Wang Bao had thought the bus ride from the shuttle station to the next town would be a short ride, but after an hour the bus was still driving along a snowy rural road, with no sights of a city in sight. It had been long enough that Wang Bao had calmed down from seeing the guard, but he was now more concerned about Nakai’s well being. Although the bus was larger than an average bus in Man country, the vehicle wasn’t made for Giants, and Nakai was forced to stay in a hunched position with his knees pressing into his chest if he didn’t want to sit on the dirty floor. Every few minutes, Wang Bao would try to squish against the window to make more space, but Nakai would rather stay uncomfortable, instead of both of them being cramped. Despite being uncomfortable, Nakai was busy thinking of a new plan for their group to move. At first the idea of splitting up the group made Nakai hesitate, but the closer they got to the next city, the less ideas he could come up with. In the end, Nakai tapped on Alo’s shoulder then motioned for Alo to kneel beside since there was no way he could lean forward anymore than he was. As soon as Alo was beside him, Nakai started whispering in his ear.
“We can’t stay as a group, and we can’t go use the borders. Are there two routes we can take to get to the coast without using the borders?”
Alo knew it would be too risky to travel all the way to the coast in two groups, and he shook his head before reply in a quiet voice.
“There’s a way to get to the next country without using the border, and it will allow us to re-group, instead of having to go all the way to the coast in two groups. Zhang can take a group to the bus station, and I’ll take a group to the train station. The bus takes three days with another half day on foot, but it doesn’t pass through any major cities. The train takes only one day then half a day on foot as well. What do you think?”
Nakai thought over the two routes and who should go with who. In the end, he knew Mika would struggle being away from Luka, but he also knew that he couldn’t travel with Wang Bao since as a pair, they drew too much attention. After exhaling a long sigh from the never ending stress Queen Mother was causing him, Nakai motioned to Zhang while whispering to Alo.
“Luka and I will go with Zhang. Take Wang Bao and Mika with you since it’s best if they use the shortest route.”
Both Nakai and Alo knew it would be hard for Wang Bao and Mika to cope with being split up from Nakai and Luka, but they had no other options if they wanted to keep everyone safe. All of a sudden, the bus driver's voice came through a speaker informing everyone they would be reaching the stop in twenty minutes. To make sure everyone was ready to separate once the bus stopped, Alo moved to kneel beside Mika and Luka to inform them of the new plan, then told Zhang the change of plan. In order to tell Wang Bao the new plan, Nakai motioned for him to move closer and he whispered in Wang Bao’s ear while holding his hand firmly.
“You’ll be travelling with Alo and Mika on the train. We won’t be going through the borders anymore, so I’ll meet you in three days at a secret place Zhang and Alo know of. Stick close with Alo and do as he says, okay?”
As soon as Wang Bao heard Nakai would be separating from him, he grabbed a hold of Nakai’s arm with an extreme grip, evident fear in his eyes. Nakai knew Wang Bao would be frightened of the change, but there was no other way if they wanted to make it out of Werebeast Continent unharmed. Before Nakai could try to calm Wang Bao down, Wang Bao knelt on his chair to see Nakai properly while asking a string of quick questions.
“Why do we need to separate? How are you going to find us, Nakai? You said yourself, you don’t know these parts. What will happen if you get attacked on the road too? I won’t know if-”
Before Wang Bao could have a full on breakdown, Nakai slid off of his chair and knelt on the dirty bus floor to face Wang Bao front on, taking his face in his hands while explaining quietly.
“I need you to calm down, Wang Bao. Zhang knows the new route Luka and I will be taking; and you should know better than anyone that I’m more than capable of looking after myself, okay?”
Wang Bao didn’t want to agree with Nakai, but he would be lying if he said Nakai was less than capable of looking after himself. After taking a deep breath, Wang Bao nodded his head and leaned closer to Nakai’s face, signalling he wanted a kiss. On the other side of the bus, Mika and Luka were having a similar bout of anxiety, especially Mika. They hadn’t been given too much information and didn’t understand why it was necessary to split up, which only added to their already high stress levels. As Mika clung to Luka’s side, scared to let go in case they really do become separated, the bus suddenly pulled into a small shuttle station before coming to a stop.
