-No church in the wild-
Jay-Z, Kanye West, Frank Ocean
01:43 ━━━━●───── 03:50
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Carol wasn't the one Daryl had brought with him, neither had it been Beth. Rather a man unknown to both Jungkook and Michonne had stepped out from behind Daryl and had introduced himself as Noah. He was around Beth's age and the shimmer of innocence in his eye represented his inexperience in this world. This theory was confirmed when Noah started telling them his story after they brought him inside and started bandaging his sprained ankle.

Noah had went on a supply run with his father when police officers from the Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta found them and took them. Noah wasn't sure how the entire thing went down but said that his father hadn't survived. After that, the police officers in charge of the hospital revealed that the medicine they had used on Noah to save him, needed to be paid for in labour. And while the police force guarding the hospital didn't outright state that he was a captive, they didn't allow him to leave until the debt was paid.

It was clear to everyone in the church that the system was set up in a way that ensured that Noah would never pay his debt. All the food he ate, the clothing they gave him and the protection the officers provided all needed to be paid for, hence Noah's debt kept accumulating. There wasn't even a proper way to know how much Noah had paid off with his labour and how they even counted it, Jungkook just knew it was a load of bullshit to keep them there.

The worst part is that Beth had also been captured by them and was now being held captive in the hospital. Noah revealed that the two of them had developed a plan to escape but as they were doing so, Beth had been caught and taken back at the last moment. Noah hadn't left the city after that and had been roaming around, trying to avoid the patrolling officers as he tried to devise a plan to rescue Beth. That's until he ran into Daryl and Carol. That situation ended up with Carol being hit by one of the hospital's cars and taken to the hospital.

Lucky Noah no longer was the only one devising a rescue plan, an entire group of armed, experienced and protective people was ready to storm the building. And Jungkook, he had already helped take down one community, what's another on that list?

But before they dealt with that, they had to do something else first. Taehyung picked up one of the metal pipes Daryl had torn down from the church organ. The group couldn't take Judith and Carl with them since it was too dangerous for them, hence before they left for the hospital, they had to ensure the church was protected. Taehyung stabbed the pipe into the ground next to the others, continuing to add to the sharpened, spear-like circle they were building around the entrance.

"Are you going to take the cross too?" Gabriel, who was hovering behind Taehyung asked with caution.

Daryl and Taehyung shared a glance before the latter gruffed, "If we need to." With that Daryl stepped back into the church to continue breaking it apart.

Taehyung glanced over at Gabriel, taking note of his distraught expression and the way he flinched each time Sasha's axe slammed into the wooden pews. She was aggressive and unrelenting with her swings, clueless to the distress she was causing. But even if she knew, she wouldn't have cared.

"I understand the cross is a symbol or whatnot but are you not supposed to put all your faith in an object , isn't faith just something you believe?" Taehyung spoke with with a quirk in his brow, bending down to hoist up another pipe.

"The cross is a reminder of faith, not the object of worship." Gabriel mumbled in return, still gazing up at the cross.

"Well, when these pipes and potentially that cross is the reason why you're not being torn apart by walkers, you can tell yourself that it's just another way of God protecting you." Taehyung rammed the pipe into the ground and twisted it so that it would be aimed at the treetops.

Gabriel tore his eyes away from the cross after hearing what he had said, "You're tainting it with violence." He uttered, wincing again when Sasha started tearing down another row of pews inside the church.

Taehyung huffed a laugh, "You know what's violent?" He twisted around on his heel to meet Gabriel's eyes, "Watching the people you love have their chest ripped open so that those things can reach in and scoop out their guts, watching them take a bite out of someone and you having to chop off their arm or leg so that they'd be able to live, or how about we talk about what happened yesterday?"

Taehyung began to prowl closer to a startled Gabriel, glaring right at him as he continued, "When those men came into that church, they intended to slaughter us." Taehyung lowered his voice into a whisper, looming over Gabriel who stared at him with wide eyes, "They would've done to us what they had done to Bob, then they would've killed us and if you think that they would have spared you, Carl or even Judith, you're mistaken."

