❝ 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚆𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚊𝚠 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜; 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎. ❞
- 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐧, 𝐉.𝐌 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞.
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Birds sang a nostalgic melody as the trees trembled from the quiet wind. They swayed gently in the embrace of the hushed wind, their branches reaching out to caress the sky in a silent dance of nature's grace.
The dirty path harboured dozens of small rocks, each pebble shimmering with an ethereal glow, catching the rays of the sun and scattering them like fragments of stardust across the forest floor. Above, the sun hung like a blazing beacon in the quiet sky, casting its golden light through the dense greenery in scattered beams of radiance. Each ray pierced through the canopy, illuminating the forest in a variety of colour and shadow, transforming the serene scene into a mesmerizing display of natural beauty.
Following the rocky and sandy path, there were two figures.
One was hunching over, grey splattering across her hair like markings. In her hands, she was holding a basket full of food and water.
The other one, though, was small and energetic. Instead of walking, that figure was skipping forward, hands outstretched towards random bugs as they flew past the two like untouchable stardust.
"My little darling?" A soft voice called.
"Yes, grandma?"
The old woman smiled; bright and charming.
A gentle and cold hand reached towards Hae-Rin, and immediately, the skipping stopped, and Hae-Rin's full attention was on her grandmother.
Even though the woman was old and hunched over, she still seemed like the tallest woman Hae-Rin knew. There was just something so tall and strong about her. Hae-Rin didn't know if it was because of her age or if it was because of the knowledge she carried.
"Look over there." Her grandmother said, pointing to a thin branch. "Do you see that?"
"What's that?" Asked Hae-Rin.
As if drawn by some unseen force, they had stumbled upon a hidden alcove, where a delicate miracle was unfolding before their eyes.
There, nestled amidst the verdant foliage, hung a cocoon adorned with shimmering threads of silver and gold. With bated breath, they watched as the cocoon quivered and trembled, as if whispering secrets to the wind.
"It's the cocoon of a moth," her grandmother whispered, her voice a gentle breeze carrying secrets of the natural world. "That is where they hide until they transform."
Wide-eyed with wonder, Hae-Rin listened intently, her young heart a canvas painted with the hues of curiosity and awe. At seven years old, Hae-Rin's imagination danced like fireflies in the twilight, illuminating the world around her with boundless wonder. She was still learning new things, and her grandmother, the great storyteller that she was, took it upon herself to teach the child everything she knew.
"Really?" Hae-Rin asked, voice filled with curiosity.
Her grandmother nodded.
Hae-Rin didn't exactly know the meaning of a cacoon or a moth, but it didn't matter. The way her grandmother spoke about it made the cacoon and moth sound like they were something extremely rare or beautiful.
The two, Hae-Rin and her grandmother, were in a bushy forest just outside of a small village.
Hae-Rin's mother had taken two shifts that week and young and small Hae-Rin was feeling hurt and sad. She was missing her mother, she was missing playing with her. The children at school were just starting to show their cruelties at Hae-Rin's innocence. They were looking at Hae-Rin as if having a big imagination, as if having big wishes was something abnormal, something Hae-Rin needed to let go of.
They were children as well, shouldn't they be imagining stuff, too? Shouldn't they have a big imagination and big hopes? Why was that so bad? Why were they poorly raised?
Her grandmother, though, seeing the gloom poke at Hae-Rin, decided to take her to a village she had grown up in.
That was where they were now.
There was a thick forest around the village and since her grandmother told Hae-Rin that she used to go there all the time, the old woman took Hae-Rin on a stroll, wanting her to see the wonders of the nature.
There was something so etheral about the forest and young Hae-Rin felt like she was stepping through books of pages, entering a fantasy world. Living in a big town usually made her feel like she was missing on something, even at a young age, so being in the forest felt like a new fresh breath. It felt like there were many things she needed to learn, like there were many things she needed to ponder over and mark them up in her heart.
"Is it sleeping, grandma?" Hae-Rin asked, taking a step closer to the cacoon.
"Yes, dearest," her grandmother replied, her words a tender caress. "Do you see those delicate cracks on the surface?" Hae-Rin nodded eagerly, her gaze fixed upon the fragile shell. "That, my darling, is the beginning of the transformation. It means that a moth will emerge at any moment."
"That's really cool." Hae-Rin whispered, taking a step closer to the cacoon. "Can it hear us?"
"I don't believe so." Replied her grandmother.
Hae-Rin frowned.
She took another step closer, and when she was close enough, she leaned down so that she was face to face with the cacoon. It was such a miracle that the cacoon itself was on the lowest branches of a small tree.
It was almost as if Hae-Rin was meant to stumble upon it.
"Hello, cacoon." Hae-Rin greeted, using a higher pitched voice. "I am Hae-Rin. What's your name?"
Her grandmother chuckled behind her.
"I don't think it can hear you, dearest." Her grandmother told her, patting her shoulder.
Hae-Rin's frown deepened.
"And when it comes out?" She asked.
"Unfortunately, moths do not live long enough, but maybe, in the short time they have, maybe it will hear you." Her grandmother tried to reassure her. "Do you want to watch it as it wakes up?"
