-Ophelia-
The Lumineers
01:43 ━━━━●───── 03:50
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   The stench of the dead tickled Jungkook's nose and filled his lungs with the scent of rot. Their growls scratched at his eardrums and left a trail of goosebumps on his arms. His boots dragged across the ground, perfectly in sync with the group of walkers surrounding him. There were four of them and Jungkook could see another one stumbling towards them to join their group.

Jungkook had started his walk alone and was joined by the first two walkers. When it had happened, he wondered if they smelled him underneath the stench of rot but when the walkers stayed pliant and just trailed after him, he wondered if they were attracted to the sound of his footsteps and movement. The other two walkers were attracted to the noises the first two were making and the one that joined now was attracted to the loud growls and shuffling sounds the group was emitting.

Being surrounded by the dead made his heart pump faster and hands tremble. The hood thrown over his head hid the expression of dread sown into his features but it didn't hide the clench of his jaw and his pursued lips. Occasionally, he tilted his head up and surveyed the direction they were heading in, only to tilt it back down when his eyes latched onto the rotten face of the woman next to him.

The woman wore a grey wool sweater and oversized mom jeans, they were falling down her hips, revealing the line of her thong and the butterfly tattoo on her hip. Her blond hair was drenched in blood and dirt, while her eye was ripped out of her socket and a bite mark decorated her cheek.

Jungkook didn't allow his mind to stray toward the backstories of these walkers, he didn't want to think that these were once humans with emotions, dreams and families. Thinking about it would lead him to imagine himself, or the people he knows, in their places. Wandering around aimlessly in search of their next meal, chewing through anything living without any thought or purpose behind it.

But as he walked among them, he started to feel as though he was one of them. Walking aimlessly without anyone by his side, not a hint of emotion caressing his heart or a stray thought weaving through his mind. Just moving forward one step at a time, one exhale of breath after the other. The only difference between them was that Jungkook could still feel pain, whether it be from his dislocated shoulder or losing his group. Perhaps being one of them is so much easier than still being alive.

Jungkook exhaled a slow breath, tilting his head up to peer up at the sky. There was a cloud of black smoke swirling through the sky, the burning building seemed quite far from where he was walking and he could only guess that it was the same one he saw when he was still with Taehyung.

As they continued to move forward, the sound of branches cracking and leaves shifting came from their left. The sound was intertwined with the growls of walkers and as Jungkook twisted his head to the side, he saw a group of six of them stumbling out of the shrubbery and towards them. These walkers were different from the ones by Jungkook's side. Their bodies were charred black and a trail of smoke wafted off of them. Their hair and clothes had been melted off their bodies, their skin was cracking and peeling off their bones, revealing the red flesh beneath the patches of black.

Their stench was godawful, it burned at Jungkook's nose and knocked his breath into his lungs. He swallowed down his vomit and tensed when the charred walkers bumped into their group. One of the walkers brushed against Jungkook's back, causing him to take a cautious step forward to avoid them bumping into his injured arm.

The sudden movement and all the bumping made the walkers shift around and change direction. Jungkook bit his lip and started to trail after them in fear of them catching onto his weird behavior. He didn't want them to attack him just because he didn't follow their direction, he would slowly have to break off from this little herd.

They traveled through the forest, leaving behind a trail of groans and stench of burnt flesh. Jungkook tried to breathe through his mouth and sway away whenever a walker threatened to bump into his left side, knowing that if they did, he wouldn't be able to keep down his noises of pain. This game of survival he was playing was threading a bit too close to life and death now. It made him anxious and anxiety led to being reckless.

Jungkook kept moving forward despite his heart's loud thumps and the ball of fear lodged in his throat. Eventually, he found himself walking side by side with the walker ahead of the herd. At least by staying ahead of them, he would have enough time to run away if they decided to turn on him. As they continued to move through the forest, they broke through a line of trees and Jungkook was greeted by a rusty metal railway that cut through the dense forest.

Jungkook slowed at the sight and let his eyes flicker into what he presumed was the direction to Terminus. The walkers behind him poured out of the forest one by one and before he could realize what was happening, a scream pierced his ears. Jungkook swung his head to his right and froze when he saw two familiar girls sitting on the railway. They screamed at the sight of the herd before jumping up to their feet and dashing off into the forest.