"That's violence, you should be grateful we saved your life." The corners of his lips curled into an icy smile as bitterness began to leak into his eyes.

Gabriel's face twisted and lips trembled as he peeled them apart to whisper, "You're going to hell."

A laugh bubbled up from the back of Taehyung's throat before he took a step back and tilted his head, "I sure do hope so, there's someone there that I would like to see again so that I could bash his fucking head in." Gabriel winced at the use of language but before he could say anything, Taehyung jabbed a finger at the priest, "If this isn't hell already, a few whispers up at the night sky won't pray your sins away. You did it, you lived it, it's part of you now, so what are you holding onto?"

"My God." Gabriel's eyes were wet and his answer slipped out through a weak smile, "He has never betrayed me or let me down, he's the reason I'm still here." Taehyung stared at him in disbelief before scoffing and turning away, "You don't believe him." Gabriel released the words as a statement, rather than a question.

"Of course not." Taehyung spat out and before Gabriel could ask like Taehyung knew he would, he offered him the answer, "My parents believed, my brother did too." A Misty veil of the past clouded Taehyung's vision, "For some, like my brother, church, God, everything else was just a way to mask his rotten self from others and make sure they saw him as this God-sent wonderful man. They ate that up." Taehyung's face twisted into a scowl, "For others, like my father, church was just a status, a way to present himself as someone superior to others. He wanted to pretend like God loved him more than everyone else, like he was special and those who did not share his views were beneath him." Taehyung looked over at Gabriel, "And my mother, she was the type to dedicate her entire being to religion until it consumed her, until she became blind to what's happening around her. She was in so much denial that she would rather look away and turn to God, than look at what's happening right in front of her."

"So, yes, I despise this damn building," Taehyung hissed out through gritted teeth, marching up to Gabriel, "I hate what it represents," Gabriel took a few steps back - his eyes growing wide once he noticed rage and hatred at its rawest, "I hate the God you worship." Taehyung gritted, curling his fists as he rounded in on the priest, "I hate you and I wish I could burn this place down with you insid-"

"Taehyung." A hand wrapped around his chest and a palm stopped him in his tracks. Taehyung's eyes swung up and met Rick's. The leader stared at him without judgement or accusation, just a voiceless question smeared on his face. Taehyung clenched his jaw and tore his eyes away, he glared at a frightened Gabriel before scoffing and pushing himself away from Rick. He pivoted around on his heel and marched away, feeling like each step he took was leaving a path of fire in his wake from the anger bubbling in his chest.

His hands trembled and shoulders were wound so tight it felt like his spine was slowly cracking. He brushed past the person in his path, not really seeing them as he stalked away until he reached the back of the church and was able to fall down into a crouch. He placed his elbows onto his knees and pressed his face into his hands.

"Tae."

A cautious whisper of his name reached his ears but the anger simmering beneath his skin didn't allow him to move or even glue the voice to the person. They didn't say anything else but Tae distantly felt them sit down next to him without touching him. Minutes passed with them sitting there in silence until the thunder crackling in Taehyung's ears dimmed into a soft buzz and his heated skin cooled down enough for him to pull his hands away.

Taehyung kept his lips pressed into a thin line as he stared at the tree-line blankly before exhaling a breath and glancing over at Jungkook through the corner of his eye. The younger had noticeable creases of concern woven into his face as soft and fragile as a newborn lamb.

"Did he say something to you?" Jungkook hesitated to ask yet did so anyway.

"No." Taehyung pushed out, "Just not a fan of him."

The crease between Jungkook's brows deepened and Taehyung could see another question linger on his tongue. As Taehyung waited for him to ask, he pulled out his cigarettes and reached into his pocket for a lighter, only for his hand to come up empty. Taehyung's face scrunched and as he was about to look for the lighter in another pocket, Jungkook extended the missing thing.

"Nicked it off of you, you should be more aware." While there was a slight tease on Jungkook's lips, it was overshadowed by the worry he held for Taehyung.