Hae-Rin's eyes widened with eagerness, head nodding and feet bouncing off of the ground.
Her grandfather's smile stretched some more.
"Yes!" Hae-Rin shouted and then as if thinking that the moth would be disturbed, very quietly, she added, "yes, please."
The old woman nodded.
Hae-Rin watched her grandmother look around before finding a small portion of the ground where they could sit on. A broken tree trunk lay nearby, its weathered base offering a makeshift seat. As her grandmother settled onto the wooden perch, Hae-Rin followed suit, the rough bark pressing against her palms as she lowered herself beside the cocoon.
Once they were both settled, Hae-Rin turned to look at the cacoon, feet dangling off of the small chair-like wood that she was sitting on.
For a couple of minutes, Hae-Rin and her grandmother sat in silence.
And then, with a gentle sigh, the cocoon split open, revealing the ethereal form within. A creature of purest beauty emerged, its wings unfurling like delicate petals bathed in moonlight. It was a Luna moth, its wings adorned with hues of silver and sage, each delicate vein a testament to the detailed artistry of nature.
Wide-eyed with wonder, Hae-Rin could hardly believe her eyes. She reached out a trembling hand as if afraid to disturb the delicate creature before her.
However, she retreated her hand the second she saw the moth's eyes.
They were black.
And scary.
"What's wrong, my little darling?" Her grandmother asked, voice laced with care and worry.
"Its eyes," Hae-Rin mumbled. "They're scary."
Her grandmother smiled and leaned closer. With one hand, she clasped Hae-Rin's small hand, and with the other, she carassed her cheek. The way she was looking at Hae-Rin made her feel like no one could hurt her, like her grandmother was her guardian angel.
"Now, precious," her grandmother began. "Its eyes may be black and intimidating, but this is a creature of wonder. You shouldn't be afraid of its eyes. If something has black eyes, it does not mean that they are scary or harmful to others, okay? This moth over here-" and she pointed to the still sleepy moth that was fluttering its wings. "It's a beauty of nature, and its black eyes are just as charming as its wings."
Hae-Rin eyed the moth suspiciously.
Her heart was telling her to listen to her grandmother of course. The old woman was wise, she knew what to say and how to say it.
Still.
Black eyes were unnatural.
Hae-Rin turned to look back at her grandmother who simply nodded.
"So things with black eyes do not harm?" She asked slowly. "All of them are nice and understanding?"
For her young age, she did quite know how to use her words. Of course that was because of her grandmother, who, at the moment, was nodding and letting go of Hae-Rin.
"For the most part." Her grandmother replied.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, as long as the being with black eyes is kind and truthful, then yes, they do not harm." Her grandmother explained. "As long as their heart beats and they try to be different, to not harm and to be understanding, then they're definitely kind."
Hae-Rin had a distant feeling that her grandmother wasn't talking about moths anymore. She had a distant feeling that she was being metaphorical.
And would you look at that? Hae-Rin was already using a word she had learned only two days ago. Metaphorical.
Either way, the young child nodded, listening intently.
"I'll give it a chance, then." Hae-Rin concluded.
Her grandmother smiled and pointed her wrinkled finger at the moth, telling Hae-Rin to watch the creature.
As if to fully ease Hae-Rin to the moth, her grandmother asked, "Did you know, my Hae-Rin, that most people think of moths as fairies?"
Hae-Rin, at the mention of fairies, turned to look at her grandmother.
"Really?" She asked.
"Yes, precious," her grandmother replied, her words a gentle caress upon the breeze. "Luna moths, with their ethereal beauty, often evoke visions of fairies in the hearts of those who behold them. Many have mistaken their delicate forms for the creatures of legend."
"But fairies are real," Hae-Rin murmured, her voice tinged with a hint of longing and insistence.
"Indeed they are," her grandmother agreed, her gaze soft and knowing. "Yet, Luna moths possess a magic all of their own, their radiant wings glistening like spun moonlight."
Gosh, her grandmother and her poetic words.
As Hae-Rin turned her gaze to the moth, she squinted as if trying to glimpse the secrets of the forest's enchantment, as of trying to see if her grandmother was right. Comparing fairies and moths was a delicate matter for Hae-Rin, for in her eyes, fairies were beings beyond compare, imbued with an otherworldly magic that transcended mere mortal understanding.
You see, for Hae-Rin, fairies held a special place in her heart, their whispered tales weaving dreams of wonder and whimsy.
And so, as the Luna moth took flight, its wings unfurling in a delicate dance, it seemed to embody the very essence of a fairy. The tips of its wings twirled gracefully, casting shimmering trails of stardust in its wake.
"I suppose you are correct," Hae-Rin mused, her voice a soft echo as she glanced up at her grandmother again.
"Oh, look!" Her grandmother suddenly said.
Hae-Rin turned to face the moth, eyes searching for any movement.
