Invite at night

He stared at Fablo's back as he walked over to the swordswoman who was quietly sitting alone in a corner, she had scared everyone with her sudden change in character that no one wanted to go near her for the time being; except Fablo, of course.

"Hey, Lia. Mind if I eat here?" Fablo asked the woman, as it seemed, Lia was her name.

Lia looked up at Fablo while she chewed on the food in her mouth for a split second before turning back to her meal without saying a word, Fablo took her silence as a yes and sat beside her before starting to put food in his mouth and chew softly.

"Sorry…about today" Fablo gulped down his food after a few seconds of chewing in silence.

He looked at Lia who pretended to not hear him and was still chewing on what was in her mouth but he could see her hand clenched under her plate.

"Sorry about Lucas," Fablo said again in a low voice and was about to put something into his mouth when Lia's voice made his hand stop midair.

"Why are you protecting him?" She asked in a calm voice that Fablo could tell was suppressing an outburst, her expression also remained calm that no one would guess that they were talking about the incident that had occurred earlier today.

Fablo retracted his hand and kept the food in his hand back into the plate, he stared into the space in front of him for a few seconds before a sigh escaped his lips.

"He looks just like my son, protecting him gives me the feeling that I'm protecting my boy" Fablo muttered quietly in response.

Lia looked at Fablo's face in surprise, he did not expect such words to come from such a hulky man, and she was caught off guard by his statement. But her surprised expression did not last long and was quickly replaced by a frown as her eyebrows folded and she gritted her teeth.

"I listen to your orders and respect you because of how you risked your life to help me and everyone else here when you came across us even as strangers, but don't you think what you are doing is a bit absurd and selfish? You will also only hurt yourself if this continues, it's just too much! Didn't you say you were confident in your kids and were sure that they escaped? What's then the meaning of this?" 

Lia hissed angrily at Fablo but still managed to keep her voice low so she did not attract the attention of the others.

Fablo looked at Lia's angry face and a sad smile formed on his face.

"I know I'm being selfish and might get hurt by doing this but I can't help it, you should understand. What confidence? I was just blabbing when I said that to him back then, even I had almost died when all this had started three years ago and had barely survived, how do you think kids like them would react to the sudden change? I honestly have no idea what might have happened to them and I don't dare to imagine. I just hoped that they had truly escaped with the government emergency evacuation airships or would keep surviving till I find them" he said, his voice turning sadder and sadder at every word he said.

"Still, even if you see him like that and which to protect him then keep him back at base. Why bring him along and cause harm to others? You saw what happened today, right? Lucas wouldn't have died, he would have run instead of getting encircled had this kid stayed back at base! He's a liability and will cause our deaths if he keeps going out with us!" Lia snapped at Fablo, her voice raised at the last line of her words causing the others to pause their eating and look over to the two people.

Lia also realized that she had been too loud just now and looked away from Fablo's stunned gaze as her body trembled slightly.

Fablo only sighed in the end and returned to eating his meal, everyone else also retracted their gaze from the two but some instead began to stare at Edward who was about to pierce through his plate with his stare.

Everyone finished their food in silence and went to sleep early since no one was in the mood to chat, those who had gone out earlier were especially so since they were tired both mentally and physically, they could not wait to have a good sleep and forget about the hell that their world had turned into during their sleep, not bothering about the zombies roaming outside or that they might become one of them someday.

While everyone was trying to get some sleep, Fablo quietly made his way towards where Edward was sitting with his eyes closed. He was also exhausted from today's activities despite not doing anything during the fight.

"Hey, Edward. Are you asleep yet?" Fablo whispered to Edward so he did not disturb the others.

Edward sluggishly opened his eyes and stayed at Fablo with a confused expression.

Fablo nodded when he saw Edward open his eyes, the kid was not asleep yet.

"Follow me" he mumbled to Edward before turning around and walking off. 

Edward was even further confused but still followed behind Fablo regardless as they moved between the others who were sleeping on the cold floor.

Fablo ascended a metal ladder that was framed on the side of the wall that led to the top of the building, Edward had just discovered this ladder and was surprised that he had not seen it before but held his question and quietly climbed after Fablo with a thought in his mind.

'Why is he inviting me outside at this hour?'

 A lot of answers to that question formed in his mind but he chose not to jump to a conclusion yet, he would naturally find out from Fablo himself in a few minutes.

Lia raised her head and looked at Edward before the latter disappeared above the metal ladder, a frown formed on her face but she decided to not do anything and rested her head back on the folded clothes that she was using as a pillow.

"I will get rid of whatever would cause the death of my companions" she muttered to herself as her eyes quivered. One could tell that she was having an emotional conflict within her about what had happened today and how she had reacted to things just by looking at her face.

It was bound to be a long night for the three of them.