There was no easy way for Alo to separate Luka and Mika, and he made sure to give Mika’s bag to Wang Bao before crouching beside Mika, whispering in a calm voice.
“Mika, we need to go. Can you walk?”
Luka kept whispering in Mika’s ear, telling him it would be okay, before he slowly pushed Mika towards Alo. Mika wanted to put up a fight, but the bus was emptying fast and it was safer to travel with the crowd. With no other options, Alo picked Mika up with one arm, the other holding his own pack while he walked off of the bus with Wang Bao close on his heels. To ease Luka’s anxiety over the situation, Nakai pulled him up from his seat before holding his hand tightly, guiding him off the bus since his eyes were filled with tears. Without looking to see where Wang Bao was, Nakai walked at a fast pace with Zhang and Luka, heading down the crowded concrete street. It didn’t take long before Luka had calmed down enough to see where he was going, but he was feeling too delicate to let go of Nakai’s hand.
Unlike the bus station, Alo only needed to walk through the shuttle bus car park in order to get to the train station. By the time he reached the entryway, Mika had calmed down enough to walk, and he took his bag from Wang Bao to hold against his chest. When Alo tried to hold his hand to stop him from becoming lost in the crowd, Mika jerked away from him, taking Wang Bao’s hand instead. Alo didn’t have time to think about Mika’s delicate frame of mind, and he continued walking through the crowded lobby to find a ticket booth. Wang Bao didn’t mind holding Mika’s hand, since he was also feeling delicate and having someone to hold onto helped calm his racing heart. Once Alo had finally found the ticket booth, he stood at the back of the long line, keeping an eye on their surroundings while they waited to move forward. Because there was only one kiosk open, the line moved forward every couple of minutes. Alo had been hoping they would be able to get into the train without running into any guards, but as their line moved forward one step, Alo caught sight of two guards moving through the crowd slowly; it was obvious in the way they were looking at everyone’s face, to see they were looking for someone, and Alo told Wang Bao to crouch down while taking Mika’s hand in his. Taking another step forward, Alo murmured to Wang Bao.
“Change your jacket and tie your hair back.”
Wang Bao did as he was told and quickly took his warm winter jacket off. Despite being inside, the air was icy cold and he roughly searched through his bag, fumbling to try and find something warm enough to put on. In the end, Wang Bao had to settle on wearing a black crew neck underneath a grey hoodie to keep himself warm. While tying his hair back, Wang Bao was about to stand up when he heard Alo say.
“Stay down and move when I move.”
The line moved another step, and Alo could see the guards straining through the crowd to look at the line of people. The minutes dragged by until Alo was finally standing in front of the ticket kiosk, and quickly bought three tickets for the border line. Although they wouldn’t take the train the whole way, the border line was in the same direction they were going and it had the least amount of stops. While moving away from the line, Alo reached down and grabbed Wang Bao’s hand as well to make sure he didn’t fall behind while duck walking. Wang Bao struggled to walk in the awkward position, and when they finally made it to the concrete steps that would take them to the platform, Alo allowed him to stand up and walk properly.
While walking down the cold street, Zhang pointed to the corner at the end of the long road where the bus station was. Nakai wasn’t sure if any guards would tail their group, but to lower their chance of being recognised, Nakai motioned for Zhang to take Luka’s hand while he pulled his pack to his front. While walking at a quick pace, Nakai removed his jacket to replace it with a thick jumper followed by a black beanie to cover his hairless head. Everything was done in a matter of seconds, and they were able to reach the bus station with no problems. When they turned into the driveway of the station, large buses littered the wide parking area with a small building located at the very back of the plot. Zhang didn’t like that the buses blocked most of their vision of their surroundings, and both him and Nakai heard hurried footsteps behind them. Looking at Nakai, Zhang saw him motion to the front of the bus beside him, and Zhang picked Luka up before running in the same direction. Nakai continued to walk ahead at a slow pace until he felt the person shove him from behind. The act of violence had no effect on Nakai’s well being, and he slowly turned around to see it was a guard that had shoved him, and his gaze darkened as he looked the man in the eye. Despite being scared, the man held a pistol out in front of him, his aim was pointed up at Nakai’s head; however, because of their height difference, it made the guard’s grip on the weapon awkward but he tried to appear tough anyway. Using a stern voice, the guard suddenly shouted a question at Nakai.
