Apocalypse Theory Of The Abandoned World

Chapter 3: Spitfire

The city looked worse than expected. Buildings that once stood tall and proud were broken down, eaten by plants. Cars were overturned, rusted and destroyed beyond belief. The corpses that littered the street just the night before had disappeared between the lava and the creatures that littered around the city.

 The earth had aged by a century within a single night. It was absolutely jarring how it had changed so much. Now, they stood in a dystopian world, abandoned by humanity. All those post-apocalypse stories paled in comparison to the real thing.

 Doyun chuckled in awe and loss. This was their reality now, he realized. Every single instance, he dreamt of going inside those novels and experiencing the post apocalyptic world, had come true just like that.

  Still, he couldn't find it in himself to feel the happiness and delight he should have. Not when it had condemned their entire world to despair. Never, when his desires had ruined the future of the two children with him. 

 Cha Doyun looked down to the toddler slung across his chest and the pre-teen that held his hand, clutching the dagger Doyun had given him like a lifeline. Instead of joy, he only felt guilt writhing in his gut. 

 Logically, he knew that the apocalypse had not been his fault but he still felt guilty all the same. Maybe he was doing it for his own selfishness and desire to alleviate his guilt but he wanted to reunite them with their aunt. 

 It didn't matter whatever it took as long as the kids were safe and happy. 

 Doyun shook his head to clear out his thoughts. Now was not the time to stand around and feel guilty. He had a mission to complete. He had children to take care of and all sorts of unknown threats lurking around to strike. It was time to move, no more delaying.

 He pulled Sung-Jin forwards, moving as fast as the 11 years old boy could manage. 

   They moved along the collapsed road, avoiding the lava that ran by like a river and sticking close to the shadows of the buildings. 

 All around them, all sorts of strange plants grew and creatures never seen before ran around. Some of them would pause to give the trio a curious look before losing interest and going back to whatever they were doing.

 Like that, they moved for several minutes, only stopping for a small break here and there. Unwilling to risk it in case the animals or the plants decided to attack. 

  Doyun's ability was useless in combat and they still had no idea what Sung-Jin's was as the kid hadn't tried using it yet.

 The older man knew they needed to get some food soon. Maybe they could raid some of the stores as the insides of buildings didn't seem to be affected by the sudden aging, proven by the camping shop they spent the last night in. 

  

  The kids were probably hungry as well. Sung-Jin hadn't said anything yet but Ah-in was starting to grow restless and Doyun wasn't willing to let the toddler cry when they still had no idea about the dangers of their new world.

  He held back a frustrated sigh, instead choosing to look around for the convenience store. 

  He didn't have to look for long however as just in the corner by their left was a branch of the shop 8/12. Moments like this were probably why Doyun was thankful for living in Seoul, even if this fact also made his life a living hell.

  The dark haired man smiled and then they walked towards the shop, hurriedly. Sooner they got food the better in his mind. They could also stock up on food using the [Inventory] system.

  Few moments later, they stood in front of the shop, pulling it's front door open. However, they didn't step into the shop itself. They just stood there, staring at what laid inside of it. 

  In front of them was a dead body of several people. They were scattered all over the shop, pale and lifeless. There was blood all over the place and Doyun was sure there were more of them, corpses further inside the store.

 He didn't even dare to try and cover the eyes of the children. This was something they had to accept and deal with. Sure, the previous day had been bloodier and far worse than what was in the shop but yesterday every one of them had been in shock, unwilling to accept what they went through. 

 Doyun could see Sung-Jin swallowing back his urge to vomit with tears in his eyes. The kid was refusing to cry, and instead chose to soldier on, it seemed. Ah-in on the other hand only blinked before going back to snuggling into Doyun, sucking on her thumb.

  The older man gave Sung-Jin some more time to adjust to their situation before he was taking both kids into the shop. He didn't give them a chance to linger more than necessary on the dead and headed straight for the food isle.

 "Sung-Jin, pick up whatever food that is still edible and put it inside a plastic bag. That way, they would take less space inside the [Inventory]. We will talk once we are safe." He ordered coldly. It hurt his conscience but they needed to move.

 Once he saw the pre-teen do as he was ordered, Doyun himself started to collect soft food, milk, water and other necessary items he could still find. It seemed like someone else had raided the shop but must have only taken what they thought was necessary for there were still lots of stuff left behind.

  He handed the toddler a piece of creme filled croissant to nibble on while he sorted the food into plastic bags and placed them into his [Inventory] like he told Sung-Jin to do.

 

 Doyun would have liked to raid the storage but there were survivors like them out there that probably needed it and he was almost out of space in [Inventory] anyways so he decided against it.

  "Sung-Jin, let's go!" The oldest of the trio, called for the 11 years old, who had just finished with his task. The brown haired boy nodded and came back to Doyun's side without a word. 

