The Beginning of the End

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"Sweetie, you have to listen to me. You have to run. Run as far away as possible from here. Don't look back and keep running, you got it? Something is going on and I need you to keep yourself safe; don't worry about me, alright? Everything will be okay, I promise. I love you honey. I'll see you soon. Now go," she said as she kissed my forehead.

Thirty-six days. That's how long it's been since that moment. My mother was captured. My father was already gone before I had left; who knows what happened to him. I'm still not sure what's going on, but I know one thing for sure is that I have to save my mom and keep my friends safe.

"Hey," Chan spoke as he sat next to me. I didn't respond at first, continuing to stare out the window of the worn-down house in the middle of nowhere. I hum in reply.

He sighs and places a hand on my shoulder in comfort, "It'll be okay Rowan. We'll get her back."

I roll my eyes and shake his hand off my shoulder, cradling my legs in my arms and placing my chin on top of my knees, "You always say that... But do you actually believe it?" I turn and face him, meeting his sad eyes with my cold ones.

"Of course I do, Ro. Trust me on this one, okay?" He gingerly rubs the top of my head before standing up and walking over to the spiral staircase and climbing back down. I huff in annoyance with both the situation and myself.

I'm not sure how much more trust I can give. I take one last look out the window and stand up, following where Chan went; to the main room two floors below me in the attic. I'm met with the sight of the rest of the guys: Woojin, Minho, Changbin, Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix, Seungmin, and Jeongin.

Changbin and Seungmin are looking at a map while Minho, Hyunjin, and Felix pack some materials up for our next trip which we'll be taking tomorrow morning. Jeongin is writing in a book of some sort, Woojin is passing around some food and Chan joins Changbin and Seungmin, trying to find a good spot to rest after our journey.

I sit down on the floor next to Jeongin and start eating slowly, still thinking of home. I hadn't noticed I stopped eating while in my train of thought until I snapped back into reality at Jeongin waving his hand in front of my face. "Ah, sorry. Do you need something, Jeongin," I asked sweetly.

He frowns before shaking his head, "You were spacing out again."

I simply nod before smiling at him and rubbing the top of his head, "I was just thinking. No need to worry about me. Go ahead and eat now, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

He gives a forced grin and sits back down beside me and begins to eat the somewhat old meal. Since it was dangerous, we seldom ever went into a store- if we ever saw one that is- and had to ration the food we all brought with us. I met most of the members of the team in a different way at a separate time. First was Jeongin.

Day One Of Escaping

What the heck is going on? Why does Mom want me to run? Is she going to catch up? I continue running and slow down to a jog and eventually a walk when I reached the outskirts of town. I look around for any signs of civilization but I'm met with nothing except nearly complete barrenness.

What happened?... I stop at a convenience store that looked like it had been nuked to buy a snack and a bottle of water, but when I walk in, what I saw was not what I was expecting. A dead body lay in front of the counter, another one not too far away from it laying limply in the aisle.

I draw in a sharp breath and quickly bring up my hand to cover my nose as the smell was ghastly. I glance around and decide to grab something to eat, it's probably the end of the world, I might as well do what I can to survive, right? Grabbing two bags of chips and a water bottle, I head out back to the entrance, stepping over one of the bodies. Before I could continue, I noticed something wrong with the person's skin.

Their skin had a very slight blue tint to it and darker blue veins protruding up their neck from under their shirt and up past their cheeks, almost reaching their eyes. Some red splotches could be seen on their arms and a bullet wound cut straight through their head. Blood puddled around the body and I had to hop over it, but accidentally let my left heel land in it. I lifted my foot up and sighed, placing it back on the ground and walking out of the building with my items in hand.

As soon as I walk out of the store, I get rammed into and fall down to the ground, the mass quickly getting up and mumbling an apology. I look up in slight panic and see a boy who seemed to be a year or two younger than me, "It's okay. What are you running for?"

He panted out a reply, "I'm not sure actually. They looked normal at first but as they got closer, they looked more like aliens. Their pupils were completely black and they had blue skin."

I nod and glance back at the store with a shudder then back at the boy as I stand up and brush off my clothes, picking up my groceries, "I noticed a couple in here. Do you know if they're dangerous?"

"I think so, I can't be certain though. As soon as they saw me, they ran after me but I think I lost them. Where did you come from?"

I look around before turning away from him, gesturing with my head for him to follow, "A couple of miles back behind us in town. How about you?"

He answered as he caught up and walked beside me, "Same here. Except I lived a little closer to the outside. Do you know if there are any other towns close to here?"

I shake my head and sigh, "Nope. I guess it's just us for now. Have any suggestions of where we head to?"

"Not really. We weren't ever allowed out of town. What's your name, by the way?"

I opened my water bottle and took a sip, "Rowan. What's yours," I asked as I passed him the water bottle and a bag of chips.

He thanked me before replying, "Jeongin. How old are you?"

"I turn twenty-one in a month. You?"

He showed his braces-filled smile, "I'm seventeen."

I rub the top of his head, "Nice to meet you, Kid. We'll find out what's going on, I promise."

He nods with determination and agrees silently. "Oh and Rowan, you need to take off your shoe or wash it off. Those creatures have a very strong sense of smell. They're probably hunting us as we speak."

"Ah, thanks," I speak as I remove my shoe and place it on the ground. I open the second water bottle and pick up my shoe, rinsing the blood off. Placing it back on my foot, I rub it around in the dry grass to get any excess off and we continue walking.

*A/N
I'd first like to mention that, yes, Jeongin has braces in this story. That is because I started writing it while he had his braces. Yes, it took me this long to write it lol. I hope you guys enjoy <3 Sorry for any mistakes!

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