{the lab}

It was time to begin the experiments, time for Taehyung to begin running his tests to come up with a reasonable explanation as to how the virus has been kept dormant in Jungkook for so long. "You sure you're okay with this?" Taehyung spoke up, flicking the needle with his gloved hands as he turned towards the brunette. 

Hopping up on the bed, Jungkook gave a thumbs up in reassurance, "A few needles won't hurt... I'll be fine." he chuckled, playfully nudging the scientist's shoulder in an attempt to lighten up the tense atmosphere. It was just earlier today that they'd decided to turn one of the four bedrooms into a makeshift science lab. With the assistance of his cousin, Taehyung had managed to set up his equipment. But it was still so little compared to the amount of things he left back in the van. 

Letting out a huff, Taehyung came to the realisation that they'd definitely need more equipment and sterilisation gear if he wanted to carry out the procedure safely. So placing the needle back down on the tray, Taehyung called for the one person he knew he could trust when it came to the topic of science, "Yo Jin!" Tae shout. 

The sounds of slow footsteps grew louder until a familiar brunette male rounded the corner, letting out a tired yawn as he ruffled his bed hair, "What's happening?" he asked, turning towards his cousin. 

Letting out a sigh, Taehyung crossed his arms over his form, "We need more equipment to run the experiments safely." he began to explain, gesturing towards Jungkook sitting up on the bed, "Are you able to pull a small group together and head back to the science facility?" he asked, biting down on his lower lip at the daring request, "There should be sterilised tools still kept away in the lab. Besides, I also need to make up a few more batches of the temporary vaccine, we've only got enough to last another two or three months at most... I wanna be safe." 

Gnawing at the inside of his cheek, Jin gave a reluctant nod, "Sure, I'll try and get a car up and running with Tessa." he announced, straightening himself up, "I'll head out with her and Joon." he smiled hesitantly, turning on his heels and heading out the bedroom door.

-----

It didn't take long for Tessa to fix up a nearby car. Long blonde hair tied back messily in a high ponytail, Tessa tweaked around with the rusted old car. It didn't take long for the engine to sputter to life, a horrible coughing sound like that of a dying old man. With a loud roar, a cloud of smoke blasted out from the exhaust pipe. Tessa's eyes watered and she coughed violently before giving a quick thumbs up, "Ready to go!" she smiled, slamming the front bonnet shut and giving it a tap. 

Namjoon smiled, two small dimples piercing at the sides of his cheeks as he made his way to the side of the car, "Lets get a move on before dark." he spoke up, opening the door and sliding into the front passenger seat. 

Jin made his way into the drivers seat, buckling up his seatbelt and placing his hands tightly on the cool leather of the steering wheel, "Oh please," he uttered, rolling his eyes at the taller male, "We've got ages before dark." 

Watching the two bickering males, Tessa slipped herself into the centre of the back passenger seat, not bothering with her seatbelt as she leant forwards, "Don't jinx us." she chuckled, "Lets just get a move on." she muttered, slipping her elastic band from her head as she let her hair down. As Tessa tucked her loose strands of hair behind her ears, Jin placed a steady hand against the gears of the car, switching the vehicle into drive and pressing down lightly against the accelerator. 

Namjoon and Tessa both flinched as the car jerked forwards, but were quick to relax back into their seats when the vehicle steadied itself, tires hissing along the dirt. As the car engine sung to the lone country road, Namjoon rolled down his window, relishing the roaring winds that twirled in his tousled hair and whistled in his ears. He'd oddly felt at peace the past week. After the incident at the science lab, he'd done nothing but lounge around all day, something he hadn't done since god knows when. He wished it could stay that way, living a simple life. 

Loose metal on the car fluttered violently in the wind and Jin began to wonder if it might break away. He watched as the old metal beat as if trying to take flight, letting out a sigh as he slightly eased his foot off of the accelerator. Thankfully for the small group, it wasn't a very long drive to the lab, maybe only ten minutes at best. 

Seeing as Namjoon had grown up in the area, Hoseok had decided to stay back at the cottage trusting that the silver haired male knew the terrain well enough to be cautious of potential danger. Just in case, Tessa had brought a pair of twin blades, courtesy of Jimin, and Jin had brought a couple of hand guns as back up. 

"We're here." Jin sung, pulling up just before the science facility. With one swift motion he switched the gears into park, shutting off the engine of the hot-wired car by unplugging the cords and gesturing for the squad to move out. 

Sweeping his feet off the dashboard, Namjoon was first to climb out of the car, stretching as he landed his combat boots firmly against the dirt, "Lets do this quick," he clapped, "we don't want any mishaps." he stated, slipping a spare handgun from his pocket as a safety pre-caution, beginning to walk down the hill and to the science facility. 

Tessa twirled Jimin's two twin blades between her fingers, "I agree," she breathed, "lets just get in, get what we need, then move out."

