{rude awakening}

With the rising of the sun, Taehyung began to stir in his sleep, arising from his heavy slumber. As he stretched his arms high above his head he was first aware of the coolness in the air and it's loamy fragrance. Slowly, Taehyung kicked his legs around to the side of his bed, eyes opening and closing as he adjusted to the light, casting his gaze out the open window. 

He froze.

Taehyung half wondered if he was still dreaming as he sat up to take in the shafts of light that burst through the curtains of his room. Only, it wasn't the view that caught him off guard, it was something else entirely. 

A clicker. 

Rotting tattered flesh, bones protruding it's skin a single clicker stare at him from outside the open window, the window he had forgotten to shut the night before. If Taehyung wasn't awake before, he sure as hell was awake now. Perhaps more fully awake then he'd ever been. 

Heart beating out of his chest, breathing short and ragged Taehyung's eyes scanned the room. There were no paths out of the room without making a sound, no sign of another person to help. As far as he could tell, he was alone with the clicker, edging closer and closer towards the window frame before it latched it's hand against the wood, stumbling over and falling into the bedroom. With a wave of nausea washing over his tired form, Taehyung was on his feet within seconds, eyes wide as he slowly began to back away from the clicker. 

The clicking noises were almost like a terrible drumming in his ears, a ticking of the clock as he shuffled further and further back, until his hand brushed along his draws. Gulping, Taehyung knew that the second he tried anything, the clicker would notice him. He couldn't run, the clicker was now by the door so instead, he tried for anything. 

Sucking in a painful breath of air, Taehyung slid open the draw beside his bed, snatching the clicker's attention towards himself. His eyes widened, skin falling ashen, "It's empty?"

Letting out an awful screech, the clicker advanced forwards, lunging itself towards Taehyung's cowering form. "Fuck!" Taehyung cursed, falling as he began feeling around for any object of use. Hand falling over his bedside table, Taehyung grabbed the vintage lamp off of the wood, pulling it from it's socket before swinging it across his form, hitting the clicker straight over the head. The monster stumbled back for a brief moment allowing for Taehyung to try and dash past to the door. But his efforts were for nothing when the clicker reached out a broken arm, snatching Taehyung's science coat before pinning the male to the floor. 

Taehyung let out a painful grunt as his back collided with the wooden floor, breath catching in his throat as he tried desperately to kick the clicker from his defenceless form. Using one hand to defend himself, Taehyung rose the other hand to the door beside him, flailing it about as he tried to reach for the door handle. 

No use, it was just out of reach. 

He felt almost out of breath as the clicker's teeth came into view, reaching in for the soft skin of his neck. So in one last desperate attempt, Taehyung asked for, "HELP!" he shout, voice loud enough to be heard by anyone in the cottage, "FUCKING ANYONE!" he rasped, using both of his hands to try and keep the clicker from biting him. 

Within a split second, the wooden door was broken open, a familiar fluffy haired brunette charging into the room. Raising his gun to the infected, Jungkook didn't waste a second as his finger landed against the trigger, sending a bullet from the chamber and lodging it into the clicker's skull. 

Blood splattering over his cheek, Taehyung was quick to kick the clicker's lifeless form from his body, pushing himself out from underneath the infected with shaking limbs. Jungkook too looked frightened, still in his defensive stance as he glued his eyes to the clicker's unmoving form. 

Lower lip slightly trembling, Taehyung brought his science coat back up over his shoulder, "Thanks." he gulped, bringing a hand to his face as he wiped off the blood. 

Slipping his gun back into his pocket, Jungkook shuffled over to Taehyung, helping the male to his feet, "Are you hurt?"

Taehyung shook his head, "Maybe just a few bruises, nothing major." he breathed before turning his gaze back out the open window. The curtains blew softly in the morning breeze, soft rays of the sun casting a golden glow on the male's honey like skin. But they refused to focus on the beauty of the early morning when their eyes cast themselves over the horde approaching through the thick forest at the end of the valley. 

"Oh no..." Jungkook uttered, stumbling back a little before he began to tug on Taehyung's sleeve, "you need to hide, I'll go get Hoseok and Yoongi." Jungkook instructed, quickly dashing from Taehyung's side and out into the hallway. 

Dashing down the narrow hall of the cottage, Jungkook found himself hurriedly knocking against Hoseok's door. Within a few seconds, the wood swung open revealing the messy haired male, "Hoseok, get your gear." Jungkook commanded, not even as much as a good morning as he was quick to give the male orders, "Horde approaching from the East." 

Ruffling his tousled hair, Hoseok's lidded eyes were quick to widen as he registered Jungkook's words, "Got it." he muttered tiredly as he returned into the darkness of his room, presumably going to find his bow and arrows. 

Turning on his feet, Jungkook dashed back down the hallway and into the living room. "Yoongi!" Jungkook exclaimed, quickly making his way over to the sleeping male sprawled over the couch. 

