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ZOMBIES ARE LOWK THAT TUFF MAN…—CORTIS OT5

a second part to ZOMBIES AIN’T THAT TUFF MAN!

SYNOPSIS: you’re in a zombie apocalypse and somehow meeting five other guys your age is the worst choice you’ve ever made, but this time...some questionable options were offered to you.

GENRE: post-apocalyptic/action/crack/mid-angst/found family and friendships (?)

WC: 11K+ (WELLLLLL....)

WARNINGS: graphic violence, medical trauma, childhood trauma, blood (TW!), body horror (description of wounds and zombies), swearing, strong language in general, physical and mental distress, mild paralysis, gun violence, death threats... (I promise it's not that bad...), chains, restraints, Keonho and Juhoon lowkey evil in this..

AUTHOR'S NOTE: HOLY SHIT I POSTED THIS IN EXACTLY A MONTH FORGIVE MEEEEEEE

“Ma’am, we’ve found this recent information. We hope it’s helpful and useful for you.” The voice spoke in a hushed tone, sliding a paper across the metallic table that lay in the middle of the room.

On the opposite end, a dark hand reached out to pick up the paper.

SUBJECT: Y/N L/N

BIRTHDATE: XX/XX/XXXX

BIRTHPLACE: UNKNOWN

VACCINES INJECTED:

- Immunity to foreign creatures. Symptoms include frequent headaches, nausea, and ferocious, brutal behaviour.

- UNKNOWN INJECTED SPECIES: USE; UNKNOWN.

Symptoms include severe fatigue, mood swings, aggression, and physical distress.

BLOOD TYPE: UNKNOWN; DOES NOT MATCH ANY KNOWN HUMAN CLASSIFICATION.

WHEREABOUTS: UNKNOWN

LAST TESTED: Before the apocalypse.

STATUS: ALIVE (?) / MISSING

NEW ENTRY.

SUBJECT: CHAO JAMES YUFAN (趙雨凡)

BIRTHDATE: 14/10/2005

BIRTHPLACE: TAIPEI, TAIWAN

VACCINES INJECTED: UNKNOWN

INCIDENT REPORTS:

- Last seen in a warehouse, the subject was exposed to ‘CRAWLERS’ during a civilian encounter.

- The subject did not show any signs of turning; expected infection response DID NOT OCCUR.

REASON:

Possible contact with Y/N L/N.

WHEREABOUTS: UNKNOWN

STATUS: ALIVE (?) / MISSING

RECOMMEND SOLUTIONS:

AUTHORIZATION FROM [XX XXXXXX] TO HUNT THE SUBJECTS

SEARCH DIVISION NUMBER [XX] UNIT [X] FOR SUBJECT CHAO JAMES YUFAN & Y/N L/N

BEGIN PHASE 4: ELIMINATION

PRIORITY: HIGH, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

The words on the paper made her crinkle it between her fingers in anger.

“Eliminating precious subjects?” She murmured, eyebrows furrowed.

The man standing across from her shifted nervously as he looked at his subordinate.

“We’ve got the updates merely an hour ago, Ma’am.” The woman spoke, her eyes shifted away from the table in front of her. “The new entry, Chao James Yufan, was unexpected.”

Her eyes narrowed at those words across the table, “Explain.”

“Our scouts spotted an unusual behaviour from a surveillance camera, including the crawler type near the warehouse.”The woman looked at her subordinate, gulping in fear before continuing. “The male subject seemed to be in a critical position; he was said to be injured.”

Her eyes flicked back to the crinkled paper. “And?”

“They expected him to turn and let go of the matter. But he didn’t.”

She raised an eyebrow at that, leaning back in her chair as she took in the new information.

“According to the reports. The virus detector signalled one less infection.” The man nodded quickly.

Her lips curved slightly at those words, but the two others shivered in silence.

Her smile wasn’t warm or kind; it was cold and piercing. “Interesting.”

The man hesitated, shifting his hand nervously in his pocket before stepping over to place a new item.

He slid a photograph.

An image taken from a drone.

An image of you and James in the warehouse, circled in red.

The three other figures were redacted with a black marker.

“Well, would you look at that.” She said, before letting out a quiet laugh, her voice echoed through the room with dominance and power that made the two information exchangers swallow deeply. “Look at you, all grown up.”

She grabbed the wrinkled paper and stood from her chair, a smirk on her face and a deadly hint of danger. “Prepare a retrieval project. And I want them both.”

Neither of them spoke, and the tension in the air hung high and strong as they nodded in obedience.

“Bring me those two alive.”

🧟

It’s been three days since you came to the Cortis hideout, and you’ve never wanted to get out more than now.

“KEONHO YOU—“ You screamed in the kitchen, holding an empty cereal box, “How many times did I tell you that the cereal I personally looted is mine!”

Keonho, in the other room, giggled, knowing that he was at fault. “It wasn’t me!”

“It’s your big-back ass! I know so damn well that you can eat everything in this kitchen if it weren’t for Juhoon!”

A choke came out from the living room, probably Juhoon.

“HEY! That’s rude as hell!” Keonho shouted back, “First of all, I’m not a big-back! Second of all, I ate only half!

You widened your eyes at his words, angrily stomping out of the kitchen with the empty box in your hands.

“Half?” You laughed bitterly as you crushed it in your hands, making Keonho gulp in fear. “Half, you say.”

“It was full this morning,” Martin whispered from the couch, holding his new pair of pants.

“This fucking snitch BRO!” Keonho immediately pointed at him, “I’m gonna diss you, you and your not-so-baggy pants, man!”

“Don’t you dare say that to my pants.” Martin pointed back, suddenly getting annoyed at the sudden accusation.

“What are you gonna do about it, huh?” Keonho got up from the floor. “Write a rap about it?”

“You know so God damn well that I would.”

Across the crates, Juhoon sat there painting in silence. Not even daring to look at the mess in front of him.

Next to him was James, listening to music on a small iPod he had found the previous night.

“Gentlemen!” You said, throwing the crushed cereal box straight at Keonho’s head.

He barely caught it before it hit his forehead square on.

“OUCH?!”

“I specifically labelled that box. Specifically writing DON’T TOUCH Y/N’S!” You shouted, making Martin shut his mouth.

“She ain't wrong about that…” he murmured, and you turned toward you.

“See? It's readable, right? Thank you!”

Keonho groaned, throwing his hands in the air as he looked at Seonghyeon.

“Then if I’m gonna be snitched on, everybody’s going down with me.”

At that, everybody, including Juhoon, stopped midway through what they were doing and looked at the youngest.

“KEONHO!”

“Y/N ate James gummies in the wardrobe! Seonghyeon overcooked five eggs and lied, pretending that they had gone bad! Mr. All height no talk here drank all the soda when we were midsearch, and JUHOON CRUSHED BLUEBERRIES FOR PAINT SUPPLY!”

You stood there, shocked, watching as the others grew silent in the face of the accusations.

“Wait! The eggs were…fine!” Seonghyeon started, slowly standing up, “It’s just that I was testing other ways to cook it…you know! Experiments and stuff!”

“Experiments my ass…” Martin muttered under his breath, throwing glares at the younger.

Juhoon held his paintbrush; he didn’t even look bothered by being called out. “Those blueberries weren’t that delicious anyway. You can’t blame my passion for art, bro.”

“ART?!” Seonghyeon pointed at Juhoon, “What fucking art?!”

“Exactly, man! We could do all types of stuff with the food we gathered, yet we chose the majority over the minority!

“You, shut up!” James took out an earbud, “You’re pushing the blame on us now since you’ve been caught!”

“Oh, yeah? Should I remind you of the fact that you stole Y/N’s BLOOD?!”

