Chapter 16: The First Expedition. Part 3

“Gitta!”

“Hey, uh, s-stop now!”

In a moment of distraction, Haeri Yong had managed to break through the first police blockade and reach the second, near the entrance to the JeyJey Supermarket.

By then, the police were already securing the area and handcuffing the criminals and suspects. It seemed the situation was under control.

The problem was that they didn't distinguish between the Wolf Eight and Izzy's group, so even Gitta Vintana was handcuffed and taken to the back of a large car along with several of his companions.

Haeri watched from a distance as they strapped him into his seat. He had some bruises on his face and arms.

“What the...? What are you doing to him?! Why are you handcuffing him?!”

“Miss, you can't come closer.”

“But he's innocen---!”

A tall officer walked in front of her. He emitted an aura of authority so great it forced her to remain silent. Not only his height, but also his deep voice and serious expression, gave the impression that in any difficult situation they could imagine, he would be the kind of man who would know exactly what to do.

It was the police chief of the present unit, Rian Verseo.

"...You will be transported to the Homen shelter. If you have any complaints, we will discuss them there. Please do not interfere with the investigation," the man said, also referring to Miruno and Xiomara who were approaching behind him.

Watching the scene through a second-floor window, Izzy cautiously walked into the supermarket.

She sighed in relief and put back on her football helmet when she realized the police had arrived. But it wasn't time to leave yet.

After all, her trip to the supermarket was simply an excuse to gain trust in the Homen Central, but arriving wouldn't be worth it if she didn't find the missing people.

Taking into account Jeylon, the supermarket's owner, there should be approximately 30 more people whose whereabouts are unknown.

“(But I didn't think Dan would actually get involved in this...)”

Avoiding even the slightest noise, Izzy had to intrude on the darkest part of the supermarket. The last place she hadn't yet visited was the warehouse in the back.

She descended the metal steps and inspected the area. The vast warehouse served as a cargo depot, so the huge containers were visible even in the darkness.

After dodging the puddles of water and oil, she searched her surroundings exhaustively.

The rooms on the second floor contained nothing but weapons, money, drugs, and the overwhelming smell of marijuana. None of them had the space to hide a person, much less an entire group.

The conclusion she came to was that Jeylon had been kidnapped, and his companions were caught up in the act.

According to the residents of Homen Central, Jeylon was a well-paid man; what you might call a businessman, and seeing as he ran the small supermarket chain "JeyJey Market," there was no reason to doubt it.

He had money, food, and transportation. In a chaotic situation like the current one, those with such resources at their disposal are the most susceptible to falling victim.

"...He refused to hide, to help others" Izzy muttered to herself, glancing through the containers.

For a second, she thought she might be carrying something, but she couldn't do it alone, and going back to call her friends wasn't an option at that moment.

"(If that's the case, we'll return when I clear the situation with the police...)" she thought.

After wasting several minutes in a fruitless search, she managed to glimpse a door behind a dump trailer.

The only door in the place. There was no other. It had to be the right one, and she was growing tired of searching; her companions were being transported to the police station. She knew they would be safe, because Izzy had always trusted the police. However, time was running out to return to them, and she still didn't know exactly where they would be taken.

As she was about to walk toward the expected door, the sound of a boot stepping in a puddle of water behind her immediately distracted her.

"Get away from there. Raise your hands, slowly."

The voice that spoke those words was deep, confident, and trustworthy.

The order of a leader.

Izzy followed without hesitation, although the persistent pain in her injured shoulder made her hesitate for a moment.

"Don't expect better treatment just because you know me," the man said.

"...I don't expect it, because I know you."

She would never be mistaken after hearing that voice.

Thanks to his shadow, Izzy could see him slowly approaching behind her.

"...”

"If you don't handcuff me soon, I might run away immediately," Izzy challenged the man.

He didn't flinch at all. Still and at a closer distance, Izzy could see him out of the corner of her eye.

His green uniform. Anyone would think he was a military force, or even mistake him for a paramilitary, but it was one of the Manecia’s Municipal Police Force.

Rian Verseo, who was actually the head of the police station, kept his right hand on the telescopic baton on his belt.

"Try it."

"..."

"Hmph. You announced it because you know you won't... I know you're here for a reason. And that reason could be behind that door."

Rian had noticed someone else in the supermarket's unloading area. A black shadow that slipped away silently.

So, all he did was follow her, waiting to find out what the "stray cat" was looking for among the containers.

"I want you to move away, now."

He wasn't the best of company for Izzy Rylee, but he wasn't someone she'd consider an enemy either. A police officer would never be that kind of thing to her.

