Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

How this book works:

Y/n is meant to be a male because of the focus on the boy groups, however this can be adapted. Minimal pronoun use for this purpose.

If a boy group you stan isn't mentioned or focused on, suck it up because honestly being as much of a multi-stan as I am it's difficult enough already.

I hope that this story makes you laugh and I am really sorry (not really) if you cry. Also, these are real people and real people don't always act the same way all the time. We're not characters- we get to make choices for ourselves, and because of this I will take no responsibility for any "he wouldn't do that", "I don't think he's like that" or whatever out of character stuff. This is just a story. Author liberties will be taken.

Boy Groups Mentioned or Focused on:

ATEEZ

StrayKids

TXT

P1Harmony

Many NCT units

Xdinary Heroes

And probably more

Soloists Mentioned:

DPR Ian (Christian Yu)

Jackson Wang

Jay Park (trust me on this one fam)

WOODZ

Eric Nam

pH-1

With a special appearance of KARD.

A sick, absolute banger of a playlist for this fan fiction is linked in the description!

Warnings: swearing (not excessive, but there.), innuendo?, and violence/action. I try to keep it pg-13 at the most. No smut :)

Chapter Text

The journal of: Y/n L/n
Please return if found

Date: May 16th

If I only had headphones my life would be a lot better right now. That’s stupid- I should be worrying about what I’m going to eat tonight.

List of supplies right now:
Journal
Pencil
Flashlight
My Melody blanket
Gun w/out bullets
Backpack-> extra pair of socks, jacket, one pack of beef ramen, Twice album (Formula of Love), water bottle, towel-blue

Okay so that’s not great. I only have one pack of ramen, no way to cook it, and this warehouse is like…completely empty. I’m gonna die in this apocalypse. At least I’ll die with a Tzuyu photocard. Yay.

I will work on dinner later. The issue really is after dinner. The nightmares haven’t stopped and it’s been a week. I think I’ve slept a total of eleven hours this week. That’s not good at all. I think I’m hallucinating Sunghoon dancing in the corner of the warehouse for about an hour now. It’s not just the nightmares, it’s the sound of fire alarms going off two buildings down. I don’t understand why they haven’t stopped by now, the fire burned itself out yesterday.

________________

I closed the journal and tucked it into the backpack beside me. I pulled the pink blanket tighter around me, shivering a little from the cold concrete under me. The fire alarms were still blaring and I was too brain dead to go over there to figure out how to make them stop. I was scared, very scared, and for the first time in five years I was completely alone. Even Sunghoon had faded back into the shadows.

Five years ago I had barely graduated high school. I had no career plans, having barely passed every class, and my parents thought I was going to live in their basement forever. Of course, neither of us wanted this, but I thought that I had no skills, no interests, and was as blank with ideas as the space to put your name is for people who forget that the assignment is graded. I would never admit this, it was too embarrassing, but the day I discovered my passion was when I was playing Just Dance with my little cousin and realized that I wanted to do nothing in my life but dance.

Within that year, I had started dance classes of all kinds while working a decent job to pay for them. I’d never considered becoming an idol, but life often leads you in directions you never would have dreamed for yourself! A friend had sent me an email they’d gotten for open auditions for a small company. So I signed up on a whim and to spite my friend for their teasing, auditioned well, and began to train with them. Then a year later I was auditioning again to debut in a large group.

Somehow I got in. We were doing very well and were gaining fans right up until the day the world began to end.

Now, a few weeks later, I was hiding in terror from the zombies that roamed the streets of the city inside this warehouse I found. The one weapon I had, a gun I’d stolen from a body in the street, had no more bullets left and was just extra weight at this point. The members of my group were gone: either dead, undead, or scattered across the city. I had no intention of seeking them out as we’d left each other on unkind and unforgivable terms. Fans always assume that idol groups are family, or that their friendship is more brotherhood than anything, but musicians, dancers, and rappers are only humans and we all had flaws that meant we could never get to the point of companionship that so many other groups were successful at. I did not miss them, but I missed the company, the support, and most importantly someone smarter than me to help me survive the end of the world.

The freezing concrete was seeping into my body and there was nothing this soft blanket could do to keep me warm underneath. It wasn’t large enough. I tried to close my eyes in half-hearted hopes that I could catch sleep since it was running away from me just like my first girlfriend had from our relationship.

The sirens continued, echoing creepily through the warehouse hallways. I just wanted to sleep…As I lay there wanting to cry, a sudden rattling sound began to accompany the sirens. I grabbed the flashlight that was next to me and stood up. I scanned the room with my light and there was no movement.

“Is there someone there?” I called out, like a fool. Have I never seen a horror movie?

No response.

I crossed the large room, navigating through crates and barrels, trying to be as silent as possible. There was a hallway to my left and it led to an abandoned office space. There was a door there that led to the place where trucks pick up orders. If anything were to enter, it would be from there.

Sneaking through the hallway, I listened carefully in case there’s some kind of surprise attack type of zombie. I pushed open the door to the office. Papers on the desk lifted a little from the air of the door. The computer was disconnected and black.

I sat down in the desk chair and rolled around the room halfheartedly. If there was a zombie, they would find me somehow, so better for them to come to me I suppose.

I sat there for a while. Some pens on the desk begged to be tossed and spun so they offered some entertainment while I waited.

“Oh shit.”

I stood up again. Who said that? I didn’t. The rattling sound started again and it was loud enough that I looked directly above me. Ah. The vent system. It was one of those silver rectangle ones that spy movies show people climbing through. There’s no way a zombie made it into one of those, right?

As I stood there thinking, a shuffling sound began to accompany the rattling. Then a shriek, and through the vent grate a few feet away from where I stood, a person fell into the room.

They crashed into a recycling bin and their black doc martens were all I could see sticking out. “Don’t fuckin’ move!” I yelled, pulling out the empty gun from my back pocket.

“Not moving, not moving!!” The person groaned from their uncomfortable position.

I approached the bin and lowered my gun when I saw that he was human. I vaguely recognized him.

“Aren’t you…”

“Hwang Hyunjin and totally human! Don’t shoot!” He yelped with his hands over his face. He wore a leather jacket, had several silver bracelets on his wrists, and light pink hair though the roots were beginning to show black.

I gasped and tucked my gun in my pants before reaching to help Hyunjin out of the recycling bin. “What on earth are you doing in my vents??”

“Well…”

Before he could finish another person lowered themselves down from the vent. They landed much more gracefully and stood upright in the bin, grinning widely.

“Bro, is that Felix? Am I going crazy right now? Because I honestly wouldn’t be surprised at this point.” I said, amazed at the two figures who quite literally dropped into my life.

The other vent explorer was indeed Felix, who waved at his name. I led them out of the office and into the warehouse area where I had been before. There was more space there and besides, the office was small.

“What are you two doing here?” I wanted an explanation and maybe some reassurance too. My group, even at our height of popularity, had never been on any level to be able to even TALK to these guys. Felix and Hyunjin were fashion icons, amazing singers and dancers, and belonged to the boy group StrayKids. Being in the same room with them was enough to make my brain break and I was in the same freaking industry. I was also ashamed that I’d pointed a gun at one of them… not really the best impression.

Felix started first. “We’ve been looking for a place big enough and safe enough for the rest of us.” His voice was deep and pretty stress-relieving. I had a lot of stress.

“Yeah… we drew the short straws to go explore.” Hyunjin added, “Honestly we were hoping this place was abandoned. And it’s better to go in pairs… safety in numbers type of thing I guess.”

“Wait, so the rest of StrayKids are still human? And they’re in the area?” I had so many questions I had no idea where to start. “You guys want to come here? Are you serious?”

Felix laughed and smiled at my shock. “Yes, yes the rest of us are human and yes we’re looking for a good base.”

“Would you be okay with the rest of us coming here? Staying with you?” Hyunjin asked as he glanced around the dark warehouse. “If you’ve made it here for a while it must be pretty secure.”

I blinked a few times at his directness. “Um, yeah, yeah I would be! I hope this place is as good as you think it is… I mean it’s true I’ve been here for two days now, but it’s only been me. I don’t have enough supplies or protection or anything really to help out eight people!”

