Searching for Sanctuary (Part 1)
Genre: Zombie Apocalypse Au, Angst, Fluff
You knew it was going to happen. You saw it coming. How could people be so foolish? How could scientists, the ones who help contribute to keep our world growing, to keep our technology improving, lead to the downfall of our planet? Is it necessary for them to be so curious all the time? Shouldn’t we be happy with what we have, instead of only wanting to seek more, to take more?
That’s what humans are, you suppose; that’s what they do. They take, they consume. And so it led to our downfall. Honestly, you didn’t know what the fuck caused this, but you’re quite positive that it was a raging virus. It couldn’t have been anything else, could it? Then scientists probably decided to test the virus out so they could create a vaccine for it, and failed. Obviously.
You were an aspiring science student studying Virology at the university of your dreams. Honestly, you loved the subject. Learning about how a single parasite entering the body could multiply rapidly, invade all your other cells just to take over your body amazes you. Science is beautiful. You’ve loved it ever since you were a child, deciding you’d want to be some sort of a scientist when you’re all grown up.
But look at how all that went to waste.
You were only in your third year, and if those dumbass scientists could have waited a little longer, you probably would have been able to help them. Probably. Sadly, you’re all left alone in your own world, crawling with the undead.
You liked to call them corpses.
They’re scary, they’re fast, and most importantly, they’re emotionless. They don’t care if you’re a pregnant mother with ten kids. They don’t care if you’re an old lady with dementia. They don’t care if you’ve got stage four cancer and are about to drop dead at any moment.
They just want your flesh. They’ll come for you at a fast speed, only to latch onto you and dig their dirty, grimy fingernails into your skin and then you’re a goner once they bite you.
Their bites are infectious. You get bitten, you turn into one of them. It could take from a few hours to an entire day for you to turn into one of them. The best way to not turn into them, though, is to grow a pair of balls and shoot yourself in the brain, or at least have someone do it.
That was how you lost your family. When you noticed the strange behavior of people around you, you went home as fast as you could. You don’t know how you knew it would turn bad, you just felt it. It was an instinct, you would say. But you were too late.
“Y/N, stay there. We don’t know what’s going on, but everyone is going crazy. It’s – it’s on the news, people are attacking each other! Dad was attacked earlier in the morning by Mr. Walsh.. they seemed to be fighting about something.” Mr. Walsh, your neighbor, seemed like a nice man, polite and decent enough.. there’s no reason for him to attack your dad. You hoped that your dad was alright, not displaying strange behavior or anything like that.
You gripped onto your phone as you drove home with your shaking hands, listening to your younger sister speak with a worried voice. “Elly, was he bit?” you asked in a low voice. You remembered seeing strange bite and scratch marks on the people in your campus, wondering if that led to their aggressive behavior. You picked up your speed, not caring if the police planned on stopping you.
“Bit? Does it matter if he’s bit? What’s going on, Y/N?” You sigh in frustration. “Elly, just tell me whether he was bit or not,” you say firmly, anxiety and panic arising in your chest. “Okay, fine, I’ll go check!” You waited a while and you could hear her on the other end walking towards one of the rooms to check on your father.
You then heard the last thing you wanted to hear, and all traces of hope you had were instantly gone. Elly was screaming and you could hear what was once your father, now something else. He was growling and groaning, the sound deep and utterly terrifying, sounding completely far from a human. It sent chills down your spine, and your heart started to beat faster, almost leaping out of your chest. “Elly?!” you yelled into the phone. “Elly! Run to your room and block the do-“
It took you a long time to move on. In fact, you never did. The memory was etched into your brain and your heart. You had constant nightmares of your dad sounding like a monster and your sister’s shrill scream. You’d hear the scream at the end of every dream you had and you’ve never once had a peaceful dream since that day. You’d always wake up with tears streaming down your face and with a constricting feeling in your chest, making breathing difficult.
