Unspoken

by elerielina

"Every story is true if you tell it right. What I can tell you pal, is that what I'm 'bout to tell may not be known yet, or there're many versions of it. But, can I assure you, whatever y'hear or understand of all this, there will always be only two options: Tell it, or do it right. Otherwise, it's better remains untold."

13. Chapter 13

She walked making the gravel under her laced boots crunch, listening all around her to the callings and swearing of some of her companions as they cleared laying bodies out of the road, working under the arid and indolent mid-afternoon sun as fast as their strength would allow them, while others made sure they were the only ones who were in the area.

At the slightest motion, a shot on the head and it would be more than enough.

It was either those beasts or them…

To let one alive, it'd mean death.

She stood facing the larger corpse: her prey, studying it closely as the wind swept away the spoils of the heated clash, swaying the albino cloak adorned with the fur stole the beast wore in life, once black and lustrous, now stained with the dark crimson color of its corpse's blood.

"Son-of-bitch! Was hard to kill..."

Harl had joined her without noticing him approaching. Hands on his waist and the old kufiya wrapped around his neck and shiny head, his forehead glistened with sweat as he looked indifferently at the dead body.

"It's been long since I've last seen one of these. Fucking tough..."

Joyce barely flinched at his words, as if he wasn't there. She turned her attention back to the lifeless body, seeming to look for something at a glance. Harl watched her, knowing he was being ignored, just letting her be.

"Wanting a souvenir? Too bad that cloak got wasted. Looks good and that's bearskin; it's almost extinct..." He mentioned casually. "I know people who'd pay well for this kind of things. I wouldn't be surprised to stumble upon some of them down the road..."

"Harl, shut your hole and help me," Joyce sniped to him, encircling the corpse before the stunned look of the guy, who shrugged his shoulders and did nothing but grant her request, standing right next to her as she adjusted her black bandana around her neck to cover her nose and mouth, and doing the same to prevent any possible ether contamination. There were several things, besides the peculiar stench of these creatures, that were intolerable to the human sense of smell, ether was one of them. Inhaling it is highly toxic.

Hand in hand, they took the body by the shoulder pad and part of the skirt and pulled on the count of three with effort, grumbling and helping themselves with the strength of their legs until, with a final tug and letting the heavy body fall to the side with a thud, it lay face up, inert and uncovered for better inspection; the ether breather loose and slipped to one side, hanging from the supply cord, exposing to the naked eye the alien physiognomy, dark lilac and stony, and the huge but flat split-jawed snout, exposing several rows of sharp teeth, and two large fangs in the chin.

"You're ugly, bud!" Harl's expression of revulsion was heard behind the linen scarf as his eyebrows arched marking the wrinkles on his forehead.

Joyce was unmoved to any impression this creature might have in her and squatted down with circumspection at its side. She still remembers as if it were yesterday having to deal with one of this, alive, and even with the misadventure of having to make use of more rudimentary tools than they had to use today, and without dying in the attempt.

She knew them perfectly well: their physiognomy, their strengths and weaknesses. How they hunted, how they reproduced, how they fed. What they preyed on...

She knew them too well…

At the intrigued look of her companion, she checked over part of its armor having little to no trouble to check beneath the folds of its cloak without even mind the cursing of the man next to her, repulsed of seeing her searching the corpse without qualms. It didn't matter to her as a sense of tension in the air to know about this particular Fallen lying dead before her gripped on her mind.

She knew them well, and like Darwin, she knew that this was no ordinary Captain…

She expertly looked over until, struggling to dislodge the heavy piece of battered hairy cloth from the metallic shoulder pad, found underneath what she was looking for. Or what she didn't expect to find.

A crest. The Winged Blazon of Antigua, branded in blood with the sigil of the House of Devils.

Human blood.

It was a damnation. And this was indeed no Captain...

She jolted onto her feet, pulling the bandana off her face. The companion beside her tried to grasp what her eyes were seeing, and his gaze went to her face and the piece of cloth, cautiously acknowledging the latter.

That feeling appeared again, paralyzing her spine.

"They're tracking us..." She muttered.

"Wha-?"

Without even looking at him, she hastily walked away to warn the others.

"Stack the bodies and set'em on fire," Joyce shouted as the rest watched her pass by with oblivious reaction.

"What the hell ya think we're doing?!" It was heard from behind with annoyance.

At the entrance of the canyon and with the Walker disabled and being scavenged for valuable parts, Yara worked along with the rest of the squadron, parting wiring and boards that could be used or sold later in some settlement on the way. Electronic material on one side and steel fiber serving as a conductor on the other, they were trying to dismantle the Arc engine connected from the head joint to the core for their own use.

The curls of her small mane wobbled eagerly as she passed by, hurrying in the direction of the group where the squad leader was now checking the acquired assets. Even so, her face faded almost instantly, the warmth of her tanned cheekbones turning pale as she noticed that Joyce's face turned a pale and frightened expression although frantic, filled with a frenzy that she hadn't seen in her for a long time.

"Andal!" She bellowed, causing some to turn from their tasks when they heard her approaching, surprised by her angry reaction. She called out to him several times more as he helped with the scrapping of the drill, causing him to turn around impatiently and confused on the fourth call as he brushed his wavy bangs back, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Joyce? What-?"

He didn't get to protest when with a thudding slap of her open hand, he saw her slam something on the steel sealed trunk with the refined material, exposing that disturbing finding to the many witnesses, triggering an ever-growing uneasiness.

Andal's expressive eyes met Joyce's blue ones, turned a mad seething presence. His tanned face shadowed in broad daylight with the inevitability of an approaching storm.

"They know we're here..." She stated holding back her anger.

Cayde was only a few steps away. He covered the distance in three strides as he sensed the commotion. His expression changing drastically at the sight of that piece of cloth in full view, causing his lens to flare even more at the macabre uncover. He turned dumbfounded to Andal, who was speechless.

He never expected to see that crest again. Now, of all times. And certainly not with that omen.

"How do they know-?"

"We have to move, now," Joyce demanded him with primal urgency. Her voice was hoarse and somber, and though tried to remain calm it weighed with a hatred.

Everyone knew by now. Some mumbled slurs and cursed as they fell into the magnitude of the news.

"That son of a bitch over there's not a Captain!" One shouted, bursting into anger when he recognized the coat of arms. "He was a fucking Baron!"

"They'll never leave us alone...!" Another woman grew impatient as she ran her sweaty hands through her red hair in a daze.

Uprising concern spread within seconds with repressed irritation among them while Darwin approached with solemn remembrance but prudent disquiet, picking up with his big and large hands that sullied insignia. Meantime, Andal tried to regain control of the situation calling for silence, and at the same time Joyce interceded in a holler.

"SHUT UP!"

Everyone hushed, and the only thing that could be heard then was the howl of the wind against the canyon.

Being sure everyone had his attention, jaw tense at this new turn of events, Andal's stare analyzed the scene nervously. Hands on his hips, allowing himself to speak up.

"Pick everything we can carry and try to take apart the disused core and what we can save from the other," The tone of his voice never wavered, but it was tacit and severe. "Leave the rest and burn it with the dead. We have 20 minutes..."

Concerned, some were crestfallen or still cussing at the wind, they hasted trying to keep up the pace in the light of the news as the groups in charge of salvaging material were now focused only on the instructions given.

Trying to turn to his work as Cayde silently hurried back with the rest of them, Andal looked up again to find Joyce. He could see in those eyes an undeniable fury, masked under the mood the situation required. So tense, that he could even see her quivering with rage.

"I need to warn the others..." He said, trying to hold her gaze, allowing himself a pause before stepping away to help.

"Andal..." Joyce's voice measured yet still full of that powerlessness held him back. He hardly turned to look at her again. "They know who we are..."

Pondering, he breathed out with grave silence at the acknowledge of that statement, retracing his steps as Alina manifested at his side.

---

That truck rocked with every bump they run into on the rough paved road. On the back, part of the job of those aside of securing the supplies and provisions, especially the medical ones, was to keep that with every jolt the bottles or anything fragile they were transporting could break. Therefore, as soon as they left the huge shed that was once their shelter, the trip unfolded with the squeaking of the bottles and the clattering of the wooden crates against the bodywork of the truck bed, having to hold the stacked items every time they noticed that the vehicle tried to dodge a difficulty on the road.

She watched from where she was sitting as the second truck followed at the same slow and careful pace as them, observant of how the driver, another member of the camp who was unknown to her, measured by eye if those annoying potholes in the old road could become a problem if run into at a certain speed, or simply to brace for a blow in the butt to which would follow a use swear of strong words, as well as from some of his companions on the back.

5 people traveled with her, whom she paid a little attention but still didn't kept her from pry an eye on them from time to time as she get used to their presence, cautious and wary like everything that was foreign to her; every time she make eye contact with any of them, being a man or woman, every gesture of greeting though brief and polite like a smile or a chin up, was returned with an elusive look, blinking and shying her gaze away in the dusty old floor of the truck or the goods.

"That looks old..." Sarah's friendly and feminine voice next to her drew her attention in the middle of the bustling engine. She looked back at her as her rosy cheeks, the light freckles on her face and that radiant smile greeted her. "It's almost dust! I'm sure that even if you dust it off it'll disappear."

Tulisse felt a throb in her chest, and then turned her attention to the thing jealously guarded in her arms. That bag now lay on her lap, surrounded by her wool blanket and hidden from prying eyes, except for the one who was beside her.

"Is it yours?" Sarah inquired.

Her whole body jolted, and an awkward heat got a grip on her. She eyed her trying to reply something, blushing and managing to shake her head and strand her gaze elsewhere, concealed in the swaying of the truck and holding the handbag protectively. She noticed the woman's reaction, seeing her curiously as if she has understood her shyness. "Oh, I see..." It was heard in a hesitant tone when the truck dodged another bump.

Tulisse urged herself to look up, still feeling her heart in her mouth; it seemed the woman next to her divert her attention to somewhere else and choose not to pursue further inquiry on the issue. A quiet sigh a briefly smile was given to her in kind. Though that omission brought an awkward feeling between them, almost uneasy.

The exhaust pipe thundered as the truck was getting through a part of the road in a gentle bend, letting the sunlight beam through the half-open awning and that not-so-welcome early afternoon heat invade the space. That movement barely shook the vehicle as she allowed herself to shift in her spot, but even so some of her discomfort remained.

A strange itch, persistent and awkward, caused her to stir in discreet annoyance. Her fingers crawled the blanket on her thighs with uneasy feelings, swallowing them down her throat while scanning the environment all again in an instinctive reaction to preserve herself safe. But then, she tried to pick up the conversation once again with awaiting resolve.

"Are we still too far...?" She asked amidst the bustle of the old engine. Sarah looked at her again, but with a gesture encouraged to repeat the question. "How long is it; I think we're going too slow."

"Oh! Not too long. Though the road's a little bumpy so we got be careful, or we might trash some things," Sarah replied politely. "That, and... taking care of this old cranky boy and trust it not to leave us mid-way, because it won't get a second chance if we strain the engine, you know…" Both women let their chortle catch up between them with the camaraderie lost minutes before as the truck resumed a straight line on the road again. The girl brushed her fingers through the old-ragged fabric of the bag with peculiar care, nibbling her lower lip and smiling.

