The Earth is dying.
Humankind had always ignored the scientists' words, reassuring themselves, 'It must be a story of the distant future, it won't happen in our time.' I was also one of those people, tired of city life, I returned to the countryside where my parents lived. With the money I had earned, I bought paddy fields and land near my parents' house, and with their connections and help, I grew rice, fruits, and vegetables without any hassle. On my days off, I lived optimistically, watching movies, anime, comics, and novels without a care.
Five years passed, and summers grew longer, temperatures began to rise tremendously. On TV, emergency news reported daily, 'The one-degree warning from scientists has been exceeded,' or 'What is the future of Earth?' Our home was also hit. Due to abnormal temperatures, water for farming became scarce, and the young rice plants began to burn under the hot sunlight.
"Oh dear, the Earth is really going to ruin. It's incredibly hot..."
"That's right. At this rate, we might have to give up farming and move back to the city."
My parents said with a sigh. That year, the rice harvest visibly decreased, but fortunately, the crops grown in greenhouses were less damaged.
Ten years after moving to the countryside, the days grew even hotter, and the world began to suffer from food shortages. Countries near the equator and populous, poor countries started to suffer from food shortages, but the international community ignored this. The government also designated food as a strategically important resource and began to freely support farmers with water, farming machinery, and greenhouses that could somewhat block ultraviolet rays. The price of rice was rising insanely.
"This is really going to blow up, isn't it?"
With government support and the significant rise in agricultural prices, we earned a lot of money, but the international situation was uneasy.
The situation in this country was relatively better, but in many regions, more people were starving to death. The eastern superpower, due to severe desertification, couldn't feed its massive population, so it started receiving support from the northern ally. But when that wasn't enough, it began threatening neighboring countries to sell agricultural products cheaply, and the western alliance strongly condemned such actions.
From then on, I felt a great sense of crisis and frantically purchased survival supplies. Using the mini excavator provided by the government for farming, I started building a bunker in the house yard.
"You crazy bastard, stop it!"
"Yes, stop it. Nothing will happen."
As the front of the house became a mess, my parents started to stop me, but I ignored them and began digging the ground. After a month passed, my parents gave up and didn't say anything.
Without any knowledge, only relying on books and the internet, it took a lot of time, money, and hardship, but after three years, I somehow managed to build a sturdy bunker with double doors, about 70 square meters in size, under the house. Of course, I carefully installed a generator, air purification, water purification facilities, waste disposal systems, etc.
"YouTube, he is a god."
I preserved vegetables and fruits in glass jar cans and stored them in the bunker warehouse. I dried rice well, put it in plastic containers, and stacked them. Protein was a problem. Here, canned goods were mostly fish, so I couldn't get long-lasting smoked or dried meat. Due to the food shortage, I had to buy expensive imported beef jerky cans, holding back tears. And thinking that weapons were absolutely necessary, I bought a compound bow and arrows, the only weapons available here. Looking at apocalypse creations, it's not zombies or monsters that are scary, but people.
Four more years passed, and it was now the 17th year since coming to the countryside. During that time, my father overworked himself in farming, suddenly his health deteriorated, and he passed away.
Without time to grieve, because the northern regime collapsed, refugees flooded in by 10 million, and the food situation rapidly worsened. The government declared a state of national emergency and said that food production would be entirely managed by the state, prohibiting food sales and switching to rationing. Soldiers constantly patrolled our farm, and the produced crops were taken away by the state, giving a small amount of money as compensation. There was nothing our family could do. The only consolation was that the bunker wasn't discovered, so with rations and reserves, we could eat somewhat plentifully.
About half a year later, the Eastern Power and the Northern Alliance started a war against the Western Bloc. The government tried to avoid the war under the pretext of stabilizing the northern region, but due to continued pressure from the island nation and the Western Bloc, it reluctantly began to participate. Feeling threatened, the Eastern Power started launching nuclear weapons recklessly, leading to the outbreak of World War III.
I urgently went to the farm to find my mother.
"Mother, mother~! The easterners have launched nuclear weapons. We need to go home quickly!"
"What? What do you mean?"
I grabbed my mother's hand tightly and tried to move to where the bunker was. But suddenly, the sky turned red, and with a 'boom' sound, the ground shook severely.
"Oh, crazy!"
Looking in the direction of the sound, a mushroom cloud was rising in the distance. It seemed to be the capital city.
"What is this..."
My mother sank to the ground.
"Mother, there's no time for this! We need to go home quickly!"
I was also in a daze, but I hurriedly carried my mother on my back and ran home.
As soon as we arrived, I opened the bunker's thick iron door, escorted my mother into the bunker room, then firmly closed and locked the double iron doors.
"Phew~ The bunker walls and supplies are intact."
The bunker supplies were calculated to last three people for ten years. I expected that even if war broke out, it would end in about 5 to 7 years.
Due to my father's passing, there should have been about one-third more reserve, but because food purchases were blocked by the government's rationing, I had to take out and eat some, so about 10% of the total food was empty. Still, it was enough for two people to last over ten years.
"With this, we can last 12 to 14 years."
My mother was still in shock, sitting blankly on the bed.
"Mother, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Ah... no, I'm not hurt."
After checking my mother's body and confirming there was no issue, I turned on the TV to watch the news. There was no news; only a warning and instructions to move to evacuation shelters were written in white text on a red background with a beeping sound. Even when I switched channels, the same thing appeared. Having no choice, I turned off the TV and turned on the radio and laptop. I desperately needed outside information. The laptop was useless as the internet wasn't connected, and on the radio, soldiers reported that hydrogen nuclear bombs had fallen on the capital city and the nuclear power plant.
"Shouldn't we also go somewhere for refuge?"
"Don't worry. This place is safer than anywhere else now. And we have no worries about water or food."
My mother seemed anxious because it was her first time seeing the inside of the bunker. So, I showed her the warehouse filled with survival supplies, and she was convinced.
The next day, on the radio, they announced that a provisional government was established in a central city and that the emergency food stored by the government would be distributed, so those without shelter or in need of food should gather there. Of course, I had no intention of going.
After about three days, weak vibrations were felt several times in the bunker.
'What happened?'
I urgently turned on the radio, but it was completely dead. Even when I switched channels, only 'static' noise was heard, and there were no broadcasts.
A month passed after entering the bunker. From the radio that only produced noise, a faint male voice was suddenly heard. I was both welcome and hopeful that I might learn about the outside situation, so I turned up the radio volume.
[(Static~) Ah~ ah~ I don't know if anyone is listening now, but the provisional government in the central city and all major cities have been hit by nuclear weapons. The Eastern Power and the Northern Alliance, as the front lines were greatly pushed back, launched all their nuclear missiles at the Western Bloc and its allies. Please do not go towards major cities. Radiation contamination is severe. The southern regions are especially serious, so be careful when moving. Good luck. (Click...)]
'Wow~ this damn... This means even if we hold out for 10 years, it'll be hard to live. I'm going crazy.'