Adam followed Yoku—and what seemed to be a truck.
Then, a series of memories flooded his mind, flashes of his past life.
"Hehh." He let out a small chuckle. He had always loved anime. One of his favorites was about two main characters riding a Kettenkrad through a desolate world. He had been obsessed with different types of tanks and immediately recognized what he was looking at—a Volkswagen Kübelwagen from World War II, well it was covered by a blanket making it look like a truck.
"Haha, I can't believe it... this place really does feel familiar," he thought, now experiencing firsthand the struggles he had only seen characters go through in shows. And with that realization, he mentally screamed. Never again will I mock them for wanting to be in another world.
Still, deep down, Adam couldn't deny the thrill of it all. Even if he had died, the journey had been fun—well, except for the part where he was actually dying. But the freedom, the adventure... He hadn't even realized how addicted he was to it.
Yoku stood there, watching him. "Hey, you okay? What, is my truck really that bad, or…" He flashed a cheeky grin. "Did you forget your stuff? Or maybe it fell into that pit?"
Adam frowned. "Stuff? What stuff?"
Yoku looked at him, confused. A person wandering this wasteland with no backpack, no supplies, not even proper clothes? "I mean, your things, dummy."
-_-
"I don't have any things," Adam retorted. He was only wearing an oversized T-shirt and black striped shorts—of course, that would confuse anyone in this world.
Yoku sighed. "If you don't wanna talk about it, well... you could've just said that."
With that, he tossed some military clothes at Adam, and Yoku taking off the blanket
They continued their journey, traveling through the city in the Kübelwagen.
"You know," Yoku said while driving, a smirk forming on his face. "When I finally gather enough supplies, I'm going to build a city, like this one—the one I've always dreamed of."
Adam raised an eyebrow as he said that suddenly. A city? He glanced around at the desolate, crumbling structures. "Who would even live in your city?"
Adam confused, who would even want to live in this mess of a city, its integral structure is a mess theres roads everywhere, power supplies and pipes not hidden but tangle on the city and worse stairs and roads on stack upon each, and a disaster an extremely large column of hollow concrete, if adam had to guess it was another city
Yoku thought for a moment before shrugging. "I don't know, I just wanna create it, maybe me?"
The road stretched endlessly ahead, cracked and uneven, flanked by square buildings—some hollowed out, others barely standing. Their broken windows stared back like empty eyes. The entire city felt... unnatural.
Adam frowned. Who would build a city like this? It was chaotic, almost liminal. In his world, cities had structure—things made sense. Even ruins had a kind of order, but still despite its steam punk vibe the city survive even without humans, in a way its more high tech than the real world
"You really think you can do that all by yourself?" Adam asked, not sounding judgmental—after all, he, too, had dreams, big ones.
Yoku nodded confidently. "Yeah. I'll stockpile tons of materials over the years and slowly build it—my own city."
Adam gave him a skeptical look. "And you're not worried about dying before that?" He wasn't mocking him—just genuinely curious. Yoku seemed so sure of himself, while Adam was still internally struggling, wondering if he had ever done anything truly meaningful in his old world.
Yoku grinned. "Well, I'll just be careful and try not to get myself killed." He said it like it was the simplest thing in the world.
Adam stared at him, dumbfounded. "I mean… never mind. But can't you make your city better than this place? It's not exactly a great example." He gestured at their surroundings. "Like, maybe don't build random pits on the sides of the road? Or make sure buildings aren't just sticking out everywhere? And those highway roads that stretch into the sky—what's up with that? Oh, and those giant hollow walls that go up so high I can't even see the top... How expensive would that even be? Why not just build outside of ruined cities instead? What if there's a disaster?"
Yoku opened his mouth to argue but then stopped.
"…Oh yeah…"
Hours later, and Adam was still frustrated. They had been driving on this road for what felt like forever. What even was this place? The only distraction from the monotony was Yoku stopping to steal gasoline from abandoned gas tanks. Adam briefly wondered if that was even legal—then again, did it even matter? Nobody else seemed to exist here.
Worse, when Adam tried to grab a bar snack, Yoku immediately slapped his hand away.
"No."
Adam scowled. How the hell was this guy even alive in a place like this?
"How did you even survive in this place?" he asked.
Yoku blinked, genuinely confused. "What kind of question is that? I just… do."
Silence. Adam shut his eyes, trying to ignore the road. Even the hum of the truck was starting to tick him off. How was Yoku not bored out of his mind?
"So, what's your plan?" Adam finally asked.
Yoku thought for a moment. "Maybe explore the city a bit. Check out the outer parts. Then come back."
Adam groaned. He was so damn tired. Even Yoku finally noticed.
"Hey, check my bag," Yoku said. "There's something in there—some books to read and a helmet." He smirked. "I never wear helmets. Annoying as hell.
But back then, she always wore one. Bolts used to fall on her head all the time." He laughed. "You can use it. Unless you're lucky, like me."
Adam rummaged through the bag. Two helmets. One had an oblong shape, with cuts and a cross in the middle. The other was round and simple. He grabbed the round one, along with some engineering and architecture books.