"Any news…?" She queried right away again. Her eyes wide open, letting in any trace of daylight to grasp on any hint. Sarah turned to her, though curious, puzzled. "Carina didn't say much before we all hopped in. Maybe they've call us again?"

The woman mused and flickered, hiding her suspicion. "It's… possible. We have some portable transmitters for cases like these. They don't have much range, but the receiver on the roof does the trick," That answer seemed not to be enough, as expected. There was something of uneasiness in those eyes, which appeared to take precedence over any other sentiment the girl could feel right now, and she could tell the efforts to try to conceal those sensations. Exactly the same as a few hours ago, in the eve of some news from the raid party. "I'm positive they're all just fine. We'll catch up soon enough. Don't trouble yourself!" Sarah reassured. And she could see a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of the girl's lips before she looked back at the old bag in her arms.

Sarah let out a sigh trying to hide her swelling unease by looking at a point inside the truck, cautious of her material to not succumb at the battered road, trying to distract herself from those sensations that beckoned her most deep and buried feelings that she hardly let to be seen. Those that were better to forget.

That young woman beside her, whom she still saw feeble but in spite of everything with an exceptional strength and willingness to see the world that was laid ahead to be rediscovered, caused in her unexpected sensations of restlessness, driven by subjects that still struggled to not let rule over her rational thought, emotions, motives and ideals. The light of Reason, as well as the fundamental obligation to every action of her sounding mind to prevail, the essential perspicacity to hold onto all that she still considered an innate and noble concept of the Human Being in a chaotic and anomic world, was an unavoidable rule that she would maintain until the last consequences to save the required saneness, feeling responsible for it to preserve it for future generations.

Like Tulisse, for example.

That was what that girl meant to her: A Future.

However, the shadow of fear was also something so very human that not even Reason itself can overcome sometimes...

There was no Reason in fear. It was all instinct.

The same instinct that often threatened to make her falter, sabotaging that iron mooring with the risk of let herself go to a wild and relentless adrift.

The same instinct that was for every human at the face of the Unknown, because of what it's Unknown is must be hazardous, and might lead to Death.

Because behind every tragedy there is also Fear. She knew it better than anyone.

And she was still fighting against that plague…

It was Fear now what was undermining her meticulous logic, watching that girl smile and the reason behind it.

"Can I ask you something…?" All the sudden, the girl spoke.

Sarah blinked, coming out of her senses. "Sure! What is it?"

The girl pondered, and even seemed to hesitate to assess further query. Thus, the woman gave a gentle smile of reassurance for her to speak her mind, and raising her eyebrows in an inviting gesture, encouraged. "So...? What's going on?"

She saw her brush back a lock of hair behind her ear as her gaze fall into her lap again.

"How… long you'd been traveling?"

Baffled, Sarah's demeanor appeared to flicker, but at the same time struggle for collecting herself as to try to fade away the rising concern of an unexpected question. Suppressing her agitation, faced back the expectant girl that awaited for response.

"Well, huh... if I recall, it's been like… 8 months, more or less... or… a year, maybe..." Her attention drifted, absorbed at her surroundings as if to try to clasp onto something. "In fact, I'm not entirely sure... Lot of things happened since we first set afoot into this. We crossed The Wastelands for weeks... This is the first time we saw green in a long time, which I'm grateful for!" She hesitated, brooding at the horizon, so far away.

"Wow..." Sarah breathed out with waned expression. "it's been… quite a while, actually..."

She didn't say a word after that. A brief instant of silence swirl between them with a melancholic air. Noticing that contemplation, she turned her attention to the girl, who was watching her attentively, but, still, with the intrigue of not feeling all her concerns satisfied.

"Oh! Uhmmm... Sorry, I was… somewhere else. Maybe I'm a bit tired. Why the question, hun?" Framing a question again with a slight frown, Sarah watched Tulisse dither, even having the impression of seeing her blushing a little.

"I was… curious, I think. Of knowing more. That's all…" She faltered averting her gaze.

Sarah snickered, narrowing her eyes. "I can tell asking this it's not something you'd just want to know out of curiosity…" Sarah replied. The girl blushed even more. "So! What do you want to know?"

Tulisse hesitated, knowing she had been discovered.

"It's all right, hun! You can ask over..." The woman insisted.

The girl shifted uneasily on spot, prying her eyes if other people were following their conversation. She rubbed her hands resting on the old bag, and then let the feel of the hoary cloth reassured her.

"You... you'd been from the start, aren't you?" Tulisse stuttered. Sarah looked at her, confused. Slowly, her smile was fading.

"'The start'...?"

Tulisse pursed her lips, taking courage. The increasing pallor on Sarah's features was starting to unsettle her. "Hmmm... Antigua...?" She finally said.

Immediately, she saw the woman's smile fade out.

With dread, every fiber of her body felt sprouting with a horrifying sense of trepidation. It was the first time she had ever seen that expression in that woman's eyes.

"I- I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"Oh! No, no! It's… It's all right, dear. It's just-" Sarah stammered, trying to stick at the conversation with her usual spirit. "It's just... It's been a while, actually. I wasn't expecting that sort of question..." Sarah replied. Tulisse was uncomfortable, she could detect in those eyes, which surprised her, the same energy that was in Carina's eyes when she firstly wakened, reflected with longing and grief.

"I'm sorry..."

Sarah shook her head. That face was now seeming to cling desperately to a smile hanging on her thin lips. "Please, don't be. It's just that I didn't expect you to ask me about it so soon…" She acknowledged.

Tulisse paused, not knowing how to keep going on the topic. Inwardly, she wondered why asking for the truthfulness was so difficult. And still necessary, at what cost...

She pinched the cuffs of her sweater again, her gaze down, not having the nerve to look the woman in the face. "I didn't want to trouble you. I was just… curious..." She conceded, her tone was pained.

Sarah shook her head again as her expression recovered her usual self. "It's OK, really. Like something similar of what I'd told you about leaving things behind..." She mentioned, puzzling the girl. "I mean, not that you're not right for asking. As I said, it took me by surprise. But, as I said before, there's a time in which we have to leave things behind. We don't expect to hear or see them again. Or mention something about..."

Tulisse chewed on that answer. "Last night, that guy..." She paused.

"Armand..." Sarah rolled her eyes in irony. The girl allowed herself to relax at that sign.

"He said things about that place when you discussed how things were going to be today. About how something like what they did today would only work in Antigua..." Tulisse went on, but now studying the reactions on the woman's poise, who turned her way to listening her carefully; there was something, however, in the way she looked at her that gave her pause and the feeling of something not said: the lack of vital knowledge. She faltered to conclude the sentence, especially because of the seriousness in those gestures that would appear gentle to any of her queries, because it was being closely scrutinize now. But still, she ventured. "How... did it happened...?" Was all she said, as the feeling of that the woman shifting uncomfortably in place before she uttered a word alerted her that something was off.

There was an evident deliberation as she saw her staring towards the horizon again, but also, and even though now the gravity weighted different in her joyful face, it was the most honest expression she had ever seen in a person, ever.

"Who told you about it?" The woman questioned her suddenly. Her voice, measured.

Tulisse fell silent, she felt exposed again, and cornered.

"Honey, I'm not mad. But I can't help thinking someone said something and loaded you with lot of fears. And I'm not talking about Armand's big mouth..."

There was no lie in that statement. It could be told by the brightness of her eyes there was indeed no anger or resentment. Thus, there wasn't a hint of hesitation, which was evident, and at the same time implicit in her manner in which she hoped would be reciprocated for the girl.

She couldn't lie, and she didn't know how to lie, she just simple not know, before that woman in whom the first sensation conveyed was courage, how to lie.

She will not lie. She barely averted her gaze, but the answer was there. Sarah knows.

Tulisse saw her sigh deeply, not of resignation but of contemplation before spell the words she would choose to answer her, always smiling, while, again, that encouraging attitude as the first time, burst from her, seeking to reach her out.

"Even if we owe them our lives, there were many others that were lost in our journey. Not because of injuries or illnesses, but what humanly required to get at this point. That's why we'd learnt. It was us who had to accept each one of our decisions, just as Carina said," The woman asserted, endorsing with her small and warm hand on hers and piercing into her eyes, "We can't remedy our losses, much less forget about them, but I can assure you that none of us is willing to let that happen again. I'll be the first."

Tulisse could only listen. A world of possibilities laid before her like a box of surprises with countless of new questions.

However, there was this restlessness in just thinking about each one of them that awakened in her something so primal and unconscious in which she could feel her heart falter, almost hurting.

"Deal with it or not, it's your call. But there's always a choice. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, you hear me?"

That assertion, while those green-bright eyes shone under the frowning gesture of the thin reddish eyebrows making something resonated within her. As something that threatens to wobble and crumble.

She nodded thoughtfully at those remarks, letting Sarah return her a quiet smile and an affectionate pat after convincing herself that there was no doubt in her.

In her mind, however, that reverberation grew louder, until it deafened her.

"…That's why I did what I did. I had no choice…"

---

The sun was setting behind the line of the mountain range to the west when they managed to finish saving all the material they could carry and distributed it in both trucks, considering first to locate those who, miraculously, presented minor wounds and scratches as well as the ones that were, fortunately, unharmed.

While they settled in the back of the vehicles, some seated, others crammed together as far as the baggage they were carrying would allow them, those who had remained in the place they had called 'home' for the last weeks, received their comrades in jubilant exultation, while some got ready where they had most of the medical supplies, so they have the possibility of being treated while the journey continued.

It was known that in this kind of landscapes it got dark incredibly fast, and it would not be new that if they delay the departure even more, the prospect of being ambushed during their ride through the vast and flat landscape of the Valley would increase, leaving the convoy vulnerable to any attack of looters, which were abundant in those steppes, on road mountains and rocky ways. They had the misfortune to come across some of them, even travelling across inhospitable places like the Red Desert months ago, and from which, luckily, they came out unharmed without having any casualties.

The same couldn't be said about the situation they now found themselves in, not only because of how low the supplies they currently had nor the loot they had stolen; valuable, though scarce in terms of transport capacity, but because everything had changed drastically in a matter of hours.

They had not expected such news…

---

They were traveling the last miles since last contact before arriving at the battered enemy mining camp when Andal's voice, wary and terse, burst into the truck's cabin like a gruff austere hum, hoping to pass unheard by inauspicious ears.

Carina, Yamir and the driver, a thick grown man with stoutly black-beard, suntanned by the midday sun, were there when they heard it: 'Someone's on our tail,' she remembers him saying, causing wariness and confusion in the two passengers, requiring him to repeat the information. 'They know, Carina. They know who we are...'

Upon arrival, the woman jumped off the truck and searched for him as she watched the entire squad swoop down on the trucks giving orders, greetings and hurried instructions of where to distribute the salvaged materials.