Jungkook's body moved without thinking, he jumped forward and ran after them. The walker next to him snapped its head towards him and reached out to grab him, only for Jungkook to evade its grasp, "Mika!" Jungkook shouted after the girls, wincing and swallowing down a sound of pain when his arm kept slamming into his side, "Lizzie!" He called out, swiveling past the trees and pushing branches out of his face. He could hear the walkers stumbling after him yet all he could focus on was the flicker of blonde hair flashing between the foliage.

"Mika, Lizzie, it's Jungkook!" Jungkook shouted, crying out in pain and clutching his arm when it caught onto a branch. He gritted his teeth and stumbled forward until he broke out of the forest and into an open field. He swung his eyes around until he saw the two girls running across the field, towards a fenced gate and a house beyond it, "Wait! Lizzie, Mika!" Jungkook yelled, just as the herd reached the line of forest and started spilling into the field.

Jungkook still clutched onto his arm as he started running after the two girls with the herd hot on his heels. He saw them crawling through the fence and picked up his pace when Mika's pants caught onto the barbed wire in the fence, "Help, Lizzie!" Mika screeched in pure terror, causing her sister to whirl around and run back to her. She dropped down to her knees next to Mika and tried to pull her out.

Jungkook was panting and in agony when he reached them, but as soon as he did, Lizzie whipped her head up and screamed in fear. Jungkook jumped back, only to quickly tug the hood off his head. At the sight of his familiar face, Lizzie's scream turned into relief, "Help!" She shouted and Jungkook bent down to tug at Mika's leg, he pulled her pants out of the barbed wire, allowing her to shuffle away and turn around to face him. As soon as she did, Mika's eyes widened and she shot out a pointed finger, "Behind you!"

Jungkook whirled around, hand already reaching for his gun, only for a shot to echo through the field and for a bullet to pierce through the walker's skull. The walker hit the ground and was quickly followed by more and more walkers falling dead. Jungkook's ears rung from the gunshots and he was frozen from shock as he stared at the last walker hitting the ground.

And then there was silence.

Jungkook slowly turned toward the direction of the shots and couldn't fight back his tears when his eyes connected with Carol's. The woman had her gun raised at him and one of her arms wrapped around Mika, but as soon as she saw Jungkook's face, her hand dropped and face cracked with emotion, "Oh." She breathed and released her hold on Mika to rush towards him.

Jungkook pushed himself up to his feet, holding onto his arm as he staggered towards the fence. Carol immediately grabbed him by the cheeks, eyeing his split lip, the scratches on his jaw and his pale complexion, "Hi." Jungkook mumbled to Carol with a weak smile, not flinching away from her fingers when they reached out to push his hair out of his face, "I'm a bit hurt."

"Where?" Carol mumbled, pulling away to glance down at the arm he was clutching, "Is it broken?" She asked and received her answer in a small shake of Jungkook's head, "You weren't bit, were you?" She pushed out the question as though it was glass on her tongue.

"No, just dislocated." Jungkook sighed and peered over Carol's shoulder, only now noticing that Tyreese was among the group. The two girls were hovering by his side, eyeing Jungkook nervously as though they hadn't been at the prison together and he was a stranger they picked up on the road.

"Come on," Carol crouched down and pulled the barbed wire apart to give him an opening to crawl through, "Tyreese." Carol called out and the man stepped up to her side to help.

Jungkook bent down and started squeezing himself through with a small grunt, hissing out a breath at each flare of pain zipping through his body. As soon as his body was halfway through, Carol reached out and curled her fingers around his working arm to pull him through. Jungkook nearly fell into her in relief and allowed her to pull him up to his feet, "Didn't think I'd see you here." Jungkook huffed with a wince, glancing between Carol and Tyreese.

The woman smiled down at him, wrapping an arm around him to hold him up, "I didn't think I'd see you here, walking up to us with a herd of walkers, covered in walker guts." Jungkook cracked a smile at that, glancing up at the house they were approaching.

"Yeah, well, I had to survive somehow." He uttered back with a hint of relief, knowing that Carol knew bits and pieces about medical care from Hershel, so she probably knew what to do with his shoulder.

Carol hummed, "That you did," she helped him climb the steps of the front porch, "I'm glad you're here." And Jungkook couldn't help smile at that, even if his heart clenched painfully at the thought that he wasn't alone anymore while Taehyung probably was.

