Kittichai laid on the couch staring up at the ceiling while listening to Taehyun breathe softly. Taehyun was sound asleep on the other couch that was adjacent to his own. He had been having a bit of trouble sleeping since the other day. A few weeks had already passed by since they had started their supply runs. Seojun now believed that everyone was ready to join in on gathering supplies; which Kitt was having doubts about since they needed to travel further away from the apartment in order to find places to loot. He knew that their supplies weren't abundant, but they weren't quite scarce so he didn't think everyone needed to pitch in just yet. Though it would have to happen at some point so it would come eventually, if not tomorrow. The plan was that the groups would split up in order to hit two different locations. They had agreed that one group would look for food and water, while the other group would search for other supplies like medicine, clothes, and weapons. It wasn't a terrible plan, but he had a really bad feeling about it.
He glanced over at Taehyun as he stirred in his sleep. His head lolled to the side, facing Kitt. His fading silver hair carelessly fell to his eyelids, visibly tickling him. He watched as Taehyun rubbed his eyes, irritated from his hair. He smiled warmly as he got up off the couch and quietly approached the artist. He crouched down next to him and gently swept his hair out of his face with his right hand. The touch was ever so soft, yet Taehyun stirred once again, this time his eyes fluttered open. Kitt froze, his hand still fixing Taehyun's hair. Taehyun looked at him with heavy eyes as he reached up and grabbed the hand that was touching him. He gave Kitt's hand a squeeze as he slowly pulled it down and placed it over his chest.
"How come you're still awake?" Taehyun asked in a groggy tone, his voice a bit deeper than usual.
The brunette looked at his hand that was being held, it was comforting. "I couldn't sleep, there was just a bit too much on my mind."
Taehyun released Kitt's hand as he slowly sat himself up on the couch. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I don't know." Kitt stated as he joined Taehyun on the couch.
Tae nodded his head in response. "I probably could guess what it is, since I have a few things on my mind as well."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Kittichai questioned with a faint smile.
"I don't know, do you?" Taehyun joked before giving his answer. "I think we both can agree that we are thinking about tomorrow."
"Yeah, what do you think of the plan to split into two groups?" The brunette asked.
Taehyun seemed to think of an answer before responding. It was one of the things he liked about Taehyun, he would put a lot of thought into serious discussions. "I am kind of fifty-fifty on the idea. Splitting the group could definitely benefit us, one collecting food while the other group collects the other necessities. I have a lot of concerns regarding splitting up though."
"Like what?" Kitt questioned.
"Well there's a lot of risks. One group could get killed and the other wouldn't know, or someone gets bit and no one knows. Not everyone would be willing to confess that they were bit, especially if they themselves haven't come to terms with it. If a group gets caught in some trouble and radios the other group, they'll have to hope that the other group is able to get there on time. Also, if one group gets cut off from their route home and has to make a detour and goes out of range of the walkie talkie... there's just so many things that could happen." He explained.
"I agree, it's the exact same thing that I have been thinking of." Kitt stated as he leaned towards the coffee table and unrolled the map of the city that was sitting on the table since the group had last discussed their plans for the supply runs. "We will be traveling a lot further from the apartment tomorrow since we've already cleared out the few places surrounding the building. Look how far we will be going tomorrow," He pointed to the general location that they would be going to and continued to point as he explained further. "We will be traveling along this river and following it downstream. Our group will be gathering food from this convenience store which is about a mile away from the truck and Seojun's group will be hitting the pharmacy on the other side of the river which is about a mile and a half away from the bridge. So that's roughly two and a half miles between the two groups. Our regrouping spot is at the cargo truck that we will park by the bridge going across the river."
"It's a decently laid out plan, however the distance is a bit too far from each other, isn't it?" Taehyun asked.
"My thoughts exactly. If the map is correct on the distance between the two locations, those radios won't work. In a city location those particular walkies can only reach about two miles, nothing more nothing less." Kittichai explained.