Darwin was at her side when she spotted him amidst the dizzying movement of the travelling party, the dark hood of his cloak hanging down his shoulders, both came across each other serious and with an uneasy expression. She narrowed the distances not expecting to be received by such nefarious omen, a vestige of a past annihilated by the plague the Fallen represented on Earth, reliving the heartbreaking remembrance of a place no Human will ever know its history.

Where she died in life...

She grabbed the piece of cloth with care and trembling hands from the brown hands of that devoted companion. The same recollection and melancholy grief, never thinking on seeing The Winged Coat of Arms ever again.

"It's two days' journey through the Valley 'til we reach the southeastern range. If we're lucky enough, we may find some hide-out where we can sell all these things," Andal's voice barely brought her out of the whirlwind of emotions she tried to conceal as Darwin went away with regretful pace to help finishing details. "We're ready to go when you say so..."

Yet she said nothing. Her gaze dwell on the offended badge as she shakily yet quietly brushed it with her thumbs. The fabric was old and deliberately torn at the edges with frantic savagery, but necessarily preserved with that trace of long-dried blood, once vibrant and reddish, for the purpose of reminding them that the World was no longer a safe place. Where Human Civilization was once a dominant species.

"They kept it all this time, just to show it as a joke... those bastards-!" Carina slurred, voice quivering with rage as the movement around her ignored her torment. Andal stirred uncomfortably, though infected by that strong feelings, flattening his lips into a thin gesture. "I'll kill them all. Every one of them, every House will fall. For every stone wrecked from Antigua's walls there will be no Kell whom not fall into oblivion. I swear it! I will tear them apart with my very own hands if necessary!" She muttered, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to compel her tears from pouring down her eyes and her voice from breaking. Her jaded hands held that old-battered piece of cloth with great sorrow.

Commiseration was what she felt when the man in front of her rested his hand with confident but steady assertiveness on her shoulder. In a gentle show of empathy, not only for her grief but for the visceral fury that overwhelmed her at that very moment, he let her know he was there for her.

"We have to go..." She heard him whisper, so close it shook her dark brown-grayish hair.

The woman tried to collect her grit and nodded without even being able to look up him, still wanting to stifle that outburst of profound ire that was eating her alive from her insides.

"We must," Finally endorsed with trembling tone, forcing herself to stand tall again and look at the man who stand beside her, and who was now sharing a mutual feeling of endurance.

Both strode with haste towards the trucks that were already loaded and ready to go. Without needing to be called out, the few stragglers who still resumed the loading of the goods, arranged torches on the pile of corpses and whatever they could not carry to continue, letting it to set on fire.

As they descended the winding canyon road towards the wide plains of the Valley, and as the night lulled the convoy's passage along the old paved dusty road under its dusky and cold blanket, the pulsating and furious light of the fire could be seen from miles away, raising at the starless skies a fervid response to such a despicable and sinister act of Terror.

---

She saw it from afar.

A flaming spot between yellowish and white, scintillating on the darkened horizon when she looked up of her aiding callings inside the now dim truck, clasping her heart with fear and confusion into a sense of overwhelming agitation yet eerie familiarity, until one of her now fellow travelers explained the whys of that pyre.

"We must scorch anythin' they mebbe save for later. What we don't use, they'd use it to slaughter us some other time," A woman who she was now aiding over a slight cut and her forehead, spoke up with a thick manly voice. Mid-age old with a rounded chin and sunburnt skin, her expression was a constant scowl of disdain. "'An eye for an eye'. They burnt our home to the groun', we set'em on fire," She added, twisting her grin into a devious gesture of contempt.

At that notion, the girl dithered, while that pungent woman distracted her attention by greedily chewing a piece of dried meat, ignoring her completely. Inwardly, she pondered about something, making that tightness in her chest become more pressing, causing her fingers to falter and nearly drop the linen with disinfectant on the dusty floor of the truck bed. But also, making her realize a clear yet shocking reality.

This was her world now…

A savage, cruel shadowy world. Chilling and merciless; a sensation from which she could not escape just by waking up, because it was there; it was tangible, explicit and inexorable, vivid and marred by blazed with painful honesty.

How far away that peaceable awakening was left behind, so far away that it seemed as if days, weeks perhaps, or countless unrepeatable moments. Where the sensation of a caress that left her perplexed had go, or a welcoming smile and the empathy of another human being that had awaken within the depths of herself something that instinctively felt as an emotion never experienced before has being left. How long had it been since that wonderful unearth, wrapped in the bright-lively strength of color and Life, pouring down from the Sky like a divine gift and stirring within her the most enthralling of feelings that had ever throb inside her.

Would she ever remember those moments at the nightly shelter, of laughter and fraternal embrace of her peers, far away where that Unknown Destiny that now rose among the mountains, as an inevitable presage of a Future to which she now was involved? Would they remember it too?

And what about the Sunrises... Would they be gone forever too...?

Would they all remember?

Would everyone...

Someone...?

Or would it be left behind, like those memories turned to dust in the Desert?

No. No, she didn't want to. She must not forget.

And yet, at the same time as she became aware of it, that glimmering in the early morning glow was blurring to the point of fade away.

As well as that sensation; that warmth, pulling her away from the grasps of the Night Terror, like a ray of Sunshine.

With a shuddering of the truck's chassis, she became aware of her surroundings once more as the vehicle lurched over the pummeled road. The thundering of the old engine shook the bed of the vehicle as if it were about to crumble into pieces. The dampness of that rag reminded her in good measure of the rootlessness of warmth from a shelter in where she had learned to feel safe, and which now seemed to be slowly fading away at the enormity of the World that could be seen from the half-closed awning, enveloping all. An ominous, threatening and shapeless Void, like that Darkness that clasped her whenever she closed her eyes.

Although there was this feeling too, not in the essence of a feeling, but rather like the tight shelter of an embrace, encircling her like a shield, warding her off from that nocturnal dread which she could now perceive as palpable as if she closed her eyes, suddenly creeping through her limbs until it paralyzed her body.

Instinctively, she let her fingertips wander across the strip of the bag over her chest; the rough old fabric tingled in her skin, reminding her of something with the corresponding urgency of whom somehow feels doing something wrong.

She forgot to give him his handbag.

It had all been so fast...

---

The very moment they arrived, she heard the frantic commands of those who were waiting for them as they assembled in brief celebration, and at the same time as they seemed to be urgently organizing the loading of more things in addition to what was already inside. All she could hear was rushing into the trucks and shouts.

Hastily, she had stood up to get off the vehicle adjusting the strip of her handbag, but before she could even go a step further, Sarah's thin voice called her out to stay, saying that with them would travel some of the few wounded, as well as some of the looted materials, and also, that she will need her help.

There was hesitation and a certain uneasiness to that request, noting that even though in a matter of seconds everything seemed to transform into a dizzying rush of people, feeling the urgency of that woman who was asking her that for nothing in the world she must get off the vehicle, there was also a feeling of an implicit trepidation of what she might find once setting foot outside. There was fear, a sense alike as reminiscence that welled her up from her innermost shadows. Between skepticism and dread about the reason of the turmoil unfolding outside. Though, something else prevailed. Contradictory yet lucid, unleashing a fierce clash within herself to withdraw the presence in her mind of that alluring gentle sentiment that always reached her whenever she felt it was not alone, invading her every deliberation and trying to suppress its influence to completely silence it, coercing her to comply with.

There was also that book, which she now carried inside her bag.

'A book', using his words. 'Where it was his ideas'.

Words which she could hardly understand, still swirling in her mind, as well as Sarah's, minutes before.

Instantly, she saw him appear out the blue, like a fleeting glimmering on a gloomy day.

Searching in hasty motion among the frenzied coming and going of his peers.

Her chest dropped into an oscillating exhilaration of a dilemma: what to do.

And so it was, briefly as a crossroads presented to her, his attention was directed, albeit reluctantly, to another place.

Such a momentary image, unique since she had seen him depart under the cover of Dawn and which her heart told her that she was sure it would be long before she could see him again.

This was what it all boiled down to now: an uneasy tension under the shroud of Darkness.

This brand-new World, she thought, was terrifying...

---

The first hour trip was quiet and without exchange of any kind; only the dull rumble of the engine and the road under the wheels, the sporadic clinking of bottles and objects from the old refuge, added to the rattling of pieces, wiring and trunks they had looted from the hands of the enemy.

Drowsiness and exhaustion had overcome some who huddled in some blankets, others reliant on the warmth of whoever they had next to them, mitigating the freezing air night as they tried to regain their energies of such a difficult day.

There were no games, nor laughter or dinner that night. For the rest of the journey, they hope for the sunrise to appear from the East, bringing back the land into shape and the chance of stopping for a while to look for something to hunt. Nor was there room for chatter of any kind, either with the intent of trying to shake off the memory of the smoke and uproar of the assault or to simply let the time pass; either under the protection of the lights of the rear truck, or just wandering in the aloof cold and black nightly sky of the Milky Way.

In the mimicked silence, wisps of smoke could be seen dancing in the air, vanishing abruptly as soon as they were expelled by the nostrils or the lips, anticipated by the tiny but fleeting light of a cigarette that was tasted between a bunch of people with apathetic but gratifying motion.

It was a stillness that filled the frigid air with a calm but indolent sensation, and which there seemed to be no choice but to surrender, in consideration of what had happened and what was to come from now on, beyond the horizon.

The mood was contagious without the need to utter a word. And there was no clearer Pyrrhic sensation than that.

After a while more, it seemed that everything had freeze with the same air that surrounded them all, and the drowned cooing filled the space and seemed to last an eternity, now swayed them as the structure of the old truck gave jolts from time to time in its constant ride through the gloom sleepy wilderness. Like a lingering tone in a constantly repeating rhythm that had clung to that world, and with its presence, compelling them into a persuasive narcolepsy like an unbreakable spell not so easy to break.

Under that equal lethargic enchantment, Tulisse within Sarah's fraternal embrace, surrendered herself completely, wrapping herself into the blanket she carried all the way with her, and more importantly, holding tight her bag as a cherished treasure. Behind her tired eyelids, she perceived the artificial radiance of the lights of the rear truck, until unable to resist any longer, her mind sailed away onto that same cadence that bewitched everyone, receiving her into a warm welcome.

Many more moments passed without even being aware to count them, and that brightness that chased away the gloom of the night in the place seemed to have finally waned. The blackness of the Night had penetrated the space under the influence of that drowsy incantation.

And the last thing she instinctively perceived was her arms clinging to that old bag before she fainted of sleep.

---

There was no way of knowing exactly whether minutes or hours had passed. The only thing she knew or was aware of, were those images. Appearing before her amidst the Darkness of her thoughts; fleeting but considerably significant, enough to left her with the unrelenting impression that her heart was numbed with dread.

People huddled together, amid the piercing screams of pain and panic, among she heard her own.

And that beast again, howling with fury and wrapped in blazing fire all around her…

---

Frightened, she awoke. Dazed and agitated of such dreadful nightmare while in a matter of seconds her mind began to recognize her surroundings again.

It didn't take her too long to discern: the absence of blackness.

Daylight. Sun had raisen.

