2nd File: TR4LER - 13J45

I cried for days.

Days was a simple exaggeration. It could’ve been true, or it might not have been. That’s a funny thing about us humans, we constantly distort our own truths until they become truth. My village had just been overturned by Darklings, leaving no survivors. Another exaggeration. No survivors. I survived, but did I really?

I wiped away my tears after who knows how long. My small frail body couldn’t keep me steady for long so I opted to stay sitting. My refuge consisted of rubble pushed against each other to form a small concrete tent. I had managed to find a blanket amongst the ashes and I huddled in that pocket underneath the rubble.

I sniffled.

Enough time had passed for the unpleasant smells to waft up. I ignored it as best as I could. Afterall, someone was coming. They had to have been coming! Our village sent up a flare moments before the attack. Village Creed stated that if a flare were to go up, neighboring settlements would dispatch backup or investigators. I clung to that hope. It became my light in that moment of darkness.

However, that light dimmed ever so slightly with each passing day. More time passed. My hunger grew, as did my thirst. I only ever ventured a few meters away from my concrete tent with the vain hope of potentially scrounging up food. I always came back empty handed. Soon enough, I was painfully thin.

Then one day, many days after that day, I got up. I had no idea what compelled me to do so. It could’ve been from many reasons, each one grimmer than the last. In the end, I concluded that there was no reason. I started walking around. Each step took me further away from the safety of my tent.

I walked past the lumps of bones and flesh, of concrete and mortar, of metal and wire. I walked past it all, never giving any of them a second thought. I walked to the edge of the village, the place I’ve only ever known. My legs gave out and my body gratefully sank down. No tears could be shed, so instead I listlessly gazed over the horizon.

My mother once told me stories of Heim before the fall. Heroes of yore, wonderful cities and towns, and of the kind monarchs who ruled the land. It sounded wonderful. Once, I asked if it was possible to go back to that time. She merely smiled sadly and tucked me goodnight. I smiled softly at the memory.

Darkness started to creep in from the corners of my vision. I didn’t have the energy nor motivation to fight it. I merely flopped into the dusty ground and closed my eyes. Perhaps a new light would find its way into my sights. A new thing to chase. My consciousness slipped and the darkness claimed me.

It was warm.

Why was it warm?

I was pretty sure death wasn’t supposed to feel warm.

Unless…

I opened my eyes.

An unfamiliar ceiling stared back at me. It wasn’t gray clouds and it most definitely wasn’t the weathered wooden ceilings of my house. My old house. I frowned and attempted to get up. My chest immediately screamed out in pain and with a gasp, I eased myself back into the bed I was lying upon.

A bed.

I looked down and then around. The interior was cramped and the walls, metallic. The bed was quite comfortable though, despite it being on top of what appeared to be a kitchen counter. Then, I noticed that the room was moving and the walls were humming at a steady pace. Wait a minute, the metal walls have curtains.

Without thinking, I swept away the curtains and was immediately blinded by the harsh gray light of the outside. I hissed and squinted as much as I could, determined to see where I was and whether or not I was dead, although it certainly didn’t feel like I was dead.

A few seconds passed and my vision returned to normal. I surveyed my surroundings only to immediately draw back in surprise. The world was moving. Then it hit me, this must be a car, from what my mother had described it as! Though…this particular car seemed bigger than what she had described. I leant back into my bed and pondered my fate.

“Oh, hey.” I looked up in surprise. At the front of the car, a head poked out and looked at me. I scrambled back, my heart pounding.

The ghosts have come for me. I knew it! It was only a matter of time. Those soulless eyes, peeling, burning skin, blood that dripped out of their mouths. They scream! Scream for my help, my soul, my justice. I whimpered and curled into a ball, and tried my very hardest to keep everything out. I need to get out, I have to. But I can’t, the ghosts will get me if I make a run for it. They always catch up!

The rumbling stopped.