The Luna moth was facing Hae-Rin's direction, fluttering gracefully through the dappled sunlight. With a gentle movement, Hae-Rin extended her hand, fingers trembling with excitement and wonder. To her delight, the moth responded to her silent invitation, its delicate form alighting upon her outstretched fingers with the grace of a dancer caught in mid-flight.
"Grandma, look!" Hae-Rin beamed. "It likes me!"
"It certainly does, my little darling." Her grandmother agreed, laughing sweetly. "Look at its pretty eyes."
"They are still a little scary." Hae-Rin said, a little nervously.
"Just because its eyes are black as a starless sky, just because they are 'scary', it doesn't mean that they don't hold any emotions in them." Her grandmother explained. "Look at the way it watches."
Hae-Rin leaned closer.
Even though its eyes were black, there seemed to be so much life in them. It was like a monster filled with grace, a monster drapped in fairy dust and wishful promises. The forest was reflecting off of its dark eyes, and because of that, Hae-Rin was able to see a bit of colour in them.
"Woah." She mumbled, voice trembling in awe.
"I know, dearest, I know." Her grandmother agreed. "Moths are just so mysterious and just so pretty."
Hae-Rin's heart had warmed up to the moth almost instantly. It might have done that, though, as soon as the moth went to rest upon Hae-Rin's finger.
How could she not?
The moth in front of her was-
"It's... it's so beautiful," Hae-Rin breathed, her voice barely a whisper.
Yeah, that.
"It's lovely." Her grandmother mumbled.
"Yes, lovely." Hae-Rin agreed.
Her grandmother smiled, her eyes sparkling with a wisdom born of countless years spent in communion with the natural world.
It was almost as if Hae-Rin was suddenly enchanted by the Luna moth, barely registering anything around her. All her fears and suspicions had left her like a simple spring breeze. There was just something so pretty about the moth, so lovely. The Luna moth was fluttering its new wings, eyes black as an endless abyss. Hae-Rin, on the other hand, just watched the creature come to life.
"Are they your favourite, grandma?" Hae-Rin asked. "Moths?"
"Yes, my little darling."
Hae-Rin smiled brightly and nodded.
"Then they are my favourite now, too!" She said excitedly, still watching the moth on her finger.
Her gramother chuckled.
And so as they sat there on the broken tree, bathed in the soft glow of the forest's embrace, suddenly the Luna moth spread its wings and took flight, leaving an invisible fairy dust at its wake and leaving Hae-Rin and her grandmother's sight.
"Goodbye," Hae-Rin mumbled wistfully.
━━━━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━━━━
37 Hours Later
Seoul stood before Hae-Rin like a ruin.
It was the town she grew up in, the town she had resented for its claustrophobic feel, but it was hers, either way. It was hers to treasure, hers to miss.
A pickup truck was driving down a bridge and its companions watched the torn town. Here and there, Hae-Rin could see smoke erupting like a wildfire. The greenery of nature was already starting to take a toll on the buildings that mankind had created. Without the constant honking of cars and radiant chatter of humans, the town looked like a ghost; a lost piece of life thrown into an unknown dimension.
The water surrounding the bridge was still clear, but part of the surface harboured useless objects.
Most of them were broken ruins, though.
As the pickup truck drove further away from the eerie building Hae-Rin had started to call home not so long ago, they all watched as they passed by abandoned vehicles that were decorating the streets.
There were a few survivors of Green Home that were now sitting in the vehicle, all not knowing their future.
Hae-Rin sat next to Eun-Yoo with Ji-Su in front of them. Next to Eun-Yoo sat Seung-Wan, then Jae-Hwan and Hye-In with her dog. Lastly, on that row, sat a woman Hae-Rin never really got to lean her name. She had never been interested in the residents who were rude, the residents that had made the apocalypse a little harder than needed. Nevertheless, on Ji-Su's row were Jin-Ok and the siblings, all of them looking at the abandoned town.
"The military pulled it off." Seung-Wan said, chuckling at the same time as Bom yawned.
"Doesn't mean we're safe now." Jae-Hwan mumbled.
"Says the asshole that called the military himself." Hae-Rin snickered coldly. "As if you didn't want this."
"Hey, watch it!" Jae-Hwan shouted.
Hae-Rin simply rolled her eyes and sighed.
She leaned to rest her head on Eun-Yoo's shoulder, not even bothered by the long hair as it swung in her face. The wind was loud and strong, both harsh and demanding. It was getting colder, and it didn't help that they had been travelling in the pickup truck for hours.
"Well, there wasn't a single monster the whole way here." Seung-Wan insisted.
"No people too." Eun-Yoo added.
It was true.
All throughout their journey, they didn't see a single human. No monsters, no humans. Was that how the outside had been this whole time? Or had something changed?
"Well, uh, um..." Seung-Wan stammered. "Oh, the soldiers probably already..."
In the end, he didn't finish.
Hae-Rin's lips released another sigh and the silence arrived yet again. Crossing her arms over her chest, Hae-Rin glanced around the people in the vehicle, both trying to distract herself from her pressing thoughts and also trying to see what they were thinking just by looking at their eyes.
It was evident, though, that out of everyone, Hae-Rin, Eun-Yoo, and Ji-Su were the most empty.
