Lucas

We had escaped the bunker without incident. Well I say that as I wheelbarrow my best friend through a sea of dancing trees. Like legit, they look like they are dancing. Friggin Y/N has been rambling on about them and about some guy named Namjoon. How he did something and his fans planted trees or some shit.

I ignored her, my arms were tired and I was hungry. Should of asked that secret service guy for some of those MRE things.

Avery looked like he was dead. I would have believed it had it not been for the light snoring. He had dried blood on his mouth. His skin was so transparent you could see his blue veins running through his exposed arms. I almost wanted to cover him in a blanket so the sun wouldn't burn him.

The canopy from the trees seemed to be helping with that though.

"Lucas, look!"

Y/N had rushed forward to a tent that looked like it had been abandoned for some time. A tree limb had torn through the side and scraps of paper lay strewn across the ground. What was this place?

I lowered the wheelbarrow down on its legs, careful not to jolt Avery.

"What is this place?"

Y/N shrugged, picking up a tanned journal. She flipped through the pages while I tried to find something of substance. I ducked inside the tent, there in the back corner was a cooler with a dusty lantern on top.

Moving the lantern to rest on the unkempt cot. I popped the lid.

Regret.

My stomach turned over at the foul odor that came from within. I ran out the tent puking my guts up. Y/N disappeared inside the tent with her nose covered. She came back out holding the cooler. Inside it was a dead squirrel. It's guts had been pulled out, but that wasn't the weird part. It's fur was white as snow and it's eyes were glossed over with a white film.

"It has the virus..." I gagged covering my nose. It's putrid smell assaulting my weak stomach.

Y/N closed the lid setting it on the ground far away from the tent. She then went and sat on the cot, sifting through the journal.

Avery stirred, wobbling the wheelbarrow.

"Avery?" I walked over to him. His eyes were open, the milky white pupils were creepy. He almost looked blind.

"Can you see me?"

"Yes..." his voice sounded strained. Slowly he sat up looking around. "Where are we?"

"Some forest in Seoul... Y/N knows all about it. She's like a guru for all things Korean."

Y/N came out the tent clutching the journal to her chest. She stared at Avery with worried eyes not moving any further from the opening.

"How are you feeling?" She spoke softly. Avery frowned, looking over himself. I could tell he was in a lot of pain. But being him he'd probably say he was fine.

"I'm fine."

Like I said. I grabbed his hand to help pull him out.

"Why don't you come rest on the cot in here." Y/N offered, stepping out of the way. Avery shrugged, disappearing into the tent.

"Look at this." Y/N whispered, pointing to what looked like Hangul.

"I can't read that." I grumbled, she smacked me. Pointing to the date and then some weird chart sketched out on the page below all the writing.

"They have the timing for every wave that has occurred. Along with what symptoms and roughly how many people have died since the first one happened."

My dumbass self could only respond with.

"You can read Hangul?"

"Yes, but that's not the point!" She smacked me again.

I shook my head, trying to grasp at what she was getting at. Why the hell would this information be here?

Once again she disappeared into the tent coming out with three more journals. Pointing to several markings on the chart she had just shown me.

"If you see these tell me!"

"Okay."

Y/N sat down on the ground, her small hands turning the pages quickly. A cool breeze blew through the trees rustling the leaves. It was quite pretty here. Peaceful even with the inevitable gloom that hung over the whole world.

I sighed opening the first journal she handed me.

Avery

Everything hurts, my vision has become blurry with the constant burning feeling when I open my eyes. I hid my face in the crook of my arm, blocking out any light that came through gaps of the tent.

Y/N and Lucas looked through journals while I could barely function. I would try though. We needed to find out how to cure this.

If there even was a cure.

I heard the ruffle of the tent as someone stepped inside. Her honey strawberry sent soothing my senses making me forget about my pain in that moment.

"Are you hungry?" She whispered softly. I peeked from behind my elbow, careful not to catch the light.

"A little."