Taehyung's lips twitched as he plucked the lighter out of Jungkook's hand and lit the cigarette, "You can ask." He nudged Jungkook back to the topic.

"Those things you said..." Jungkook trailed off, not sure what his question was so he quickly switched it to an observation, "You haven't told me about your family."

"For a reason." Taehyung agreed, "They don't deserve to be on your mind." Taehyung sighed and leaned back until his back touched the wall behind him, he tilted his head to peer over at Jungkook's face, taking in the frown on his lips, the scrunched slope of his nose and the eyeliner of confusion smeared along his eyes, "They don't deserve you thinking about them or even you knowing they existed, you're too good for them."

When Jungkook wasn't able to find a response, Taehyung huffed a humourless laugh and turned away, "A part of me wants to tell you what they did, what my brother did to me, but I find it so hard and I don't know why because with others it just slips out." A tinge of hurt began to leak into Jungkook's face and Taehyung was quick to squeeze his wrist, "Stop." Taehyung cut off Jungkook's wandering thoughts before he could make up reasons for why Taehyung hadn't told him about his family, "I think, no, I know that the reason why I don't want to tell you is because I don't want anything to change between us."

"It's not going to change, what others did won't change anything betw-"

"Yeah, I know." Taehyung cut him off before he could finish, only to shake his head a second later, "No, I don't know. I don't want you to look at me differently and I don't want to be treated differently, I just want to keep being with you as we are now because being with you makes me forget. You not knowing feels like.." Taehyung stammered, trying to find the best way to describe it until he stumbled upon the best description, "..it feels like I'm closing the last chapter of my old book and entering a new book, a new, better life with you by my side. Telling you would feel like I'm carrying them with us into our new life." Taehyung searched Jungkook's face to see if he understood, "I don't want you to know, I don't even want me to know, I just want them to die behind us as we keep moving forward."

"Okay." Jungkook exhaled shakily, blinking away the tears that clung to his lash line, "Okay, we can to that." He bobbed his head and forced his lips into a faint smile, "Let's leave them to die."

"Okay." Taehyung echoed breathlessly, sinking into Jungkook when the younger reached out to wrap his arms around him.

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When the church had been boarded up with spikes guarding the entrance and a floorboard ready to be nailed against the door, it was time for the group to leave. They had agreed that Michonne would stay behind to protect Judith, Carl and the priest and also ensure that both groups, Abraham's and Rick's, would have a place to return to in case they needed to.

They said their goodbyes, understanding that anything could happen when attacking another community, especially one protected by a police force. Tae and Michonne hugged for a while before Jungkook did the same, they did the same with Carl and gently caressed Judith's head before stepping outside. The group had taken two cars off the main road and had agreed that Noah would be riding with Rick and Daryl, while Taehyung would be the one driving the other car with Jungkook sitting behind him and the siblings sitting in the backseat.

The ride was silent, except for a brief whispered conversation where Tyreese tried to speak to Sasha, only to be stopped by her lack of desire to talk. After that, the silence continued and Taehyung and Jungkook purposefully didn't show any affections toward each other in case it would aggravate Sasha, who just recently lost the man she loved.

When they reached Atlanta, the road leading inside the city was vacant and the road leading outside was filled with abandoned cars. The buildings stretched up to the sky with windows broken and chunks of walls missing. One street they drove through had an area where a park once laid. The trees were scorched to the ground and metal pipes that had once been lamppost had melted into the ground. The shops encasing the area were shredded apart and torn into rumble, entrances to stores and windows in the first floors of the buildings were completely shattered. Worst of all was the black suds that scattered every inch of the ground and splattered across the buildings as if a bomb had been dropped right in the centre of the area.

The eery stillness and absolute silence of the vacant city left an uncomfortable itch on Jungkook's skin. They continued to drive forward, following Rick's car. Occasionally, Jungkook saw a man in a military uniform laying on the ground and even a tank sitting still at the end of one of the streets. Jungkook was thankful he hadn't decided to come to Atlanta when this started, mostly due to him not being able to navigate but also because he was too busy running around and hiding without a proper plan of action.

