"Ready?" She looked at him - giddy, determined as always.

Jungkook grinned, "Always." He lifted the heavy chain-link fence with the flat side of his scythe, helping her dip underneath, as a final step into Lotte Hotel - and possibly the refugee.

The whole area was overgrown with this dry dune grass that grew everywhere on the island, just as abandoned as every other building in this new world. It was eerily quiet all around, something one isn't quite used to when walking down the empty pools that once served as playground for thousands of visitors. Dry palm trees, dusty bars and brittle water slides marked the terrain that was surrounded by old, once white hotel buildings.

"I can't see anyone." Y/N whispered what both of them had been thinking for a while now.

Fucking amazing, really. Jungkook didn't know if he'd be happy or angry if the whole thing ended up being a lie.

He shouldered his scythe, turning around on his heels, "Alright, guess imma have to find Yoongi."

She grabbed him by the collar before he could get out of reach, making Jungkook stumble back into her, "Not so fast, young man." She nodded at the empty pools, "Look."

He looked.

"They're empty."

"They are."

"So?"

"Why are they empty?"

"We were in the middle of a bloody pandemic, of course the hotel wasn't open." He crossed his arms in front of his chest, internally smiling because she was doing the thing again. The thing where she was thinking. He wanted to really, really kiss her.

"No, no, there was this thing I read about, how water parks keep the water inside their pools while they're closed to protect the pool walls." She walked closer to the edge of one of the pools, "But after such a long time the whole place must've reeked liked shit- someone must've let the water out."

"So you take this as a proof that there are, or were, actually people 'round?"

"They must've at least stayed long enough to feel bothered by the water and figure out how to let it out." She shrugged eventually, starting to move in direction of the giant hotel building, "Maybe there're people inside?"

Jungkook had, as expected, never had much to do with hotels - that is, he had been in hotels before, but not to stay over night but to kill guests. So it might not come as a surprise that he felt all kinds of misplaced when entering the fancy reception, Y/N leading the way.

"It makes sense that there's a refugee here." She rambled on while climbing the stairs to the first floor, "There's a lot of room and beds, and - like you said - the hotel was most likely closed when the prowlers started appearing, hence why there are so little prowlers here."

Jungkook hummed, only half listening, because his attention had quickly switched to the set of sounds coming from upstairs. Foot steps, voices, creaking of doors opening and closing.

"There are people here." He stated eventually, cutting through her flow of words.

She stopped a few steps above him, looking at him weirdly. He pointed at his ears with a small grin, making her roll her eyes and mumble something about "damn super human senses" and "fucking cyborg ass freak".

The first person they met was quite an experience - an old, bearded man who looked like he was straight out of an Indiana Jones film tumbling into their direction, clearly drunk.

He looked just as misplaced as Jungkook felt in the fancy hotel corridor, tired eyes hefted onto the floor while mumbling something to himself.

Jungkook had the bad luck of being the one ahead, so when the man reached them he took the full brunt of the man's death glare and - for some fucking reason - hissing, making Jungkook lean away bewildered.

Both followed the man with their eyes, too confused to even say something.

"...He hissed at me." Jungkook noted after a few seconds.

"He hissed at you." Y/N agreed.

"Should I hiss back?"

"It's a bit late."

"He might still hear?"

"Not unless you run after him."

"D'you think I should?"

"Probably not. It'd be a bit weird."

"You're Right." Jungkook tore his eyes off the wrinkly back of the man's shirt, finally looking back ahead, pointing at a white double door, "There are more in there, for some reason." He stated, not knowing that the bright golden words above the door said "LOUNGE".

"If you decide to stay here you're going to get real reading a writing lessons." Y/N sighed, before pushing open the heavy doors.

"W-Wait, should I put this away?" Jungkook lifted his scythe slightly, unusually insecure. These might be the people he would always be surrounded by from now on.

"Hell no, who knows who else is going to hiss at you in there." She opened the doors all the way.

Entering the lounge felt like entering a saloon from a western. A bunch of weirdos sitting hunched together at tables in their respective groups, all quieting down and turning their heads as the newcomers entered the room.

"Uh." Y/N made, quickly scurrying behind Jungkook - he was the big man with dangerous weapon after all. One might even argue he is a weapon himself. Whatever, she felt safer walking behind him.

The problem was just that Jungkook was just as shy, turning around to her in search of help, not knowing how to act at all.

"Who're ya?" A dude that was definitely a cowboy spat out, making Jungkook feel even more like in a western.

"Uh." He imitated Y/N from earlier, until a loud voice shouted out and the face of a familiar elementary school teacher saved them from their pathetic situation.