Felix stood up, adjusted his baseball cap that hid a bit of his silvery hair, and said, “Don’t worry about that. We’ve all had different jobs and Lee Know has been passionately collecting food to last us for at least a month now. As for protection, we can work on that together. This place is just too perfect to pass up. If you don’t mind, we should probably head out and let Bang Chan know we’ve found a place. And a new friend, perhaps?”

“Oh yes! Absolutely! Sorry about the gun thing, it doesn’t have any bullets so I couldn’t have shot you anyways.” I said to Hyunjin.

“Wait a sec, how did you guys get here?”

“Wanna see?”

Chapter Text

Alrighty. So I know that Kpop is a massive, humongous, gigantic, etc thing that to attempt a massive crossover makes me as an author seem stupid. Here’s the thing though- I don’t care. I’ve been working on this plot and idea ever since I accidentally watched Contagion and overheard my brother listening to the audiobook for World War Z. And then I watched all 24 lectures on the Black Death by The Great Courses on Amazon.

Don’t tell me I have a problem. I know. Because after that, I continued to think on this plot for around three months, writing down wack ideas and watching those videos of kpop idols being scared in haunted houses. I’ve done my research guys and if this isn’t somewhat accurate I don’t know what more I could do. Like who am I kidding, I’m not actually gonna go stan all these groups I wanna include…

And then I did. And I dove into the deep end by actually starting to write this thing.

Anyways, that’s my little speech on what this story was inspired by. I think this next part may be interesting just to me haha- but if you want to know a little bit more about your author, here’s some info about my kpop preferences. You can make assumptions and roast me in the comments if you feel like it! (I can take it XD )

Stray Kids:
Yes, I am a Stay. They were the second group I actually binged on Spotify after (G)I-DLE. Though it was The Boyz that got me into the boy group side of kpop in the first place, so they have a special place in my heart.
Top 3 Fav Songs (as if that’s even possible):
1.Easy -Hip-Hop/Rap is something they really do best
2. CHILL- listened to this song so many times. The vocals are incredible, as well as the general feel of the song. Helped me make an important decision… if you read the lyrics you’ll get exactly what I’m talking about.
3. Any- underrated and such a vibe.
Bias: Um… for stray kids are you crazy??? Usually it’s Lee Know because I relate to him and we have the same MBTI and zodiac. And Changbin’s rapping is one of my favorite things on earth and he’s under-appreciated imo. But let’s be real- OT8 for life.

TOMORROWXTOGETHER:
As a Moa, TXT has to be on this list. I’ve gone to their Act:Sweet Mirage concert in San Antonio and lemme tell y’all, it was INSANE. My brother, who is a huge fan of SKZ, TXT, and ITZY, came along and we had such a good time together.
Top 3 Fav Songs: (I hate this now)
1.Tinnitus(wanna be a rock)- let’s talk about the music video, the demo version, and maybe just this song always. No, I definitely did not translate it into spanish just to see if the vibe was just as smexy and boy, I want a version of it on soundcloud or sm
2.Frost- It’s different from a lot of their music and it’s not a very popular song when it should be.
3.Fairy of Shampoo- shut up about the title, the lyrics are gorgeous. I don’t want to just listen to this song, I want to experience it have it tattooed in my brain or something idk it’s just great
Bias: Taehyun. Have you seen that man?? He’s my Apollo. I don’t know if I want to be him, or to be with him. I will talk about Taehyun until I die. I’ll be 89 years old in a nursing home with a picture of him in my ancient purse lol

ATEEZ:
Yeah, ateez is wild. And scary. But it’s kind of what they’re going for imo. They do it well and though I’m not super into the fandom, their music is very influential on other groups. There is also no better band to work out to or, in this context, fight to in a zombie apocalypse.
Top 3 Fav songs:
Take Me Home- it’s giving the Weeknd and I’m living for it
Rocky- boxers version- it’s rock heavy (lol) and it’s a vibe
Pirate King- Okay, okay, I know it’s popular, but for good reason!! Also the mmm OH-eh-OHHH is so catchy I can’t stop annoying my mom with it.
Bias: maybe Mingi? Idk, he’s pretty attractive imo plus he’s funny and I’m down with an open anime watcher. I think I need to get in the fandom more before I can say for sure though.

(Update- It’s been a few months of writing this fanfiction, and coming back to this paragraph for editing, I’ve changed my mind. I freaking love ATEEZ and now consider myself atiny. I still have no bias, but that’s because everyone’s funny and attractive af and there’s nothing I can do about it. Also, listen to their new album- Outlaw- RN. RIGHT NOW. I’m not kidding you at all, that album is… every song is GOLD oh and btw I might have seen Seonghwa and San at a Walmart one day and I got scared so I didn't go up to them. Did some research and turns out San was in the United States for his birthday. Couldn't find where, which means that it's possible I was right😬😭😭😭😭)

BTS:
Ayo (nct???), I'm not really an Army tbh. But I have to say, some of their songs are amazing. They’ve made their mark on the world and I saw an article calling them the Beatles of our generation. That’s quite a title. I also listen to J-Hope all. the time. I like his style.
Top 3 Fav Songs:
1.MIC Drop- I think the music video is fun and it was one of the first BTS songs I heard that I genuinely liked a lot
2. 00:00 (Zero O’clock)- The message in this song always makes me think. In my interpretation it’s about starting over and forgiving yourself about past mistakes.
3.UGH!- Y’all this song makes me wanna commit crimes. It’s good, but it’s dangerous. This could start a world war if played to the wrong people. Keep it safe.
Bias: I like V, I like Hobi. I can’t say more than that because I will get aTtAcKeD by you freaky armies. Stay back- stay back! (jkjk, I know some of y’all are normal… some…some.) Oh, and I’ve learned how to play many BTS songs on drums, so I’ve been having fun playing random sick fills for my band. Then they ask “Hey, is that your’s? Who’s that from?” And I get to grin and say, “That’s BTS, maybe listen to kpop for sick guitar, idk :D”

Other songs I like from soloists yee:
Spirit Animal- Jessi
Rover- KAI
Mmmh- KAI (yes, ik, basic songs from Kai but come on, they’re fire)
Jackson Wang. All of it. Any of it.
Orange- pH-1 and Jay Park (ew jay park)
Cassette- DEMIAN
ABYSS- WOODZ (There’s a new album and it's my favorite go listen plz)
Drowning- WOODZ (these two songs are maybe his biggest hits, but both are genuinely fantastic, beautiful songs. They’re poetic, his voice is incredible, and I love him)
Zombie Pop- DPR IAN
Don't Go Insane- DPR IAN
I’m OK- Eric Nam

I could go on and on talking about groups and people I haven’t even mentioned. The BOYZ, MONSTA X, BIBI, brb., my obsession with NCT 127, and more honestly.

Okay, enough of me just talking. Back to the story ;)

Chapter Text

Felix and Hyunjin. In my warehouse. Okay, technically it’s not mine, but in the same room as me! They decided to take me with them to go see their base and meet the others. I was so excited; it was ridiculous. I was also very nervous because I didn’t know how bad the situation was. The last time I’d left the warehouse had been last night and there weren't too many zombies. That’s what worried me. Where did they go?

They guided me through the vent system, which was very uncomfortable, but eventually led to a grate. Through that was an open gravel area which I called the backyard. There they showed me the most glorious car I had ever seen.

“Check it out!” encouraged Felix and he began to point out notable features of their sick ride.

“It’s called a Ford F250 Super Duty and we’ve gotten it by totally legal means. It has room for five in the car but the truck bed is usable because I don’t think the cops care anymore about that, they’ve got better things to do. And check out these tires! Entirely rubber, no flats for us, that’s for sure. Glass is bulletproof and the car has been coated in textured weather protection. No hail, snow,
hurricane, or anything can damage this bad boy.”

Hyunjin nodded at everything Felix said but added, “Yes, that’s great and everything, but I think this is the best part.” He took the keys from his friend, jumped into the front seat, turned on the truck, and pressed a few buttons on the dashboard. 2 Baddies by NCT 127 started blaring from the speakers and a massive machine gun appeared in the truck bed. It was in the perfect place for defense and was able to swivel around.

