The last broadcast, as they called it, had truly happened and was truly showed simultaneously all over the world. Every ear, every eye, every single living being had been forced to look upon the night sky and the ever-morphing cloud that spelled out the confirmation of their doom, along with their one last chance to flee.
Most of those people who had heard the news were overjoyed and nearly drowned in relief. With the threat of the beasts temporarily gone, they should be able to get out of the barrier and explore the wider world or rush to the nearest sanctuary, in a bid to secure their safety and hope for a better future.
Some decided to stay, so as to not risk what little left they had managed to protect. Even if it meant complying with the rules of a new master of their domain, they thought the trade was worth the deal.
And the rest? Those who chose to remain had decided to fight back. They vowed to retaliate harder, faster, with veracity rivaling that of the beasts themselves as not a single minute had been spent in waste. Weapons sharpened, skills honed, their minds cleared and acute—they refused to become meek little lambs and ran forward as predators.
But today, none of that mattered. Today, they were helping those who wished to flee with packing and organizing. The normal civilians had ventured out of the barrier on their own volition; to test the integrity of the announcement’s truth.
She was also there to witness that moment, walking out of the membrane of light along with the curious group to a shocking discovery. For the first time in her ten years of living in the capital, Tira saw deserted streets that stretched as far as her eyes could see.
Destruction traveled along the path that the drones took towards the touchstone. Their touchstone.
Most of the buildings by the sidewalk had either crumbled from explosions and impacts or were now laid bare, abandoned, their paint and tempered glass covered with rusted vermilion that had flowed from the failed attempts of the unlucky masses fleeing to safety.
It was nobody’s fault but the game designers' own that the creatures had attacked with a siege-esque formation. There would have been more teenagers, more young adults, who had made it if not for the fact that the drones were thorough in their work of annihilation.
They didn't move from a location unless that area was completely decimated out of any signs of life.
Which wasn't a hard task, considering that the herd of a touchstone capable of covering a one-kilometer radius would equate to summoning enemies numbering in the thousands, with the deadliest battle capabilities of all.
In terms of the current situation, only 2% of the possible one hundred thousand people who lived around the range of protection had made it inside the barrier.
Five thousand survivors, with a 98% mortality rate. This event deserved to be called an apocalypse for a reason.
Yet, just as promised, after that announcement, the drones were nowhere to be found. On sight, tracking via smell—nothing. It was almost as if they had never existed in the first place.
Henry and Lydia had led the hunting and tracking group to see if they could try and trace the beast’s abode while they were sidelined, but after some unfortunate discovery, had to suggest that they try not to investigate further since a location that could house a horde numbering in the thousands would mean it was also being their lair.
Even though the number of recruits had soared, there was not a single person that could take down one of those creatures by themselves.
No one, not a single one, had successfully brought down a drone without assistance from the generals.
They weren't yet, but they would be capable, soon.
"You don't understand! It's too dangerous–"
"Yeah, of course, it is!" Hannah shouted back with a volume that matched Elvin's screaming. "But that doesn't mean I can just leave!"
"Why can't you?!" Elvin asked with his hands over his girlfriend's shoulder, desperation evident in his face and voice as he pleaded. "Hannah, why can't you come with me?"
Hannah's face was hidden under her downturned gaze, though her shaking shoulders and the light sob that had escaped her curling frame were enough telltale signs of her distress. "You don't understand, El, my- I can't… hic!"
"Hannah…"
Tira had to forcefully move her legs so she wouldn't stay rooted where she stood and tried to pass by as quietly as she could, to give the two much-needed space. She had walked by this lover's spat by accident, and by no means did she wish to be involved in this argument in any way that would matter.
Friends or not, this was not her business to butt in.
She entered an empty classroom, cleared out of any leftover supplies from the students who had lived within it. As those who followed their parents away would no longer need the space within, most of the supplies that used to be housed in these classes had been removed, now laid bare as the day before they were built, making her think about how different a room looked when it was devoid of any furniture within.
Those who decided to stay behind had been accommodated with a better place to lay their heads, as there were many more unused buildings and rental rooms left unattended, all ready for the picking, and even then, with how few the numbers of those who made it past the first day to begin with; it was inevitable that those buildings would remain empty and abandoned for a very long time.