James didn’t move at that; he just stared at Keonho like he had killed his family. His gaze was so intense that Keonho physically backed up.

“I didn’t steal it,” James said, his voice dropping an octave lower than usual, which made the atmosphere sharper than before. “She passed it to me to save my life.”

“To test, you mean,” Juhoon replied, looking at the older with a soft expression, “we weren’t sure if you’d actually survive that.”

“At least you don’t get to hear whatever noises passing by every hour! That shit haunts me, man!” Martin shot from the couch, “I lose my shit every time there’s a zombie three blocks away!”

“You’re lucky, man…I wish I could get to take some of her blood too.” Seonghyeon said, raising an eyebrow as he looked at you with mischievous eyes.

“Hell no, go die.” You deadpanned.

“Worth the try.” He shrugged his shoulders, going back to what he was doing.

“Okay, enough! Back to the main subject,” you said suddenly, “MY CEREAL BOX IS MINE!”

“We get it, jeez!” Keonho threw himself on the couch and tossed around with a loud groan in annoyance. “It’s not like it’s gonna finish anytime soon!”

“Oh my God, Keonho, I’ll eat your food next time!” You shouted, jumping to throw yourself on your victim.

“Y/N, HOLY SHIT—“ Keonho barely had time to react before you lunged at him, your hands already reaching for his collar.

“DON’T EAT MY FOOD, I SWEAR TO GOD I’LL LABEL YOUR ASS NEXT!” You snapped, trying to wrestle him down into submission.

“G-Get off!” He wheezed, “It was just cereal, not your child!” Despite his struggles, a wide grin appeared on his face.

“IT IS MY CHILD IN THIS GOD DAMN APOCALYPSE!”

The others laughed as they watched you argue and bicker over…cereal.

Martin snorted, choking on air as he backed off from the couch. “You’re on your own, man. You brought this upon yourself!”

“It’s the fact that we were just talking about blood experiments five minutes ago that’s killing me, bruh.” Seonghyeon leaned back, nudging James as they both snickered at whatever show you and Keonho decided to put on.

“99.7% Keonho and Y/N behavior accuracy, these youngsters…” Juhoon didn’t bother looking up; he just spoke.

“HELP—“ Keonho yelled as you succeeded in pinning him down. You looked at him with terror in your eyes as you smirked.

“Don’t. Touch. My. Food.” You pronounced each word with such power that it made Keonho look you up and down, and he gave you attitude even if you were literally almost choking him over cereal.

For a second, everything felt normal. James laughed, Seonghyeon joked, and Juhoon and Martin pointed at the mess in front of him.

BEEP

You froze in your place.

“What was that?” You muttered, looking down on Keonho.

“What was what?” He replied, blinking up at you.

BEEP BEEP

This time was clearer than ever; everything stilled in the hideout.

James ripped the earbuds from his ears, his face pale. He lunged for the small radio device on the floor that he had alternately plugged into the hideout to detect frequencies.

You slowly climbed off Keonho, your heart ramming against your chest as you believed something was wrong.

You turned to look at James, who had been silent the whole time. James looked at you and pointed his index finger at the door.

He placed a finger to his lips, brows furrowed in frustration.

“Tell me that’s just the microwave,” Martin mumbled, abandoning his pants and leaning away to grab his gun.

Juhoon’s eyes narrowed at the sudden sounds of beeping, putting down his canvas as he looked at Seonghyeon.

Seonghyeon seemed to understand what Juhoon meant and scrambled to grab their weapons before standing up. “It’s surely not zombies. We don’t feel the headaches.”

You looked at everyone before running lightly to turn off the lights and any other devices that you thought could be detected.

“Y/N.” James whispered, “Your neck.” He stepped up, pointing a finger at your neck as he reached to grab a paintbrush from Juhoon’s stock.

You reached up, fingers grazing the veins on your neck where they throbbed. They weren’t blue or red, but they were faint. Colourless as they pulsated accordingly and in sync with the beeps you heard.

“They’re tracking blood. Your blood precisely.” Juhoon mumbled, getting down to observe your body. “Did your mom inject a tracker into you?”

“Juhoon, what? No, of course she didn’t!” You whisper-yelled back, “And who’s tracking me?”

“Them, Y/N!”

“Who’s them?!”

But then your eyes drifted to James' arms.

BEEP

pulse

BEEP BEEP

pulse pulse

James followed your gaze, for a split second, he seemed confused and frustrated.

But then, his expression changed. His face paled even more, and terror appeared on his face as he hissed. “Fucking hell.”

Your stomach dropped; you knew what this was leading to. You chose to ignore it as you stepped closer to him, voice tight and strangled. “James, don’t tell me you too…”

A sharper BEEP cut through the air, and you physically felt your veins pulse as you always stared at his arm.

It was synced, oh, for the love of God.

“They’re not just tracking her,” Martin finished quietly, gripping his gun tighter. “They’re tracking both of you.”

“Oh my fucking God.” Seonghyeon’s eyes widened, “What’s with the two of you, Jesus!”

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

You breathe, hitching, shaking your head. “No. This doesn’t make any sense. How would they even do that!”

“Because it’s not a tracker.” Juhoon’s eyes narrowed in realisation. “They’re tracking a signal. Not your bloods!”

Everybody’s heads snapped toward him.

“What?” You laughed bitterly, in pure disbelief.

“They’re…tracking your reactions.” He continued, “James didn’t reject your blood, and you aren’t even human to begin with.”

Juhoon looked at both of you, and James stepped in closer. “So you’re saying they know that I have Y/N’s blood in my veins?”

BEEP BEEP

The sound was right outside the hideout’s door.

“Okay, cool! So you guys are basically human GPS signals for them?” Keonho backed toward the wall, grabbing his nunchucks with ultimate force as he scoffed.

Them, who are they?

“Shut up,” Seonghyeon hissed, his grip tightened around his weapon, and he seemed the most pissed off out of all of them. “Why is it always us with something new every three business days!”

“No, right? That’s such a valid question—“ Martin muttered, cocking his gun with a silent click.

“No one asked you!” Seonghyeon snapped back, eyes glued to the door.

Your breathing grew uneven as your fingers dug into your neck, your vision blurred for a second as the beeps got louder and sharper.

“They’re forcing… forcing us to get out.” You whispered.

James stepped closer to you, groaning and grabbing your wrist without thinking, “I can feel it too.”

“It’s as if…”

“It’s pulling.” He continued.

The beeps suddenly stopped, and the room stilled.

On cue, Marrin and Juhoon looked at each other and ran to the doorway with their weapons. “That’s not good at all.”

“Not good?” Keonho let out in a strained sigh, “As if the things that happened to us were fantastic!”

Right outside was a gentle knock. Too gentle for the beeps that made your veins explode.

"They’re right outside," Juhoon breathed. “Get your weapons ready.”

The handle turned, and everybody got worried.

“Oh, we’re so fucked.” Keonho cursed under his breath, looking at you with panic in his eyes, “James, Y/N, stay safe.”

The handle then turned slowly, making everybody wary of the movement.

James tightened his grip around your wrist, his veins pulsing at an insane pace.

A soft click echoed through the shushed hideout, and everybody’s breath caught. Nobody dared move except Martin, who clicked his gun in awareness of how dangerous the threat behind the door could be.

The door opened.

And the sight was really, really terrifying.

The door swung open with ease and no rush. Behind it stood tall figures in matte black tactical military gear; their faces were covered by masks that looked heavier than any weapon or armor they were holding.

“Subjects, Y/N L/N and Chao James Yufan, confirmed presence.” A robotic voice abruptly cut through the air, and your breath hitched at that.