"Y/N! Jungkook! You came!" Jungkook hadn't been particularly fond of Kim Namjoon (not as much as Y/N anyways) but right now he was willing to kiss his feet.

The man greeted them with an excited smile, warm hand landing on Jungkook's shoulder where it stayed while he guided the two lost souls to a table at the very back of the room, joining three other familiar faces who were all beaming up at them like maniacs.

"Y/N!" Yeji threw herself at the poor girl who was promptly forced into a chair, awkwardly patting the older girl's back.

"H-Hey. I see your ribs have healed."

"Yup." The girl exclaimed proudly, shamelessly lifting up her shirt to expose slightly red skin that otherwise seemed perfectly fine, "Jin's great at stuff like that!"

"Yeah, now leave her alone, Yeji." Taehyung scolded, gently pulling her back into her seat.

Jungkook and him made eye contact for a second, a silent apology on the blond's lips, eyes sincere. Jungkook had looked forward to meeting this guy the least, not after their fight at Yeosang station that had eventually led to him leaving - and forcing Y/N to leave too.

But he didn't want to hold it after him, not right now at least, when they had just managed to get here.

"I'm happy that you two made it." Seokjin smiled calmly, "Not that I questioned your ability to do that even once, of course. The both of you are tough as shit."

Jungkook's multiple sore body parts begged to differ, but his ego didn't allow him to say that out loud.

"We almost thought we got tricked." Y/N admitted, "Since no one's outside."

"Ah yes." Namjoon chuckled, "You see, we avoid staying out too long during summer since we don't have anything to protect us from the sun and heat. It's much like how people here do it usually in the summer, just more extreme I guess. Also, most newcomers come at night, so we make sure to catch all of them during that time. That's also why everyone looked at you like that." Namjoon nodded vaguely at the bunch of strangers near the entrance.

"About that..." Y/N squirmed in her seat, "What's the deal with all of these, uh..."

"Weird fucks?" Jungkook helped out.

Taeyhung snorted out loud, hunching forward in his chair, "Look around Kook. Don't we fit in perfectly?"

Jungkook scowled displeased, but let his gaze wander anyways. And, well, in a sense Taehyung was right. Though most weird people here were the ones in their thirties, they all had something rough and alien-ish on them. He saw many carry weapons, ugly scars tainting their faces, that were more often than not squinted into grumpy grimaces.

Jungkook looked down at his companion worried, "Is that what I look like?!"

She laughed, making a vague gesture with her hand, "A little maybe?"

"What I'm trynna say-" Taehyung started, "You have to be a little different to survive in a world like this, am I right? Normal people, they don't... they won't make it."

Jungkook thought back to the cannibal couple he killed some while ago. Had they been too normal as well? How had he strayed so far away from being ordinary to not only survive all of this, but be perfectly content with it?

It was awkwardly quiet after Taehyung had said that, everyone kind of staring into their lap non committing, until Namjoon slapped his hands flat onto the greasy table surface, "Alright. How 'bout we look for a room for you two?"

"A room?" Jungkook echoed.

Namjoon's eyes flitted between them, "Rooms?" He corrected sheepishly.

"No, no. A room." Y/N confirmed firmly and with a slight blush, Jungkook not really understanding what was going on, "What he meant was - we can stay?"

Namjoon smiled, "Everyone can." He looked at Jungkook, who felt oddly bare all of a sudden. If he'd ever gone to school he would've known that this was a teacher thing, "Everyone." Namjoon stressed seriously.

"I suppose you don't wanna stay in here with all the others?" Namjoon stated when they walked down the hallway, "Need space?" He smiled, "We'll find something don't worry. If you're looking for companionship tho, we usually eat at 10 in the evening or six in the morning - weird hours, I know, but that's just how it is here. If you need anything, just ask around. We're here to help each other out. Oh and-" He stopped, "Do something for the others here, alright? Don't be a leech."

"How about runs for resources?" Y/N spoke out Jungkook's thoughts.

"That'd be excellent, most of us don't dare to enter the city."

The sun had started to set and Jungkook noticed how there were more and more people in the corridors and outside, as if the hotel was slowly coming to life.

"If you wanna join runs, just ask- Y/N?" Namjoon turned to the girl that was straying behind.

"Chickie?" Jungkook carefully walked up to his companion. Her eyes were wide like Christmas balls, back ramrod straight while she was staring at someone on the small wooden bridge some meters away.

"Minnie?" She breathed. Then she broke out into a smile, "MINNIE!" The girl at the bridge turned her head surprised. Y/N grabbed Jungkook by the sleeve, dragging him with a force he didn't know she had in her, "That's my sister!" She laughed, "Minnie!"

___