Hiding a House in the Apocalypse

"I’ve said it before, but I’m not asking to live in your bunker. I’m just suggesting we be neighbors. We don’t even have to be right next door. Just close enough to stay in contact and help each other if things get rough."

I had already suspected that Cheon Young-jae had made up his mind about this.

Since the war began, he had always lived among others in similar circumstances. He was used to that kind of communal survival.

That meant a few words alone weren’t going to change his mind.

So, instead, I asked, "Why here?"

"Why not just keep living in the subway? Wouldn’t that be better than coming all the way out to the middle of nowhere? There are more people and plenty of resources there."

Cheon Young-jae grinned and shook his head.

"That place is going to turn into a warzone. The Incheon refugees? They’re just pretending to follow the Legion's orders for now, but they were already divided into factions long before they even got there. Right now, they're going along with it because the guys in uniform are feeding them and giving them supplies. But the second things go sideways? They'll show their true colors."

"Yeah?"

"And the Legion? They turned out to be worthless. Just a bunch of nobodies. They can barely feed their own people, and now they’ve taken in Incheon’s outcasts. How long do you think they'll last?"

Three months.

That was Cheon Young-jae’s estimate for when the Legion’s supply chain would collapse.

"They’re all going to fend for themselves. That’s just how this country works. The ones who wait for orders are always the first to die. The ones who ignore orders and carve out their own path? They’re the ones who survive."

Cheon Young-jae sprawled across the hood of his LPG car, lazily blowing his bangs out of his face.

With half-lidded eyes, he glanced at me and spoke.

"And when those survival gangs push all the way out here? You really think you’ll be safe?"

"...I was just planning to lay low for a while."

"Then why not lend me your bunker for a bit?"

"That’s never happening. Not even if you put a knife to my throat."

"Running away isn’t always the answer."

Cheon Young-jae sat up from the hood and stuck something in his mouth.

It looked like a cigarette.

When he lit it, it confirmed my guess.

"You know, the capital isn’t the only place that’s a disaster. The countryside was wiped out long ago. The Erosion Zones and refugees are all mixed together now. And on top of that, the fanatics keep multiplying."

"..."

"If you ask me, Kim Byung-cheol is gonna **give up on Seoul soon, too."

"Probably."

"My point is, you can’t keep running forever."

He held out a hand-rolled cigarette to me.

I declined without hesitation.

Cheon Young-jae tucked the cigarette back into his pocket and muttered.

"By next year, most people will be dead."

That was the truth of it.

Time solves most problems.

The chaos we’re in now, the gangs forming for survival, and the desperate people clinging to life—

Given enough time, they’ll fade away.

Whether they roam the wasteland hunting their own kind or cling to survival in the ruins, none of them can escape their fate.

• Air conditioning.
• A hot shower.
• A fridge filled with cold drinks.
• A steady supply of clean water.

• A place to lie down.
• A roof that kept out the rain.
• Just enough warmth to not freeze to death.