One Night

02 • No Signal

Park Jimin • May 1, 2019

Park Jimin slowly opened the bathroom door, finding a pool of blood beneath him, along with a man. He's dead, as chunks of flesh have been taken out of his torso and neck. Jimin carefully stepped over the newly infected man, and walked down the hall, back into the bar.

The bartender is on the floor behind the counter, getting eaten by two infected customers. Jimin stood there, clearly in shock, but he stayed silent. He glanced around the bar, finding a few more dead people on the floor, but there are no alive -- or living dead -- ones left.

Jimin slowly approached the open bar door, where he stepped out into the warm air. Screaming erupted from down the street, and people ran for their lives away from the infected ones chasing them. As Jimin took in the sight, a car sped by him. His eyes locked onto the vehicle, just before it slammed into a telephone pole.

Jimin flinched after hearing the loud noise it made. "Oh, f**k," he muttered. It was so surreal, and it snapped him out of his shock. He began to panic.

People ran by him, accidentally bumping into him, while the living dead chased them. Jimin, seeing this, started running, also. After seeing how chaotic the main street is, Jimin ducked down an alleyway. He sprinted down it, hoping to get back around to the parking lot, to get his vehicle. As he was running, he heard crying from between two dumpsters. He continued running, but ultimately stopped once he realized what he had passed.

Jimin slowly retraced his steps. He neared two dumpsters, where a girl is sitting between them. Her knees are pulled to her chest, and her head is against her arms.

Jimin stared at her, clearly worried. He can't just leave her here to die. "Hey... are you okay?" he quietly asked, attempting to soothe the young girl. He kept his distance, just in case.

The girl immediately looked up, giving Jimin a full look at her face. Her cheeks are wet with tears, her eyes are huge, puffy, and red. She has brown eyes, long lashes, a cute button nose, and dark hair. She also has a small birthmark on the left side of her nose, and a few stray freckles on her face. She looks young.

Jimin knelt down in front of her, which only caused the girl to cry even more. "Hey, hey, hey," he reached out, but she quickly shook her head, looking away from him.

"P-Pl-Plea-Please, g-go a-away, pl-please," she sobbed, refusing to look at him again. "Pl-Please, d-don-don't hurt m-me."

Jimin stared at her for a moment, understanding that she must have witnessed something awful. She's horrified, it's all across her face.

Jimin shook his head slightly. "Hey, I'm not-," he started to say, but he was interrupted by a scream from further down the alley, back on the street.

The girl immediately backed up even further. She buried her face in her knees and sobbed loudly. Jimin sighed, glancing back down the alley. He saw several people run by, while one was grabbed by an infected person.

Unfortunately, Jimin has to snap her from the shock she's in, and quick. "Listen, kid, I'm trying to f*****g help you," he snapped, looking at her again. "We have to go," he told her. He grabbed her arm and started to pull her up with him, but she's dead weight. She refused to move.

Frustrated and not willing to leave the young girl, Jimin forced her to her feet, where she crossed her arms across her chest. She's so short that she can't even see over the dumpster. The girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes. Her bottom lip trembled as a few tears slipped down her cheeks.

Jimin feels pity for the girl. He held his hand out for her to take, noticing she's not sobbing as much as she was just a few moments ago. "It'll be okay, I won't let anything happen to you, I promise," he told her, motioning for her to take his hand.

The girl looked at his hand, then she reluctantly accepted it. She tightly squeezed his hand, and the two started moving down the alleyway. Once they reached the end, they came out to the parking lot behind the bar. Jimin and the girl made their way through the full parking lot, careful not to alert anyone, or anything, of their presence.

Jimin reached his vehicle. He opened the passenger door and helped the young girl get inside, then he quickly walked around to the driver's door. He quickly climbed into his truck, grabbing his keys from his pocket. After starting the truck, Jimin glanced over to the girl. She's looking down at her hands, which are covered in blood. The sight made him look down at his own hands, finding them covered in blood from the bathroom incident.

The girl looked over at Jimin, and looked at his hands. Surprisingly, she doesn't seem to be queasy over the sight of blood. "Did you kill one?" she shakily asked, looking up at his face.

Jimin returned his gaze to the girl, and he gently nodded. "I had to," he responded, defending his actions. He carefully backed out of his parking space, then he started to leave the lot.