"Building interference?" Tae asked.
"Most likely." He nodded.
"That'll be a big problem." Taehyun said under his breath.
"Yes, it definitely will be. I already discussed it with Seojun and Hanwoo, they suggested that Hina has a vantage point that is closer to the cargo truck. A vantage point where Hina has visuals on the pharmacy and Jiwon has a vantage point from on the convenience store." Kitt stated.
"That's not a bad idea..." Taehyun seemed to consider it, "but there's only three radios."
"Yeah. They want our group to have Jiwon be the lookout and run to alert us if danger is approaching or if the other group needs help." Kitt gave an exhausted sigh.
"That's a pretty risky idea. Why wouldn't they have Minseok be our look out then? He could get off the convenience store faster since he's gotten pretty good at parkour." Taehyun said.
"Well Hina is the doctor of the group, so having her as the lookout on a rooftop is safer than having her on the ground. Minseok insists on being in a group with Hina or not at all. Jiwon is also still not completely comfortable doing the actual ground work either. So that leaves Jiwon and Hina as the lookout." Kittichai expressed.
"That makes sense, I also suppose Jiwon wouldn't want to be in the other group either." Taehyun inquired.
Kittichai couldn't help scrunching his face at the comment. "Why do you suppose?"
"Well from what I can tell, you and Jiwon have some history with Yongrae. Maybe I'm too nosey, but the history between you three seems not so good." Tae responded
The brunette let out a sigh as he met eyes with Taehyun. "He was a bully when we were kids, well to be precise he was part of a group of kids that were bully's. He hung out with them because he didn't want to get beaten up by them, being a coward doesn't justify his actions of course. When we got a bit older their group dispersed because their leader vanished, a lot of rumors went around because he was suddenly gone. The other kid moved away when we were like eleven or twelve. After his group was all gone he met a girl and became a somewhat decent person, apparently she became his wife."
"Did they bully you or Jiwon?"
He wasn't sure how much he should say since it was more of Jiwon's business. He knew that Taehyun was very perceptive, but truly anyone could guess which of the two friends were being bullied. Kitt was hesitant to answer the question, though remaining silent would say just as much as responding.
"Yes, they did."
Taehyun seemed to understand that Kitt wasn't willing to share much about Jiwon's past. "I understand, I used to get picked on at school, as you're already aware since Yeongsu went and told you about how I met Seojun."
"Yeah, I hope that was the worst of it." Kittichai chuckled as he recalled Yeongsu being a blabber mouth.
"Eh, it wasn't too serious at school. Apparently the students were a bit too scared to approach me at one point and then I transferred to Yeongsu's school a bit later." Taehyun chuckled, but Kitt thought it sounded off, a bit humorless.
"Why were they scared to approach you at one point?" He asked with caution.
"Uhh..." Taehyun scratched the back of his head. "I was quite a bad teenager. I skipped school, I dyed my hair red, and wore eyeliner. I even kicked a desk at someone."
Kittichai frowned, the memory of the red haired kid flashed in his mind, "why were you like that?"
"Well, I didn't really get along with my father so I kind of did everything to annoy him." He replied awkwardly.
"It's hard to imagine you looking like that." Kittichai lied with a light chuckle. In an attempt to lighten the mood he reached over and gently jabbed Taehyun in the side causing him to jump.
"Ya." He said as a smile began to form on his lips.
Taehyun attempted to jab the brunette in the side as payback, but Kitt caught Taehyun's hand with ease.
"That's not fair, you have better reflexes than I do." He pouted as he tried to jab him again with his free hand. Kitt dodged by leaning backwards on the couch causing Taehyun to lose his balance and fall onto the brunette.