Almost everyone was asleep, included Sarah behind her and resting against one of the walls of the truck holding her in a protective embrace within her blanket and hers, wrapped around to keep them both warm.

She doesn't recall if there has been a moment where the rattling motion of the vehicle had diminished, or even had the awareness that if it had ever made a stop. It was constant as an endless rhythm that seemed to have never halt, asserting in her suspicions that they haven't even stopped since. Which it leaved her with the implicit question: how long had passed. Therefore, seeking out instinctively the whole rocky form of the canyon by sharpening her gaze at the horizon, the answer laid there outside at the scenery, just by peeking out of the awning. The mountains were now a shy profile outlined as far as the eye could see. They were a subtle gently contour, like clouds sailing through the Sky. A vast landscape of golden-green land blended with the earthy shade of the field as it rose toward the deep azure of the night sky, hushing away at the distance.

They were so far away now, hurrying toward the Sunrise. Alone into the midst of The Wilderness. A solemn, unchanging and timeless view, which let them travel throughout going unbothered.

She was so far away, and the Night was fall behind.

---

An hour later most of the passengers were wide-awake, including Sarah.

The daylight now covered the brownish and chilly countryside lifting behind it a fine layer of frozen dew that would surely evaporate as soon as the Sun rose over the mountain horizon.

The restless demeanor and drowsiness of an unpleasant night and the little rest they had, still weighed on the face of most, while with skillful care, who oversaw the medical aid checked how the wounded were. A quick inspection to some, and a couple of stitches and renewing bandages to others, was all the necessary attention needed while a silent introspection was part of the non-verbal wording they adopted since yesterday, appropriate for the circumstances as the minutes passed and the Sun began to crowd the skies. As moments passed, many ventured some small talk with dry humor to lighten the somber mood from the night before.

Faded but from time to time insistent, a well-known sensation throbbed in her chest reminding her of past moments. And even if it was just for a second, she allowed herself to smile. Therefore, glancing at the rear truck, she pondered.

How much longer would it pass until they stop?

Her heart pounded against her breast and the bag weighted on her more. The burden of curiosity hefted in her like a taint.

Therefore, when she'd see him, what would she tell him? Would he be grateful that she'd rescued this?

What if not?

Both answers unsettled her. Those that were obvious, and those she dared not even to speak up.

As soon as considering this, all the sudden, the shuffling of the vehicle began to gradually cease as the rest of the crew peeked in inquiring motion through some gaps in the tarp covering of the truck's bed and from the awning. It seemed the driver had found a hiding place on the side of the road to stop. So carefully as they were going down a pebbly sideroad, the rear truck followed the lead. She too pried through a small gap behind a crate, barely managing with some difficulty to decipher what kind of place they were now traveling on; narrow and practically hidden from the main road, with not very tall boulders surrounded by and almost withered shrubs and scrawny trees that seemed to climbing up the lane from where they were turning off.

The truck jolted roughly a few times as they slowed down having to care about anything fragile within, when a rumor from some of her fellow travelers about a reflecting pool behind some boulders at the left of the sideroad cheered her up. In all her mulling, she hadn't realized her throat was soar because of the chilly morning air.

"Well, that's luck! We haven't more water left," Sarah startled her as nimbly striding through the truck's bed, dodging some of her companions by hanging onto the top frame of the box's structure for balance. "I'll need you to lend me a hand to carrying water. We'll need some for emergency and clean wounds," The woman indicated, squatting down while looking into a half-opened box next to them and hanging strips of quite a few containers onto her shoulders and loading others into an old bag.

Tulisse dithered, yet still helped her by hanging some strips onto her shoulders too at the same time the vehicle stopped completely with a faintly juddering. She saw how in an instant some of her companions got off the truck, amid yawns and sighs of relief, and a few with a morning urgency, some others just shared the relieving sensation to stretch their legs for a while as for breath the clean fresh morning air instead of the smelly oily nauseating soot of the old engine.

"Come on, sleepyhead! We have little time."

Sarah's spirted voice caught her attention as she tried to read in the reactions of the smiling woman what her look was telling, eyeing her somehow puzzled by her idle mood; her clear eyes squinted with an inquired complicity as the curve of her lips curled, asking her again to follow with a cheering mumbling right before hopped off the vehicle with a helping hand of someone to carry the bag.

Tulisse reacted, crossing the ends of the woolly coat her companion had offered her during the night over her torso. With timid steps and taking care to not stumbled upon bags and other people's belongings, she hopped off too, clutching with both hands the strap of that handbag she carried.

Surrounded by the chatting of the whole company, among who were only sought to awaken to an ordinary day and those who couldn't let go so easily from their watch duties, she gawked.

The whole landscape had changed into shapes completely anew and unknown to her, and to which, because of where they were now, she could appreciate only with little detail. Still, the essence of what it was, just like that sunrise that now seemed to be a mirage out of a placid dream, was there, yet the colors, shapes and sounds were different: a good different. The wind hummed among the stark rocks and the few bushes a morning cooing of welcome, while the course of the water, a few meters away from the pebbled sideroad, tracked its route with diligence and pleasant-sounding calmness. There was still the colorful vivid green as it was on that place that had been left behind, mingled now with the solid and rough presence of dark-browns, pale ochre and greenish, and the livid sandy tones standing out on some rocky formations. The cold air filled her lungs in a shy inhalation as she looked across the stream getting use to the new scenery, walking with an eased pace to where Sarah was now loading the canteens.

A silvery strand of sunlight slipped in through those stone walls surrounding the resting place, and earthy contrast of wild tones throbbed with new vividness, heighten with that same warm hue at the same time it enhanced the shine of the vivid curly coppery mane of her caretaker. Once under the protection of that solar mantle, her cheeks ached for that warm, sensing somewhat like blushing as the rhythm of her breathing puffed away in the cold air and breeze toyed swiftly with the length of her woolly coat.

Without too much time to keep admiring the scenery, Sarah's active voice reminded her with earnestness why she had ventured to take those steps. Shifting her handbag on her back, she narrowed the distance and knelt onto her task.

The coolness of the stream reminded her that first time sensations had awakened her to a new world, as well as the moment she received her name. Recalling that memory vanished the cold from her fingertips and warmth slowly brushed within to touch her heart, just enough to make her pulse leap a bit at the sole reminiscence.

How different were things now, away from that shadow of fear of the night before, almost as if it had never existed or he had ever left after the break of dawn the day before.

"How far we are?" She dared to ask to the woman beside her, just to be sure both moments shared the same existence.

Sarah mused about that question without leaving her task. "Don't know. I guess just enough to keep trouble away because of yesterday..." She noted then, the uneasiness in Tulisse's reactions as it looked back to that direction. Scanning the area with suspicious eyes. "It'll be a quite a while before they find out which way we went. Don't worry, we're safe," She assured finishing to filled up a canteen and putting the lid to setting it aside with a couple more. The young woman didn't appear satisfied at that answer, so disguising her wariness, she scanned her surroundings once more trying to focus on what she was doing. "Once we reach the next settlement, we can trade what we got for more provisions and some other essentials. Most important, medical supplies. We'll need them later…" She added, filling the silence.

Tulisse looked at her again, puzzled yet pensive. "Why…?"

"Making our way through the mountains is not that easy, and the weather may not be so forgiving," The woman answered, finishing with a batch and hanging them on her shoulder. "If… we are lucky, so…" Though pensive, there was a hopeful gesture on Sarah's face, standing up while the young woman scanned her behavior, considering those words. "Be right back…" With hasty pace, Sarah walked away towards the caravan. Daybreak was starting to engulf the place into its warmness, allowing her to see Sarah's shape hurrying away as the remaining company seemed to have a quiet moment of respite.

Then again, suddenly, as her sight adjust to the bright filling up the area, her eyes caught a shifting approached within the shade, agile and swift, enclosing to her personal space, with pirouettes and coy mechanical squeaks. Tulisse spotted the tiny figure dancing in the sunlight, excited and cheerful to greeting her with careful interest, wiggling her blades with enthusiasm. She recognized her with heartfelt joy.

"There you are…!" She heard from behind with jolly mood.

Recognizing the owner's voice, she spun around and got up, standing at the edge of the beam of light.

"See? Didn't take long..."

Cayde waved his arms humorously as his vocal module flickered in the sunlight.

Dazzled, she barely reacted just to get rid of the canteen in her hands to let it fall in the rocky soil, closing-in in two hasty strides to greet him. Within seconds, she was in his arms, holding him tightly. The lump in her throat craved with an overwhelming swirl of emotions while her heart hammered in her chest full of bliss.

"Good to see you too..." He whispered, snuggling in the crook of her neck and swaying in place with her in a pleasant welcome.

Her eyes squeezed shut in thrilled fervor sensing tears wanting to just let go in the relief of happiness. The whole place filled with light as she felt her entire body enclose in its warmth, and she was grateful.

This is how the Darkness was vanquished for her.

A moment in a lifetime.

Nevertheless, after brief moments that wanted to last, hesitantly, she broke that warm embrace, restless and uncertain, and trying to return her gaze to the one in front of her, who now looked at her puzzled by her timid shifting of mood.

"All good…?" He mumbled to her. "Lis...?"

The cold come back, despite of the sunshine bathing them with its warming radiance. But it was fear what paralyzed her.

Without further ado, worried and feeling her legs numbing as it would give away, Tulisse pulled the strap of the handbag, slowly uncovering it under the ruana that sheltered her, and drawing the full attention of her persona to the man who stood with her.

Ghost's blades swirled full circle and show a startled reaction when it recognized that bag; in turn, her owner, barely stepped back to identify what the young woman was showing him. Then, he froze.

The girl dared to look up, shy but cautious. As she ventured further to connect with his response, her fear grew more. She could see in his demeanor not just surprise, but also, a certain kind of confusion; astonishment, one might say, as Cayde's bright artificial blue lens lit up when turned to look at her, staring wordlessly.

Her nerves twitched with concealed fear sensing her eyes soring, as in those agonizing seconds she still tried to guess what he was thinking. Yet he said nothing. His attention was divided on her and the bag.

"I… I tried to save the rest..." She heard her own voice thin, a timid but off-key sound despite how low it usually is. "I-I didn't mean to- I'm sorry-" She added, taking off the bag to handing it to him with anxious motion. His silence was frighting her, so much that it could feel her stomach churn with a horrifying wish to just disappear and never be seen again. She barely glanced at the handbag she now held with trembling hands, and then without saying a word, saw him give her a long, intense stare. She dreaded the worst.

Struggling to free herself from that influence, she dithered and try to run away.

But then with gently grasping, the escape was foiled.

Tulisse, ashamed, looked at him again.

"You found it...?" His voice was calm and personal.

Fearful, she nodded.

"Why...?" He queried again, eyeing her thoroughly.

She hesitated, but even so, finding in that expression and the closeness of his words, the earnest interest of an answer that would reciprocate.

"I didn't want to let it behind. I just couldn't..." Her voice was soft as her gaze peer into him. "I had to... I'm sorry..."

