A Race to New World // ATEEZ Dystopia AU

1 | Hongjoong

Gimpo International Airport, South Korea

At some point, it became difficult to keep track of the time. The thick smog in the air made it impossible to tell the difference between dawn and dusk, and there was always fire everywhere to create an illusion of light, even when it was raining.

But I was almost certain that it was just three months ago when all of this started.

Correction: I knew. The day I received a call to head to Gimpo Airport was also exactly three months ago when the GHSA - short for Global Home Seekers Alliance - with the help of their corrupt allies from governments around the world, released them.

The Invincs.

The robots weren't entirely invincible - in fact, I saw one of their corpses lying on the runway earlier while I was running for my life - but that was the name we ended up giving them. Why we shortened it to Invincs was a question I couldn't answer. Perhaps shortening it to two syllables made it easier for the dying people to say it with their last breath?

It didn't matter. The robots did their job. If a dying Earth wasn't convincing enough, these killer things were. They were shaped like dinosaur raptors, except with shining red eyes and an exposed skeleton. Also, they came in different sizes.

No one knew the exact number, but I suspected that millions of these were roaming the world. Once they were released, we basically had no choice but to board the spaceships - each big country had at least one of them - and head to the safe planet, ATZ-008. Or we stay on Earth, get chased down by the robots, starve, freeze, or die in any other way.

The result for most of us so far? Death.

When I received the call from my general to report at the hangar in Gimpo Airport, I expected that they wanted me to help evacuate the panicked people there, find them a safe place, just like I did at Incheon Airport in the morning.

Instead, the command I got from my general was: Run, Hongjoong. The only spaceship in South Korea is hidden in Gimpo's hangar. Get on while you can, and leave. This is an ord--

When I arrived, there was no sight of him, nor of any of my comrades.

Of course, I couldn't leave. My first thought was to wait for them - if they were still alive. But I realized there was no point.

A crowd of people was gathering outside the hangar, banging and screaming at the locked doors. I managed to find a sane man to talk to, but even he was crying and shouting when he told me that the spaceship was full and was getting ready to leave.

My heart sank, but not because I lost my chance of escaping. A hoard of Invincs were coming our way, and as much as my conscience wanted me to stay and help all these people, I knew that me and my sole rifle stood no chance against those robots.

So I ran. I ran behind the hangar, and relief flooded through me when I saw a private jet parked outside, with one of its doors open, revealing a short set of airstairs.

If I hid inside and closed the door, I might be safe, if not only for a while. The robots relied mainly on infrared cameras, so I would be out of sight.

On top of that, I had stayed outdoors for too long. The pollution and fires were making it hard to breathe. I needed rest, and this was a good chance for me to plan my next step.

Besides, a few days had gone by without any extreme weather events happening, so one was bound to happen soon. The scientists were right that the Earth is dying.

If only we listened to them and did something about it sooner...

I shook my head to rid my mind of these thoughts. The most important thing was that I had found shelter. I had to survive. If I did, then I could go ahead and worry about other things. Like saving others. Or finding a spot at a spaceship, going to planet ATZ-008, and contributing to the "New World Project".