A soft hand landed on my back and stroked it. I gasped with shock and scrambled back even more, which resulted in hitting my head against the metal wall. I cried, thinking this was the end. Moments before the end, one small thought calmed me down a little. Perhaps my death will bring peace to the ghosts. I screwed my eyes shut and waited for the inevitable coldness.

It never came.

Instead, a warmth wrapped itself around me. I choked back a sob and cautiously opened my eyes. An unfamiliar woman was hugging me.

“I’m here, calm down. Shhhh…there there.”

“No! The ghosts, the ghosts. Let go of me!” I struggled. I tried, I really did. But no matter what I did, she would not let go. In fact, she leaned even closer and hugged him tighter. She whispered comforting noises into my ears. I don’t know when it happened, but at some point, I gave up and melted into her embrace. The tears then began to flow. Exhaustion, both mental and physical, was overwhelming and I succumbed to the comforting darkness.

When I awoke, the car was rumbling and the sky outside was dark. I held still for a couple of moments, scared and prepared for anything. Memories flooded back and my body eased by itself. I took a shaky breath, then another. Once I had felt like I was strong enough, I slipped off of my table bed. My legs were weak, but the weird countertops on either side helped me stay upright.

Once I got my bearings, I looked around. The car was indeed much larger than what my mother had suggested it was. Then I noticed a figure sitting in a seat at the front. I noticed that there was another seat and it was empty. I made my way over and eased my way into the seat.

“Hi.” The mystery woman smiled at me, giving me a single glance before looking back out the giant window. She was beautiful. Fair brown hair that cascaded over her right shoulder. Green eyes that danced in the light of the lantern that hung above the wheel. She also exuded this warmth that made me feel comfortable around her.

“Hello…” I responded quietly. This seat was bigger than the chairs we had at my house. This one was also much more comfortable. I felt my body relax. “Where…where am I?”

“This here is my beloved, the Dawn Chaser.” She patted the wheel affectionately with a bright smile. “My name is Mika, what’s yours?”

“...Amelia.”

“Nice to meet you Amelia. I hope we can be good friends.” Mika hummed a pleasant tune while she tapped a small beat with her fingers on the wheel.

“Could you…could you tell me what happened?” I asked, dreading the possible answer. Before Mika could open her mouth, however, my stomach rumbled. I blushed and lowered my head.

Mika laughed. “Sounds like you need dinner first. Here, let me just…” She twisted a small looking thing underneath the wheel and the car stopped rumbling. The world outside also stopped moving. “Come on.”

I got up after her and she made her way into the back. The hallway was cramped, enough to fit a single person, so I climbed into the bed I had woken from to make space. She gave me an understanding smile and opened a cupboard. It looked to be a pantry and I was able to catch a glimpse of various food items. She plucked a few potatoes and closed the cupboard. She then grabbed a few bowls of varying sizes and a knife.

“Do you know about mash, Amelia?”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a special dish that turns something like this…” Mika held up a potato with an expression that promised something grand. “...into something completely new. Observe!”

She began by peeling the potatoes' skin. She placed them into a bowl off to the side. The bare potatoes went into a bigger bowl.

“What about the skin?” I asked, curious and worried. “Mother always said to never waste food.”

“Don’t you worry, Amelia. I’m saving them for later. You’ll see, it’ll be something special.” Mika gave a thumbs up and a reassuring smile.

“Oh, okay.”

She went back to her preparation. One by one, she picked up a potato and cut them into smaller pieces. Once all of them were cut, she brought out a fork. With it she began to crush the pieces into even smaller pieces. It soon turned into weird yellow fluff.

“Now, I want you to close your eyes.”

“Why?”

“I have to add a few magical ingredients and you know what they say; a magician must never reveal their secrets.” Mika winked slyly.

“Oh, okay.” I closed my eyes and strained my ears. Perhaps I could glean what she was making through the sounds.

There was creaking, a muffled thud, a weird sounding liquid, scraping, and a few other noises. It was a cacophony. I didn’t know what to make of it.

“Okay. You can open your eyes now, Amelia.”

