19 Section 18: The Fall Boy and his Savior
-Joel POV-
I put on a wet towel on her forehead, Aria only trembles as she felt the chilly air. I fixed her blanket and caressed her shoulder. She's very sick, could it be that she killed Ellis because of this? No, I don't think so. What she did is permanent, she has slain an innocent person cold-blooded,
I made her some porridge in case she's awake, she must have been exhausted. Time is ticking and it's almost night, if so then another day has passed by. Out of the blue, Aria's cell phone rings very loudly, this startled me. I could see the light from Aria's sling bag on the couch, I unzipped the bag and saw a notification.
No, rather than a notification it's more to countdown.
"Two hours left?" I asked myself.
If the time on the cell phone is correct, it's now five o'clock in the evening. So the timer will run out at seven, I don't even know why this timer exists. My cell phone died a long time ago, I'm not even sure why hers still on.
"Aria, please be alright" I looked at her fragile body.
That slender hand of hers able to destroy drones, she's also very rude, nevertheless, she's my savior.
"Still, what took Ender so long?" I thought to myself.
I don't know why Ender stepped outside, he didn't tell me where he headed. However, my guts telling me that he's looking for something that might help Aria. I'm not sure he even bothered to look after me. He seems to dislike me, a lot.
The buzzing sounds from Aria's cell phone irritate me, I returned her cell phone in her sling bag and continued to look after Aria. I think I need to wake her up so that she can drink the medicine I found in the first aid kits. Although I don't feel good waking her up now, she's exhausted.
Aria suddenly moves her body to the other side, she mutters unconsciously.
"Ender, I am so sorry" she utters.
She's talking in her sleep, then again this Ender person might be her important person. Maybe, he's the person Aria has been looking for in the university. A few hours have passed as I kept myself awake next to her, the porridge is no longer warm. I decided to eat the cold porridge, my stomach growls in hunger uncontrollably.
"I need to make a new porridge for her" I sat up and went to the kitchen.
The backup generator helps a lot, the electricity is on and I still can make some decent meals for the sick Aria. The portable rice cooker automatically generates a buzzing sound, indicating that it's not done yet. While she's out cold, this time I'm going to find some medkits outside. I carried the baseball bat with me to gear up.
I looked around the love hotel premises, there are some drones lurking but not that many. I probably can sneak out. I walked slowly, quietly not to alert the drone around me to see me. I need to find a pharmacy for Aria's meds. My legs trembled in fear as if frozen by an unknown force when I saw a giant flying robot from a distance.
That robot seems different from the rest of the attacker drones, it's more oval and there's a brown-ish steel plate on the front. The robot had three eyes on the front, the red eyes shining in the darkness of night. As for the size, maybe it's around my LED TV big screen in the living room. I should hide well to avoid those gigantic robot eyes.
I should have brought a map though, I don't really know where the pharmacy location is. I also don't feel good leaving the sick Aria unattended. I pulled a deep breath, steadied my feet as I tried to sneak behind the robot. In a few minutes, I noticed the robot faced a specific direction. The robot did a 360 degree turn every minute.
I tried to avoid his gaze, so far the drone didn't notice me since I'm behind him. That's when I screwed up, I focused my eyes on the drone movement but I didn't pay attention to what's on the ground. My left foot tripped on a hole in front of me, I fell down.
The robot noticed the noise and turned around. This is my cue to run, I ran straight ahead without looking back. The cruel red eyes followed my movements, strangely enough, the robot hadn't shot a thing. "HEY, MOVE IT!" I heard a voice from my left.
I was pushed aside by a small figure, I immediately fell down to the ground, scraped my knees in the process. A little kid appeared next to me, he carried steel trash can cover as if waiting for something. The next thing I knew, he was pushed back as if he received a recoil.
"Hey, kid!" I yelled at him.
He kneeled on the ground, somewhat exhausted. The kid looked at me and glared.
"You're an idiot! That robot is a new type! He could kill you swiftly!" he glared. His appearance reminds me of Ender, who is also tanned. The difference lies in their hairstyle, this kid has stylish bowl-cut raven hair while that jerk Ender had a spiky black hair. My thoughts were interrupted by the drones chasing after us.
