Chapter 13: Fools(2)

The two children walked beside the road. The one leading was the little girl.

The two stayed silent as they walked beside the road.

This went on for a few more hours before the girl turned around and yelled, "Why are you following me!?"

They had been walking for hours already. Both are going in the same direction. But the girl left first before the boy woke up, yet he still caught up to her.

The two of them stopped by the side of the road, looking at each other.

The girl had an inkling thought that the boy was following her, but the boy just stared at her with a confused expression on his face.

"I'm not."

"You are!"

She stared at him with burrowed eyebrows.

"Otherwise, it won't make any sense!" She closed her palms and pointed at him.

"What do you want!?"

"Nothing. The place I'm going to is in this direction."

"...Really?"

The girl looked at him with suspicion.

"How do you know it's in this direction?"

The boy gave her a small grunt and walked to her side, "I have a compass."

He took out a compass from his bag and showed it to her. The girl stepped back a little, thinking that he was about to harm her, but when he took out an object from his bag, she couldn't contain her curiosity.

She looked over and saw a small black circular shaped object. She studied it for a moment before staring at him.

"What is that?"

The boy opened his mouth to explain, "A compass." 

"A compass? What's that?" She curiously looked at the object. 

She asked to touch it, to which the boy agreed as he continued to explain, "From what I've heard, it could point you into a certain direction. Like this N, here is the direction to the north, the south for S, E for east, and west is W."

The two continued to talk as they squatted by the side of the road, not knowing the danger that was approaching.

***

"You mean there are at least two individuals hidden inside our territory?"

In a destroyed warehouse, a group of people with weapons stood on the center of the building. Each guarded the building with utmost caution while a man sat on a desk on the center.

""Yes sir.""

The two men stood in front of him as he looked at what seemed to be a map spread on the table. 

He stared at the two of them for a moment, before a frown appeared on his face.

"Then why didn't you apprehend them the moment when you knew they were there?"

The two men stiffened, one of the men coughed while the other gulped down his spit.

The man who coughed stared at the man and said in a light tone, "Like, boss. At night? Something suddenly sounded out? That looked a lot like a death flag to me."

The man presumed to be the boss of the place looked at him with a blank look on his face.

"So, you...."

"Yep, we left. It's like those in the movies. Every time someone goes to investigate the source of the noise, they die an' all that."

"..." The man face palmed, he gave it thought for a moment before sighing.

"Still, two individuals so near our territory, that is dangerous." His eyes narrowed.

He stood up from his seat and patted the two men, then he looked at another man sitting on a chair. On his desk were countless weapons that awaited to be built.

He pursed his lips and then turned to the two, "Take platoon 4 and 3. Tell them to prepare in 5 hours. We'll search for them."

Then he looked back and sighed, "I just hope they are refugees and not enemies."

***

"Wow." The girl remarked as she studied the compass in her hand.

"Then where did you get this thing from?" She stood up and stretched, still holding the compass.

The boy went silent for a moment, hesitating to answer.

The girl looked at him, then gave a light smile, "Its fine if you don't want to answer."

"..." The boy turned his head to the sky.

"I.... Someone gave it to me. I didn't know his name, nor who he was but he gave it to me."

"..."

"He was someone who protected me. Taught me things that helped me through this journey."

The girl looked at him.

"I see." She muttered softly, "Then was he an important person in your life?"

The boy looked at her with wide eyes.

"Important...?"

"Yeah, is he someone important to you?"

Is he someone important?

The boy didn't know how to answer such a question.

Was the Man important to him?

Was he?

He did taught him things, gave him food to eat, and even protected him.

But was the Man really important to him?

What makes a person important to you anyway?

Is it because they helped you in times of needs? When they support you when the world collapsed on your shoulders? How would one give value to a person's worth?

"I..."

"When you knot a tie, you must first coil this string around...."

"The stars are ever changing yet they will still be there for us till the end..."

"We all have regrets as humans, its normal to feel emotions...."

Countless memories run past his tiny head, unconsciously, the boy let out his tears.

The first tears that came out since.

"Let's reunite once more, in the stars, child."

That person. That man.

He didn't really like him, nor did he have any feelings for him.

But.

The boy felt a father's warmth from him.

The girl stared at him, then pursed her lips in panic. She wet closer and wiped his tears off his face.

"Don't cry! I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry for making you cry!"

"N-No." The boy sniffed and wiped his tears, "Its fine." 

She stared at his wet and red eyes, then felt guilty again.

"Uhhhh, I'm really sorry."

"It's okay. Come on, let's go."

She nodded her head softly.

"Where are you headed, anyway?"

The boy wiped his tears and turned to tell her, "Someone told me that a city takes in refugees somewhere in the west."

"Oh! Are you going there, too!?"

She grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him side to side.

The boy repeatedly nodded his head.

"You too?"

"Yep! I heard that city takes in refugees." She smiled, "It's like heaven!"

"Heaven?"

"Yep! Heaven! It's a safe place for everyone, a place that would shelter us, give us food and many more!"

The boy stared at her valor, she went and told him more about the city as the boy listened to her silently.

".... So that is heaven...?"

The girl smiled at him, "Hey!"

"Mn?" The boy turned around.

"Let's go together!"

***

"What are these?"

"Mushrooms, if i recall."

"Mushrooms?"

"Yes."

***

"Wow, the clouds are so beautiful today. Don't you agree?"

"It is."

***

"How did you learn how to cook?"

"...Well, someone taught me a little bit."

"Woww, then, can you cook anything other than noodles?"

"..."

***

"It's so cold tonight..."

"We can't."

"Just light one, a little one, please?"

"No."

"Why?"

"We might get caught."

"Just a tiny one!"

"No."

"Please! It's cold, we need fire!"

"No!"

***

"The rivers goes to shallow waters... The skies so wider than mountains... The sea so full of life..."

A week had gone by as they continued on to their journey.

The boy went together with the girl as they protected and helped each other.

"Does my voice sound good?"

"It's not."

"Hey! Just so you know, i was once a champion at a singing tournament, you know?"

"I see."

"Ugh, believe me!

"Mm."

The two bickered back and forth as they walked along the side of the road. 

They believed, at the end of the road, they would come to Heaven and be safe. They would be in Heaven and be blessed.

The two children talked, bickered with each other.

Night soon came and the moon rose to replace the sun.

The girl held a can of meat as she ate silently beside the boy, who ate his share. The two were leaning on a destroyed body of a car that was left by the side of the road.

"Hey, I've long been curious."

"Can we really reach the city?" The girl chewed on her food before muttering.

The boy turned his head while chewing.

"We will reach it." The boy responded casually.

The girl looked at him, "How are you so sure?"

"We just need to follow this road, we'll reach it."

"...Then what if there is nothing beyond the road?"

"..."

"What if we reached its end? What should we do?"

"....I..." The boy stared at the skies, unsure of what to do.

He really didn't harbor much hope that a city that takes in refugee exists in this world. 

This world was cruel, predators who would snuff the lives of others are everywhere. 

He couldn't believe that such a good thing exists in this hate-filled, tormenting world.

"We should continue to move." The girl muttered.

"We should move forward, move on." She smiled and turned to him, holding his had with hers, she gave him her brightest smile.

"Yes! We should move forward! Nothing can stop us!"

The boy looked at her, "Nothing?"

"Nothing!" She beamed, "I promise you! We will continue until we reach the ends of the earth!"

The boy stared at her in disbelief.

Then unconsciously, he let out a small smile.

"Yeah, nothing can stop us."

As long as we are together.