The ribbons of sunlight wrapped around the rusty blade of an axe as it sliced through the air and slammed into a log. The log split apart and the end of the axe sliced into the dirt beneath it. Pieces of emerald grass and splotches of dirt stained the steel blade as it was lifted out of the ground and tangled in the silky wind.

Jungkook reached forward to pluck the grass off the axe before lifting the hem of his shirt to wipe away the dirt from the blade, revealing the beads of sweat creating glistening paths along the valley of his sculpted abs. The shirt slid out of his fingers and glued itself to his stomach, while Jungkook raised the axe above his head once more and swung it down towards the middle of the chopped tree. The blade cut through the log, only for the fallen tree to rebel by tightening around the blade to prevent it from slicing even further into the middle.

Jungkook readjusted his grip on the handle and wiped away the sweat on his brow with his shoulder. Just as he tightened his grip and lured out his muscles by inching the axe back out, a loud gunshot laid over the field like a layer of freshly fallen snow. Jungkook froze and snapped his head up, his bambi eyes watched the prison carefully and heart pumped with the images of what could've caused the gun to go off. He tried to suppress the urge to drop the axe and run to the prison, instead, he gritted his teeth and averted his eyes - hoping that the others could handle it on their own.

"Go."

The uttered word poured a bucket of ice over Jungkook's head and made him jerk his attention onto Rick. He looked at the leader with a veil of confusion glossing over his eyes before forcing himself to shake his head and gesture towards the fallen fence behind them, "The fence." Jungkook mumbled weakly with no real worry about the fence shadowing his words, "The fence is more important." He finally managed to gather a handful of firmness in his words in order to make it seem as though his heart wasn't being pulled towards the prison and his hands didn't tremble with the desire to make sure no one got injured.

"Jungkook." Rick warned lowly, stepping closer to him and laying his fingers over Jungkook's clammy ones. Rick's grip was firm and steady, the complete opposite of Jungkook's adrenaline-soaked one.

Jungkook sucked in his cheeks and glanced at Maggie over Rick's shoulder, immediately taking a notice of the glaze of concern dusting over her features. The bunny boy wanted to protest with a small glance at the fence that was about to collapse. It was important for them to kill the walkers pounding against the fence and make sure that it was fixed before it completely fell and released the walkers into the yard. That would stack another unnecessary problem on top of the pile of existing ones.

The vines of protest wrapped around Jungkook's tongue were sliced apart by another gunshot, his head jerked towards the prison once more and grip on the axe slackened, "Go, we'll be fine." Rick nudged Jungkook in the direction of the prison and took the axe out of his hands.

"I'm sorry." Jungkook breathed, receiving a small smile from Maggie and a nod from Rick, who watched him with eyes of steel. Jungkook eyed them for a lingering second longer before twisting away and jumping into a sprint towards the prison.

His thighs ached and arms swung as he ran, the sweat on his skin soaked through his black shirt and red hair flopped against his forehead. Jungkook ignored the small ache in his lungs with the violent breaths he hissed out, merely slammed through the metal gates of the prison and brushed past the wide-eyed prisoners. He could hear some of them calling out greetings or questions about where he was going, but he ignored them - mind too submerged in the ocean of fear and skin clad with the paintings of scenarios that could've happened inside the forbidden block.

The metal door to the cell block was swung open until it slammed into the wall and left behind a dent, followed by Jungkook running into the hallway leading towards the metal door separating him from the block. His lungs were filled with dust coating the walls and his ears drowned with the horrified screeches of pain that echoed through the hallway. The door behind him clicked shut, extinguishing the comforting light of the day and making Jungkook march towards the metal door at the end end of the hallway with determination stepping on his heel.

Another gunshot slammed its fists against Jungkook's eardrums and left behind a shiver of panic along his spine. Jungkook jumped over the fallen bookshelf and stumbled over the crumbled pages of books that littered the hall - narrowed gaze too busy drinking in the sight of Mike's Walker self rising to its feet and attacking a wailing woman. Mike's teeth sunk into her throat and cut off her pleads for help, the life in her eyes began to dim, and voice turned into gurgled breaths as her throat was ripped open and eaten by the Walker.