Felix started laughing at the music choice but I thought it was dope. He said that he would let Hyunjin drive and he’d manage the gun in the back. So I hopped into the passenger seat and we took off. (Author Note: Yeah, Changbin taught Hyunjin to drive. Look okay, I just need him to know how to drive for this purpose so plz, I know it’s not true, but move on.)

Around the warehouse, onto the paved road, then the highway. The sunrise was beautiful and orangey pink. The streets were clear of zombies and people. It was eerie for such a massive, populated city to be so deserted.

Another ten minutes of driving then suddenly a shriek, then the machine gun in the back started blasting. My head spun around and I saw Felix, entirely focused with red construction headphones on, firing at a single zombie what looked like a hundred times. It had taken up until this moment for me to remember that guns were illegal in Korea. Was this a disguised military vehicle??

Once he was satisfied with his destruction of the zombie, Felix knocked on the back window, which slid back. He yelled to Hyunjin, “That’s just one, it’s gonna start getting bad pretty quick so step on it!”

He nodded and the engine roared as he accelerated. We exited the highway and ran every red light we hit. Felix and Hyunjin would just wave and smile whenever they saw the light flash that was supposed to catch red light runners.

We turned into a large apartment complex area. The gates were open and looked as though they'd been pulled apart by the Hulk. We drove right through and pulled into a parking space in front of the last building on the row. The apartment buildings were painted white with black trim on the windows and doors. With the sun setting and a few cars still in their spaces, things looked relatively normal.

Hyunjin led me to the top floor, the third floor, and banged four times on the door with the back of his fist rather quickly. The door opened a crack and I could see part of a face peeking through. It said in a mock deep voice, “You wanna come in?”

“Yes, I do Han!” Hyunjin sighed, “That joke’s getting old.”

“Alright, alright, I see how it is…” The face, apparently Han Jisung, moped. He opened the door fully and welcomed the three of us inside. He wore a massive orange hoodie and black ripped jeans. His hair was royal blue and tucked into a beanie. We took our shoes off and chucked them in a massive pile by the door. “You’re just mad that it was myyyy idea to use the Back Door knock as our code knock.” Han continued to go off until he noticed that I was awkwardly standing in the entrance hallway waiting to be introduced. “Oh who’s this dude?” He pointed a thumb in my direction, the huge sleeve of his hoodie shaking hilariously.

Felix grabbed my arm and said proudly, “This is Y/n L/n, our new hope!”

“Ah nice!... So why’d you bring ‘em here?”

“Because Y/n’s got a nice place and I’m going to suggest to Bang Chan that we crash at their warehouse instead of this cramped apartment.”

Han nodded. “Cool, cool…” He started to look me up and down, which was painfully awkward again for me. “How’ve you made it this far anyway? You’re kind of… built like a stick. I mean that in the nicest way possible I promise.”

I was taken aback at this comment. I thought that I was pretty fit and not overly anything! Besides, that was none of his concern anyways! “I have a gun.” Is all I said, allowing him to make his own assumptions if he wanted.

“Oh yeah, that's smart.”

Hyunjin slapped Han on the back of the head with a frown. “Where's everyone else?" He said, thankfully changing the topic.

Before replying Han led us to the living room where a brown leather couch and two black chairs faced an off television. We sat down and he explained, “Changbin left on foot to find more bandages. Lee Know is cleaning litter boxes I think. Boss is out on the patio, and Seungmin is definitely somewhere in the building. Oh and I.N. is with Changbin. Is that everyone? Oh yeah, and you guys are here. Yeah that’s everyone.”

Felix left us and went to find Chan. For a moment Hyunjin, Han, and I sat in silence. “Well, since Felix is taking care of our housing situation, I’m going to go clean up my room. Please excuse me.” Hyunijn said, bowing slightly out of the room. Clearly he didn’t want to be part of the quiet crew anymore.

Han was sitting in one of the black chairs, which I then realized spun around, and he turned to me with curiosity sparkling in his eyes.

“So…” He grinned, “what’s your place like?”

“It’s not much-” I started, but he interrupted.

“It’s been so exhausting living in this kind of small apartment. I hope it’s somewhere larger. Not that I’m complaining or anything, I’m just excited!”

“Oh yeah it’s pretty big, I guess, I mean it’s a warehouse…”

“Wait, what?”

At that moment I could hear the sliding patio door open and a voice said, “Let’s try to get Hyunjin to leave the cardboard cutout here. I’m really okay without seeing it around anymore.”

The door closed and the world famous leader Bang Chan poked his blond head around the hallway wall with a friendly smile. I took a sharp breath. He was the one I’d looked forward to meeting the most. He was wearing a black shirt with the sleeves cut off, loose black Adidas pants, and the most goofy looking sandals I’d ever seen. Yes, this outfit was the first choice for an apocalypse style for one of the most popular, handsome, effective, hardworking, and caring band leaders in the industry. Really? Those sandals scared me…

Bang Chan approached me with a hand extended. I shook it and suddenly everything felt very formal. He sat down, looked quickly at Han, who left, and began, “So you’re Y/n L/n?”

I nodded.

“I’m Bang Chan. Welcome to our little place! Let’s get down to business.” He shifted in his seat and continued, “So how long have you maintained this warehouse? What are your security systems? How effective?”

I took a minute to process these questions then replied slowly, “ Well, not very long. I think two days. There aren’t any security systems because I’m the only one there and I didn’t really think I’d make it this far to be completely honest. So not effective at all.”

His mouth opened slightly and his eyebrows raised in shock as I spoke. He clapped his hands together. Then he cautiously suggested that “maybe this wasn’t the best situation for me to be in. Maybe with some helpers I could get the place put back together and have a safe haven for a more long-term hideout.”

After I agreed to at least tolerating (though that wouldn’t be difficult) and working with the rest of Stray Kids, Bang Chan and I began to write an extensive list of the things that would need to be moved to the warehouse, what needed to be fixed, who would be in charge of what, and how long this whole endeavor would take. It took at least two hours of debating and going through every detail before we were ready to present the plan to the rest of the group. We just had to wait for them to return.

When the moon was out and everyone had returned from their assignments, Bang Chan gathered everyone for dinner. It was one of the loudest events I’ve ever been a part of. I had thought that my group was loud and chaotic, but Stray Kids took family dinner to a whole new level. Bang Chan sat at one end of the table and I.N. at the other, while I was crammed between Seungmin and Felix. Lee Know, Han, and Changbin were across from me and Hyunjin was supposed to sit where I was, but abandoned it for me and sat on the floor.

The group chatted, sang, and screamed occasionally all throughout dinner. Some were excited that they were moving locations, while others were worried about all their belongings and loudly debated their side for ages. When purple-haired Lee Know had cleared all the plates from the table and things were starting to settle down, Bang Chan stood up and everyone quieted down very quickly.

“Alright. Here’s the plan for tomorrow. We’re going to split into groups; me and Y/n will be going between groups to make sure things are going well.

First, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N. will be in charge of receiving the things that are dropped off at the warehouse. So basically you guys are the shipping department. Second, Hyunjin and Changbin are in charge of going to and from the apartment to the warehouse. Transportation is going to be the biggest challenge we’re going to face- mostly because of the zombies and defending the vehicle. You guys are a good team though, and Y/n” here he gestured to me quickly, “will be going along with you occasionally for a third supporter if needed. Han and Lee Know are going to put everything into the vans, I’ll help too. Okay, now that everyone knows their roles, any comments, questions, or concerns?”

Bang Chan sat down again. There was a moment of silence before I.N. raised his hand. The leader nodded at him and the maknae said, “ How will we know where the things we get from the truck should go? Is there a plan for that part yet?”

“Good question,” I decided I’d answer him, since it might appear if I kept quiet that I didn’t actually know anything. “There is a plan for once all your belongings are in the building, but we thought it best to take the plan in stages so things don’t get too complicated. There’s also the very high possibility that this is gonna fail and we all die so…”

“ANYWAYS!” Bang Chan interrupted, “Let’s all get some sleep. We’re going to need it in case we gotta fight some zombies or something. I don’t know, I need sleep.”

“But- what about the cats?”

“What?”

Lee Know had spoken up with a major concern. “You’re letting me take the cats, right?”

Bang Chan blinked a few times, thinking. “Um, yes, you can bring the cats.”