You’ve always had anxiety, but it had never been this bad before. The memory only exacerbated it and the only way for you to calm yourself down was to breathe, despite it being difficult. It always would take you a while to calm yourself down and you were scared that it’d become your cause of death one of these days.
It was your weakness, but you’d keep it to yourself and only yourself, not letting anyone else watch you fall apart in front of them, only to look weak and vulnerable.
But, you were strong. A year of killing corpses turned you into a person you never expected to become. You used to be frail, slouching all the time and you had weak knees which buckled easily. You weren’t exactly fit since you rarely exercised as you were always buried in your books. However, when the world came to shit, you had no other option but to become fit.
It wasn’t easy. Running from the corpses or sneaking around them wasn’t easy, but it was doable. You also found out that they could not be killed simply by stabbing them in the heart, balls or vagina. You had to target the brain. It’s the best way to kill them and normal humans, you suppose. Only if you ever had to.
A weapon you truly cherished was your katana which you named Aegis. It had been with you from the start of the apocalypse as you had stolen it from an abandoned house. You didn’t know why it wasn’t taken by the people living in it previously, it was such a useful weapon.
You took care of it as if it were your own child, sharpening it at the end of every day, wiping all the dirty, smelly blood of corpses off it. You had a grip on it which was perfect for your hand, the curves of the handle molded into your hand as if it were always meant to be there, never once slipping out of your hand carelessly.
You kept your hair short and blunt, always tied back and under your favorite baseball cap so it would keep you safe from the corpses since they liked grabbing at anything and everything. Your number one defense though, was probably duct tape. Yes, duct tape.
You made sure that every time you raided a shop, you’d search for duct tape. It acted as armor for your most vulnerable parts like your hands up to your arms since you’d always use it to protect yourself against their bites. You thought it was smart.
It was actually a beautiful day, the sun was shining brightly and the wind blowing gently against your skin. You check your watch and you’ve been walking for about two hours straight from the last house you were staying in. You left because you needed to restock on food and water as you were growing hungry and thirsty. You’re walking down a lonely, wide road surrounded by woods with thick, tall trees growing everywhere. The road opens up into a small, quiet neighborhood with small single story houses all around, still looking in good condition. You’ve always wanted to live in a single story house, without the pain of always having to constantly climb up and down the stairs.
You spot a small reservoir nearby, far at the end of the neighborhood and feel relief wash over you. “Well finally, some water!” You walked towards it, feeling thirstier than ever. You took out a bottle and collected some of the water. This must be where all the rain is collected, right? Even though it’s probably rain water, you still decide to boil it because you’d never know if it were contaminated or not.
You find some twigs nearby, deciding to light a fire to boil your newly collected water. Aren’t you glad that you were in girl scouts when you were younger? You silently praise yourself as the fire starts and you leave the water there to boil. That’s right, bacteria, time to fuck off.
“God, why is it so eerily quiet here?” you mutter under your breath. It became a habit of yours, talking to yourself since you had no one to talk to. It was the best way for you to not go mad in this lonely, cursed world.
You decide to walk around the neighborhood and explore it, making sure not to stray far away from where the reservoir is. However, you spot something moving into the woods. You look closely to see a small, white, furry figure sitting at the base of a tree. Oh my goodness, it’s a rabbit! What a treat.
You sneak up close to it, making sure to not make any sounds and risk scaring it away. You take out your switchblade and aim it at the rabbit. Slow and steady…Then, you throw it fast and it strikes the rabbit right in its neck. Bullseye! You bend down to collect the carcass and wipe your blade into the grass, praising yourself again when you suddenly hear the crunching of leaves and twigs. You freeze in your tracks when you hear low, guttural snarls coming from behind you. Holy fuck, how could you not have seen this?
Your fear heightens and your breathing accelerates as you see a group of corpses approaching you, their mouths pulled back to show their dirty teeth, eyes bloodshot and their face covered in crimson blood. The smell of their rotting flesh hits you suddenly and you stifle a gag. Your eyes scan the area behind them, finding the remains of what was once a living human, now torn apart and into shreds.