The sight he witnessed through the door made Jungkook pick up his pace and rush quicker toward it. He slammed against the metal surface and tried to wiggle the handle, only for the door to remain shut, "Hey!" Jungkook screamed, releasing the handle to look up and pound his fists against the door, "Fuck- let me in!" Jungkook cursed when he saw Mike rise to his feet once more and stumble towards another wide-eyed prison.

The prisoners were tangled in the web of fear as they watched the dead bodies of their friends rise from the land of the dead and push more people into death's clutches. They desperately tried to gather themselves in order to scramble into the empty cells and slam the doors shut behind them so that the walkers wouldn't get to them. Still, some were too slow and got captured by the bloodthirsty creature, creating even more screams of agony and splatters of ruby red against the grey concrete walls.

Jungkook's bambi eyes dragged over the faces of the dead prisoners to see if they were someone he knew. He did know them, he had seen them, had briefly talked to them, and shared tamed smiles with them, some even joked with him and shared stories of their lives before the apocalypse.

Like the woman Mike was currently eating, Margo, had previously worked at a daycare centre and lived with two elderly cats, who had bladder problems and always left behind little gifts for her to find when she got home from work. At that moment, as Jungook was watching her soul be greedily sucked out of her body, he wished that he hadn't chosen to hear their stories, he wished he hadn't decided to get to know them and learn their names because that way it would've been easier for him to focus on his main goal.

Find Taehyung and Hershel.

So, Jungkook pretended like he didn't know their names or smiles, pretended that he didn't know them at all and that he was gazing back at faceless strangers he stumbled upon on the road. He did all that just to take a step back and reach down for his gun, he pulled out the weapon and raised it towards the door, but what Jungkook wasn't able to do, was pull the trigger while gazing into the terrified eyes of Lizzie as the girl stumbled past the door on her way to an open cell.

The gun was dropped to Jungkook's side, followed by the boy flinching away from the slab of steel and turning to peer into the room where he was talking with Taehyung. The delicate paintbrush of an idea swept along the crevices of his mind and created the image of Jungkook shooting through the glass wall to get inside the block without the bullet harming anyone. Jungkook was quick to comply with his mind's idea on how to get inside by moving his legs toward the door until he entered it and stood facing the glass wall, that once separated Jungkook and Taehyung.

Stay behind that glass, Jeon.

The whisper of words dangled like crystal earrings from Jungkook's earlobes and brushed along his neck. His lip curled at the memory of the words and gun lifted to point at the glass he was supposed to stay behind, "And you promised to hold on for me." Jungkook grumbled through gritted teeth and pressed his finger against the trigger, causing a bullet to fly out of the gun and slice through the glass like butter. The glass barrier shattered and sprinkled over the room - resembling tiny droplets of rain on a cloudy summer day.

"But you're not here." Jungkook breathed out - already realising that something was wrong since he hadn't seen Taehyung killing the walkers or at least leading the prisoners to safety.

A flutter of his lashes wiped away the worries tainting his heart as Jungkook climbed over the half-wall until his feet were planted on the ground and glass crunched under the weight of his boots. Jungkook's grip on the gun was tight as he marched over to the metal door and ripped it open, revealing the sight of the walkers with tears of blood on their cheeks. They were tearing through the dead corpses of the sick people, while the surviving people watched from their closed cells with the sobs of grief looming in the back of their throats.

Jungkook stomped over to the first Walker, causing it to look up with a piece of flesh dangling out of its bloody mouth. The low growl erupting from the darkest depths of the walker's chest, was shattered by a gunshot from Jungkook's gun. Its body fell to the ground with a soft thud, attracting the attention of the few other walkers scattered across the room. Jungkook raised his gun once more and aimed it at the walkers coming at him.

One of them stumbled up to its feet with a hand already stretched towards Jungkook, only for a bullet to plunge into its forehead and body to slump against the person it had just been eating. The gun grasped between Jungkook's fingers was twisted in the direction of another Walker, who was shoving its hands through the bars of a cell to try and get the elder man behind the door. Jungkook shot the Walker in the temple, causing its snarls to die out and give room to the whimpers coming from below Jungkook's feet.

