A Race to New World // ATEEZ Dystopia AU

9 | Jongho

Vancouver International Airport, Canada

"Hey, kid, what time is it?"

I rolled my eyes and pulled up the sleeve of my hoodie. Ironically, among the three of us - one who won the lottery, one who owned multiple private jets, and me, who was a beggar - I was the only one with a wristwatch. It was one of the few things my mother had left behind. All of our phones were dead, so in terms of telling the time, I was superior. Hurray.

"Two-forty a.m.," I looked over my shoulder at Wooyoung. "And I'm pretty sure I'm just one year younger than you - not a kid. Can't you just call me Jongho?"

Wooyoung just shrugged. "Fine. You're the youngest one here, that's all."

San picked up his pace and appeared next to me, leaving Wooyoung to walk behind us. "It takes at least twenty minutes to walk back to the plane, maybe even longer in the dark. So I'd say we spend... one and a half hour max here, then start to head back?"

I nodded, even though I was slow at math and I had no idea if he did the calculations right. The soldier gave us all three hours to get the things we were assigned to - if we failed, then we failed, but we had to get back before the three hours were up. 

Earlier, San and Wooyoung led the way. Instead of going in the terminals from the front entrance, we went in from the International Terminal, gate D71. Apparently there was a group of people guarding the terminal lobby like it was their territory.

The chargers were easy to find. There was a convenience store right next to the gate we emerged from, and although it was empty of food and water, there were some chargers and charging wires left, which could last us a while.

Whatever, it wasn't like I had a phone anyway.

The Departures were mostly empty, which was good. The few people that we saw were either uninterested or too weak to care about us.

Wooyoung, San, and I had been walking for ten minutes or so, but all we saw were raided food courts and cafés. Apparently, we were looking for a supermarket, because that was where we could find stun guns and two-way radios. Of course, I had no idea until San told me.

"San, this is helpless. We have to go down there. To the Arrivals. I saw Best Buy when we first got here," Wooyoung said, after we went a full circle around the Departures.

I sat down heavily onto one of the benches and took out my bottle. It was almost empty. "Why do we need walkie-talkie's and tasers anyways? Let's just go back and pretend we can't find any."

I wasn't one to surrender, but I knew when to avoid trouble when I needed to. We couldn't risk letting others find out we had a plane.

"Hongjoong-ssi said that sooner or later, telecommunication networks might fail, or power in the city will run out. If that happens, we can't use our phones. It's a safety measure to have FRS radios," San explained, eyeing me and Wooyoung. "Also, we found out electricity can stun the robots for a bit. Hence the tasers. I'm not sure how common they are, so let's not waste anymore time."

I didn't know why he sounded so enthusiastic. I also didn't know what was telecommunication or FRS radios. San and Wooyoung may be university students, but my free education stopped after middle school.

I drained the rest of my water and stood up, trying to pretend that I understood what San said, because I didn't want their pity. "Fine. If they're that important, then let's go."

I didn't wait for them and headed towards the escalators that brought us down to Arrivals. The other two were just a few steps behind me, and Wooyoung started talking in a low voice. He probably thought I couldn't hear him. My ears perk up.