 The kid hadn't said a word since they left the camping store and with what they witnessed, Doyun was starting to get worried for him.

  He took the kid's hand in his and they left the shop as fast as they could, not willing to linger for a moment longer.

  They didn't go far from the shop however. They had been walking for hours already and while they could still walk some more the older man didn't want to risk it. The kids were already tired and he needed to speak to Sung-Jin about what they saw.

 Taking a deep breath, Cha Doyun surveyed their surroundings. The street was unfamiliar and the sudden change didn't make it any better but maybe they could break into some apartment or something, he supposed.

 

 He led the kids towards the towering apartment building across the road, careful to avoid stepping on anything he deemed risky. Sung-Jin just followed after him without a word of protest, doing just as he did.

  They entered one of the most intact looking one. Doyun made sure to keep the kids with him at all times as he took the keys from the rotting body of the security guard. He then opened the door of the nearest room possible on the 1st floor. 

  Call him paranoid but it was better safe than sorry.

 Fortunately for them the apartment they chose was tidy and empty of anyone except them. They stepped into the apartment and Doyun locked the door behind. 

  He then untied the makeshift sling and let Ah-In down on the floor. The energetic toddler immediately crawled away and into the toys that littered the carpet. He turned towards Sung-Jin who had settled down to watch his sister play.

 Nodding to himself, the older man headed towards the kitchen. There, he checked for electricity, which thankfully they still had as strange as that was.  He then pulled out a pot from the cabinet and milk from his [Inventory]. Doyun poured the milk into the pot and turned the stove on to warm it. 

 He also filled and turned on the electric kettle to boil some water.

  It was a mundane task but it gave him some time to collect his thoughts. Doyun wasn't sure just what he should say to Sung-Jin but he mulled it over as he turned off the stove and poured the milk into the feeding bottle he found in the top cabinet.

  Whoever lived here had a child, maybe someone around Ah-In's age and he felt guilty once again for using it and prayed they were resting in peace.

   Turning around he left the kitchen and walked back into the living room.  The moment Ah-In saw the bottle in his hand, the toddler made a mad dash over to him. With a chuckle Doyun lifted the girl up and placed the bottle near her mouth, to which she started to suckle, holding into it with her tiny hands.

  Careful to not jostle and disturb her, Doyun sat down on one end of the sofa with Sung-Jin sitting on the other side. They sat there in silence for a while, neither saying a word when the pre-teen spoke in a small voice.

 "How are you fine?..." he asked Doyun, his voice shaky and barely above a whisper.  The older man hummed, unable to look up.

 "I'm not really fine. I'm just used to it." The older of the two answered, prompting the younger to snap towards him.

 "How are you used to it!? How!? Why!?" 'The kid sounded on the verge of crying now,' Doyun mused, ignoring the tears that stung his own eyes.

 "I'm a killer kid. I killed people before. I know it doesn't make you feel better nor does it explain things but I'm used to this!" He told him in a matter of fact tone, keeping his voice from shaking.

  Sung-Jin sputtered, unable to say anything else at Doyun's answer.

 

 "B-but you saved us! You fed and protected us! You promised to bring us to our aunt!" he sounded accusatory, a tone that Cha Doyun the criminal was very much used to.

 "Yes, I promised and I'll keep that. But look kid! I'm not fine! Seeing a dead body never is! What happened is gonna leave it's impact on you and you won't ever be able to forget it." He told Sung-Jin, who stared at him in silence.

 "And do you know what we can do? We can only move forward because it never gets any easier. So keep your head straight and move on. Cry if you want to! Yell, scream but never, ever give up because you still have Ah-In to protect and take care of. Okay?" Doyun spoke, giving the boy a watery smile and maybe that was all he needed before the kid burst out crying.

  Sung-Jin cried silently without any noise. He cried in utter despair and the sorrow he felt. He cried for his parents, for Ah-In and for himself. Doyun could only hug the boy with his free arm as he let everything out. 

  Ah-in slept peacefully in his other arm, half eaten bottle on her chest.

 The boy cried for several minutes until his tears dried out and his hiccups turned to barely there, sniffles but he did not move away from Doyun's hold.

 "Mister Doyun?" The boy called.

"Yes?" Doyun hummed.

 "Why did you kill people?" 

He closed his eyes and breathed at the sudden question. Unsure of how to answer that but in the end, he simply mumbled.

"I'll tell you later, kid."  He answered but got no response. He didn't need to look to know the child had fallen asleep, leaning against him.

 Doyun readjusted his hold on the children and leaned back into the sofa, his eyes closed.

 "Yeah, later." He murmured and drifted off to a well deserved nap. Unaware of the system screen that popped out.

                    [ Spawn point set!]

          [ Total number of players: 04]