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Jimin watches the ash drift to the ground, coating the city he once loved and the place he called home. He wonders how things got this bad; how humanity fucked up this much all at once. He knows. Obviously, he knows, he lived through it, but it doesn't stop the thought from crossing his brain. Everything looks so bleak even though the sun is currently baking the back of his neck into beef jerky. The tipped over cars and overgrown vines creeping out from every crack visible might have something to do with it. Shops once filled with fresh cakes and polished shoes now only have shattered windows and rain-drenched carpets to show for it. It's like nature is taking everything she owns back, but at a pace that's meant to punish those who were left behind, always reminding Jimin that it wasn't always like this. That this used to be a happy place.
Jimin tightens his jaw, fixing a harsh expression on his face and readjusting the grip on his bat. He should know better by now to leave those thoughts for when he was alone.
He turns harshly on his heel, facing the small group of five scavengers that have been assigned to him for him to lead in a search party for supplies. There's a middle-aged man who looks like he could hold his own, unlike the rest of the group who look like a bunch of terrified teenagers even though their ages all vary.
"You," he nods toward the man, and he takes a step forward apart from the group in response.
"You'll be leading a group of two," he continues, "the other two will follow me. We meet back up here in thirty. Five minutes wait time, any longer and I'll leave you behind and vice-versa. There was a recent spotting of a hoard, and we don't have the luxury to lazy-around, understand?" The man and the rest nod obediently.
Age lost it's significance a while ago, and he's proved his right to be a leader in multiple situations back at base. Formalities were for the old world, not this new one.
"Good, the teenage girl and the guy in the yellow shirt come with me. Stay alive." He says in the place of a goodbye before starting off in the opposite direction, knowing the group will spilt up and follow like they were told.
The broken concrete and rocks crunch softly under his boots, his footsteps trained to be light and make as little noise as possible. He finds a not-completely-empty-and-destroyed store after about five minutes of walking.
"Split up and search each aisle," Jimin says, although he still keeps a close eye on the young girl. He knows the girl couldn't kill a zombie if her life were in danger.
He's heard her ranting before about them maybe still being human and how terrible they were treating the zombies by killing them like animals.
He crouches down and loads some knocked over pill bottles into his backpack. As he works his way to the pharmacy in the back, he hears movement as something gets knocked over. Jimin sighs, and to think he was getting hopeful about not having to waste any more of his ammo on this trip.
It's better to kill them now before they sneak up on one of the other members, though, so he quietly pushes the sliding door open with his foot, cringing when it creaks slightly, the sound of rustling suddenly stopping. There are about five tense seconds of silence as Jimin scans the room, but he can't get a good look behind the taller shelves in the very back.
He only gets a few more steps in the room before he hears a growl and is suddenly being knocked off his feet to the tiled floor below. The gross thing is missing an arm and an eye, snapping his jaws at Jimin's face way to close for comfort. His bat has been knocked across the room.
How dare this fucker take away his beloved bat. Jimin glares as he sharply kicks the zombie's stomach to get it away from him. He snatches the bat off the ground a few feet away. The wood being swung into the things skull the same time a loud bang goes off.
The zombie crumples to the floor, and Jimin spins around to find a second zombie falling to the floor, brains blood splattered on the wall behind him, jaws open and very obviously about the eat a chunk of Jimin's arm for lunch.
Jimin looks up to see a black haired stranger a few feet away, hands holding up a gun in front of him. His eyes hard as he glares at the zombie on the ground that he just shot. Jimin is stunned into silence as the man lowers his gun and meets Jimin's wide eyes.
They're a golden brown, holding a weird sense of honesty in them and Jimin feels every mantra about not trusting others fade away into background noise.
"What? Do I have blood on my face or something?" The man speaks up after a few tension-filled seconds. Jimin's face breaks into a grin for the first time in a long time because no one makes jokes anymore and he giggles slightly, the stranger smiling softly in response. His smile is too gentle to be appropriate in this situation, but Jimin appreciates it nonetheless.
He hears running footsteps getting closer, and Jimin puts himself between the stranger and open door, feeling protective of this person who just saved his life and made him smile. The two others that were in his group before come rushing in, eyes frightened and breathing harder than they should be considering they probably only came from the other side of the store.
"What happened? We heard a gunshot," The guy in yellow asks. What a stupid colour to wear in the apocalypse.
"Good thing I wasn't in any real danger because you're both slow as fuck," Jimin says, glaring at the two.
"W-we're sorry sir, it's just-" the young girl starts, but she's interrupted by Jimin rolling his eyes and turning back to the stranger who is now backing away now that he's more outnumbered. Jimin doesn't blame him, but the two idiots he brought with him aren't exactly the most intimidating people alive.
"Do you wanna come with us? We have fresh water and safety," Jimin asks him in a more gentle tone than he was addressing the others, tilting his head to the side in question.
"Um," the man hesitates, looking between Jimin and the people standing behind him.
"Please, let me repay you, if only for a little while. You don't have to stay," Jimin says, desperate to keep this man with him for some reason. Maybe he just wants to smile again. The man finally nods, taking a small step toward him.
"Okay," he says. Jimin grins again, the second time in about a year, and moves to walk back through the door. The two group members scrambling to get out of his way. They've gotten everything they can so he leads them back to their meeting place.
"Why are they so afraid of you," Yoongi asks after a minute or so of walking in silence. The man beside him, the others walking side by side behind them.
Jimin gives a small chuckle, "they're not scared of me directly per say but they're terrified of Taehyung. He's my best friend back at the camp, and he basically made death threats to them if they didn't listen to my commands. He can get kind of protective sometimes." Jimin shakes his head as he remembers the look of pure fear on their faces and Taehyung told them off. He has to give his best friend credit because as bubbly and happy as he normally is, he can be scary as hell when he wanted to be.
"I never got your name," Jimin says, looking over to the man, meeting his eyes.
"Min Yoongi," Yoongi says giving him a broad smile and Jimin is physically pained by how beautiful it is.
"Park Jimin," He says, holding out a hand for Yoongi to shake. His hand is warm and soft despite being obviously trained in weapon, Jimin has to force himself to let go.
"Come on, let's go find the rest of the group," Jimin says, finding strange comfort in the new body that's walking beside him.