The girl quickly looked around, almost panicked. "Wait! Wh-Why are we leaving? There's nowhere for us to go!" she shouted.

Jimin looked over at her, shocked by the sudden outburst. "We can go to my apartment until we figure this s**t out," he responded, stopping at the parking lot exit. "What's your name, kid?" he asked, looking over at her.

The girl looked at him, clearly a little more content. "M-Mickey, and I'm not a kid," she told him.

Despite the circumstances, Jimin started to smile. "Mickey — is that short for something?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Mickey gently nodded, looking away from him. "Mikayla," she told him, picking at her finger nails.

Jimin nodded to her, looking straight ahead. "Well, Mickey, I'm Jimin," he told her. He turned out of the parking lot, and began driving down the street.

As he neared the next big intersection, Jimin saw one of the living dead. He's eating another person, who's dead on the ground.

Since Jimin saw this, of course Mickey did, too. "A-Are they z-zombies?" she quietly asked. "I used to play zombie games a lot..." she mumbled, which caused Jimin to give her a strange look.

How is she thinking of video games during a situation like this?

Jimin reached over, tapping her shoulder. "Hey, don't look out the window," he told her, while she looked at him. "You don't need to see that," he told her, focusing on the road. "How old are you, anyway?" he asked.

Mickey shrugged. "Eighteen," she quietly answered, biting the bottom of her lip.

Jimin continued questioning her, trying to distract her from the outside world. "Yeah? You still in high school?" he asked.

Mickey looked at Jimin for a moment. "Yes... I graduate in two weeks," she answered. She stared at him, who's focused on driving. "How old are you?" she asked.

"Twenty-eight," Jimin answered her question.

Mickey smiled, enjoying talking to someone as if the world isn't falling apart. "Are you from-," she started to ask, but she couldn't finish due to a vehicle slamming into them.

Jimin was driving through the intersection, and this car came out of nowhere. It slammed into the car, on Mickey's side, which caused the vehicle to flip and skid into a telephone pole and a fire hydrant. The two of them were knocked unconscious almost instantly.

•••

Two hours later, Park Jimin slowly began to regain consciousness. He can hear water pouring out from the fire hydrant, and screaming from somewhere on the street. Snapping and snarling came from his door, so he slowly looked over, finding a bloody face peering in at him through the broken window.

The zombie snapped at him, trying to grab ahold of him with his teeth. Jimin hung upside down, latched into his seatbelt. He remembered the girl he found in the alleyway, and immediately looked over at her.

Mickey is dangling from her seatbelt, unconscious. Small, thick, droplets of blood dropped onto the car below them, from her head. Jimin reached over and felt her neck, finding a strong pulse. He sighed, clearly relieved. One thing Park Jimin doesn't want to do, is break a promise.

Jimin unclipped his seatbelt and fell onto a mess of glass. A piece pierced his leg, but he barely felt it due to adrenaline. He grabbed a longer piece of glass, then he stabbed the zombie with it, killing it instantly. The snarling stopped, only allowing the water to be heard. Jimin threw the piece of glass off to the side, and ignored his now bleeding hand. He turned to face Mickey. He reached up and unclipped her seatbelt, and caught her before her head slammed into the ground.

Jimin, then, squeezed out of the small, broken window. He reached in and grabbed Mickey, then he pulled her out. Once Mickey's back rested against the hard concrete, Jimin checked her pulse again. It's getting stronger.

Despite their circumstances, Jimin smiled.

As Jimin began picking her up, Mickey woke up. She doesn't know what's happening, and so she started screaming, and fighting against him. Instantly, Jimin let her go, allowing her to crash to the ground. Mickey quickly scrambled to her feet, and glared at the man.

Jimin watched her uneasily. "Hey, hey, hey!" he whispered. "It's me! It's Jimin, do you remember?" he asked her, holding his hand out for her. "It's okay, we're just going to my apartment," he assured her.

The girl slowly came to realize who the man is, her only friend in this new world. An obvious amount of relief washed over her face. Mickey immediately clung to the stranger, who she's obviously too trusting of. She sobbed into his neck, remembering everything that she's witnessed that night.

Death.

Jimin gently rubbed her back, exhaling sharply as he did. He made sure to keep an eye on their surroundings, and eventually saw a group of the dead approaching them.