Tyreese held the door open, ushering the girls inside and kept holding it open until Jungkook and Carol slipped past him. Carol dragged him towards the kitchen, only releasing her hold on him when he was leaning against the dining table, "Remove everything from the table." She instructed Tyreese, grabbing the bowl of nuts on top of it and walking towards the conjoined living room-dining room-kitchen to place the bowl on the coffee table. Tyreese followed her instructions by removing the vase and empty shells from the table.

When the table was swept clean, Carol stepped up to him and grabbed the hem of the poncho, "Let's have a look." She carefully pulled the poncho over his head and discarded it onto the ground by their feet, she paused at the sight of his shirt and limp arm, "I think we'll need to cut your shirt off, won't do you any good if we try to pull it off, I also want to see your shoulder as I set it back." She mumbled more to herself than Jungkook but he still nodded, watching as Carol walked into the kitchen to search for scissors.

Jungkook turned his attention onto Tyreese, "How long have you been staying here?" He questioned with a furrow in his brow, sparing a glance at the girls in the living room. Mika was sitting on the ground by the coffee table, clinging onto a doll that had bright red hair while Lizzie was sitting on the couch, staring into space.

"Maybe two or three days." Tyreese guessed, sitting down on one of the chairs with a small grunt, "Me and the girls escaped together, we also have Judith with us." Jungkook's eyes snapped up at that, his relief visible in his wide gaze, "She's sleeping right now, I'll take you to her when Carol checks your shoulder."

"Do you plan to stay here?" Jungkook asked in a hushed breath, furrowing his brows when Tyreese tore his eyes away from him and didn't respond. Before Jungkook could keep questioning him, Carol reentered the room with a pair of scissors in her hand.

"Girls, why don't you go check up on Judith." Carol sent the blonde sisters a small smile and nodded her head in the direction of one of the bedrooms. The two sisters offered hesitant nods before trailing out of the room, not before Carol placed a comforting hand on Mika's head and Tyreese offered them a quirk of his lips.

Carol approached Jungkook and took hold of his shirt, she slipped the hem between the scissors and started cutting through the shirt. The metal brushed against Jungkook's belly, sending a shiver down his back. When the scissors reached his armpit, Carol readjusted her cuts and started slicing through his sleeve until the shirt was falling apart around his frame. Jungkook didn't dare look at his bare shoulder in fear of what he would see but he could see the wince on Carol's face.

"That bad?" He tried to joke, only to be cut off by a wince when Carol pushed him to lay down on the table, gently taking hold of his limp arm and laying it down by his side.

"You should've made a sling." Carol commented, causing Jungkook's face to scrunch, "This is going to be painful, so bite down on this." She grabbed the towel she had brought from the kitchen and placed it between his teeth, "Actually, Tyreese can you hold him down?" Jungkook's eyes widened and he snapped his head towards the burly man. He released a noise of panic, only now realizing how painful this was going to be if Tyreese needed to hold him down, "I'm going to move your arm and count to three, when I reach three, you inhale."

Jungkook offered a hesitant nod, flinching when Tyreese pressed one hand down on his working shoulder and laid the other over his hip. Carol gently wrapped her fingers around his wrist and bicep before stretching his arm out horizontally. A snap of pain shot through his bones, causing him to flinch and grit his teeth. Tyreese immediately tightened his grip on him, pressing him further into the table.

"Remember to breathe." Carol threw out, "And relax, it's going to hurt less." Jungkook sent her a disbelieving look, making Carol quirk a brow before she shifted his arm upward until it was in line with his head. The sudden move caused a choked garble to bubble in the back of Jungkook's throat, he squeezed his eyes shut and panted through his nose, "One, two..." Jungkook's eyes snapped open and he started shaking his head, wait, pause he thought desperately, searching for Carol's eyes, "Three."

With one swift movement, Carol simultaneously pulled his arm towards herself and pushed it inward before rolling his arm around in a circle. A loud crack of the bone falling into place echoed through the room and was immediately followed by a gurgled scream from Jungkook. The boy's body lifted off the table, only to be slammed back down by Tyreese. His toes curled and legs jerked, eyes were hazy with tears and pain as he stared up at the ceiling blankly. He didn't even feel it when Carol laid his arm over his chest, could only focus on the lingering throbs of pain rushing through his body.

