{for humanities sake}

In the frigid autumn air the squad continued down the road, through the town's main centre and down a familiar path, towards the high school and to the government science lab. The wind blew cold, the warning of winter approaching them. Upon the grass were tiny speckles of frost, much like sprinkled sugar over a cake. The cold air had a way of keeping them in the moment, wicking away body heat much faster then they could replace it. Daisies breaths came in puffs, arms hugging themselves around her tiny form as she moved with briskness. Noticing her silent struggle, Hoseok removed his jumper which at this stage was now almost completely dry, draping it over the girl's shoulders. 

Green eyes flickering up to meet his, Daisy gave a soft smile, "Thanks Hoseok." she sniffed, obviously catching a cold after the extreme temperatures the squad had been through today. 

"No problem." he shrugged. Raising an arm, Hoseok positioned his hand to the sky, flattening his palm as he measured the distance between the sun and the horizon. "Judging by the position of the sun, it's mid-afternoon" he spoke, slightly relieved that they'd have more then enough time to make it down to the science facility. 

"That's a relief." Taehyung sighed, trotting alongside Jungkook, "we're almost at the high school and the facility is about a 45 minute walk from there. I bet we can do it in under an hour." he commented, sliding his hands into the pockets of his lab coat which at this stage was now dry. 

The grey clouds had finally disappeared leaving room for the sun. As Taehyung continued to head down the country road the sun began to warm his skin in the same way the nostalgia brought warmth to his core. The rustling of the surrounding trees and the soft chirping of birds were music to his ears, a soothing sound in the midst of his chaotic past few days. Lowering his head from the sky, Taehyung turned to the male walking beside him. Jungkook's caramel skin was almost golden under the soft rays of the afternoon sun, silver piercings catching in the light with every step he took forwards. 

"Staring are we?" Jungkook chuckled as he smugly turned towards Taehyung's now flustered form. 

Regaining his composure, Taehyung swept a hand across his vision, "Pssh, no... say what you believe." he spoke, clicking his tongue dismissively as he turned his gaze back to the road ahead, but his expression was quick to soften at the crumbling building in the distance. 

Jungkook found himself also falling silent at the sight of the building coming up on their left, "It's the old high school." he breathed, eyes not leaving the rusted front gates. The metal of the gates were rusted over, peeling at the sides whilst vines grew around the edges. Behind the haunting gate was the school, slowly crumbling away but standing tall and proud none the less. Jimin too began to slow at the sight of the doors of the front entrance hanging wide open, like a moment frozen in time after the students had fled the school in a panicked heap. 

"Thanks Taehyung." Jimin muttered. 

Taehyung rose a brow in question, "Why are you thanking me?" 

The blonde male turned towards Taehyung, lightly twirling his dagger between his fingers, "Do you remember day zero? You kinda left in a hurry." he began to explain, the blade of his knife catching in the light. 

Taehyung frowned, "Yeah... I'd never forget it." he replied, recalling his outburst in the middle of a lecture as he fled the school grounds. For the first time, he felt a wave of guilt wash over him as he recalled leaving an entire body of students behind to fend for themselves. He felt selfish. 

Jimin's bright chuckle snapped him from his trance, "You left your backpack in the classroom." he smiled taking Taehyung aback with his absolute positivity, "I was cornered in the classroom, if it wasn't for the stupid stuff you carried around in your backpack I seriously wouldn't be alive." he smiled, before placing his hands firmly against the scientist's shoulders, "So thank you, Taehyung."

The atmosphere fell silent once again as Taehyung struggled to find the words to say, he'd never really been thanked before, not even for creating a temporary antidote for humanity. You could say it made him feel warm, a nice feeling. Taehyung rolled his eyes, "Don't thank me... you were just lucky." he snorted, but Jimin didn't fail to notice the slight twitch at the corner of his lip threatening to form into a smile. 

------

"I'm seriously surprised we haven't come across too many infected." Namjoon spoke up from the back of the squad, eyes scanning over the surrounding forest as he put himself on high alert. "It's kinda odd, the fact that there's only been a few strays here and there."

Hoseok nod his head, arms crossing over his form as he too began to scan the road ahead, "The area should've been untouched for years, so there should be a lot more." he commented, "Lets not question it too much for now, we're almost at the lab."

Lips twisting in confusion, Jin was also baffled by the fact that there were almost no signs of infection. The only explanations behind it were that; one, the infected were hidden deep inside the crumbling buildings, two, that the infected had enough time to wonder further than the country, or three, that someone had come through this area before them and cleared any infected in their way. Eyes falling over Hoseok's form, Jin was about to warn the navigator of the three different possibilities but he paused. Judging by the stern expression on the male's face, Hoseok already knew of the troubles. The orange haired male wanted to keep everyone calm, so he wasn't saying a thing. 

