{extra load}

"Jin!?" Taehyung exclaimed, eyes wide as his gaze remained glued on the man standing in front of the parked van. The three other male's turned in question at Taehyung's reaction. 

"Wait-" Namjoon spoke up, turning in his seat before gesturing out the window, "You know that guy?" 

Cracking his knuckles and sharpening his gaze, Taehyung's eyes sent a deadly glare towards Jin, "Yeah-" he spoke, pausing as he pushed Hoseok aside, heading straight towards the back door of the van, "that guy has a lot of explaining to do." Taehyung snapped, placing his palms against the back doors before pushing them open. A gust of cold autumn wind channeled itself into the van, sweeping through Taehyung's brunette locks as he jumped outside. 

Fists clenched tightly by his side, Taehyung stomped his way over the cracked pavement brewing anger like tea in a pot or like a storm out at sea. Rigid with fury Taehyung's stomping became more aggressive, pace faster as he gained ground on the male. It seemed Jin had registered Taehyung's lost temper, beginning to raise his arms in defence, shaking his hands as he pleaded for the male to stop, "Taehyung- I know what I did bu-"

"Shut up!" Taehyung shout, closing in on Jin as he raised a clenched fist, swinging it without hesitation and ploughing it into Jin's cheek. 

Letting out a grunt, Jin found himself flying backwards, stumbling on his feet before regaining his balance. Bringing a soft hand to the side of his face, Jin flinched as his fingers brushed along the now bruised skin, facial expression hardening as he turned back towards the raging brunette before him. "Tae listen-"

"I don't wanna hear anything from you!" Taehyung shout, cutting off Jin's words as he began to stomp his way towards the older male, "You left me!" he exclaimed, a hint of sadness laced through his raised voice, "You said you'd stick with me till the end, but you left me!" Taking another step forwards, Taehyung was once again in front of Jin, fist raised and ready. Jin found himself bracing for the heavy impact, but was instead caught off guard when a hand gripped itself tightly around Taehyung's arm. 

Stumbling backwards, Taehyung felt himself being tugged away from Jin, "Let go, Yoongi." Taehyung spoke through clenched teeth, turning towards the blue haired male behind him, "This has nothing to do with you." 

'this has nothing to do with you,' It was a sentence Yoongi was used to hearing from Taehyung, words he hadn't heard in a very long time. Before the apocalypse, back when he was just the local police man, Taehyung was the most troublesome guy in the area. Always breaking out into violence street fights, Yoongi was the only person who could ever break them up. Almost every time he pulled back Taehyung's bruised and battered form, he was always met by the same stubborn words of, 'this has nothing to do with you.'

"Fine then." Yoongi sighed, smugly releasing his tight grasp from Taehyung's arm, "this time, I won't interfere." he spoke bluntly as he took a step backwards from the fuming male, leaving him completely baffled at Yoongi's unexpected behaviour. Taehyung didn't know what to say, he had frozen up. For the first time, Yoongi wasn't disrupting Taehyung, instead he was allowing the younger male to make his own decisions as to what to do next. 

Sucking in a sharp breath of air, Taehyung's chest rose and fell, fists unclenching until his fingers hung loosely by his side. Relaxing in his place, Taehyung decided to act mature for once. Violence couldn't solve everything. 

"Tae..." Jin spoke up, soft voice further relaxing Taehyung as the older male took a hesitant step forwards, warm rays of the setting sun entangling themselves through Jin's chestnut hair. "I'm sorry okay. There was a good reason why I left, I promise."

"Bullshit." Taehyung snapped, trying to keep his cool as his eyes transferred dangerously over Jin's, "We were together since the first month of the apocalypse! We traveled together, fought together, heck- we even created the temporary vaccine together!" Taehyung called, releasing his anger in the form of words rather then actions. 

Yoongi's eyes widened at Taehyung's words. Taehyung had spoken of his cousin once before, about how they both came from a long line of scientists and managed to create the temporary vaccine together. It baffled Yoongi that they were both standing right before him. If anything, they had a much higher chance of creating a cure with the both of them in the squad. 

"I'm sorry Tae-" Jin spoke, biting nervously on the bottom of his lip as his eyes began to scan both left and right, "I'll explain everything, but can we first get inside the van. It's too dangerous to converse outside." he explained, earning a nod from Yoongi.

"I agree." The blue haired male spoke, pointing a finger over his shoulder at the van parked behind him, "The sun's setting and we've gotta move." 

---------

It didn't take a lot of persuasion to get both Taehyung and Jin inside the van, after all, the sun was continuing its decent, already brushing below the concrete buildings and casting its shadows for the approaching nightfall. It was beginning to concern Hoseok, as navigator he needed to quickly secure their location for the night. 