She preferred to follow instructions and step aside. Finally, he was face to face with Rian, who was now blocking her way to the door.

The man, without disturbing the young woman's attention, approached the handle.

"..."

A sharp, unpleasant odor flooded his sense of smell, forcing him to frown. There was nowhere else this stench could have come from but that locked room.

As a veteran officer, all sorts of thoughts ran through his mind, completely different from those of an ordinary citizen like Izzy.

He just hoped the most common deduction was wrong.

As he turned the handle, the double doors opened easily.

He took a small flashlight from one of his vest pockets to illuminate the dark room.

Between the four gray and dirty walls, a multitude of garbage bags were clustered in one corner. As he shone his spotlight on them, he was relieved to see that it wasn't anything unusual.

"This is just a dump..." he said to himself, raising an eyebrow. "Izzy, were you thinking of rummaging through the trash?"

Confused about the young woman's true intentions, he turned to take a step and leave the smelly room as quickly as possible, but his own step pushed aside the plastic bags that were blocking his path.

"Sir, are you here?!"

If he hadn't made such a minor oversight, he would have proceeded to handcuff Izzy and retreat back to the Police Station with the officer who was calling him on the way out.

However, this mistake opened his eyes to the truth, literally.

Atop a dark, viscous fluid oozing from his boot, a human limb dangled, and a head with a dyed hairstyle peeked out from between the garbage bags.

"..."

Rian immediately covered his face with the sleeves of his uniform. The smell of decay wasn't that of a dead mouse or cat in the garbage. Now he knew exactly where it was coming from.

Before any further action, he remembered Izzy, who was still waiting outside the room. What he did next was out of character for him. He left the room and closed the door, approaching her and taking her hand firmly like a furious dad.

"...!"

More than surprised by the pain of her injured arm being suddenly stretched, the unpredictable attitude of this familiar man caught her off guard.

Not even one of his closest colleagues, the officer who approached, holding his nose, expected such a reaction from him.

"You'll come with me right now! Jerico, call 'Investigations'! No one else is to enter this warehouse except them."

"Y-Yes, sir... Damn, what happened...? And this stench..."

-[Ø]-

"It's getting close to dusk..."

"Yes. The heat subsides. It's a relief.”

Sitting in the silence of the outdoor gardens, Nisha Quinto and Lan Franco calmly looked out at the sunlight slowly disappearing behind the clouds.

In their hands, a pair of paperback books. Not extensively numbered.

Lan took a sip from his cup of tea, which he returned to the small table between them. He crossed his legs femininely and continued reading.

"Ah... You know, Nisha, it's difficult. I have endless ideas in my head for our next publication, but I'm having a hard time putting them down on paper. You understand, right?"

"Writer's block? I believe..."

"Heh, it hadn't happened to me in years since we started writing. Maybe I've just been very distracted lately."

Lan shrugged and looked at Nisha. He was still reading his book, or to be precise, his notebook. Making notes here and there.

"So..."

"Ah, excuse me. In those cases... A source of inspiration would help.”

“... You are a source of inspiration.”

“No, I'm not that good at this.”

“You've been for our entire group. Without you, we wouldn't have sold even half of what we've produced so far.”

“... Thank you, but I suppose this will be my last publication in a while,” the young man said, hiding a faint smile.

“Why do you like to repeat that so much? Nisha... Think of the schools that have benefited. The impact and the mark we've left. Few contribute as much as we do to this rotten society.”

By then, the book was closed on the table, a fist clenched lightly in it. Despite knowing the news beforehand, Lan wondered why he'd suddenly changed his attitude, merging reason with the current situation in his mind.

"...I really don't understand why you want to stop. I truly don't understand."

"...”

"You know very well that if something happens, we can talk. It's not like we're strangers... (Or is it?)"

"Ah... Don't worry. It's just a change of scenery. It's bound to happen at some point, I guess; we start thinking about what to do in the future," Nisha commented, returning his gaze to his notes. "Hm... High school will be over soon, and... well... writing as a profession isn't very stable."

"... You really think so?" Lan raised an eyebrow. "You haven't shown me the draft, not even the notes for this last book."

Nisha stopped his pencil and fixed his narrow eyes on his companion, shifting to a more optimistic tone.

"Sorry about that. I just wanted to surprise you. I promise you'll be the first to read it, when the time comes. It's a story that's just beginning."

"...”

"Hi! How are you all feeling? Do you mind if I sit with you?"

"...”

A female voice and scarlet hair intervened in the middle of the conversation. A thick book was placed on the table.

It was Kyna Lydell, the young woman they had met a few days earlier in the Homen Central gym.

Lan took the intrusion badly; his bad mood didn't help.