Jimin easily lifted the younger girl up, then he turned away from the approaching group of infected. She clung to him tightly, almost as if she's afraid he would drop her. The soft sniffles against Jimin's neck caused him to move faster. He needs to get her somewhere safe, then he needs to figure out what the hell is going on.

As Jimin jogged down the chaotic street, he saw a number of things happening. People murdering people, the infected ripping the alive ones open, the looting of stores, cars on fire.

It's chaos.

Jimin reached the building to his apartment. He immediately ran inside, and decided to take the stairs. Once he made it to the floor his apartment is on, he cautiously walked down the hall to his apartment. He reached into his pocket and pulled his keys out. Once he unlocked his door, he lowered Mickey to the ground.

Mickey looked up at the older man, waiting to hear what he has to say. Jimin looked down at her, giving her a soft smile. "Go on inside," he told her, motioning for her to enter.

Mickey quickly stepped inside, and Jimin immediately followed her. He carefully shut and locked the door, then he walked by her, leaving her to stand by herself. Jimin grabbed the remote from the table in his living room, and he flipped the TV on.

"There have been hundreds of attacks reported across the United States and its neighboring countries," the news anchor announced. "President Mike Pence has, reportedly, been infected and rushed to the hospital."

A long pause went by as the woman paused her words.

"What are you doing in here?" she questioned, looking off in the distance. "Hey!" she started to back up.

A scream erupted in the background, and the camera slammed to the ground, signaling the end of the news forecast.

Mickey made her way into the small living room area, staring at the TV. "Wh-What was that?" she quietly asked, stopping beside Jimin.

Jimin glanced over to her, getting a much, much better view of her face, which caused his heart to drop. She has a small amount of blood on her forehead, her crying has stopped, her nose is red, her cheeks are flushed, and her eyes are puffy.

Immediately, Jimin rested his hand on her shoulder. He turned her to face him, and began assessing her forehead. He gently touched it, which caused her to flinch. It's a small cut up near her hairline.

Mickey looked up at him, clearly feeling the pain from the car accident. "Let's get this cleaned up, okay?" Jimin told her. "You don't have any other wounds, do you? From before the accident?" he cautiously asked, hoping — no, praying to God that she hasn't been infected.

The girl rattled her brain for the answer, but couldn't answer. Tears pooled down her flushed cheeks as she remembered what happened just a few hours earlier. She shook her head almost instantly.

Jimin gently nodded, offering her his hand. She took his hand, and he led her to the bathroom. He lifted her onto the sink, then wet down a wash cloth.

Mickey, now almost at eye level with the man, was able to get a much better look at him. His blonde hair is messy, he has slanty eyes, and a worried look across his face.

Jimin began to wipe her forehead off, cleaning the wound. He noticed her gaze towards him, and rose an eyebrow. "What is it?" he questioned.

The younger girl simply stared at him as his eyes focused on her wound. She seems mesmerized by the man in front of her. "Thank you for saving me," she whispered. Her voice is quiet, but confident.

A small smile rose to his lips after hearing the words. A sense of accomplishment washed over him. "Well, I couldn't just leave you there," he simply responded. He finished wiping the blood away. "You'll be fine, you don't even need stitches," he told her, wiping the wound with a dry cloth.

Mickey nodded to him, and slightly smiled. "Thank you," she responded, clearly thankful for his hospitality.

Jimin stepped back, giving her room to jump down.

"I'll get you back to your family in the morning," he told her.

The sentence caused a frown to form across Mickey's face. "I don't..." she muttered. "They..." she began, trailing off again. Her bottom lip began trembling.

Jimin stared at her for a moment, then he nodded, understanding what she's trying to tell him. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me," he softly spoke. "My bedroom is across the hall, get some sleep, if you can," he told her, gesturing for her to go to his bedroom.

Mickey gently nodded. She dropped down off of the sink, and walked out of the bathroom, into his bedroom. The door shut behind her.

Jimin walked back out into the living area. He heard people run down the hall, right outside. He, then, walked to the windows in his apartment, and looked out at the city. Smoke is pouring from several buildings. Light from fires are lighting up the streets.

Jimin pulled his cellphone out, wanting to make a phone call to someone, yet he couldn't.

No signal.

Frustrated, Jimin, tossed the phone onto the windowsill. He took one last look at the fallen city of Los Angeles, then he yanked the curtains shut.

•••

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please vote, comment, and add to your reading list for future updates!

S. C. Keener

07/03/19