October 6th, 2016

One thing about a nuclear apocalypse that no one seemed to have thought about is how boring the aftermath can get. Heechul discovers this fact as he’s lounging yet again on the floor of Jungsoo’s living room, both phoneless (cell towers are fried) and TV-less (broadcasting stations...also fried). It’s another one of those afternoons where they have no choice but to wait for new plans for rebuilding from either their Cluster or the Capital, and so he and Jungsoo have resorted to an old deck of cards. They smell like mold and look even worse ━ Heechul might name them after the new Mayor.

A reflexive sigh of relief escapes his lips when a knock sounds on the door. He moves to stand up (and not-so-subtly steal a look at Jungsoo’s hand), but he’s stopped by Jungsoo’s father calling “I’ll get it!”, doomed to wallow in his haze of boredom.

For a so-called end of times, this seems far too anti-climactic.

If Heechul cranes his neck far enough to the right (while protecting his own cards from Jungsoo’s probable revenge), he can see down the hallway to the front door. There are four men outside ━ presumably the Capital’s people, if the drab uniforms are anything to go by.

“Heechul,” Jungsoo says suddenly, waving his hand in the other’s line of sight. “It’s your turn, you know.”

“Are you seriously still interested in the game right now?”

A pause.

“Can you make out what they’re saying?”

“No, but it sounds like an argument. Your mother just joined them.”

Heechul has half a mind to go see what all the fuss is about, even if the two adults probably have the situation under control. For now, he leans even further to the side, trying to catch just a snatch of conversation. Trying, that is, until a familiar figure obstructs the view entirely.

“Mom?”

“Boys.” Heechul doesn’t like the fake smile stretched across her face. “Why don’t you move to the kitchen, hmm? We don’t want to bother the policemen by being in their way.”

Something is wrong. Even before seeing the fear in his mother’s expression, Heechul knows. It’s an odd request: what’s in the kitchen? Remnants of spoiled food in the refrigerator? That cobweb in the corner they all pretend not to notice so they won’t have to kill the disturbingly large spider?

“The back door,” he says aloud. It sounds out of place by itself, but with the way his mother’s expression shifts, he knows he’s hit the nail on the head. “Of course. Jungsoo, let’s go.”

“But why━?”

Jungsoo never does get a chance to finish his question. His words are swallowed up by the sharp rat-a-tat of gunfire, and the screams that follow.

They turn around just in time to see his parents crumple to the floor.

“You have refused to cooperate with the law,” a man’s voice says tonelessly. “We have been authorized to use lethal force.”

HOLY .

“Heechul. Son, look at me.”

We’re all going to die.

Hands seize Heechul’s face, forcing him to look into his mother’s eyes.

“I need you to take Jungsoo and run as fast and far away as you can,” she tells him, her trembling lips the only sign that she’s just as scared as he is.

“What, and leave you here!?”

“Your father and I will hold them off. Whatever you do, don’t look back.” Her eyes are watery as she pushes him in the right direction. “I love you. Now run!”

Heechul opens his mouth, but the lump in his throat makes it impossible to speak. Still, what would he say? What is there to say to someone who has already made up their mind to give their life for yours?

The ominous sound of footsteps brings the word into too-sharp focus. Heechul is so hyper-aware of every sensation, from the crackling static of the policemen’s radios to the sounds of his own breathing, that the world around him seems almost unreal.

Now run!

Before he can second-guess himself, Heechul grabs Jungsoo and sprints toward the back door. And while the older of the two isn’t crying, the look of shocked devastation of his face is nearly enough to make Heechul break down.

“Open fire!”

Don’t look back.

Heechul curses every god he doesn’t believe in that he’s a second too slow to miss his mother’s scream.

~*~

“The police killed all four of them in cold blood. We only found out later that it was through one of the Capital’s first underhanded plans: demand tribute from the Outsiders who didn’t want to move into their utopia, and kill those who resisted. Bastards.

“Jungsoo and I ran back to what was left of my house to hide, since we didn’t know where else to go. We probably looked pathetic ━  a pair of twenty-five-year-olds sitting in the middle of the ruins, just holding each other and crying our eyes out.”

Heechul’s sharp gaze focuses on the room’s occupants. “Just so we’re clear, none of this story leaves the room. Understood?”

“A hundred percent,” Hyukjae answers for the rest. “But Heechul...if you don’t want to tell this story, you don’t have to. We can just go get drinks or something instead.”

Kyuhyun looks the most apologetic of them all. “I second that. Don’t feel obligated to humour me.”

You get thrown in the hospital once, and people think you’re made of glass. Honestly…

“I’m fine. All of you deserve to know, and the story deserves to be told. Besides, we already started, didn’t we? Kim Heechul doesn’t do things half-assed.”

He feels Han Geng give his arm a comforting squeeze, and flashes him a brief smile before he continues.

“Back to the story. The police were still skulking around the Cluster, so we knew we had to leave. We stopped back by the bomb shelter, gathered as much food and water as we could carry, and high-tailed it east.”

“There wasn’t enough time to bury our parents,” Jungsoo says softly. “But we couldn’t just leave them like that. So right before we left, Heechul smashed one of the windows and tossed in the matches from the shelter. We were long gone by the time the place was on fire, but…”

“Maybe it made those damn policemen think twice about slaughtering another family.”

“Exactly.” Jungsoo gives Heechul a sheepish smile. “But I interrupted you again. We were just leaving the Cluster.”

“This is becoming a regular thing for you, old man.”

“Says the one who was born the same year I was.”

“You’re lucky I’m in a nostalgic mood right now, or I’d tell everyone about the whipped cream incident when we were fifteen.” Jungsoo’s wide eyes are an immediate indicator of the other’s victory. “That’s what I thought.”

“Back on track, Heechul,” Sungmin tells him with a wry smile. “The night isn’t getting any younger.”

“Our mindless wandering from the Cluster isn’t all that interesting of a story, to be honest. We walked for about a day and a half without finding anything, took turns keeping watch while we slept.

“There is one interesting tidbit, though. To distract ourselves from losing it entirely, we decided to get angry. Like, a stick-it-to-the-man, overthrow-the-government kind of angry. We had this idea in our heads of becoming some rebellious dynamic duo: Jungsoo would be our leader, the brains behind the operation, and I’d be our face  ━ intimidate the Capital and have the firepower to back it up.”

Heechul can’t help the grin that appears on his face. “And you know what we were going to call ourselves? The Resistance. That, kids, was the beginning of our island of misfit toys.”

“You’re not going to end here, are you?” Ryeowook hasn’t spoken up until now, but he looks thoroughly disappointed at the possibility.

“Of course not. I haven’t even gotten to the fun parts yet. Or to meeting any of you, which, you know, I’d assumed were the parts you’re all waiting for anyway. Speaking of which, it’s someone’s turn. Let’s go back to the end of that day and a half…”

A/N: And so the drama begins. This chapter seems...really short to me. (Also posted two days later than I intended, but I'm ignoring that.) Oh well - we're starting to get into it, and I'll definitely have the next one up on Friday, so there's not that long to wait. Thanks to all the subscribers and commenters (and a special shoutout to cc_kouga, loser220, and my lovely sister homeformyheart). All of you are super wonderful^^