When the cars stopped and they got out, they were in a small alleyway next to the Main Street. Noah directed them to what seemed to be a warehouse, the group ventured inside and settled down in one of the rooms. It was completely bare, not even a cardboard box in sight. Rick kicked at the ground, pushing at the thick layer of dust until he gathered a decent square pile.

The leader crouched down and used his finger to draw a map of the area with Noah's input, "At sundown we fire a shot into the air, get two of them out on patrol." The group gathered around Rick, eyeing the map he had drawn, "Then once it's dark enough that the rooftop spotter won't see us, we go." Rick pointed the finger down at a spot in the map and the group followed with their eyes, "We cut the locks on one of the stairways, take it to the fifth floor. I open the door, Daryl takes the guard out."

"How?" Tyreese cut in before Rick could continue - voice firm and on edge.

Jungkook's eyes flickered between them as he listened to Rick reply with ease as though the answer was self explanatory, "He slits his throat." Rick stared at Tyreese before shrugging, "This is all about us doing this quiet, keeping the upper hand. They're not expecting us." Jungkook nodded in agreement and Rick glanced over at Tyreese one more time before laying out the next step of the plan, "From there we can out. Knives and silence weapons. We need to be fast." He emphasised before reaching down to dig his finger into the dust and marking two rooms.

"Tyreese and Sasha, you take them." He created two more marks on separate hallways, "Jungkook and Taehyung, you take care of whoever is in these halls." Rick dug one last X, "Daryl you take care of whoever is in the kitchen," Rick laid hand arm over his knee and looked up at them, "I got Dawn. If they're smart, the rest of them will give up. Then it will be five on three, six on three when we get a weapon on Beth."

"Twelve on three." Noah spoke up, causing everyone's eyes to fling to him, "The ward's a hub." While Jungkook didn't understand what that meant, twelve on three sounded good so he didn't question it.

Tyreese exhaled a prolonged breath, "That's best case." Before pushing out, "What's worst case?" Jungkook's face hardened at the question, "It only takes one of those cops going down the hall at the wrong time, then it's not quiet. All hands on deck. We're talking about a lot of bullets flying around."

"If that's what it takes." Sasha uttered under her breath without the slightest worry, while Jungkook huffed a scoff.

"It won't happen, that's why we're in the halls." Jungkook nudged his foot at the halls him and Taehyung were supposed to be in, "If it does happen, me and Taehyung use these hospital rooms, if there is anyone in there, we take them as hostages. If they still want to shoot, they'll be our shields." Rick nodded his agreement but when Jungkook looked at Tyreese, the man didn't seem satisfied rather looked more disturbed.

"Those are innocent people." Noah tried to disagree but his voice was weak under Jungkook's sharpened eyes.

Jungkook's lips twisted, "We're not here to save those people or sip tea with Dawn, we're here to bring Beth and Carol home." He dragged his gaze over the group before nudging his chin at the map, "We do what we have to do, even if it means slitting throats and taking hostages."

"We could do that, take them as hostages." Tyreese's face lightened and Jungkook hummed, thinking it's over, only for Tyreese to continue spewing his idea, "If we get a couple of her cops, alive, out here, we do an even trade. Theirs for ours, everybody goes home."

"It's risky." Taehyung commented after listening to both sides, "But it might work." Jungkook's head snapped towards him, he stared at the side of his face with narrowed eyes, wondering if the man had lost his mind.

"Yeah, I get it." Rick spoke up, pushing himself off the ground, "It might work." He nodded at Taehyung before tilting his head down to the map, "This will work."

Tyreese stared at Rick without a word lingering on his tongue, allowing the silence to stretch out for an uncomfortable long time until Daryl added his thoughts, "Nah, that'll work too." Rick twisted his head in Daryl's direction, as did Jungkook who didn't believe in this plan and thought that it was a naive fool's daydream.

Daryl stared back at Rick before his eyes slid over at Jungkook, lingering for a moment before settling onto Noah, "You say this Dawn, she's just trying to keep it together, right?"