Why does that sound so familiar?

Before Martin could even pull the trigger, a grenade rolled on the floor with precision and landed right in front of Seonghyeon’s feet.

“You HAVE to be fucking kidding me.” He murmured before accepting his fate.

BOOM!

A white light suddenly flashed in the hideout; your ears rang with the high intensity of it, along with the frequencies in your veins that weakened you immediately. You felt James' grip loosening, and you knew you were done for.

You heard a faint noise calling from behind you, a bunch of Y/N’S! And JAMES! That you were sure were from the boys.

Other than that, you thrashed. Abruptly falling as your blue blood kicked in your veins like a pumper, and not even a second later, you felt a sharp sting in your shoulder.

That has to be a sedative for the way you’ve been aggressively reacting to the grenade.

Beside you, James was trying to fight the tall figures. He managed to land a blow on one of them, but that didn’t mean it was enough to stop them. Through the haze of blurry gas, he felt a cold sensation in his neck before collapsing to the floor.

“James…” You called, but you had no energy left before slumping on his body.

The last thing you heard was a familiar voice.

“Take care of the rest of the secondary subjects. Take these main ones to the source.”

Your vision blacked out.

🧟

When you stirred open, your eyes unblurred and swam back into focus, you weren’t lying on the floor in the hideout.

You were upright, attached, and strapped like an animal to a metallic black chair, where lay next to you a bunch of beeping machines and heavy engines that vibrated your body with each click.

You turned your head; every inch of movement made you cry in agony and pain. Then you saw James.

Sitting in a similar chair, except that his booted feet were attached to the floor with metal chains and his mouth was sealed tight with a mouth tape.

“James, thank God—“ You croaked, but your voice came out cracky, making you cough on the sudden breath of pure oxygen in the room you’ve been in.

He lifted his gaze, his brows furrowed, and a scary expression on his face that shouted revenge.

He couldn’t talk, but his eyes did deliver a message, and you knew what it meant.

I’m gonna kill them.

Your breath came out jagged, chest heaving in deep and uneven puffs as you took in his state.

Despite everything that had happened, James looked like he was ready to kill someone.

Anyone.

He looked too aggressive and predatory as he tried shaking off the chains on his feet and hands, yet nothing worked.

“James, it’s no use…”You whispered again, trying your best to ground him.

His eyes flickered to yours quickly, checking and scanning your figure before dropping his shoulders in relief.

Just then, the same relief that had come was dead and gone, replaced by a violent machine-beep attack.

“AGH—FUCK!” You screamed in pain, the sudden jolt of chemicals injected into your body made your body tremble and holler.

Instantly, James’ body violently thrashed, and he let out a guttural shout of misery; the mouth tape couldn’t stop him.

Your vision blurred again, tears streaming uncontrollably as your body convulsed against the restraints, the chains that stopped you from moving and reaching for James.

“S-STOP!” You choked out, your voice cracked as you felt another wave of chemicals crashing into your body with its contents.

But the weird thing was, James reacted at the same time as you.

“Subject’s reaction synchronized and increased.”

A voice so shallow spoke from the speakers in the room, and it was colder than ice itself.

It was awfully familiar too, and that made your head snap towards the source of the sound despite the suffering you’re going through.

What the hell, even if you were going through pure torture, your stomach grumbled in hunger.

“Um…” you spoke in a low voice, looking the speaker directly in the eye, “Do you guys offer gummies?”

James was beside you, muffling through the tape as he breathed heavily from his nose, nodding his head in agreement to what you had just asked.

“You too? Well, I guess we’re becoming a single person, makes two of us low-key.” You calmed down, relaxing in your chair, not waiting for the second shock that’s coming to you.

“Subject Y/N L/N, we do not offer any nourishing items to dangerous subjects. The answer is no.”

“But, But Ma’am! You dragged us into here without any courtesy or consideration of our status!”

James let out a muffled sigh, his stomach growled, and you felt it too…because you were synced.

You turned your head toward him despite being in an uncomfortable situation, ignoring the way your body spasmed with the aftershocks of what chemical contents were injected into your body.

“No, but like hear me out, Ma’am, you kidnap us, destroy the other guys in our hideout, and you can’t provide simple services? Like damn, have some respect, jeez!” You confidently said, making James nod once again; he tried talking, but all he could do was motion it with his hands.

“Your current conditions don’t require humorous talk or gestures. You should act frightened like a tested subject.” The speaker announced, but all you did was groan in annoyance.

“Fuckass speaker, can’t even speak or give out food for those in need.”

“Fu—” the woman behind the speaker stuttered, “Subject Y/N L/N shows abnormal signs of profanities and aggressiveness. Inject thirty cc of neutral stabilizer.”

Eventually, James tore with his teeth through the tape that stopped him from talking, and looked at you with a smirk and a concerned face. “Did you just call her a fuckass speaker?”

“Don’t look at me like that,” you muttered as you felt the serum being injected into your body, “They’re supposed to feed us if they want to test on us, apparently our glucose levels are low as hell as we speak.”

James let out a snicker at what you had just said. At that same moment, his stomach growled in hunger, too. You felt it.

Well, because you're synced again…

“See? Woman behind the speaker, or whoever you are, it’s literally a reaction from both of us! Synchronous and to the same beat!” you pointed with your chain to the machines next to you, “Now, don't make me beg for basic human needs!”

“You’re not human to begin with, subject Y/N.”

“Shut up!” you shouted, kicking your chains in protest. “Stop reminding me!”

The woman sighed, “You think this is a joke?” he voice started being more familiar, “You are a creature that has potential to kill—you are a significant threat. And you’re asking for sugar?”

“Hell yes, I am! Oh my God, it’s basic human rights!” You shot back, “And for the record, I like the sweet ones, and James likes the sour ones, so if you’re going to test our shit, at least stimulate our dopamine hormones? Jeez..."

What followed next was only a certain silence, except that you felt agitated and felt the need to bounce your chained knee.

Behind the walls, A woman observed your behavior with cold eyes, a sinful smile, and raised eyebrows. Her jaw had loosened with the amount of colic relief you brought into the lab.

In all her years of testing and experimenting, it was the first time that a hostage of hers negotiated her workers' patience and time for simple gummies.

"So?" James asked as he laughed at your growling stomach, which he felt too, "What are you going to do with us?"

"I don't wanna know, not gonna lie, I'd rather get injected with stabilizer." You replied, making both of you snort.

"Any new notes, Miss Scientist?" James let out a chuckle at your words, the tape he had torn through earlier hanging on his cheek, dangling there. "Other than us being crazy?"

He scoffed. "Symptoms include frequent headaches and nausea, and an enormous need for Haribo, twin. No need for her help."

"Thank you, subject Chao Yufan James!" You retorted, leaning your head back against the cold metal, your voice filled with pure irony and sarcasm. "You're doing other people's jobs now?"

The woman's voice crackled through the speakers once again, "You are being tracked because your biological nature is merging. Subject Yufan and subject Y/N, your cellular structures are rewriting themselves to match each other. We are observing the birth of an immunity to the apocalypse."

"Oh, okay! So we're like Bluetooth? Great, great. Just what I needed to hear!" You sighed in annoyance at her words. It angered you how she couldn't just give you the fricking gummies; it's not even that hard! "Hey, woman, so I beg you. I usually don't beg, but can you not tell that we're starving? Also, what happened to the others? You know, tall blond guy, chill older one, the other two that look scarily like twins, even if they aren't—"

Before you could even continue, you felt a surge of sharp adrenaline flooding the system that wasn't even yours.

You looked to your side and saw the needles being injected into James's body with caution by a machine; his eyes darkened as he struggled to resist the sudden intrusion of the foreign substance.