Kitt's breath hitched as Taehyun laid on top of him. He hadn't noticed the way that the moonlight was shining through the windows of the penthouse until it rested on Taehyun's face. It illuminated the artist's features making his skin look like porcelain, he honestly was a piece of artwork himself. Kitt couldn't help but stare at Tae's face. As he stared, Taehyun tilted his head to the side, his hair falling to the left revealing a small beauty mark under his left eye. In a trance Kitt slowly reached up and gently brushed his thumb over the mark.
"You're beautiful Tae." He murmured, barely audible; however in the quiet of the night, his words were heard clearly by the artist as his cheeks grew warmer under Kitt's touch.
"As are you, Kitt." He whispered, his deep voice causing Kitt's heart to skip a beat.
Kitt lifted his head and planted a light kiss on Taehyun's cheek. He only slightly pulled away so that his face was relatively close to Tae's. Taehyun then tilted his face as he looked at Kitt, they could feel each other's breath on their face from the close proximity. Taehyun turned his head towards Kitt, their lips brushing against each other ever so slightly.
It could barely be considered a kiss as Kitt pulled back a little bit, still brushing his thumb against Taehyun's cheek. "We should get some sleep, I don't want to risk being too tired to be aware of our surroundings tomorrow."
Taehyun visibly pouted as his shoulders slumped dejectedly. "Yeah, you're right."
With a smirk, Kitt leaned towards Taehyun's ear. "We can continue this tomorrow night when we return safely, if you would like?" He teased.
Taehyun noticeably shivered as he tilted his ear away from Kitt, his breath most likely tickling his ear. "G-Goodnight!" Taehyun stuttered loudly. The volume caused Kitt to jump back a bit, surprised.
Taehyun must've been embarrassed as he covered his face and laid face down on the couch. The action caused Kitt to chuckle. "Goodnight Tae."
He laid down on the couch next to Tae and wrapped his arms around him, pulling his body against his chest. Taehyun turned to look at Kitt briefly, but didn't say anything as he snuggled against him and closed his eyes. Kitt also closed his eyes, but didn't fall asleep until he heard Taehyun's breathing slow as he let out cute little snores.
_____________
The morning sun shone through waking Kitt from his slumber. He tiredly opened his eyes and looked down at Taehyun who was still sound asleep next to him. Kitt carefully slid his arm out from under Taehyun's neck, it tingled as the feeling came back to it. He sat up slowly so as not to disturb the other, he glanced around the room and noticed that the map was gone from the coffee table.
He got up and made his way to the kitchen where he could hear Seojun, Hanwoo and Yeongsu having a quiet discussion. Once he entered the kitchen the conversation went silent as an evil grin crossed Yeongsu's face.
"Good morning sleeping beauty, how did you sleep last night?" Yeongsu asked.
"Ehh, I could've slept better. I was a bit busy and didn't get as much sleep as I should've, I'm sure Tae feels the same way." Kitt insinuated.
Yeongsu scrunched his nose in feigned disgust, "I'm never sitting on that couch again."
"I'm kidding, I had a lot on my mind and accidentally woke Taehyun up. We just talked for a while and fell asleep on the couch afterwards." He explained, leaving out the finer details of what occurred before they fell asleep.
"Mmmhm. Sure." Yeongsu winked at Kitt earning an eyeroll in response.
"What were you guys discussing?" The brunette changed the topic as he looked at the map that was rolled out on the table.
"We were just going over the routes again. We decided to come up with a few more escape routes just in case." Seojun said as he circled a building on the map.
Kitt sat down as the three of them filled him in on their discussion. He still had his own doubts and concerns about the run, but chalked it up to being paranoid.
______
After a few hours everyone was awake and ready to go as noon rolled around. They all left the building, leaving the door slightly ajar with a large stone. The power to the city had gone out a few weeks prior and the automatic locking system on the door would keep the door shut forever if they didn't leave it open. After they double checked that the door wasn't going to blow shut, they loaded into the back of the truck, weapons in hand.
