Chapter 11 – What Lies in the Dark

October 21st 2027 04:04

This was not after Carrie had her share of food.

To slip away from Odyssey’s watch, Pov had to sneak away early in the morning. Therefore, Carrie had got her at this hour. Here they were, walking out in this city, when people were still sleeping, when the sun hadn’t risen, and when some guards were patrolling. They had to avoid their watchful eyes.

‘Where are we going?’ Pov asked.

‘To the place where we lost our luggage.’

‘Isn’t that far away?’

Ignored.

‘If it’s that far away, I believe I can grab some sort of ride—’

‘No.’

‘Preferably a car—’

‘No.’

‘Seriously, what’s with you and cars?’

‘Shut up.’

Horrible person. Check. This is Carrie…

---

05:05

It had been a week since she had to walk far. Who would’ve thought that standing and serving food for others would mean that her legs weren’t as used to walking as they used to be? Did her legs slack that easily?

Although the skies were dark, the environment was bright enough that Pov could follow Carrie’s silhouette and not trip on anything.

Now that she thought about it, why was Carrie trying to show her how bad the city was?

Wasn’t her main goal, her main concern, to get to the capital city? To try more food?

‘Why do you think it’s important? To show me… whatever you want to show?’

‘Shut up.’

‘… You know, if you’re like this, I could just run and continue living here and do my job, right? I don’t have to follow you, not when you’re being suspicious. Not when you’re basically the enemy of this city that I now live in.’

‘Do that then.’

Well, considering that Pov would be alone in that case, she wouldn’t. But that wasn’t the whole point. ‘Carrie, would it kill you to communicate better?’

‘Would it kill you to shut up?’

‘I—’

Carrie covered Pov’s mouth with her hand. Silencing Pov, then dragging her behind a wall. What was this for?!

‘Who goes there!’ a voice sounded. Flashlight was pointed toward their direction. Thankfully, they were hiding behind a wall. ‘Must’ve been my imagination…’

There were guards patrolling around here. And… considering that Carrie was basically wanted, considering that Pov would be wanted too, if it was ever found out that she had snuck out from Odyssey’s watchful eyes, it would be bad for them to get captured here.

Was that why she told her to shut up?

Part of it, Pov was sure. But for the most part, it must be because she was a horrible person. Must be.

After the situation seemed to have settled down, they continued their walk, toward the spot where they had lost their luggage.

---

05:45

Pov and Carrie had climbed the stairs inside a building that was near the border. From there, they entered a room, with a window that had the best view outside. A place where they could observe without having to worry about guards. Unless the guards were paranoid enough to check every room in this building on a day-to-day basis.

Anyway, there they were, waiting.

While at it, knowing that they could talk and that she no longer needed to shut up, she continued the previous conversation.

‘You really need to be able to communicate better,’ Pov said.

Ignored.

‘See? This is what I mean! Carrie, I’m being serious! You need to communicate better!’

Ignored.

‘Has anyone ever told you that talking to you feels like talking to a wall?’

Ignored.

‘… You know… the other day… I came across food that you might find tasty…’

Igno— ‘What is it?’

‘You’re. The. Worst!!’

‘Look. Over there.’

Considering that Carrie had been ignoring her, Pov figured that it was now her time to ignore her. However, she couldn’t help but be curious and look toward where she had pointed. And to her surprise, out there, near the forest, were a dozen people from the city, being led by the guards who were armed with rifles. Around half of the people were old men, while the others were a mix of ages, some still children.

What were they doing there?

One of the guards shot toward the sky. Then, the people, scared of the weapon, ran to the forest.

What was happening there?

‘What you just saw right there,’ Carrie explained, ‘is what I saw on that day as I was scouting around. People exiled from this city. Toward the forest, without any equipment whatsoever, the same as sending them to their death sentence.’

… One, the earth tribe leader, did mention that they had encountered people from the capital. Or at least from the direction of the capital city. Meaning: the people that he had mentioned were people that had come from here. ‘Why were they exiled?’

‘Because they’re people who could only take. Most of them are old people. Old people could no longer do a job because of their physical state. They can no longer give, only take. And with limited resources, they are exiled. Why give to someone who could only take? A waste of resources. This is how they maintain the system of give and take.’

‘This is cruel!’

At first, living in this city, she had thought that the system was nice. But… with the darkness that she had just seen… could she really say the same thing again? The peace that she had attained was gained from the sacrifice of the exiled. Also, let’s say that the calamity didn’t occur, let’s say that she stayed here till she became old, then would she someday be exiled just like them? Goodness…

‘Some of the exiled were children!’

Carrie nodded. ‘This city is not as good as you think.’

‘Why show me this?’

‘You should know this before you decide whether to live in this city. Just so you know, if you still choose to stay here, I have no problems whatsoever. Good riddance.’

‘As if I’d like to stay in a place like this…’

‘Pity.’

‘… If you had wanted me to stay, you shouldn’t have shown me this. Could’ve just left me behind.’

Carrie shrugged. ‘I guess I should’ve.’

‘We have to get out of here—’

‘What in the world are you two doing?!’ a voice boomed behind them.

Pov and Carrie looked back and saw Odyssey.

He must’ve noticed Pov sneaking out and had been following them.

This was bad.