Sempiternal: • Contaminated • || BOOK 3#

9. New urgency

"His temperature is too high. He could die if he keeps this up."

Namjoon has trouble breathing and although he is awake, he can't see anything. His eyesight is as blurred as his sweaty skin. His clothes are soaked and so is his hair. His lips are trembling and the pallor gives him a huge sick look. He gives some slight moans, being impossible to stand the fever he has.

Jin keeps biting his lips, anguished by Namjoon. He has only gotten worse. For a while he seemed to have gotten better, but he declined at the same rate he "got better. "He taps his chin and looks outside.

"We need to get help for him. Clearly nothing we're doing is working."

"What help are we going to ask for?" argues Yoongi. "There's no one out there- Rather, there are people out there, but no one will want to help us. We've already seen what happens by asking for help." the producer points out bitterly. Namjoon's illness may very well come because of that.

"Yes, but even with the bad part, Jin is doing better. They healed his bullet wound," Hoseok points out, receiving a bad, irritated look from Yoongi. He is the one he least wants to hear talking about it. After all, he is the expert at putting the situation as "glass half full" when he doesn't have a drop. "M-maybe if we give some things in return, if we formulate a deal that benefits both sides in some group that already exists, we can get it diagnosed and then manage on our own." proposes the dancer.

"We can't do that" argues Taehyung shaking his head. "We don't know what luck we'll have. We can't ask anyone for anything. It's us with ourselves" he cuts off with distaste at Hoseok's idea. "To risk a new threat-to actually kill him because they think he's infected, it would be impossible to avoid. We don't have the strength for something like that."

"We've found good groups."

"Not enough of them."

"Stop fighting already," Jin orders, rubbing his forehead. "How long until we get to the station?" he asks Cheongsa. The boy scratches under his collar, fidgeting and worrying about Namjoon.

"It shouldn't be more than four hours at the rate we're going."

"When we get there... I'll go down to get medicine," he says without stopping tugging at the small cumulus of fur he can grab from around his neck. "You guys will stay here to take care of them under any circumstances" Jin indicates quietly to the others. Jungkook was about to rebut him, wanting to go with him. "I need you to stay here. You are the strongest of us. If there's any problem, I'm sure with your brute strength you'll be able to solve it."

"By problem you mean any group that comes right?" assumes Yoongi regretfully and Jin nods. "Are you sure you'll be okay out there? Don't you want me to accompany you?" he offers gently. Jin exhales with exhaustion.

"No. I need you to be here to stop them in case they think something foolish" Hoseok laughs helplessly. Misuk and Jiana hide the smile. It's no secret to anyone that Yoongi is the ground wire for this group's nonsense. "And if I take too long, you should also be the one to guide them in case something happened to me."

Yoongi keeps tugging at the skins around his fingernails, flustered by Jin's assertion that he might not come back. That he might die over there. He doesn't want that to happen. He also doesn't have the capacity to fill in for Jin or Namjoon. "If someone gets sick anyway later, we'll know what to do. That's the good part of it all." excuses Jin with a heavy, nervous smile.

They don't dare to tell him that they should try something else. They have no more idea and Jin is in charge when Namjoon can't fulfill that role. What Jin proposes seems to be the only alternative. Whether or not he has the ability to find a doctor, the truth is that they need more medicine, also oxygen cylinders. Namjoon can barely breathe and although he must bring a momentary alternative.