Their eyes were listless and tired.
Not only had they given up, and the adrenaline had left them, but they were left alone to deal with everything.
Alone in the aftermath.
Everyone they had once known, everyone upon whom they had relied for survival, had vanished like whispers in the wind. Now, they were left to navigate the cruelties of existence alone, with only the hollow ache of loss to keep them company. All three of them had lost some very important people in their lives, Hae-Rin and Eun-Yoo more than the rest.
Even so, Hae-Rin felt like she was fighting a current of loneliness all by herself.
She had to watch every friend of hers die before her eyes. She had to watch her family drown in blood, so it was no wonder that she had no energy anymore.
It was no wonder that her life had left her.
It was no wonder that she couldn't find it in herself to worry about the monsters as fear sat on her shoulder.
The adrenaline that had fueled her fight for survival had long since dissipated, leaving behind only an empty husk of what she once was. Her heart ached with every intake of breath, and every time she had tried to close her eyes, the people that were dearest to her flashed behind her closed eyelids like haunting nightmares.
Even so, her will to live shone like a radiant star.
Travelling with the vehicle for another fifteen or so minutes, the residents finally arrived in front of a barricaded tunnel.
The truck stopped.
Hae-Rin raised her head from Eun-Yoo's shoulder, curious and cautious.
"See? What did I tell you?!" Seung-Wan said excitedly.
There, standing in front of the dark and barricaded tunnel stood a dozens of soldiers, all carrying a weapon. One of them, as Hae-Rin observed, spoke through a walkie-talkie before making his way towards the pickup truck. Another soldier followed, both of them carrying a gun and pointing it at all of the residents as they inspected them, taking a good look at everyone.
"The vehicle looks clear. Let them through." One of the men said.
Hae-Rin fixed the straps on her shoulder, making sure her backpack was secured. Few of the residents gripped their weapons tighter and some sighed in relief.
"Roger." Another one said through the walkie-talkie.
The pickup truck was on the move again only this time, it was driving straight down towards the tunnel.
Hae-Rin watched as the vehicle passed by the soldiers. All of their weapons were still pointed at them despite how one of the soldiers said that they were clear. As the engine roared, two soldiers opened the metal gates to the tunnel and the vehicle was soon consumed by dimmed light from the coverings of the said tunnel.
"There's so many of them." Eun-Yoo whispered, glacing at Hae-Rin.
"Do they think they're safe like that?" Hae-Rin scoffed back. "Any of them could turn into a monster at any second."
"Exactly." Agreed Eun-Yoo.
Hae-Rin took note of the many empty vehicles as they passed, wondering why were they left there. For a long moment, as they drove, they saw no sign of humanity.
Then the vehicle came to a stop and the soldier driving them told them to get off.
"You are going to go by foot from here." He told them, watching each resident as they all climbed down. All of them were confused, though. "Soon you will find yourselves in a walking order with other survivors. Follow the rules that the soldiers will tell you. Now, go on."
"That's..." Ji-Su began.
"Annoying?" Eun-Yoo asked. "Idiotic? Stupid?"
"Yeah." Agreed Ji-Su, shrugging.
"Come on, go!" The soldier shouted, glaring.
"Okay, okay." Jae-Hwan nodded and immediately started walking.
Hae-Rin rolled her eyes and followed, sticking close to Eun-Yoo at all cost. In the meantime, she was cursing the military.
Not more than two minutes and the group found themselves wrapped in a crowd. There were vehicles all around, and soldiers were standing either on top of them or next to them. Hae-Rin, though, she was more interested in seeing how many survivors were there. She was quite surprised, actually, to see just how many people were walking next to her.
She hadn't been able to see that many people in months.
But,
Why were they walking?
There were cars everywhere, wasn't it easier to take those instead of walking? It would also take endlessly long to pass the tunnel by foot. Instead of leaving the military vehicles behind and acting idiotic, they could've all fit in every car.
As they walked, a soldier suddenly grabbed a man by his collar and pulled him to the side.
"Wait! He's not- he's just sick!" A woman shouted.
"He has leukemia!" A man added. "There should be a doctor here who can confirm it for you!"
"All right. We will check then." A soldier said.
Hae-Rin and Eun-Yoo glanced at each other before continuing to walk, both of them silently agreeing not to get involved. Not only that, but the woman's shouting was too loud and by the looks of it, she looked like she was the wife of the man who had a bloody nose because she was wearing a wedding dress.
Suddenly, they heard a gunshot.
Hae-Rin's eyes went wide as she glanced back, trying to find the source.
There, behind a military car, the man who had been taken by the soldiers fell dead, blood spilling as he went down.
"He's dead, sir." A soldier said. "He wasn't a monster."
"Some good news. Clean up." Another soldier added, glancing down from the vehicle.
Hae-Rin's eyes went wider.
Was that how the military checked if someone was a monster? Did they shoot them dead to find out? If the person was a monster, it was a bingo for them, but if it wasn't, then what? Then they had literally just killed an innocent man.
"What the fuck?" Hae-Rin murmoured.