Eyes drifting to the horizon, the sky was pink, mingling with the rolling clouds. He watched with an unwavering gaze as the fiery red orb of light slowly sunk below the buildings, a shadow of darkness closing in with every painful tick of the clock. Images of the horrors of the night bled and burnt into his mind as he watched the changing sky. "We need to move now." Hoseok spoke, turning towards the males who'd just entered into the van. In front of him was Jungkook, Yoongi, Taehyung and Jin. Namjoon had returned to his own van after Hoseok insisted on driving. "Sunset isn't a good sign, especially since we're surrounded by buildings."

"We can't." Jin spoke up, rendering everyone in the van speechless at his sudden words. "I'm sorry for just barging in all of a sudden, but you've gotta listen to me. We can't travel any further in this van." 

Brows furrowed in utter confusion Hoseok found his chest beginning to rise and fall faster as he turned his attention towards the newest member of the squad, "Explain." he spoke bluntly, keeping his words short to avoid wasting any more time. 

Crossing his arms firmly over his chest, Jin took in a deep breath as the squads eyes burned into him, "I was a member of the small rural camp of foxtrot along with Taehyung." Jin spoke, giving a quick glance towards Taehyung who was still avoiding the older male. Letting out a sigh, Jin continued, "After we developed a temporary vaccine, our plan was to deliver it to camps. Foxtrot demanded that Taehyung and I delivered them, ourselves, to teach other camps how to make the vaccine... but I knew it was a terrible idea."

Jungkook rose a brow, "How was it a bad idea? It literally saved Jimin's life over at camp Beta." he explained, "If Tessa didn't know how to use the vaccine, Jimin would've died."

Taking in Jungkook's words, Jin gave a nod of approval, "I know it would've saved lives, but eventually humanity would run out of the materials required for the injections." he spoke, proving his point before he continued, "So I decided to disobey camp foxtrot, head for the city and try to travel to the old government science facility where my uncle's notes are located." Turning his head to the side, Jin gave a soft smile at the angry brunette beside him, "I guess you ended up having the same idea, Tae."

The frigid air had its way of keeping someone in the moment, wicking away body heat faster than it was replaced. Breath coming out in puffs, arms hugged tightly around his body it was one of those nights for Taehyung where normal clothes weren't enough, when they felt thinner then they actually were. Letting out a warm breath of foggy air, Taehyung's eyes flickered over to Jin, "It makes sense..." he trailed on, "I had a feeling you'd go and do something stupid like that... how have you even survived in the city for this long!?" Taehyung spoke up, turning to his cousin in question. 

Jin began to gnaw on the inside of his cheek as his gaze turned back to the squad's navigator, "I've barely survived," Jin said, pointing out the front windscreen as the scenery around them began to darken, "In fact, my van is parked just down the road. I can't drive any further and neither can you."

"No..." Hoseok spoke up, sucking in a deep breath as he latched his hands tightly around Jin's shoulders. He was disconnected from everything but the ever present sound of his drumming heart, "does that mean-"

With tight lips, Jin gave a reluctant nod, "the path ahead, it's completely blocked off." 

In that precise moment, everyone's hearts sunk. Fear sat on Hoseok like a pillow over his mouth and nose. Enough air got by it, allowing his body to continue functioning, but it was crippling all the same. He could walk, talk and think like he always did, but his insides felt like they were slowly dying. There was almost no way they could handle this, the chance that a horde could attack them without the proper protection. It was safe to say, Hoseok felt sick. 

Hoseok watched as Jungkook took a step forwards, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder before giving it a tight squeeze, "Hoseok..." Jungkook spoke, voice neither stern or soft as he looked him straight in the eye, "What's the call." Frozen in place, Taehyung and Yoongi turned their eyes to meet Hoseok's, awaiting his decision. Hoseok felt cornered, pressured. To be honest, he didn't know what to do, what to think. But he had to act now.

Gritting his teeth, Hoseok turned towards Jin, "What did it look like up ahead?" Hoseok asked, watching as Jin brought a finger to his chin. 

"Rubble has covered the roads, we can't drive through. But there might be a way if we travel through one of the buildings." he explained. 

Hoseok gave a nod of approval before turning back to the rest of the squad, "That's true, if we can't make it through in the van, we'll have to somehow travel across through a building." Hoseok stated, bracing everyone for the worst, "It's decided. We're abandoning the van."

Hearing Hoseok's decision, Jungkook turned towards the back of the vehicle. "Lets move quick, everyone pack a bag, bring everything you need." Jungkook lowered his voice, "We're not coming back." he commanded, bringing his hands to the backdoors as he jumped out of the van, presumably going to explain the situation to the others. It was now a race against time. 