Chocolaty eyes landed on the blonde woman laying on the ground, Margo, Jungkook mumbled in his head as he gulped down the sight of her teary eyes and the missing chunk of flesh in her lower throat. Her limbs trembled and skin paled as the blood leaked out of the wound, she gazed up at Jungkook with pleading eyes and trembling lips - trying to mutter something through her destroyed vocal cords.

"I'm sorry." Jungkook breathed softly, looming over Margo with his gun pointed at her forehead. The woman sniffled and allowed her eyes to fall shut before Jungkook pressed the trigger and pulled her out of the arms of pain with a single bullet between her brows.

Jungkook began to lower the gun with a weak exhale of breath, only for two arms to grab him from behind and bloody teeth to snap a centimetre away from his ear. Jungkook jerked away with a shout of alarm, stumbling into the cell behind him with a hiss of pain. The gun slipped from his fingers and slammed into the ground with a thud, his palms pressed against the walker's shoulders to keep him away. The bars behind Jungkook dug into his back and nostrils burned at the stench of rotting flesh as he struggled to keep the razor teeth from sinking into his skin and signing his contract with death.

"Here!"

Jungkook flinched when a voice called out, followed by a small hand offering a knife between the bars he was pressed against. Jungkook ground his teeth together and released a frustrated groan as he released his hold on the walker's shoulders. The Walker fell forward- teeth millimetres away from Jungkook's cheek, only to be stopped by Jungkook's hand wrapping around its throat and the other hand reaching down to pluck the knife out of the small hand before slamming the blade into the walker's skull.

Jungkook immediately pushed the dead body off of himself and straightened out, turning around to peer down at the small blonde girl who had given him the knife. Jungkook remembered her, her name was Lizzie and she was one of the kids Carol was secretly teaching self defence to. Jungkook's eyes fell down on the knife Lizzie had given to him and lips lifted into a small grin as he noticed the knife he had previously seen on Carol.

"Thanks." Jungkook offered Lizzie a grateful nod before giving her the knife back - knowing that if Carol gave it to her, it should stay with her. His eyes briefly flickered towards another coughing child behind Lizzie as the blonde girl began to speak with a tint of panic to her voice.

"Your friend is up there." Lizzie pointed a finger at the second floor of the cells, "He doesn't look too well."

Jungkook didn't need to hear anything else - mind clicking Lizzie's words together with the lack of Taehyung's presence among this chaos - he jumped over the dead body of the Walker and ran towards the metal stairs leading to the second floor. His boots smacked against the steps, creating loud thuds that mixed with the sorrowful whimpers of those who had witnessed their friends being eaten by their other friends.

Once Jungoook reached the top, his head swung around in all directions until he saw Hershel laying on a net that stretched across the space over the railing. He was grunting and struggling against a Walker with an oxygen bag attached to its mouth and tears of blood filling the whites of its eyes until they were the scarlet red of a demon.

"Hershel!" Jungkook cried out as he saw the Walker snarl and snap its teeth above Hershel's nose before swinging its hand at the doctor to try and grab him by his collar. Hershel caught the walker by the wrist and tried to overpower it, yet the Walker was too driven by the scent of Hershel's flesh, which made the older man useless against the dead corpse.

A metal gun was lifted and pointed at the walker's skull, a stuttered breath brushed past Jungkook's lips and his finger hovered over the trigger. He tilted his head to the side and aimed at the Walker's temple with one eye shut, only for Hershel's eyes to fall on him and widen in alarm, "Don't! You could shoot the bag, it's for Taehyung!" Hershel's voice was blooming with the scarlet petals of desperation and horror once he realised where Jungkook's gun was aiming at.

The younger boy's blood drained from his face and was replaced by the same fear displayed on Hershel's features. The questions about Taehyung's whereabouts and condition were lodged in the back of his throat, trembling in fear at the answers he could receive in return. Jungkook felt like he was buried alive under the images of Taehyung's dead body laying in his lap and eyes, which once shimmered with mischief, were now glazed with emptiness.

