Section 23: Unsuspected Enemies

"Shit, shit" I tried to keep myself conscious when I received a punch on my cheek. We were just strolling around in the neighborhood. However, we were ambushed by some strangers in a cloak. "Aria, run!" Joel ran behind me as he pushed me to the front. After that, Joel was immediately captured by the strangers in a ragged cloak.

"JOEL!" I turned around to save him.

However, before I could reach him I felt a hand on top of my head. The stranger's hand pushed me down to the ground, smashed my face on the dirty floor. I could feel the blood in the tip of my tongue, my nose bled as I just realized the pain on my face.

"Don't move" the grown-up male who smashed my face whispered next to my ear.

Joel was apprehended by a female adult with blonde curly hair. The female snickered in satisfaction as he grabbed onto Joel's arm.

"Let go of him, you sicko!" I glared at both of them.

The male one, he pinned me on the ground whilst pointing his cigs at my eyes.

"Now, now a lady shouldn't be rough! Or maybe do you want a piece of my cig to crush your eyes?", the man grinned slyly.

"You a-hole!" I glared.

Why is it that we got ambushed by these people? Who are they? I don't know them, nor have I seen them. Although, that changed when I saw the boy who sobs in front of our hotel. It's the tanned boy who's hurt.

"You are" I looked at the boy. "That boy I saved".

The boy shifted his gaze away from me, he gripped his dagger tightly and walked away.

* * *

-A day before-

"You fought with Joel? Are you always picking a fight with people whenever I'm not around?" Ender smirked playfully.

Joel and Adrian laughed quietly, I pinched Ender's shoulder angrily.

"No, I'm not! It's just that they're annoying" I pouted my cheek.

The four of them walked back to the hotel peacefully after that, the drones are already out of commission thanks to everyone's cooperation. Then again, I was being careless this time. I almost got killed if Ender wasn't there to save me.

"Why are you going alone?" Joel asked Ender nervously. "I thought you would try to blend in and find a pack to survive or something".

"Huh? No, I'm not that kind of person" Ender laughed prudently. "I'm not good with large groups, small groups different story but usually I only passed by".

"Then why are you with us? " I asked the flustered Ender.

Ender glanced at me, he scratched his neck rather awkwardly.

"No comment" he added.

Both Adrian and Joel sighed at me as if disappointed with something.

"Aria, you're so dense" Adrian shook his head, disapproving.

"I don't know why you're even a girl anymore" Joel scowled.

What did Joel mean by that? Does a girl equal sensitivity? He's quick to generalize people. After we arrived at the hotel, I signaled Joel to keep a watch on Adrian while he's fixing the backup generator, while Ender and I waited in the dining room.

"So, how are you doing?" Ender asked me.

I crossed my arm, I tried not to delve deep into Ender's intention.

"Fine, you?" I asked back.

"I am good," he smiled. "But first there's something that I want to ask you".

I raised my brows as I looked at Ender's serious look.

"Spill it" I leaned my back on the plastic-covered chair.

Ender suddenly opens his small laptop and shows me the Livestream video of that mysterious man with a black plague mask.

"That man is-".

"The cause of all these unfortunate deaths in this city, the poisoning" he sighs. "I think that's what the timer is for".

When Ender mentioned a timer, I remember that time when I encountered that twenty-four-hour timer. However, nothing bad happened to me afterward. And then another timer for the video showed up. I didn't pay attention to the timer, after the timer is done the man with a black plague mask made his appearance.

"I was thinking that the timer only applies to Wishmaker users" Ender massaged his temple.

"Wishmaker user?" I asked.

"Yeah, I noticed that some folks didn't have any timer, and some have" he stated. "This means the only one who died is the only one who uses Wishmaker".

I looked at Ender, I didn't understand what he's saying. So the victims of that mysterious Livestream man are all Wishmaker users? That sounds like something that came out from a sci-fi dystopian novel.

"You had that time with you, right?" he sighed. "It means you're a participant in the game, and the survivor from that manipulator masked man".

How did Ender know all about this? Did he dig around the city for information? He looks as if he's ready for anything. He had the firearms and the information to survive from this chaotic city.