"Remember when you said that humans are worse than monsters?" Eun-Yoo whispered.
"Yeah." Hae-Rin nodded.
"This just proves your point further." Eun-Yoo told her.
The man who had said that the bloodied man had leukemia suddenly rushed towards the soldiers only for them to point their guns at him.
"What the hell are you doing?!" The man shouted.
"Back off now." A soldier said.
"Nosebleeds are one of the symptoms." Another one added.
"You sons of bitches!" The man shouted.
He then ran towards the soldiers and tried to attack them and take their weapon. Gunshots fired above everyone's heads as the man got thrown on the ground only to be kicked and punched by the soldiers a second later.
"Stay down!" A soldier shouted.
The woman in a wedding dress started to cry, eyes cast on her dead husband as she fell to the ground.
Hae-Rin felt a tug on her zip-up hoodie just as the rest of the Green Home residents passed by the scene. Looking down, she saw Eun-Yoo's hand pulling her forward.
"Come on, let's go." Eun-Yoo mumbled. "We don't need to watch this."
"Humans are fucked up," Hae-Rin mumbled.
Just then, the soldiers who had kicked the older man jammed his gun at him. He didn't even stop there. He continued to kick and punch as blood splashed on his face. It was very clear that he was out for blood, that he had no care if he killed an innocent man as long as he proved his point.
"Oh my God..." Jin-Ok mumbled from next to Hae-Rin.
An elderly woman gasped and tried to stop the soldier from killing the man, but another soldier caught her.
"You got to stop! Hey, stop! Listen to me!" The old woman shouted, voice broken and hurt as tears spilt down her cheeks. "Stop it! It's mom! This is wrong! You can't..."
It soon dawned on Hae-Rin that the woman was the soldier's mother.
The soldier stopped and turned to look at the woman, eyes cold and murderous. There were splashes of blood on his face, and as Eun-Yoo tugged Hae-Rin again, she saw the pure psychopathic gaze that the soldier carried on his face. Hae-Rin couldn't even imagine how it must have been for the woman to see her son like that.
"Is this... is this how the military has been dealing with the apocalypse?" Hae-Rin mumbled. "Killing? Becoming monsters?"
"Let's go, Hae-Rin, please." Eun-Yoo insisted.
As the sobbing continued, Hae-Rin turned around and followed Eun-Yoo, no longer wanting to look at the scene knowing what the military had become. Deep down, Hae-Rin had always had a doubt about the military, but seeing how they were treating the apocalypse, how psychopathic and insane they have gotten, only made her doubt and hatred raise up.
Sure, she had always wanted to be a detective or like her mother, a police officer, but the military was different.
With everything that had happened in the past four days in Green Home, Hae-Rin found herself unable to be as shocked as she wished to be about everything around her. Somehow, deep down, it all sort of made sense.
For the military to act this way, for the apocalypse to change people.
It made sense.
As they walked further inside the tunnel, Hae-Rin began to pick up commotion somewhere from behind her.
"Can you hear that?" Hae-Rin asked.
Eun-Yoo frowned.
The two stopped to listen, slowly turning behind to look.
There, further down the tunnel, people were running and screaming. Gunshots were firing and humans fell dead on the ground as a lizard-looking monster three times taller than a human, was jumping around the walls of the tunnel.
The pushing and running crowd soon arrived in front of the two best friends; people pushing at the two friends to get past them. A vehicle zoomed next to Eun-Yoo and ran straight into a few people, instantly killing them from the impact. Other survivors, on the other hand, were trying to hold onto the back of some cars as said cars drove away from the monster. Further down the tunnel, though, where the monster was, Hae-Rin could see fire erupting as soldiers tried to burn it alive.
Hae-Rin and Eun-Yoo watched in horror as the fire caught a few innocent humans, burning them right that instant.
"Keep running." Eun-Yoo mumbled, horrified.
She turned to look at Hae-Rin with wide eyes and grasped her hand in hers, pulling the taller girl as she started to run in the direction where everyone else was heading.
Hae-Rin, getting out of her trance, finally gave her body orders as she started to run as well.
"Run!" Hae-Rin shouted at the others.
"Keep running! Go, run!" Eun-Yoo added, waving at the Green Home residents. "Don't stop, keep running!"
The residents, seeing the chaos, listened immediately to the two best friends: Jin-Ok pulled the siblings with her, Jae-Hwan gripped his weapon and turned to run, Seung-Wan followed close behind and Ji-Su, shocked just as the rest of them, took a second too long before she was running as well.
Hae-Rin and Eun-Yoo, at some point, had managed to be behind the Green Home residents instead of in front of them.
It didn't matter.
They kept running forward.
The abandoned cars around them were suddenly starting to come to life. Hae-Rin could see soldiers getting in the driver's and passenger seats while other survivors tried to get on the back of the cars. Some were helping each other up, but others - which was most of them - were pushing each other to get away faster. As Hae-Rin and Eun-Yoo ran, the taller of the two kept looking behind and saw that even though the soldiers were trying to kill the monster, they managed to kill more humans instead.