He would've continued to fill his lungs with panic and inject his heart with the poison of fear, would've continued to paint the images of Taehyung's death along the seam of his mind, but the reminder of Taehyung's promise to him that he would keep going, made Jungkook lift his gun once more and aim at the walker's temple.

Jungkook didn't hesitate when pressing the trigger, knowing that if he did, the terror of shooting the oxygen bag and getting rid of the only chance Taehyung had at living would've prevented him from taking that final step needed to save the said man. Jungkook could only stand as a witness to the bullet slicing through the air and flying towards the Walker - barely brushing past the oxygen bag before plunging into the growling walker's head.

The life bled out of the walker's body along with the rising tension in the room. Hershel didn't comment on the risk Jungkook had just taken, instead, he quickly pulled the oxygen bag and tube out of the dead walker's mouth and began to crawl toward Jungkook.

"Where...where is he?" Jungkook managed to glide his tongue against the back of his teeth and form the weak question, while pushing his gun back into the holster with trembling fingers.

Hershel's head snapped up as he stumbled off the net and up to his feet, brushing past Jungkook to rush towards the opposite end of the platform, "There." Hershel breathed numbly, holding the oxygen bag tightly as he pointed at the limp body at the end of the hall.

Jungkook snapped his head in the direction of Taehyung and inhaled a sharp breath at the sight. Taehyung was laying on his side with his limbs laying limply across the ground, his fingers occasionally twitching and legs shifting as if they were tugged by the strings of agony. Ribbons of drool and blood leaked out of Taehyung's parted lips and rolled down his slim cheek. The mixture of liquids dripping out of Taehyung's mouth was like a warning of his impending death. But what truly lured the raw horror and panic out of Jungkook, was the sound of Taehyung desperately trying to inhale a shallow breath, despite the blood clogging his windpipes.

Jungkook didn't feel himself run past Hershel, nor did he feel the pain of his knees scraping against the ground as he fell next to Taehyung's jerking body. He could only focus on Taehyung's blank gaze staring into the empty space above Jungkook's head and the blue tint slowly seeping into his once-honeyed skin.

"He's turning blue!" Jungkook cried out with a small sob crawling into the back of his throat. It almost seemed to watch with a blooming scowl as Jungkook reached forward to cradle Taehyung's head, only to flinch when the man coughed and wheezed more desperately than before.

Hershel fell down next to Taehyung's head and quickly ripped open a packet of a new tube, he tugged off the old tube and replaced it with the new one before looking up at a teary Jungkook with narrowed eyes, "Jungkook." The said boy squeezed his eyes shut and inhaled a trembling breath before peeling them back open and looking at Hershel with barely suppressed emotion, "Roll him onto his back and hold down his hands." Hershel ordered.

Jungkook immediately grabbed Taehyung by his shoulder and rolled him until he was laying on his back.
The new position caused the blood to pool in the back of Taehyung's throat and completely prevent any form of oxygen from reaching his lungs. Taehyung began to struggle against Jungkook's hold by clenching his fists and tugging them out of Jungkook's hold. Yet the latter was relentless and merely tightened his grip on Taehyung's wrists, "Hershel!" Jungkook hissed as he watched Taehyung cough and choke on the blood, only to splatter tiny droplets of ruby red onto Jungkook's face.

The boy gasped and flinched away before swallowing the soft cry in the back of his throat as he heard Taehyung continue to choke and struggle against him. Holding him down to the point where Taehyung couldn't breathe, It felt like he was killing him. The droplets of blood rolled down Jungkook's cheeks and nose as he turned around to peer down at Taehyung with a fresh flood of crystalline tears glazing over his eyes.

"Shhh, you're gonna be alright." Hershel murmured softly with an edge of steel to his words. He grabbed Taehyung's chin and pried his mouth even further open, revealing his bloodstained teeth and the blood he was gurgling in the back of his throat. Hershel ignored the sight, while Jungkook sniffled and averted his eyes to look into Taehyung's hazy ones as if peering into them would make him forget that Taehyung's skin was turning bluer by the second as his life was being drained out of him.