No wonder you didn’t hear anything.
You think about killing them all, but there are too many, about twenty of them. Oh, that poor living soul… You need to get out of here. Adrenaline is coursing through your blood, giving you the energy to run. One of the corpses try to swipe at you, but you’re too quick for it. You run back to where your water was boiling and picked it up, the corpses meters away from you. Run faster, Y/N, run.
You don’t know where to run to, so you decide to run towards one of the houses. The door was locked, shit. You tug on the doorknob desperately, hoping the door would budge, but it didn’t. You turn around with your back pressed against the door and start to panic. You’re terrified, thinking that one small, dumb, careless mistake will cause your death.
The corpses are getting closer to you. You bring out your katana, bracing yourself in case you had to chop one of their heads off. “You can do this, Y/N, you can fight them.” Right when you’re about to raise Aegis, you feel the door behind you open and someone pull you inside.
The door is locked once again, and the person who pulled you in pushes you down to the ground and brings a hand to your mouth. You feel the corpses bang against the door, trying to pry their way inside and their snarls and growls are louder than ever. Please go away, please go away. Your eyes are squeezed shut and you push the stranger’s hand away.
How could someone’s hand be so smooth during an apocalypse? What the hell?
A few minutes later, the banging and scratching subsides. The corpses are actually pretty dumb. They’re attracted to sound and can smell blood from a mile away, but they give up easily and retreat when they know they can’t get to their meat. They give up pretty fast, actually.
The house is dark due to the windows being boarded up, but you squint around and you can see a small pile of trash in the corner of the room. You sit up, and the stranger beckons you to a room. Should you follow? What if he’s only trying to kill you? Y/N, don’t be absurd. This person just saved you from a bunch of bloodthirsty corpses. You follow him, tip-toeing quietly into what seems to be a bedroom, and you take a look at your savior.
He looks about your age, with dark, messy hair that falls into his eyes. He’s got a face with slightly chubby cheeks and luscious, pink lips. Heck, his lips looked nicer than yours. He’s wearing a long sleeved black shirt, black jeans and sporting combat boots. He looks surprisingly clean unlike you who’s covered in sweat and grime. You feel dirty.
“Thank yo-,” you begin to say, but he cuts you off. “Were you trying to kill yourself out there?” he asks you, his voice sounding as smooth as honey. You scoff at him. “Now why on Earth would I do that?” He sits down on the bed and looks at you with a smirk. “I don’t know, maybe you have a death wish?” You huff out, starting to get irritated. “Well, if I had a death wish, I’d instantly surrender myself to those bastards, right?! Besides, why’d you save me if you were only going to make me feel like crap? People make mistakes, okay? That’s also the first time I put myself into a dumb situation, I was hungry and I wanted that rabbit meat.”
His eyes widen in surprise at your sudden outburst and he raises his hands up. “Woah, woah. Calm down there, sweetheart. I was only joking.” Okay then, he saved you. Now it’s time to go, you needed to keep moving.
“Thank you. Now, I’ll just get going.” He stands up and blocks your way. “You’re not really leaving now, are you? Those creeps are still out there and you’re only going to run into them again!” He’s right.. but you can’t possibly stay with him, can you? You can’t just trust a stranger you barely know of, in fact, you can’t trust anyone at all.
You learned your lesson a long time ago when you decide to trust a group of people and stayed with them, only to have your food and water missing the next morning. Fuck them. Ever since that incident, you decided that you preferred to be alone. Having yourself was good enough, you could trust yourself and you wouldn’t ever backstab yourself in the back.
“Look, I really appreciate you saving me, but I prefer to be alone. You might just run off with my stuff while I’m sleeping and I can’t let that happen.” You push him out of the way, only to have him block you again. “I know what you mean, but I saw you out there just now. The way you caught that rabbit was, amazing. You have impeccable aim. You look like you know what you’re doing, and I’d like to… team up with you. Besides.. you might just appreciate this.” You raise your eyebrow.
