The next morning when Taek woke me up something was different. It was the earliest I’d been up since I could remember. Everything was quiet. Too quiet. The others weren’t speaking. Breakfast was a silent affair. Even the noises of cutlery on on plates was hushed. It was as if there was a blanket over everything, smothering all noise. The expressions the others wore spoke volumes. They were tense and I could detect worry creases around their eyes. I had questions whizzing around in my head but I kept my mouth shut. Taek would tell me whatever it was in his own time.

Everyone retreated back their respective rooms. Taek shifted through a box of something that looked like clothes. He pulled out a few pieces and handed them to me before turning around to put his on. The clothes were made out of leather and had pieces of metal attached to them in various places. The outside of the upper arm was protected by a plate. A separate piece encased my forearm. There was also a plate on the outside of my elbow, presumably so that I could hit people with my elbows and not hurt myself. There were overlapping plates all the way down my back, like scales. They were arranged in such a way that I could move in my full range. There were similar plates across my chest. The pants were constructed similarly to the arms of the shirt; plates down the outside of my thighs and on the knees. My lower legs were completely encased.

I put the clothing on. It was a snug fit and was really comfortable. The leather was thinner and softer around my joints. It was thicker in the unprotected areas like my inner thighs and under my upper arms. There was a pair of boots with scale like plates around the ankles and feet. They had tough leather soles and were tight around my feet without being uncomfortable.

Taek handed me a belt with various attachments. There was a bag which I assumed was for ammo, a holster for a pistol, handcuffs, and a few other things which I couldn’t quite make sense of just yet. I put it on and tested out the equipment. It was good. I could still move in all of the ways I could without it on. It was a little heavy from all of the metal and leather but it wasn’t too bad.

Taek handed me a backpack and when I opened it it had all sorts of gear in it. I didn’t take any of it out because it was packed rather tightly but I got a good idea of what was in it. There was a smaller bag with survival gear in it; things like rations, water, a bottle and water purifying tablets. There was also a gas mask, flares, rope, a large-ish knife, a multi tool, wire and a small medkit. Overall, if used properly there were enough supplies to last at least a month, which was how long it would take the radiation to sufficiently decay the beyond repair.

I looked up at Taek and he was watching me.

“We’re going out aren’t we? On a mission.”

Taek didn’t say anything, just a slight dip of his head. I could tell he didn’t want to go. None of the others seemed overly keen either.

I hefted my large pack onto my back and left the room. Taek lifted his and followed me. The others were already waiting for us. The silence was heavy. Without saying anything the others picked up their packs and we all followed Taek outside. It was still relatively dark outside, the first bits of light just starting to peak up between the buildings. Even though the city itself was in ruins, it was still breathtaking to see the bright colours of the early morning light shining between the columns of darkness that the skyscrapers created.

We made our way out through the camp to the car. Everyone piled their stuff in the back and jumped in. I was sat in between Wonshi-Ravi and Ken. While we were on missions we had to use our code names. Since I didn’t have a real one, they just stuck to calling me N. It was easier I guess.

Hongbin was driving again. It suddenly hit me that Hongbin didn’t have a code name either and Hyuk’s was basically just a shortened version of his name. I was curious why but I filed the question away in my head for later. Now was not the time to ask. Instead I sat back in my seat and closed my eyes. I had been woken up far too early and though I felt like I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep, resting as much as possible would only help. No one said anything during the entire car ride. Even Ken was subdued.

Hongbin stopped the car. By now the city was only a shadow on the horizon. The sun was high in the sky and it was rather hot. The guys got out and set up a shade over the car. The shade consisted of 4 wooden poles and some camouflage netting strung up over them and the car. Two of the poles had been placed further out and the back of the car had been opened to allow for a workspace of sorts. We stopped for a few hours, until the sun had gone down some. During this time Tae-Leo briefed us on the mission. Recon. Nothing too complicated. There had been reports from recent teams of evidence of action in an area and we had to check it out properly to make sure it wasn’t anything dangerous. The area was a few hours from where we were and we had been given 9 days to do a full sweep which meant that we could take our time.

We packed everything up and this time Hyuk sat inside and Ken manned the gun. Hyuk fell asleep with his head against the door and Ravi did the same. I sat watching the scenery change, as it got later the sun got lower in the sky and soon it was almost dark. Hongbin spotted a clearing that was relatively secluded and parked the car. We got out and set up the netting. There was a cloth made of linen with a similar pattern on it for us, luckily for us it had a ground sheet as well. The camouflage cloth had bunches of bug netting hanging from the sides. Dinner was cold leftovers from breakfast.

The night sky was beautiful in the dark. There was no light out here and you could see all of the stars. There were thousands of them. I was laying down on the ground in the clearing. Leo came and lay next to me. I could tell he was worried about something. I wanted to tell him it would be okay but my brain wouldn’t co-operate. Instead I just reached out and grabbed his hand. I gave it a slight squeeze which I hoped was reassuring and then let go. As I was going to pull away he tightened his hold and I grabbed his hand again. We just lay like that for a while. Holding hands under the night sky. It felt like home. Ravi came over and told us he’d take first watch. Just like that the feeling was gone and Leo and I got up and trudged over to the shelter. I lay back on my bedroll and closed my eyes.