Kittichai glanced at his sword before looking around at the other people's weapons. Taehyun had a weapon he had created in his free time. His weapon looked dangerous, as it was a headless broomstick with kitchen blades attached on both ends of the stick. Both sides of the blades had been sharpened to prove as a lethal weapon all around. He kept one of the kitchen blade sheaths on the one side in order to not damage the blade while it rested against the truck bed. He had practiced with it numerous times since he made it, he had kept the sheaths on both sides in order to not injure himself or anyone else in the process of his practises. He had become quite proficient at it and that made Kitt feel proud of the other boy. Yeongsu had made himself a glorified baseball bat loaded with sharp nails and screws. Jiwon wasn't very good at making things and ended up having Kitt make it. He made him a weapon out of a rebar with two sharpened blades on the one end. It looked like a very sharp pickaxe because the blades were sharpened on both the tops and bottoms. Most of the group had their own weapons that they had made in their free time, each one unique in their own ways.
After about ten minutes of riding in the truck, they arrived at their destination. The spot itself was roughly three miles from the apartment. It wasn't a large distance, but to walk by foot with danger lurking around every corner would be asinine.
Kitt was the first off of the truck and immediately killed three lurkers with his sword as they wandered around the truck. He could see a few more approaching from up the road, they weren't close enough to be considered a threat just yet. "We should get moving as fast as possible." He stated as he pointed his sword towards the approaching figures.
They split into the two groups. Kittichai, Yeongsu, Taehyun, KZ, and Jiwon were part of group one that were going to the convenience store; while Seojun, Hanwoo, Minseok, Hina, and Yongrae were part of group two that were going to the pharmacy.
"Meet back here in about an hour, Jiwon-ah, Hina-ssi, remember to keep us all updated." Seojun stated before leading group two across the bridge, clearing a few lurkers that had been approaching from their direction.
"Let's go." Yeongsu took the lead as they started to jog towards their destination.
They all managed to kill a few lurkers on their way to the convenience store. They checked their surroundings as they entered. Yeongsu and KZ stayed by the door until the inside was announced clear.
Kitt wandered into the store first, Taehyun and Jiwon close behind him. Kitt could smell the rotting flesh from the doorway, he gestured for Jiwon and Taehyun to take the right side of the store while he would take the left. Kitt approached the metal register tapping his sword loudly against it. The noise lured in two lurkers that sauntered out from the aisle in the back. They slowly trudged towards him, their skin was most foul as it was a color somewhere between gray and brown. Flies buzzed around them while maggots fell from their rotting flesh with every step they took, it was most unsightly. Kitt scrunched his nose in revulsion as he sliced the first ones head in half. Its rotten fluids splattered the surroundings, leaving black dots scattered across the walls. The stench was putrid as its body collapsed to the floor its half rotted brain spilling onto the tiles. He then watched as Taehyun ended the second lurker from behind it. He impaled it's head with his weapon, it was a cleaner kill than Kitt's as he kicked the lurker forward off of his weapon. It landed on the other lurkers body with a small thud. Kitt nodded his head, impressed by Taehyun's calm demeanor, but the artist just stared down at something Kitt held not noticing the brunettes approval. He followed Taehyun's gaze down to the sword in his hand. The rotten fluids dripped from the tip of the blade. Disgusted, he flicked his sword causing the putrid fluids to fly off of the blade.
Jiwon came down the aisle holding his nose, but immediately vomited the moment he laid eyes on the maggot infested bodies. He walked towards the back exit of the store, all the while holding his stomach.
"Do you want me to grab Yeongsu and KZ from the front?" Taehyun asked, seemingly unfazed by the disgusting scene.
"Yes, let's hurry up so we can get out of here." Kittichai went and checked the bathroom. Once he knew it was clear he grabbed the supplies from the first aid kit and stuffed it in his bag. He came back into the main part of the store as Yeongsu and KZ entered. Both visibly scrunched their noses in disgust.
"Ew, did something die in here?" Yeongsu asked sarcastically.
