Towards A Higher Level [Part 2]

Maria was seen staring at a pile of luggage. She looked directly at where their food was stored. Her saliva unintentionally dripped as she tried to contain her uncontrollable urge.

However, Maria couldn't do it because she was being watched by Joe Walker. She would be scolded again by Alice if Joe Walker reported what she was about to do.

Maria then signaled to Joe Walker to look towards the food storage and gave him a thumbs-up. She hoped Joe Walker would cooperate with her to sneak some food to eat together without Alice's knowledge.

But Joe Walker shook his head from side to side continuously, indicating his refusal of the offer. He then pointed towards Alice who was driving, reminding Maria of Alice's presence.

Maria looked disappointed by this and let out a long sigh as if she had resigned herself to the situation.

Joe Walker smiled at Maria's mischievous yet amusing behavior.

Haha, This kid never learns from her mistakes

Maria lay back down and started to fall asleep.

Shortly after, Alice, who was driving, asked, "hey, are you guys okay back there? Are you guys behind me right now, right?"

"Yeah," Joe Walker replied.

"Maria is quiet, isn't she? Is she sleeping?"

"Yep, you right."

"Sigh, I knew it."

"Haha, are you two siblings?"

"Yes, what's up?"

"Nothing... Just curious about your ages. How should I put it? You both seem to be between 10 and 15 years old."

"Yes, you're right. Maria and I are 11 years old. Is there something wrong with that?"

"It's been years since you... well...," Joe Walker hesitated with what he wanted to ask Alice.

"Are you asking since what age Maria and I have been driving with Tony, right?"

"...yes, of course, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Joe Walker tried to smile.

"Don't worry, it's not something to be kept secret. If you feel guilty, you didn't have to ask that in the first place."

"S-sorry."

"Haha, I'm relieved that you feel guilty," Alice said, chuckling slightly out of amusement.

"Relieved? Why?"

"Well, lately I've been thinking that you're like Maria's second self."

"Haha, what's that all about? Even so, she's your older sister, you know."

"Yes, I know that without you telling me. Even though she's silly, she's still my kind-hearted and cheerful sister. Although sometimes her nature annoys me a bit!"

"Haha, I think I understand how you feel."

"Really? But even so, she also has some good sides."

"What are the good sides of her?"

"Well...," Alice seemed to think for a moment before continuing, "it seems like there aren't any..."

Joe Walker, smiling, said, "Oi, oi, your words can be quite harsh, Alice."

"What do you mean? I've been like this since begin."

"Oh, you right, hahaha," Joe Walker laughed afterward.

"Hmm...," Alice felt a bit annoyed at being made fun of.

Alice suddenly slammed on the brakes, causing Joe Walker's forehead to hit one side of the vehicle.

"Sorry, there's a pothole ahead," Alice said as an excuse.

"Oh, it's okay, it's okay...," Joe Walker replied, trying to endure the pain in his forehead.

Alice suddenly walked back abruptly. Joe Walker even fell to the other side, hitting the back of his head in the same way as his forehead.

"Ouch, it hurts!"

"Are you okay, Joe?"

"You! You did that on purpose to me, didn't you?"

"What do you mean?"

Joe Walker held the back of his head to ease the pain. While Alice was satisfied with what she had done and smiled proudly at Joe Walker.

Seeing the satisfied smile, Joe Walker said, "I guess I was wrong, you're not just mean with words!"

"Mmh," Alice still smiled proudly, glancing at Joe Walker.

After that, Maria woke up from her sleep because her head also hit when Alice played a prank on Joe Walker. She looked around in confusion, asking, "Mmh? What happened?"

***** ***** ***** *****

Their journey continued, and now even Alice was starting to feel resigned to their situation.

They had passed dozens of houses, yet they couldn't see the end of the chasm.

Alice and Joe Walker could only look ahead as their vehicle kept moving.

"Alice, it seems like this is all in vain," Joe Walker said.

"It looks like you're right," Alice replied.

"Alice, it seems like this chasm has no end."

"Maybe you're right..."

"Alice, what if we just give up and go somewhere else?"

"That's a very good offer, but where to?"

"I don't know."

"In that case, it's also futile."

"You're right..."

The gloomy and desperate atmosphere began to affect Joe Walker and Alice. They sighed in disappointment several times but continued their journey.

"Despair! Despair! Despair! Despair!... Hopeless! Hopeless! Hopeless!...," Maria started singing, making the situation a bit better.

Joe Walker began to smile again, seeing Maria's childlike behavior.

Meanwhile, Alice, as usual, became annoyed by it, but she had forgotten the despair she felt earlier.

Suddenly, a very loud sound was heard in the distance. It was clear that the noise was the result of an explosion.

"Whoa, what sound is that?" Maria exclaimed, stopping her singing out of shock.

"I don't know, for now, look around you guys and see what's happening!" Alice instructed.

They looked around but found nothing. However, another explosion suddenly occurred, clearly coming from the same direction.

The three of them realized the source of the sound and observed it together. But they couldn't find anything except for a very tall and large building.

Another explosion occurred, and then the ground began to shake.

"Huh? What's happening?" Joe Walker asked, confused about their current situation.

Alice took the initiative to immediately drive their vehicle at full speed to move away from the area. Alice's bad feeling turned out to be right, as the building they had observed earlier slowly started to collapse towards them.

