How stupid could he possibly be? Taekwoon knew better than to enter the hospital ruins, yet there we was, traipsing through the freight entrance and sneaking to the lab like nobody would be there. As he heard a very large collective presence around him -existing on all sides- he knew he was ed. Not just ed, but very ed- no lube, no prep. just a dry helping of going in raw. He couldn't even swallow the lump of fear that welled in his throat.
'It's fine,' he thought with an irrational amount of calm. 'I'm infected too. They won't come after me. they won't. I'm minding my business. They won't come after me.' He continued on, slowly. silently. all he needed was another bottle of pills- just enough to help him cope with the coming week. that's all.
@▹ felix lee。 The scream was easily to recognize for Minho and he froze for a second, ready to fight or attack but then it was silent and he could see the figure he had seen earlier get ready to go down the hallway. What stupid boy, why does he not turn around and leave? .
Quietly Minho rushed closer to the man, knowing exactly what that scream was coming from. The infected inside this hospital were horrible, caging people and eating them alive as they enjoyed hearing them scream way too much, seeing them suffer and Minho knew that the moment they saw the boy he would be their next victim.
“Don’t scream,” Minho said, putting his hand over the other’s mouth before he slowly let it go. “I’m here to help.” He then pulled him towards one of the rooms, but not forcefully and only gently, careful enough to not hurt him in any way.
“You need to leave. You should not be in here, there are infected in here and they are bad. Really bad.” He shook his head and looked at the young male. Adorable. Cute freckles layering the other’s pretty face, big bright eyes and a cute little nose with heart shaped lips right under it. Minho was sure he had never seen someone look that innocent before and it surprised him that he found such a guy in here.
@▸ flora dai。 the last thing he could remember was the floor being under him and then suddenly it wasn't. the world had turned black - a situation that's unfortunately normal for a narcoleptic like him, but what wasn't normal was him waking up to blood streaming down his face. his worst nightmare turning into a reality.
everything happened so fast. being carried into the hospital turned temporary clinic, thrown onto a bed of some sort, and his head pounding like those gongs people would ring into the new year. of all the times he might've busted his head open, why did it have to be during a pandemic of sorts? why? as much as he worried about his head, he was more worried about the possible threats of what the people now called "the infected" being near him. but as he laid in bed, he found it hard to move - a sub-condition of his disorder: cataplexy. yan an knew it would take only a few minutes for his paralyzed muscles to wake up, but a few minutes could mean the difference between life and death. "help! is anyone there? a nurse? doctor?" forced to stare at the ceiling he called out for any form of assistance, and even though he had asked for it, the sudden face that appeared above him startled him out of his wits.
staring at the face above him he mumbled, "wow i must really be dying because you look just like jiejie"
@▸ lee minho。 This area is completely unfamiliar, and Felix doesn't like it one bit.
Recalling the mental grocery list he's made up in his head, Felix searches the streets for any sign of activity, hand firmly gripping the machete he'd found a few months back. It's then that he notices the doors to a rundown hospital, hanging open as if almost beckoning him to come inside — suspicious, but they'd have first aid materials there, right? Even just the basics would do — him and Yiren are quickly running out of gauze and disinfectant, and who knows when they'd need more?
Taking a deep breath, Felix enters the hospital despite his initial apprehension, making sure to stay on high alert (not high or alert enough to hear the voice calling him from behind, though). At first, the halls seem empty, and he finds it safe enough to proceed through the lobby, steps slow and careful as he searches for any areas that could hold supplies. It takes a few moments for him to notice the seemingly abandoned pharmacy — bingo. Immediately, Felix makes his way over, a triumphant grin on his face once he notices some leftover gauze and antibiotics lying around. Perfect. The young man's quick to tuck the few supplies into his backpack, brows furrowed as he focuses on the task at hand, when—
A scream down the hall. .
Felix is quick to whip out his pistol, aiming it in the direction of the scream he'd heard. , it's a bad idea to investigate, but if someone needs help...
He swallows. Felix has never been logical when it comes to like this, and he finds himself quickly tucking away his backpack, biting the inside of his cheek as he walks down the hall, searching for the voice he'd heard.
@▹ felix lee。 Moving through the city was something Minho usually did during the day. There was nothing else Minho could do anyways, just checking the buildings he could enter and dodge all the infected or other people. He preferred to just be alone and away from people, to not encounter most of them as he could easily read who would be danger and who would be friendly. Most of them were danger. And while Minho approached some of them for personal reasons, he preferred to stay away from them.
While petting a little cat he noticed a person moving – moving to a certain area Minho knew was bad news. Confused he watched the skinny figure moving into the building and he almost jumped up, the cat scattering away surprised and for a short moment Minho was disappointed and sad but he just let it go. There was a different situation at hand he needed to take care of right now.
“Hey, wait,” he called, but the boy was already inside the hospital – and hospital was nothing good. He knew a handful of infected people that were a little crazy inside the building and as far as Minho could tell, the young man rushing inside the place just moments earlier was not, well, that crazy. His shoes left wet footprints on the broken concrete as he followed the person inside, quietly in case they needed help from him. If not, Minho would just disappear quietly again, but he already had a rather bad feeling.
stella dai, the trophy eldest and shining sun of the dai family, is dead.
dazed flora had none else left to do but stare, watch her older sister's lifeless body as it's taken away from her. the numbness that seized her was of loss and lament, the moisture that poured from her went with ease. stella had so much left to live. she had two sons, bright little boys who wept with her. they held flora's hands, elfin fingers clutching either hand. she had a husband, who also lost his life in his last stretch of heroism, an act of love to safe his wife from oblivion. he died an hour ago, unbeknownst to stella. they're to be buried together – the boys cannot come and see.
phantom voices, those of an uncanny resemblance to her late parents, haunted her as she made her way out, ghostly as she breezed past the cacophony of the hospital.
"you failed her, yanni. you failed your sister. you failed us, yang will be with us and you will be left to fail her sons too. that's all you will be, yanni. a failure."
her cries were all but silent. it was as if all eyes were on her, watching, waiting for the next failure to come. the boys were left with the head nurses, they excused her from the rest of her duties for the day. flora had begged them to let her stay, but they could not let her continue work at the eve of her only remaining family's death. pity. flora did not want their pity.
guilt settled within her like quicksand; the guilt had a nasty pang, a bitterness against her tongue. she'd been used to wear obedience like a second skin, but it all came crumbling down the moment the lifeline drew a straight line.
flora never had anything good in life. stella was the favorite, the starlet, the dearest – flora had never been anything so great. but in her elder sister's eyes, flora was a darling little flower. stella was the only person who believed flora to be anyone worthy of love, of nurturing. she might have grown up under stella's shadow, but she never failed to shine her light upon her baby sister. not once did stella make her feel as though she's anything beneath her.
she was stella's sunflower, but the sun shall never again rise. flora had failed her, the only one who believed in her.
"ayi..."
she craned her neck to see her nephews, their pale cheeks embossed with the purest of rouge. they called out to her with broken voices.
"come here, you two. give ayi a hug." she welcomed both with arms open wide, ensconcing them with all the warmth left in her embrace. with a swollen, tired gaze, she looked both in the eyes and held out her pinkies.
"promise me you two will be okay?"
she'd already failed her parents, her brother in law, her sister. she failed all of them. but she will not allow herself to fail the two stars before her not when they uttered their promises and their pinkies twined with her own. she was all they had left.