I opened my eyes. Mika smiled as she presented me with the bowl. Instead of the potatoes I knew, there was a shining yellow, almost soup-like substance.

“This is mash?”

“Yep!” Mika placed the bowl down and spooned out some. She placed them into a smaller bowl and handed me one. She then gave me the spoon to eat with. “Eat as much as you want.”

I didn’t hesitate. The first spoonful was already swallowed when my second reached my mouth. A big mistake. I coughed out some of it as that delicious goldenness clogged up my throat. Mika giggled and patted my back. I struggled somewhat, but I swallowed after a painful moment.

“Take it slow. It’s not going anywhere.” Mika was still chuckling as she cleaned up the little mess that I had made. There was a twinge of guilt but it was shoved to the side by my desire for food. Heeding her advice, my next bite was taken slowly. It allowed me to truly savor the taste. Calling it heaven seemed like an understatement, so instead, I called it my hope. My light at the end of the tunnel.

“Tha…thank you, Ms. Mika.” I sniffled. Tears ran down my cheeks as I tried to put on my best smile. I struggled, but my mother always said that it was the thought that counts.

“No miss, Amelia. I’m just Mika.” She ruffled my rat nest of hair and strolled back to her seat at the front of the car. “Come join me when you’re done, okay?”

“Okay, Ms. Mika.”

I wanted a second helping after I finished, but I felt incredibly full already. I sighed sadly and placed my empty bowl next to the half full bowl of mash. I paused, wondering what I should do next. I knew that Mika told me to come up next to her, but my mother always said to clean up my messes.

“You don’t have to clean up, Amelia.” I whipped up my head to see Mika’s kindly face peering out from behind her seat.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Come sit next to me, I haven’t had someone to talk to in a while.”

“Oh…okay.” I waddled up the shaky hallway and sat in the seat next to her.

“You wanted to know what happened, right?” Mika asked in a friendly manner, her face never having had a flicker of hostility or depressed acceptance that I knew and grew up with. I nodded. “Hmm, alright. I was visiting the town over, I’m a traveling merchant, you see, when your flare went up. I vaguely knew what it meant so I asked the townsfolk if they were going to do anything about it. They shook their heads, saying that some other town will go. I didn’t really believe them, not really. There was a fear hidden underneath, something the Darklings have driven into their hearts. Like staking a vampire.”

“Ms. Mika? What’s a vampire?”

“A terrible creature that was once human. They drink blood and the only way they can die is being staked through the heart.”

“That’s scary.”

“Yeah.” Mika fell silent for a moment. The road around us was dark and ominous, but I felt safe and warm. “Well, after that, I left. I went back on the road. To the next town, I thought. I tried to put it out of my head, you know? It didn’t really work out. I turned around before the day ended. It took a while, ice cream trucks like mine aren’t that fast. Especially ol’ Dawn Chaser. Anyway, I reached your town and it was…” She glanced at my quiet form. “Well, it was something else. I steeled my nerves as best as I could and looked for any survivors. That was when I saw you. You stumbled out into the open with this horrible haunted look in your eyes. Then you collapsed. Of course, I picked you up and set up a bed. I also treated a few of your wounds, then waited.”

“...” I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything.

The years passed like a blur.

The two of us became partners in crime in everything. Mika taught me everything I needed to know while we were on the road. I learned how to barter, to wheel and deal. I learned how to scavenge for valuable items, items that we could later trade or sell. I learned how to treat wounds, splint ligaments, and search for medicinal herbs. I learned how to cook, how to drive, how to satisfy in bed, how to fix and break things. Essentials for everyday life in the outskirts of Heim.

It was nearly eight years into our partnership that Mika finally gave me a gun and taught me how to shoot.

“This, Amelia, is a fifth generation RapidShot.”

“I know, it’s not my first time seeing it.” I replied, annoyed. I’ve been in high speed chases before with her on the roof shooting at Darklings chasing us. Then there was that one time where we nearly got ambushed at Junction-K. She looked so sick, gunning down those cultists while I was tied up next to other sacrifices.