He walks out of the room and into the kitchen, gesturing for you to follow him and you do. Your jaw drops open the minute you enter the kitchen. Its filled with canned food, bottles of clean water and even cereal. Alright, not that much, but it’s enough to last the both of you for about a few days. He lets out a small grin at your shocked expression. You start considering his offer, thinking about your lack of food. “Well?”
You let out a sigh and pick up the box of Cocoa Pops and it brings you memories about the days when you were in elementary school, never skipping breakfast to enjoy your favorite cereal. How could you say no to Cocoa Pops? You glance at him, who’s leaning against the counter with an amused expression on his face. He’s quite adorable, actually.
“Okay, I’ll stay. But if you try anything funny, this katana will slice through your neck in a second.” He rolls his eyes at that and hands you a bottle of water which you graciously accept. “Whatever. My name’s Jimin, by the way. And you are?” Jimin. His name matches his face, somehow. “I’m Y/N.”
You both head back to the living room, bringing along two cans of beans with you. You both sit down on the sofa and dig into the canned beans. You’re surprised at how hungry and thirsty you actually are. “Slow down, Y/N, or you’re going to choke.” You know he’s only trying to be kind, but you ignore him and continue to eat and drink until you’ve finished your food. He’s staring at you curiously but continues eating his food. You finish your food, placing the can next to the pile of trash in the room.
“How’d you manage to get so much food?” you ask. “Look at this neighborhood. It’s been completely abandoned. I chose this particular house to settle in and scavenged the others for food. I wasn’t expecting much, honestly, but I hit the jackpot. I’ve been staying here for about two weeks.” You grimace at that, knowing that you weren’t ever supposed to stay in a place for too long. The corpses would catch up to you, always.
“Don’t you think it’s time for you to move on? I mean, there were so many after me just now. Who knows if there’s a horde coming around…” You both shudder at the idea of corpses piling into what used to be a peaceful sanctuary for Jimin. You start to feel guilty at the thought of ruining his little home.
“Yeah, it is. I was thinking of leaving today, but you attracted all the corpses to me, so..” he trails off. “I’m actually really sorry about that, honestly. But there’s something I’d like to ask you.” He gulps down some water and then nods. “Shoot.”
He tilts his head back against the cushion and looks as if he’s deep in thought. “I’ve- I’ve just lost my best friend, Taehyung. We were together since the world went to shit but…” He sucks in a breath, and then looks at the wall behind you. “I lost him to a horde, he had an injury and we weren’t fast enough and before I knew it, they were piling onto him.” You watch tears stream down his face and you sympathize with him, knowing exactly how he felt.
Jimin wipes the tears off his face and releases a shaky breath. He regains his composure and starts speaking again. “I’ve been alone ever since and the silence was driving me wild. I came across groups of people but I could never trust them. They’re worse than the corpses.” You nod your head at that, waiting for him to continue.
“Anyway, I saw you walk in and you didn’t look like a potential threat. You just look like someone who wants to survive, so I saved you. I could use someone to talk to, anyway.”
“Jimin,” his name rolls off your tongue easily. “Why are you trusting me now? You don’t know if I’ll kill you or steal all your stuff while you’re sleeping.” He snickers. “I might have an adorable face, but trust me when I say that I have quick reflexes. Besides, there’s no way you’d kill me, you don’t look like you’d kill a random person for no reason.” He’s right, you wouldn’t kill a human for no reason.
“You do have cute cheeks, can I pinch them?” You reach your hands out towards him and he stands up abruptly, getting away from you. “No, you may not,” he mutters. You stifle a giggle, instantly warming up to him. He joins you back on the couch again and smiles at you. “I have enough water for you to go and wash yourself up, you look like you could use some cleaning.”
“Thank you,” you say. You head to the bathroom and strip out of your clothes, setting it aside on the sink before scrubbing yourself down with cool water. It’s cold, but it feels refreshing. You notice some body wash on the floor and you squeeze it into your palm and lather it all over your body. You then wash yourself again, making sure there wasn’t any more soap left on you.