"I think Jiwon's stomach may have." Taehyun joked as he grabbed some ramen cups off the shelf with some instant rice and stuffed it in his bag.
"I think I see why." KZ stated as she turned around to walk to the right side of the store, avoiding the area where the lurker's bodies were.
"Honestly, I think this is the worst case I have seen so far, usually they are far less... Decayed." Kittichai stated as his stomach twisted. A feeling of unease washing over him. "Let's cut the chit chat and hurry out of here, something isn't right." He stated.
He earned concerned looks from everyone as they began to pick up the pace.
Once his bag was full he began to fill Jiwon's bag. Everyone was finished in just a few minutes, and Kitt was nearly done filling Jiwon's bag.
"Yeongsu-hyung go inform Jiwon that we are finished and that it's time to go." Kitt stated as he placed two last items in the bag and zipped it closed.
Yeongsu nodded before quickly rushing out the back exit to retrieve Jiwon. It only took a brief moment before the two rejoined them at the front of the store. Kitt handed Jiwon his bag as they all began to jog back towards the truck.
"Have you heard from Hina-ssi?" Kitt asked Jiwon.
"Once. She had radioed me when they first arrived at the pharmacy, but I haven't heard from her since." He stated.
"Radio her now since we are closer to the truck." The brunette said.
"Group two, come in. This is runner group one, we will be arriving at the rendezvous point shortly. Over." Jiwon spoke into the radio, but no reply came.
The group exchanged some glances as they picked up the pace.
_______
They arrived at the truck where a large group of lurkers were blocking the bridge.
"Hurry, all of you get into the back. Taehyun-ah, come with me." He grabbed Taehyun's free hand as they ran to the front of the truck and got in on the passenger's side. Kittichai slid across into the driver's seat. "Buckle up." He said to Taehyun as he bent down to hotwire the vehicle. The vehicle started and he looked in the side mirror, Yeongsu had his hand around the canopy with a thumbs up indicating that they're all good to go. Once the hand disappeared Kitt put the vehicle in reverse and turned it to face the infested bridge.
"It's going to be a bumpy ride, hold on tight and just look at me." Kitt briefly placed his hand on Taehyun's thigh giving a reassuring squeeze before he pressed his foot on the acceleration.
The truck wasn't going more than thirty miles per hour as it collided with the first few lurkers. It swayed and bounced as it drove over the decaying bodies of the undead. Kitt didn't fail to notice how a few lurkers visibly moved out of the trucks way, while others walked towards it. The truck bounced roughly causing Taehyun to gasp loudly. Kitt could see that his knuckles were ghostly white as one hand gripped the seat and the other held the grab handle on the ceiling with his eyes squeezed shut.
"Hey, just look at me. I'm right here, don't-" Kitt was cut off as one lurker somehow flew over the hood and hit the windshield causing it to crack as its body left rotten splatters across the glass. Kitt unconsciously placed his hand across Taehyun's chest as he hit the brakes harshly causing the lurker's body to fly off the front of the hood. Braking wasn't something he had intended to do, but his mothers accident flashed through his mind. Her frail body hitting the windshield of the vehicle. Her flying into the air as if she was a ragdoll and then hitting the pavement. It was a triggering moment for Kitt as he began to gasp for air. He put a hand over his rapid heartbeat as he continued to gasp for air, a panic attack suddenly hitting him.
"Kitt?"
"Kitty, you've got to breathe. Take some deep breaths with me, okay?" Taehyun stated as he took Kitt's one hand, the brunette nodded as he inhaled and then exhaled and repeated as Tae directed him. Kittichai could tell even in his own panicked state that Taehyun was on the verge of having a panic attack himself as he tried to calm Kittichai down. The breathing method seemed to help them both as they began to regain control of their breathing. Kitt did his best to continue to breathe evenly, eventually he calmed down enough to be able to start driving again.
"Are you sure you are okay to drive?" Taehyun asked through a strained tone.