He immediately got up from his chair and, picking up his book, headed back to the gym.

"...We'll talk later, Nisha. I'll help prepare the prayer, serve dinner, among other things."

"Oh, yes. I'll be there in a moment, too."

Watching him retreat with a feminine wave of his hand, Lan returned to the gymnasium at Homen Central.

"That boy is clearly dishonest."

"?"

"Don't mind me, he he."

The young woman took Lan's seat and stared at Nisha.

Her lined eyes, black-painted lips, and long, blood-red hair gave her a peculiar, gothic appearance, which Nisha found certainly unsettling.

"No one in this place has any free time, it seems. I wonder what you're doing sitting reading in the middle of nowhere when everyone's busy."

"You're right. Do you need my help? I can go right away," Nisha said, clearly in a hurry.

"Calm down. Have a seat. Whether it takes two or four hands won't make a difference in a place like this."

"...I see."

"What's your name? You can call me Kyna." We've met before, but I guess it's easy to forget when introductions are quick." She extended her hand to shake his.

"Nisha Quinto."

"Quinto... Hm... Wait... By any chance... are you the writer?!"

"Uh... Yes, I think so."

"Really? How impressive. It's hard to believe I'd meet one of my favorite writers face to face."

"Ah... It's nothing. By the way, where's the girl who was with you?"

"I think she went to the bathroom. Look, this book has your name on it."

With an unexpectedly lively attitude, she held up the book she was holding.

"Without many pages and with lots of colorful drawings, it was a children's book. And on its cover, Nisha's name was above Lan and other contributors.

"That's one of the first books we published."

"I know it's weird that I read children's books. My problem is that I can't help it. They're short, but each text... Emits a profound message in simple writing. It touches on topics usually aimed at adults, in a way that children can understand... Would you sign my book?”

“Um, sure.”

Taking her pencil and the book she'd handed over, Nisha wrote his name on the last page of the book and handed it back. He'd never signed a book for someone else before, so the only thing he could think of was to leave his name in cursive style.

“Thanks. Tell me, Nisha Quinto. What motivated you to take that direction?

“I guess I drew on my own experiences.”

“Your family has been hard on you, huh.”

“Well...”

“You don't need to tell me. “Kyna put a hand in front of him. “I understand. No one wants to remember the past... Writing and publishing books just to donate the money to charity... But you have friends now, don't you? Where are they? Come to think of it.”

“They went on the expedition outside of the Central.”

"Why didn't you go with them?"

"...I-I accidentally hit my head. It would be dangerous to go out now."

"Oh... That explains the bandage on your head."

If taken literally, he was right. After the first group outing and the attack by the unknown men, he really shouldn't go out again.

However, he was feeling too 'well' to remain locked up and on a stretcher. If there was a real reason he didn't accompany them, it was fear.

And that made him feel guilty. Doing nothing but rest while his friends were out there made him feel even worse. At least he could discover something more during his stay.

"Um, I have a question, although I don't know if you could help me...Do you know why they built a wall at the Central of Homen? Or, come to think of it, what is the purpose of this Central in the first place?

"You guys are very active in this whole thing..."

"Oh, it seems so?"

Strangely, Kyna's spirits had dipped. Her demeanor became more serious and thoughtful.

"Forgive me for asking..."

"...Some say it was the work of looters trying to break in. Despite the extensive damage to the wall, and the fact that no one has seen a looter so far, they still cling to that idea. They're stubborn."

"That's why they reinforced the walls... So how is the wall----?"

Without letting him continue, Kyna stood up from her chair, gathering her book. Her gaze fell on the signature the boy had given her.

"Nisha Quinto... It's my turn to ask a question. Why are you here?"

"Me? ...I'm looking for my mother."

“…”

Kyna then raised her gaze to the sky and breathed deeply.

“It was a waste of time, after all…” she told herself. Nisha couldn’t hear such whispers.

Dusk had fallen. The stars that were just beginning to shine would soon fade.

“The Prayer will take place in a few minutes. Would you mind helping me with something before then?”

“Sure.”

“How about we meet at the recreational park behind the gym? Come alone, okay?”

The proposal had surprised him, and his imagination began to run wild. Although she looked somewhat intimidating, Nisha had to admit that she was certainly an attractive woman in her own way.

“…Y-Yes. Okay,” he replied, clearly blushing.

“Wait for me there. I’ll see you soon.”

She didn’t turn to look at him at all. She simply walked back into the Homen Central gym at a slow pace on the soft grass, with the book in her hand.

The boy, watching the reddish hair that waved on that thin back move away, had no idea of ​​the event that had been announced.