For now, Tira had to put the bookshelf she was carrying on the floor, slowly, so that it wouldn’t shatter. The footsteps trailing behind her followed and hadn't managed to catch up until she had placed the furniture at a marked spot at the end of the room.
Soon, said followers had entered, and their arrival was accompanied by labored breathing. To which, she only gave a two-word comment of–
"You’re slow."
"You’re too fast!" Ginan quipped back with annoyance, face flushed and cheeks almost swelling double in size from pouting. "What kind of fucker gets to carry a bookshelf up five flights of stairs and not shed a single sweat?! That’s you! You’re a monster!!!"
"Stop whining... haaah... and put the books down carefully...!" Sariya cut in as soon as she stepped into the room, not complaining like her friend had, even though she was visibly trembling and having trouble breathing. "Consider this… payment for all your missed workout regime."
"I don’t even have a workout regime!"
Even with that mournful, high-pitched whining, Ginan still faithfully put the boxes with care onto the floor. Most likely, to avoid getting roasted and then flamed by Sariya if he accidentally caused any damage to the books from being careless, since Sariya had a way of making every lecture session hurt; not even Tira was immune to her barbed tongue lashing if she was in the wrong.
In short, they worked in silence.
She went down to bring more bookshelves to the fifth floor, seeing that her two friends had moved, though she couldn't tell if they had finished arguing and kept going by moving more shelves up the stairs. Once that was done, she helped to hoist the boxes up, five stacks at a time.
Getting a superhuman to help with your moving endeavors was a sure, efficient way of labor division, as they had not even hit lunchtime before clearing the relocation for the school’s library.
Most of these books had been curated by Sariya in her free time, as she had counted on all the other, abandoned bookstores' inventory to replace the old, tattered ones that the school had with the stronger, better quality doubles.
When the news was told to her, Tira had been shocked, to say the least. Sariya had kept working on preserving these books for weeks, ever since that first day, enlisting the help of Ginan to save all the important texts whenever they had the freedom to move around.
Tira couldn't pretend that she didn't understand where this came from. While other people looted for food or gems, what mattered to Sariya was knowledge. She'd know, being a library dweller and whatnot, that these books were what made her friend's life worth living, especially since Sariya had decided to stay, for the sole purpose of supporting her, due to Tira being bound to a certain person by contract.
Sariya hadn't told her about the family argument that had stemmed from that decision either, but Tira knew of it. Their only other friend was a master of gossip after all, some water was bound to seep in on a leaky ship.
Glancing up, Tira's eyes caught onto the newly installed light fixture, musing on how quickly Felicia had agreed when she'dd asked if the senior could make a batch of giant-sized fluorescent lamps. The third year girl hadn’t even asked what it was for, and selflessly spent the entirety of her time off crafting a working prototype.
That prototype had proven to be very useful to test whether a fluorescent light of such a size could actually light the room effectively from the 20-meter distance between the ceiling and the ground.
Needless to say, it was sufficient for their use, and Tira vowed to make sure the senior got to eat more of her beloved salad the next time it was available on the canteen menu.
"But for real, how did this happen?" Ginan asked as he put down the last box on the floor and took a seat far away from the mess pile. "This isn’t the classroom I know and love..."
"Since when did you start loving classrooms?" Sariya fired back with another quip, riling up Ginan’s amusement for a bit of banter. "Since I started living in one, duh!"
Tira poked at his chubby cheeks, causing the boy to giggle uncontrollably from being teased. He laughed for a few minutes, dwindling slowly to a stop after that, knowing it was time for him to stop joking. "But seriously, is there anything Sir Dias can’t do?"
"Just call him Dias." She moved the content of the next box after matching it with the shelf’s label. The extent of what the demigod was capable of was too much for a chit-chat level of discussion. "Don’t want to have him get any bigger head than he already has, with you calling him sir and whatnot."
Unexpectedly, Sariya chuckled at her comment and smiled as she chipped in her thoughts with, "You sound fond of him."
That had her pausing for a moment. Fond? Already? Unbelievable. Tira pushed away the displeasure of her own self-awareness to answer so the others wouldn't have any weird thoughts. "He has his ways of annoying you until you get used to it."
"Huh, just like a certain someone, right?" Sariya didn't move her attention from sorting the books. She hadn't even named anyone, but Ginan still realized it and cried out. "I’m right here!"
They had another round of laughter that soon vaporized into silence, melting into the rhythm of working as it echoed endlessly through the muted room.