"The unnecessary humans are being detained in another chamber. Their survival depends on your cooperation during the experiments, subject Yufan and subject Y/N." The woman replied, a slight hint of exasperation in her voice.

"Yeah, whatever that means, make sure they're okay." James managed to speak.

Then, a small slot at the base of the chamber slid open, and a metallic and clean tray was pushed in. On it sat two small packets, one labeled sour and the other original.

"HA! SEE?" You shouted to James, chains rattling as you tried moving to reach for the tray, "I told you they would fold! The ragebait always works!"

James let out a weak smile, his eyes flickering to the two packets there, "Don't get too comfortable, bro, they didn't give us these because we ragebaited them, I think they actually want to stimulate our dopamine reactions."

"Then we eat fast," you swallowed as your voice lost its usual playfulness, "If they want to test us, they have to do it quickly so they don't touch the other boys."

James nodded immediately, looking to the machine next to you.

99 percent sync-rate.

"I told you, if it weren't for your tall ass, we wouldn't have been tracked!" Keonho said as he slapped Martin's arm in annoyance.

The latter looked angrier than before, "I said, that we weren't fucking tracked because of me. Y/N's and James's blood is the reason you idiot!" Martin hit back at Keonho's shoulder in defense.

Keonho was about to throw another punch before Seonghyeon came in between them and glared at the two with an exasperated sigh.

Juhoon slapped his forehead and stood up from where he was sitting. He inhaled slowly and let out a deep exhale before speaking. "Can you guys, for only one moment in your lives, not fight? We're here in this fuckass chamber in a random underground God knows where, trapped and kidnapped like some rat labs! Jesus Christ, help me and Seonghyeon figure out an exit to this!"

Juhoon, for the first time in his life, crashed out in front of Martin, Keonho, and Seonghyeon.

"Oh wow." Keonho started, "Oh, wow."

"Indeed, wow..." Martin continued, "I'm seriously blessed to see this version of Juhoon."

Seonghyeon slowly backed off from where he stood, blinking sluggishly as he failed to realize that Juhoon crashed out. "Yeah, so for the record, Juhoon is mad-mad..."

Juhoon stood there, chest heaving as he grabbed his head, knocked on it twice before brushing his bangs out of his face, and looked at the three with sharp and focused eyes.

"Are you guys done?" He had asked, coldly and flatly, in a tone that was unlike his usual one, and that made them shiver.

"Yes, Juhoon sir!" Keonho's back immediately straightened. Martin didn't move, which made the younger one punch his arm to speak.

"Fine, fine, I'm locked in..." He raised his hands slightly in surrender.

Seonghyeon looked at both of them and sighed. "Gosh, finally."

"Good." Juhoon closed his eyes for an instant and turned toward the walls as if he felt something vibrate in the chamber.

Silence filled the room, but it was more tense than usual.

He walked slowly to the corner of the chamber, fingers brushing gently against the surface.

He tapped thrice, for discovery, for verification, and for confirmation.

Seonghyeon jumped quickly next to him, feeling a shiver pass by him. "What are you doing? It's making me react involuntarily."

"Something's not right." Juhoon replied, "This chamber reacts to something, and I'm not sure what it is."

"Hot as hell," Keonho leaned toward Martin, who pushed him straight away.

"Shut up before he crashes out and kills you," Martin whispered back, and that made Keonho shiver immediately.

Just the thought of it is scary, he thought.

The room vibrated again, and the camera in the top corner slightly twitched.

"Wait." Juhoon paused. "Martin."

Martin swallowed, immediate fear climbing his body. "Y-yes?"

"What did you say to Keonho to make him feel whatever he felt now?"

"That you're gonna crash out and you're going to kill him if you hear him...?"

Juhoon widened his eyes in realisation, his eyes drifted to the camera, then to the wall again. His eyebrows furrowed slightly as he had finally come to a chilling and sudden conclusion.

Fear is what eliminated this chamber's strategy.

Keonho shifted uncomfortably as he watched, "What's going on? Is this a prank I'm not included in or...?"

Martin's jaw tightened. "Tell us, what's going on?"

Seonghyeon had understood what Juhoon was implying. And he knew that he had to choose someone to break for them to escape this place, "Juhoon--"

"When you raised your voice calling out for Y/N and James, you didn't see what happened after it, didn't you?" Juhoon calmly said, his gaze sliding to Keonho, who started feeling more uncomfortable.

"What? No." His expression had faltered.

Martin frowned, "Juhoon, no."

Nevertheless, he continued. Ignoring whatever the leader spoke out to him. "You lost consciousness first, but they didn't."

The chamber slightly shook at that.

Seonghyeon looked at Martin, who was already looking at him with worry in his eyes, "It's working, unfortunately." He whispered, and the other nodded.

Keonho couldn't bring himself to react. He stood there and looked deeply into Juhoon's eyes, which brought him zero emotions to replicate. "Stop."

Juhoon tilted his head as he approached him, "They separated them instantly."

"No..." Keonho shook his head as he backed up. "Impossible. I saw—"

"They weren't careful with the dosage? They injected stuff we can't pronounce into them. Don't you think what happened after that is too obvious?" Juhoon whispered, and Keonho's breath hitched.

So did the chamber, it started trembling with the amount of fear that came out of him.

"You don't know shit, Juhoon—"

"You didn't check her, did you?"

What?

"...Huh?" Keonho froze. His world started turning and mixing.

Juhoon's voice didn't waver, nor did his gaze. "You didn't check her pulse, Keonho. You assumed she's alive."

Martin and Seonghyeon stayed pinned to the far wall, far too indulged in what's happening around them.

"Juhoon, don't overdo it!" Martin's voice didn't reach Juhoon. The chamber wasn't just trembling with Keonho's fear, but it actually made it super worse.

As if an earthquake hit them.

"Y-you're lying!" He took a step back, his voice cracking as he panicked. "What do you mean by 'check her'? I was right there! I saw the smoke—"

Juhoon followed Keonho, his voice dropping an octave deeper. "You saw the smoke, but did you see their eyes? Y/N's blown out pupils that leaked her blood? "

"Shut up."

"You didn't see her bleeding."

"Shut up..."

"You don't even know if she's alive, if they are alive," Juhoon whispered into the trembling chamber that gave a violent lurch.

The wall split suddenly, which made Martin and Seonghyeon jump.

Juhoon didn't blink. He kept his gaze locked on Keonho, whose breathing had become a sequence of jagged hitches.

His vision blurred, and his hands shook in disbelief.

"Please, stop..." Keonho said again, but it was so weak that it almost made Juhoon falter.

"Say their—say her name." He said quietly, and Keonho almost lost it before letting out a small 'huh?'

"If she's alive," He paused. Eyes widening in defiance as he leaned closer to Keonho's face. "Then say her name."

"Juhoon, man, stop it!" Seonghyeon shouted from the corner, "If you're gonna break him, at least don't fucking traumatize him!"

Keonho's lips trembled with pure fear, which made the chamber growl even harder.

Juhoon mentally cheered as he saw the wall's crack get larger and larger.

He just needed one, single movement that would officially crack the system.

"Y..." Keonho's voice wavered; he was talking to himself more than to Juhoon. His eyes widened wide open, and he looked into the soulless eyes in front of him.

A pair of nothingness.

"Say it," Juhoon commanded, and his voice didn't tremble from the fear, but from the sheer amount of actual panic that he had to mask. He needed Keonho to lose his mind in straight fear if he didn't want the ceiling to fall on them before the wall could crack open. "Keonho, you jerk. You're admitting that you're the reason she died, is that it?"