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

Hoseok had walked these street plenty of times, he knew them just the same as if they were etched in his head with a sharp knife, scored in deep like some strange work of art. For the most part, Hoseok felt in control, on the down low with a steady heart beat. But not tonight. Tonight his heart wanted out of his chest, it wanted to beat free of its cage. It pounded like it was going to crack a rib. His senses were on high alert. Every colour was brighter, every noise louder, every strange sight causing his heart to beat faster. 

The squad had been fast to prepare themselves, changing into there most reliable clothing, stashing up on weapons and food alike. Namjoon and Tessa had stashed up on food and supplies, necessities for survival. On the other hand, Taehyung and Jin had taken the scientific approach, collecting all of their notes, experiments, equipment, and of course the temporary vaccine. This however left no room for them to carry any sorts of weapons, leaving them practically defenceless. 

That was were Jungkook, Jimin and Yoongi came in, stashing any weapons and ammunition into their bags. Hoseok had brought all of his battle gear as well. His backpack contained every map of the city including his navigational devices. His bow was slung over his form, a few arrows poking out from the top of his backpack as he ventured out into the cold autumn night. Daisy, by his side carried any medical equipment needed incase of an emergency. 

Night had fallen fast upon the land. No more than an hour ago the sky was painted with hues of red, orange and pink, but all that colour had faded, leaving only a matt black canvas with no stars to be looked upon. The darkness was thick and the flashlight Hoseok carried in his hand hardly lit their path, only allowing for him to see a few car lengths away at most. Other than the darkness, all that seemed to exist was the chilly wind thats harsh bite could be felt through his tight fitted long sleeved shirt. He could feel the cold beginning to prick as his tanned skin and the bite of the wind had left its marks in the form of goosebumps tingling on his arms. His blood ran cold through his veins and his bones were chilled. The only thing he was grateful for was the adrenaline coursing though his veins, keeping him from feeling the pain of his backpack strap rubbing painfully over his wounded shoulder. 

The squad carefully made their way down the road, dark silhouettes of city buildings cast over them as they marched forwards. Hoseok led the pack, followed by Daisy cowering behind him, her dainty fingers curled tightly around the hem of his shirt. Yoongi and Jimin were on high alert, weapons drawn by their sides as they followed closely behind Hoseok and Daisy. Further behind them was the rest of the group, Taehyung traveling closer beside Jungkook to avoid conversing with Jin. 

"This is it." Hoseok spoke up, raising his flashlight to shine it over the rubble covered road ahead of them. Scanning his eyes over the rubble, Hoseok silently cursed to himself as he realised how dire the situation actually seemed to be. Letting out a breath of frosty air, Hoseok turned towards the group, lowering the flashlight, "It's a fallen building, we can't climb over." he spoke in annoyance.

Jimin stepped forwards, "What the heck should we do now!?" The cold breeze blew right through Jimin's flimsy cotton hoodie, the dampness of the air making it's way through his jeans as he began to shiver. His blonde hair blew loosely around his face, tousled, tangled. He could hear the distant moans and cries of the undead like some kind of ticking time bomb. He knew everyone else could hear the groans of the infected in the distance, but it was obvious they were all trying to hold their heads high and ignore it. 

Jungkook stepped forwards, shining his flashlight directly above himself. "That's our ticket over." Jungkook gulped. 

Wondering what the hell Jungkook could be implying, the squad transferred their eyes above. 

And words left them.

There, standing directly above their heads was a building. And not just any ordinary building. The concrete structure was on a slight lean, rested stably up against a building positioned on the other side of the rubble. The side they needed to cross over to. "If we enter through this building and climb up to the very top, the buildings are leaning against one another." Jungkook spoke, pointing up the massive structure to one of the windows. From their position on the city floor, the window seemed almost invisible to the naked eye, "We can climb over to the other building from the top and make our way down on the other side of the rubble."

Eyes glued to the horrifying sight before him, Hoseok gulped. "It's our only option." he commented, "We've gotta do it."

Taehyung smirked, "Well, what are we waiting for?" he cooed, 

"Lets climb this building."

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

{Author Note}

Lets get it! I'm so excited for the rest of the story, we've reached the climatic stages of the book so from here on out it's pretty much all action! Incase you're a little confused, here's an image of the buildings they are climbing across:

They have to make there way up the leaning building and across to the other side. I hope that makes sense. 

Anyways... another chapter coming your way soon! If you wanna join my private snapchat story for more news on this book follow me @becky_polley on snapchat! Let me know you're from wattpad! 

(unedited)