“But I’m allergic, we've talked about this!” Hyunjin and Changbin exclaimed at the same time… somehow.

“Look, they’re Lee Know’s cats, he’ll figure it out. But when? IN THE MORNING.” The leader cried out in sleep deprivation. He left the table, sighing but smiling, and one by one the members slouched off to bed.

Felix was the last to leave and he offered me some very interesting conversation. I didn’t need a lot of sleep, but at the same time I was rather confused as to where I was supposed to go.

“What’s odd is that Chan doesn’t sleep very much. It’s strange he’s off to bed first. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’s an insomniac- I wonder what he’s up to.”

Neither of us had any answers, so we shrugged and eventually went to bed. The couch was my bed, and after sleeping on the concrete of the warehouse for several nights, it was incredibly comfortable. Bang Chan had tried to get me to use one of the members' beds, but I refused. I laid on the couch with a pillow to hug and worried.

Chapter Text

I woke up in the morning with a neck cramp. I think I slept weird. I pushed the pillow off my chest and sat up, rubbing my eyes. After a high pitched yawn and awkward stretching, my eyes focused and I realized that everyone was already awake. All around me the members were putting their belongings and clothes into boxes. (Where the boxes came from I have no idea) Seungmin was shoving a large puffy jacket into a suitcase right in front of the TV and was the first to notice I was watching them.

“Sleep well?” He asked kindly, though strained a bit as the jacket wasn’t cooperating.

I nodded and got unsteadily to my feet. “You’d better get ready for the day, fast,” Seungmin said, “Your stuff might get put in a box if someone forgets it’s yours!”

A few minutes later I was dressed and ready. I realized I hadn’t eaten anything yet, but before I could do anything about it a protein bar hit the side of my head, like manna falling from the sky. I picked it up from the floor and turned around to see who had thrown it. Fortunately, my view was blocked by a cardboard box and very muscular arms holding it. “Hey, please get out of the hallway you’re blocking everything.” Ah yes, Changbin. Why is everyone here so aggressively kind?

“Oh, yeah, sorry.” I muttered and ducked into the living room. I needed to find Chan.

The man was a magician I swear. He appeared the moment I thought of him, dragging a massive duffle bag that clattered suspiciously of metal weaponry. He noticed I was standing there and said, “You need something to do, right? Here, take this bag and put it by the door. Thought it’d be best to put everything in one spot. Once everything is packed up, you’re going to go with Changbin and Hyunjin to take Felix, I.N., and Seungmin to the warehouse. Remember?”

“Right, right. Then we start the luggage relay.”

“I like that- that’s a funny way of putting it.” He smiled warmly and left to go get more supplies. I struggled way more than Chan did trying to drag the bag to the door, which was embarrassing. It didn’t take too long to clear out the apartment with 9 people working together on it. The real surprise came when Lee Know walked confidently out the door with a gun slung over his shoulder. He turned around when he noticed he was alone. I think I was the only one watching from the doorway because he saw me, cocked his head to the side, then grabbed me by the shirt and dragged me into the apartment next door.

I hadn’t talked to Lee Know much, mostly because there was so much to do, and I had no idea what he was like at all. (And seeing as how I had only known of Stray Kids because of their influence in the industry, I actually didn’t know much about each member other than their name and their face.)

Lee Know released my shirt from his hands and explained what was going on once we were inside the apartment. “I’ve been keeping all the food and other long term supplies I’ve collected in here. As well as my cats. It’s like an apartment sized pantry! If there’s one thing I care about during this damn apocalypse, it’s not starving to death. That’d be a terrible way to die.” He told me that he also stored first aid kits, masks, and all kinds of other hard to find valuables and that he needed help figuring out how to pack it all.

I said that I’d find someone else to help with this, since he and Han were supposed to be dealing with the cats and loading up. Han did come over and assisted with the pantry. Once that was over, everything was finally ready to go to the warehouse.

Together we got some of the smaller boxes, some filled with clothes or daily use items like soap, and put them in the truck bed. Once we filled the truck with enough items that we really couldn’t do without for a day, the group hopped in the truck. I took the passenger seat next to Changbin, who was driving. Hyunjin was taking a turn with the gun in the truck bed and the shipping department was in the backseat.

Changbin turned on the engine and was about to drive off when Bang Chan knocked on my window. I rolled it down and he passed me a battery powered walkie talkie. “Don’t lose this!” Chan said firmly, “Channel 13, and keep me updated in case you need something. Good luck everyone! Drive safe!”

He hopped down from the vehicle, then Changbin turned up the volume on the speakers, and we barreled out of the apartment parking lot. I had assumed that we’d have to fight our way through streets filled with zombies, but still there weren’t any. I asked Changbin why and he said, “Well, most zombies are more active at night for some reason. It’s convenient for us right now, but I’m sure that as more people become infected, it won’t matter what time of day it is and they’ll attack. This city is just too populated for that many zombies to hide out. Anyways, worry about a zombie when you see one. That’s what I do, I guess.”

“Hey, anyone want snacks?” Felix grinned from the middle seat, holding a box of brownies and a bag of oranges and granola bars.

I.N. reached for the oranges and Seungmin attacked the brownies. “Save some for me!!” Changbin cried as he watched Seungmin in the rearview mirror.

Changbin looked at the road again and slammed on the breaks. Felix yelled as his box of brownies danced dangerously in his hand. A thump from the truck bed and a shriek said that Hyunjin had fallen over. We could hear him exclaim impressively loud, “Why’d you do that?! Ugh, my shoulderrrr…”

“Wait, do you hear that?” I rolled down my window to try to hear what Changbin must’ve heard.

A faint, piercing, high-pitched sound reached my ears, but it was hard to tell where it came from. It sounded like a mix between a dolphin and an air raid siren. “I recognize that scream…” I.N. said quietly. “Is that…?”

“There’s no way.” Seungmin scoffed.

“Well, should we check?” Changbin suggested, and before anyone could agree or disagree, he turned the steering wheel towards where he thought the sound was coming from.

We turned into a gas station. It was really sketchy. Think of that one gas station that you never, ever, use the bathrooms in and only fill up for gas there. The type of gas station where there are more rats than employees and more often than not has at least one cop car in the parking lot. Changbin pulled into a parking spot, but didn’t turn the car off. He opened the sliding window behind Felix and told Hyunjin the situation. “We’re gonna go inside. I’m leaving the car on so that the gun works. If something goes wrong, go home, if zombies follow us, shoot like crazy, and if none of those terrible things happen, just wait here.”

Hyunjin made a face at the last instruction. “I have to miss all the action? That’s boring!”

“Isn’t it better than dying?” Seungmin retorted. Hyunjin rolled his eyes but agreed. The backseat and I got out of the truck with Changbin following behind. I heard a few clicks and turned around.

“Wait, y’all got guns?? Can I get one?” I whined, gesturing to Felix’s gun.

“Ummmm…” Felix looked around for something to give me.

Changbin groaned quietly. He passed me his gun and sighed, “It’s fine, I’ll go without. Probably could punch them, I dunno.”

“That would be hilarious.” I. N. grinned as he pushed open the door into the gas station.

It was way worse inside than it was outside, which was saying something. The store was surprisingly large, with several long rows of messy shelves, and I could’ve sworn I heard squeaking as if rats were scattering to their hidden homes. The five of us crept along the counter with our guards raised.

The wall to our left were refrigerators half empty with probably flat sodas. One of the doors (which oddly didn’t have any shelving) was open, and even from the other side of the room we could feel the freezing blast of air escaping. Changbin seemed to naturally take the responsibility of leader; Felix nodding hesitantly at his directions to close the refrigerator door.

We watched while Felix walked through a row of snack shelves to the door. I shuddered where I stood, both from fear and the temperature. Felix turned back to us and grimaced. He slowly inched the door closed with his eyes closed, but his hand slipped on the plastic handle and it slammed shut with a bang.

The room got even more icy in the silence that followed. Felix had run back to us with terror in his eyes and we grouped together subconsciously. “I’m sorry guys, I fucked up…” He said while tucking a strand of hair under his hat.

“Just hold on, maybe there’s nothing here!” Seungmin whispered.

