temple, but he was pinned underneath a man much heavier and stronger than he was. Tears finally fell from his eyes, but Jin bit his lip to keep any sobs from coming out of his mouth.
‘I won’t give them the satisfaction.’ Jin thought bitterly.
The man that he headbutted staggered over, nose bleeding and a furious expression on his face. Stomping over to Jin, he motioned for the other guy to move out of the way. The other guy still held Jin down but gave the man space to lean over.
“You sure are pretty, Birdie.” The man huffed out a laugh as he straddled Jin’s hips.
“Pretty stupid.”
Panic rose in Jin’s chest when he felt hands tugging at his pants, trying to inch them down past his hips. Crying out and struggling, Jin felt his hot tears run down his face, but the man and the other guy held him down tightly. The burn of the rope on his wrists told him that he was still tied up.
Jin couldn’t move.
“I wasn’t going to do this, Birdie. Not here, at least.” The man murmured; the clinking of his belt being unfastened ringing in Jin’s ears. “But then you pulled this shit instead of going quietly. Lucky for you, this type of thing can turn me on.”
It was disgusting. Jin felt disgusting as the man’s hands finally pulled his pants down and stroked at his ass cheek. All he could think about was that he shouldn’t have left his apartment. Jin should have just stayed and waited for death to take him instead of venturing out on his own. He was about to get raped on his first day away from his apartment and there was nothing he could do about it.
“With hips and an ass like a woman’s you’ll be passed around by the hour. Before long, you’ll be worn in like an old glove from all the dick you’ll be taking.” The other guy barked out a laugh, pressing Jin’s head harder into the floor. “Do you like it in the ass, Birdie? Do you like it when you get split open on a fat cock? Fucked until you can’t walk?”
A sob finally escaped Jin’s mouth, tears falling from his eyes and muffled protests silenced against the hand across his lips.
The two men only laughed.
“Got a pretty mouth too. Perfect for gagging on-“
A loud crack echoed above him before the hand that was holding Jin’s head down disappeared. Jin quickly looked up in time to see the other guy’s body falling to the floor. Headless.
“Who the fu-“
Wetness splattered across Jin’s back before the weight fell away, no longer pinning him down. Jin scrambled to get away, fumbling to pull his pants back up as he frantically looked around. The man had an axe embedded in his head, his eyes wide and frozen forever with surprise. Bile rose in Jin’s throat when he noticed that the man’s dick was out, still erect and ready.
That thing had almost been pushed inside of him.
“Are you ok?”
Jin’s head snapped up to the unfamiliar voice and he saw another man standing over the dead bodies. He looked young, with his slanted brown eyes searching Jin’s with worry. Blood was splattered across the front of his clothing, coating the oversize olive-green t-shirt and loose blue jeans he wore. Jin swallowed nervously, shaking like a leaf and not quite understanding or trusting the situation.
“Who are you?” Jin asked instead of answering, and he cursed internally when his voice came out soft and shaken.
“You can call me RM.” The young man gave Jin a small smile, walking over and pulling the axe out of the man’s head with a wet sound. Jin found himself getting a sick feeling of relief when the dead body of his attacker flopped to the ground. RM wiped the blood off his axe on his pants leg before slotting it back on a belt holster around his waist.
“…Stay back.” Jin replied hesitantly, standing up on wobbly legs and rebuttoning his pants.
“Ok. That’s fine, I’ll keep some distance” RM held up his hands and politely looked away as Jin composed himself, looking at the bodies on the floor instead. “I am glad I found you in time. These guys have been looking for stragglers to traffic all week. They caught two women yesterday in the parking lot and one little boy at the food court. It…wasn’t good.”
“Traffic?” Jin paled, voice cracking. “Like, sex trafficking?”
RM nodded with a grimace, “Yeah. It’s a big group of people who come to the mall once a week. They mostly look for women and children, but if a guy is alone or if he looks good… they go for it. I think these guys were the last of them left to leave.”
“Oh.”
“I’m sorry this happened to you.”
Jin shook his head, glaring down at the bloody bodies. “Don’t be. Because of you, nothing actually happened.”
RM smiled back and Jin eyes darted down, noticing two little indents at the corner of his mouth.
‘Huh, dimples.’
“I was happy to help. But-“ RM gestured to the exit of the store with his thumb. “-we shouldn’t stay here. I can escort you to where you need to go, but we have to keep moving.”
Jin narrowed his eyes uncertainly, “I don’t know if I should trust you.”
“That’s-“ RM sighed, scratching the back of his neck, “That’s fair. Look, I’m not like these assholes. I would never do anything without full consent. All I want is to make sure you get out of here in one piece.”
A long silence passed as Jin sized him up. RM was not a small man, and he was even taller than Jin was, but there was something about him. He didn’t give off a bad vibe, or look like he would try to kill or ravage Jin on the spot. But anxiety pulled at Jin’s chest.
“…Fine. Help me. But if you try anything funny, I’ll ram this knife so far up your ass, you’ll be spitting out metal!”
RM blinked before letting out a quick laugh. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand but RM’s shoulders were shaking silently. Jin couldn’t help but feel made fun of, which made his ears burn pink.
“H-Hey!” Jin squawked, pulling his knife out for emphasis, “I’m serious! You better watch yourself and mind your hands around me!”
Removing his hand, RM flashed Jin a bright grin framed by deep setting dimples. Jin felt himself swallow nervously as a traitorous thought passed his mind. ‘Oh. He’s kind of cute…’
Jin quickly shot that thought down.
RM seemed not to notice Jin falter and quickly apologized for laughing. “Sorry, I shouldn’t laugh but that was quite the visual. I don’t mean you any harm, but if it makes you feel better, I can lead and I’ll give you my back. Is that ok?”
The idea was tempting. Jin could easily stab RM in the back, quite literally, if he stepped out of line. But even with the situation in his favor, Jin had a hard time picturing himself hurting the other man, especially after the guy saved him. RM looked kind and nice, and he even went out of his way to make Jin feel more comfortable.
Could he really trust RM? Jin wasn’t sure.
“I suppose.” Jin huffed, but waved his knife towards the other man. “As long as you aren’t a sex trafficker or an asshole we should get along fine.
“Good to know.” RM hummed, the grin still on his face. “By the way, I didn’t catch your name.”
“…Seokjin.”
“Nice to meet you, Seokjin. Not to call the shots, but we really should get moving. It’s not safe.”
Jin nodded hesitantly and followed Namjoon out, picking up his little keychain flashlight as they left.