Just like Jungkook tried not to think about the fact that if he had shot the oxygen bag a few seconds ago, Taehyung would've drowned in his own blood without knowing that he wasn't alone right now. He tried to not think about walking through the colourless halls of the prison without Taehyung's taunting remarks shadowing his steps, or his obsidian eyes following the tip of his pencil as he wrapped himself in a blanket of calmness and left whatever worries were plaguing his mind on the paper in the form of a sketch. Jungkook tried not to think about not being able to giggle with Taehyung as they talked shit about the other prisoners in Korean, nor did he want to think about not being able to lay side by side next to each other in the middle of the night, while enjoying the warmth of each other's bodies and the poems written by the silence between them.

Because Jungkook knew, that if he allowed himself to topple over the edge and slam into the realisation that he had to live without Taehyung, he would've walked towards another prisoner with an oxygen bag and ripped it out of their throat. It didn't matter if the entire prison community would hate him for it or if the group looked at him with disgust at his actions, because the only thing Jungkook cared about, was being able to hear Taehyung's soulful voice one last time.

Jungkook tried not to look away from Taehyung's pinched features as Hershel slid the tube down his throat, yet still tightened his hold on Taehyung when the struggle increased and Taehyung even weakly lifted his leg to kick at Jungkook. Inch by inch, the tube slid deeper and deeper into his throat until it was lodged inside. Hershel immediately grabbed the oxygen bag and squeezed it a few times before pausing, a few seconds dripped against the ground, like the blood leaking from the corner of Taehyung's mouth before Hershel squeezed the bag again.

With each puff of air that seeped into Taehyung's lungs, the shallow breaths and choked wheezes were replaced by the steady rise of his chest and soft exhales of breath. With another pump of the oxygen bag, the balloon of tension in Taehyung's muscles was popped, allowing his body to sink into the concrete ground beneath him and fingers to uncurl from the tight fists they had curled into.

A soft exhale of breath glided past Jungkook's lips as he saw Taehyung being nudged further and further away from the gates of heaven with each puff of oxygen exhaled into his lungs. He loosened the grip on Taehyung's wrists before sliding his fingers away completely and reaching forward to brush the pad of his thumb against the corner of Taehyung's parted lips.

His finger collected the traces of blood and drool, while knuckles wiped away the remains of Taehyung's close encounter with death from his cheek. Jungkook's bunny teeth sunk into his lip and a strand of black hair brushed against his nose as he leaned forward and watched Taehyung's relaxed face to make sure he was alright.

That's when Jungkook couldn't hold back the dam breaking and stopping the tears from flooding his eyes. He tried to swallow the whimper in the back of his throat by gulping down a mouthful of saliva before plopping down on his ass and reaching out a trembling hand to pick up Taehyung's limp one. He held it between his palms as if it was the most fragile thing in the world - thumb brushing against the knuckles and fingers tangling between Taehyung's longer ones. Jungkook's eyes fluttered shut as he brought the hand up to his mouth and pressed his lips against Taehyung's knuckles. His lips lingered and mind blanked, the veil of worries was ripped from his shoulders by the warmth of Taehyung's skin against his lips.

"Jungkook."

The mirage of a peaceful paradise and violin of serenity was cut off by the hesitant murmur of his name. The hand he was holding was lowered and placed back against Jungkook's thigh before he exhaled softly and peeled his eyes open to look at Hershel.

The elder man watched him with a sympathetic twist of his lips, while occasionally squeezing the oxygen bag to make sure Taehyung was still breathing, "He'll be fine unless you stop squeezing the bag. I'm sure you'll stay here since you're probably infected by now, it's no point leaving and infecting others." Hershel murmured cautiously with a plastic taste to his exhale of words.

Jungkook nodded in return and watched Hershel squeeze the bag. His mouth wrapped around the words as he began to count the seconds between each pump of the bag, "Six?" He questioned Hershel after his counting was sliced apart by the second pump.

"Indeed." The doctor nodded with a growing smile, releasing a blooming chuckle that made Jungkook sit up straighter and weakly smile back, despite the wobble of his lips and wet shimmer to his eyes, "But I can't guarantee that Taehyung won't be angry with you being here and risking your life for him."