You reach into your knapsack and pull out some clean clothes which you’ve managed to wash in the previous house you stayed at. You walk out of the bathroom and back into the living room. You see Jimin peeking out through the window, and you join him to see what he’s looking at. Oh shit. This is bad.
Corpses were walking aimlessly and mindlessly all around the neighborhood. “I’m so sorry, Jimin,” you whisper. He turns around to look at you. “Hey, it’s not your fault. They were going to be here sooner or later, anyway.” You nod at him. “Well, we do have to leave sooner or later, so when do you want to?”
“The sun is going to set soon, and you know it’s best to not go out at night. You know what they’re capable of.” You shiver at his statement, but you understand what he means.
They’re wilder at night and tend to mob up easily. You don’t know why, but perhaps they’re night creatures. The sun doesn’t slow them down, it’s just that they move faster at night and they’re also more aggressive.
“Let’s get some rest. We’re going to move past them tomorrow morning once they’ve cleared out a little bit.” He walks to the bedroom only to walk out a few moments later carrying a pillow and blanket. You blink at him. “You’re sleeping here?” He places the pillow and blanket down on the sofa before plopping down on it. “You can have the bed. I’ve had it for a long time anyway and I figured that you need it more than I do,” he smiles, showing off a dimple. He really is cute. “Thank you, Jimin, I really appreciate it.” He waves you off, and you walk to the bedroom.
You place Aegis on the dresser beside you and your knapsack at the foot of your bed. You lay down against the pillow, grateful for the comfort it offered you. You know you weren’t supposed to trust a stranger, but Jimin seemed genuinely nice. He gave you food, and let you take a bath in his bathroom. He accepted you into his temporary home after saving your life. He’s not a bad guy. But now that you’ve found someone to talk to, you decide that you do not want to be alone in the bedroom.
You get up and walk towards Jimin who seems to have fallen asleep already. “What is it?” You jump up in surprise and cover your face. “Quick reflexes indeed, you were right.” He smirks at you and sits up, rubbing his face.
“Um, well…I…” you start. Come on, finish what you started. “Well, you seem like a nice person and.. I was wondering if- if you’d like to join me. It’s nice to meet a kind person and you don’t seem too bad..” There, you said it. “But only if you want to!” you add quickly, feeling your cheeks heat up.
Jimin chuckles lightly and he stands up, picking up his pillow and blanket. “Okay.” So you walk back to the room with Jimin behind you and you lay down on the bed and pull the blanket up to your face. You feel the space beside you dip down as Jimin joins you.
“So, what were you before all this happened?” he asks quietly. “I was studying virology.” “Virology, interesting. Too bad you didn’t get to finish studying, though. You might’ve been able to help out with this madness.” “What a shame it is, I know. What about you?” you ask.
“I.. I used to be a singer. The both of us, Taehyung and I. We had a group of friends and we formed a band but Taehyung and I used to stick together all the time. We left without them because we couldn’t reach them.” You feel like comforting him, but you don’t know how, so you decide to open up to him.
“I lost my dad and sister right when all this started. He turned into one of those things and he.. he..” You inhale deeply and shut your eyes, not wanting to continue the story. Beside you, Jimin turns onto his side and faces you. You feel him grab onto your hand and though he was only trying to comfort you, you feel goosebumps sprout all over your skin. “I’m sorry, Y/N,” he murmurs while squeezing your hand gently. “I’m sorry too, Jimin. But now that we know a little more about each other and trust each other slightly, let’s go to sleep, yeah?”
He gives you a small nod and you feel your sleepiness consume you. You were exhausted. You walked the entire day in search of food and got chased by corpses only to stumble upon Jimin who welcomed you into his humble abode. You hold onto his hand without letting go that night and for the first time in a long time, you don’t have nightmares.
I would sincerely appreciate some feedback! Thank you for reading ^.^
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