"And why did I survive?" I asked again.

"Probably because you followed what the Wishmaker said" Ender spoke nonchalantly. "What did the Wishmaker say?".

My memory is hazy, it's been a few days since I listened to my AI Joel command. I tried to hide him because Joel is around, if Joel found out about my AI with his appearance inside my cell phone, I'm dead. He would see me as a stalker, that is the obvious answer.

"Well, the AI told me that it's a virus or some sort" I sighed.

"And?" He asked for more information.

"There's this order about finding something important to me before the time expires" I brainstormed my brain about the first incident.

"That's right, lots of folks said the same thing," he added. "The differences between you and them is that they're already dead".

My expression immediately turned rigid when I heard Ender about the victim's identity. So the victims are somewhat poisoned by the mastermind through the Wishmaker? What a smart villain, then again I shouldn't have praised the mastermind.

"Whoever is the mastermind is, he's planning something big" Ender stated.

"That's true" I rubbed my chin. "And he's not going to stop".

"That's right, that's why I've been gathering information and making connections with other people," Ender leaned next to me. "It's essential to know our enemies before striking".

"You're right, that's a war strategy 101" I agreed with Ender's way of thinking.

Then again I lived because I followed the Wishmaker order, I don't quite remember that I found something important to me. So I found it quite odd, of course, I am thankful that I survived.

"Could it be...my Wishmaker list about Joel?" I started to assume that way.

The reason for my survival might be because I stayed with Joel for a long time since Wishmaker is basically like a search engine then what it means was to search for my wishlist in real life. So in a way, Joel is probably the reason I'm not dead like the others.

"But it's just an assumption," I thought curiously.

The situation between us turned awkward afterward, I suppose this is my cue to leave Ender and find Joel. The silence between us after that is suffocating.

"I'm going to check for Joel-".

Ender pulled me into his embrace out of the blue from behind. I could feel his warm breath on my neck, he tightened his embrace as he whispered seductively next to my ear. His whisper tingles my sense for a bit.

"I miss you" he buried his face on my neck.

I could feel my face reddened when I heard his heartbeat.

"Your heart beats so fast…" I stuttered.

"Ignore it," he added.

He lifted his face from my neck, our lips almost touched. His lips and mine are only a few centimeters away. The sparks between us started to consume us both, he closed his eyes and descended his lips toward mine.

I closed my eyes as well, somewhat scared and unprepared for what's coming next.

"Aria! The generator is fixed!" Joel's voice woke me up to reality.

I gasped and immediately pushed Ender away from me, Ender was thrown back to the chair. Joel and Adrian walked side by side and approached us. I waved my hand, I tried to be as normal as I could.

"So, the generator is good?" I asked Adrian.

"Yup, no biggie" Adrian grinned.

The silence between Ender and I only rouse some suspicion, Joel and Adrian exchanged looks of confusion.

"Did we interrupt something?" Joel asked.

"Not at all" I replied fast.

Adrian decided to say goodbye and left the hotel after a nice meal from Joel. Ender followed after, a sad smile was plastered on his expression.

"See you" he waved.

"Yeah, see you" I waved back.

After he vanished from our sights, Joel shook his head in dismay.

"Poor guy, what did you do?" Joel sighed.

"I did nothing!" I scowled.

Joel and I tucked in our bedroom, at this point we didn't care about the fact we lived under the same roof. It was as if we're used to each other's presence.

"Aria" Joel called me from his comfy couch.

"Yeah?" I turned around to face him.

"Adrian offered us protection in his headquarter, besides there are lots of people and supplies there" he suggested. "What do you think?".

"Hm, Glass is there too right?".

"Yep, that's why I think it's a good chance to join his group" Joel spoke brightly.

Even so, it's still dangerous to join without knowing who the leader is. A large group usually had one appointed leader to manage the number of people in the group. Usually, they would try to expand their territory by expanding their field of search.

Although, there's another possibility that they didn't plan to expand their territory and only focused on surviving.

"I'll think about it after we salvage some supplies from the outside," I replied.

"Okay, thanks Aria." Joel's smile was as bright as the sun.