Jungkook shuddered, jaw still clenched around the towel and mind still blank from the pain crashing through him. He blinked up at the ceiling, trying to wipe away the layer of tears clouding his vision. He flinched when Tyreese's hands were replaced by Carol laying a knitted blanket over him and relaxed when she sat down on the chair next to the table and started to comb her fingers through his hair.

"You should rest and don't move your arm too much, it will need time to fully heal." Carol whispered, swiping his black hair out of his face, "I should also clean the scrapes on your jaw." Carol stayed silent for a moment, while Tyreese plopped down on the chair on the other side of Jungkook.

The boy unclenched his jaw and slipped his good arm out from underneath the blanket to pull the towel out of his mouth, "Please punch me if I ever dislocate a shoulder again." He croaked weakly, offering a quivering smile.

Carol smiled faintly, pulling her hand away from his hair, "How did you end up like that anyway?" She asked as she placed her crossed arms on the table by Jungkook's hip.

A small crease formed between Jungkook's brows and his body melted against the table in defeat, "I was with Taehyung, we left the prison together, a herd found us and we started running but it was too fast and we were tired. We came across a bridge, it was old and I fell through it, I fell in a river and Taehyung..." Jungkook's voice grew softer and filled with emotion, "I heard him, he was yelling my name but I couldn't get out, the river was too fast. I think I passed out when I hit my shoulder against a rock and woke up washed up on the shore. I don't know where he is but I know he's alive and I know where he's going."

"Where is that?" Tyreese asked, glancing between Carol and Jungkook with some skepticism.

Jungkook pushed off the table with a small wince, still keeping his left arm pressed against his chest, "We found these tracks in the woods, the map showed that they're running throughout the forest and all lead to Terminus. The sign said there's a community there and we think that others from the group could've seen it." Jungkook eyed them, noticing the doubt on Carol's face and the barest hint of hope on Tyreese's.

"It could be a trap." Carol voiced her doubt, not seemingly eager to go to this place.

Jungkook shook his head and threw his legs over the edge of the table until he was sitting on the edge, "Maybe but we can't abandon hope that there's still good places out there. It could be a sanctuary like they promised, it could be safe."

"But for how long?" Tyreese commented, eyes shining with the memories of what happened at the prison.

Jungkook bit his lip and looked away, "Safer than here, how long do you think this house would stand if a herd ran through it?" He looked back at Tyreese with a hint of Steele in his eyes, "The door won't hold when they decide to crash through it."

Tyreese remained silent but looked at Carol for some guidance. The woman parted her lips just as a loud cry cut through the air and stumped out their conversation, "Let's talk about this later, you still need time to fully heal before we get on the road. In the meantime, why don't you go say hi to Judith and I'll find you some clothes." Carol suggested, already standing up from her seat and moving towards one of the bedrooms.

Tyreese nodded and stood up as well, "I'll go talk to Mika and Lizzie, ask them what they were doing so far out."

Jungkook exhaled a sigh through his nose and hopped off the table, he followed after Tyreese to the bedroom where the girls were staying. The pair entered the room and saw Mika holding a crying Judith, trying to soothe her cries, "Come on." Tyreese reached down and took the toddler from Mika's arms, smiling when the girl slumped in relief.

Jungkook stepped up to Tyreese and peered down at Judith. The girl had a head of fluffy golden hair, chubby cheeks and puffy blue eyes that stared back at him innocently. She wore a yellow, flower print dress and pink leggings. Jungkook's lips stretched into a fond smile at the sight of her and he couldn't help be relieved that she was safe. He also felt guilty that he hadn't thought of her until now but tried to fight off the feeling when he reached out to take her into his arms.

"She's gotten bigger." Jungkook murmured, leaning her against his chest with one arm under her bottom and the other placed against her back. The girl tilted her head up and stared at him for a moment before dropping her head against him, squashing her chubby cheek against his shoulder.

Tyreese's lips stretched into a broad smile at the sight and he reached out to nudge her cheek, "Gonna keep growing, hopefully, she won't lose these chubby cheeks." Jungkook chuckled at that and leaned down to sniff at her fluffy hair, smiling when the scent of a baby filled his nose. It was a nice contrast to the rotten flesh he had been smelling lately.

Tyreese turned around to face the two girls hovering near them, "Come on, let's talk, yeah?" Tyreese placed a hand on Lizzie's shoulder and guided them out of the room.