Did they forget everything they trained about?
How did they manage to kill more humans than the monster? Hell, the monster barely had any injuries from what Hae-Rin could see.
"Hey, come here!" A soldier suddenly shouted. "Over here!"
Hae-Rin turned to look upfront and saw a soldier in all black waving his hand. He was standing over a vehicle that had an opening on the ceiling. From Hae-Rin's passive perception, she could see that the soldier couldn't have been older than Eun-Hyuk.
"Come on, Hae-Rin, run!" Eun-Yoo shouted.
"I'm trying, Eun-Yoo!" Hae-Rin shouted back, the screams that were surrounding them drowning hers and Eun-Yoo's voice. "But I'm still injured, remember?!"
Her body still needed to heal from the bandits and from the damage Ui-Myeong had done on her.
Eun-Yoo gripped her hand tighter and pulled Hae-Rin with her.
In front of them, in a great distance, Hae-Rin saw most of the Green Home residents climbing inside the pickup truck that the young soldier was standing on. The only ones left out, as much as she could see, were Jin-Ok, the siblings, Ji-Su. Soon, they made their way inside as well.
Eun-Yoo suddenly stopped running, eyes cast at the side.
Hae-Rin turned to look and saw the murderous soldier looking down at his dead mother with blood in his hands.
"Start driving, asshole!" A soldier was screaming. "Hey, I said start driving!"
"Come on, Eun-Yoo-"
A loud gunshot rang from the side where the soldier had been and blood splashed onto Eun-Yoo's face.
Hae-Rin let out a scream, eyes wide.
She glanced down at the soldier and saw him fall down on the ground with his whole face blown away and bleeding. The gun fell on the ground next to him, but the impact of it was drowned by the screaming of the survivors and the tires of a car that was driving backwards.
Hae-Rin didn't even have any words to utter. The whole scene was horrifying.
Then, a screech erupted from behind them.
The taller of the two friends turned to look, knowing that she'd rather look at a monster than watch the scene next to her.
There, far inside the tunnel, the monster was holding a crying child. Hae-Rin took a step forward, not knowing why but immediately thinking of how the child might be in danger. Her feet halted, however, when the monster climbed on the highest point and started to look around. People were still running, and cars were still coming to life, but Hae-Rin's only focus was on the way the monster held the child gently.
Almost as if a mother was cradling a child.
"Mommy!" The child sobbed.
"Yun-Seo!" A woman was screaming in desperation.
Hae-Rin couldn't see her, but she heard her voice echo in the tunnel, mixing with the screams of the survivors and the roaring of engines.
"Hae-Rin! Eun-Yoo!" Ji-Su was screaming. "Run, guys, come on! Don't stand there!"
Hae-Rin, though, watched as the monster leapt down and the crowd scattered around, trying to get away from the monster. Said, monster, though, leaned down and delivered the child to the mother, reuniting them.
Oh.
There are monsters that don't hurt humans.
That monster was just like the slime monster who had protected Yeong-Su when the bandits were in Green Home.
Then, all of a sudden, soldiers started to shoot again.
"No!" Hae-Rin screamed.
She took a step forward, bewildered.
Couldn't they see that the monster wasn't hurting anyone? Couldn't they see that it just helped a child find her mother? Couldn't they see that the monster was looking for something? That it didn't touch any of the humans? In fact, couldn't the soldiers see that they were the ones that killed every single survivor, whereas the monster had not even injured, let alone harmed a human this whole time?
"Don't hurt it!" Hae-Rin screamed. "It's not harming anyone! Stop it!"
She tried to take another step forward, but Eun-Yoo suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her back in the opposite direction.
"Let's go." Eun-Yoo insisted.
"But they are hurting-"
"I know, but there's no time." Eun-Yoo replied.
And she was right, Hae-Rin knew.
The monster may not hurt them, but the soldiers who had suddenly forgotten how to use weapons and how to be part of the military would hurt them.
Hae-Rin gulped down her sadness and nodded, knowing that she couldn't do anything to help.
Eun-Yoo looked down at her hand, and when Hae-Rin followed her eyes, she saw her holding a gun. She didn't get to ask whose it was or when did she get it because as soon as Eun-Yoo cleaned it and turned to look at the path that led towards the monster, a pickup truck stopped behind them.
The next second, Hae-Rin and Eun-Yoo were pulled by Ji-Su and Jin-Ok inside the truck, both of them yanking the best friends by their shoulders.
As they sat down, Hae-Rin saw Eun-Yoo hide the gun.
Not even a millisecond later, the military truck roared to life again and started to drive in the opposite direction of where the monster was. The residents all sighed; some closing their eyes, others clinging to their weapons.
The adrenaline slowly died down as Hae-Rin's body slumped on the bench she was sitting on.
What the fuck just happened?
As the truck left the tunnel, the siblings continued to cry. Half of the residents were taking their breath, Ji-Su was looking around in both confusion and worry whereas Eun-Yoo looked completely dead and empty. Hae-Rin, on the other hand, was fuming with anger and trying to push away the feelings of uneasiness and fear. Her hands were shaking, she noticed, and her heart seemed to still beat erratically despite the adrenaline leaving her system.