Jungkook only scoffed at Hershel's words and rolled his eyes, raising his hand to wipe away the wetness from the corner of his left one, only for the blood on his cheeks to smear against his fingers, "Well, he can't say anything with that tube down his throat." Jungkook grumbled with no real bite as he wiped away the infected blood from his face.

Hershel watched the action with a wilting smile, trying to hide the solemn ghosts haunting his mind with a light tint to his words, "You will watch over him, yes?"

"Of course." Jungkook didn't hesitate while answering.

"Six seconds between each squeeze. If anything goes wrong, all you need to do is call for me and I'll be here." Hershel brushed away the worry-soaked thoughts that kept plaguing Jungkook's mind and nudging against his temple in the form of a headache. He knew he shouldn't be selfish by hogging up Hershel, especially when there were other people dying, so he swallowed down his protests and gave the man a firm nod.

Jungkook tightened his fingers around Taehyung's limp ones and for a split second expected a squeeze back, only for his expectations to get pushed off their golden cloud of hope, when the hand remained limp in his grasp, "R..right." Jungkook stuttered quietly.

Hershel hummed and offered Jungkook the oxygen bag, the bunny boy lowered Taehyung's hand against his thigh before reaching forward to grab the bag. He began to count the seconds in his mind and squeezed after he reached six, his eyes stayed glued to Taehyung's features as if he was waiting for his eyes to fly open and clash together with his own concerned ones. But when nothing of the sorts occurred, Jungkook slumped and displayed a timid smile on his lips as he squeezed the bag once more.

Hershel's eyes lingered on the pair for a moment longer before he pressed his palms against the ground and staggered to his feet. He gripped the door to the cell for balance and winced at the dull throb in his amputated leg, he shifted his weight onto the healthy limb and peeled his lips apart to utter his parting words to Jungkook.

"Just because you don't see me, doesn't mean I'm not behind you."

A trembling breath slid down the length of Jungkook's tongue and his eyes squeezed shut to hold his tears captive, he nodded his head without looking at Hershel, giving the man the answer he needed to leave the pair alone.

That's when Jungkook allowed a soft sob to tumble out of the back of his throat and stumble against the concrete walls of the cell. His eyes peeled open and silver tears immediately toppled over the edge of his eyes, they traced the chub of his cheeks and brushed against the corner of his mouth as they raced to reach the edge of his jaw. Jungkook's wobbling lips parted and tongue dipped out to taste the salty tears before he exhaled a soft whimper and peered down at Taehyung's relaxed features.

"Tae.." Jungkook breathed shakily, squeezing the bag in his hand as he leaned forward until he was hovering above Taehyung. His eyes drank in the dust of blue smeared underneath Taehyung's eyes and the small crease between his brows, he noticed the beauty marks sprinkled over his face and the yellow glow to his skin, "You look like shit." An empty chuckle bloomed between Jungkook's ribs and wrapped around his lungs, he leaned closer to Taehyung and placed his hand next to his head for balance.

The exhale of a laugh turned into another choked sob, Jungkook tried to suck in his breath to stop himself from crying, yet couldn't stop his crystalline tears from dripping off the tip of his nose and falling onto Taehyung's cheek, "Oh." Jungkook murmured and reached out a finger to caress the tear away. Instead of pulling his hand away once the tear was gone, Jungkook began to glide his fingers along Taehyung's cheekbone and created a path of love along his jaw. They shared the warmth of their skin and allowed the contact to soothe their aching souls, Jungkook traced Taehyung's cheekbone and allowed his hand to linger.

The chocolate of Jungkook's eyes was hidden behind his eyelids as they fluttered shut. He leaned down until his nose nudged against Taehyung's raven locks and breath puffed against his cheek, he inhaled a lungful of Taehyung's musky scent and murmured a sentence into his hair, "Don't force me to live without you, because I don't think I can." Jungkook admitted quietly, yet the only response from Taehyung was the wheeze from the oxygen bag as it filled Taehyung's empty lungs with the breath of life.