Feet crunching over the rugged dirt road, the trees of the forest began to thin out one by one as the squad neared a clearing in the forest. As they came to the end of the dirt road, Hoseok's eyes widened at the sight before him. Down a slope of lush green grass was the science facility. 

Coming to a stop beside the orange haired male, Yoongi's stomach dropped at the sight, a feeling of nausea washing over him as he received painful flashbacks of the horrid events on day zero. An array of police cars lay at the entrance, blue and white paint peeling from the rusted metal and windows shattered from the outside. Yoongi gulped at the haunting sight, "I don't wanna have to say this Taehyung, but thanks for the warning on day zero, seriously, thank you." he muttered, a cool breeze weaving its way through the forest and entangling itself in Yoongi's tousled hair. 

Taehyung snorted before the smallest of smiles made its way to his lips, "Wow, looks like I actually helped on day zero." turning his gaze to the blue haired male beside him, Taehyung smirked, "You're welcome." 

Coming up from behind the two males, Tessa placed a firm hand on each of their shoulders causing the males to almost jump in fright, "Lets get a move on," she grinned, pleased that the two hot heads of the squad had finally managed to form a bit of peace. 

With Tessa's words, the squad turned to the hill, slowly stumbling down its slope as they made their way down towards the facility. The grass was still frosty and damp causing a few slip ups from the squad, Jimin especially. "Here." Yoongi chuckled, rolling his eyes at the male's clumsiness as he extended a hand. Jimin huffed as he grabbed a hold of Yoongi's hand, lacing their fingers together as they steadily made their way down the slope. 

Letting out a drastic sigh, Jungkook was more than happy when his feet landed on the flat ground outside the entrance of the lab. They were here, at the entrance of the very place they went through countless hardships to get to... so why did Jungkook feel like this was all just too easy? Feeling a warm hand make contact with his shoulder, Jungkook turned his head to find Taehyung now standing beside him, "Something doesn't feel right." Taehyung spoke. 

Jungkook nod with a stern expression, "I know... camp Delta left before us, in a van too." he began to explain, "It would only make sense that they arrived here long before us."

"Everyone shut up for a second." Yoongi piped up, silencing the squad with his command. With a finger over his lips Yoongi gestured for the squad to follow him behind a rusted police car, ducking out of view from the science facility. Hesitantly, Yoongi peeked over the vehicle, gaze falling through the shattered window of the car and to the end of the lab. His eyes widened before he let himself drop back behind the safety of the rusted car, "They're faint, but I see muddy footprints."

Jimin frowned, "It's probably just a walker or something."

Creasing his brows together, Yoongi pinched the bridge of his nose. "No, this is bad. The footprints are evenly spaced, no staggering infected could walk so perfectly like that. And they're definitely not old." He stated, detective skills coming into play, "It rained just this morning. The footprints would've been made after the rain had stopped."

Sucking in a sharp breath of air Hoseok spoke, "So it's only been within the last two hours."

Confirming there suspicions the sounds of footsteps and static radio erupted from the end of the science facility. Biting down on his lower lip, Yoongi once again peered over the rusted vehicle, silently cursing to himself as his gaze fell upon a group of males, a camp Delta logo imprinted on the sleeves of their jackets. 

Hearing the commotion Jin ruffled his hair in frustration, "We can't let them head inside before us, no freaking way." 

Hoseok rose a brow, "How do we know they haven't been inside already?" he whispered, turning towards the scientist. 

Jin gestured for him to come closer before they both proceeded to peer over the side of the car, "See the entrance," he muttered earning a nod from the orange haired male beside him, "Vines have twisted over it, it hasn't been broken open yet."

"And you're sure there's no other entrance?" Hoseok questioned. 

Jin nod, "I'm positive." he confirmed before slipping a hand into the pocket of his lab coat, "Besides... they would have to forcefully break open the door without this." he smirked a white ID card pinched in-between his fingers. With confidence, Jin gestured towards the front door, "I think we can do this."

Hoseok, Jin and Yoongi all ducked back behind the van, "There's ten of them, we're roughly evenly matched." he commented. 

"The question is, do we go through with this?" Jimin added earning a reluctant look from some members of the squad. 

Jimin watched as Jungkook's eyes filled with fire, a flame of determination as he turned towards his squad. "We fought so hard to be here, we need to go through with this." he spoke with absolute certainty. "This isn't just our fight, it's a fight for humanity, we can't turn back nor can we wait any longer. We have to do this, even if we're risking our lives." Jungkook spoke, before gesturing to the camp Delta squad, 

"We need to fight."

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

{Author Note}

Oft, four chapters left! I just wanna say thank you so much to everyone for the support on this book! I'm really glad you guys love it. xox

Also, make sure to go check out my latest fiction. It's book 1 of a 7 book series surrounding each of the seven members. All of the books will take place in the same universe, Hoseok's story is first xox

(unedited)