His gaze swept over every corner of her face in intent silence, and she recognized in that expression that same recollection of previous times they both shared. She allowed herself to breathe again and returned the same quiet emotion with only a hint of hesitancy.

In that lingering expectation then, before her uncertainties could escape from her lips to be known, hurried footsteps against the stony backwater chased away any chance of keeping their little sanctuary from prying eyes.

Sarah gave a feeble apology, stepping past them and crouching at the edge of the stream to fill the remaining canteens, turning to Cayde with a brief and suppressed greeting. "I didn't mean to interrupt, but… we need to get this over quickly, so..." She added, giving them a forced smile but emphasizing to the girl.

Tulisse, somewhat surprised, perceived the discomfort on the man who came looking for her. "Oh huh… It's OK, I was just... leaving..." She heard him trying to mask his unease and turned with disquiet. But before she could even say anything, he forestalled. "It's OK…" She heard him add in a hushed tone.

In the gleam of his vivid eyes as he hung up the handbag she had been guarded all this time, was the implicit message of an understanding, but in which she only read that required commitment of gratitude for a selfless act, but for which she still needed answers.

From a stifled plea to ask him to stay, she only got a quiet, tender graze on the elbow, coming to notice in the flicker of his modulator a hint of appreciation before leaving with a reluctant Ghost following close behind.

Startled to see him leave again at a brisk but hesitant pace, a reminder came to her mind, suggesting the chance that now they might not be able to have but they will next time. "I still have to read!" She raised her voice, making him pivot in surprise. "It was a deal. Remember...?" She added with the expectance of longing in the air.

In his features she saw a beaming gesture, and to that possibility, a reality.

"I know. Later, fast-learner..." He replied. In his tone there was a playful and complicit air.

She smiled contentedly and standing where she was, eager to see this happening soon. Once squatting with half-attention on what she was doing and resuming the task at hand, her gaze always turned to the group of people, trying not to lose sight of him.

At her side, Sarah remained silent, hesitant.

---

After a 15-minute, the convoy carried on its way.

By noon, over the East, the snowy-crested peaks summit of the distant mountain ranges began to arise on the horizon, and with each mile crossed became imposing and unavoidable.

---

"Welcome... to... Farg… Ferg...?"

"Does somebody cares...?"

An obnoxious tone was heard among the passengers.

"Wow, OK friend! I was just killing time trying to figure out what language's that!"

"It's Uzbek," Darwin threw in with a friendly grin, catching the attention of the younger three peering out of the truck's awning. "There were people who spoke several languages across this region. That was one of many..."

Tulisse looked surprised, wishing she hadn't put her notebook in the handbag that was now in custody of its rightful owner. Thousands of questions arose at the sight of those strange shapes on the corroded sign at the side of the road.

"Why are you so cranky by the way? Are you feeling sick?" Asked the dark-haired boy with a sneer. Brent just lay there over the truck's bed door, focusing on his own breathing and scarcely squinting with a scowl. Behind him, someone jested on his agony with a derogatory saying, to which the boy only replied with an obfuscated wave of his middle finger. Laughs followed the mood.

The quiet velvety tune of Darwin's laughter caught his attention, enough for him to compose himself and catch something the man had pulled out of his satchel and handed to him; a small cloth pouch with something wood-like aromatic inside. "Here. Chew on that. It'll ease the symptoms..."

Feeling the trembling in his legs and the constant churning of the stomach reminding him that perhaps swallowing this now was not a good idea, Brent pondered settling back next to his friend with a grump, inspecting the contents of the small purse.

"You should get some sleep too. You're more baggy-eyed than usual..." Yamir hinted, spotting the irritated expression on Brent's stout face as he put a kind of herbal thing in his mouth.

"I'm fine-" He muffled while chewing. "What the heck is this?!"

"Medicine. Chew on it and you'll be fine."

"It's disgusting!" The blonde guy whined.

"No more than barf your guts out..." Darwin countered sardonically. The blond grumbled trying on removed the bits of the stringy woody snack from his teeth.

Tulisse laughed merrily with a heart full of glee at regaining this familiarity, and before the conversation move forward, her gaze wandered to something in the distance, catching her attention with astonished amazement. There down the hill, at the shelter of the mountain ranges that now surrounded them. "What's… that?" She turned to look both Yamir and Darwin while pointed afar. His companions spun curiously over the truck's door to see.

In the distance, intermingled with patches of undergrowth and a grove of leafy trees as wide as a forest, peeking out from between many structures like high-skying obelisks testing the harshness of Time, stood the ruins of a glorious and prosperous Era long gone.

"An abandoned city..." Darwin answered with an apologetic tune. "From the Golden Age..." The girl darted her eyes on him, shocked.

In the air the silence was perceived as a solemn sign of respect, and at the same time, of sorrow. There was something though, Tulisse could feel, in those man's eyes that could be inferred as the longing of someone who recalls a place where once was his. A home…

"I thought there were no more abandoned towns around here. I thought the Valley it'd be barren..." Yamir mentioned under his breath, settling back on his spot.

The man shook his head, never leaving his serene poise. "There were many cities around here. Some smaller because of the rockiness of the zone. Still, they thrived after Cosmodromes were built at the northeast, in Old Russia. Required a lot of workforce to build those facilities. Most of those people came from cities like this one..." He explained.

"Who'd live here anyway..." Brent dissented, hands on either side of his face massaging his temples. Darwin let out a snigger at his companion's tired, sick expression.

"Clearly not someone like you, my friend…" He replied, making Yamir giggle. The two shared a moment of laughing at his friend's expense.

Tulisse, on the other hand, tried to distract herself in that little bustle, but her attention was lost in that sight from afar.

Something suddenly came to her, like a shadow of doubt that gradually darkened the day, creeping up to engulf her with a veil of insecurity. That brief conversation with Sarah still pulsed in the back of her mind, and the recalling of the woman's face turning pale at the mere mention of a place that was a complete enigma, but still something of great significance to every one of the travelling company with which she was now whenever it was mentioned, became as the time passed an impending question in needed to be answered.

Then, there was that other enigma. The one hidden in a book she had read…

A mystery that as soon as she had the chance again, it needed to be solved even more pressingly.

"Everything all right, Tulisse?" Darwin's deep voice brought her out of her musing in a brotherly tone. She blinked, trying to collect her thoughts, and just offering him a flat grin and nodding.

She tried to divert her attention of the tone of her thoughts by observing the sparsely cirrus' skies or the slim trees coming out at the side of the battered road, while down the hill, that abandoned city, an incarnation of all those ghosts in broad daylight conjured unanswered questions, to which with every passing minute, she struggled with the need to know.

---

Several hours passed before there was even a suggestion to stop or rest, or even stretch their legs.

They were now on a winding road, uphill, while the day was slowly changing into a bland and cloudy scenery. The higher they climbed, the more those eerie clouds seemed to want to hide the brightness of the day behind a misty cold mantle. Little could be seen of the scarce foliage that was seen at The Valley, and it was almost a fact that, for now, the only green they would see during this transit through the rocky walls of that place, would be modest and half-dead bushes.

With some difficulty, some of her companions managed to set up a small play corner where they repeated that gambling game with pebbles. But unlike that night when she first saw them play, there was now a mechanical action of keeping the brain distracted at something to evade the monotony of boredom on a journey that seemed to never end.

Brent had curled up in her first woolly blanket, covered up to his head trying to get rid of the headache that had been crushing him for hours as well to regain some sleep to recover after a sleepless night on the truck's cab. Yamir was next to him, engaged in his own thoughts but vigilant of his companion with hidden dedication.

At this scene, Tulisse turned her attention to spy on the people around her, without much stimulation other than yawning. Even Darwin at her side had succumbed to the redundancy of the truck's swaying; arms crossed on his chest with the rifle's barrel over his shoulder, although in a state of permanent alertness. He kept his eyes closed, resting, just enough before switching again with the driver who now took his place in the rear truck. A little further on the back, Sarah was now tending as a routine old Rajim's arm wounds, which seemed to be healing well. From her point of view, she barely could see what was going on, but was enough to peek just above the sturdy arms of his companion to distinguish Sarah's pretended generosity as the man, in a diffident voice, appeared to offer her the most cloying words of gratitude. Always way too reverently, but wariness on peering his eyes up to meet someone's gaze; A modest smile and elusive politeness was all that seemed to outline the copper-skinned old man with wrinkled face and cloudy black eyes, which not very often stand put more than they should on another's. Only once, she recalls, did she meet that sharp gaze, and immediately, alarmed and scrupulous, he turned away with awkwardness.

Who wouldn't be unnerving at such situation…

She still could feel the bile welling up in her gut.

Pursing her mouth as to try to forget, she distracted herself to the hillside of the road counting every pebble resting indolently at the passing of the convoy.

A slight laughter caught her attention in one of the groups huddled against a corner, enough to startle her and cause Darwin at her side to see if things were in order.

A moment was all it took to recognize it, and to notice it.

That old man again, aiming his attention on her.

The very same reserved attitude she was perceiving now. Though, something odd was there, too.

Apprehension.

Subtle, yet convincing. Just enough to make her shift and hide her flimsy shape behind Darwin's massive bulk. Wrapping herself in the ruana Sarah had given her, she bent her knees wanting to become small, encircling her arms around her legs to feel safe. At the same time, a chilly sensation on her back like the night before frightened her, and an agitation swelled in her chest, the same as every time waking up after a restless night. A familiar, terrifying sensation.

"Cold...?"

The rumbling of that voice shook her like a leaf.

Beside her with a casual facade, Darwin gave her a querying look.

Deciphering the expression on her occasional traveling companion, she calmed the pace of her breathing, trying to calm the sensations that pounded in her chest that tells something was off. Finally, she returned an affirmative gesture by forcing a complacent grimace, nodding.

The man bobbed his head in kind, taking that response as a valid, but still skeptical. She noticed it.

"Maybe you should ask Brent to give you back the blanket. Today's weather isn't as generous as yesterday..." He mentioned in a casual voice.

Tulisse forced a smile again, stretching her lips in a more evident gesture, but still averting eye contact. "It's… okay- I… don't want to bother him. He really looked tired..." She waved shyly, rubbing her legs. Next to her, the man just kept a discreet silence.

Her intuition didn't fail her when she realize that reply was not convincing, and as she disguised her uneasiness by looking out to the road, it certified that the swarthy man was inspecting the mood inside that space, completely alert.

Yet again, she tried to distract herself outside, to somehow recover the monotony of a few moments ago in order to ignore the uneasy pounding in her chest and making a lump in her throat, as her body felt like shivering with anxiety. At the same time too, there was a pressing need for the truck to stop, so that she could get out and find a familiar face to feel safe again.

"He said you'd be anxious," Tulisse heard, turning to look at him, dazzled. "I told him I wasn't the right guy to travel with, but well…"

There was anxiety at the mere suggestion of that lost chance, but at the same time, inevitably, uneasiness overwhelmed her. "Why…?" That was all she could asked.

Darwin chuckled more confidently. "He didn't want to distract you. He knows you're helping Sarah," He shook her head, pondering about something, although in a playful tone. "And I think you already know that how usually his charisma attracts more attention than necessary..."

