Chapter One

Kim Heechul slowly but steadily made his way towards the infirmary, which was in the center of their settlement. It wasn't a very large building, having only 4 beds and just one Healer to take care of the ill, but in the past few years it had never been too small for them - Maybe living in a settlement with just around 200 people was the reason for that.

It's not like they had always been just 200 people, because Heechul remembered times from his youth where there were at least five times more people than there were now, and also a lot more neighboring settlements, but it was something they had all long accepted. Their living environment had started to falter and give up on them since a long time ago, increasingly more so as time passed, and there wasn't much more they could do aside from trying to survive.

'The fewer people, the fewer mouths to feed,' Han Geng had mournfully said to Heechul one day, when Heechul had asked him to be honest and upfront about how things were going in their increasingly shrinking settlement - a settlement named Urish, one of the last known remaining settlements on Earth.

As the infirmary came into view, the first thing he noticed was how his friend, Kim Jongwoon, was standing outside of the building - seemingly having problems to remain to stand, but strangely enough also seeming a little happier than he usually did.

Jongwoon had been ill for as long as Heechul could remember. They grew up together, their families living next to one another, but Jongwoon was never allowed to play outside or leave his home. He was 'sensitive',  his parents had given as reason when Heechul had innocently asked why one day.

Heechul, being the young child that he was, hadn't taken the explanation or Jongwoon's sensitive state very seriously and he had soon convinced Jongwoon, who by then had become his best friend, to go play outside for a change. Jongwoon had full-heartedly agreed, because he hated being inside all the time and seeing other children play outside out of his window, being extremely cheerful and happy. The two of them had escaped through the bedroom window mere seconds after coming up with their silly escape plan.

They'd never forgotten that day. For Jongwoon it had been traumatizing, as he had seen and felt things Heechul would never understand. Jongwoon had seen and felt it before, but never as much and direct as it had been that day. Heechul, who had been pretty sure his friend was dead when he'd suddenly collapsed on the floor after screaming and covering his ears, started screaming and crying the second Jongwoon went silent. Jongwoon's parents had rushed outside less than a minute after their escape, as they hadn't made it very far from Jongwoon's home, and taken him back inside instantly. Heechul wasn't allowed to come over for many months. At least, that was until Jongwoon had bugged his parents enough and they allowed him to come over and play again - but with parental supervision this time.

"Does Ryeowook know you are out here?" Heechul asked, as soon as he caught up with his best friend. Jongwoon just grimaced as his reply, as he was too weak to laugh as loudly and genuinely as he wanted to, before leaning against the wall of the infirmary in hopes that that would help him to stand up straight for just a little bit longer. "Dude," Heechul sighed, as he could tell the struggle Jongwoon was having with his own, "sit down already."

"I can't see the valley over the buildings if I sit down," Jongwoon complained somewhat breathlessly, but he slid down the wall onto the floor anyway, his legs no longer being able to support himself. 

"It's pretty much dead anyway," Heechul mumbled silently while moving to sit down next to Jongwoon. He wasn't sure if Jongwoon realized how bad things outside were, considering that Jongwoon had been locked up inside a building for most of his life - Sometimes Heechul wished he wasn't aware of the depressing environment either. The valley Jongwoon so desperately wanted to see merely consisted of brown and grey barren landscape - it was nowhere as vibrant, green and inhabited as it had been many many years ago.

"What?" Jongwoon asked, not having heard what Heechul said, but Heechul smiled pitifully and quickly changed the subject.

"How are you feeling?"

Jongwoon shrugged, "Same as usual, I guess," he answered simply. "I just needed to get out of there. Ryeowook has been bugging me all morning. 'Take your medicine,' 'you need to sleep,' 'stop daydreaming,' 'stop trying to be happy.' Jongwoon imitated Ryeowook's higher pitched nagging voice, and sighed annoyed after finishing. 

"Did you try too hard to be happy again?" Heechul joked, knowing perfectly well Jongwoon made up the last example just to get his point across. He earned a glare from his best friend, but the glare quickly made way for a more pained and exhausted look. Heechul stood up hurriedly, before offering his hand to Jongwoon. "Time to go inside," he said, fatherly. 

Jongwoon looked disappointed but nevertheless accepted Heechul's hand to be pulled up. They walked back inside, Jongwoon stumbled more than he walked while being supported by Heechul, and Ryeowook dashed forward to come and help support Jongwoon back to his bed as soon as he noticed the two of them coming in. He instantly started to lecture Jongwoon about how Jongwoon wasn't taking good care of himself and how he shouldn't go outside in his state, and Jongwoon instantly started bickering back at Ryeowook that he wasn't his mother and he should stop being so overly worried.

Despite the situation not being a very nice one, it still made Heechul feel warm inside. He might never have said it out loud, but he loved Jongwoon and Ryeowook more than anything in the world.

Lee Hyukjae looked at a small patch of dirt suspiciously; he was pretty sure he planted a couple of tomato plants there a while ago, and they should have sprouted by now. So where were they?

He looked up at the sky, where the sun was shining brightly, and sighed before turning his gaze back to the patch of dirt. "Just because most of the land is barren, doesn't mean you can just die on me," he mumbled annoyed.

He placed both his hands on top of the dirt, closed his eyes and channeled some of his energy towards it. When he opened his eyes, 2 small and freshly sprouted tomato plants stood in front of him and he smiled. It took some of his energy to get plants to grow by using his power, but he knew his mom loved tomatoes more than anything, so he couldn't come home without any tomatoes on harvest day. Besides, the ground he had channeled to become fertile seemed to hold on a lot better lately, so he didn't need to use all of his energy just to keep the land in an acceptable state.

"Hyukjae!" a familiar and cheerful voice suddenly echoed across the fields, and he turned around to see no other than his mom coming his way.

"Oh, Mom," he sighed slightly annoyed, but he stood up quickly and waved happily at her, as she closed in on him. They hugged briefly and he kissed her lovingly on her cheek as his greeting. "Happy birthday," he then said, pointing at the 2 new tomato plants cheerfully, and she smiled in return. Tomatoes weren't on his harvest list, written personally by Han Geng, but he always sneaked 1 or 2 plants in just for her.

"You know you can't do that," she scolded, but she was unable to hide her grateful smile from her son. "But, thank you," she added in a whisper.

"You shouldn't come out here," Hyukjae said, after a brief silence. He loved his mom, he really did - but she had just turned 43 years old, a remarkably old age for their time, and he just worried too much. The fields weren't a gentle environment to be around either, and he just wanted his mom to be sav