"SHE'S NOT DEAD!" Keonho roared, the sound too loud to puncture a lung from its sheer force.

WACK

The wall buckled with Keonho's fear. The pressure-sensitive sensors triggered by the sudden spike of cortisol levels rang.

The wall's material spread more quickly than Juhoon had anticipated; the ground beneath them awakened to life as if it were going to eat them alive.

"MOVE DUDE, MOVE!" Seonghyeon grabbed Martin by the sleeve, yanking him away from his place just as debris began falling in large chunks.

Keonho couldn't move; he stood frozen in the middle of the chamber as his chest rose and fell sharply, his eyes were wide and unfocused, pricked to the rim with unshed tears that distracted him from what was happening around him.

"Keonho, Keonho!" Martin shouted, rushing forward as Seonghyeon tugged him, "SNAP OUT OF IT, BRO!"

Yet, he couldn't hear the taller.

Juhoon moved first as he pushed Seonghyeon's stumbling feet with Martin out of the way. He grabbed Keonho by the collar and shoved him hard toward the cracked wall. "Get out, QUICK!"

Keonho only then stumbled, nearly falling to his knees as he looked back at his older friend watching him with soulless eyes.

"You..." His voice shook as he approached Juhoon, "You said she...they died."

"I said what I had to say for us to survive." Juhoon replied flatly, and that enraged Keonho to the point of his vision blurring.

The ground roared again beneath them, and Seonghyeon grabbed both of them and threw them outside.

Martin was already halfway through the wall; he had to bend down to make sure he wouldn't fall into a loophole of nothingness before turning back and shouting. "WE'RE SAFE!"

Everyone later on stepped out, and when Juhoon was dusting off his clothes from the dust and debris that had fallen, a punch landed on his face.

Juhoon's head snapped to the side, his body reacting violently to the hit, and for a second, no one spoke.

Keonho stood there, tears damp on his cheeks and fists clenched from the frustration.

"Why?" He hissed, "Why did you do that? You don't get to decide who fucking lives and dies just to play with me as if I were a puppet!" His voice cracked; he was trying his best to sound angry, but instead, he looked and spoke in a terrified way.

Juhoon slowly turned his head back, his cheek tinting a faint red hue as he scrunched his nose in a deranged manner, "If I didn't, we'd be dead and gone, you bastard."

"Oh, does it?" Keonho snapped, stepping forward to grab Juhoon's collar sharply, "You think that I'm just a machine in your plans, is it? You used me and included Y/N just to break me, you monster!"

Seonghyeon moved instantly, trying to stop the fight, "Keonho..."

"No!" Keonho shoved him off, his eyes red in anger, "You don't get to defend him when all he did was emotionally kill me!"

"Man, this is not the time!" Martin exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair in annoyance.

"Oh yeah? Then what time is it, Martin?" Keonho shot back, "Because I think surely enough that it's time to get my revenge back on time for the things he said to me! Isn't that right, smartass?" He grabbed Juhoon's collar even harder, yet he didn't falter.

"You think fear is what breaks people, huh?" he murmured, "You didn't think of the consequences, didn't you?"

Juhoon's jaw tightened as he felt another punch square to his nose. The fact that Keonho was athletic didn't help him at all.

His head jerked back, and this time it was harder. His nose spilled blood that dripped down over his lips and chin; the aggression made his body stagger, but he didn't fall since Keonho was still grabbing him roughly.

But the worst part was that he didn't even bother fighting back.

"Fight back, damn it!" Keonho choked out as his breath turned ragged. "Do something, Juhoon! Don't just stand here taking it!"

"No...Hit me again," Juhoon spat, his tongue finally tasting the metallic liquid, "if hitting me fixes it, then do it."

That made Keonho freeze; his blood ran cold as his grip trembled.

On the side, Seonghyeon and Martin couldn't do anything about what was happening.

"Where is James when we need him, shit." Martin blabbered, and Seonghyeon agreed.

"What?" His fist hovered, but it didn't move as his tears dampened his cheeks even more. "You're insane," Keonho whispered.

"Tell me something I don't know," Juhoon replied, his breath unsteady as he stared right into the younger's eyes, "I figured that out a long time ago."

A low hum cut through the tension, red lights flickered over them, which made Martin's head snap toward the corridor instantly. "Okay, so gentlemen! New plan, MAKE A RUN FOR IT!"

A deep robotic sound came from the end of the hall, rolling heavily on the floor as the sirens went crazy, and Seonghyeon sighed. "We've got an amazing friend waiting for us here, great."

Keonho wiped his face harshly with the back of his hand as he let go of Juhoon, who stumbled on his feet quickly. "We're not done."

Juhoon looked at him, steadying himself on the wall, but didn't bother to answer.

He just turned his head slightly toward the end of the corridor and muttered, "Get ready."

Martin didn't hesitate, "Oh, Juhoon dude. I'VE BEEN ready for a long time, whatever the fuck that robot is, I don't even wanna know—"

Then came a silent halt, which felt too abnormal.

"SHIT! GET DOWN!" Seonghyeon shouted before all of them dropped to the ground.

Suddenly, a deafening sound passed quickly by them.

Something, instead of passing by calmly, sliced through the air above them too quickly, grazing the cracked wall behind them; the impact sent a large chunk of concrete into fine dust that could be mistaken for powder.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Martin yelled, covering his head from the debris that poured like rain on them.

"Don't move," Juhoon whispered, his eyes narrowing as he lifted his bloody figure to look ahead, just to see something he never wanted to see.

Keonho, beside him, turned to look in the same direction and gasped. Because standing at the end of the corridor was...

"Y/N?"

You didn't move at the call of your name; your body was standing still in the corridor like a sore to the eye.

Sirens and red lights went off urgently, but you couldn't react; your eyes weren't focused on any of that.

"Y/N?" Keonho stood up, hurriedly pacing forward to you, but nothing came out of you.

Your lips parted slightly, then your voice came out, but it wasn't what Keonho was expecting as he halted to a stop.

It was steadier, deeper, and way too familiar in a way that made Juhoon's composed self widen his eyes in shock.

"Keonho." He stopped breathing, "That's—"

"James?" Martin whispered, sitting back as if what he heard was impossible (which is impossible...).

A faint pause crept through the air all of a sudden, "Well, yeah..." your body replied through your mouth, and then your head tilted slightly, listening to something, or rather someone, you could only hear.

"T-That's impossible, what the fuck?" Juhoon's voice came out ragged as he stood up, wagging sluggishly as he caught himself on the wall.

"Well, it is possible." You said softly, well—James said softly—"It's just a little unstable."

Keonho shook his head violently. He wanted to touch you, to feel your skin to confirm you were real and alive, but something stopped him from doing so. "It's not funny. Where is she?"

You blinked, something clearly switching up in your body, which made you tremble before clearing out.

"Hey," you said again, but this time, your tone was smaller and fractured between two different ones. "I'm here too."

"What." Seonghyeon swallowed, "What the fuck." He let out a humourless laugh. "No, because genuinely, what the fuck? Both?"

Your fingers twitched, trembling once again as you narrowed your eyes, "The sync didn't stop." James's voice came through this time, "We just had a crazy plan, and it somehow worked."

"Explain it, we don't have much time." Juhoon's hand gripped tightly on his own clothes.

"We're linked." Your voice came back again, "Not like metaphorically...but actually linked. I can go through his body and thoughts, and he can go through mine."

"Oh." Keonho blinked because what other reaction was valid than being confused, right now?

"I'm sorry, so you're like...one. Literally." Martin said, and you nodded.

"I mean, technically? It's a long story, Tin." Your reply brought you back to what happened in the lab.