Lowering her gaze, she hid a kind-hearted smile.

"He worries though. It's everyone's job to worry about our brothers and sisters," He added later, getting her attention again. There was something however, in that brooding stare, that gave her the feeling of a hidden implication, while the black eyes of that dark-skinned man invited her to dialogue.

"I know..." Tulisse stammered softly, barely able to avoid his gaze. Her thumbs danced in circles as she tried again to distract her attention in the barren landscape.

Still, there was that insistence, passive but persistent in the imposing presence of this man that invited again that restlessness of moments before, when she watched him gaze at the millenary and broken carcass of Civilization of prosperous times, linking it with the intrigue of those words that still echoed in her head and the distress at a mere mention of the name of that forgotten and unknown city awakened in these people.

"Were there more cities around here...?" She mouthed carefully. The serene expression of the man next to her blurred with a frown, denoting bewilderment. "Like the one we passed by a while ago... How many were there...?"

Darwin pondered for a few minutes, considering that question, then, he gazed her with a faint smile. "There were, as I said. Many people lived in this valley, and even past these mountains. There were several villages and smaller towns, and cities too. All lost in the wake of The Collapse. I only know the name of some from rumors of wanderers we came across during our journey..."

The young woman pondered on that answer. "Then, there are none left standing... isn't it...?" She hesitated. Darwin tilted his head in wonder.

"Just ruins, if that's what you ask..."

"I mean, there's no chance there are still people living in those ruins..." Tulisse rephrased. "Is it possible...?"

She noticed that the man let out a quiet sigh, as if remembering something. Between longing and melancholy, just as she had perceived moments before when he observed that landscape in the valley tinged with the gray of the millenary foundation.

"If there are people still there... it'd be a miracle..."

Tulisse felt the weight of those words fall deep inside her with a bewilderment and somber fear.

"Is something bothering you...?"

Darwin's sudden deep voice startled her again.

With doubt and an anxious look, Tulisse finally dared to ask. "Was your city like one of those...?"

The nostrils of the man's broad nose flared as he inhaled deeply for the analogy the young woman presented to him, and his deep small-shaped eyes lose the furrow on his cheekbones, fainting that peaceful and kind smile.

Tulisse feared again a riddle behind the words that man might utter, as Sarah had done the day before and could only bring her more uneasiness to the secrecy that wandered more and more assiduously in her thoughts. Although Darwin only stared at her, and then back to different points around him, musing, while the shock of the first moment faded in the calm eyes with which he always used to address her in a brotherly way.

"It was. A refuge for all of us in the despair of a broken world," His voice was a wistful longing for better times. "Not like what we heard from our elders; tales of the Golden Age and all the bounties of a prosperous Civilization, reaching for the stars. But at least it was our city, our place..." His voice seemed to crack as she could hear the quiver in his voice. "Our home..."

She crossed eyes with him, catching herself in that taciturn memory. Finally, she ventured to ask for what she was dying to know. "How it happened...?"

Darwin averted his gaze on the floor, and his frown became wiry, searching what to answer. Cautiously, he straight forward, and almost instantly, his eyes met Yamir's serious but vivid gaze in front of him. Despite the rattling of the old truck, he deciphered what they were talking about.

Tulisse took notice. And suddenly, her mind drifted back to that sleepless night, threading at events she didn't dare to think there were connected.

But before she could even press to know more, a slight change of the vehicle's movement revealed to all the passengers that the convoy was slowing down again. There were looks of confusion. Darwin too was taken aback, looking at whoever was behind the wheel in the rear truck, looking for a sign.

The young woman followed her companion's gestures as the confused and cautious murmur slid through the rest of the passengers. And like the brawny man, she looked for hints as the driver from the other truck craned his neck ahead and then sticked his head out of the window to know. Both could see the same expression but find dissimilar answers.

"A barricade..." The man mumbled, puzzled but cautious.

He exchanged glances with Yamir, who woke up his companion jabbing him with his elbow with mild urgency and was firstly upset and then confused, trying to figure what was happening. Once awake, there was confusion and fear in his eyes.

Darwin's stocky body crossed in front of her as he slung over his shoulder the strip of his assault rifle that had rested on his shoulder minutes before. With a gesture, she saw him address at two people at the back, preparing to get out.

Impatient, she tried to get up.

"Stay in the truck," He said, turning and looking her right in the eye. As soon as the situation became pressing, the usual calmness in the man's tone became assertive. Her whole body froze, but at the same time, the need to get out and look for a place where she could truly feel safe began to creep up her spine, until feeling it was starting to paralyze her.

She wished with all her might that he had listened to Darwin…

Sarah's hands suddenly startled her, trying to soothe her by rubbing her arms as the muttering inside became more audible. Now she could pay more attention to them, and hearing saying that taken this path had been a dangerous mistake. Most ominous, was to hear 'They found us…'

To that implied question, she knew the answer. Horrifyingly familiar…

Looking at each of her companions there, who were now visibly worried, trying to prick up at every sound from the outside, made her suddenly have the horrific notion of being trapped. A heavy tightness in her chest and the tension of all her nerves electrifying her spine kept her on the alert, adrenaline boiled in her veins as she trembled on the anticipation to a surviving state of mind. There was, in addition, a sensation that she could not quite describe; like a fleeting blast that suddenly appears, unexpected and brutal, colliding with a veil and tearing it, revealing what lays behind.

A recollection of abstract images, incarnated over a violent and voracious conflagration, where vertigo and chaos proliferated. And with which each passing second, brought with it the icy touch of Fear.

All over again, she had a vivid sense of those nightmares, and feeling the claws of that Beast stretching out to fetch her.

"It's all right..." Sarah's quiet murmur brought her back to senses, and that white noise piercing her ears, as if she were in a trance, disappeared.

Her attention could barely focus on her surroundings, and she just only watched Yamir peeking outside, trying to sniff out the risk of danger; a sturdy scowl of impatience was noticed as his black gaze darted everywhere in sight. Brent, like everyone else, gulped and tried to heed out there.

She hoped again, to see movement in the back of the other truck.

With a lump in her throat, she waited. She implored.

Outside and ahead of the convoy, just a few steps away, a jagged row of rusty-old vehicles encroached on part of the bend, and the berm, battered by small-wilted shrubs growing out of the cracks in the concrete, was littered with pieces of bodywork and rusty engines; a bunch of these lifeless hulks separated the convoy from a wide, dark tunnel ahead, at least half a mile long, running through the low ridged hill at its foot. Above the entrance, an iron structure with a footbridge and an armored hut at his left side described what once might have been a border checkpoint.

Darwin, cautiously and without ceasing to observe this scenario, heed every of his nerves to hear every sound as the howling of the wind swamped the place in a stifling anticipation. His index finger never far from the trigger, while the two people with him guarded their flanks.

When he passed by the front of the truck, barely turned to look at Carina on the dashboard of the cab. Still with exhaustion weighing on her eyelids, though impatient on the edge, she slid her hands very slowly, looking for something in the glove compartment. "Be ready..." She heeded to the driver, lowering her eyes from the outside of the vehicle as she reloaded, one bullet at a time, the old revolver she was holding now hidden between her knees.

The crunching of the swarthy man's boots was heard with each step that lifted in the wind the grit laying on the ruined road. When he got to a few steps of the first row of cars, sharpening his eyes, the man checked every detail of that junk casually abandoned at the opening of a tunnel. There were traces on the ground, as if something heavy had been dragged to the sides; the chassis, although rusted by an inclement weather, have a decent structural state. Lastly, and without being surprised at the slightest, heeding the signs around him, a few steps ahead some marks were different from the dragging scratches.

Holes, usual for a hit at high speed. Or shooting.

Darwin then looked up at the armored hut with dramatic slowness, knowing fearfully he was being watched.

In the rear on the other hand, Andal prepared to get off as urged for caution to the rest, giving glances to both Joyce and Armand to stay put and prepared if needed. At his side with an ignited stare, Cayde gave a scowl by insisting on his stance of go with him as he recognized the disapproving look of his friend.

"Just don't let them see you..." That's all he said, concerned.

Measuring his movements as he got out of the vehicle, Andal pressed forward with wary pace, feeling the coolness of the wind through the sweat on his forehead, his frown lean, scanning the surrounding hills with the knowing that the threat was everywhere. Cayde, on the other hand, swiftly slipped between the vehicle and the rocky wall while behind them.

No sooner had he taken a few steps behind the truck than the two immediately crossed eyes. As he moved forward, her heart pounded in the anticipation of knowing she was going to be safe. But-

Like a whip of a thunder, the sound of a gunshot boomed across the rocky slopes as the crash of shattering glass rang on the concrete.

"To'xta! Harakatlanmang!"

An angry holler was heard from inside that armored hut, and from a slot the barrel of a rifle point at them as a threat.

Darwin, so very slowly, peeked over his shoulder, while those who with him were utterly still, holding their breaths and daring not to even anywhere else, reacting only to keep the sights of their guns up to. A few steps behind him, Andal did not even dare to move a muscle, staring at the same point as everyone else, hands high presenting no danger. A few steps in front of him, one of the rear-view mirrors lay shattered and a gunshot mark at his feet.

"Kapyushon! OFF!" Hollered addressing to him again, aggressively.

In the tension of the whole situation, although reluctantly and still showing his hands up, Andal tugged with his fingers the worn-clothed hood, exposing his identity and swearing inwardly this disadvantageous situation.

"Sizning qurollaringiz. Ularni tashlang! HOZIR!"

Turning back his eyes to the front and with the clear tactical disadvantage, Darwin barely asserted with a nodding to either side, ordering both his companions to lay down their weapons. Carefully, the rifles lay inert on the ground, and with the tip of a toe, they pushed them away and retraced a step back.

Trying to regain control of the situation, he spoke.

"Siz boshqa tillarda gaplashasizmi-?"

"SILENCE!"

That's all the dark-skinned man got in a modest accent while trying to dialogue.

"So you speak English, my friend..."

Silence.

"What do you want!"

"We are just trying to resume our journey, brother. We don't want to disturb anyone..."

"Niyatlaringizni e'lon qiling!"

Darwin concealed a frustrated sigh.

"As I said, my friend. We are just passing through," He asserted.

Again, silence. The only thing that could be seen from the armored slot was the barrel of a rifle between two armored plates.

"What is in the trucks...?" Was finally heard.

In the air, the tension rose. Darwin was slow to respond.

"What is in the trucks!" That hostile man bellowed more menacingly.

"People," Darwin replied calmly.

"Yuk mashinalarida nima bor! Oxirgi ogohlantirish!"

Immediately, over the rocky ledges the threat of crossfire became palpable, and the preparations of several rifles disengaging from their safeties was heard ominously.

Andal scrutinized each of the at least 40 men strategically stationed in every angle over the hills around, while he could hear in his mind Alina's growing unease, fearful of the outcome but imperatively demanding that he must not move a finger.

Darwin just looked at the armored hut. The bright eyes and the gentle face that characterized him, expressing his most humble sincerity and looking for the humanity behind the gun.