Mika sighed and shook her head. While still relatively young, there were definite signs of age and stress showing on her beautiful features. “When a person carries a gun, and I mean truly carries a gun. They need to know what they are carrying and why. So, this is a fifth generation RapidShot. Unknown to the general public as this generation was still in the prototyping stage. I only happened to stumble across it by chance. What makes this generation different from the more common fourth generation is its ability to fire smoothly without much recoil or jamming. While that doesn’t seem like much, trust me, it is more than you’ll ever know.”

Mika then proceeded to take apart the RapidShot piece by piece and explained what they did and how to put them together. She then had me figure out how to put them back together again. It was fair to say I struggled. Over the following week, she drilled into my head the basics of gun handling and what the pieces did. After I had successfully put the gun together within a minute and a massive scowl on my face did she finally set up a shooting range.

“Deep and measured breaths. It helps you focus. Line up the muzzle relative to the target and then look down the red dot. Just because the HUD tells you directly whether or not it will hit, does not mean it will hit.” Mika explained with infinite patience.

“What the heck does that mean!?” I threw up my hands at the absurdity of that sentence. The RapidShot that I was holding flew out of my hands and up into the air and before I realized what had happened, Mika had already slapped me and had put away the gun.

“Two more weeks of gun basics, then we’ll go back to the firing range.”

“Ugh!”

Three weeks later, Mika continued with her explanation. “The HUD only tells you that the bullet will hit based on your current position. That position can change with any slight variable within the moments of you firing, and with it, your aim. So, word of advice? Don’t trust the gun’s HUD. Use it to guide you, not dictate your ability to use a gun. Now take up position.”

I stood, my feet planted wide, the stock to my shoulder and the muzzle pointed at the empty bottles on wooden posts. I took calming breaths.

“Good, now squeeze the trigger and be prepared for the jolt. Don’t let the surprise make you flounder.”

A few more calming breaths as I lowered my vision to the red dot. The HUD told me I was off by a few millimeters so I adjusted. Then I squeezed. The burst that came forth sprayed around the bottle, but a bullet struck it, shattering it. I felt elated.

“Nice job, Amelia.” She smiled warmly and ruffled my hair. “We’ll pack up for now, we don’t want to spend so much of our limited bullets.”

I nodded and proceeded to pick up the gun bag and ammo box. When I sat up, however, I noticed something off in the distance. A humanoid figure.

“Mika?”

“Yeah?”

“I think somebody’s over there.” I pointed to the figure. Mika stood next to me and spotted the same thing.

“Hmmm. I say we should go check it out. Come.”

We piled into the ice cream truck and she drove down the road. The figure stopped and noticed our approach. They raised their hands in a stop gesture and Mika complied. From our vantage point I could make out that the figure was a woman. A woman with a sword and a sniper strapped to her back. I rolled down the window and called out.

“Stranger, what’s your business?”

“Hitchhiking. Can I get a ride? I can trade.” Her voice was rough but steady and it didn’t betray anything. She looked up and my breath was caught in my throat. She was beautiful. Middle-aged and definitely had seen some harrowing experiences judging from what looked like a fresh scar above her left eyebrow, but her teal eyes were striking and her red luscious hair flowed with silky grace. I felt heat enter my cheeks.

“Sure, let’s see wares.” Mika called out, saving me from what could’ve been an embarrassing moment. She stopped the engine and pulled out the keys. She climbed out and stood in front of the grill. Standard procedure when business was done out on the roads. Behind the grill lay a few surprises should the potential customer get violent or greedy. And should things get worse, it was my job to drive out of there.

“First of all, are you heading near or somewhere along the way to C-City?” The woman asked. While not unheard of, it was still jarring to hear that from someone. I couldn’t hide my shock. Mika was much better at concealing her surprise.

“And what do you want with C-City? I promise you nothing there is of value. Only death and suffering exists there.” Mika’s usual warm and almost motherly voice turned weary and battle-hardened. The voice that came from someone who had seen the worst and even more past that.