"Anyway, did you know that he's going out on a date with Sis Lydia today?" The chubby boy finally broke first from the pressure, as he couldn’t hold himself back any longer and started gossiping again, to the displeasure of Sariya, who had just gotten into a groove. "What, don’t look at me like that, Ya, it's the truth!"
"Yeah, like Sir Triya and Miss Erisa were dating was also ‘the truth’ coming from your ‘undisputed source' that you couldn’t tell anybody about." Sariya gestured a couple of air quotes to isolate the exaggeration the boy usually added to his tales to make them sound more legitimate and interesting. "Sure, I believe you as much as the UFOs captured on camera as evidence is on the internet."
"Um, should I stay around here?"
Henry raised his hand with a sheepish look in his eyes, perhaps having gathered enough confidence to finally say something after being snagged to help them midway during the move.
Sariya, though, was not at all concerned with the man's attempts at conversation and shot him down point blank. "You can leave if you don’t want to help unpack. Just moving the boxes was enough, thank you."
"-no I didn’t mean that..."
"Anyway, about Lydia, she is definitely not going on a date with Mr. Dias." Sariya closed the book in her hands after she checked each page to make sure they were still in pristine condition. "Neither of them seems to be into each other enough for it to be a date."
Ginan gasped hard, in a dramatic way, with his hands clutching his cheeks as his face morphed into a scandalized expression. The boy stepped back as if his entire body was appalled by the news that he'd just heard. "Neither of them being into it enough??? Sariya, I know you never went to that optician's appointment, but if you can’t see her draping herself all over Mr. Dias and brush it off as nothing, right? They literally flirted at every possible meet-up! IN PUBLIC!"
Sighing heavily, as if she was a warden dealing with a juvenile rookie, Sariya merely gave a slow shake of the head along with a click of her tongue as the first response. "Tsk, tsk, too naive Ginan! But if you’re so fond of that narrative, then I’m not going to be the one who breaks the sad truth to you."
"Look, brother Henry, what do you think about it? Those two are dating, right?"
Ginan pulled the only adult in the room into a childish conversation, one that he clearly didn’t want to be a part of, if the hesitant answer he gave was any indication. "Uh..."
"Well?"
"I think..." Henry paused, flipping the book in his lap to the cover position, and pondered for a solid minute until he continued his conclusion. "I think there is something there—"
"Ha!"
"-Something that isn’t romance." Henry finished as he passed the book back to Sariya with a pair of despondent eyes. "But there is something."
"Oh come on, you too?" Ginan booed at this pyrrhic victory he got out of a partial agreement.
Henry just shrugged off the bait and continued diving into his task with diligence that wasn't there previously. "I don’t know how to word it, but something just seems… off, about their interaction. I can’t say exactly why that is or what I've gotten out of seeing their interactions when I witnessed them. But I can say with utmost certainty that it's not romance."
"So there are times when you don’t witness them?" Ginan leaned forward in excitement, his glittering eyes did a banger job of projecting the boy's curiosity regarding the subject.
"That...!" Awkwardly, the man cleared his throat once before throwing the hot potato to its next victim. "You’d have to ask Tira about it, since she’s the one that is usually around Dias all the time."
Tira glanced away from the hardcover of the taxidermy book to properly look at Ginan. She knew that staring at him with judgmental eyes wouldn’t work to deter the boy, but she also wondered how far he was planning to chase a thread this time, even if it meant bearing the brunt of her ire.
The answer was very far. "Sis Tira, pleaseee? Pretty please, with a cherry on top?"
Ginan puckered his lips and gave her pleading puppy eyes; he even topped it all off with his hands folded in a praying pose. He looked so ridiculous that she couldn’t help but compare his visage to a modern rendition of the baby cupid.
With a heavy heart, she sighed.
"You owe me a favor."
"OK!" He answered so fast and energetically.
While shaking her head due to the incoming headache, Tira gathered what little information she knew about Lydia from the deep recess of her mind. The woman was, honestly, quite unfathomable, hard to read at times, and gave off an aura of confidence that she could pull off almost anything. Be it monster slaying, zombie hunting, or as their current topic of discussion suggests—chasing the affection of a demigod.
But was all of it true? Could a single woman be all of those things, all at once?
Tira has no answer to her question. Typical.
"As a close guard for Dias, I have seen some instances where he would interact with Lydia in places where one wouldn't consider it to be public."