"Refugees..."

In that moment, even the wind had stopped.

Until, suddenly, the creaking of the hinges of a heavy door startled the 4 men at the sight of a possible massacre, as well as each of the 50 people inside the trucks. Carina, holding her revolver firmly but uneasily in her hands, watched as did the others.

An imposing lengthy woman, coming to mid-age, came out of the armored hut. Walking in heavy laced boots and making the iron gangway shudder with each step in a deliberate but relentless gait of someone that searches for weaknesses.

"Do you know the word 'refugee', in their tongue, ain't that different from 'fugitive'...?" She said, displaying a high-pitched booming voice, like the screech of a bird of prey. "In our language though, only a couple of consonants and vowels separate the differences between someone who chooses exile, and someone who flees. But, when someone realizes that in other languages those differences are just meaningless barriers that very often made just a fool of us, we realize that there's no difference between exile... or fleeing."

Darwin, without uttering a word, watched as this stranger, exhibiting a hideous scar that had claimed the sight of his left eye, haughtily inspected each one of those who lay at her mercy, sniffing with malice the possibilities of whatever was inside the trucks, like a lynx.

"Refugees..." She added with a sneer, as from one of the pockets of her old worn black vest pulled out a homemade cigarette and checked it was in good condition. "I don't give a shit about 'refugees'."

"Then perhaps we can discuss this in other terms; not as 'refugees', but people," Darwin responded with his hands still raised, but waving in warm welcome. The woman pushed the cigarette away from her thin wizened lips, dissecting the intentions of the huge man and lifting her chin in disdain. "We seek only safe conduct to be on our way. We have no intention of staying where we're not welcome."

"There's no such thing as safe conduct in this world, son!" She rambled, interrupting him sordidly and holding back the venom in her voice. Darwin fell silent. "Roads belong to those who take them, and the World to whose conquer it! And right now, is taken and has fall since before you and I were born," She added with a defiant tone, displaying on the rusty steel railing her old but sinewy arms bare and full of scars. "There's no safe place on this world... and I have no reason to feel guilty for anyone who asks me for it."

Suddenly, the sound of engines thundered throughout the place. Approaching from the rear and before they could even react, a squad of about 10 people per vehicle approached and caged the convoy, yelling and suffocating any negligent movement of its occupants.

Faced with the despairing situation, Carina watched as her friend and her men were being restrained and brought to their knees at gunpoint, as Andal was also being apprehended in the same way and stripped of his sidearm and bladed weapons, unable to free himself from the situation without exposing everyone to a greater risk.

Putting the safety back on her revolver, she let the weapon drop between her feet and with a thud hid it under the seat.

And without hesitation, she stepped out.

Outside, was greeted by angry shouts and the clatter of rifles pointed at her.

She could hear Andal's panicky bellow from behind, calling her out as Darwin to turn in shock and confusion, receiving a bang on the back that barely subdued him over, but served well enough to let him to know to not trying anything stupid.

"We traded!" She beckoned, clenching her fists tightly and her voice quiver in a shout. That woman watched her with apathetic inquiry as it pulled a small matchbook from her pocket. "We are traveling from the West trading with the towns we came across, seeking the nearest one to go and sell what we find!" Her throat was sore from the straining in her voice. "We are not a shedload of beggars if that's what you're thinking! We just want to survive!" Then shook her hands in the air with indignation. Before speaking up again, defiantly and trying to hide the flinching in her voice, she stood her ground. "Come on now! Let's trade!"

With the cigar still unlit, indifferent, the woman scrutinized with disdain as she placed the cigar on her lips, and after a few moments, let out a sneer. The wrinkles on her sun-burned face, typical of a skin scarred in the fire of a land that was not her own, revealed a vile notion behind her understanding of the woman's words at her doorstep.

"Finally! Someone who sees things as they are! Someone with ovaries..." She acquiesced with a scoff. Taking her time as she relished in this moment of power, placing herself on the railing again. "But you know, I'm more intrigued in knowing how a bunch of folks came all the way from the West... 'trading'. What makes you think there're more towns past these hills…"

Carina was stunned, holding her breath.

"There're no towns or shelters within miles 'round. They were all butchered, and not by those four-armed roaches. Something worse..." This woman stated while the tone in her voice transformed into a gall of contempt and hatred, contained in her thin and lanky effigy. "Walkers..." She scoffed, taking the cigarette out of her mouth and spitting disgusted.

On his knees and hands on his head, Andal quelled, not just of helplessness but from resentment at acknowledging of the situation they were in. He kept it low trying to assimilate the possibility of that scenario and fearing for the welfare of all those with him if an unfortunate accident revealed the truth. Didn't want to even imagine...

"Which brings me to a second question, ma'am: Why are you traveling and where are you from?" Hissed the woman, a broad smile turned into a crooked perfidious grimace as she swung her slender armored torso over the railing, letting the dog tag she wore swing tensely into the void.

Carina faltered, knowing that whatever answer she could give to this heartless woman, the truth must not come out.

"As I tell you: we trade to survive..." She vowed, trembling in powerlessness. Despite the gloom on her face, the hazel in her eyes was coal burning up with rage.

At this point, she found herself knowing what kind of scum they had run into, but never suspected that it'd be here, of all places; in the middle of nowhere among the mountains, where it was most probably stumble up into pirates and looters, scum of the lowest order flourishing like undesirable weeds.

Still, she never imagined that of all the scum, they would find this one…

This woman, tanned in the barren and cruel scourge of decadence with the sole pursuit of depredation, stood before her like a wall that once more had to climb.

A wall that once more, she must tear down...

And so, of all ironies and after what had happened only a few days ago and under these circumstances, her own words seemed to haunt her again. 'I wish I could leave this behind. I wish I'd never see this again…'.

This somber woman loomed with her lanky figure of vicious grit, taking just enough time to finally light her cigar with a puff and savoring it as the smoke escaped swiftly in the swirling wind. It didn't have the need to rise her voice for her will to be done.

"Search them..."

Under the commotion of angry shouting, proceeding with hasty strides, their sights held high, those who had arrived from the rear in jeeps surrounded the rear truck and energetically extorted all of its occupants to get off quietly with their hands up, pushing them savagely at the side of the road and coerced them all to kneel.

From inside the tunnel and dodging the barricade of rusty junk, dozens of men appeared and carried out the same command, pushing Carina onto her knees by making her fell with a thud as she insulted them, and Darwin trembled of powerlessness and anger for that act of cowardice. Andal, a few steps back mid-way between both trucks, was helpless and enraged at not being able to get out of the situation without creating an even further disaster.

His concern was now in the lead truck.

Before a boot in the shoulder knocked him off balance and those men drag him against the rusty guardrail along some of his companions, there was only one chance left yet minimal, to get out of this. And he saw it coming as that woman was hurrying down the walkway with hefty strides.

Watching how his companions were being subdued and compelled to be onto their knees and being stripped of their weapons and belongings, his gaze crossed Joyce's as it passed in front of him. She understood and waited.

At the same time, the front truck began to be commandeered, forcing its occupants to get out at gunpoint as Sarah tried to reason explaining that most of the people there were wounded, but receiving in angry yelling orders in a language she did not understand. When the first ones descended the vehicle, three men armed with assault rifles hopped up, shouting and booting, demanding with virulent disposition the rest still in there must obey, or it will be consequences.

In the back, cornered against a spot, Rajim whined for mercy in his own language. Two of the seven who were still there, helpless in the face of the situation come between the poor old man and the aggressive subjects, making things even more hectic as they tried to defend him. There were barks and insults deafening the few occupants. Whacks and more pushing.

Against the opposite corner, behind 5 other people, Tulisse was squeezing her eyes shut, crying and trembling in terror as the situation invoked her most terrible nightmares.

This was too real. Too real.

This couldn't be real.

It can't be real.

This... cannot be the same.

"I'm here, Lis. I'm here," She heard in a whisper.

Two solid arms held her with such strength that she could feel it kept her from falling into that terrifying abyss.

"It's all right. I'm here."

Amidst the screaming and violence, plunged in that darkness which she sensed was gripping and dragging her to hell, his voice was a light in the dark.

She pried her eyes open and looked him straight in the eye.

"I'm here, OK? Just watch the handbag. You'll be safe, I promise…"

She could feel the burst of tears running down her cheeks. Her body shivering with fear, and then changing into something else, burning within her and hammering in her chest. Then, those three violent men turned to the small group where they were mingled, forcing them to crawl out of the vehicle.

Amid violent demands and while they dragged the only people remaining, fighting as to try to prevent them from discovered him, she felt in an instant the entire world to stop.

He peered into her eyes, asking her to remain calm in a silent gesture, and then there was nothing else.

At mercy of these men, she looked over his shoulder at the threat of 3 rifles, pointing at them.

A rabid command from one of them demanded that Cayde identify himself. The second was even more impatient.

With the barrel over his head, there was no choice.

Slowly, always putting himself between the threat and the girl, he turned to them.

The face of those 3 men, she noticed, changed dramatically, changing from a furious scowl of hostile superiority into an even more aggressive attitude, but at the same time, there was something that even with Cayde's body exposed as a shield for her, she could observe was like a deep terror.

"EXO! Bu erda EXO bor!"

The angry yelling was clearly understood for her as an imposition to stand up and obey, or they would open fire, even more because of Cayde's presence. So, he did, and from behind, so did she. Never away from the other.

Outside the truck, hearing the warning of those men, confusion ensued.

Andal, an uneasy witness to the possibility of a terrible outcome, saw how the face of that cruel woman turned red with wrath as she gave more frantic orders on her own tongue to inside the tunnel. The clatter of weapons being readied and war cries upon hearing that warning, spread through the place like wildfire as more men rushed around the vehicle. Carrying tactical weapons and armored equipment from head to toe as they were prepared for such a thing, they stood ready; some carrying electrified batons in hand, and one man preparing magnetic slaves and inhibitor collar.

Andal became agitated in silence.

As he watched them get off, they were both surrounded and in view of all their companions and that whole hostile squadron. Tulisse clinging to his waist, as Cayde averted the danger of any harm away from her.

The yelling never stopped as well as the threats in their foreign language. Never hesitating to threaten at gun point, ordering them to separate themselves from one another.

So then, because they did not comply, those men demanded obedience by force.

With a swipe, one of them tugged Tulisse by the ruana making her tumble violently to the ground and dragging her backwards, distressing Cayde who, trying to go to her rescue desperate at her screams, got a thud with one baton on the left knee and an electric discharge that destabilized him, followed by another on the right faceplate that shook him and knocking him down to the ground.

When he tried to get up again, electric shocks jolted his body with the sting like a thousand needles, and at least 10 people trying to subdue him while taking his weapons away.

Hearing her screams was the trigger that could bring the chaos that urged from inside him to be released. In his head, his little buddy howled in pain and with the same turmoil for the safety of the girl.

Amid the confusion, Carina's desperation upon hearing the girl screaming, Sarah insulting and demanding to let her alone, almost receiving a whack that one of her companions received instead when trying to defend her, lay the perfect distraction.