Seungmin had spoken too soon. A fist started pounding on the door frantically and a voice cried out, “Don’t close the door!!! I’m in here! I’m gonna kill you Beomgyu!!!”

I.N. gasped and ran to the door. “You know Beomgyu??” He opened the door of our troubles and the arm flopped out onto the floor. A man raised himself from the floor and glared at our group. He wore a white, loose, sleeveless shirt, a silver chain around his neck, had many ear piercings, unfairly full lips, and sunglasses on his collar. He looked up at I.N. and his expression changed in a flash.

“Yo, aren’t you I.N.?”

“Yeah!!”

This very swag man got to his feet and got out of the refrigerator. He had to duck to not hit his head on the frame- he was definitely taller than anyone present. He sucked on a blue popsicle in his hand and scanned the situation with suspicious eyes. His eyes found Changbin and grinned.

“Woah, you’re alive!!” He crossed the room to us in a few strides. Changbin reached out and the two hugged like they were long lost brothers. “I’ve missed you man!”

“I texted you the first few weeks in, but you never responded! Where’ve you been?” Changbin was hilariously short compared to the popsicle dude. When they hugged his face was in his chest.

I looked around at the group, and clearly I was the only one lost in this interaction. Seungmin was smiling lightly, Felix was patting Changbin on the back, and I.N. was exploring the gas station with confidence he definitely didn’t have before.

Suddenly I was pulled and Changbin put an arm around my shoulder. “This is Y/n L/n. Meet Yeonjun, Y/n!”

I waved weakly, Changbin’s arm heavy on my shoulder. “Hi there…”

“Y/n here has a very sweet warehouse and so we’re actually in the process of moving our HQ over to their place. Where’s your people?”

Yeonjun shrugged and said, “Beomgyu is supposed to be in here, that’s why I thought he was the one who closed the door on me. Heuning Kai is out back with Soobin and Taehyun. We were looking for food. I found some stuff but mostly popsicles. The power is still on in here so I was taking a break in the refrigerator. Been a while since AC,” he laughed lightly and gestured to the restroom sign in the corner with his melting popsicle. “And one of the stalls still works in the women's bathrooms and we’ve been using that. So, Y/n, your place is pretty dope then?”

I nodded and glanced at Changbin. He gave me a little smile and it helped me a little. I honestly don’t know why I was intimidated by Yeonjun, maybe it was just his height. Or maybe it was because he looked like he could kill a man with his bare hands. That probably wasn’t true, anyways, I built up my courage and replied, “Yes, it’s good enough. I’m hoping there’s power or that I can get some, because there wasn’t any when I was there alone. It’s a big place for one person though, so maintenance with just me wasn’t very good.”

“Awesome, awesome.” He gave me a thumbs up and shifted his attention to Seungmin and I.N. messing around behind the counter. Apparently there was still some cash in the cash register and Seungmin was trying to pick lock it. I.N. was watching him intently like he was watching a master sculptor craft a masterpiece. “Hey! No stealing from my gas station!” Yeonjun joking exclaimed.

Changbin gasped, startling me, and asked, “Where’s the walkie talkie Chan gave you?”

I pulled it out from my jacket pocket and handed it to him. Changbin turned it to the right channel and spoke clearly into it, “Hey Chan, this is Changbin. You won’t believe what just happened. Do you want me to say ‘over’ after I speak or…?”

Static crackled before Bang Chan’s voice said, “No, it’s okay if you don’t want to, but if you want to say ‘over’ for fun then let’s do it. What happened?”

Changbin explained how we’d found Yeonjun and added, “If they want, are they able to come with us to the new base? Over.”

The line was silent for a moment before Bang Chan said, “Yeah sure, why not. Tomorrow by Together is always welcome.”

Changbin did a little happy dance (which was adorable and hilarious at the same time) and reminded me of a kid celebrating when his mom said their best friend could stay for dinner. “I’ll ask them right now! Over!” He returned the walkie talkie.

Yeonjun waved at me to follow him and I did. Stray Kids seemed to love him, miss him, and most importantly trust him, so I thought I should too. He led me through the rows, into a hallway where the restrooms were, then through a door that had an exit sign above it. “Watch your step…” He warned, then stepped down onto an asphalt parking lot.

I attempted to step down too, but realized he was much taller than I understood and instead of stepping down I basically fell. It wasn’t entirely embarrassing though because no one saw it happen. The parking lot was small. A pair of dumpsters were to my almost immediate left and they smelled RANK. To my right was the exit to the street. Deliveries must have come in that way during better times. Yeonjun walked to the left and disappeared behind the dumpsters. I followed him quickly, holding my nose. Turns out this gas station had a creepy crawl space.

It took so much self control to not groan and cuss, but I managed and followed Yeonjun underneath the gas station.

Chapter Text

This was the most awkward situation I’d ever been in since the time I was stuck in an elevator with Hyunjae of THE BOYZ by chance. He had smelled like dog, the subway, and had clearly just come from either a workout or dance practice. I had wanted to say ‘hi’, but instead I had ended up staring at the floor while trying to make sure my face didn’t show my disgust. A missed opportunity.

But now I was staring at Yeonjun’s butt with dirt under my nails in the dark. The only thing that could make this worse is if one of us were to fart, and at this thought I immediately began to pray. I was too young to die and especially by those means.

“Where are we going??” I eventually muttered.

Yeonjun turned his head back to look at me and said, “Oh, sorry Y/n, I meant to explain but got distracted thinking. We’re just grabbing some stuff we stashed back here earlier today. It’s a few boxes and things, so I thought you looked like you’d be decent help. We’re almost there.”

“Oh.” I wasn’t sure what to think of this.

Thankfully I didn’t have much time to figure out my feelings because Yeonjun stopped crawling. He began to shuffle around the dirt with his hands, which I was grateful it was him and not me. After a minute or so, Yeonjun uncovered from the loose dirt a box covered in a plastic shopping bag. He slid the bag to me and gave me directions to take it back to the gas station.

When I opened my eyes in the sunlight of the parking lot, I was momentarily blinded, but it wore off quickly. My vision returned yet I wished it hadn’t when I saw what was going on in the parking lot. A tall, blond man was pummeling a cowering figure with what looked like a yellow squishmallow. If I were a better person, I would’ve gone up and stopped the…fight? But I wasn’t, so I watched for a moment before walking around the dumpsters then stepping into the gas station.

Once inside, I decided to see what I could snag from the rows of snacks to take for the road. I found a few good packages of crunchy chips and peanuts, but that was about it. The drinks were better stocked though, so I grabbed a few Gatoraids and water.

I pushed open the doors with my back and walked into the parking lot where a little ways away Hyunjin sat in the back of the truck talking with the tallest person I’d seen in a long time and Changbin, the shortest person I’d seen in a long time. Approaching the scene, I noticed that the tall person was rather skinny, had really defined dimples, and had several long bladed knives stuck into his belt. He wore a red flannel and loose jeans. Hyunjin was crouched down in the truck bed talking to them both. Occasionally Hyunjin would talk into the walkie talkie as well and the group would go silent and nod.

When I was finally noticed by this new skinny man, he turned to me with a lovely dimpled smile. Gosh he was so cute I wanted to die. Anyways, he said, “Hi there! I’m Soobin! Changbin mentioned there was someone helping out Yeonjun-hyung and you’ve got the box so it must be you!”

“Yep, it’s me! I’m the new kid haha.” I laughed awkwardly. “Anyone want any snacks?” I offered the stuff I’d raided from the gas station, but they all declined. Hyunjin took them and put them in a cooler in the truck bed so they would be useful later.

“What’s in the box?” I asked when I handed Yeonjun’s box over to Soobin. I was desperately curious. It wasn’t very heavy, and it felt like styrofoam from the texture I could touch through the thin plastic bag surrounding it.

“Hmm…” He hummed, looking down at the box with a frown. “Something that may turn out to be useful someday, if we live to see it.”

“Mr. Optimism over here I guess…” Hyunjin rolled his eyes at Soobin, but it was good naturedly. He reached out for the box without asking anymore questions and put the box in the cooler along with my drinks.

I was slightly disappointed that Soobin wouldn’t share what was in the box, but I pretend to accept the mystery of it so as not to pry.