She narrated slowly, unhurriedly, despite the eagerness of the other two who were trying their best to not look anywhere remotely interested. Not everyone could be immune to gossip, and she certainly wasn't about to expect her company to be on that side of the minority. "I haven't looked closely enough at their interactions to be able to determine if they are indeed romantically interested in one another, since my main job as a guard is to survey the surroundings around us."
"But,"
She continued before Ginan could protest, inserting her own opinion on what was supposed to be a conclusion drawn from a fact-based observation. "If they are indeed doing their courting dance, I can only hope that whatever abysmal chances there are, that they end it and end it fast, so I don’t have to be a third wheel for them any longer."
At first, it seemed to have worked as Ginan’s eyes turned into a sympathetic look. But he wasn't a pro-gossip elite if he didn’t remember his main quest, not long after he felt pity for her uncomfortable situation. "Wait! That’s barely saying anything!!"
"Then you should have looked at the contract better." That was all she admonished him about before she went back to unpacking. "I did as you asked. Now back to work."
"AAAAAAAAA!!"
After that dramatic, long-drawn, regretful cry, Ginan spent the rest of his time helping to catalogue the process as much as he was sulking. This wasn’t his first time getting fleeced by her for favors, yet he always acted as if each time was his first, and how devastating it was for him to get tricked at the smallest things from his 'most trusted confidants', of all people.
The silence was, of course, conducive for the other three to successfully unpack and fill an entire section of the shelf row with books.
Library filing was not exactly a one-day job, unfortunately, and will have to be continued for a long time, especially with the sheer ridiculous size of the room they were attempting to cover with books from floor to ceiling.
It was, however, the last time Ginan could help them out. His family had decided to move away to the sanctuary, as they had not lost a single member of their household. This decision was understandable, of course. Tira and Sariya had offered to help him pack but, with the need to travel light being the priority, there wasn’t much for the boy to pack that he could take with him for the journey.
Hence, Ginan instead chose to spend his time here, for an entire day, at his request for one last hang out before his family had to depart for good.
An orange glow had streamed in from the stretched-out windows and magically altered to the size of a person’s height; which had allowed a huge influx of natural light to come in at an angle that would brush all the walls from top to bottom, following the sun’s trajectory as it rises and sets.
Ginan didn't say anything at the end. Even as his pout subsided into a neutral, nostalgic look by the end of their activities. He took in the sight of the room with his eyes, scanning from one end to another, before a soft sigh that was uncharacteristic of him escaped his lips, as he turned his back to the work he had done. The last mark of his existence was here, and he smiled with ease.
"Well, that’s it from me."
Sariya couldn't hold her impassive face any longer and gave a pat on his shoulder as they walked out and locked the newly designated library. "Once we figure out how to get the internet going, remember to keep in contact, okay?"
"It’s not going to be long now, for sure." Henry chimed in with some encouragement, walking alongside his two juniors with measured steps to match their pace. "Enjoy your dinner tonight; eat as much as you want!"
"Yeah, I’ll do that."
Tira could tell that he was feeling seriously down since the mention of food did nothing to dispel Ginan’s sombre mood. They kept quiet as they descended the stairs, ribbed him as they met the boy’s still secret crush, and silently pushed him to just confess already.
The lighthearted banter and teasing thankfully brought a small smile to his face, enough for him to enjoy his dinner. For the first time, he was on the side that was being served food instead of the other way around.
She caught sight of Dias and Lydia returning from their inspection of the barrier’s edge and immediately locked gazes with his crimson glowing eyes, which looked away just as quickly after he noticed before continuing his conversation until the demigod separated from Lydia, as she was joining Cahya and a group that was waving at her rapidly.
Against her expectations, Dias didn't leave the feast area, instead coming over to their table to whisper in her ear, "Mind if I talk to you for a bit, later?"
She nodded, but gave no indication of getting up as he walked away, smiling briefly at the fangirls who had been waiting for him so that their consistent efforts weren’t wasted. It wasn’t until he had walked a bit further, that she wondered what exactly he wanted to discuss, sipping on her broth water; some ideas started to bounce around in her head for the rest of the mealtime.
Dinner done, dishes put away, she parted from her two young friends and went up the stairs in quiet, stealthy steps.
