One Night

06 • Emergency

Park Jimin • May 2, 2019

Jimin and Mikayla finally made it to the alley, and he took his hand in hers. The sun is rising, it's the start of a new day. The streets are still dimly lit, and the fires are beginning to go out on their own. The city has quieted down — mostly because almost everyone is now dead.

"We need to find a vehicle," Jimin whispered, glancing over to Mickey as they began walking down the alley. "Do you know how to drive?"

Mickey glanced over to Jimin for a moment, then she shook her head, looking straight ahead again. "I literally just turned eighteen, like, a month ago," she responded. "I guess I really got the chance beforehand..." she trailed off.

And that's all Jimin's mind focused on: her age.

She just turned eighteen, she's so young, so innocent.

"What's your last name?" Jimin spoke again, this time more interested in her life. He looked straight ahead again, making sure no danger is in their way.

"Marks," Mickey answered thoughtfully. She swung their hands at their sides, and put a little pep in her step.

A small smile formed on Jimin's lips as he pieced her name together. "Mickey Marks," he breathlessly spoke, his smile grew obnoxiously wide. "That's cute."

"What's yours?" Mickey asked, trying to hide the obvious blush on her face.

"Park," Jimin responded. "Where I'm from, the surname comes first, so my name is Park Jimin."

As they neared the end of the alleyway, Mickey decided to continue asking questions. "Where is it you're from?" she asked, while they began slowing down

Jimin looked at her as they stopped about twenty feet from the end of the alley, which leads to a road. "South Korea," he answered.

Mickey smiled, turning to face him. "Yeah? What brought you to L.A., Mr. Park Jimin?" she asked in a cute voice, causing his chest to flutter.

Jimin stared at her, scanning her face. Her brown eyes are huge, so dark but so full of life. Her eyebrows are full and bushy, yet kept very well. She has a few stray freckles across her face, and of course, the small cut at the top of her forehead near her hairline. "Business," he simply responded, and that was the end of their conversation.

Mickey frowned as Jimin began walking ahead of her. She held onto his hand, which caused him to pull her along with him. The two of them stepped out onto the lifeless, trashed street. Several of the cars that are out in the street, have been crashed by their owners. Smoke is pouring out from them, but there are no fires.

Jimin cautiously began walking again, pulling the young girl with him. The two of them walked down the street, taking in the new world they live in. None of the infected are in their sight. Mickey glanced around the street, mesmerized by how quiet it is, how different it is. It makes her heart hurt.

Jimin spotted a vehicle along the side of the road. It seems to be in good condition, as it seems to be parked from the last time someone used it. Jimin pulled his hand from Mickey's, and he walked ahead of her.

Mickey, not realizing that Jimin has left her side, continued to look around. She stepped out onto the street, and glanced both ways. No one is in sight. Mickey slowly approached a vehicle that had crashed into a telephone pole. She peaked in the back seat, finding an empty, bloody car seat.

Her heart sunk to the pit of her stomach. Her eyes began burning as she fought the tears away. Before she could do anything else, something grabbed her ankle. Mickey looked down, finding a zombie with half of its face burned off. It's stuck under the car, but is snapping at her leg. She screamed as loud as she could, trying to kick it away. If the zombie applied anymore pressure to her ankle, it would have left scratches, which would have infected her.

Jimin immediately left his position at the car he was trying to hot-wire, and saw Mickey across the street, trying to escape from the zombie under the vehicle. Another zombie exited a building after hearing her scream, and started to come up behind her. Jimin immediately ran over to her, not wasting anymore time.

Jimin slipped between the zombie and Mickey, where he shoved the pocket knife into its eyeball. The zombie died instantly, and it fell to the ground. Mickey sobbed as the zombie on the ground held onto her. Jimin took his attention to it, where he shoved the knife into its skull. The zombie died instantly, and let Mickey's ankle go.

Mickey fell back onto her bottom. She quickly backed away from it, breathing heavily and in tears. Jimin yanked the knife from the zombie's skull. He shook the blood off, then he turned to face Mickey, who seems traumatized.

Jimin sighed as he took a step closer to her. He held his hand out for her to take, which she ignored. "Come on, you're okay," he said, not lowering his hand.

Mickey shook her head. Her body is shaking, her hands are trembling, and her head is throbbing. She ignored him, not daring to look up at him. Jimin sighed, glancing around. At least fifty feet away, towards a big intersection, Jimin spotted a group of zombies approaching them. They heard Mickey's scream from earlier.

"Mikayla," Jimin spoke, not looking down at her. "Get your ass up," he spoke calmly, yet urgently.

Mickey immediately looked in the direction he's looking. Tears bursted from her eyes as she saw the other infected people approach them. She instantly grabbed his hand, and he yanked her up, then the two started running in the opposite direction, abandoning their original plan.

Jimin's pace is much faster than Mikayla's, so he's pretty much dragging her along with him. They ran through the streets of Los Angeles, passing by several other zombies, all of which started following them.

Jimin scanned the sides of the streets for a building to hide in, not realizing that every building he passed, people were inside, peaking out at them, waiting to see their fate. Jimin yanked Mickey into a small grocery store, which doors were open. He slammed the door: shut behind him, then he pulled her through the store. Most of the food has been looted, but there's some left.

As they ran down an aisle, Mickey jolted to a stop, which caused Jimin to stop, also. He looked back at her, not quite understanding why she stopped, until his eyes focused on where she's looking.

At candy bars.

Mickey grabbed two Hershey bars, then she looked at Jimin. He simply stared at her, waiting for her to speak, but she never did; she only offered a small, embarrassed smile in return.

The two of them continued down the aisle after that. They reached the emergency exit, where they ran out into a parking lot behind the store. Mickey and Jimin approached a single vehicle in the lot. Jimin tried the driver's door, but it's locked.

Jimin, then, pulled his elbow back and smashed the glass. He reached in and unlocked the doors. "Go, get in," he told her.

Mickey quickly ran around the car. She got into the passenger seat, and carefully and quietly shut the door. Jimin opened his door and wiped the seat off. He pulled a piece of plastic off, that was covering the wires under the steering wheel, and he started hot-wiring the vehicle. As sparks came off of the newly cut wires, the engine sputtered, and eventually turned on. Jimin shut the door, and immediately started driving out of the parking lot.

Mikayla fastened her seatbelt, and she looked over at him. "Where are we going now?" she quietly asked.

Jimin glanced over to her for a moment, then he focused on the road. "See if you can hear anything on the radio," he told her.

Mickey reached forward and flipped the radio on, finding nothing but static on the station they're on. She switched stations, and continued to do so until she came across an emergency alert system.

"Emergency alert broadcast for all of the United States," the robotic voice spoke. "If you require immediate care, do not go to the hospital. Stay indoors, and wait for further instruction."

And that was the end of the emergency alert broadcast. Mickey sighed. She glanced over to Jimin, waiting for his reaction, yet he gave none. He simply sat there, stewing in his own anger.

Mickey looked down at the candy bars she took from the store. She picked one up and offered it to Jimin. "I got you one," she smiled to him, obviously proud.

Jimin glanced over to her for a moment. He carefully took the candy bar from her, then he nodded to her. "Thank you," he said, sitting it in the small compartment below the radio. Mickey smiled in return. She sat still in her seat, and played with the wrapper on her candy bar.

•••

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

S. C. Keener

07/05/19