Night Before Departure
They had completed the raid on the store and it was a big success. They came out of the store with their bags filled with all the food items. They successfully achieved all the food to last them for days.
It was the night and they had safely returned home. It was a simple path from the store to Raiden's house. They had no trouble getting home.
Raiden stood in front of his house's gate and rang the doorbell.
They waited outside his house and then the gate opened up. On the other side, it was both Sheila and Makie waiting for them to enter. Both the girls had a glimpse of smiles on their faces to see the boys safely return home.
The boys entered the house and closed the door.
All the group finally reunited.
"How did it go?" Makie asked in excitement.
Raiden jabbed his thumb toward his bag behind his back, "It's packed with lots of goods."
Happiness flowed on the faces of both the girls.
"Alright, everyone! For our successful raid on the store and for the achievement of getting lots of food, let's have a banquet tonight," Jun burst out with excitement.
"Yeah!"
The girls joined in on that cheerful moment. Even Raiden and Toshi cheered up, too. They didn't wanna bring down the mood of everyone else.
Everyone went inside and unpacked the goods to prepare for the banquet.
In the entire area, the only light which was turned on in a house was Raiden's house. Not just the lights but it was the only house which had people inside it that looked alive, both in their spirits and appearance.
The group in the house was preparing for a banquet to celebrate their successful raid on the store. They had opened up their goods and Toshi and Sheila had gone into the kitchen to prepare the meal.
It was their happy night before they had to move out. They knew they were safe until they were in the house and the outside only had deaths and misery. But, they could not just sit inside the house any longer. They had to move out. And, tomorrow was the day.
The day when their journey would begin.
But, what misfortune and struggles would that day bring to them? It was still unknown. Anything could have happened outside. So, to live out this one last night, to the fullest, without any struggles or misery. They were preparing their banquet. Because who knows? What the night tomorrow would bring to them.
The meal was ready. The group was ready.
It was time to dine.
They all sat around the dining table and started digging in.
"Delicious!" The words uttered out of Jun's mouth as he took the first bite of his meal.
Everyone else had the same satisfaction as Jun when they ate the food.
"It is so good," Makie complimented.
"Your combo might be the greatest thing on the earth to deliver the greatest of the food," Raiden said while looking at both Sheila and Toshi.
"Oh, stop it. Toshi was the one who did most of the things," Sheila said.
"Nah, Sheila helped me a lot, too."
"Whatever it is, you two did a great job and deserve all the appreciation," Raiden commented.
"Yeah, definitely!" Jun added in. "My sister makes alright food sometimes but Toshi took it to the next level."
Sheila gave a deadly stare to Jun as she was about to take in a bite.
Jun realized that he had screwed himself up.
But, Makie came in the clutch so that the things would not steer up. "So, Raiden, do you mind explaining the plan for tomorrow, again?"
"Oh, yeah, sure," Raiden hesitated a little as he wondered if it was okay for him to go along with the situation.
But, it seemed to have worked out. Sheila did not look mad anymore.
Jun finally relaxed himself from how scared he had gotten in just a few seconds.
"So, after finishing our meal I would like you guys to take some rest for the night so you would be prepared for tomorrow. We will move out first thing in the morning. Exactly at 6."
Jun got tired just by listening to the time of their departure, "Man, why so early?"
"It's better the early we go," Toshi said. "We don't know how long it will take us to reach Makie's house, it's better to start early so that we don't end up spending the night on the streets."
"Exactly," Raiden agreed." So, the rest is simple. We get out, start moving and eventually, reach our destination."
"I doubt it will be this easy," Sheila said.
"Could be. Or could not be. It depends if we encounter any of those monsters. And, if we do, what will we do then?"
"What will we do?" Jun asked.
Raiden gave a very simple and straightforward answer, "Stay quiet."
"What?" Sheila jumped in.
Both, Jun and Sheila were confused. It was a sane reaction after hearing Raiden say that. It was hard to think something like that could work.
"The thing I found out is that all of those monsters are blind. They can only hear us and that's how they track us. I don't know about them much but that's the only thing I have found out."
"Wait, are you serious?" Jun still could not believe that.
"Yea, he is," Makie said. "Even I have witnessed that. They can't see. Even if you are in front of them and you don't make any sound, they will leave you."
"Yeah, that's the main thing I wanted to tell you in this meeting. If anyhow you encounter them, there is no need to fight. Just don't make any noise."
Jun and Sheila tried to comprehend that information.
"The only thing to ask is are you prepared?" Raiden stopped eating and put his entire focus on his words. "..prepared to not freak out if a monster is standing in front of you and it's getting close.
This was a hard decision for both of them to make.
"You can still back out if you want… because I'm prepared, I know Toshi is prepared and I know Makie will manage too, somehow. The only question is if you are prepared."
Sheila and Jun looked at each other and without speaking they both could tell that both of them had made their decision already. And, nothing could change it at this point.
They both nodded at each other and Sheila turned to face Raiden and said, "We are ready."
"Then, there is no turning back!" Raiden looked at the faces of everyone.
Toshi, with a calm attitude and no kind of fear.
Makie, a little scared but willing to not back out.
Jun, nervous but daring enough to take responsibility and willing to protect her sister at any cost.
Sheila, determined and ready to face any kind of terror.
Raiden, with the determination to not let any of his friends die ever again.
They were all ready to go and not back out, no matter what.
"Tomorrow will be the day. The day we put our fate into our own hands."