Chapter 9

'Ay Conor, wake up.' Kristof said. Conor just grunted in his sleep.

'CONOR, WAKE UP!' Kristof repeated in a louder voice while poking Conor at the same time. Conor woke with a jump.

'Whatdamatter?' Conor mumbled.

'We have a slight issue.' Kristof said with an awkward face. Conor asked what happened.

'Well, the engine is not designed to run for a long time. I forgot about that, and it got busted.' Kristof explained.

'WHAT?! WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO NOW?' Conor exclaimed.

'We have to wait, at least 3 hours so the engine can cool back down completely.' Kristof said. Conor just grunted and leaned back on his seat.

'Alright then, let's close the doors and catch some sleep in the meantime.' Conor said. Kristof agreed and leaned back on his seat. Soon, they both were snoozing.

Conor was dreaming about the unknown reality again. He was running towards the flying mountains. He was hit by a truck. He was knocked off the ground by the wind. Everything was the same except for one thing- he could sense a sound as if someone was knocking. It got louder and took pauses.

After a while, a big crash sounded and jerked Conor off his dream. He opened his eyes and looked forwards. The windshield of the jeep was broken. Three masked men were standing in front, one of them holding a long stick.

Conor shook Kristof awake roughly, and the pair got off the jeep. The group of masked men came closer towards them.

'What the heck, dude. What you break that glass for?' Kristof asked.

'You guys were in a bloody deep sleep, that was to wake you up. And it worked.' One of them replied.

'What do you want?' Conor asked. All three men turned towards him.

'Oh, look! An American. Citizen of the nation that destroyed the world.' Another guy said. Conor was dumbstruck.

'We want your jeep. Now.' The tallest masked man said.

'Want my jeep for what? It's an old piece of garbage.' Kristof asked.

'You don't have to know what we going to do with it.' Another one said.

'Of course he has to know-' Conor was about to speak but got cut off.

'You American. Stay out of Russian business.' The tall one said.

'I won't give my jeep.' Kristof said.

'Oh yeah? Will this change your mind?' said one guy while hoisting up the long stick.

'That doesn't scare me at all.' Conor said, which made the masked men snap. They had enough. One of them swung the long stick right at Conor who managed to dodge just in time. Realizing that they won't go without a fight, Conor fought back with Kristof, kicking and punching until the robbers were bloody and miserable.

Asking for apologies, the three masked men fled off towards the field beside the road and continued running until they couldn't be seen anymore.

'Cheeky robbers, came here to fight, heh!' Kristof spat. Conor coughed and let his saliva drip to the ground to see if there was blood in it. He was hit in the stomach a couple of times. Fortunately, the saliva was clear which meant no internal bleeding.

'You okay? They punched you hard is it?' Kristof asked. Conor just mouthed "I'm okay" and went inside the van to rest.

Kristof entered and turned on the radio so they can listen to some music. After what happened, they thought it unwise to sleep again.

The pair sang to songs and saw the sun setting over the horizon, letting the darkness engulf them.