Groaning, Yoongi turned in his sleep, "Five more minutes..." he mumbled, blue hair falling messily over his closed eyes. 

Rolling his eyes, Jungkook grabbed a hold of Yoongi's arm, tugging the male from the couch and onto the hard wooden floor with a thud. "Fuck!" Yoongi cried, breath leaving him as he landed against the floor. His now open eyes snapped towards the younger male, "Jungkook, I'm so gonna kill you for this-"

"-Not if the horde kills us first." Jungkook scoffed, gesturing out the front window. 

Yoongi froze, "wait... there's a horde approaching!?" 

Jungkook nod before twisting his lips into a frown, "Meet Hoseok and I on the roof," he explained, slipping his handgun from his pocket, "everyone else can bunker down inside, we're gonna try to not engage and let them pass through." he instructed earning a nod of acknowledgement from the blue haired male.

----

"How's your shoulder Hoseok?" Jungkook muttered, gun held tightly in his grasp as his eyes cast themselves across the valley at the approaching horde. 

Wind entangling itself through his tousled hair, Hoseok sat against the edge of the roof, bow rested against his lap as he rolled his shoulder backwards, "Recovering," he spoke up, voice lower then usual, "It's only been about a week since it was shot, the daily injections that keep me from turning are more of a pain then my shoulder." he huffed. The rising sun settled itself against Hoseok's caramel skin, a golden glow as he cast his eyes to the approaching horde. There weren't too many, but they were quite spread apart from one another. 

Yoongi positioned himself on the edge of the roof, sharp feline eyes narrowed at the first few staggering infected as they brushed through the grass of the meadow, quickly reaching the house. The three males collectively held their breaths as they began to stagger around the cottage, some shuffling mindlessly over the front porch before they continued their journey forwards and to the end of the valley. 

Holding the string to his cheek, Hoseok was ready to fire if any of the infected decided to go rouge, but luckily, the horde decided to pass through with no troubles. "few..." Hoseok sighed in relief, bringing his bow back down into his lap. "that was a close one."

Jungkook ran a hand through his hair, "Thank god everyone's okay." he sighed in relief, slipping his handgun back into his belt. "I felt a little nervous keeping everyone asleep inside." he stated, recalling how he had decided not to wake anyone. He knew he was taking a risk in doing so, but he didn't want to cause any accidental noise or uproars. 

"You made a good call." Yoongi piped up, slipping his two handguns into the pocket of his oversized hoodie, "I don't think everyone could've collected themselves in time, letting them sleep keeps the stress levels down." 

"I agree," Hoseok muttered, "but we've still gotta tell them. Another horde could pass through at any given moment." Swinging his bow over his shoulder, Hoseok was first to climb over to the edge of the old roof, carefully climbing down the wooden beams and onto the porch below him. Yoongi followed closely behind, assisted by Hoseok with his height disadvantage before Jungkook jumped down last. 

-----

In the 5 hours Taehyung had been in bed, he must've woken up six times. Not for that long each time, but enough to break up his sleep into un-refreshing chunks. With every disturbance, there was a new nightmare. A horde taking over the squad, people's deaths. 

Taehyung couldn't help but let his tired eyes settle on the now closed window of his bedroom, the curtains shut over blocking out the soft moonlight. He couldn't sleep on his own, not after waking up to a clicker at his window that morning. So collecting himself, Taehyung swung his legs around to the side of his bed, landing his feet firmly against the wooden floor as he rose. 

Wrapping his arms tightly around his form, the cold midnight air almost tormented him in his flimsy t-shirt as he made his way out of his bedroom and down the hall. He didn't bother to knock as he latched his hand tightly around a door handle, swinging open the door and quickly shuffling into the neighbouring room. 

Taehyung found a soft smile creep its way across his lips as his gaze fell upon the male in the bed before him. Cuddled into the sheets was Jungkook. For the most part he kept his head buried in the duvet, his fluffy brunette hair sticking out from underneath the covers. His fingers were curled into the fabric, not clasping it tightly, but just enough to reassure him. 

Shuffling over to the sleeping male, Taehyung slipped himself slowly into the double bed, turning on his side to give Jungkook his space. But just as the first bite of cold creeped under his night shirt, Jungkook's hand moved around Taehyung's middle, warm and soft. In seconds, their bodies were moulded together. 

In the darkness their cuddles felt like a little touch of heaven, warm, together, cozy. Taehyung wished he could extend the night so he could feel safe for longer, safe in Jungkook's embrace. His arms wrapped right around Taehyung and brought a peace he'd never known before, a calming of the storms. 

"Goodnight Kook."

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

{Author Note}

A little bit of a filler chapter as the calm before the storm. The story will begin to pick up its pace from now on so get ready!!

Update soon xox

(unedited)