"Even if I am not, I have to be right now." He stated as the truck bounced again as it ran over another lurker as they finished crossing the bridge.
Once off of the bridge the drive was fairly smooth to the pharmacy. As they arrived they noticed that the ground around the pharmacy was littered with dozens of decaying corpses and many of the lurkers still surrounded the pharmacy. They were attempting to get into the pharmacy doors, which seemed to be locked shut.
Assuming that the group had locked themselves inside, Kitt got an idea. He turned the truck until it had almost done a U turn into one of the buildings along the road, he then turned the wheel in the opposite direction and put the truck in reverse, backing it directly into the doors without damaging them. Looking in the side mirrors he saw the doors open. After a moment he saw a thumbs up and took off driving back towards their apartment building.
As they approached the bridge again, the only thing remaining on it were the bodies of the lurkers that had been run over. "Where did they all go?" Kitt asked his thoughts out loud, the feeling he had earlier only growing stronger.
"I don't know if I really want to know the answer to that." Taehyun responded, his voice still sounding strained.
Kitt didn't say anything as he accelerated faster, heading towards their building. He drove around the final bend and immediately hit the brake. The entire block was covered in lurkers. The rumbling of the truck engine visibly drawing in a few of the lurkers attention.
"Ho-ly shit." Taehyun swore, shocked at the sight. "What are we going to do?"
Just as Kitt was about to respond a lurker broke through one of the seventh story windows and plummeted to its demise. It exploded as it landed on another lurker who collapsed to the ground and splattered under the pressure.
"It's compromised." Kittichai stated as he went to put the truck in reverse. The truck sputtered a few times as smoke began to rise from underneath the hood. The trucks sputtering drew in the attention of more than a few of the lurkers. "We have to go, now!" Kitt stated as he went to open the door of the truck but was already surrounded by quite a few lurkers. The passenger side having just a tad less than the drivers side. Kitt rolled down the window with the crank handle on the door. "Get out of the truck, now!" Kitt shouted at the top of his lungs, assuring that the group in the back heard him loud and clear.
He watched as Yeongsu poked his head out around the corner, his eyes visibly going large as he laid eyes on the situation. He saw a few people exit the truck before turning to Taehyun's side. "Switch sides with me." He stated to Taehyun. The artist nodded and switched seats. Kittichai rolled the window down and with his sword in hand, climbed to the roof of the truck leaving the backpacks behind. Taehyun did the same with a little help from Kitt. Kitt went towards the back of the truck and leaned over towards the canopy. He then sliced a large hole in the canopy so that he could see the truck bed through the hole. Without a word he jumped into the hole, grabbing the edges of the battered fabric to ease the impact. He landed a bit harshly, but was quick to recover as he held his arms out to catch Taehyun. Tae tossed his weapon down to Kitt first before he leapt downwards, he was caught easily by the brunette who had set the weapons aside momentarily.
Grabbing their weapons, they exited the back of the truck where a few lurkers were now following after the other group members. Kittichai sliced one lurker's head off from behind it, while Taehyun used his to slice one's face in half. They followed the group into an alleyway off to the side, they were nearly to the group as they stopped to wait for them to catch up. Once they were only a few steps away Kitt noticed a lurker that was hiding in between two dumpsters. It lunged towards Taehyun who was passing the dumpsters, focused on the reaching group. In a panic Kitt rushed forward pushing Taehyun out of the way. The lurker landed on Kitt harshly as it attempted to sink its teeth into his neck, his sword the only thing in between its teeth and him. Kitt turned his head to look over to Taehyun briefly, he had stumbled into the arms of Jiwon who was now holding onto Taehyun as more lurkers began to surround Kitt. They began to obscure his vision of the others, his last glimpse of Taehyun was of him crying and trying to free himself from Jiwon as the lurkers surrounded the brunette completely. Hoping they would all listen to him for once he gave one last shout.
"RUN!"