A Day In September - BTS Zombie au

10: Raccoons

"I'm going with you from now on."

Mara looked to her side, where Jimin stood, leaning over the concrete half-wall of the roof. His hair was swept by the wind, but it never took with it his determination. Wary, the girl fumbled with her fingers.

"You don't need to. I can go on my own-"

"I wasn't asking," Jimin interrupted.

Somberly, he watched the sun dip halfway into the horizon, only sparing Mara a glance that reaffirmed his statement.

"My leader, Namjoon, he always...shielded us from what went on. I felt like a child—helpless. But he had others with him and he was strong so I wasn't worried. When I see you go out there by yourself I feel..."Jimin hesitated, not quite finding the right words and instead shrugging, "I want to help. I can help."

"We're a duo now. From here until..." Jimin paused.

Until you leave, Mara finished.

"Indefinitely," he finished, a small smile directed at her, but indirectly. He seemed to shy away of heartfelt gestures.

Mara looked down from the rooftop, her stomach dropping at the sight. Thought they weren't as far up as other buildings, it was still quite a distance from the ground. Either way, the sight was beautiful at sun set, and both loved to come watch the stars come out.

"Before getting here," Jimin softly spoke, "I never appreciated the sky as much as I did now."

Mara smiled, "The view is wonderful."

When giving Jimin a second glance, Mara was taken by the troubled look on his face. Noticing the stare, the male turned to her. Her eyes did the questioning, digging into whatever deep thought Jimin burrowed himself into.

"You'd think that seeing people would be a relief, but now we're afraid. We never know what kind of people we could bump into," he muttered.

Thinking back to the day prior, being held at gun point, had the girl nodding, "That realization has kept me alive these three years. I've only been able to trust very few, and even then, I was always alert."

Jimin glanced at her, "Have you ever...you know, met any crazy people? People that have let this world get to them?"

Mara paused, "Hate to say it but you'll meet lots of crazy people in this world. I've seen people kill each other for supplies, sacrifice the lives of innocent women and children," Mara took a deep breath, filled with indignation, "I resent every one of those heartless monsters. Crazy isn't just a word for the mentally insane anymore. It's for the people who chose to let go of their humanity. They took advantage of the fact that they wouldn't have to deal with the consequences."

"Do you think everyone is like that?" Jimin asked, timidly fiddling with the hem of his shirt, "Do you think we've all let ourselves go?"

Mara shrugged, "Not everyone lacks empathy, but I think we've all lost a part of ourselves. Makes sense. You can't be the same person you were before the outbreak. It'll make you weak, vulnerable. And that's the last thing you want to be when you have lots of people willing to exploit that."

Jimin stared with a clouded look at the moon as it quietly peeked out from the buildings into their view, the stars dully reflected in his eyes.

"Mara. I know I haven't said many great things about our leader. He's done some good things...I just happen to remember the bad. But that's not the point...I think I'd rather live with him as he is than end up alone," he said, intently focused on the moon.