infected -namjin-

»one

Namjoon let out a sigh. He couldn't possibly stay here, the blood was still fresh so that means they could and probably would be close by. There was too much risk being around here but there was an even greater risk if he didn't take shelter in the van for the night as well.

Hesitantly, he placed his backpack in the back of the van and took the remaining time of sunlight to scout the surrounding area.

He was shocked to find none of them around but was relieved nonetheless.

As the sun finally began to set he rounded back to the van, still keeping alert, and hoped in. He pushed the urge to start up the van drive off. There was too much risk in those actions so he stayed put and hoped that no hordes would come passing by.

Not too long after the moon rose up in the darkening sky he could feel his eyelids begin to droop from drowsiness. Before he drifted off to sleep he made sure all the vans doors were securely locked.

It was the first time in a long time that he had gotten a good nights sleep, even though the van floor was uncomfortable and dug painfully into his shoulder blades and spine. It may have just been because he only got 2 hours of sleep a night, constantly waking up every few minutes, and had to sleep on high branches in trees or barricade himself in abandoned moldy sheds but he felt relief that he could finally let his exhaustion take over.

Namjoon would have felt privileged to have a good nights sleep in this dystopian wasteland... if he actually was able to sleep the full night.

Halfway through the night he heard a scream erupting from someone on the other side of the van doors. He had jolted up in his seat, cursing as he nearly hit his head on the roof. The air seemed quiet for a few minutes and Namjoon wondered if what he heard was just in his dreams.

He lied back down on the floor of the van, though he could still feel his heart hammering in his chest. He allowed his eyes to close again for a few brief moments before his eyes snapped open again at another scream.

Never in his life had he heard such a scream filled with such terror, even after the end of the world, or what Namjoon referred to it as.

When it happened he was by himself out in the middle of nowhere. He had left the city for a few weeks to get away from everything because of stress and that's when it happened. There was no way for him to contact his parents, though they were never close in the first place so it didn't feel like much of a loss, and he never left the house so there were no friends to call either.

Since the beginning he was by himself, having only run into a few other survivors in the past couple of months. Every single one of them had left Namjoon before he could become attached to them. And he was thankful for that, having friends in a situation like this would just be painful and he refused to put himself through that.

He sat there in the van for a couple of minutes and just listened as the screaming resonated around the van. It didn't sound close but he knew it wasn't too far away either.

Namjoon felt his chest tighten and it became hard to breathe. Time seemed to stop as the screams continued.

He shuffled his way over to the van windows and pushed the dusty curtains that covered them out of the way. Outside it was nearly completely dark, only the light from the moon illuminating his surroundings. All that he could see were the road the van rested on and the front line of trees that led into the forest.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as the screams died down. Bile rose up into Namjoon's throat as he released why the screams had quietened down. It looks as though whoever was screaming must have been killed by them.

Namjoon had hoped he would never run into a situation like this. But of course that was inevitable.

With a heavy sigh he lied back down on the van floor but this time it felt colder than earlier that night. Guilt weighed down on his shoulders and it felt as though bees were swarming angrily around in the pit of his stomach.

He could have done something. That thought swarmed around at the back of his head. Of course he couldn't, he didn't even know where the voice was coming from, but that didn't stop Namjoon from feeling like he could have done something to help whoever was out there.

He couldn't close his eyes, the fear that he had kept bottled up all those months was finally arising and he felt as though he was going to vomit.

Before he could move a sudden banging against the van door caused him to jolt up. He pressed himself against the other end of the van, afraid of what was on the other side of the thin metal door. He knew it couldn't possibly be them, they weren't smart enough to do something like that. So that could only mean it was another human being.

And he didn't know if that scared him even more.

Namjoon reached out a shaky hand to grab the gun from his backpack. He moved towards the window to hopefully get a look of who was on the other side but before he even moved halfway someone pressed themselves against window.

He sat there frozen as the other screamed at him through the glass. It looked to be a boy roughly his own age. Tears were streaming down his face and Namjoon could see blood smeared on his right cheek. He couldn't see much else but from the scratchy yells that escaped their thick lips he could tell it was whoever was screaming before. He knew he had to help them but he couldn't find it in himself to move.

A few more seconds passed and he calmed slightly, though he still continued to bang against the van, begging Namjoon to open up and help him.

He moved closer to the van door and he saw hope flicker in the other boys eyes.

"P-Please... Please help me..." He could hear the others faint pleas and his stomach churned.

He wasn't sure why but he had a feeling that by opening the door and helping him, the boy on the other side was going to do more damage to him than any of the inhuman creatures out there ever could.

And he didn't know if the butterflies in his stomach were from fear.

Or excitement.

~~
Ayye,, did y'all forget about this? Cause I know I certainly did.