Gulping in air, Hae-Rin turned to look at Jae-Hwan.
"How are you liking your safety camp, huh?" She asked him, voice cold and angry. "Was this all worth the betrayal?"
Jae-Hwan simply stared.
For the first time in months, he seemed to be speechless.
Hae-Rin scoffed at him, rolling her eyes.
With shaky hands, she reached into her backpack and took out her bat, realising that despite not seeing any monsters along the way, they were never going to be safe.
Hae-Rin couldn't believe, as she watched the car pass by empty streets, that this was what Grandpa Han and Hyun-Su had given up for. She couldn't fanthom the fact that Hyun-Su had given up escaping just for this bullshit. Not only had he thought wrong, not only had his thoughts about the residents being safe once he left had been wrong, but he had given himself to the very same monsters that the pickup truck was driving away from right now.
If only he had listened to Hae-Rin, if only he had gone with her-
Hae-Rin shook her head, stopping herself.
Even if he had gone with her, they had been surrounded by the military. Hyun-Su wouldn't have been safe with Hae-Rin, either.
Still.
Hae-Rin wished he was with her right now.
He was the only one she had left besides Eun-Yoo and Ji-Su. He had been the only one who could survive the apocalypse, the only one who could stay with her.
At one point, there was Eun-Hyuk, too, but Hae-Rin didn't know what happened to him once they left Green Home. He could be alive, yes, but a bigger chance was that he could be dead. Hae-Rin, of course, did not believe in that. If there was one thing her late grandmother had taught her, it would be to never give up on hopes and wishes.
So, Hae-Rin had hope that Eun-Hyuk was alive. She had hope that he was still there in Green Home, hiding and waiting.
Hae-Rin wanted to find him.
If Hyun-Su was taken by the military by now, then Hae-Rin had only Eun-Hyuk left.
Eun-Yoo needed her brother, too.
"You okay?" Hae-Rin whispered, glancing at Eun-Yoo.
The shorter girl shrugged.
"I just saw someone shoot himself dead. I saw the military murder humans, I saw a monster attack," Eun-Yoo began listing off, voice trembling and empty. "I lost my brother in the ruins, I saw Mr. Han die, my friend Hyun-Su gave himself to the military- Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."
Hae-Rin sighed and reached to hold Eun-Yoo's hand, ignoring the blood staining her skin.
She also ignored the mention of Grandpa Han because it was the freshest burn, the freshest pain, and Hae-Rin was trying everything to not think about that.
Ever since he had died, which was not even four days ago, Hae-Rin had been stuck in an endless loop of grief. Each heartbeat reminded her of him and each inhale of breath was filled with the smell of his blood. Ever since she had lost her family member, her pillar, Hae-Rin had been trying to push forward with no soul to keep her in tact.
"Don't give up on Eun-Hyuk." Hae-Rin told Eun-Yoo.
"Never." Eun-Yoo mumbled sternly, eyes filled with determination. "I'd rather die than give up on him."
"Good." Hae-Rin mumbled.
"Don't give up on Hyun-Su." Eun-Yoo said.
Hae-Rin opened her mouth to reply, but her words tumbled down her throat like useless dominos.
Of course she was never going to give up on him. Of course she'd always look for him in crowds and hope he'd show up. He promised her, anyway. He promised her that he'd show up and that he'd never forget her despite already doing that.
Hae-Rin had hope in that.
She believed Hyun-Su with her whole heart.
"Never." Hae-Rin said. "I'd rather die than give up on him."
Eun-Yoo smiled at the familiar words.
Suddenly, the military came to a stop under a bridge that was near the water. Hae-Rin and Eun-Yoo let go of each other and glanced at the front of the truck.
"We're you trying to get us killed?!" The sergeant shouted. "Fucking-" Before Hae-Rin could never process anything, the man swung at the younger soldier, hitting him right in his face. "Piece of-" another punch and a few big kicks. "Shit!"
"Man, even soldiers have it rough." Seung-Wan mumbled.
Hae-Rin thought back to how the young soldier had been desperate to save as many people as possible.
Why was the sergeant so upset about it?
Wasn't that what the military was supposed to do? Save people? Protect?
Although, thinking back to the tunnel, Hae-Rin knew that it was a lie. Humanity was fucked up and an apocalypse was all it took for them to finally lose it. For a moment, as she tried to calm herself and erase the memory of the soldier taking his own life and the other soldiers trying to kill an innocent monster but instead murdering humans, Hae-Rin thought about the authorities.
What were they doing?
Were they still alive? Were they trying to find a cure like they promised?
"Bom!" Hye-In suddenly shouted. "Where's my..."
Hae-Rin, realising that her eyes were closed, opened them and glanced at Hye-In that was standing with wide eyes.
"Who gives a fuck where your dog is, huh?!" Jae-Hwan shouted cruelly.
Bom was such a nice dog, though.