“Where is the man with long black hair, Giant?!”
Although the current situation was tense, Nakai couldn’t stop from scoffing at the guard’s attempt at being intimidating, and without bothering to answer, Nakai reached forward with a quick hand and pulled the gun out of the guard’s hands. Before the man realised there was no weapon in his hands, his neck was in a tight grip in one of Nakai’s hands before his body was lifted from the ground. Because of how tight Nakai’s hold on his neck was, gurgled strained breaths escaped the man’s mouth as he attempted to breath. Ignoring the haunting sounds, Nakai leaned close to the guard’s ear, whispering in a dark voice.
“Who sent you?”
There was no way for the man to breathe, let alone answer his question, and Nakai loosened his hand ever so slightly. With the slightest amount of pressure released from his throat, the guard began to gag loudly, and his lack of answers started to annoy Nakai. Losing his patience with every passing second, Nakai shouted in the guard’s purpling face.
“Who sent you?!”
Nakai didn’t know if the guard knew he wouldn’t be let off whether he answered or not, but instead of giving Nakai what he wanted, the guard’s bloodshot eyes narrowed before he said calmly.
“There’s a big price on his head.”
As soon as the guard finished speaking, loud gurgled laughter erupted from his throat, but before the laughter could grow, Nakai slammed the guard’s body into the side of a bus; once Nakai let the dead man drop to the ground, a red blood streak was left behind. While Nakai shoved the guard’s pistol into his bag, another guard suddenly ran out from behind a bus with a loud shout. Nakai could see the guard also had a pistol and was getting ready to aim for Nakai’s head, when Zhang sprinted out from the front of the bus he had been waiting; with Luka still in his arms, Zhang sprinted forward with incredible speed before colliding into the man with his shoulder. Zhang’s momentum was enough to send the surprised guard into the side of the bus, knocking him out cold. While Zhang placed Luka on the ground, Nakai bent down and handed the other gun to Zhang. Before they finally made their way to the bus station to buy their tickets, Nakai made sure to kick the two bodies under a bus.
As if the lobby wasn’t crowded enough, as soon as Alo handed their tickets over to enter the train platforms, both Wang Bao and Mika struggled to make their way through the dense crowd heading down the concrete steps; so as to not fall down and cause an accident, they were forced to rely on Alo’s hand’s to guide them. When they finally made it to the border train platform, Alo pulled Wang Bao and Mika towards the back of the dense crowd to keep them covered from the guards. Wang Bao hadn’t noticed, but Alo could see the two guards from the lobby were moving down the same concrete steps they had walked down, their sharp eyes moving across the crowd as they walked at a slow pace. It was clear the guards were looking for someone, and Alo could see a few other people in the crowd grow cautious towards the presence of the guards, as if they were also being targeted.
To try and keep Wang Bao hidden from view of the guards, Alo stayed in front of him and pressed him into the wall until their train arrived. By the time the front of the train could be seen coming down the tracks, the guards were becoming frustrated from their misfortune, and Alo made sure to keep a firm hold on both Mika and Wang Bao as he moved with the crowd. Wang Bao couldn’t see what carriage they were heading towards, but he could feel the gap between him and Alo growing because of the large number of people trying to get into the train at the same time. As Alo forced Mika into the train, he could feel Wang Bao’s arm slip out of his grip, and he turned around in time to see a guard trying to pull Wang Bao back by his shoulder. Without causing too much of a scene, Alo stepped out of the train and wrapped an arm around Wang Bao’s waist, using his other hand to pinch the guard's tricep area until he loosened his grip on Wang Bao’s shoulder. Once Wang Bao was free, Alo suddenly threw his head forward and collided with the guard’s nose, causing a fast stream of blood to leak out of both nostrils while the guard stepped back in pain. Alo didn’t know where the second guard was, but he didn’t bother to look around as he pulled Wang Bao into the train quickly.
