𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩 𝟓 - 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝; 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟐:

 

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__________;

 

{ 𝐔𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞; 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐯𝐚, 𝐋𝐮𝐤𝐨𝐢𝐥 𝐆𝐚𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ; 𝟏𝟑:𝟎𝟗 𝐏𝐌; 𝐏𝐨𝐯 𝐊𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐚 }

 

After laughing at my embarrassment, Papo took off my bag without my consent and walked back towards the bike.

 

Leaving me confused until he waved off me towards the back of the Mechanic's place I just left.

 

" You bettah use the restroom, Little Kukla, we won't be stoppin' till nightfall. By then, we probably gonna be in the next resting point." - Getting to the bike, he starts to wrap my bag with his using the ropes…

 

Couldn't he have done that from the start?.... 

 

Sighing and getting up from my sitting position, I turn around looking at the ground, seeing my fallen crowbar which dropped when I started rolling on the ground after being flashbanged.

 

Crouching briefly and taking it in my hands before starting to make my way around the place I just exited, following the walls until it turned a corner.

 

Following it still, I got to see some parts of a long destroyed parking lot. - " The vegetation really' took the place back, hmm.*nods*"

 

What was left of the destroyed cars was covered in moss and wild plants, with no wheels or good pieces left in them. To be expected, honestly.

 

... Now for my main objective, along the wall, a moldy metal door which seemed to be made out of cheap metal had a sign on its middle-upper part very faintly written ' Bathroom '. Time did its job at decaying the painting to almost complete white.

 

Getting in front of the door, I use my regular arm to turn the metallic knob. Halfway through turning it, I hear a strange sound coming from the other side of it… A hasty, anxious breathing…

 

Holding the crowbar firmly in my Mechanical one, ready to strike anyone who thinks they're smart… It isn't like it's the first time I've had someone who been has hiding like this… 

 

The first one was a scavenger hidden in a tree formation.

 

One time when I was younger, he almost shot a crossbow arrow at my leg when I was scavenging a broken jeep that fell into a forest, probably thinking I was an enemy… 

 

Luckily, Papo gave the guy a veteran treatment. Even if I don't know what exactly happened since he was dragged away by Papo who grabbed him in a neck grab from behind.

 

Do remember hearing some loud snappings and terrified screams… But, we do what we gotta do. The other scavengers I met thought I was just an innocent little girl… Let's say I used Molotov's without even knowing what they were back then….Jus' got a creative thought about alcohol and cloth, then Boom. Literally, Boom.

 

 They never really died in the end, so I can't say I felt uncomfortable. They only spun around screaming in pain, even looking like chickens which was funny.

 

Just to be taken by Papo after they stopped burning, never asked him what he did to them. And probably never will.

 

* 𝑪𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑨𝑲~* - Slowly, I push a gap for me to see inside… It seems like your usual public restroom…

 

Would've said that if it wasn't for the shaky breath I'm hearing from behind the door… Had to be….

 

Shaking my head and taking a step back, whoever is inside is pretty scared…But, I will test something..- ' Haven't used it in a while..'

 

Coughing a few times, I take a deep breath. - " *𝑰𝒏 𝑹𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒂𝒏*, Come out, I won't attack you. Don't know how you got in there or what's your situation. But get out, otherwise, I will have to take your presence here as a danger to myself. "

 

That should be… good?... Too formal…. Yea, I think a bit too much. There's some reasons we rarely speak our mother languages, having to do with Papo wanting me to be good at speaking English if someday I ever exited our place… And what do you know, now I will have to learn Japanese too. Yey….. 

 

Almost got Hiragana down…. They borrow words from other languages and use them while changing some pronunciations in Katakana… So I am still getting used to it… Suck at pronunciations though.

 

*𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒌~* - " * 𝑰𝒏 𝑹𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒂𝒏*, Ple-Please! I-I-I'm alone!... I-I just wanted to find some gas. O-Our generator ran out of it a few days ago…Then hid her after hearing a vehicle closing in!. " - Raising my crowbar at the opening door… To see an…. Old Man?

 

I mean he is in his fifties at the very least I say… On his back… Oh, an oldy pump shotgun. He is gripping tightly the support cloth that is held in front of his chest… He is…. Pretty scared…

 

Whitening long unkempt hair and beard and brown scared eyes that softened shortly after seeing me, but upon inspecting my equipment it had put him back on the edge once more…. They are cool, not scary. Tsk...

