It took me a while to finally untangle the chaotic emotions I have been feeling. Seemingly feeling that I have finally calmed down, Dale pushed me off of him and proceeded towards the pile where the monster was buried.

I felt embarrassed but at the same time thankful to his subtle emotional comfort. It seems like since the start I have been depending on him too much.

For a while I stared at Dale as he walked towards the rubble where the monster was buried.

Watching him move closer towards the devastated area, I was a little scared and apprehensive since I was still not sure if the monster is really dead.

“Dale, what are you going to do?” I asked as I walked towards him.

Seemingly not hearing me, Dale swiftly climbed the small hill of concrete and wood then started to dig. He was particularly focused on what he was doing that I seemed to have faded to the background.

Standing at the base of the rubble, I hesitated whether to help him or not.

“You go and look for the old man. I just need to do something”, Dale fortunately help me with my predicament as he said this words with a flat tone.

“Then be careful. We're not yet sure if that monster is really dead.” With a light nod I responded in soft voice. I was not sure if he heard or not but since he did not say anything I walked towards the head librarian's office which was at the far side of the room.

Since I have been here often, I knew that the place where the head librarian's office was located. Fortunately the office was located at the first floor or it will be really hard to go up since the whole second floor was destroyed.

'I hope the old man -' My thoughts suddenly stopped as an idea passed by on my mind.

'Wait... I don't even know the name of the old man!' As I was struck by this thought, a question suddenly popped into my mind – the name of the child.

This realization was so sudden that I suddenly felt lightheaded and dizzy. A number of questions seemed to come so suddenly that I collapsed on my knees.

My eyes squeezed shut and I gasped, my chest expanding and contracting so violently I felt like I was nearly about to burst. For a while, I could only pant heavily as cold sweat run down my face.

Time seems to drag on as events, words and other thoughts seemed to chaotically appear in my mind that my head started to ache so much. I curled up while I held my head in a futile effort to relieve the pain.

It took a while before the pain and chaos in my mind calmed down. Like a receding wave, the pain left and chaos disappeared without leaving any trace. However I started to feel like I forgot something.

I sat in daze for a while. It was like my mind was covered by a veil of fog. The more I tried to recall, the more it became out of my reach.

Uncomfortable and unsure, I decided to just put aside this feeling for now.

Standing up like nothing happened I continued towards the office to look for the old man.

Entering the office, I checked the place. Just like the library the office gave off a very classic feeling. The office was actually just a connecting room that was a storage room which was made as a makeshift office.

Unlike the neatly fixed and arranged books outside, the bookshelves crammed with dozens of books that was not arranged in any order. There was also pile upon pile of different books that was stacked together around the floor which made the already crammed place more packed.

Despite the crammed place, the whole office was brightly lit by the crimson light coming from the floor-to-ceiling windows. There was one small office table which was in front of the window. There was a person who seems to be sleeping on the table. I was only able to see the shadow/siluite since the person was sitting against the light.

Somewhere in my mind I have a strong feeling that this was the person I was looking for. Finding the person was good however I was not happy as I looked at the shadow. Not finding means that there will be a possibility that he was still alive somewhere – there was hope but looking at the shadow, I already know that the child was bound to be disappointed.

Despite the sadness, I still walked towards the table - I just had to verify. As I neared it, I was able to see clearly the person lying over on it.

It was an old man.

He looked about 60 to 70 years old. Aside from his obvious white hair he looked like any regular old man that I have met before.

He looked like he was sleeping. The scene was so serene that it was out of place.

Reaching out my hands, to verify if he was still breathing by putting my finger beneath his nose.

'...'

I felt complicated. To be honest I have felt sad and relieved but most of all I never thought I will feel envious of him.

I have seen many kind of death since I left the infirmary. Some was gruesome that even the body was not complete however Instead of dying off because of monster or any other mishap from the apocalypse, to have died in a quite and serene way seems to be the best in this current situation.

Pulling reign on my wondering thoughts I put my hands together, I made a simple prayer to offer to the old man.

'Rest in Peace'

Putting my hands together, I made a simple prayer to offer to the old man.

After which, I took the small locket I saw near his hands.

The small locket seems old with it color showing signs of fading. As I examined it, I felt the warmth from it being exposed to the sun. Flipping it open, it reveal a small photo of the old man together with the child, the smile on both shows how happy they were.

With one last look to the picture, I silently secured it in my pocket. The least I can do was bring this to the child.

Different from how spirited I was when I entered the room, I left it with a gloomy feelings.

As I went to find Dale, I saw him standing in front of the devastation.

He looked disheveled however he seemed happy.

Putting aside my gloomy feelings, I curiously came behind him just in time to hear him mumble.

“To find a seed at this place is really a very unexpected.” he seemed muttered in daze as he looked at the item in his hands.

I peeked from behind him to look at a very weird glowing object in his palm.

It was like a big seed the size of a fingernail. It was glowing with red light like it was breathing. It look mysterious and eerily beautiful.

“What is that?” I can't help but ask Dale.

Closing his palm, he slowly faced me with his serious face.

“I want this item. Since you have contributed on killing the monster, I would compensate you instead with information and protection for the mean time.”

I was stunned by his words but I quickly pulled myself together. I knew that the item was valuable to him. Since I did not know what use it was and he even saved me twice I just nodded my head in agreement.

I do not know the how valuable the item was but for me, his protection was much more valuable at this point in time and the information he will share seemed equally valuable according to my instinct.

“Good. Did you find the person?”

Humming my agreement I did not elaborate more on it. He seemed to not care as well as he teared his sleeves and wrap the softly glowing item with the cloth and put it in his pocket.

“We have to return before it gets dark. It will become more dangerous later.” He said as looked at the disappearing sun outside the window.

I followed his eyes and also looked at the darkening sky outside the window. It seemed to become colder as the last light of the sun slowly disappearing in the horizon.

I can't help but shiver involuntarily. Whether it was because of the cold or the possibilities of what will happen tonight as Dale seemed to foreshadow I do not know.