Joe Walker screamed in fear and told Alice to drive faster. Alice focused on the damaged road ahead. However, unlike Maria, who laughed in that situation, she felt happy because her life was in danger.

Fortunately, they managed to escape, but if they had been two seconds slower in fleeing, they would have been hit by the debris.

At the last moment, Alice closed her eyes because she didn't want to see what was happening.

Suddenly, Maria said, "hey Joe, are you okay?"

"...," there was no answer from Joe Walker.

Meanwhile, Alice felt like her body was heavier than before. Curious, she slowly opened her eyes.

It didn't take long for Alice to realize that someone's hand was on her shoulder, trying to hug her tightly.

Alice realized it was Joe Walker's hand. Feeling suffocated by the tight hug, she turned to tell Joe Walker about it.

But when she looked back, Alice couldn't say anything. She saw Maria being hugged by Joe Walker's other hand, even her leg seemed to be trying to protect Maria's lower body. The same thing was happening to Alice, albeit slightly different from what Joe Walker did to protect Maria.

Alice slowly tried to look at Joe Walker's face and found him closing his eyes, grinding his teeth in fear.

Suddenly, Alice was surprised when Joe Walker suddenly asked, "hey, is everyone okay? Is everyone still alive? Hey, answer me!"

"I'm fine, let go of me! It's too tight!" Maria protested to Joe Walker.

Joe Walker dared to open his eyes and immediately checked on Alice and Maria.

Joe Walker saw Maria looking annoyed, while Alice stared at him with a blank expression.

"Uwah!" Joe Walker reflexively jumped, released his hug, and moved a little away from Alice and Maria.

Joe Walker felt embarrassed and slightly guilty.

Oh no, what now? They must think I was planning something else on them! Thinking about it, I look like a criminal just now!

Stop that annoyed expression, Maria, it makes me feel even more guilty.

Alice... Don't just keep staring at me with that blank face. I can't understand what you're thinking about me right now!

Say something to me! Break this weird atmosphere!

Suddenly, Alice got out of the vehicle and said, "what are you two doing? Get out quickly!"

"Yessss...," Alice replied lazily.

"Y-yes, al-alright!" Joe Walker replied a bit nervously.

Maria started to get off first and asked, "what's wrong, Alice? Why are we getting off?"

"Don't you find our current situation strange?"

"Strange? What do you mean?"

"Sigh, it seems pointless to explain it to you," Alice said with a disdainful expression.

"What do you mean by saying that! Do you think I'm stupid!?" Maria was annoyed at Alice's disdainful look.

"You're right."

"You are really!... Do... Do I really look that stupid?" Maria was confused about herself, forgetting that she was feeling annoyed.

Alice glanced at Joe Walker, who still seemed restless about something. She didn't know the real reason why Joe Walker felt restless, she thought Joe Walker was thinking about the same thing.

"What do you think, Joe?" Alice asked.

"Huh? What?"

"About our condition right now, what do you think?"

Joe Walker began to calm himself and analyze the situation that had occurred.

"The unknown explosion... The collapsing building... These two things seem to be related. And also, logically thinking, that explosion wouldn't have happened without someone triggering it. That means!...," Joe Walker's face became more serious after realizing something.

"Yes, as you're thinking right now. There's someone other than the three of us around here."

"Huh? So what should we do? Um... Welcome them? Or should we run away? Should we look for that person?"

"Calm down, Joe, the action I'm going to take won't change. Just like what I did to you when we first met."

"Huh? Are you going to do that?"

"Of course!" Alice glanced at Maria and said, "Maria, grab your gun and get ready."

***** ***** ***** *****

"Be careful! That person may still have remaining explosives. And it's highly likely that they are hiding not far from where the building was detonated," Joe Walker said as he could only walk behind Maria since he didn't have a weapon.

"You're right, if he still has explosives, it seems like it will be difficult to negotiate with him. What do you think we should do, joe?" Alice said, looking pensive.

"It's better if we turn back and run, right? We don't even know if the person has set traps or not!"

"Traps?"

"Yes, what if he has set landmines around here?"

"Hmm..., it's quite challenging if that's indeed the case...," Alice looked like she was thinking harder.

"Let's just turn back and run, shall we? I'm worried that something bad might happen."

"Huh? Why? We're already at the exciting part! Let's continue searching for that person, shall we?" Maria said, focusing on her surroundings with the gun in her hand.

"Alright, let's do as Joe said. It's too risky to find out more," Alice said firmly, making her decision.

Joe Walker smiled broadly, happy with the decision, "Thank you! Thank you! Now let's go back to Tony and continue our journey!"

"Not fun! Both of you are cowards! It was getting exciting right now right? Why you?...," Maria said, disappointed with Alice's decision.

"Whatever you say, I won't change my mind! Safety comes first, continuously satisfying your curiosity will only lead you into danger. let's go back guys!" Alice said firmly.

"Yes!" Joe Walker answered, looking satisfied.

"Yes....," Maria replied lazily and disappointed.

Joe Walker and Alice started to hurry back.

While Maria was still disappointed, she looked down and sighed deeply. Shortly after, she accidentally saw something moving.

Curious about it, Maria tried to approach the moving object, forgetting that Joe Walker and Alice were trying to return to their vehicle.

But just like Alice and Joe Walker, it took them more than ten seconds to realize that Maria was not following them.

After they both realized it, they had lost track of Maria.

"That foolish girl! What are you doing, Mariaaaaaa!" Alice shouted in frustration at Maria's bad behavior.