You were basically munching on the gummies offered by the scientists when all of a sudden someone knocked twice on the lab's soundproof door. You weren't sure why you and James heard it, but it definitely meant no good.

All of the stuff that happened after it came in a blurry haze; you were isolated by a bunch of noise suppression injections and sensory deprivations, but it failed, because every time your heartbeat spiked, so did James's.

Every time you whimpered in pain, so did he.

And every single time when James panicked, your breath hitched in fear.

What shocked the scientists, though, was that the signals passed between both of you weren't recorded, and that confused the woman behind the speaker.

"They're not transmitting signals through the devices; it's purely biological."

Cue to your breath coming out ragged, not from the pain of the injections of the foreign substances, but because of James's fear.

Across the room, James thrashed.

His eyes rolled back as he tried fighting the injections, but it was no use. He was human after all, and you weren't, and that made you panic.

"James...James!" You called, but his body only trembled with the doses, "JAMES! YUFAN!"

"His body is indulging in hers! Quick, stop the connections immediately!" a scientist yelled, and the others moved in a hurried terror.

Yet you stayed frozen.

Blinking, looking to the machine next to James's body, it read 101 percent.

A 101? How was that possible?

But before you could even lift a finger, your vision blackened for a still moment and then whitened.

In front of you was James...but younger.

The room around you wasn't a lab anymore, but somewhere quieter and so so so much better than those machines you had to fight.

He looked like he was eight years old, cheeks full and warm, and his hair the same cut he currently had.

His eyes were confused, he looked at his hands and then at the room around him, and you've noticed how innocent he looked.

"Where am I?" He asked quietly, in a foreign language, his voice smaller and childish, and your throat tightened; you wanted to run and cry, sprint to him and hug his little figure, but you were still sitting on that metallic chair, tied to those ugly chains that stopped you.

"This isn't right..." he said, "I was just playing..."

You couldn't understand anything he said, but you know what he wanted to mean by those words.

The confusion curling in his chest fired bullets at your own, the way his small, chubby hands opened and closed to see if the world was real. His breath quickened, not out of fear, but out of what you believed was denial.

And you felt every single thing.

"Yufan..." you whispered, even though he couldn't understand you, but the call of his name made him turn to you.

Tears pricked at your eyes at the sight of child James, way too young and innocent for whatever this was.

You heard the beeping of the panicked machines in the other world, but you blocked them out carefully.

Because none of it mattered when little James took a small step backward, then another as his eyes darted around the empty white room searching for a door that you wished existed.

"I want to go back. Where is Mommy?" His fear finally invaded your system.

And you didn't even have to understand exactly what he said to feel what he felt; his breath hitched, and so did yours, because his confusion turned into what you didn't want it to be.

Your chains rattled against your feet as your chest tightened, because small James also clutched his chest with his tiny hands.

"No, no, no..." You whispered as tears poured down your cheeks, and then his, "It's okay, Yufan, I promise, it's going to be fine!"

But he didn't understand you, of course, he wouldn't. His eyes poured tears that weren't even his, but you weren't sure who was really crying anymore.

"I don't like this..." He whispered again, sitting on the empty ground as he wiped his face with both hands, "Mommy? Where are you? I miss you..."

And your chest twisted so, so, so hard, and it made you so, so, so sad.

"Yufan, no baby, please! It's okay, it's really okay!" You said again, but your voice was barely held together, "You're safe here, you're okay, you're..."

But safe was anything but close to what was happening right now, because he couldn't understand you, and the thrashing from the injections came in double the amount, and you tried your best not to panic in front of James, even if it meant breaking yourself.

His smaller version looked once at you, then at the space behind you, and stood up, "I want mommy..."

You sniffled, feeling his figure approach yours, "I'm here, Yufan. I'm here, I'm here!"

And his tears stopped flowing for a second, not because he understood, though, but because he--you felt a blooming in your chest, and it was something raw, warm, and familiar.

His shoulders dropped for a fraction, and his feet carried themselves to you.

Small steps, but huge effort from him, you took your chained hands with good force and motioned for him to come to you.

"That's it, that's it! You're such a good boy, James--Yufan! You're safe, I won't let anyone hurt you." You sobbed, and the moment he heard his name clearly, something vibrated in that space you were both in.

Your tears slowed, and so did his.

He stepped forward again, but this time he was closer than ever. His small, innocent eyes looked at yours, red and teary, before he wiped them with the back of his hands. "You know me?"

Suddenly, his words started to make sense to your brain.

"I do..." you replied, whispering to not disturb the moment.

"Who are you?" He asked, his small hands touched your chains, and you pulled back, his confused gaze looked at your feared ones.

You understood that he wanted to free you, you understood how pure his intentions were, but you couldn't risk it for now.

SYNC 120 PERCENT ALERT

ALERT

REDRED ALERT

RED

REDRED ALERT

A scientist back in the real world shouted something incoherent, but your attention was all on James. "I've got you," you said, softer and much steadier, "you're free to feel scared, you don't have to find your way alone, I'm right here, okay?"

Eight year old james blinked, somehow understanding what you wanted to say without the necessary words, and that's where he stepped forward once again and hugged you.

Your pain dimmed away; it wasn't a hundred percent gone, but it felt mutually divided and balanced, as if it had transferred half of it to him.

And for a fragile second, little James looked at you after letting go of the hug and smiled through the tears. He leaned in and trusted you. "I don't feel so bad now," he whispered, and you couldn't help but coo.

"Awh," you inhaled, voice trembling yet softening at the same instant, "See, Yufan? I told you, you're gonna be okay."

ALERT

"QUICK, DISCONNECT THE SYNC NOW!"

"WE CAN'T! IT'S PURELY BIOLOGICAL, MISS L/N, GET TO SOMEWHERE SAFE!"

The white space glitched as you heard those words, and James felt it too. "What's that?" He asked quietly in that small voice of his.

"Don't listen to that." You tried moving, but the chains tugged your body, "Just focus on me, alright?"

"Okay..."

SYNC ???

ALERT

RED

REDREDREDREDREDREDREDREDREDRED

You gasped out of sudden consciousness, your reality slowly returned as your fingers twitched against your restraints, and across the room was James, fully stilled mid-chaos, where the scientist abandoned everything and tried to stop the system.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, YOU IDIOTS!" A woman shouted behind the speaker, and it resonated throughout the lab, "YOU'VE MADE THEM A THREAT TO HUMANITY, TO THE ZOMBIES, TO US!"

As the shouts filled the atmosphere, you looked at James, who looked dead.

But you knew he wasn't dead, because this uncle right here was replaying your embarrassment moments in your head as his voice giggled inside of you.

And that was exceptional because you knew this was the worst idea ever; his voice echoed in your head like a megaphone straight to your ear.

That same snicker you always heard was inside your brain as you mentally slapped James.

"James, stop." You whispered, barely moving your lips.

"Nah, I feel amazing here, HOLD ON? LMAO IS THAT YOU PEEING YOUR PANTS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL?"

His voice was way too amused for someone who had just been almost killed five minutes ago, and that made your eyes widen.

"HEY! NO! GET—GET OUT JEEZ! DON'T look at my MEMORIES YOU PERV!" You hissed, your chains rattled as you shifted, and across from you, James shifted too.

"Relax, it's not like I'm in your head anyway." He said, "We're just extremely synced like a pair of buttocks."

"A pair of ass cheeks? Okay, hell yeah, sure..." You breathed in, "So please, Yufan, James, whatever the hell your name is, can you move?"

You looked at him, and then his head tilted deliberately. And when his eyes opened, they locked onto yours instantly, because he already knew.

"Yeah," He answered, both inside your head and directly to you, "I can also control your body, I think."

