4.6 | Dark Ages ✓

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"WHERE ARE WE?"

Three days in, and he's become used to having a roommate. For all intents and purposes, Jungkook is decent company to have at a time like this. The man keeps to his corner of the house, speaks only when necessary, and sometimes gazes into the distance with the kind of emptiness that comes with having witnessed extreme trauma.

He'd feel a bit more sympathy for Jungkook, if only he knew what the hell was going on.

Jungkook now bites into a bit of stale bread—most of their rations are diminishing because of the ridiculous appetite on that man—and chews for a while before answering. "Africa, I think. I'm not even sure anymore. The tectonic plates keep moving and the continents keep drifting. All that's left is North and South, so we just point our compasses and move against the needle."

The revelation doesn't scare him as much as it should. He thinks he might be more frightened if he actually remembered where the continents were supposed to be, but that's the problem. He can't remember. Sometimes, he's glad he can't. It's made surviving that much easier.

"Why South?" he asks, at last.

"Because that's where Antarctica is. Granted, its shifted by miles to the right, but its still there. And it's safe. It's the only place where those creatures can't get to, so we've built a base there. Gotten as many civilians there as we could. The troops will hold the fort until the cure comes, if ever."

"And if it doesn't?"

Jungkook's lips twitch in a humorless smile, and he raises one shoulder in a shrug. "That's why they call it the Dark Ages."

He falls silent. For awhile, there's nothing but the sound of spoons scraping against metal trays as they eat quietly. His gaze drifts once again to the girl in the photograph. He's taken it off the mantlepiece and placed it next to his bed, but looking at her picture doesn't make him remember more. All it does is dig a deeper, wider hole in his chest. He thinks he may be missing her, but it doesn't make any sense.

How can you miss something you've never even had?

He shudders and pulls himself together. "How did it start?" he asks. "The Dark Ages. How did it start?"

Jungkook lets out an audible exhale through his teeth and sets his tray down. "Hardly anyone knows for sure. Rumor has it that, five years ago, a scientist developed a superior species of humans. He said it would be the new generation. Only it didn't turn out as he'd planned and he created a generation of Frankensteins instead."

He blinks. "Is he still alive? Can he reverse it?"

"No." Jungkook shakes his head and chuckles darkly. "'Mistah Kurtz—he dead'."

"His name is Kurtz?"

Jungkook chuckles again, this time with genuine amusement. "You really are just a big ball of ignorance, aren't you?"

He rolls his eyes and chucks a hardtack at Jungkook. "Piss off."