“I know.” This new woman took on the same tone. I leaned back into the seat, my tense body suddenly feeling very heavy.

“You were there then? Before the fall?”

“I was there.”

The two women shared a tired, but one of companionship, look. It made me jealous. Sure, I didn’t experience the fall like those two did, I was too young to remember, but Mika was mine! I found her first. Well…she found me, but still!

“Why do you want to go?” Mika visibly let her guard down and her expression turned soft.

“I want to go home.” The woman said with such conviction that even I felt moved by it.

Mika was nodding. “I understand. We can bring you as far as B-Town, the rest is up to you. Also, it doesn’t come for free. You mentioned you had things to trade?”

The woman nodded and pulled out a bag. “Inside are half a dozen potatoes and three of those TerraCubes. You know, those things you throw and a hole is dug out. If that isn’t enough, I’ve got this sword.” She unslung the scabbard around her shoulder and held it out. I noticed a slight tremor in her arm though. From what Mika taught me and from personal experience, that usually meant that it was an item they weren’t all that willing to let go.

“We’ll take the potatoes and TerraCubes. Come on in.” Mika noticed too. I smiled slightly. She clambered back into the driver’s seat and clicked a button that unlocked the back door. “Amelia, help her in and sit with her.”

She gave me a knowing look and I nodded. I climbed out of my seat and opened the back door. I stuck out my hand and the woman took it gratefully. I helped her in and closed the door behind her. I called out to Mika and we began moving.

“You can sit here.” I pointed to a small couch while I sat on the other one. In the middle sat a small coffee table. A few years ago, I had persuaded Mika to take out some of the cupboards and place a small equivalent of a living room instead.

“My name’s Sunset by the way.” She extended a hand and I shook it. Now that we were in close proximity, I could appreciate her beauty much more and the thought made me blush a little. I mentally shook those thoughts out of my head and tried to cover it up with a response.

“Mine is Amelia. Back there is Mika. We’re traveling merchants.”

Sunset nodded absently. Her gaze drifted around our little ice cream truck, our home. A small smile tugged at her lips and it made me feel proud for some reason. She leaned back into the seat but immediately sat up again. She blinked and realized she was still wearing her weapons on her back. She chuckled and unslung them. The sniper looked like nothing I'd ever seen before and I wanted to ask about it, but something else weighed on my mind.

“That weapon, the sword I mean. Is it important to you?” I asked. Her gaze flicked back up to me and I immediately felt subconscious. “Oh, sorry. That was insensitive of me. It’s just, you were willing to give it up to barter passage, but you were hesitating.”

“...yeah, it’s important. It belonged to a comrade of mine.” She chuckled humorlessly. “Well, we barely knew each other for long, so I wonder if it’s okay to call him a comrade.” Sunset placed her hand over the scabbard and had a melancholic expression.

“I think you can.” I reason. “You carry his sword and memory, I think that’s enough.”

She blinked and looked at me with a peculiar expression. It lasted for a moment, but it felt longer. Enough to make me squirm in my seat.

“Amelia, was it?” I nod. “Thank you.”

Days passed.

Sunset slept on the floor of the truck in a sleeping bag. I slept in a hammock that hangs from the ceiling. Mika slept in a pull down section above the dashboard and front seats. It was weird, having a third person after years of the two of them. It wasn’t unwelcome, I concluded. That first night moments before I drifted off, I heard a creaking noise that sounded suspiciously like happiness. Perhaps Dawn Chaser didn’t mind this arrangement either.

“Where did you come from?” I had asked one day over lunch that consisted of carrots and cabbages. It didn’t taste all that great, but it was something.

“C-City.” Sunset replied tersely.

“No, I mean after that. Before you ran into us.” I tried to explain. “The stories, right, talk about how the majority of Heim’s population evacuated. I’m assuming you were part of that evacuation. So, where did you go?”

“Nachbarn. A small town called Rest.”