"Trying and doing are two different things." Noah answered, causing Jungkook's lips to twitch and a huff of a laugh to escape from the back of his throat.

Jungkook dug his fingers into his forehead while Daryl continued to advocate for Tyreese's plan, "You take two of her cops away, what choices does she have?" Daryl gestured at Tyreese without breaking eye contact with Rick, "Everybody goes home, like he said." Rick didn't respond yet it was visible to everyone that he was mulling the plan over in his head and was on the edge of agreement, once Jungkook realised this, he couldn't help scoff.

The younger could feel Taehyung and Daryl staring at him, yet he merely kicked his foot out and smoothened out the map Rick had drawn on the ground before marching out of the room.

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Taehyung knew why he had agreed and he had an inkling as to why Daryl did too. Their motivations differed in one aspect - Taehyung not being opposed to sneaking into the hospital and killing those people to free their own, while Daryl didn't want to potentially murder innocent people or take them hostage in case they were held captive just as Noah had been. Their motivations were the same in another aspect - Jungkook's speech.

When Taehyung witnessed the ease at which Jungkook described sneaking into the building, killing those people and potentially using innocent bystanders as hostages or body armour, he wondered if he was slipping.

The loss of the prison and Hershel, paired with Jungkook having to kill Lizzie, then immediately after that destroying a whole community and slaughtering the rest of them inside the church as they sat defenceless on their knees in front of them. That had to have left an effect. Jungkook's lines were blurring, life had no meaning in his eyes, not when he was able to compare killing ten police officers with one mentally unstable little girl.

What Taehyung was scared of was the moment everything would crash down on him, the moment where the lines would be obliterated and what would come after - the possibility of Jungkook reverting back to that mindset he had adapted when the two of them had met, when Taehyung had found Jungkook in the forest with bodies strung all around him. So, yes, if he had the opportunity of preventing Jungkook from killing more people and destroying another community, of taking on the weight of those actions, he would. Even if his only reasoning is to not let him slip further down that path.

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The sound of gunshots bounced off the brick walls of the alleyway before being cradled and carried into the Main Street by the wind. A police car followed the trails of sound until they saw a teenager hobble down the main street and into a side street. The police car sped after him, the heels screeched across the pavement as they made the turn and drifted into the narrow street. They followed the stumbling teenager until they ended up in a secluded area and were able to skid to a stop right in front of him.

The teenager slammed into the hood and stumbled to the car. He pushed himself up to his feet and tried to stumble away, only for the two officers to jump out of the car and pull their guns on him, "Put it down, Noah!" The woman with curly, light brown hair thrown into a bun, called out to him. Noah came to a hesitant pause and slowly turned around, showing them the gun he was holding before lowering it to the ground, "Hands up, turn around." The woman instructed once he no longer possessed the weapon.

Noah did as he was told and the woman kept her gun aimed at his head, while the man pulled out a zip tie. He was bald and had a groomed scruff around his jaw and lips. The rounded edge of his eyes and his brows made him appear gentler compared to the female officer. The police uniforms they wore seemed clean and well maintained, all the badges intact.

The man walked up to Noah and pulled his arms behind his back, "You let me know if it's too tight, okay?" The officer muttered under his breath as he tightened the zip tie around Noah's wrists - voice gentler than it was expected.

The woman still pointing the gun at him parted her lips to bite, "I thought you were smart, Noah, you think we wouldn't hear you?"

The man finished tying Noah up and grabbed him by the scruff, he looked up - eyes skimming the area before the realisation dawned on him, "Where are those rotters you were shooting at?"

A whistle from behind the trio made the man scramble for his gun while the woman whirled around with hers already raised. As soon as they saw who had created the sound, their hands froze and faces dropped.