 

" * 𝑰𝒏 𝑹𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒂𝒏* Don't worry. Just passin' by, wanted to use the bathroom, if you want some fuel my Papo can give you what is left from ours since we can't take it on our travel." - My eyes squint… This guy is a little too scared for no apparent reason….  

 

Not lowering my guard, I motion toward where Papo is at…. The old man flinches at the mention of another person….. 

 

Aaaaaand his shaking got even worse….

 

What a world we live in….. Signs of high anxiety… He probably planned to rob someone and wasn't expecting a young teenager like me…. I'm pretty intimidating, yes thank you.

 

Not receiving a response, what I got was his hand wanking the gun forward to aim….*Sigh*... 

 

" Dam, why you people gotta be like' that…." - Forcing me to take action, my mechanic arm sweeps back while holding the crowbar firmly, letting out a pretty loud noise similar to a dozen clicks ticking at the same time as multiple joints move together to replicate a spring mechanism I still have yet to create given the missing components...

 

Allowing me to toss the crowbar at least 60Kmph, the part that didn't have a sharp edge… My goal?... Well….

 

" G-Girl! St- *𝔹𝕆ℕ𝕂!!*.... * 𝙃𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙋𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢* " - Fixing my stature and looking near my arm confirming it was okay. The old man falls to his knees holding his groin.

 

*𝑩𝑨𝑵𝑮!!!*

 

 Shotgun dropping to his side as if also sharing the pain, shooting up towards the sky in a stray shot…. Not much of a problem..

 

It made me flinch…

 

Just one bit…..

 

I'm Not lying…. 

 

Okay! It was loud as frick! - " Ah- It's ringing…." - Not being able to do much, I only scratch my ears while looking around glaring at the Old man in pain… And even if they're ringing…

 

The sound of an unstoppable force incoming was also pretty evident…

 

Hefty steps coming closer and closer from where I came from.

 

*𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐌!!!!* - Turning around the corner I came from… Was Papo… He stepped above a piece of fallen concrete, absolutely destroying the poor thing.

 

Heavy sounds followed his titan stroll, all the way up to the old man who was still crying from having all his generations hit by a high-speed flying crowbar… 

 

Thinking about… It is still there stuck in between the man's legs… 

 

Did it slide deep inside his flesh or something? Gross…..

 

" 𝐘𝐎𝐔….. THE MANNER YOU'RE LAYIN'' DOWN… DID'YA TRY TO DO SOMETHING TO MY LITTLE KUKLA…. 𝑫𝑰𝑫𝑵' 𝒀𝑶𝑼?" - Lowering himself down, Papo catches the old man's hair tightly, raising the man who's in pain to his eye level. Steam being let out from his mouth as a dark mysterious shadow by his face only allows two ruby red dots to be seen in its emptiness.

 

Kinda feel bad now…. - " Papo… He didn' do anything… I jus'... Kinda had to go for a weak spot…" 

 

Rubbing my mechanical arm in circles behind my head, I can simply awkwardly smile pointing my free one towards the shotgun that fell to the ground. - " He did try to use that old thing on me though." 

 

Thinking my first statement would have calmed down Papo a little, I gave away where the loud noise came from…. And…. Then it just seemed to worsen things…

 

" Ooooh! Then…. YA TRIED TO SHOOT MY KUKLA!!!! 𝑬𝒀???!" - Eyes now somehow even more feral than before, Papo starts to walk towards the bathroom the old guy was hidin' in before. Stopping right at the entrance and turning his head towards my side smiling gently.

 

" Little Kaela, do Papo a big' favor an' find some scraps you can make some use of around where our bike is at'. Papo won't take long okey~?" 

 

" 𝑯𝑴!!𝑯𝑴!!𝑯𝑴!! * 𝑵𝒐𝒅𝒔 𝑭𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚*" - Sending a shiver down my spine at how sinister he sounded, I could only nod like crazy before leaving a cloud of dust behind me as I ran to where he told me to….

 

Stopping at our motorcycle side, hearing a loud grumpy scream of pain coming where I ran away from….….

 

Just to realize…

 

" Ah… I didn' even use the toilet…"