Turning the knob to enter what was supposed to be the living room she was familiar with had been turned into another thing entirely. A big table in the middle, with a map rolled open over its surface and held on each edge with pins.
The lighting wasn't as dramatic as using a yellow light bulb, but it was as close as one could get, considering that the other occupants of the room had their eyes covered by the shadow falling overhead.
As politely as she could, Tira closed the door once more.
"Wait, wait—"
She paused as the door was held by a hand in a gap so tiny it could probably crush the fingers if she kept closing the door. Tira swung open the door once again, just so she wouldn't accidentally close it from shock. "Sorry, I thought I entered the wrong room."
Rina’s laugh from inside compelled her to give the group a chance and open the door wider, as it turned out to be Armand’s hands whom she almost crushed by accident. He looked a bit miffed, though he did not say anything as he stepped aside to let her enter.
Scanning the room in a more leisurely manner, Tira noticed that, aside from the mild expansion of the room to fit the grand table, nothing else had changed. The thin mattress that she used daily was still tucked away in the corner, along with what personal belongings of hers had made it out of Chia’s past rampage, just as the blanket she used this morning was still folded neatly at the foot of the bed.
The coffee table was also still there, just located a bit deeper in the room, another case of the room being stretched out like an asset played with a 3D editor.
Almost everyone that was important to Dias’ force was present. The generals, their left and right hands, and even Sir Saputra and Miss Erisa, for some reason. She couldn’t remember if the teachers had been sworn in, and a quick check turned negative on both ends of being contracted or awakening of power.
Still, out of wariness, Tira kept close to the door and crossed her hands as she leaned against the wall. Her gaze was fixed on Dias, who occupied the seat of honor at what she dubbed the war table for the time being. "Well?"
"Well. Ahem," Clearing his throat, Dias gave a rather awkward smile as he made himself comfortable in his seat, throwing a confused look at the others. "I am also unsure why I was asked to convey the message and stay around for this particular meeting, which I hope will become clear soon?"
Donny nodded and unexpectedly said, "We… We want to apologize to you."
He gave a sweeping look at the two of them, her and Dias, who were far enough apart that they stood almost on opposite sides of the room, and Donny stood up from his seat as he clarified. "To both of you, for our subpar and obviously uncalled for attitude around both of you."
"Sir Dias, it's true that our cooperation didn't start on the best of terms, but despite that, you gave us chances after chances while we… while I kept doubting you." He hung his head low in shame, "For that, I am sorry."
The demigod nodded, his calm, unchanging expression never once turned wronged whatsoever. "Apology accepted. Your distrust came from a place of good, the need to protect yourself and those you cared for. Don't berate yourself for it after this."
"Tira."
Rina was the next to speak, her face filled with guilt and her eyes a bit swollen on both ends. Nothing her power couldn’t fix, of course, but what had made her cry so hard that it still left a mark so deeply? "I want to apologize to you, on behalf of everyone else, for not stopping Donny from attacking you."
"There was no excuse for me, of all people, to not stop his action whence it was about to take a life, no matter how much tension we were in at the moment. Betraying your trust in us for the last time." Rina's lips quivered with the emotion that threatened to spill out of her eyes, but she managed to keep herself steady and asked for forgiveness with a cracked voice.
"I’m sorry."
Tira gave a good look at her senior’s face. Henry, Lydia, and Gunawan were also sporting the same guilty countenance as they stepped forward and apologized in turn. "We were supposed to be the adults in the situation, and despite that, we failed you. We’re sorry."
Armand, in his very own fashion, gave a serious look as he bowed his head on his own. "Sorry for blowing off on you for no reason. That was rude of me."
"I should also apologize to you, in truth, I was... testing something." She admitted without much reluctance, after seeing how sincere they were trying to make amends after that small incident, now that she figured out that the two teachers probably set them up for this, or perhaps had pushed for it to happen, as she noticed their impassive but fiery eyes. "I had purposely goaded you in that conversation, hoping one of you would take the bait and attack me. I didn’t mean for you to carry that burden of guilt afterward. I’m sorry."
Rina’s brows fell as she looked up, confused, "Tira?"
Miss Erisa went forward and stopped all questions as she asked her own, "You were testing things? With the group’s trust in you?"
Looking at Dias, he wasn't going to stop her from confessing the truth. Figured, considering the mess was hers and hers alone. But neither did he appear to be stopping her from talking about what she had done.