"Damn it, now we're done for" I growled.
"Big bro, run! I'll cover you!" the kid stands up.
His dirty army cloak swayed by the wind, I could see his hands gripped a sharp dagger underneath it.
He rushed to the drones, avoiding his blind points perfectly.
"What are you doing!? Run!!" the kid warned me.
"I don't know where the pharmacy is!!" I replied panicked.
"It's straight-up ahead, it's a little bit far!" he said mid-sentence as he managed to sneak past the robot's eyes and stab the robot shotgun, breaking it so that it won't be able to shoot.
I nodded and ran ahead of the kid, I turned around and saw the kid is still beating up the drone severely. That kid is strong, whoever he is he's not ordinary. Judging from his appearance, he's around fourteen years old, very young.
When I ran ahead, I bumped on someone pretty hard. I fell down, yet again.
"Watch where you're going!" a familiar voice scolded me.
I looked up and saw Ender, sweaty, and rushed. He reached my hand and pulled me up.
"What are you doing here? Why aren't you with Aria?", he immediately bombarded me with questions.
"Aria needs more meds, I have to find a pharmacy for that" I added.
"Ah, that's true" Ender rubbed his chin. "I think I passed a pharmacy just a few blocks before this one, it's a little bit far".
"Got it, will you return to the hotel?" I asked him warily, afraid that he would kidnap Aria without my notice.
He seems to notice my suspicion toward him and scoff lightly.
"What? You're scared of being left alone? I guess that makes sense" Ender whistled. "Here, I had a gift for you".
He handed me a gun, it's similar to the guns I always see in action movies.
"This little guy here is a pistol," he smirked.
"I know that much" I rolled my eyes annoyed.
"Just in case you don't know! It's 45 ACP, it doesn't hit that hard, but at least you had a weapon now to protect yourself and Aria".
I changed my mind, he's not that bad at all. Ender seems like the type who cares, but he doesn't want to show his intention clearly. Even though he emphasized the name, 'Aria'.
"I had a suppressor for that little guy too" he handed me a somewhat oval mechanism that I didn't know. "I'll teach you how to use it if we get home". We barely talk after that, due to the sudden appearance of drones everywhere, I remember Aria mentioned about their thermal imaging eyes.
"Ender, what's thermal imaging?" I asked him.
"Oh, well it's basically a camera that can detect human body heat, it's divided into two different types though" he explained enthusiastically. "The standard one and the advanced one, you need to be careful with drones that have advanced thermal imaging".
"Why?" I asked him.
"Isn't it obvious? They can see through walls, lots of drones use the standard one cause it's cheaper" Ender sighs. "But the military one, especially the upgraded version later...might use that".
He's drowned in deep thoughts as he lowered his head, he stopped his banter with me. We arrived at the pharmacy he mentioned, I salvaged the meds I need and tuck it inside the medium pouch I carried. Ender did the same as well as he browsed through the medicines in the glass cabinet.'
"They already took most of them," he suddenly said out of nowhere.
"Them?" I asked him back.
He looked at me as he lowered his gaze to the ground, he's worried about something I think.
"Listen, whoever you are" he spoke.
"It's Joel" I grumbled.
"Right, Joel" he sighs.
He crossed his arm and leaned his back on the glass cabinet. He sharpened his onyx eyes on me, like a hunter.
"Don't trust anyone, Joel" he spoke firmly. "Not even other humans, not all of them are good".
"I know that" memory of Aria and Ellis flashed in my mind.
"If it's Aria, she's alright" Ender smiled. "She's unstable but she's thinking of your safety above hers, Joel".
I froze when I heard Ender's statement.
"Aria is the type of person who feels responsible for everything, which is why when she's cornered, she's like a ticking bomb".
I'm not sure how I should respond to his statement, he frowned and gazed at the floor. Did they have a history? I had a feeling they were used to being an item, especially when Ender explained her circumstances. It's like he's known her for a long time.