It wasn’t until Alo was dragging Wang Bao through the long line of carriages to find Mika, when he made eye contact with the other guard on the platform. It was clear the other guard had been rushing through the crowd to try and find Wang Bao; believing he could beat the last call, the guard suddenly ran towards the front of the carriage, hoping to get inside the doors before they closed, but the last call had already been made, and the train slowly moved forward along the tracks. Alo breathed a sigh of relief as he continued to watch the angry guard swear at the train with a red face. Once they could no longer see the platform, Alo continued pulling Wang Bao forward to find Mika. At first Alo was beginning to grow anxious, since they had walked through two full carriages and there was no sign of Mika, but after walking through three full carriages, Alo was relieved to see Mika hunched over on a seat in the back of the carriage. Because Wang Bao was a little shaken after being manhandled, he chose to sit across the aisle from Mika, allowing Alo to take the empty seat. Alo could see Mika was shaking as he hugged his knees to his chest, and he reached out to rub Mika’s back, but as soon as his hand touched Mika’s jacket it was shaken off, Mika then quickly turned towards the windows as he said in a quiet voice.
“Don’t touch me please.”
Alo felt guilty about the way he had treated Mika since getting off of the bus, and he tried to move closer to Mika again, while he said with deep concern.
“Mika, I’m sorry about earlier. Are you okay?”
Mika knew that if he answered Alo, he would end up crying. The way he had been forced to be separated from Luka was only part of Mika’s problem, the bigger issue was that it had been a long time since he had been surrounded by so many people, and he was beginning to feel unsafe. It didn’t help that things hadn’t been explained to him properly, and it only added to the already stressful environment he wasn’t comfortable being in. Mika could feel he was spiralling towards a breakdown, but he was trying his best to focus on his breathing and calm down. While Mika hid his pale face in his knees, he also started to clench his fists as hard as he could; the sensation of his nails digging into his skin helped calm his thumping heart. Alo didn’t take Mika’s silence personally as he already knew Mika would be dealing with a lot, and he tried to offer some support by saying softly.
“I know it’s hard being apart from Luka, Mika. But it would be too hard to travel with you two and Bao, while also trying to keep everyone safe. I promise you’ll see him soon, Okay?”
Alo’s words were met with more silence, and he decided it would be best to let Mika have his space. The next stop wouldn’t be for another two hours, and the small group continued to sit quietly in order to get some rest.
Without realising, Alo fell asleep during the smooth train ride, and he sat up abruptly with dry tired eyes when he heard the train doors open. Seeing that the train had pulled up to the next stop, Alo looked beside him then at Wang Bao to see they had both fallen asleep. With the platform being on Wang Bao’s side, Alo moved across the aisle silently to watch the large group of passengers leaving the train exit before the new passengers filed in. Despite his eyes being dry from just waking up, Alo made sure to look out for anyone wearing a uniform, and as he suspected, he saw a serious looking tall white man walk through the crowd towards their carriage. Without waiting to see if the guard was actually headed their way, Alo roughly woke Wang Bao up before picking Mika up in his arms. Because of the sudden wake up call, Wang Bao was on the verge of having a panic attack, thinking he was under attack. When he saw Alo was holding Mika, who was still asleep, he figured they would be switching seats and he moved quickly to grab all three of their backpacks. With quick movements, Alo unlocked the door connecting the carriages together, and they squeezed their way through the crowded aisle towards the next carriage. Wang Bao didn’t know how long the train was, but after the second carriage, Alo suddenly turned on his heel, and handed him Mika to hold along with the large backpacks.
Wang Bao struggled to hold all of the sudden weight, but he forced his arms to bear with it, since he didn’t want to drop Mika. While guiding Wang Bao down the aisle, Alo instructed him in a quiet voice.
“There are three more carriages after this one, go to the last one and wait for me.”
Without having to be told, Wang Bao knew they had been found again and he moved with quick steps to do as Alo had instructed him. While Wang Bao walked away, Alo made his way back to the door they had just walked through and peeked through the small glass window. Once the train started moving, Alo saw the guard enter the carriage in front of him, and he swiftly turned around to find an empty seat. Luckily the end carriages were less than half full, and Alo picked an aisle seat near the middle. After taking his seat, Alo slouched down as if he was asleep, and his position allowed him to look through a thin slither in his eyes, while appearing as a sleeping passenger. It wasn’t long before Alo saw the guard enter the carriage, his face a bright pink from his obvious frustration. As soon as the guard walked past him, Alo quietly got up from his seat and followed a few steps behind the guard. Once the guard reached forward to open the door to the next carriage, Alo slid the toilet cubicle door open, then pulled the guard in by the scruff of his blonde hair.