“Woah.” I knew that she must’ve come from a different country, but still, the actual answer left me in awe. I’ve never been anywhere but the outskirts of Heim. Never too far to run into border patrols of other countries and never too far in where hundreds upon hundreds of Darkling nests lay. Mika was adamant on that. “How did you get past the border?”

That question darkened Sunset’s face and her gaze flicked to her sword. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. I could only gape in horror at what I had just said. The only moment I ever had to possibly learn about other places besides the outskirts and I blew it.

“I’m…ah, I’m sorry! I didn’t think.” I bowed my head, visibly upset. Sunset sighed softly and patted my shoulder.

“It’s okay, Amelia. You meant well.” I raised my head slightly to see her wearing a small frown. “Judging from your expression, I suppose you want to know about the outside.” I nodded hesitantly. “Well, it’s nothing to write home about. I suppose it’s less chaotic than Heim. Darklings still make it past the borders and occasionally make nests. There was this one in Forge, a city in Nachbarn, that freaked everybody out. It was quickly burned, but there were still quite a few casualties. Hmmm, what else…” Sunset fell silent. I let her. We never finished our conversation.

The inevitable day arrived when the silhouette of B-Town appeared over the horizon. Tears inexplicably sprung to my eyes when I realized what that meant. I quickly wiped them away and turned away from the other two. I spent those next ten minutes steeling myself for our goodbye. Then I heard a curse from Mika.

“What’s wrong?”

“Darklings.”

“Awww…” My annoyance turned into a spike of worry. Darklings, now? I whipped back to where Sunset was dozing off. “What should we do?”

“Wake Sunset up, we’ll get her opinion first and then decide.” Mika changed gears and rolled to a stop next to the road. I got up and shook Sunset awake.

“What’s happening?” She asked, her voice slurred from sleep.

“Darklings at B-Town. Mika is asking for your opinion.” I shifted to the side so Sunset could get up and stretch.

“It’s alright, I can walk from here.”

“Are you sure?” Mika called from the front, a note of worry in her voice.

“Yeah.” Sunset chuckled softly as she slung her weapons over her shoulder. She then reached for her bag. “Thanks guys, really. You’ve really done much more than I would’ve expected. Safe travels.”

Mika unlocked the back door and gave a serious nod. Sunset returned it with a small smile. My breath was short as I struggled to keep my tears in. She patted me on the shoulder before jumping out. I reached out to close the doors but I hesitated.

“Hey.” I look up. Sunset smiled brilliantly like the sun and held my forlorn look with a determined gaze. “You’ve got this, alright?”

I nod. She gave me a mock salute before turning on a dime and marched in the general direction of C-City. I took a moment to look at her retreating figure and then closed the doors. Mika glanced sadly in my direction before locking the door.

“Alright. Let’s get out of here, nightfall’s coming.” She turned on the engine and turned the truck around. I nodded sadly and plopped myself down in the shotgun seat. The truck felt much larger and lonelier. The humming that I've known for half of my life started up again and I felt my eyes closing. “Wait…wait, no no no…”

My eyes shot open and I glanced around frantically. “What’s happening! What’s wrong?”

“The Darklings!” Mika slammed her foot on the gas pedal. The ice cream truck burst forward, sending me sprawling.

“What do you mean!” I clambered back onto my seat and looked behind us through the side mirrors. Along with the sticker ‘objects may appear larger than they are’, I counted at least five Darklings coming closer by the minute. “What! How did they see us! We’re still so far from B-Town!”

“I don’t know, I don’t know!” Mika’s breathing started to quicken. I gave a concerned glance which ultimately landed on the RapidShot. A second was all that it took for me to make a decision.

“Mika, unlock the backdoor.”

“What! Are you crazy!?” She shook her head violently. “No no, we can drive faster than they can run.”

“Mika. We both know that that isn’t true.”

“Then we switch!”

“We tried that once! We nearly crashed the truck. No, I need to do this. Unlock the backdoor. Please.”

Mika looked more panicked than I'd ever seen before. Sweat was falling at a concerning pace and the steering wheel looked far too slick to be normal. Her gaze swapped rapidly between me, the darklings in the side view mirror, and the road ahead. Then she uttered a curse and all but punched the unlock button.

