4.6 | Dark Ages ✓

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"WHAT THE FUCK was that?"

He understands Hoseok's warning about the second year now. It's a veritable apocalypse of epic proportions, and they're now in ground zero of it. His heart still races a mile a minute after they round the corner, leaving the angry mob behind. He chances a glance to his right, but Seokjin hardly looks surprised, his lips pressed in a grim line.

"Anarchy," Seokjin says, his voice tight. "The government's locked down certain towns infested with the undead, and no one can get in or out. The world's gone to hell and everyone's going with it."

"No shit," he mutters. "So that's why they call it the Dark Ages."

"What Dark Ages?"

He blinks. It takes a second or two to understand the confusion on his brother's face. When he does, he quickly shakes his head. "Nothing," he says, his mind working rapidly.

So he's travelled back to a point in time where the term Dark Ages had not yet been used. Well, if they didn't call it now, they eventually would. No other words so aptly describe the barbaric way these people are behaving.

He lets out a frustrated breath. Right now, their safest bet is the house. But has she already set up the wards this year? he wonders.

There's only one way to find out.

Swiftly, he makes a quick detour towards the street he calls his home. But as the car rounds the next corner, they come face to face with another group of people. With a sharp curse, Taehyung slams down on the brakes in time. The car stops mere feet away from a furious man with a machete in his hand.

"Get out of the car!"

"Shit!" Seokjin gasps from beside him. "Reverse, you idiot, reverse!"

"Oh, sure," he mutters, chancing a glance through the rearview mirror. It's too late-they're already surrounded. "I'll just run these people over, shall I?"

"Stop being an ass and figure out how to get us out of here, genius!"

"I'm either an idiot or a genius-make up your damn mind!"

Ignoring Seokjin's dark look, he puts the car into reverse, ready to force the crowd out of their way. But a sudden thwack comes down on the hood of the car. He jumps, staring at the man with wide eyes.

The man slams his machete down onto the car again. "Get out of the car! Get out!"

He reaches for his gun. But before he can get a hold of it, several hands reach for him through the shattered window. A panicked shout escapes him. He lurches towards his brother, only for someone to latch onto his jacket.

A violent yank backward, and he finds himself dragged out of the window. Glass shards splinter through his back. He gasps as a fresh wave of pain explodes through him, and kicks violently out at anything within arm's distance.

"Taehyung!" Amidst the chaos, he registers Seokjin shouting for him.

He gathers what few strands of rationality left within him. If these people want the car so desperately, enough to hurt him for it, Seokjin needs to get out of there. Fast.

"Get out of the car!" he yells, just as his back hits the ground.

When the first hit comes, he can't stop the whimper that rips from him. Then another, and another. His hands come up to shield his face; his lungs burn with the effort of keeping his cries in. Sharp kicks land on his ribcage, his back, his thighs. The gun is wedged beneath him and he curls around it, trying to keep the only thing that has kept him alive with him.

"That'll teach you for trying to get out of this town alive, you little fucker," one of the men snarls, dealing him one final kick before turning away.

As the footsteps fade, Taehyung drags in a sharp breath. The metallic tang of blood fills his mouth, and painful shudders wrack through his body.

I'm in hell, he thinks. This is truly hell. In every jump, with every zombie encounter, he'd fought tooth and nail for his life. But he'd never been this hurt before.

The irony that it had been humans who did this isn't lost on him.

Within moments, Seokjin is by his side. "Taehyung!" The worry in his brother's voice is unmistakable. "Shit, what the hell is wrong with them? Can you get up?"

He coughs out a mouthful of blood onto the road, before surging up to grab Seokjin by the arm. "Get us out of here."

"What?"

"Out," he rasps. "Three streets down; seventh house from the junction. Quickly."

Seokjin hoists him up, keeping him balanced with one arm around his shoulders. They slowly make their way around the corner, gaining distance away from the crowd left behind. It's just in time, too. Not a minute later, he hears a loud dispute break out. It dies down just as quickly. A car door bangs shut, the engine starts. Then it stops. A sharp scream pierces the air, so wretched that it sends chills down Taehyung's spine.

"Don't look back," he whispers, when Seokjin hesitates. "If they come for us, we're good as dead."

"But there might be zombies where there are no people-"

"At this point, I'd willingly invite those brain-eating monsters over for tea than see any of those maniacs again."

Seokjin doesn't argue. Slowly but steadily, they head towards the house. To Taehyung's utter relief, the street is almost empty, save for four zombies lurking by the fence. It's a small number compared to the hoards he's had to face before. He reaches into his jacket for the gun.

"Run to the house," he tells Seokjin. "And don't stop until you're on the porch."

"And you?"

"I like zombies," he says, with a shrug. "More than people, anyway."

Without another word, he takes aim and fires off a shot at the first zombie. Seokjin breaks into a sprint, and he follows at a stately pace behind. His brother doesn't slow even when he nears the other one. It's then that Taehyung realizes, no matter their animosity, Seokjin still trusts him enough to follow through with any mad plan he has.

He takes a deep breath and guns the next one down. "Keep going!"

Seokjin leaps over the fence, yelling something over his shoulder. But not a sound reaches Taehyung's ears.

Good, he thinks, the wards are up. Thank God for her. She's unknowingly saved him yet again, and he wonders if he'll get the chance to thank her in this jump.

In his distraction, he misses the sudden lunge from the closest zombie. He barely manages to twist away in time, firing off a shot into the creature's chest. But the next one drags its talons along his arm and he drops the gun with a clatter. He's miscalculated, he realizes. He's grown complacent with his possession of the gun, and careless with his gift of time from the Cypher.

"Taehyung!"

Vaguely, he registers his brother's distant shout, followed by the patter of feet. He kicks out at the same zombie hell-bent on attacking him, flinching away as the zombie's teeth miss his knee by inches. Just then, three shots ring out. With a shudder and a gurgle, the zombie drops to the ground. Quickly, he scrambles over the fence and tumbles onto the grass, only to find his brother blinking down at the gun in his hands with incredulity.

"If this is how you plan to end the Dark Ages," Seokjin rasps at last, "count me in."