Shaking her head, Tira let the truth that hadn’t even festered for a day, to come out.
"I was testing to see whether the bond would notify Dias or would cause a backlash on him if I willingly walked to my death."
A sharp hiss had come from Sir Saputra, the only sound in the room that was immediately dampened by the foam walls and carpeted floor.
In that quiet, Donny had his eyes wide open at the same time that Devy covered her mouth with her hands. Rina had her mouth hanging open, as if gasping for air after it was all knocked out of her lungs, while Raphael eyes hardened into a glare.
Henry was the most surprised of all, as his physical reaction had jolted Lydia, who was standing by his side, along with Gunawan, Armand, and Dharma.
"You..." Armand was shaking as he clenched his fist. His power was spiking up and down, out of sync and out of control, evident from just observing his irregular breathing. "You were trying to kill yourself?"
"In a sense, yes." She answered him with indifference, with the neutrality and calmness that she needed when she discussed about herself, "Just enough to see what would happen if I go along with it and not resist."
"To see what would happen... ha." Armand chuckled, then laughed. A full-blown belly laugh, even though it sounded off. It was a laugh of anger, after all. Of course it sounded off. "To see what would happen?!"
"Yes."
"AT THE COST OF YOUR OWN FUCKING LIFE?!"
His scream didn't hurt her ears, the noise was contained in the room full of padding and had dispersed most of its force before even reaching the other ends of their location. A mix of expressions rested on his face, things that she could not name, not when his eyes were glaring at her as he went red from anger.
There was a pause, heavy, suffocating smog that whirled in the room. Invisible as it was, she could feel it, moving, pulsing—the liveliness was contrasted with how still everyone was.
"You haven’t changed at all, have you?"
Kevin asked, with a knowing smile he uttered, with the softest, unthreatening tone, he had shot his question. His eyes were indifferent to her but at the same time, fearful. There was a certain power that could only be granted with knowledge, and she could see that he knew of this as well when he said that to her.
It was meant to be mocking. Instead, his voice sounded nostalgic.
As much as things change, many, many other things would remain the same.
"I changed before, when the world was at peace, as it held no place for me," Tira answered in a way that only they would understand, reaching for the door to exit the place where she knew she would not be welcome for a long while, if ever at all.
"And I relapsed, now, when all it demands from me is my violence."
Once her parting words were given, she left.
Wandering around the streets felt entirely different than walking around during the day.
There was a self-propagating air of mystery created by the dark, by just existing, it spelled danger to the minds of those who ventured unprepared.
Of course, tonight was a little more special than other nights. The collective force of humanity, their ensuing noises and activity, followed by the light they brought with their existence had dispelled a little of that deep seeded fear of the night.
She watched as the remaining people still continued to get ready and were packing—families—and considering the items to bring and what to leave, to donate to those who were staying. A few friends, either one that survived the razing of the blade or those forged afterward. Close-knit groups chatted by the side of a car as their plumes of smoke were thick enough to visibly rise in each other’s eyes. There were even some children on the street, huddled up by the streetlamps as they played hopscotch happily while they waited for dawn to come.
For them, dawn meant a new beginning. It meant a new chance for each of them to have a safer future. A new lease of life away from the war, however long it would take.
Temporary as it was, a relief was still a relief.
Eyeing the buildings to make sure she had entered the right one, Tira climbed a set of stairs, blending with her busy surroundings as if she was just but another ant moving around, getting ready for their nest relocation.
Luckily, the door of the place she sought was ajar, with voices coming in and out near the entrance, a sure sign of activity. Sign that her short, quick visit wouldn’t be met with sleepy voices, or annoyed orders to get the door for whoever was rude enough to come at the dead hours of the morning.
After a few knocks on the door, Tira admired her luck when the one she wanted to meet was the first person who tried to go to the door. "Hey, I was about to visit tomorrow morning to give you something! What's up?"
"I’m calling you in on that favor."
Immediately after she said that, Ginan put his backpack down at the side of the door and gave her all his attention. She had never cashed any of her favors or debts that he had, despite plenty of time and chances to do so, mostly meaning well and that it was nothing more than a verbal knack in their short time together to spice out their passing of time while hanging out.
But it was different now. Now, she took out a small white envelope, smaller than the size of her palm, and handed it over to the boy.
