Kill Our Way to Heaven (Jikook) ✔

Chapter 50

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 50
"ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴜɴɴᴇʟ"

The tears that sprung from his eyes at the impact immediately evaporated. The air in his lungs seemed to do the same only a second later. Jimin felt as if he was breathing pure flames and ash. He was clawing for air, for any form of oxygen as he tried to swim up, but the pressure on his chest only got worse the more he moved.

It wasn't water he was in, it was tar. That was clear to him the moment he hit the liquid. It stuck to his flesh, burned it and ripped it. He could feel it go through his skin and blood vessels, his muscles and even his nerves. Any time he tried to move away it was as if he was moving through sludge. Every struggle was slowed down, giving the tar more time to pull him down further into the depths. The current was too strong. Gravity made him feel heavier than normal, pulling him down like a magnet to iron. The deeper he got the more his lungs screamed for air and the more his arms and legs ached at the pure effort it took to fight the hellish current.

He could hardly feel the pain now, at least on his palms. The tar had burned him to his nerves. Jimin hardly even felt it when another shape grabbed his arm and attempted to pull him up. It took a couple of tries but eventually, he could see the world above him again.

As soon as his face hit the surface he gasped for air. Smoke entered his broken lungs. The particles pricked into his torn flesh and organs, making him cough even more. Blood, tar and tears fell into the pools of liquid dripping from his body. He only then realised that he wasn't laying on land, he was leaning on other bodies.

He could feel the burnt flesh of the other sinners around him, his own skin sticking to them. Any time he moved another layer of skin was ripped off. His muscles were slowly disintegrating, the tar burning into the very fibres of his being it seemed. Only when he could no longer hold himself up, did he come eye to eye with his saviour.

Yoongi was there. His face was burnt almost beyond recognition. His skin was peeling off whatever layers were left, blisters forming left and right, some already broken apart. Tears were dripping from his eyes, obviously letting the salt burn into the open wounds underneath them. Yoongi parted his charred lips as he gasped for air. Nothing but gurgling noises left his mouth as he tried to speak.

"J-Jungkook," he started, choking on the blood filling up his lungs. "H-He... he's.... h-here."

Jimin's eyes widened and his heartbeat quickened. He tried to push himself further up to gain a better point of view, but his hands just stuck on the burnt skin underneath his fingertips. He could hardly move anymore. He didn't even have the power to struggle when nails dug into his shoulders and pulled him down again.

The pain stung beyond compare. He could feel tar enter the deep cuts in his back as soon as the claws were pulled out. The black eyes of the person beside him showed no remorse, only victory. Jimin couldn't make out any features, their shape burned to the bone. Most people around him were just the same. It was a battle to see who could stay at the top the longest, who would push the other creatures the furthest down only for themselves to stay afloat in mediocre pain compared to the constant torture of staying in the scorching tar.

Some people were screaming, swearing and yelling, others only quietly sobbed. Jimin got kicked, scratched, pulled and pushed for a simple breath of air. Even one gasp here felt like heaven. Jimin understood it more and more whenever he got pushed under entirely. His oxygen flow was cut off immediately, the oil seemingly entering his blood stream. His mind slowed down, almost poisoned and his head ached beyond compare. It was like there was a pressure building below his skull, rising every time he got pulled under by the current or pushed under by the desperate people around him.