Jungkook sent them a hesitant smile when they glanced at him, only for the girls to grow shy and look away. Jungkook's smile faltered when they left the room and he hesitantly sat down on the edge of the bed, placing Judith down on his lap. He stared at the wall on the opposite side of him, mind straying towards Taehyung and then towards Rick. A curl of something dark coiled in the pit of his stomach when he realized Rick didn't even know that Judith was alive and the realization only fuelled the desire to find the man and stop his potential grief.

Carol entered the room with a pile of clothes in her arms, she placed them on the bed by Jungkook's leg and bent down to pull Judith into her arms, "Rick doesn't know." Jungkook muttered as he reached for the shirt on top of the clothes. It was a grey, long-sleeve cotton shirt, a basic choice but Jungkook wasn't picky when he was currently sitting shirtless.

"He doesn't." Carol sighed and sat down on the other side of the pile of clothes, bouncing Judith to keep her calm and sated, "Tyreese wants to stay here." She threw out, causing Jungkook to pause.

He stared down at the shirt in his hands before carefully slipping it over his head and sliding his arms into the sleeves, "What about you?" He asked without looking at her, reaching out to grab the black, skinny jeans, "I wouldn't judge you, you know, I understand why you wouldn't want to risk it with Judith and the girls being with you."

"I don't want you to go alone either." Carol shot back, making Jungkook's eyes flicker up to her face. He could see the worry in her pale face and the wrinkles around her eyes.

"I'll be fine, I'll use the poncho to hide among the walkers and I'll scour the place before going in." Jungkook unzipped his pants and tugged them off before grabbing the new pair and pulling them up his legs, "If it goes to shit..." Jungkook trailed off, allowing an empty smile to stretch across his lips, "I'll do whatever needs to be done."

"That's what I'm scared of, if there is a community, you won't be able to take it down alone." Carol shook her head with a resigned sigh, pushing off the bed to stand up, "When's the last time you slept?" When Jungkook didn't meet her eyes and remained silent, Carol pressed her lips into a thin line and sent him a playful glare, "Sleep and maybe I'll feed you later."

"Maybe?" Jungkook teased with a grin, only receiving another narrowed look in return before the woman left the room. The door clicked shut behind her and Jungkook pulled back the covers on the bed to lay down. As soon as his head hit the pillow and he shut his eyes, his consciousness slipped away and a blanket of dreams enveloped him.

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The moon was high in the sky when Jungkook was awoken by a hand shaking his shoulder. He shot up in the bed, hand reaching blindly in an unknown direction for a knife that wasn't there. He only relaxed when Carol grabbed his wrist and appeared in his line of sight, "Sorry." Jungkook whispered, voice still rough from sleep.

"It's okay," She waved him off before tugging him out of the bed and pushing him towards the door, "Come on, you can't miss this, we're roasting pecans." Carol sang to a groggy Jungkook, guiding him towards the conjoined kitchen-living room.

Jungkook sniffed at the air and his eyes grew wide at the scent of roasted nuts in the air, his pace picked up until the pair entered the room. Lizzie was sitting at the table, holding a nutcracker in her hand while Mika was sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace. She had the doll with bright red hair in her hand and wore a soft smile as she played with it. Jungkook peered over at Tyreese who was soundly asleep on the loveseat with a knitted blanket thrown over his legs.

He tore his eyes away and found his seat at the table, on the opposite side of Lizzie and next to Carol. He sent the girl a cautious smile but the girl didn't even look at him, only stared off into space with a blank look on her face. Carol waved off his questioning look and sat down, reaching for a pecan to crack while keeping a careful eye on Lizzie.

Jungkook didn't say anything about it, only grabbed a pecan and inserted it into the tool, he squeezed it shut and listened to the satisfying sound of the shell cracking. He pulled it open and nudged the pecan out, throwing it into the bowl of already opened pecans. As Jungkook was reaching for the next pecan, Lizzie exhaled a shuddering breath and allowed her voice to slither past her lips.

"I had to help stop them."

Jungkook glanced up at her in confusion before turning to look at Carol, the woman didn't meet his gaze, only stared at Lizzie with a carefully crafted mask on her face, "Do you understand what they are now?" Carol prodded softly.

Lizzie rolled her lips together before twisting her head around to meet Carol's eyes, "I know," She paused and seemed to swallow her words before continuing, "I know what I have to do now." Resignation dulled her eyes and her voice mellowed out as she murmured, "I know."

