It was unusually calm in the Windy City as Sehun made his way towards the corner of Windmill Walk. He often ended up at Windmill Walk, no matter where he was meant to be going. “It’s a small world… but it’s not that small,” He huffed as he pulled out his phone, quickly opening a map and drawing the short and simple path between where he started and where he wanted to go. ‘How did I get all the way to the other side of Edinburgh?” He questioned as he tucked his phone back into his pocket. Sehun turned his head left and right to find some sign of life; but there was nothing. It seemed as if everyone in Scotland had left to England for the day. ‘But, it always seems like no one lives on Windmill Walk,’ He mused as he made his way down a street of houses that seemed to mirror each other perfectly; ‘and maybe no one does.’     

    Sehun liked his lips cautiously as he moved towards the house closest to him, light on his feet and ready to run. He peered through the window, narrowing his eyes in disbelief. ‘Is that toy floating?’ He frowned and pulled the door open, trying his best not to make any sound. Slowly and steadily he approached the miniature wooden aeroplane, gingerly tapping it and causing it to spin away in slow motion; as if gravity no longer had hold of it.

    At the end of the hall Sehun could see two little boys sitting cross legged on the hardwood floor, staring at the ceiling absently and paying no attention the the masses of toys floating above their heads. ‘It must be a dream.’ Sehun concluded as he ducked away from a floating building block. He had had dreams like this before, except in his other dreams he hadn’t been this alone; not even is the maze. Just as he had made up his mind about his state of detachment from reality the kid’s heads snapped towards him, their eyes empty. 

    It felt like the Earth was shaking, but soon Sehun realised it wasn’t the ground; it was the sky. He watched the vase on the table shake violently as the winds around the house grew stronger and stronger. Sehun’s gaze shifted to the window in fright as he felt darkness creeping in. An eclipse. His eyes widened in horror as he watched blackness swirl around the house, debris flying through the air only further hindering the little amount of light entering the hose. “It’s not a dream,” His voice was hushed like he was his most dangerous secret. 

    He needed to find the others. 

    Without wasting a single breath Sehun ran for the door, not giving the two children a second glance. Not that it mattered; by the time the door clicked shut behind the young man, the kids were already long gone.

                        …

    It hadn’t rained in Marseilles for days. The cool winds made promises with the calming sent of rain, but the heaven’s never delivered. The air was damp but to Suho everything seemed painfully dry. The land of lakes was just a land.

    Suho was dreaming about the maze again; a dream he knew had once been his reality. He had remembered it all down to the very last detail; the way the walls were pushing him further and further away from his companions, the way the darkness seemed to swallow him whole. Back then he had wished so desperately for Baekhyun’s light or perhaps even Chanyeol’s fire to light his path, but he was walking on his own - that’s simply how it had to be. They had wished for something beyond what they could ever achieve under his leadership; freedom. 

    The sound of his phone ringing stirred him from his sleep, awakening him to his pounding head. He rubbed his eyes, wondering if it was really ringing this time or if the hollow ding he assumed was his ringtone was all in his head. Maybe the loneliness had finally driven him mad. ‘There’s no use in answering,’ He told himself heartlessly, ‘It’s just static like the last time, and the time before that.’ 

    He forced himself to got of the couch, to look in the mirror and turn on the tap like he had done before - in what seemed to be another lifetime. The water wouldn’t run. His eyes drifted to lock with those of a the man in the mirror’s and for a while Suho couldn't recognise himself. ‘The face of a delusional man,’ he deadpanned, ‘the man that turns on the tap everyday and expects the water to run, even though it never does… and never will.’ 

    He hadn’t intended to stray so far from home, in fact he hadn’t planned to leave his home at all. He glanced around the ruin of the old building, read the graffiti on the walls once again in hopes of finding out what had happened; why was everyone gone? There were no bodies, no bones; just devastation. It was like everyone in the whole world had departed. But where could a species as basic as humans go? He’d deduced that he must be so far into the future that humans didn’t exist, but not so far that all evidence of the race had been extinguished. 

    He left the building, then the city and when he had finally walked so far that he wasn't sure where he was anymore he finally stopped, extending a hand toward the sky. He could have sworn that he had felt the cold awakening of a rain drop, but the sky was keeping its cards drawn close. Where is the water? Where are the people? He walked through a forest he had no memory of, turning on his heels as if he could find either of what he was looking for out in the wild. Everything was the wild now. 

    ‘A pool?’ Suho pondered as he forced himself to take a few weary steps forward. He followed the looping vines that lead him toward an opening in the earth ‘It’s empty.’ The water had abandoned him, just as he had abandoned it. But somehow it didn't seem to matter. He didn’t mind being shunned by the water, he didn’t mind the otherworldly loneliness; all he wanted was for everyone else to be safe - to be free. He wanted so badly to pray that the others were living in a time better than the one he had been given; but he didn't want Mama to hear. 

    As the man slumped against the pool wall he closed his eyes and imagined that they were together, guilt tearing him apart from within, but his thought were interrupted by the feeling of something within the Earth beginning to stir. ‘Oh, please no,’ It all felt too familiar, ‘I give up.’  

    Water burst out of the pipes, rushing towards him hungrily. Suho made no attempt to stop the flood. He would have preferred to live with his headache for all of eternity if only it meant they could all profess to being free men. But freedom is just an archaic term we use to justify our want for anarchy. It’s our want to stand alone. 

    Mama didn’t want them to stand alone. She wanted them to cower beneath her. 

    ‘Freedom is an illusion.’ 

A/N: Sorry if there's lots of mistakes! I'll be back to edit it later :) Everyone - It hurts.