"When you get to the sanctuary, if you find yourself with some free time, try to look for this person." She was confident that he would understand the letter's content, despite her deliberate obscurity. "If you can’t find them after a year has passed, then consider it done and burn it."
Ginan took the envelope, carefully, with more tact than he usually did when handling his phone, and slipped it into his bag’s back zipper. "And if I find them?"
A big 'what if'. Not that she was doubting their skill to survive, she's certain they’d do just fine.
But that had been what this was all about, wasn’t it? Another just-in-case scenario.
She took a deep breath.
"I want you to tell them to..."
"Good morning, everyone. I hope all of you, who are standing before this podium, all had a good sleep last night."
A man’s voice rang through the field, calming, serene, a voice that diffused all the tension that had been pent up before he talked publicly for the second time.
Principal Guntur waited, patiently, and only continued once he was assured that he had gathered everyone’s attention. "Today will be the day where we send our people. Outside the barrier, two provinces away are the promised safe haven for you to live in.
"It will be a tough journey; it will be more treacherous than your usual yearly pilgrimage home every year during Ramadan, as this time something more important will be at risk; your lives."
"I will not bog this precious, limited time we have left with a meaningless sentiment. So instead, I will warn you. Do not stray from your group’s leader no matter the cost. Do not be afraid and rush forward; we have calculated the journey to be enough for you all to arrive with plenty of time to spare."
"And lastly..."
He paused. Perhaps he was debating whether or not to say what he wanted to say, and by the principal's smile, it was clear that he had decided to do it anyway. "And lastly, to those of you who have lost everything, those who are still unsure of yourself, fret not. Our lord’s love will guide your way."
Our lord. That was ambiguous enough for that statement to pass, probably. It could have meant the man who died for our sins on the cross, or the man who was standing on the sidelines with his hands folded behind his back.
Watching the proceeding of the first group at the edge of the barrier was a more nerve-wracking moment than she thought it’d be. Despite knowing that the outside world was safe from danger for a time, it did not stop the people from holding their breath until they had stood outside of the barrier for longer than five seconds without being maimed by a stray monster.
Those who were fit physically had to walk, while those who were injured, weak, and old were huddled together riding in a transport truck. The rides included a few of those who had regained their sanity, those who had recovered from the horrors they had lived through. It was a regretful moment to find that Chia wasn’t on that list yet.
Children were waving from inside the cars as if they were part of a parade. There was no way for thousands of people to be transported by car because the road had yet to be confirmed to be clear for two kilometers beyond the barrier.
A small number of people, who had been assisted in awakening their power, had led the convoy in order to clear the road and to escort them all to safety, one of them being the last policeman that, against all odds, had survived being shot point blank to the chest and also the gruelling operation done in order to save his life. If there was any bet on who would make it on this journey, it would be this man.
"I’ll deliver them all safe and sound." He said. Then, with a salute, a promise followed. "I’ll make my way back, no matter the cost!"
It was an unnecessary risk to take, considering that he was not bound to Dias via contract, nor was he under oath to any of the generals.
Still, Dias nodded back with a sincere smile as he sent the officer on his way with a responding salute. "Thank you for your service."
Mixed feelings and expressions were compacted into an almost faceless number of crowds, who, one by one, began their pilgrimage on foot.
Three hours later, when the first batch of the road cleaning crew had disappeared from view, the second round of people made their way.
Broken into groups of a hundred, to not slow down the pace of the convoy caused by escorting too many people at a time, those who stayed watched in silence as one by one, those groups left the confines of the barrier.
Hundreds at a time, once every hour. Young children were going last, on the assumption that the road would be cleared out for them by then, cutting the hours needed for travel from one hundred on foot to merely seven by car.
At the time the sixth batch was about to be sent out, under the soft glowing light of the newly rising sun of the next day, Tira saw Ginan pass by her. He waved at her, smiling, though it was a smile barely there, devoid of his usual sunny energy. Her replying wave would have been alright for anyone else, to watch them go and silently pray for their safety on the road.
But that wasn't good enough of a send-off, wouldn’t it? Not for a friend.
So she nabbed the guy off the line, gave him a quick hug, and whispered, "I’ll miss you." just for him to hear. She endured the fire that burned her skin, until it was long enough to count as a normal hug for what should be a normal boy with dreams bigger than he was.
She didn't need to hear his reply; his bright smile and teary eyes was the only answer she needed and more.