Carol swallowed with a nod, "It's ugly and it's scary and it does change you." She pulled back and glanced at Jungkook, offering him some context in her next words, "Killing walkers, surviving, but that's how we get to be here, that's the cost, that's growing up now."

The words sliced into Jungkook's heart. They felt a bit too close to home, of course, he wasn't the same age as Lizzie and Mika but he was a child too when it started, when he killed his first walker and when he killed his first human. It still felt a bit too close even after all the walkers and people he had killed.

"I don't want to hurt anyone."

Jungkook's eyes flickered towards Mika when the words left her tongue. The girl stared up at them, clutching onto her doll, "I don't want to be mean." She stated with some finality as if she knew she didn't and wouldn't do it. Jungkook couldn't help admire her desire to not kill walkers or people in a world where people were killing each other without a hint of empathy. A part of him wished he could hold himself up to the same standard but knew he was too far past that line now and he wouldn't be able to stop.

"You have to be sometimes." Lizzie whispered, peering over the chair at her sister, "But just sometimes." She offered the compromise, all of them watching as Mika's face saddened at her words.

Tyreese shifted on the couch, causing their attention to bounce towards him, "No, no." The man gasped with a flinch, his legs twitching and head rolling as though he wanted to escape the nightmare he was seeing.

Jungkook and Carol shared a look, prompting the woman to speak up, "Now we have a lot of pecans here." The girls tore their attention away from Tyreese and back to Carol, "You getting sick of them yet?"

"Nope!" Mika popped with a beam, causing an equally bright smile to stretch across Carol's face.

Jungkook observed it and couldn't help smile at that, realizing how rare it was for Carol to be so happy and so at ease. He wondered if it would be better for her to stay here with the girls while he headed to Terminus but shoved the thought into the 'think about later' folder.

Carol placed the nutcracker on the table and stood up, taking hold of the pecans and moving into the kitchen, "Let's go roast them, then." Mika bounced up from the floor and rushed after Carol, while Lizzie's expression was a bit more mellow as she trailed after the pair.

Tyreese groaned again and Jungkook pushed himself out of the seat to approach him, he hovered above the man before crouching down next to him and gently shaking his shoulder, "Tyreese." He whispered, jumping back when the man flinched awake.

Tyreese's eyes zipped around the room until they settled on Jungkook. He stared for a moment before slumping onto the couch and squeezing his eyes shut, "You alright?" Jungkook offered in a whisper, pulling his arm back.

Tyreese swallowed and gave him a jerky nod, he still kept his eyes squeezed shut and mouth pressed into a thin line. Jungkook stared at him for a moment before standing back up and plopping down on the couch next to Tyreese's loveseat, "I have nightmares too." Jungkook uttered - his words working as an extended hand to begin the conversation on what was troubling the man.

Exhaustion dripped into Tyreese's features as he peeled his eyes open and stared into the fire, "About what was or what could be?" The man's voice was rough and scratchy from sleep.

The question made Jungkook's head reel before he gathered himself in the palm of his hand, "Of what was." He answered and parted his lips a second later, "I did some bad things and I can't forget them. A part of me is glad that I still think about it because to me it means I'm not too far gone, not to the point where I lack guilt or empathy."

"Do you think the person who killed Karen still thinks about it?" Jungkook's brows furrowed at that and he looked at Tyreese in question, the man caught his look and shook his head, "I keep dreaming about it, some faceless person killing her, dragging her body through the prison and setting her on fire." Jungkook's words failed him when he couldn't find what to say in response to that. Tyreese stared at the fireplace before snapping out of his daze and peering over at Jungkook, "What would you do if it was Taehyung who got killed like that?"

The question crashed through his body and made him freeze, he gaped at Tyreese as the image of that happening flashed through his head, "I.." Jungkook stuttered, sucking in a deep breath and tearing his eyes away from the man's piercing gaze, "I don't know."

"You do." Tyreese sighed and shifted into a more comfortable position, looking as if he was ready to fall back asleep despite just having a nightmare.

Jungkook curled his fingers around his thigh and allowed his mind to stray towards that potential scenario where Taehyung was sick and weak, where someone snuck into his cell and slit his throat before dragging him outside and setting him on fire, "I'd kill them." Jungkook breathed before pushing himself off the couch and walking away, "Maybe even worse than that." He uttered the words under his breath but Tyreese still picked up on them.