The cubicle was barely big enough for one person let alone two, and Alo forced the flimsy door shut as the guard repeatedly punched his ribs. Once the door was shut, Alo threw his elbow back against the guard’s cheek, before he spun around to headbutt the guard in the same spot. Before Alo could get any more hits in, the guard grabbed ahold of his jacket and pushed him against the wall, before trying to pull his arm back for a punch. The limited space allowed Alo to headbutt the guard again, and as the guard attempted to throw a quick punch, Alo sat down on the toilet, followed by a punch to the guard’s crotch. Their fight was sloppy and loud, but Alo didn’t care as he held onto the guard’s head, squeezing his body past the large man in order to dunk his head into the brown toilet water. Despite being hit in the face multiple times along with the crotch, the guard continued to put up a fight as he tried to reach behind his buttocks to grab Alo. Using his knee, Alo quickly knocked the guard down, forcing the guard’s head into the toilet bowl. Brown water splattered everywhere as the guard tried to free himself with flailing limbs, causing Alo to almost lose his grip, but before he could let the guard free, Alo jumped on the struggling man’s back until there was no more movement.
The only sound in the cubicle was Alo’s quick breathing, and he took a minute to tidy himself up before opening the cubicle door. Because there was no way to open any of the carriage doors while the train was moving without setting off alarms, Alo reached into his pocket and pulled out a small coin. Using the small coin, Alo locked the bathroom cubicle from the outside before he walked into the next carriage, ignoring the odd looks from the confused passengers behind him.
. . . . . . .
After their kerfuffle with the guards in the parking lot, Nakai and Zhang didn’t see any signs of more guards turning up, and they were able to board the bus with no further interruptions. Although the bus was bigger than the shuttle bus, the seats were still too small for Nakai; as soon as he sat down across two seats with his back against the window, he could feel his body cramping up in various places. Luka took the window seat across the aisle, leaving a space for Zhang beside him, but before Zhang sat with Luka, he wanted to get more details on why they had separated their group and changed the plan of heading for the border. When explaining things to Zhang, Nakai kept the details simple since the situation as a whole was rather complicated, but Zhang was already aware of his and Wang Bao’s status, which saved Nakai from needing to backtrack on a long list of information. When Zhang heard that Wang Bao’s Mother was after them for various reasons, Zhang didn’t need to hear anymore details and he moved across the aisle to sit beside Luka.
As soon as he sat down, Zhang could see Luka was visibly worried since his leg was jittering, and he had a stressed expression on his face. Zhang knew Luka was out of the loop on what was happening, just like he had been and he quietly explained everything that Nakai had told him a few seconds ago. Once Luka finally understood what was going on, Zhang could see he had calmed down a lot, but Luka’s leg was still jittering up and down. To stop the repetitive movement, Zhang squeezed Luka’s knee firmly before asking.
“What’s got you so anxious now, Luka?”
Although Luka had been worried about the sudden stressful environment, and being kept out of the loop, his main concern was his brother’s well being. With tears filling his eyes, Luka couldn’t stop his words coming out at a quick speed as he explained to Zhang.
“I’m worried about Mika. He’s gotten better with being around strangers, but he is still extremely sensitive to tense situations and crowds. I don’t want him to have a breakdown while we’re apart because Alo and Bao won’t know what to do.”
While Luka had been speaking, a few tears had fallen down his cheeks, and Zhang wiped them away quickly before reassuring Luka to trust his brother, as well as Alo. Luka’s anxiety didn’t disappear completely after venting to Zhang, but he was able to relax enough to rest.
To keep his mind off his continuously growing discomfort, Nakai thought over all of the times they had been tracked by guards, along with the run-ins they had with people linked to Queen Mother. The list was longer than Nakai wanted it to be; it was obvious from the beginning of their journey, but Nakai didn’t like how far Queen Mother had continued to follow them, despite never stepping foot outside of the palace walls.