Jin nod, "There's only two rooms we need to visit," he explained, leading the group forwards, "Namjoon and Tessa, you two can go gather equipment seeing as Namjoon has some kind of an idea of what we need." he spoke, drawing his gun from his belt as he swept his loose strands of hair from his eyes, "I'll get any ingredients we need to make up another batch of the temporary vaccine." 

Tessa gave a solute, "Got it."

Extending a hand, Namjoon intertwined his finger's loosely with Tessa's, "Meet back here in ten minutes, no later." he spoke, gently tugging the blonde haired female with him, through the open science facility door and down through the shadowed hallways. 

Jin rested his hand firmly beside his waist as he too made his way into the lab, choosing a different path through the building of mazed corridors. His combat boots echoed against the white walls of the facility as they pounded eerily against the cement floors, only raising his anxiety as he made his way through the building. 

Squinting his eyes, Jin was quick to make his way down the dark hallway, finding himself in front of a familiar wooden door. "This is it." he breathed, extending an arm as he placed a hand on the door, swinging it open with a horrifying creak of the hinges. He cringed at the noise before re-focusing himself, flicking on the solar powered lights and lighting up the room. 

Opening and closing his eyes, Jin quickly adjusted his vision to the newly found light, letting out a sigh of relief, "Thank God." he breathed, a hand placed steadily against his chest as he took in his familiar surroundings. Thankfully, the medical supplies he needed were still in place, shelved in small glass bottles at the back of the small room. 

The brunette quickly shuffled over to the shelf, reaching out as he spun each bottle, eyes skimming along their labels as he grabbed what he needed and slipped them into the pockets of his lab coat. Thankfully the pockets of his coat were quite loose and deep, allowing for the brunette to stack up on a lot of different chemicals. They really needed to stock up, it was a case of life or death for both Hoseok and Jimin. Thankfully the government science lab had remained untouched and Seokjin knew for a fact everything they needed was stocked up safely inside. 

"Namjoon better be finishing up." Seokjin sighed, turning on his heels as the glass bottles clinked together in his pockets. The brunette wanted to get out of the lab as fast as humanly possible, memories of their last fight beginning to cloud his mind as he made his way out the door and down the shadowed hallways. 

Feet landing faster against the cold concrete floor of the science lab, Jin found his ears perk up with the sound of a cry for help. He froze, feet now rooted in place. The scream came through like a shard of glass, like a terrified soul had unleashed a demon. Jin's eyes widened and pulse began to quicken, his heart thudding like a rock rattling in a box as he realised it wasn't a scream from an infected, nor a male. 

But a female.

The scream came again desperate, terrified... human.

The blood drained from Jin's face before he was even aware of making a conscious decision. Pivoting on his feet, his legs pounded furiously against the floor of the science lab, ears straining for more sounds as he sped his way down unfamiliar halls and towards the unknown female. He didn't know why he was doing this, no clue as to what to do when he got there, just that he had to get there fast.

Breathing now coming in short gasps, Jin pushed his way forwards, shoulder clipping the side of the concrete wall before rounding one final corner. 

His heart sunk to the pit of his stomach at the sight. His mouth went dry, air seemingly gone as he lay his eyes over the female standing at the end of the hall. 

With a thick trail of warm blood running down her pale skin, the raven haired female swung a wooden baseball bat over her form, knocking a tattered runner off of her badly injured leg. It took Jin a moment to take in the seriousness of the situation. Gaze falling to the female's lower leg, Jin knew from experience that she'd now been infected. The skin had been gashed open, purple and pink blotches flourishing against her skin as blood began to trickle down her leg, soaking into her socks. 

Snapping himself back into reality, Jin snatched his weapon from his belt, eyes narrowing in determination as he locked his gun onto target. One last runner gripped itself to the female's smaller form as she kicked and cried for it to get off. It's bones snapped as it moved, pinning her against the wall with its vice like grip. So without loosing another second, Jin pulled the trigger. 

The bullet left the barrel as it pierced through the air, penetrating through flesh and sending the runner to the floor. The female stumbled away from the wall, hand clasped tightly around her upper arm as she limped over the floor speckled with blood. Her skin was quick to go ashen, eyes blurry with un-fallen tears. 

Jin was at a loss for words as his eyes fell over the dozen runners unmoving at her feet. A single girl had managed to do so much damage on her own, swing a bat with a limp arm and fight with a broken leg?

Sucking in a sharp breath of cold air, the girl faced him, short black hair matted with blood as she softly smiled, "Thank you." she choked before her eyes fell shut, her legs failing on her

and she fell to the floor.

-----------------

{Author Note}

Sorry this took so long! I never thought it would've taken me so long to update this book!

Thanks for waiting!

Update tomorrow xox

(unedited)