Rick, Daryl and Taehyung were at the front of the group, forming a line with Rick at the far right, Daryl in the middle and Tae on the far left. Standing in the gap between Taehyung and Daryl was Sasha, while the gap between Rick and Daryl was occupied by Jungkook who was wielding his massive rifle and aiming right at their heads with his finger hovering over the trigger. The two of them hovered behind the trio, looking like two assassins ready to kill the second either of these officers stepped out of line. At the far back of the group was Tyreese who held the rifle up just for show, clearly never intending on using it.

"Hands." The order that escaped Rick's mouth was as cold and fragile as ice, it could crack at any time beneath their feet.

"What do you want?" The female officer questioned, dragging her eyes over the group.

"Whatever this is, we can help." The man offered breathlessly with a tinge of caution slowly sleeping into his face.

Rick ground his teeth together before exhaling eerily calmly, "You do what we say, we don't hurt you."

The male cop stared at them, eyeing their weapons and then their faces before his eyes flickered over at the female cop who didn't seem afraid of the confrontation. That's when the tension in his shoulders oozed out and he lifted his hands in surrender - his gun now loosely hanging off his thumb. The woman's head tilted to see him and when she saw him surrender, she exhaled a breath before lowering her gun too.

"Good." Rick drawled as he took a few steps forward with his gun still raised, "Now turn around. Put your guns on the floor and kneel."

The cops followed the order with deliberate slowness, making sure to keep their hands up and weapons visible as they twisted around on their heels and lowered themselves to the ground. The group immediately rounded in on them. Rick loomed over them as a dark presence promising death, while Sasha and Daryl moved to grab the officers' arms and place them behind their backs - using the zip ties the cops had on themselves. Taehyung pulled out his knife and approached Noah to cut off his zip ties. As he did so, Jungkook strolled up the officers and stared down at them over his nose, all while holding his rifle in his arms.

"We need to talk," Rick uttered, taking a few steps forward as Daryl and Sasha tied their wrists, "There's water if you need some and food."

Once the positions were reversed - with Noah now being free and the officers being tied up - Noah stumbled over to his gun and snagged it off the pavement. As Daryl and Sasha were hoisting the two officers up to their feet, the male officer forcefully skewed around to look at Rick, "Mind if I ask you something?" The leader paused and took long, confident strides towards him until he was standing in front of him. Jungkook eyed them with a quirked brow as the man continued to talk, "The way you talk, the way you carry yourself," The man pushed out between quick breaths before daring to ask, "Are you a cop?"

Rick continued to stare at him without blinking or moving a single muscle until the barest brush of a smile graced the surface of his lips. The male cop exhaled a bitter laugh, "Believe it or not, I was, too." The smile on Rick's face remained intact yet his eyes grew darker.

The leader nodded his head and Noah hopped closer to whisper to Rick, "That's Lamson. He'll be down for this, he's one of the good ones."

At the reminder of the plan, Jungkook momentarily squeezed his eyes shut and sucked in a breath through his teeth, only to snap them open just as quickly when the screech of tires grated against his eardrums. The group whirled around and saw a car speeding down the alleyway towards them. Jungkook lifted his rifle and dug his finger into the trigger, forcing bullets to fly out and ram into the hood and front window.

The car continued to fly towards him and Jungkook dug his heels into the ground, tilting the rifle to the side until it was aiming right at what he presumed would be the driver's head. Before he could make the shot and before the car could crash into him, Taehyung's body slammed into his own and his arms wrapped around him. Jungkook grunted, loosening his hold on the gun as he was yanked out of the car's path.

"What the fuck?" Jungkook spat when he was tugged down to the ground to evade the bullets flying at them. The driver had rolled down the window and was leaning a rifle against its edge, shooting at them while the two cops they had captured jumped into the backseat. They barely managed to did so before the car was speeding off again.

Jungkook threw himself away from Taehyung and dashed forward, he raised his gun and aimed at the tires just as another bullet flew past him and hit them for him. The tire blew out with a bang and the car swerved to the side, nearly ramming into a wall, only to veer back into the alleyway. The group began to run after them, following the sound of screeching tires and garbage cans being knocked over until the car came to a sudden halt.