Changbin then addressed the group like the leader he was turning out to be. “So after talking with Bang Chan and them, Soobin and his crew are going to hop in the truck bed and come along to the warehouse. It’d be better to have them help with unloading than loading, since it’s only a one way trip. And that way they can take their stuff now to the warehouse.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Hyunjin then politely raised a hand and said, “Hey, but where is everyone? So far I’ve only seen Soobin and Yeonjun,” which he pointed behind me to Yeonjun who had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, “and everyone else is missing!”

“Oh.” Yeonjun looked around and noticed that Hyunjin was correct. He reached into his shirt and pulled from the chain a little silver whistle. He blew into it three times quickly and the sound of six pairs of feet came thudding around the side of the gas station. “Here’s everyone.”

“Are you a freaking dog trainer??” Hyunjin whispered both in awe and in fear. “That was really fast…”

Yeonjun grinned and then introduced me to the people that weren’t Felix, I.N., and Seungmin. “That’s Taehyun,” he said, pointing at a silver haired man with black roots and even more black round eyes. “Then that’s Beomgyu,” He gestured to a man wearing knee length shorts with brown longish hair. He was hanging on to I.N.’s arm with a happy little smile on his face. “And that’s Huening Kai.” They all were tall, but it was after I learned that he was supposed to be the youngest that I couldn’t help but notice how tall and lanky this man was. He had a unique nose, which looked very good for his face, blond hair, and was holding the yellow squishmallow I had seen a few minutes ago.

I greeted them all, less shyly than before, because something told me that these guys were going to help this group out more than any stock of food ever could. If StrayKids were brothers, then TXT must have been like their favorite cousins and seeing them together gave me hope.

We then discussed how to pile into the vehicle, and after gathering everything from the gas station we could, Changbin manned the gun, Hyunjin took the wheel, TXT crammed into the truck bed with the weapons available out and ready, and the rest of the group in the back seat.

Chapter Text

It had been a long, long day. Almost as long as Jooyeon’s hair. Almost as long as Jongho’s high notes. Anyways, the point is, it was really long. I was glad that I had gotten better sleep the night before because by the end of the day I was ready to fall on the floor, dead as a zombie. With the help of TXT and StrayKids, my warehouse was now fully stocked with food, weapons, and actual bedding for at least half of us. Surprisingly, TXT didn’t bring many personal belongings with them. As I learned through Beomgyu, their group had been more of the scavenging kind: raiding stores, sleeping on roofs, and the occasional fighting zombies with their bare hands.

I had asked him if they’d had any experiences getting scratched or bitten by a zombie and how they’d dealt with it. All he had said was that Huening Kai had once punched a zombie in the jaw, but he never explained how that related to my question.

As I spent more time with these people I began to notice that very often I would ask a question and it would go unanswered. Or occasionally it would be replied to but it wouldn’t be clear at all. I was beginning to think that maybe I could be offended by this or bothered, but I realized that even though I was asking these questions, it wasn’t like they had any answers either. Just because they had more experience and were older than me didn’t mean that they knew anything at all.

At the moment I was trying to fix the lights with Felix, but it wasn’t going very well. We both stood in front of the breaker box staring at all the switches but were too afraid of screwing it up even more to turn any of them on.

“We should just do it.” I said.

“You first…” Felix grimaced.

“Does no one here know how to do electrical work?”

“Why would we know how to do that??”

I sighed, pulled up the rubber insulated glove I’d found in the office so in case of electricity I wouldn’t get shocked. Hopefully. I reached out, flicked the switch labeled ‘Office’ in sharpy with a sharp click, then snatched my hand away as fast as I could. A small spark flew from the breaker, but I could hear something start to whirr in the ceiling.

Felix said into the walkie talkie, “Is Genesis One a green?”

“Let there be light, baby!” Han shouted through the speaker.

We cheered and hugged each other. Finally, fluorescent lighting was ours! The shouting of Taehyun and Han in the office could be heard through the walkie talkie. This one victory was a good sign.

“Okay! Try Genesis One part two now!” Taehyun laughed.

“On it!” I reached out again and clicked the switch labeled ‘Track Storage’ with higher hopes than before. We had another success! The lights were working! Then I was directed to try part three, which was the loading bay area.

Again I flipped the switch and the whirring sound intensified all of a sudden. “I don’t like how that sounds…” I muttered, and not a second later the breaker rattled and blew out, the lights in the office and storage going dark.

“Are you serious...” I heard Taehyun sigh from the walkie talkie.

Me and Felix moped back inside the warehouse, mourning our loss of short-lived light. We met up with Taehyun and Han and discussed what the issue might have been.

“Has anyone been able to find the generator that powers this place anyways? Maybe it needs more than one, or maybe it needs gas?” Han suggested, eating a bag of cheesy chips.

Taehyun thought for a moment, then replied, “I remember Seungmin saying that the generator was outside where the loading area is. I don’t remember him saying anything about the gas level, or if one was enough to power the entire warehouse. I’m sure that one would be enough, if it was powering the warehouse before the zombies. If it isn’t, we may just have to go without light and power only the most necessary things because I don’t think we could easily find another generator these days. That generator is the most valuable thing we have.”

“Damn,” Felix ran a hand through his green tinted silver hair and sighed for the thousandth time that day. “Well, Y/n, let’s talk a walk outside and see what we can do.”

I really didn’t want to go outside, in the almost darkness, unarmed, to check a generator. “It’s almost night time anyways, what if we waited until tomorrow? Go to bed a little early after dinner and wake up early to deal with it?”

Han shook his head and chewed quickly before saying, “But if we don’t have the generator powering the building, how are we going to get the electric pot to work for dinner?”

And in a few minutes I was holding the flashlight while Felix inspected a dirty box outside. “Yep, it’s got no gas left.” He groaned as he rose from his crouched position. “Let’s go get some.”

The one thing TXT had made sure to bring was gas from the gas station. They’d taken all the gas containers from the store and filled them with all the gas left in the machines. We’d tried to make a more clear area for them in the storage area, because if they caught on fire everything we had would be fried to a crisp. So now me and Felix ran back inside, grabbed a tank of gas, and ran back outside to fill the generator.

It was so creepy in the backyard at night. The wind was picking up as it got later, and it began to smell of rain as well. I urged Felix to pour the gas faster so that we could cover the generator before the rain came to ruin our chances of messing with electricity. The second the cover was back on the generator we hurried to the breaker box and flipped the switch for the office.

The spark flew again, but this time when I flipped the other two switches the breaker didn’t blow out! After celebrating, the group ran into the main warehouse and told the guys who were there about our success. Immediately Lee Know got to his feet and practically sprinted to get the electric pot we’d brought along.

Within the hour Lee Know, with the assistance of many others, had created a massive pot of beef ramen with many toppings to add to it. Once we’d stuffed our faces and the steaming paper bowls of broth had become cold dregs at the bottom, Bang Chan and Soobin rose from their places on the concrete with the plan for tomorrow.

Soobin pulled a notepad from his back pocket and began, “Here’s the to-do list for tomorrow.”

“Hehehe, to do and tomorrow like todoxtoday and tomorrowxtogether” Beomgyu giggled to himself.

Yeonjun glared at him, since he was sitting across from him, “Oh, you think you’re so clever…”

Their leader coughed and they both looked up. “First things first, bathing. Guys, I’m so sorry. But there’s only so much I can deal with right now and y’alls stink is not one of them. We need to find some way to get clean.”

Silence followed this speech. Well, except for the rain beating heavily on the metal roof high above us. Wait.

“Everyone outside!! Right now!” Bang Chan ordered, pulling off his shirt and sprinting for the exit. We all looked at each other in confusion, then as we followed Bang Chan outside we stripped down to our underwear, though some of us were more confident than others and left even that behind, we shouted and laughed at the oddest, most communal shower experience any of us ever had.

Chapter Text

(Ateez: Meanwhile)

Hongjoon sat in his office chair, staring at the paper in front of him. He’d read it five times yet he was processing none of it. The paper was a report on the success of the greenhouse, which had been done by Yunho, however Hongjoon was so confused by the formatting that it didn’t matter how little was written, it didn’t make any sense anyways.

He gave up, took the paper, and left the room in search of Yunho.

