Chapter 10: The Unknowns

"I'll miss the bus, shit!"

Doger hurried out of the gym's restroom, pulling up his pants.

As his friend Garwin had warned, they were about to leave for the supermarket in Homen, in search of answers about the whereabouts of their owner and those who had accompanied him to the same destination.

This was the first step toward their goal, and one of the reasons they left their homes to pursue mere ideals.

"I hope you washed your hands, kid."

A voice stopped them for a moment. It was a man sitting on a bench across the aisle, relaxed, sipping a cup of tea as if he had all the time in the world, unlike Doger.

"O-Of course."

Doger continued on his way, only to be stopped again.

"How's your hand?"

"It's AMAZING. Thanks," Doger said, opening and closing it to make it clear.

“...”

“Well, see ya!”

“I treated someone else with a similar injury...”

That man is the one who had treated his hand when they arrived, and apparently Doger wasn't and won't be his only patient.

He took another sip from his cup, relaxed, and continued.

Doger felt it would be disrespectful to just walk away. Especially from the person who treated his wounds.

“A woman in the same hurry you're in right now... Healing her was, you might say, a warm-up for someone who hadn't seen a single drop of blood in years.”

“Heh, so was I treated by a doctor or not?” Doger forced smiled.

“Let's just say I improvised a bit. The closest I've ever been to a doctor before was bandaging the scraped knees of my little ones who were learning to ride bikes a long time ago.”

“You didn't do too badly then. Now I know who to call after my trainings, heh heh.”

After saying that, Doger waved goodbye and resumed running toward the parking lot where the rest of the group was waiting.

"Hey, don't make me work harder, kid," the man stammered, watching him hurry. "It's not like I enjoy seeing people hurt... Poor that woman..."

Outside the bus station, the minibus departed.

Doger had managed to catch up in time and was now rummaging through the bags at his feet for a bottle or can of soda to help him cope with the morning heat.

Inside the vehicle, there were about 8 people in total. He and his companions made up the majority, but despite being at capacity, an awkward silence persisted.

"I feel betrayed," one of them commented.

It was the tall Garwin Stanford, even bigger than usual. He was carrying his "armor", his full football uniform. It was uncomfortable for him to have it crammed between the small seats.

"...Don't even think I'm wearing that here, man," Doger declared.

"I expected it from you, but you, Sein? My brother, you left me alone with this."

"Um, well..." he replied, avoiding answering, just like the others.

"I loaded mine into the luggage," said the young Izzy sitting next to him. "Wearing it now would only be uncomfortable, as I see."

"At least Iz has an excuse," Garwin commented.

"But Garwin... Can't you... at least take off your helmet until we get there? Aren't you hot?"

"Anything can happen at any time, Nisha. Anything~ Anything~" Garwin let out a short laugh. "But don't think they'll get away with it, I also loaded their suits into the luggage rack."

"..."

Although he was exaggerating, his words were true. The crash on their previous minibus trip was evidence of this, and heading to an unknown location where people were allegedly disappearing further supported their argument.

It wasn't until the vehicle began to bounce along the narrow, broken roads that they thought about this during the travel.

Watching through the window, Izzy wondered when they would arrive and why there was so much emptiness in front of her.

The surrounding town was desolate.

Despite having mobilized the residents to the Central of Homen, there shouldn't have been more than a hundred individuals. The kilometers traveled to the supermarket covered an area larger than that number of residents.

Occasionally, it was possible to make out scattered animals: birds flying overhead or stray dogs rummaging through the rotting garbage in the alleys. But nothing more.

As they continued, the scene became increasingly decaying. That's when they stopped.

"Are we there? That fast?" Doger asked.

The driver turned around and looked at him sullenly.

"You get off here, boys. We'll continue."

"..."

They didn't agree, but they agreed to it.

Without another word, they opened the minibus's sliding door and got out one by one.

Garwin approached the driver's window, who didn't even let him speak.

"We'll pick you up in two hours, maybe less."

"Sure. I appreciate it, sir. May God go with you."

"..."

And without saying goodbye, he stepped on the accelerator and pulled away.

"I guess someone was not too keen on the idea of ​​bringing us," Doger commented, shrugging his shoulders.

"Guys, it's best not to cause them any more trouble." Nisha took a piece of paper out of his pocket, on which were written the addresses and belongings they were to collect. "It might take longer than expected. We better start."

"But where to start?" Sein questioned, rearranging the bags at his feet.

The unfamiliar neighborhood around them was made up of tangled alleys and small, single-story houses. They looked more like retirement communities than anything else. Rundown communities.

The homes they were to visit were scattered randomly around the site. Ideally, they'd start with the furthest ones to be close to the pick-up point.

Izzy, who had already seen the addresses, made it clear just that.

"We'll start with the furthest one. One by one until we get back to this very spot." She hoisted one of the bags onto her back.

"If we split up, we could finish sooner," Sein said. "At least in pairs..."

"We don't know these neighborhoods. Maybe in another time."

"Okay, before we start..." Garwin exclaimed. "Who's going to wear their suit?"

"..."

No one wanted to answer.

"Man... You know what?" Doger said. "Since you went to all this trouble to bring them, and since there's no one around, I'm going to put mine on."

Garwin handed him his bag and, with a smile, pointed toward an alley where he could change.

And Doger took the bag and brought his nose close, sniffing it exaggeratedly.

"Sniff sniff. Ah... Wow. I've missed the stench of these suits. I appreciate it, Garwin. Sniff sniff. Beautiful!"