Taehyung quickened his steps, huffing out rough breaths as he followed the group through the alleyway until they came into an open area. The smell of rot and burnt skin hit them first, it scratched at the back of their throats and seeped into their lungs. Atop the building, a water tank stood and across it, the words 'Evac Here' were spray-painted in bold, large letters. But when Taehyung's eyes scurried over the area, he realised no evacuation had occurred.

The ground was charred black and the surrounding cars had their roofs torn off - the metal twisted and peeled apart as though they were as fragile as flower petals. A trailer meant to house people had holes blown through its sides with sot replacing the once cream colour. Worst of all were the dead bodies littering the ground. Their skin had melted off their bones and seeped into the pavement, making the bodies nothing more than squirming bones unable to move. Their eyes and noses had sunk into the skulls, leaving only holes in their place. Flies buzzed around them, eating at their skin and laying their eggs into the folds of their flesh. Some of them were lying still with their mouths agape and bones sticking through their melted skin, while others reached out their arms to grab at the pavement and snapped their teeth as they walked past them.

The door to the trailer was thrown open and the two police officers dashed outside, swerving around the trailer and behind the building. The group sprinted after them, "Two, on me!" Rick called out to them as they ran after them with Taehyung still lingering by the abandoned hospital car.

Before he could follow after them, the car creaked and Taehyung whipped his gun at the back seat. It was empty. Taehyung trudged around it, eyeing the empty front seat before peering down at the wheels. The reason why they had crashed was because they had ran over one of these walkers. Goo-like-blood stained the wheel and an entire arm was mangled around it. Taehyung scrunched his nose and glanced at the trailer where the two cops had come out from. His mind began to spin, piecing together the pieces until he realised that they had seen only two cops and another was missing.

Taehyung inched closer to the trailer, stepping over the bodies and avoiding the grappling hands of the still-alive ones until he reached the trailer. He tried to peer through the holes in the truck to see inside but wasn't sure if the third cop was hiding behind something. He stretched his arm out and curled his fingers around the door handle before ripping the door open and pointing the tip of the rifle inside.

The air was still and no movement occurred after he opened the door. Taehyung dragged his eyes over the cabinets and the burnt kitchenette, allowing his shoulders to droop and gun to lower. As he was reaching for the door to close it, a man dove out from behind the door and tackled him to the ground. The rifle flew out of his hands and skidded across the pavement as his back rammed against the ground and the back of his head bounced off of it. His vision went blurry and a buzzing noise rung through his ears, there was a weight laying on top of him and Taehyung lifted his leg and pushed as hard as he could.

The man flew back, crashing into the door of the trailer, causing it to break off its hinges and dangle uselessly. Taehyung's hands scrambled to grasp at the pavement to pull himself up to his feet, he shook his head and blinked, momentarily clearing his vision. It was enough to witness the man lung at him with his fist raised. Taehyung instinctually dodged by hurling himself forward. They slammed into each other, grasping at each others clothes and throwing punches before the cop grabbed him by his thighs and hoisted him off of his feet.

The cops slammed him into the ground right between two walkers. Their teeth clacked right next to his face - the sound grinding against his ears and creating a whirlpool of panic in his chest. The cop wrapped his fingers around his throat and began to strangle him. Taehyung's lips parted to suck in gasping breaths while his hands flew up to the man's face, trying to reach for his eyes or his throat, only to come up short. He began to push against the man's chest and squirm out from underneath him while his face began to turn red from the lack of oxygen. The officer only continued to tighten his hold until pain began to buzz in his throat and for a moment Taehyung wondered if he would snap his throat before he suffocated.

The thought made him scramble to grasp at the pavement in search of something sharp, only for his fingers to brush against a walker's melted folds of flesh. The officer grunted and panted from above him and began to pull his head closer to the walker's clacking teeth next to his ear. Its rancid breaths fanned against his cheek, forcing Taehyung to scramble for the walker on the other side of him in sheer panic. His fingers slid over its deformed nose and brushed against its teeth, and just before its teeth could clamp down on his fingers, Taehyung ripped them away and dug them into its eye sockets.