And at the same moment, you felt your hands clenching, then each finger folded except the middle one, wow, how classic James.

"Okay, so first of all, fuck you—second of all, holy shit, that's insane!" You muttered, shaking your head slightly.

"You saw me when I was like eight," he shot back, "I don't think it can get worse than this, I fear."

You gasped in shock and embarrassment, the memories of you calling him baby and Yufan and all the 'you're okay's haunted you, and that made your cheeks redden. "WHY! Why would you bring that up?

His lips twitched in a smirk, and that actually made you want to kill yourself.

"Yeah," he replied softly, "You cried more than I did."

You didn't reply, but what actually happened is that the room was totally not okay.

It vibrated all of a sudden (which brings us back to when Keonho almost lost his shit thinking you were dead, meanwhile, James peeked into your memories), and your chains rattled with it. The intensity of it all made them crack, and that made James hum in amusement.

"You think what I'm thinking?"

"If it invloves getting out of here, then hell yeah!" You muttered inside.

"Good, then break that chain and get out of here and find the boys." He replied, "I'll stay here and pretend I'm dead; that will buy us some time."

ALERT

DON'T ENGAGE WITH SUBJECTS

RED

ALERT ALERT

DON'T ENGAGE WITH SUBJECTS, AGAIN.

"Ugh, can she shut up?" You whispered as you broke your chained hand free, "So annoying!"

"Well, shut up first, then get out of here?" James' expression darkened, "Whatever happens now, don't question it, alright, Y/N?"

"You're scaring me, unc!" You then felt your fingers tighten the other chains again, and James did too, because once again, you were synced.

Then slowly, and in a careful way, you pulled together your movement, mirroring James's perfectly as you inhaled deeply before crushing the other pair of chains.

"W-WHAT? SHE BROKE IT? SUBJECT Y/N L/N BROKE THE RESTRAINTS, EVACUATE!"

"Okay, James, what the fuck. Why am I twice as strong as you are?"

"That's certainly new," He murmured inside your head, "I'll get used to that, and seeing you eat dog food on a random Tuesday when you were eleven."

"STOP IT, YOU FREAK!" You whispered-shouted back at him, "Don't get distracted yet!"

"Yeah, no shit, Y/N," he replied, "I'm inside your head, remember? I can see everything."

Your stomach churned, and so did his, "Don't make it weird, you kid."

You ignored him on a personal level, looking at his dead body before giggling, "Whoa, you're so shit at acting, dude."

"SHUT UP AND GO!"

"And that's how basically I've escaped and made it to here..." You said to Martin, who watched you flabbergasted, "Questions?

"No thanks, I'M really good." Martin shoved your shoulder and ruffled your hair, to which you protested.

You slapped his hand away immediately, fixing your hair with an offended glare and the sassiest attitude to ever exist, Touch my hair and I'll kill you."

Martin raised both hands in surrender, giggling as he still stared at you, "No, yeah, sure, 'cause me touching your hair is hell compared to you just snapping chains and somehow having James in your brain 24/7 in addition to making all the scientists going crazy, veeeeeeeery light work, Y/N, light work."

"Exactly!" Your tone started to mix up with James's, "Very, very light work."

"Light?" Keonho cut in, his voice pitched up as he grabbed your shoulders, finally, and shook you like he needed to confirm you were indeed real and not some illusion Juhoon was trying to play on him, "Light! She says light! Light work as in disappearing for a whole day or even more to eat fucking gummy bears while being chained up!"

"Okay, Keonho, stop being dramatic, it's not even that bad!" You winced slightly.

"Yeah, and I can just shoot rims like a goat," He sarcastically added, "Y/N, that was the coolest shit I have ever heard in my life!"

"AWWWW KEONHOOOOO!" You hugged him, and he hugged you back as if you weren't fighting hr last time you met over cereal.

From behind you, Seonghyeon went up to Juhoon to check up on him, throwing the usual smiles at your reunion as he wiped away the older's stained face. "Worth it?"

"Nah, not worth the punches, not gonna lie. Don't tell Keonho he's crazy strong, though..." Juhoon said, and that made Seonghyeon snicker.

"Wait," Martined suddenly leaned down, eyes narrowing at the space between your eyes, "So you're telling me..."

He flicked your forehead. "He's still in there?"

You froze for a second, tongue clicking in the forehead flick you received, but then you heard James.

"Don't answer that..."

"Well, yes! And he just told me not to answer you!" You blinked as you smirked; you felt a nerve twitch unwillingly in your brain.

"Can our twenty-year-old friend hear us?" Seonghyeon squinted at you, and you nodded, ignoring the no's from James.

"Well, James, remember the last time you decided to eat my food? I still don't forgive you!" Seonghyeon yelled, and you wanted to speak, but James quickly cut through.

"You're saying this because I'm in Y/N form, I assume."

"OKAY, SO YOU WANNA GO THERE? I SEE!"

DUNNNNNNNNNNN

"Not again, oh my GOD, UGH!" You yelled, and your voice came back double-toned again, "Not again!" You started, and James finished, "move!"

The ground beneath your feet vibrated heavily, as if something had officially woken up.

"Uh," Martin suddenly turned to the end of the corridor, "Tell me that's James' farts."

"It's because of us escaping, you stupid ho." You muttered.

"Yes, Ma'am..." James snickered in the back of your head.

"Yeah, that's so amazing!" Keonho deadpanned as he went next to Juhoon to help him up, "CORTIS is such a lovely team to be in."

The sound of the impact was wet and guttural, which sent Juhoon, along with Keonho, stumbling back on the remnants of the concrete wall. The ceiling's dust fell down your hair, which you promptly dusted away.

"Not the hair!" You shouted, but that was the worst idea ever.

"Am I getting deja vu?" Martin spoke out before scratching his head.

"Guys, the owners of this place initiated a crazy protocol that we have to get rid of." Juhoon barked. He leaned heavily on Keonho but kept his eyes locked on the end of the corridor, "It's either we escape, or we'll get buried alive in this place!"

"Structural collapse?" You asked, and Juhoon nodded, "They don't care anymore if we make it out alive, huh."

"Y/N, focus on what I'm about to say. Left corridor, there's a service lift that doesn't run unless it is urgent and leads outside. I saw it while you were running to them."

"Boys! James says service lift, left corridor in about how many meters?" You asked, and James delivered an answer you weren't expecting: "FOUR MILES?!"

"Holy shit, how do you know all of that—O-Oh, yeah, forgot James was in there...my bad," Martin answered himself, which made you ignore him.

You just started sprinting, and the others followed you. It was super chaotic and full of heavy breathing and shoes hitting destroyed concrete.

Juhoon was limping but still moving, yet Keonho carried him like he weighed nothing.

On the other side, Martin and Seonghyeon were throwing random rocks at anything suspicious that appeared in front of your group, and you only ran as your eyes glowed in a blueish tint, until your eyes landed on a sharp corner, "Left here!"

"WAIT!" James's voice suddenly boomed through your throat, causing everyone to stop, "Get back!"

BOOOOOOOOOM

A massive section of the cieling caved in where you have been standing, and through the settles of dust, a creepy voice growled. It wasn't the robot you were anticipating, but a crawler, and this crawler was different. It was your size and fused with a gun.

A fucking gun.

"What?" Juhoon spat, trying to stand on his own, "Those are supposed to be myths! Why is it armed with a gun, too?"

"Everything's a myth until it kills you, bro," Martin grumbled, raising the rocks that they had prepared in advance with Seonghyeon.

"Don't waste your energy, you need it for running." You stepped forward as you stared straight into the crawler's eyes, "James says this one is his."

"You get it."