The hallway was very ornate and ancient. In fact, the whole building was built in this way as it was a temple. The property was large; A tall, mossy, red brick wall surrounded the area. There were many lavish gardens, though they had become overgrown and now it had become the project of many to return the temple back to the dramatic state it once was. The greenhouse was the assigned project of Yunho and Yeosang, and obviously it wasn’t going well.

Hongjoon opened the massive, green painted wood front door and walked down the stairs that led to a gravel path, an umbrella over his head to shield him from the light rain. His heeled boots crunched on the gravel and the peaceful sound of the small waterfall splashing to his right reached his ears. It was easy to forget about the chaos of the outside world in this little paradise.

He turned a corner, walked into a more secluded part of the gardens, and there, tucked away, sat the deteriorating greenhouse. Inside he could see a blond Yunho watering some sad looking tomato plants with a dirty watering can. Hongjoon held the report closer to his chest as he closed the umbrella, leaned it against the wall of the greenhouse, and entered into the humid, soil-smelling kingdom of Yunho and Yeosang.

At the sound of the door closing, Yunho looked up with a frown since he was still thinking about his failing tomato plants. “Oh, hello Hongjoon!” He said, putting the watering can down and flipping his frown upside down into the most fake smile ever. “Come to visit our little farm?”

“I hate to say this, Yunho, but what have you even been doing in here?”

“Trying to…grow food?” He said, hoping it was the right answer.

Hongjoon sighed, showed Yunho the report, and said, “I know this is a difficult task. I’m glad it’s not me doing it. However Yunho, if your reports keep being this deceitful I’m not sure what to do. We need the food, we need the honesty, and we need this to work out. We really can’t afford to mess this up under the circumstances.”

Yunho stood in silence reading the report, the rain beating on the greenhouse glass increasing in tempo. “I’m sorry Captain.” He lowered both the report and his voice. “But I didn’t write this. I didn’t even know when reports were due. Did Yeosang turn this in?”

“I don’t remember… But regardless this data is grossly inaccurate, I hope. How could the greenhouse be failing so miserably and yet we still eat?”

“I don’t know.” Yunho glanced around him at the rows of vegetables and herbs he’d been so diligently working on for a month. He knew that he wasn’t a talented gardener, he knew that there had been many problems he couldn’t fix, and that there were shortages every week, but he couldn’t figure out why this was coming as a shock to Hongjoon. He’d warned him when he’d been assigned that this was the worst task to put him in, yet Hongjoon had put a hand on his shoulder and said, “With hard work and motivation, anything is possible.”

“We’re survivors,” Hongjoon mused now, “we’ve survived worse situations. But Yunho- I’m scared.”

He was taken aback by his leader’s directness. It wasn’t usually him whom Hongjoon opened up to. Also he didn’t think dying plants were enough to make his leader afraid.

“Why are you nervous now? Haven’t things been going generally well?”

His leader shook his head, and it was at this moment Yunho realized the dark circles underneath Hongjoon’s eyes. “I’m afraid of one more mistake and we can’t expect the company to keep us here. If this report isn’t dealt with, I’m afraid they might shut the gates on us. If this is just a typo on Yeosang’s part, or this is bull entirely, we could get off the hook, but if not we’re going to have a whole lot more to deal with than missing basil.”

—

Ateez, the boy band who’d rocked the world with their pirate song and even more hits since debut, aggressive but breath-taking dance, and their trailblazing fashion, was now nothing more than a group of eight men who had been doing menial tasks for months for a company that had refused to let them go.

In fact, KQ (their company) had demanded that Ateez renew their contracts for five more years, go into isolation, and not return until the situation had “ended”. Hongjoon had done everything he could to negotiate terms, however in the end the deal had definitely gone in the favor of KQ. For many years, KQ had been one of the most decent yet small companies around and had much respect, but when the potency rate came out for the zombie virus, they’d taken no chances with losing any trainees or idols. Overnight they’d become controlling to the point where Ateez was wondering why they hadn’t made a song about overthrowing your company instead of the government.

That night, while the rain drowned the ancient temple like the great flood of biblical times, Hongjoon sat again at his desk with a pen in hand. The yellow light of his gas lamp illuminated the paper he wrote, which began:

Dear Keeho and members of P1Harmony,

We reach out to you in our time of desperate need.

Chapter Text

(P1Harmony time)

Soul was a strange kid. Ever since he was young, he’d felt alone in the world. People just didn’t get him. There hadn’t been a single person he genuinely felt like could understand him, care for him, and love him. This had been a lonely life, until Keeho had found him.

And when Keeho found him, Keeho had found Soul a family. Now Soul didn’t feel alone. He was surrounded by people who cared more about him than he did for himself, and he never thought he would be able to make it without them. He thought he owed P1Harmony so much for this, but he never found the proper way to express it.

When he told Keeho this, he’d said kindly, “Don’t worry about anything. Just be yourself and don’t ever change. There’s no one else in the world like you. You’re very special.”

Now Keeho was thinking the very same last sentence, but in a very different tone. “PUT THE DUCK BACK WHERE YOU GOT IT, SOUL OR I SWEAR!”

“Why’s Soul got a duck?” Jiung giggled a little.

“IF I KNEW, WOULD I BE YELLING LIKE THIS?” Keeho was exasperated. “Look, if you put the duck back where you found it, we can see if the McDonald’s down the street has any fries left in the machine. I doubt that they’d be edible, but knowing you, you’d probably eat them anyway…” Keeho lowered his voice nearer the end.

Soul nodded with a happy smile because of the promise of potatoes. “Alright, I’ll put Mr.Duck back in the cage I found him in.”

“Wait…it was in a cage?” Jongseob ran out into the hallway of the abandoned hotel, into the next room, and there indeed in the back of the room by the bed was a large cage with white feathers all over the floor.

When he returned, the decision had changed from returning the duck, to keeping it, giving it a proper name, and taking it along for the ride, all in the span of thirty seconds. “What the hell happened here?” Jongseob had asked, though to the air, he supposed, since no one answered him.

Then P1Harmony took their new duck, who was surprisingly quiet, out into the hall. They left the hotel using the dingy back staircase.

The front sliding doors were shoved open by Theo and almost immediately P1Harmony was greeted by a group of fifteen waiting zombies.

“Alright boys, start sluggin’” Keeho said flatly.

The zombies trudged into the hotel lobby, growling low with sagging eyes. They weren’t intelligent, but they were determined. Hunger for their hearts drove them towards the group with outstretched arms.

The only way to make a zombie remain on the ground after a strike was to either decapitate them or in some other way damage the brain. Otherwise they’d rise up, not bothering to put their limbs back in place, and return to the crowd.

Keeho swung with a crowbar, cracking skulls and ending a single zombie at a time. Occasionally a zombie would fall at his feet, but grab his pant leg and try to pull him down as well. Keeho would change focus, pounding the zombie’s head with such violence that if he were in a movie they’d need a new rating higher than R. He grit his teeth and tried to block all emotion from his actions. One couldn’t look them in the undead eyes and not feel guilty. However self preservation was able to override most feelings.

The others in the group also defended themselves diligently. Theo had an assault rifle that he used more as a bat than a gun, since bullets were hard to find. Jiung fought with a long, complicated knife that was wrapped in dirty bandage and wasn’t very easy to use because it was rather dull. Intak bashed a few zombies with what used to be a short flag pole, but the blue sports team flag that used to flow from it was now only a few tattered pieces of fabric hanging on for dear life. During this small skirmish, Soul stood a little ways back holding his duck. Usually he would’ve used his homemade ax, made from a large ax blade and covered in stickers. Jongseob covered him though, popping zombies with a sawed shotgun.

When all the zombies lay still on the floor, old blood and gray brain tissue all over the carpet and walls, P1Harmony slipped through the double doors out onto the street.

The sun glowed a pale yellow over the horizon, it being barely six in the morning. The grimy hotel behind them had been their hideout for the night. Intak had asked for one night of sleeping on a real, honest-to-goodness bed for the sake of normality. It had been refreshing, however now in the early hours of the morning the group was realizing that their sleep had been quite the luxury. They knew they weren’t going to touch a mattress for a long time.

They crossed the empty street with their guard up. A stray zombie shuffled down the sidewalk in the opposite direction, so they let it pass. They creeped past a Subway and entered the McDonalds with a peeling sign that read “out of business”.