Jungkook slipped into the kitchen unnoticed until he sat down at the head of the table. The girls turned to eye him while Carol was busy placing the tray with pecans inside the oven. Jungkook stiffened under their observant gazes, staring back at them dubiously, "Yes?" He dared to ask, trying to hide the shakiness in his voice.

"How did you get that scratch?" Mika asked, pointing her finger at Jungkook's jaw.

The man's hand flew up to his face and hovered over the injury, "I fell into a river."

Lizzie furrowed her brows, blinking dubiously, "How'd you fall into a river?"

Jungkook turned to Carol for help but the woman only shrugged and sent him a quick quirk of her lips, "It's actually a really interesting story." Jungkook perked up and sent them a devious smirk, slamming his elbows onto the table and perching his chin onto his fists, "I was running from a herd of walkers, they were fast but I was faster, of course." He rolled his eyes dramatically, "I was ducking, swerving, even jumped over a creak with a vine but they followed after me through the creak." He lowered his voice and watched in satisfaction as their faces scrunched at his dramatics, "I stumbled upon this bridge, and in the center of it was a pile of explosives."

"That's so not true." Mika giggled and Jungkook gasped in fake offence.

"How dare you? Of course, it's true,"

Mika rolled her eyes playfully and leaned in to hear more, "What happened next, then?" She dared him, causing Jungkook's lips to stretch into a grin.

"I blew up the bridge. You should've seen it - fire bursting through the air and burning the bridge down," Jungkook spread his arms wide open and made some sound effects,"Then I fell into the river, I swam with the waves and even killed a walker in the water. I then climbed out of the river by using a boulder and jumping to the shore."

Lizzie shook her head and turned to Carol to see if he was telling the truth - the woman only winked at her and stayed silent, "I don't believe you." Mika sang, yet still beamed at him.

Jungkook shrugged, reaching down to pluck a pecan from the tray on the table and plopped it in his mouth, "I'm badass like that." He mumbled through a mouthful, causing Mika's face to scrunch.

"They're better when they're roasted." The girl informed him, nodding towards the oven where the pecans were currently cooking.

Jungkook scrunched his nose and shoved his tongue at her, making her mimic his actions. Jungkook snorted and reached down to grab the nutcracker to crack more pecans, "Better yet, tell me what's the name of your doll." He nudged his chin at the said doll - the thing being placed on the seat next to Mika.

Mika's face lit up and a giggle bubbled from her chest before she proudly stated, "Griselda Gunderson!"

"That's a cool ass name." Jungkook dramatized his nod of support.

"Don't curse." Carol reprimanded with narrowed eyes and a shake of her head, earning herself a sheepish look in return.

Jungkook turned to look at Lizzie who was silent once again, "Do you have a doll?" He asked softly, wondering if it was a situation where they only found one and the girl felt jealous that it belonged to her sister.

"No." Lizzie shook her head, cracking the pecans silently, "I don't want one."

Jungkook hummed, "I want a doll like that." He gestured towards Griselda, pressing his lips together when Mika sent him a skeptical look.

"Aren't you too old to have dolls?" She questioned, making Carol laugh and Jungkook puff a breath through his smile.

"No one's ever old enough to have dolls." He waved his hand at the said doll, "When you're older, you have more responsibilities, and that usually comes with fear and anxiety. If hugging a doll eases those fears and makes you feel better, why would we judge someone for having dolls at twenty?"

Mika's face softened and she looked like she was deep in thought before nodding in agreement, "So, I can have this doll when I'm twenty?" She mumbled under her breath, making Lizzie roll her eyes.

Jungkook offered her a comforting smile, "Even when you're thirty and forty." He turned to Carol who was smiling to herself as she added more pecans to the next tray, "How did you know roasted pecans tasted good?"

The two girls also looked curious to hear the answer and Carol wasn't afraid to answer the question, "I used to make these with my grandma when I was little."

"They smell good." Mika commented, sniffing the air.

Carol pulled the tray off the table, "Alright! I think you guys are ready to start doing the cooking around here." She teased as she walked up to the oven, tugging it open and pulling the tray of cooked pecans out, "Who wants to put them in?" She called out and Jungkook chuckled when the girls jumped out of their seats and rushed towards her.

"Me!"

Perhaps he could stay for a bit longer, only until he healed.