Behind that woman, enraged and while drawing a gun to shoot Cayde in the head, Joyce executed.

First, using her foot to make her fall forward and disarmed her, she threw herself on top of her wielding the knife she had skillfully hidden in her laced boot. Although not fast enough while all around her the entire enemy squad was shouting and threatening to open fire, this woman turned on her side and struggled for a few moments, managing, with her six feet of height, to push the stubborn young woman backwards, making her fall on her back. Both then standing up and instantly charging back while the vicious woman tried to knock her sudden aggressor down again, they got into a wrestling that succeeded for the first one, after gaining control of the Joyce's armed hand by clasping her swiftly by the wrist and striking her in the lower abdomen first and then on her face, breaking her nose with a punch of her lower palm, stunning her and throwing her against the side of the truck with a thwack, wanting now to go for the knife.

Far from giving up and with a holler, Joyce charged again.

Blocking by hitting her arm and dodging Joyce's stabbing, the woman deflected the blows, and once again shifting her weight to achieved on pinning her arm to the point of almost breaking, hitting her with even more sadism until her nose started to bleed considerably, this brutal woman turned over the young one violently, making her fall with a thump to the ground, beating her in a burst of fury a second time, making her drop the knife by strangling her with the other arm by the neck.

Cayde reacted, forcing his arms of his back forward with extreme force before those men managed to place the magnetic slaves on his wrists, freeing himself from the man on his back and then being able to get up on his knees before someone could restrain him again. Throwing a pair of the attackers to the side with a kick or a punch, he grabbed one by the neck, lifting him inches off the ground.

Standing and facing the threats and shouts at the sight of him on his feet with an army around them just waiting for the order to take him down, he just needed to squeeze his hand a little tighter.

In the tight silence in which Tulisse's screams and struggling and Carina's slurs of despair swirled around the scene, from the depths of that callous and despot throat, a merciless laughter burst forth.

"GO ON! DO IT, AND I'LL SNAP HER NECK TOO!" This woman roared viciously, taking pleasure in hearing Joyce's windpipe being constricted under her arm as she writhed with rage at not being able to free herself. "Come on, you piece of shit! DO IT! KILL HIM!"

Paralyzed, he could feel Andal's strong gaze on him.

Angling his gaze at him, the somber frown and his strong jaw, tense, subtly shaking his head, in supplication for him to stand down, or things would escalate.

Cayde, hood flung off on his shoulders exposing his skull of synthetic steel and now dirty from the sandstone of the road from head to foot, held that stranger in the air at the point of choking him. He watched Joyce's face swollen and on the verge of fainting, despairing with helplessness.

"DO IT, AND THEY'LL ALL DIE RIGHT NOW!"

Enraged and frantic, feeling the Light could burn this bastard right there in seconds between his fingers like a dry leaf, he turned to that woman, feeling his insides would explode with the force of a Solar surge.

This woman, with deep contempt and showing her teeth in a heartless grimace, threatened again now knowing how to strike.

"DO IT… AND THAT LIL' WHORE DIES!"

Terrified, Cayde's response was immediate, and he search for Tulisse.

They hold each other gazes in despair. The struggle she was having with her captor to free herself became fierce when, abruptly, was thrown against the rocky wall with violence. In front of her, the same man and two others were preparing to shoot her.

"ONE!"

Carina and Sarah begged, screaming to stop this madness.

He didn't even need another second. Without further ado, he let the guy fall to the ground with a dull sound.

In no more than a second, they restrained him again and unleashed a surge of electric shocks by hitting with cruelty his body with more sadism and violence than the first time. Steps away, mingled in the buzzing of the electric discharges and slurs, she could hear her screaming his name in panic.

It was worth it if this kept her alive...

The woman displayed a fiendish smile and gloated in her vileness at the tight clang of the magnetic slaves and the hiss of the inhibitor collar activating. Forcing Joyce to stand on her feet, she then tossed her over the rest of her fellow hostages, where now Yara's desperate calls a few feet away joined the rest, the young woman tried to catch her breath, coughing and with a bloodied face and broke nose, almost fainting. The heartless woman strode forward, where Cayde now lay subdued on the ground, trying to recover from the beating.

Once any resistance was suppressed and with the hum of the restraints indicating it were doing its job perfectly, two men force the EXO to stand up from his armpits as soon as their boss approached, while in the background Tulisse's desperate cries flooded the ominous silence.

As tall as he was, she looked him right in the eyes with arrogance and profound contempt but widening the repulsive grin of amusement at the sight of him being helpless, the ghoulish cackle was born from the depths of her throat with guttural cacophony.

"'The Jewel in the Crown', as they used to say back in the ol' days, giving merit to achievements, certain... meaning, for all the idiots who believe in it. Even for those who had no need to earn nothing because they had it. Passing them off as commodities, assets… ideas… To things, just like this one..." She mentioned sizing him, as her face transformed into a corrosive and somber gesture. "A chunk of rusty tin can. Bioengineering of morally dubious ethics from a time when false promises of a better life weren't just enough and ended up trashing lives by billions, send us down to Extinction..." She paused, mere centimeters away from his synthetic features, while he pierced her with his optical lenses, defying her. "Machines, stripped out of the flesh to where they came to this World, to become the private army for a couple of unscrupulous people. Fucking, useless pieces of junk-!" There was a deep and tremendous rancor in the stridency of her voice as she started to yell at his face. "You fucking monsters! As soulless as the whole thing that came after! Like those freakin' demons raising from their tombs, still plundering the fucking World!"

Cayde glared at her with somber animosity, and barely tilt his head forward to spat at her with a mocking wit. "I'll write an apology letter if it makes you feel better, bitch..."

The woman stared at him, then showing him her full teeth adorned with metal in a wicked smile as her eyes denounced an even deeper hatred to his retort, with which was answered with a more brutal electric shock that made him fall to the floor again writhing in pain but resisting to scream.

"Even the fanciest piece of trash can't stand a 180,000 Kw. of electric discharge, huh… 0.18GJ of pure fun, d'you like it, huh? Golden Age Tech, Old Russia Militia, salvaged and upgraded. Hmm… I wonder what for..." She gloated on this, crouching next to him as she held up the device active and watched him squirm in pain. "My welcome greeting to your kind, you piece of crap…"

Struggling with all her might, Tulisse managed to break free just for a few seconds to being immediately restrained again from behind held by her elbows, cursing and wanting to beat the shit out of her. "YOU'RE KILLING HIM, YOU WITCH!"

This woman motioned her attention to the girl with derision, deactivating the device and sliding into the same pocket where she kept her cigarettes and pulled out another with a match, lighting it and approaching. Her affronts seemed to amuse her. "What's all the fuss, lil' girl? Do you care about this… thing?"

Having got her close, enough and while seeming to give her two captors trouble, Tulisse spit at her, causing even more amusement on this cruel person and some around her. They laughed…

"Oh, you are so naive, kid!" She mocked, then motioned for her to be taken to the others.

Even so, Tulisse struggled to free herself again, crying out in desperation and calling for him.

She turned to see him over her shoulder as she was being dragged, kicking and screaming. He was lying on the floor still stung by the electric blow, like gasping and coughing, trying to pull himself to his knees with effort at the knowing that she was being taken away from him.

The girl called and called, again and again, fighting her heart out to her restrainers and planting her feet against the dusty floor, to prevent being taken further away. When they reached Sarah and threw her rudely there, they threaten the woman to shut her up, or they would shoot her right there with her. Sarah alongside her fellow passengers restrained her and forced her to remain still as she kept crying out his name, her face swollen with tears of agony. Helpless, to be incapable of do nothing.

The next moment, following the footsteps of that cruel woman, her heart halt in horror as she saw her pick up the gun from the ground, lost in the skirmish with Joyce, checking to see if there was no visible damage and walking back to Cayde with disdaining gait.

Tulisse was horrified and screamed at the top of her lungs to stop, watching him get onto his knees as this woman readied the gun, taking the safety off.

She felt her throat sore with each desperate plea.

In an instant, after taking aim and without a second glance, a shot rang out.

Lying lifeless on the ground with a bullet in his head, was the man whom Cayde was about to leave unconscious moments before.

Stunned all but her own platoon, which continued unmoving with the order to loot the trucks, this cruel woman turned to Cayde with disdain, stuffing her gun on its shoulder holster.

"Next time, break his fucking neck. I hate useless things…"

Of all of them, Andal was horrified, watching her walk away with total lack of empathy, smoking and giving orders as if nothing, seeing his friend being lifted off the floor and dragged away, forcing him to walk to where Carina was.

This person was monstrous...

Once in front of her, disheveled and reddened with rage, eyes watering but alight with indignation, this cruel woman exhaled a puff as Cayde was being taken inside the tunnel.

"So, are we get going to do business or what, darling?" She asked.

Carina did not answer. In her tired face now, there was an uncommon fury that she had to contain for everyone's sake.

Accepting that silence as a yes, this woman led the way.

"Let's go to my office then..."

---

Author's Note:

So… OOF! This chapter was… intense to write, though no more intense than the ones to come. I can assure you that…

I know that maybe the pace I'm going at is a bit... slow, but it's the one I feel comfy enough to tell what I want to and I had in mind since 2018. To that I must say, just changing my mind a little bit and seeing what we're all living through as well as what is currently happening in-game, it doesn't hurt to explore it more.

These are topics that I like to write about, understanding that they are sensitive issues to deal with that shouldn't be taken so lightly. Nevertheless, I do faithfully believe that, regardless of whether that this it's fiction, it's a good exercise to see ourselves reflected, and take a moment to think things better.

I know, I know. Most of you are here to chill from the drama of the outside world, but I can assure you, many times, even in our inner cocoon, those demons catch up with us, and the best we can do is to be prepared to face them.

As once I read: "The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the World. Who would be born must first destroy a world…"

This is a quote of Hermann Hesse's "Demian"; I highly recommend it if you're struggling to find yourself in the world. Even more now…

But, going back to the story and trying not to stray too far from it, I think it has a little bit to do with that quote. The only thing I can say to you is that things are going to escalate, and new challenges are going to be encountered along the way.

However, all was tell in this chapter may sound opportunely coincidental, but I can guarantee, hand to my heart, that I wrote this even before Beyond Light launched. So, if you saw things that may refer to the plot of Beyond Light, or even about the current season, I can swear to you that it was a... strange coincidence, as much as I can tell. That means that Bungie's narrative team is doing a great job in terms of what they want to tell this year, even if in some things I get the impression that it'd be nice if they could elaborate it further. I'm really happy finding out that some assumption I made a while ago are also canon and are being issued in the actual narrative.

Having said all this and considering there are dialogues in a language that took me a while to work around its grammar, I have nothing more than say that if you're native speakers and you are reading this, or speak Uzbek fluently, send me a DM if there's something off that needs to be corrected. I will really appreciate it, and needless to say I'd love to get some advice, because one thing this routine of writing assiduously is teaching me is to do my research, and it's also a good exercise to get to know the world around us.

That being said, enjoy the read and hit me in the comment's section if you have thoughts about it!

See ya!