Blood and whatever else spurted around his fingers as he hooked them through the walker's eye-sockets and began to pull its head off its body. He felt the resistance and distantly heard the sound of something snapping before the head popped off. Taehyung swung the decapitated head at the officer's temple and left behind a splatter of blood when it hit. The hands loosened around his throat and Taehyung gulped down the flood of air before swinging again, this time causing the officer to fall to the side, off of him.

Taehyung jerked himself upright, stumbling to his feet while fumbling for his throwing knife. Just as his fingers slid over the hilt, he heard a muffled shot and watched as the walker that nearly bit his cheek off be pierced by a bullet. He snapped his eyes up and saw Rick standing there with his colt python aimed at the officer's head. The leader didn't look at Taehyung, only stared down at the officer kneeling in front of him. The look in his eyes made a shiver go through Taehyung's bones. Rick's eyes were vacant as though his soul had been lifted out of his body, leaving his body an empty shell. But when looking closer, Taehyung could see the rage simmering beneath Rick's skin.

"You win, asshole." The officer grunted in defeat, spreading his arms in surrender, yet Rick didn't budge and only continued to stare down at him with the gun hovering inches away from his head.

A moment later, a panting Jungkook ran out from behind the building and towards them - the younger freezing when he registered the scene in front of him. And when he did, Jungkook's eyes were sucked of their warmth and hatred pooled into his features, turning them dark and deadly. The younger's teeth smacked shut with an audible clack before he charged forward with his rifle reeled back.

"Stop, stop." Taehyung sprang to his feet, stumbling into Jungkook - the younger collided against him and Taehyung grabbed his rifle before he could swing again, "Stop." He stepped in front of Jungkook when he tried to brush past him to get to the officer. Jungkook's eyes finally whipped towards him and Taehyung felt like the fire licking at Jungkook's cheekbones would burn him to a crisp, "Three is better than two." He tore his eyes away from Jungkook to look over at Rick who still hadn't looked away from the kneeling man.

The leader's jaw ticked and fingers turned white yet he still didn't lower his gun, "Rick." Taehyung hissed, finally catching Rick's gaze, "Three's better than two." He repeated slowly, throwing a quick look at the officer who had now risen to his feet.

The man met his stare without flinching, almost arrogantly yet Tae knew he was irritated at himself, "Do you have zip ties?" Taehyung questioned, hesitantly stepping away from Jungkook since he didn't know if he'd lunge at the officer again. But the younger didn't, only huffed and pulled out a ziptie from his pocket. Taehyung's fingers brushed against Jungkook's as he took it before the older stepped away and approached the officer. He grabbed his arms and pulled them behind the man's back, sending a pointed look at Rick as he did so.

The Leader clenched his jaw and scrunched his brows together before reluctantly forcing his gun away from the man's head. Taehyung nodded and tightened the ziptie around the man's wrists, "You know," Taehyung began with a smirk blooming along the seam of his lips, "I usually wouldn't be against a little choking but you should ask for my safeword next time." The man stilled, only for his shoulders to drop and a scoff to fall from his lips a moment later.

"He choked you?" Jungkook spat, narrowing his eyes at the said man.

Taehyung grabbed the officer by the elbow and began to drag him forward, allowing Rick and Jungkook to trail after them, "Don't be jealous, I don't think he knew I was taken." Taehyung tried to lighten to atmosphere but when he looked back, Jungkook's and Rick's faces were tight with tension, "Tough crowd, I'm fine." He shrugged and threw the reminder at them before changing the subject, "Did you get the other two?" The only answer he received was a hum from Jungkook and Taehyung smirked, knowing the younger will probably have a heated discussion with him later.

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A/N

We're close. We're very close. But before that. Pain. They need more pain.

Also fun fact, last chapter Bob didn't mention it but when he was captured by Gareth, they told him they were eyeing Jungkook and Tae when they came out of the church. They wanted to take Carol before she left with Daryl, then wanted to take Jungkook for destroying terminus but Taekook were too close to the church and went back inside bc of Bob before they could do anything.