The door creaked open. The lights were off, the floor was covered in broken glass from several of the windows, and one of the menu signs hung sideways- threatening to fall with any hint of wind. Jiung got a brilliant idea. He slid over the counter and pretended to put on a visor.

“Hello and welcome to McDonalds! Can I take your order?” He grinned, pressing the screen on the dead ipad.

Theo played along and pounded the counter shouting, “I already ordered! You got it wrong! I said no pickles! Let me speak to the manager!”

“Hi, I am the manager.” Keeho waved and pointed to an invisible badge on his chest. “What seems to be the issue here?”

“I asked for no pickles, yet this fool gave me pickles anyways!”

“Our employee of the month here doesn’t actually make the food good sir, but he can sure give you a new burger for free. Or you can not be whiny and take the pickles off your burger like a big boy!” Keeho gave the politest smile with eyes that burned with longsuffering.

Theo gasped over dramatically. “Of course I am a big boy! And screw this place, I’m going to KFC next time!”

“You do that!” the blue haired leader clapped his hands together and dropped the role. “Hey where’s Shota?”

(AN:For those who don’t know, Soul’s real name is Shota)

Jongseob had been laughing his butt off at his member's little skit. He looked up at this comment and said, “I thought I saw him going into the back with Intak. Probably trying to find the fries. I do kinda want breakfast…”

And indeed, Soul was in the kitchen hovering over the pile of old fries hesitantly. He looked up at Intak for guidance. “Hey man, if you die eating these stale things, I will make sure to bring roses for your funeral. Even the rats haven’t eaten these.”

“I’m sorry, but I haven’t had fries in a month. I just have to try…” Soul reached a hand out to the crispy, crunchy pile of fries on the counter.

“Your funeral…” Intak warned.

“Are you of P1Harmony?”

Both jumped and turned around. Intak had raised his staff-like flagpole threateningly. Soul held his duck closer. “What do you want?” Intak shouted, slicing the air with the pole.

The disembodied voice continued, “My captain asked me to find you. I have a message. It’s rather urgent.”

“Oh. Do you need help?” Soul asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Yeah actually, we do need help.” The voice finally earned a body, and a black haired, very buff man in denim Dickie’s appeared from behind the potato peeler machine.

“Were you…hiding there the whole time?” Intak pointed. “That’s…really creepy.”

The man shrugged. “Sorry. I wasn’t sure you were the right people.”

“Well, we are in P1Harmony. Who are you again?”

“I’m San. I’ve a message to deliver.” At this, San pulled a letter from a leather messenger bag at his hip. “If you agree to this, please come as soon as you can. We’re dying for the company.”

Intak took the letter and Soul stared at San with wide eyes. The denimed man then left the kitchen silently, which was freaky. “Alright…I guess let’s take this to Keeho.”

—

“This has to be a joke.” Keeho said, flipping the page over to the back to see if his high hopes of ‘JK’ being written on the back were at all possible. Which it wasn’t.

“I dunno. He just gave us the letter and left.” Intak explained.

“There’s no way this isn’t a joke.”

Jongseob asked for the letter from Keeho and read it himself. “I think it’s legit…I mean Hongjoon signed it himself. And this sounds like a terrible situation.”

Jiung nodded in agreement. He added, “Besides, it’s not like we have anywhere to go. At least we could be useful. They seem to be really struggling.”

“Are you sure you guys want to do this?” Keeho would do whatever the group voted on, though he personally felt like it could be a little sketchy.

“Let’s go! The address is on the letter!”

“Okayyy, Ateez it is!”

Chapter Text

The ivy covered, green with oxidation, iron gate towered above them. Jongseob played with his backpack strap nervously. Jiung walked up to the bars of the gate and kicked it half-heartedly. The gate rattled in its hinges, teasing that they might fall.

“Well, it’s not like we can knock…” Keeho said with a little smile.

“What should we do?” Intak asked, staring up at the gate then looking around at the plaster covered walls that surrounded the hidden sanctuary.

Soul put his duck down and approached the large lock in the middle of the gate. It was massive, old, and rusted all the way through. “We could…try to pick it?” He suggested, pulling from his hair a bobby pin that held a strand of bang back with a little gem on the end.

He started to pick the lock with focus making him have tunnel vision. The rest of the boys behind him gradually lost interest in watching him and began to search the area for something interesting to do.

Intak pushed aside some of a dying bush against the wall. There he discovered a metal can with the label missing. He slapped the lid of the can and it made a good sound for a beat. He grinned, turning back to the spread out group.

The can started the steady beat and Intak began to sing. “Weeeheeheehee dee heeheeheehee weeoh aweem away!!”

Jiung came running from around the corner screaming, “IN THE JUNGLE, THE MIGHTY JUNGLE, THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT!!”

Keeho and Jongseob joined Intak in singing “weeeheeheehee dee heeheeheeheeeee weeoh aweem away!!” again while Theo had found two glass bottles to accompany the can-drum.

The song continued to the second verse, and just as they reached the third “weeoh aweem away!!” a high pitched opera voice joined the group singing “aaaaahhhh~~~~ Woooaaah ahhhaaaahhhaaaa wooooaaahh aaaahhhh!!!!!”

P1Harmony all stopped singing immediately. Instead they started screaming. “Where is it coming from???” Keeho shouted above everyone else. “Who is it???”

The voice scared them all again by shouting, “Wait, so that wasn’t in my head??”

“Who the hell are you??” Theo cried over the wall.

“I’m Wooyoung? Who’s over the wall??”

“I’m Keeho!” Said…Keeho…obviously. “Let us in!!”

“Oh!! You guys are P1Harmony right? I forgot Hongjoon was expecting you.”

“Well, can you let us inside? Soul has been trying to pick the lock for a while…”

“Oh yeah! Sorry, sure. Lemme go get Hongjoon.”

The voice gradually faded away, still singing The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

P1Harmony gathered by the gate, patiently waiting for the leader of Ateez. After a few more moments, two figures appeared walking towards them on the other side. One had black and bleach blonde striped hair, and the other looked like an art store lesbian (in a stylish, nice way). The skunk striped man had a few piercings, but not as many compared to the dark blue jacketed figure next to him. Both smiled wide, one mischievously and the other warmly.

As they reached a point within hearing range, the one who must not have been Wooyoung because the voice was different said, “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it appears we’ve lost the key to the gate.” He laughed awkwardly and showed the group what he carried in one hand. “I found this rope ladder…It isn’t my first choice, since it doesn’t seem long enough to go entirely over the wall. But if you guys are willing to give it a shot, we can do our best.”

Keeho raised an eyebrow. “Is this the only ladder you guys have? No like…actual ladder? Metal? Or wood?”

“Unfortunately…No.”

“Damn, okay, I’m not sure about this guys… But we gotta try something I suppose.” Keeho sighed. “Throw it over! We’ll climb up and then jump down? I think it won’t be that dangerous.”

Wooyoung suggested that he could get a mattress or get a pile of blankets to jump down on, which Hongjoon made him run to grab. When he returned, Keeho volunteered himself as the first to get over the wall.

He flung the rope ladder over the top of the wall and Hongjoon hung from the last rung, Wooyoung wrapped around his waist since his black boots didn’t reach the ground, from the other side so the ladder wouldn’t slip over. “Okay, go!” Hongjoon grunted with his face pressed into the side of the wall.

Keeho climbed the rope ladder carefully. He sat on the wide ledge of the brick wall and gasped, “Wow this place is actually super beautiful!”

“Jump!!” Wooyoung screeched, his face also almost embedded into the brick.

“Da ra ri da ra I guess.” Keeho said and leaped off the wall into the blankets stacked on the mattress below. He landed safely, now watching the rest of the members appear over the wall. As Intak, the last of the group to shout geronimo, rose from the mattress, Hongjoon pulled the rope ladder into his arms and Wooyoung greeted each member with a bow, handshake, and a pat on the back.

“We’ll be seeing a lot of each other, so better to get formalities out of the way and make familiarity proper.” Hongjoon said, surprisingly serious.

Soul had brought his duck over the wall and was now watching him dig with his beak in the overgrown grass. “This is my son.” He said to no one in particular.