"It's a pleasure, buddy. It's a pleasure."

"I hope you unloaded mine, too?" Izzy asked, holding out a hand.

The others just short laughed and played along, searching through the bags for their own suits.

"Heh, if anyone sees us like this..." Nisha muttered.

"The only one who'd be safe is him," Sein said.

He meant Gitta Vintana, the foreigner who had been silently accompanying them and relieved not to be too involved in what they were doing.

"Gitta won't be safe from this one," Garwin announced. He tossed him the last bag left to open. "You're part of us now, so you'll do the same stupid things we do."

"...Hm... Did you have anything in my size?" he said, a clear grimace on his face that showed his reluctance to wear the suit.

"Check it out."

The young man in the vest opened the bag curiously and removed each protector, finishing with the shirt.

The uniforms were a blue as dark as the seabed and outlined in thin white stripes. Each one had a number on their chest and back.

Gitta's was 81.

By then, the others were changing nearby, but Garwin asked him to put on his torso protectors first to make sure they fit properly.

"It fits you perfectly. It actually matches your beret."

"It's a little tight, if I'm honest," Gitta clarified, readjusting his shoulder pads.

"That's because you're wearing the vest underneath, bud." He remembered the obvious. "Hey, that Jersey... It fits you exactly like I remember it."

"...I see."

Garwin continued to comment on whatever was on his mind as they both headed toward where the rest of the group was ready and waiting.

"He was reserved like you, which is why I didn't know much about him, but he could run..."

"...”

Gitta didn't know what or who he was talking about, so he just nodded and nodded as he tried to put on the rest of the protectors.

“Ah... Nostalgia...”

As instructed, they would have just two hours to finish gathering all their assigned belongings.

They set to work, entering each settlement to complete the task, until their bags were filled to the brim.

“Okay, we need to... “Nisha said, checking the paper with the addresses, ”The two-story settlement, the light blue wall with flowers... It must be there, guys.”

“Mm… What if we ignore it” Sein asked, complaining about his uncomfortable backpack. “They're old, they won't notice”.

“Oh, of course they'll notice, when their legs go paralyzed or they stop breathing from not taking their pills”, Doger said.

“He he... Carrying these full bags seems like we're going to save the goddess Athena”.

“For Athena!”

They had taken a long time rummaging through every house, every room, carrying what they could, and errands, with the little time they had.

After the journey, they approached the correct home and entered.

The humble abode contained a few armchairs that they didn't hesitate to use.

"Phew... A break, please," Doger requested, throwing himself onto the sofa and leaving his bags aside.

Izzy did the same.

"We have 30 minutes left, and we're close to the pickup point... We're free to rest for a few minutes," she clarified, taking off her helmet and resting her head on the seat.

"Did anyone bring anything to drink? I'll go check the kitchen."

He had already gone ahead, bringing some bottles of soda with him. He handed one to each of them and sat down on one of the sofas like the rest.

"Oh... So? After helping them, what's on the agenda, Izzy?

The young woman calmly sipped from her bottle and looked at the group with her sharp, clear eyes.

She sighed, remembering the response she'd gotten at the meeting in the gym.

"...There's not much to say. We'll hope for the best after completing this assignment. Regardless of the outcome, our route to the police department won't change, only the time we remain in Homen will."

She took another sip and shifted her gaze to the foreigner. He seemed to have taken an interest in the conversation.

"This community is kind and supportive... Gitta Vintana. I'm sure they'll welcome you and Yong Haeri with open arms in whatever you need."

"...I haven't decided which direction we'll take yet, miss."

We could say. He was speaking the truth. The decision wasn't solely up to him, after all.

"So much to do. So much to think about."

"... We'd better get back to collecting."

Placing the bottle on the small table in front of everyone, the young woman quickly stood up.

"A white blanket with puppy prints and two random wool sweaters, right, Nisha?"

"Yes, that's about it for today."

They crossed the living room until they reached the bedrooms of the home.

They were getting so good at retrieving knick-knacks that they knew in advance where they might be.

"Hm... I can't find the sheets," Nisha said, rummaging through the furniture. "I'll go check upstairs."

"Good."

After closing the drawers, the boy stretched his back and left the room.

"There must be a closet," he said to himself, climbing the steps.

Meanwhile, in the rooms, the rest of the group was finishing up their work.

"Here it is," Gitta pulled out the last piece of clothing they needed. "Is this the one you needed?"

"Sure it is, man," Doger said, his first words to the stranger. "Adding the blanket, we'll be able to leave before anyone sees us in these outfits."

"Hey, don't tell me you're still-"

Garwin couldn't finish his comment; he heard a commotion outside the room.

Two, three... No... More than four different voices.

Such a thing wasn't possible. There wasn't supposed to be anyone in that house other than him and his group.

"...!”

Something was up. Something strange was going on.

He looked around. His companions were also alarmed, wondering what was going on.

And a fleeting thought crossed their minds. The only person who had separated from the pack.

Nisha.

By the time they realized it, everyone was already out of the room.

"Gh...!"

They heard a couple of thuds coming from the second floor.

Peeking out, they saw Nisha rolling down the steps and stopping motionless on the landing.

"Nish...!"

And right above him, a complete stranger. At first glance, it was a teenager in strange clothing, who was leaning out agitatedly.

"W-What the...?"

They didn't know exactly what had happened up there, but the fact that the man was carrying a broken toilet brush handle only indicated that he was the perpetrator, a not-alone unknown perpetrator.