"How dare you!" Hye-In screamed, turning to glare at him as she pointed an accusing finger in his direction. "You'd be dead if it wasn't for Bom! I saw you back there! You didn't lift a finger, did you?!"
"So what? What's wrong with that, huh?!" Jae-Hwan screamed back. "That's like the same thing-"
"Stop it, you guys." Seung-Wan mumbled. "This isn't the time!"
Not only was the sergeant arguing with the young soldier, kicking and accusing, but the residents were all arguing as well. Mostly Hye-In and Jae-Hwan, of course, but the others tried to poke in and stop the fight only to cause more commotion. On the other hand, the siblings were still sobbing loudly and none of it helped the pounding headache that kicked at Hae-Rin's head.
"Hae-Rin." Eun-Yoo whispered.
"Hm?"
"You know I'm not giving up on Eun-Hyuk until I see him with my own eyes, right?" Eun-Yoo asked.
"I know, and neither am I." Hae-Rin told her. "You already told me this, though."
The arguing of the residents worsened, their voices growing louder that Hae-Rin worried a monster could hear. If that happened, then none of them were surviving.
Not when all of them were exhausted and barely holding themselves.
"Help me search for him. I have a plan, I think." Eun-Yoo whispered. "Will you stand with me?"
"You don't even have to ask." Hae-Rin mumbled.
Eun-Yoo nodded.
Hae-Rin watched as she took out the gun she had stolen and rested her hand on her knee. Immediately, Seung-Wan was the first one to see it and he began to stammer, words failing him as he tried to say something.
Eun-Yoo didn't seem to care.
Instead, she stood up and walked towards the small window that was facing the soldiers upfront.
Hae-Rin readied her bat, not knowing what to expect.
But if Eun-Yoo asked her to jump off a cliff, she would. Of course she was going to help her find her brother, he was Hae-Rin's friend anyway. Plus, if Eun-Yoo had a plan to get back to Green Home, then Hae-Rin wasn't going to miss the chance.
What if Hyun-Su was still there?
What if he was hiding and waiting for Hae-Rin?
She had to go back and find him or find Eun-Hyuk. Hae-Rin had to go back and make sure they were alive.
Hae-Rin had to see them with her own eyes.
She couldn't lose anyone anymore. She had lost so many friends and her grandfather. She had to watch everyone die in front of her eyes leaving her alone with only Eun-Yoo and Ji-Su to rely on.
Hae-Rin stood up and made her way next to Eun-Yoo, watching as the shorter girl yanked the curtain and pointed her gun at the sergeant. In a way, Hae-Rin felt really proud of Eun-Yoo. She didn't know why, but watching how determined and strong she was, it gave Hae-Rin strength, it made her want to be strong and determined as well.
"What is this?" The sergeant chuckled. "You don't think I'd fall for that-"
Eun-Yoo, without breaking eye contact with the sergeant, pointed the gun at the window next to his head and shot the glass.
The residents screamed.
Eun-Yoo pointed the gun back at the sergeant.
The sergeant's eyes were wide open as he stared at Eun-Yoo. He looked like he had just realised that Eun-Yoo was not playing, that she'd actually kill him if she wanted.
"What do you want?" He asked her.
"Gotta get somewhere." Eun-Yoo said lowly and emotionlessly. "You will take me there."
Green Home, thought Hae-Rin.
The sergeant glanced at the younger soldier and with an exaggerated sigh, he nodded. The younger soldier nodded back and started the engine again, getting ready to drive. All throughout that exchange, Eun-Yoo did not lower the gun and something told Hae-Rin that the shorter girl wasn't planning on lowering it for a long time. Hae-Rin, though, didn't seem to mind that, in fact, she was quite glad that the sergeant had a gun pointed to his head since she didn't like his attitude.
"Go on, drive." Hae-Rin said to the soldiers.
She was sitting next to the small window in the corner of the bench and in front of Eun-Yoo.
Eun-Yoo smiled a little and Hae-Rin knew that she knew that Hae-Rin would always be by her side. She knew that Hae-Rin would always support her and stand with her.
Hae-Rin wanted to sit next to her because she just wanted to make sure Eun-Yoo would be okay and that none of the soldiers would try to attack her. They didn't need that, the two just needed to be back in Green Home and search for Eun-Hyuk and, possibly, Hyun-Su. They just needed to be back home for the last time even though they didn't know where the future would bring them.
Or what it held, for that matter.
"You heard her," The sergeant said. "Drive, Chan-Young."
Chan-Young, the younger soldier, glanced back at the rest of the residents then at Eun-Yoo. Lastly, he faced the front and checked the surroundings before grabbing the steering wheel again and releasing a long sigh.
"Okay, yeah." Nodded Chan-Young.
And, with that, they made their way back to Green Home.
❝ “𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜
𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚕𝚢!”
“𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗’𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛?”
“𝙱𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚞𝚙, 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢.”
“𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢?” ❞
- 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐧, 𝐉.𝐌 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞.
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That mf flashback with Hae-Rin and her grandmother took longer than I intended it to be. I got carried away istg
ALSO WELCOME BACK AND LET'S GOOOOO
Have a nice day/night <3