A Race to New World // ATEEZ Dystopia AU

6 | San

Vancouver International Airport, Canada

With the world ending and all, the number of flights decreased, and the taxiways were crowded with idling airplanes when Wooyoung and I returned from the spaceship. Other than that, though, the open land outside the terminals was devoid of any other human. Even the soldiers who were deployed to watch the premises were now packing their things and retreating indoors.

All for one reason: the sun was setting.

The Invincs were the most hostile and dangerous at night - that they could sense us in the dark while we had limited visibility was a disadvantage for us.

The wisest choice was to find shelter with four walls and a roof thick enough to block the robots' infrared cameras, and that was what Wooyoung first suggested the moment we arrived at the terminals.

"I think we should stay in for the night, then look for your dad's private jet when day breaks," he said, always looking at me to ask for my approval, to make sure I was comfortable.

I nodded and followed him inside, but a memory surfaced in my mind, like a red light flashing to alert me.

For a full week before getting on Vancouver's spaceship, my parents and I were already waiting out at the airport's hotel. My dad had used his wealth and connections to secure a spot for almost each of my family members, no matter where they were around the globe. Unlike the public, he was privy to the spaceship's location months prior to the announcements.

Me, my parents, as well as their parents, and my cousins, were supposed to board the same spaceship today. All of us. But now, here I was, outside of the spaceship.

During our stay, my mom and I - with nothing better to do - often went to the terminals. As time passed, though, I began to notice the changes. They were subtle at first - a pickpocket here, a sneaky thief there - but then they soon grew into desperate stealing or even organized raids. Everyone wanted to stock up with supplies, and they all targeted the shops at the airport.

Mom and I stopped going there, knowing it was dangerous, but I knew from the pictures and videos people uploaded online that the terminals were now a mess.

My memory stopped there. Or rather, I stopped myself from going there. It was too painful to remember, and was partly the reason why I left the spaceship earlier.

I tugged at Wooyoung's backpack, not letting him go any further.

"Wooyoung, maybe we shouldn't," I whispered. Through my peripheral vision, I could see that people were already beginning to stare at us.

Those eyes were shining with hunger, aggression, and malice.

Wooyoung turned around, his face a mask of worry and confusion. "But you said..."

I gave a subtle shake of my head, then jerked it to the direction of the shops in the terminal lobby.

Wooyoung stopped talking and followed my gaze. The candy shop, the bookstore, the gifts shop, all the restaurants, everything was damaged. The glass from the windows covered the floor like snow on a Christmas day, and even from a distance both he and I knew that the shelves in all those units would be empty.

"I think we'd have a better chance looking for my dad's jet. There will be food and water, and it will be locked, so we'll be the only ones who can get in," I continued to whisper. "There's not a lot of resources left here, and even if there are, I doubt the people here will let us..."

I trailed off, knowing Wooyoung would get my idea.

We left the terminal and enter the cold once again. Although I was only wearing a simple t-shirt underneath my puffer jacket, I felt reassured that Wooyoung was warm inside all the layers of his clothes.