"Here." She handed me a pack of crackers. Taking them I closed my eyes not wanting to move anymore than I already had.

"Do you need some more medicine?" I felt her cool fingers move my hair off my forehead. She was so sweet and kind.

I nodded. She swiftly left, returning with two white capsules and bottled water. Y/N reached underneath the cot pulling out a pair of what looked like sunglasses.

"I think these might help too."

Taking the sunglasses, I put them on. Popping the pills in my mouth. How pathetic can I be?

"Thank you." I smiled at her. She smiled back, we both stared at each other in a comfortable silence that was soon broken by Lucas screaming like a maniac.

"I FOUND SOMETHING! HOLY FUCK!!!"

Lucas came racing into the tent, a journal in his hands flailing around. He dropped it in Y/N's lap pointing to a chart with red lines shooting across it. Followed by numbers.

Y/N smiled, grabbing her backpack. She pulled out a map with a protractor and pencil. Drawing lines then with a compass she shot her back azimuth.

"What's a azzimnith?" Lucas asked dumbly. Y/N just giggled. Probably the cutest sound I had ever heard.

"We need to go here." She pointed to the star she had drawn on the center of a building.

"Okay." Lucas and I said in unison.

"We also need to find more of these" she gestured towards the journals.

We both nodded.

That night we all crammed into the small tent to get some rest. I woke up constantly from a sharp pain in my chest that just wouldn't ease up. Even with taking the oxycodone.

I needed to stop taking it anyway. I didn't want to become addicted to it. Silently I laid there rubbing my chest, looking up at the hole in the tent. The starry night sky was brilliant.

Y/N was the first to wake up aside from myself. She stretched out her arms, yawning loudly. Then quickly covering her mouth while looking around.

Cute.

Her eyes fell on me. She caught me staring a light blush creeping across her soft cheeks.

"Good morning." I croaked, pathetically. I sound like shit.

"Morning."

I scratched the back of my head, before painfully getting up from the cot. My skin felt like it was on fire and my head was swimming.

I'm not sure how much more I can take.

Y/N

He looked miserable. I wish there was more that I could do.

After we ate a pack of crackers each, we stuffed journals into our packs then headed off towards Seoul.

I can't believe we are actually in Korea. I wish it was for a different reason. Although I probably would have never met either of them had this whole thing not started.

————-

Days have gone by since they left the dancing tree forest. They scoured the city streets for clues. Hiding in tents that seemed to riddle the sidewalks. Some of them looked like pop up labs. Which had them all sitting through pages of scientist journals along side doctors.

Bodies lay in piles, they had all given up on proper burials and the mass graves were now becoming overfilled.

Disheartened, exhausted and just plain sick of the situation. Lucas finally snaps while Y/N sat in a tent rolling a light stick in her hand. Which she referred to as an Army Bomb.

"It's fucking brutal Avery!" Complained Lucas slamming another heavy journal down on the dusty desk in their tent.

"Day in, day out she has us scouring the pages of these old ass journals. But all she does is sit there and stare at an old broken bomb like it's going to have the answers."

"She doesn't just stare at the bomb thing... she's the only one who can read the journals." Avery interjected.

Lucas stared at his friend. His unnaturally white hair stuck to his forehead from all the sweat. His tattered clothes are a good indication of the post-apocalyptic world. His almost white eyes are a reminder of what had happened. The faint scar at his collarbone, a curse in itself. Both the cure and a death sentence. Avery was a ticking time bomb.

If they didn't find what Y/N was searching for... they would all soon be dead. Along with the rest of the world.

No one was safe and time was running out.

——

Y/N

I found it... I didn't realize we were that close. I had thought that maybe they had moved them out of the city. But it looks like they may have kept them here all along.

Their last video proves it. Quickly I ran from the tent

"I found it!" I cried, holding up a journal. It was my journal with TaTa on the front but that's not important.

They both looked at me. Avery with tired eyes and Lucas with a look of dismay.