“Thank you.” I slung the RapidShot over my shoulder and stumbled over to the backdoor. I was about to do something completely idiotic, but it was necessary. I took a few deep breaths and double checked that everything around me was strapped down. Once I made sure I was ready, I counted myself down to make sure I wouldn’t back down.

One.

I opened the door which immediately swung open and slammed into the side. I paid no attention to it and I grabbed the rope that hung by the side. Using that, I swung my body over the perilous road and had my other hand flounder around. I failed the first time, so I swung my body again. This time, my hand found a purchase. I gripped onto the ladder with all my might and before I could chicken out, my other hand let go of the rope. I shrieked as the realization of what I was doing hit me.

“AMELIA! What’s wrong! Answer me!” Mika’s panicked voice somehow made it to my ears despite the whistling of the wind.

“I’m fine.” I coughed. “I’M FINE!”

I swung my body again, this time to the other side and grabbed the open door. I heaved it shut with all of my might, leaving me a sweaty mess. The job wasn’t done though. I pulled myself up the ladder and promptly collapsed onto the roof of the truck. Many years ago, we installed a few straps along with a cage in case we ever needed to clip anything big to the truck. It also helps with keeping a person strapped to the truck should the need arise.

The wind buffeted against my ears, making it very hard to hear anything, much less myself. I wheezed as I pulled myself down and strapped myself in. The cold of the upcoming nighttime made the process much harder than it needed to be.

I was panting heavily and completely exhausted when I was finished. But I couldn’t rest now. With some finagling, I pulled the RapidShot over my head and braced it against the cage. The Darklings were much closer now. I took a deep breath and lowered my heart rate. Then I fired. Bullet after bullet rained down on our pursuers, many of them striking true.

What ultimately lasted an hour, it felt like a day had passed. Three of the five fell under my onslaught, the other two gave up the chase. Mika didn’t stop driving until the brilliance of dusk was nothing but a mere memory. When the truck stopped, she all but jumped out and demanded that I get my butt down. I wanted to laugh at her panic, but I didn’t have any strength left. Instead, we huddled and cried together.

Many more years passed. Our little ice cream truck became famous for a spell. Then it broke down. We bid adieu and held a small little funeral for our beloved Dawn Chaser. We then moved into a small town for a little while. While it was ours for a couple of years, it didn’t feel real. It didn’t feel right.

A few more years passed, our joints ached and white was seen in Mika’s hair. There was an announcement that the Darklings had been eradicated in the North, so we headed up in a borrowed pickup truck. We made it past the border into Nachbarn just fine. We drove around for a few weeks, we just couldn’t find that right place.

Then on a chilly afternoon, when the sun was going down, we rolled into a small town called Rest. I smiled softly and nudged Mika awake. We both agreed that it was perfect and made a little home together. It was not much, but it was enough for the two of us.

In those years, we spoke of Sunset often. Her quiet determination. On our travels, we tried several times to find news about her, but it was like she had disappeared off the face of the earth. After a while, we just accepted it. She was but a fleeting memory.

And just like every other story, ours had to end at some point. The war against the Darklings was wrapping up and we had grown old.

“What do you want for dinner, Mika?” I asked raspily. I was the only one who could do things now as Mika was confined to her bed, which had been moved to the living room, due to health issues.

“Surprise me, Amelia.”

“I’ve got just the thing.” I hummed a merry tune without a specific beat.

I took out some potatoes and peeled them. The skin in a bowl for later use. Then I cut the potatoes into pieces. I pulled out a fork and started turning the potatoes into yellow fluff. I then presented the bowl to Mika who chuckled weakly.

“Close your eyes. I mustn’t spoil my magic tricks.”

“Yes yes…” Mika closed her eyes with a beautiful smile.

I put the last few ingredients in and divided the mash into two smaller bowls. I stuck a spoon into both and held them up before Mika.

“You may open your eyes now.”