Sain bain uu. My name is Muunokhoi. Borgijin Hunnigiin Muunokhoi, to be more specific.

And if I spend one more damned minute in this desert, I'm going to explode. Or at least scream. Most likely scream. Then maybe I'll explode. If the gases in my stomach heat up enough, it might just happen. Heh. But what chance is that. I'm not going to get out of here either way. I doubt it, at the very least. Nobody's going to come looking for me.

They're all dead anyway.

But how, you might ask? How can the world be dead? Simple. They're dead. There's no other way to put it. Those who aren't won't be willing to help me anyway. I'm the most hated country on the continent, the Republic of Mongolia. Or at least I was. I don't know if I am now. My government is likely gone, and I don't know if my citizens are still here. I'm in the dark. Or the light, as it seems. The sun is shining bright upon the steppes today. Perhaps I can find a nomad. Or a North Korean tank, in which case my story will take an abrupt and disturbing end. Hopefully not. My luck hasn't been well of late, however.

You all must be very confused as to what I'm blabbering on about. Let me take a minute to clear it up for you.

The world set up their own Armageddon half a week ago.

It started with the transfer of nuclear weapons from America to the South Koreans. So Yun threw a gasket at this and threatened to fire her nuclear weapons at Yong Soo. A heated debate occurred, ending when South Korea lost it and divulged the information he's been holding for years. That he'd been smuggling North Korean refugees over to an undisclosed location in my home for a few years now. So Yun snapped and sent a nuke towards the camp, obliterating it and reaching the outskirts of my capital. I passed out and woke up here. A newspaper sat next to me, with the headline of "Asia in Ruins!" I read on, learning that after the bombing of the camp, So Yun nuked most of Asia and the NATO countries in a fit of rage. I began to walk eastward, a feeling of guilt in my gut, hoping to find someone I know. Perhaps I'll find the two Koreans and strangle them. That would feel so nice, you don't even know. But that's how I got here.

And now I'm stuck between nothing and even more nothing. Not even so much as a rock and a hard place. There's nothing but nothing in the Gobi.

The sun rises over the dunes behind me, and as I feel it on my back, I slowly stand back up. If I don't get moving, it'll be another day wasted. If I do, I'll be in for an hour of pain before I collapse again. I tell myself to suck it up and get moving and start climbing up the sand dune in front of me. Sand falls away as I grasp at it, and I struggle to get a footing as I fall back down. I shake it off and charge up wildly. Barely making it up, I hoist myself over the top of the dune… only to fall back down the other side face-first.

"Argh… baas." I mutter, slowly gathering myself up. Then I noticed the ger in the distance. People! With horses, even!
Perhaps my luck today is better than I thought.

Or perhaps not.

Heh.

I slowly stumble over to the tent, and finger my bow. I pull it slowly, and reach for an arrow from my quiver quietly—

Oh wait. No quiver.

Dammit. I swear under my breath and slowly come up to the tent and knock on the door.

"Sain bain uu? Anybody in there?" I call in, to which I hear a scramble inside. I wait a minute, hear whispering, and furrow my eyebrows. Then I suddenly hear the cock of a hammer and hit the ground like a rock as the bullet soars over my head.

"Üünd gölög! Üünd gölög!" I cry, covering my head. I can't believe this. Shot at by my own people! What has this world come to? Cold metal presses against the back of my head, and a semi-familiar voice speaks.

"You have no idea how much trouble you are in right now, you bastard."

I gulp. The voice sounds familiar. It's definitively female. But who?

"Who… who are you?" I mutter, and she grabs me by the back and flips me over. The sun blinds me, and I see a silhouette of the woman. She's dressed in rags, her hair looking ratty yet sleek.

"Oh? You don't remember me?" She grabs my arm and twists it around my back, causing me to cry out in pain until I hear a crack. "Oh shit. That wasn't supposed to happen." I chuckle, gritting my teeth.

"I'd recognize that strong grip anywhere, Natalia. Heh."

"Shut up. I should kill you where you lay."

"Oh really? But you won't, now will you. Your brother wouldn't approve of that, heh."

She turns her head, blushing, looking slightly surprised. "You wouldn't know what brother would approve of..." The Belarusian suddenly stands, dropping me like a box of rocks. "Get inside before I leave you out here to freeze to death."

"Yeah yeah, sure, whatever," I grumble, and sit up. This isn't going to end well, I thought, and lazily marched into the tent. She stood before me, looking me up and down.

"You... lost weight." she muttered, her hands on her hips.

"Gee, I never would've guessed." I remark, rolling my eyes.

A voice sounds to the left. "Sister, do you have the man at the door?"

"Da, I do. Just try not to act surprised." she mutters, as I smirk slightly.

"Who was it though-" the woman says as she turns around, and blinks as she sees me.

"Heheh... sain... bain uu... Yekaterina." I mutter awkwardly, and stand there for a minute, silence running circles around us. Then she gets over her shock, her eyes water, and as she marches up to me, I recognize not fear, but anger. Fury, even. I feel it too, as she slaps me.

"You b-bastard, how dare you come to us h-here!" she cries, smacking me across the face. Her large breasts smack my chest for good measure, making me feel even more ashamed, yet I instinctively get on the defensive.

"Me? Come here? This is in Mongolia! How are you two here, tell me that!" I yelled, getting in Ukraine's face. She grew silent, still crying with rage, glaring at me intensely, Natalia looking absolutely cowed behind her. "How the hell did you get into my house, buy horses, get yourself a ger, and make your way all the way out here? And where the hell is Russia?" The air around me grew to a deadly silence with those last words. Yekaterina backed up while Natalia looked away nervously.

"He's..." the Ukrainian muttered as she looked down, and a burst of realization snapped through my head, and I took a step back.

"No... not little... not little Vanya, he can't be..." I began to shake my head, and the Belarusian cleared her throat.

"Wh-when the North Koreans sent their nukes to Russia..." she said, her voice hoarse from sadness "he met them straight on. He thought he could stop them, but someone blocked his way. H-he... was at the center of the explosion when it happened." She gulped, and I stared at her. Could this mean what I thought it meant? What it could possibly mean?

"I-Ivan is dead."


WHEW! That took longer than expected. I'll try to bring in a new chapter as soon as my schoolwork allows. In the meantime, some quick translations:

Baas - The Mongolian word for "sh!t."
Sain bain uu - Mongolian for "hello."
Üünd gölög - Mongolian for "Don't shoot."
So Yun / Im So Yun - Human name for North Korean OC.

Review! 8D