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When Ha-Yoon awoke, she found herself lying in a sea of dust and debris. The air was thick with the scent of crushed concrete and the metallic tang of blood. The cries had grown faint, the symphony of terror replaced by a mournful silence. She blinked, trying to clear the dust from her eyes, and took stock of her surroundings. The bathroom was gone, replaced by a gaping hole that led to the outside world.
With trembling hands, she reached for the shards of the shattered mirror in her hair. Each piece of glass she removed from her hair felt like a layer of terror being peeled away. The world outside the stall was unrecognizable, a twisted jungle of rubble that had once been her school. She took a deep breath, tasting the grit in the air, and pushed herself to her feet.
Her legs wobbled, unsteady after the ordeal. She stumbled through the debris, the weight of her teacher's sacrifice pressing down on her like an invisible hand. Each step was a battle against the dust and the fear that clung to her like a second skin. Ha-Yoon coughed, the dust filling her lungs with a choking embrace, but she pushed on, driven by an instinctual need to escape.
As she made her way through the destroyed hallways, the air grew thicker, a noxious cocktail of dust and something else she couldn't quite place. It was then she realized she had to cover her mouth with her shirt to breathe. The fabric clung to her face, stifling and warm, but it was better than inhaling the toxic air. Her eyes watered, and she squinted against the grime, trying to make out a path through the destruction.
The school's once proud facade was now a gaping maw, a silent scream of twisted metal and crumbling bricks. She stepped over the remnants of lockers and desks, her heart heavy with the unspoken goodbye to her teachers and classmates. The bell tower, which had once chimed so cheerfully, now listed to one side, a crooked finger pointing to the doomed sky. Ha-Yoon felt the weight of the world on her small shoulders as she emerged into the desolate playground, the swings hanging motionless, a chilling metaphor for the lives that had been ripped away.
The journey home was a surreal nightmare. The streets she had once skipped down were now a labyrinth of destruction. Cars lay on their sides, their wheels still spinning in a macabre dance of futility. Trees were uprooted, their branches reaching out like the arms of the lost souls trapped beneath them. The once bustling town had been reduced to a ghostly silence, a testament to the unbridled fury of nature. Each step took her closer to the one place she had always felt safe, yet dread gnawed at her stomach like a starving beast.
The closer she got to her house, the more the destruction grew personal. The convenience store she had frequented after school was now a pile of rubble. The playground where she had played with her mother, was now a sea of broken swings and shattered dreams. The sight of her once beautiful home brought tears to her eyes. The walls were cracked, the roof caved in, and the door hung precariously on one hinge. The house looked like a discarded dollhouse, a symbol of the shattered lives within.
"Mom! Dad!" she screamed, her voice raw and desperate. The dust clogged her throat, each word a battle cry against the silence. She knew it was futile; the cacophony of the earthquake had swallowed their voices, leaving her alone in this desolate world. Each yell grew weaker, her hope dwindling with the setting sun. The dust clouded her vision, blurring the world around her, but she couldn't let it cloud her mind. She had to find them, had to know if they were okay.
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Her feet carried her through the maze of ruins that had been her neighborhood. The houses she knew so well were now unrecognizable. The walls had crumbled, the roofs collapsed, and the lives within were buried under the weight of the earth's wrath. Ha-Yoon's eyes searched for any sign of her family, any thread of hope to cling to.
And then she saw it. Her house, or what was left of it. The walls had caved in, the roof a pile of shattered tiles and splintered wood. The door was blocked by a mountain of debris, leaving no way in or out. Her heart felt like it had been ripped from her chest, and she doubled over, her knees buckling under the weight of reality. Her voice cracked as she called out for her family, "NOOOOO. Mom. Dad." the sobs echoing through the desolate streets.
The air grew colder as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the town in a mournful twilight. The shadows grew long and eerie, playing tricks on her eyes. But amidst the chaos, she saw a flicker of movement, Ha-Yoon quickly turned to see a figure trudging through the debris with a sense of purpose in the distance. Ha-Yoon squinted through the dust, her heart skipping a beat as she recognized the familiar pink hair of an older girl who looked a few years older. She had a mask on with bruised skin she assumed was caused by the wreckage. The older girl was walking down the path that led to the old convenience store. For a moment, she felt a spark of hope and began to follow her.
The store's sign was half-collapsed, the once-bright lights now flickering in a ghostly dance. The mystery girl went inside, and Ha-Yoon waited with bated breath. The creaks and groans of the shifting rubble seemed to crescendo as the girl emerged with a shovel in hand. But what truly caught Ha-Yoon's eye was the crimson stain on her mask, a blunt contrast to the dust that caked the rest of her clothes. Concern etched her face as she saw the blood seeping through, trailing down to stain the fabric of her shirt.
Her curiosity piqued, Ha-Yoon waited until the girl was out of sight before venturing into the wreckage. The air was thick with the scent of disaster, the shelves had tumbled like dominoes, and the floor was a minefield of shattered glass and scattered goods. She navigated the mess with the grace of a cat, her eyes searching for any sign of a first aid kit. Finally, she spotted a familiar red cross peeking out from under a pile of rubble. She tugged it free, the plastic case cracked but the contents were intact. "This will do," she says.
With the kit in hand, she took off after the pink-haired girl, her steps echoing through the empty streets. The girl was surprisingly nimble, moving with a purpose that belied the chaos around them. Ha-Yoon's heart raced, the adrenaline coursing through her veins with each step she took.
The girl entered a house, one that still had some of its doors and windows intact, a rare sight in the wreckage. Ha-Yoon lingered outside, her breaths shallow, her heart pounding against her ribcage like a caged bird. She wasn't sure if she should follow her, but something told her that she might need help. After what felt like an eternity, she saw the girl re-emerge, dragging something heavy behind her. The light was slowly fading, but she could make out the unmistakable shape of a human body.
Her stomach lurched, and she had to bite back a scream. She dove behind the nearest tree stump, her eyes glued to the scene unfolding before her. The pink-haired girl dropped the body into a shallow depression in the ground with a thud that seemed to echo through the desolate town. Ha-Yoon's thoughts raced as she watched the girl begin to dig with the shovel, her movements frantic and fueled by grief. The girl's cries were muffled by her mask, but the raw pain was evident in the way her body convulsed with each shovelful of dirt thrown over the lifeless form.