One day before D-Day...
In a small house in the ordinary residency within the city, a golden-haired old man woke up in the morning, his brows furrowed and his face the color of anxiousness.
He turned his gaze toward an old woman sleeping beside him, a serene look on her wrinkled face.
Seeing her, a smile appeared on his face, but it was soon replaced by anxiousness and fear.
After a while, he sighed. Then placing a kiss on her forehead, he left the bed, freshened up and made two cups of herbal tea before placing them in a tray and returning to the room.
"Honey, wake up. I brought your morning tea." The old man called out and putting the tray on the bedside table, he gently nudged her shoulder.
The old woman stirred awake and opened her eyes, revealing murky pupils—she was blind in both eyes.
A look of heartache flashed in the old man's eyes before he smiled and helped her sit up. "Good Morning, honey. How did you sleep today?"
The woman smiled, "I slept like usual, honey. I'm fine now, you don't need to worry about me too much."
"Yes, I understand." The old man nodded which made his wife smile wryly. She would tell him this every day, and he would respond the same. But the next day, he would ask her the same thing.
...
Two hours later, the old man walked out of his house and knocked on his neighbor's door.
Soon, a half-bald, middle-aged man opened the door. Seeing the old man, he smiled, "Morning, ol' Herman."
Herman returned a polite smile and said, "Morning, Hank. Today's Tom's college holiday, right?"
"Yeah, it is. What's up?" Hank asked.
"Nothing. I was just wondering if he could come with me to the supermarket. I needed to buy some groceries." Herman said.
Hank smiled, "Sure, why not." Hank nodded and called out in the house, "Hey, Tommy. Come here."
"Damn, old man. Can't you let me eat in peace?" Soon, along with the sound of footsteps, a grumbling voice sounded. Then, a lean young man dressed in loose clothing walked over, looking annoyed.
But then he saw Herman and a smile appeared on his face, "Yo, if it isn't my old pal."
Hank rapped his head and said, "Ol' Herman wants to buy some groceries. Go help him. Take my truck."
"Alright." Tom nodded and said to Herman, "Wait a sec. Let me get the keys."
Herman nodded and after Tom went in, he looked at Hank and suggested, "Since Tom is going with me, why don't you have him buy some groceries too?"
"Nah, it's alright. We are good for another week." Hank shook his head.
"Alright." Herman nodded, his eyes flickering.
Soon, Tom returned with the keys and they left the house.
...
Two hours later, Hank was glaring at Tom, who awkwardly laughed, "What are you staring at, old man? Herman insisted that I also buy and even paid for all this. I couldn't refuse."
After glaring at him for a few moments more, Hank sighed, "That old guy really... It's alright. We'll pay for his groceries next time."
Sitting beside him, a homely looking lady in her late thirties, looked at the packets on the table and said, "By the way, why did you only buy dry items? Moreover, why so much flour? Don't we use the bread from Lilia's bakery?"
"I told him that, but he insisted, so..." Tom shrugged.
...
In his house, Herman organised the groceries. Then he went to the basement, took out furniture wood and began fortifying the windows and doors.
When he finished, it was already midnight. After taking a bath and making sure he had filled several vats with drinking water, he went to bed.
'I hope I had more time and money to stock up on more food items.' He thought, clenching his fists tightly.
Last night, he had a dream that nukes would be launched throughout the world. And even though none would drop on the New Island, the communication, transportation and water supply would be cut and there would be chaos everywhere.
Normally, if anyone had this dream, they would think about it and then they would forget it. He, however, couldn't do the same for one reason... he knew what he saw was going to happen.
As for why he was so sure about it? Well, simply because ever since he could remember, there were only three instances when he had a dream including the last night.
The first one he had when he was a kid. He dreamt of his parents dying in an accident and that very evening, it happened—he lost his parents.
The second time he dreamt, he saw his wife, the love of his life, dying in a plane crash. Knowing his first dream had turned out to be true and his wife had booked a flight to go to a meeting, he stopped her.
While it saved her life because the plane really crashed, she slipped and fell in the bathroom the next day and her head split open. Fortunately, she didn't die, however, she lost her vision.
After two confirmed cases, he knew his dreams were always true. So, he stocked up the rations using every bit of liquid money he had.
Still, he knew the rations and water wouldn't last him and his wife more than a month. But what could he do without money?
When he moved to the New Island with his wife, he bought himself the house they were living in and the rest, he invested in a building project of his friend, who agreed to pay him his share of profit on a monthly basis.
While it wasn't a lot, it was enough for him and his wife to live comfortably. In fact, for the first few years, he could save up a little. But as the cost of living increased, he could no longer save up and for the last few years, he even had to empty his savings.
Thinking about what would happen the next day and how they would survive after a month, he couldn't sleep.
Then, in the early morning, it happened.
The earth quaked and the electricity and water supply were cut off. As the sun arose, people realized what had happened and everything became chaotic. People began robbing markets, malls and shops to hoard supplies.
In the next few days, many had tried to break into his house, but fortunately, his prior fortification made it difficult for them. Adding the fact that everyone in the neighborhood knew of his financial situation, they thought he might not have enough supplies, so they left his house alone.
Now, it's been two weeks since the nukes were launched. Today, after having breakfast, he was talking to his wife when he suddenly felt sleepy. It was very unnatural because he rarely slept during the day.
Even more strangely, before he knew it, he had already fallen asleep and was having a dream.
Because of what he saw in the dream—despite the fact he still had enough supplies for two more weeks at least and could continue to stay in the safety of his house for that long—he walked out and knocked on Hank's house. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
"Hank, it is me, Herman. Are you guys, alright?"
A short while later, the windows opened and Hank looked around. After seeing there was no one beside Herman there, he opened the door.
"What do you want, Herman?" He asked, not looking him in the eye, afraid that he would ask for food or water.
Herman didn't mind it and said, "I want to talk to Tom. It's important."
Hank raised his brows, but nodded. "Alright, come in."
Soon, Herman was sitting before Tom. Without beating around the bush, he directly asked, "Tom, you have a friend by the family name Williams, right?"
"Huh?" Tom looked at him in confusion, but seeing how serious the old man looked, he nodded, "Yeah. I do. He is Max. But why are you asking?"
Herman took a breath, his tone urgent, "Please don't ask me anything as I'll explain it later. Also, I know I'm asking for too much here because it's quite dangerous to be outside right now, but please take me to him. It's very important that I meet him before the sunset. Otherwise... it'll be too late."