"Wait, Y/N—" Keonho started but he stopped when saw the way you stood, arms in the air as you furrowed your eyebrows.

Your posture changed from Y/N's to James's in an instant.

"Seonghyeon, take the boys to the lift," you commanded him quickly as the monster growled in hunger, "We'll hold it off."

"Y/N, you're crazy, who's we?" Martin panicked as he helped Keonho with Juhoon.

"Me and this freak in my head!" You smirked, you felt the blue blood pump deliciously in your veins as James's consciousness surged forward. "Ready to kick some ass?"

"Always!" You thought back and motioned the zombie to come your way as soon as the boys left.

It groaned in provocation, and you scoffed, "Don't think you'll scare me like that, you ghoul."

The gun fused to its shoulder whined as the internal mechanics of it sensed onto your body, and that confused you.

"It's tracking our blood," James rumbled in the back of your mind, "So, it might seem crazy what I'm about to say...but let him try shooting you."

Okay, James, you've officially lost it, you thought to him, and he didn't reply.

So you just did what he told you to do, letting it lock onto you as it fired.

In a fraction of a second, your body jerked. It wasn't you, but it was James. You turned right, and the sluggish bullet grazed your ear, obliterating a beam behind you.

"Suck on that!" You taunted, and you weren't really sure who said that.

Before the crawler could do anything, you lunged forward. You didn't feel your own mind controlling it, but you felt extremely light and powerful and maybe invincible too.

You slammed into its chest, which made your arm suddenly crack, but thanks to the injections in the lab earlier, your blood regenerated your bones faster.

You grabbed the shoulder gun from the crawler with the help of the phantom touch of James, and you twisted it around its neck, the sound of the groan screaming against the corridors.

"James, now!" You shouted, and you climbed its body and headlocked it, then dropped it to the floor as you punched its face with the most intense force ever.

The monster fell on the floor as it shrieked, its voice causing a loud frequency that might be heard by the boys.

You stood for a second, breathing heavily as you observed your handiwork.

"Don't admire the art yet, Y/N!" James barked, "Move your ass, three more miles to the lift!"

You laughed out loud as you turned and sprinted, your feet carried you like your upper body didn't even exist, and every time a chunk of debris, you dodged it like a pro.

Yo, you might be goated...

"Two miles left, I can hear Keonho and Seonghyeon bickering." James announced, and you nodded, "Tell them to suck it up! We're getting there! It isn't as annoying as your voice in my head constantly!"

"Hey, watch your mouth, Y/N!"

You rounded the final corner, seeing the flickering light of the service lift. The boys were there, barely surviving as Juhoon was shoved inside, Seonghyeon was entering while slapping Keonho that held the elevator door with a random metal pipe, and Martin was frantically pressing the close button.

"Y/N, SHIBAL HURRY!" Keonho screamed as he put his whole force on the pipe and held out his hand to you.

Behind you, the corridor was collapsing like that one roblox running meme you've seen before. You dived, sliding across the dust as Keonho and Martin grabbed your arms and hauled you into the lift just as the hallway disappeared.

The doors shut, and the lift groaned to life, then began its slow shuddering ascent to the top.

"We...we made it..." Martin squeezed out, "Holy shit, we actually made it."

You leaned your head back and closed your eyes, hearing James's satisfied sigh in your mind as you whispered, "We're alive."

Juhoon and Seonghyeon laughed, "Yeah."

"Welcome back, Y/N and James." Keonho let out a relieved sound.

James...

Fuck, James's body was still in the facility.

"We aren't leaving without James's body, guys." You gasped out, your voice cracking as you hurried toward the emergency button.

"Y/N, I seriously do understand, but the whole sector is coming down!" Martin shouted as he tried blocking your figure from clicking the buttons, but James roared out from your mouth.

"Martin, we're NOT leaving my body behind, YOU'RE FUCKING CRAZY!"

You slammed your fist against the button, and the lift jolted to a sickening halt between floors.

"Y/N, be careful." Juhoon hissed, clutching his face.

"I will." You said, your eyes flickered to the three of them before looking up at the ceiling hatch of the lift, "James, tell me exactly where you are!"

"To your right, pinned under the ventilation area where you escaped earlier, I can feel this woman sending a clean-up crew on my body, hurry!"

"Seonghyeon, throw me up!" And without waiting for an answer, you used Seonghyeon’s shoulders as a springboard, throwing the hatch open and hauling yourself into the space.

You scrambled through the wreckage, moving like a spider as you felt James's body getting pinned down by chunks of debris.

You navigated through the wires until you heard James's sharp, "There!"

You found him as soon as you punched the ventilating vent; his face looked up at yours with a genuine tired smile.

"You look tired as hell, valid." You whispered, jumping down to land next to him.

"Can't do anything about it." He replied, and for the first time in a while, his voice came from in front of you and not in you.

You brushed away the debris and you pulled the heavy chains away from him, as you hauled James's limping body against your side, his head lolling on your head as you jumped with God knows what power, and navigated through the wires with the help of James.

"GUYS!" You called the boys as soon as you arrived, "JAMES INCOMING!"

Martin and Keonho looked up, arms outstretched as you slid down James's body first, which made the two of them groan in pain. "How much do you weigh, bro?!"

Then, you dropped down after him, landing on your knees just as a massive explosion was heard.

"Oh, my GOD? GO! GO! GO!"

"I JUST GOTTA GET IT. WATCH ME GO?" Seonghyeon yelled, and you slapped his arm.

"WRONG GO!"

Juhoon slammed the up button as he sighed in annoyance, and the lift ascended.

The doors slid open with a rusted screech.

And the fresh night hit your face like a slap, you were outside.

You were outside, and that made you happy.

Every single one of you lay on the fresh, wet grass, looking up at the night sky, breathing heavily and gasping for oxygen.

"I announce my retirement from this apocalypse, please. I'll start my rapping career." Martin turned around with a loud groan of relief.

"Throw me a verse, and I might consider supporting you," Seonghyeon said.

"So I'm back, I pulled up way faster than a Beamer," He started, and Keonho suddenly beatboxed a random beat, "Only first place 'cause I'm a leader, Only top class, I might need a little more space next time we meet up!"

Seonghyeon clapped, deadpanning even though he was smiling widely. "Terrible flow, please just go back to the apocalypse."

Juhoon let out a dry laugh that ended up being a cough. He threw his head back against the grass as he added, "I'm with Seonghyeon on this one, maybe the apocalypse isn't so bad."

"Don't listen to the haters, Martin. It sounded cool," you said and Martin bump checked your fist.

"Haters, all of you except the goat Y/N," Martin shouted even though he was grinning from ear to ear, clearly riding the remaining adrenaline left in him. He then looked over at James, "What about you, James? You wanna hype me up too?"

"I think I've had enough of other people's heads for once," James said, his voice cranky. He reached out to you and gave you a small slap on your shoulder. "Besides, her head is a mess. Too much food and tiktok trends."

"Hey?" you snapped through the smile that didn't leave your face, "You survived thanks to me! SO GET DOWN AND KISS MY FEET YOU PARASITE!"

"A handsome parasite," Keonho corrected, and all of you giggled.

For a moment, the five of you just sat there in the quiet of the wasteland, the facility dead behind you, and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, you heard the chirping of crickets in the wide distance.

"So," Martin said, breaking the silence again, "Who's hungry? I saw some gummy bears next to the tulip flowers."

You and James answered at the same time, "THEY'RE MINE!"

Everyone froze, looking at the two of you, before the entire group erupted into genuine laughter that echoed across the empty dark.

STATUS:

CORTIS CREW 2-0 SCIENTIST LAB.

THE END!