Epilogue

November 4th 2027 12:00

I’ve found it, Carrie thought, reflecting.

She had made her journey toward the capital city in order to find food that tasted good; and she had found it. Not in the destination, but in the journey.

Right now, Carrie and Pov were at the edge of the city, inside a hotel’s kitchen, about to eat Pov’s cooking.

It was Pov, all along, she thought.

Carrie would admit: Pov was a good cook, talented at it. But it wasn’t the skill of her cooking that had caused the food to taste good. No.

Pov tasted her cooking, enjoyed it. Carrie could see Pov’s satisfaction from her expression. One that conveyed the deliciousness of the cooking, one that made Carrie curious and eager to taste the food.

Carrie took a spoonful of soup and ate it.

Delicious, she thought.

She had gone from city to city, place to place, all to find food that tasted good, and she had found it. It wasn’t the food itself that she had needed to search for; every food was tasteless for her tongue. What she had needed to search for—was a companion whom she could share the experience with, who could make the food tasty.

Who would’ve thought…

All things considered, back then, the food from memory that she thought had tasted good; it had tasted good because she was eating it with her family. It was their presence that made the food taste good.

Carrie looked at Pov. Now, it’s her presence that makes the food taste good.

‘What is it?’ Pov asked.

‘I… also think of you as someone who’s precious to me.’

‘… I see.’ Pov smiled. ‘Thank you.’

They made sure to finish their food without leaving any leftovers.

Carrie and Pov were ready to continue their journey.

‘So, we’re going to continue finding food that tastes good?’

‘No.’

‘No?’

‘We’ll do something else.’

‘What will we do?’

‘Is there anything that you’d like to do?’

‘You haven’t decided on anything?’

Carrie believed that… with a companion, anything she did would be... flavorful. ‘We can do what you want to do.’

‘Then… I want to know what happens to Odyssey and the others…’

‘Then let’s do that.’

‘But… don’t you want to do something else? There’s only around a month left before the calamity. Your time is limited; and are you really fine with doing what I want and not yours?’

It was fine to do what Pov wanted, that was why Carrie had asked. She was grateful that she was considerate of her though. ‘The calamity doesn’t matter.

‘No calamity is going to change my decision: I will do what I want to do.

‘That’s what matters.’

Pov smiled. ‘Sometimes I worry about the end of the world—but I feel relieved when you say that it doesn’t matter.’

They packed up their things. Ready to embark on their journey.

‘I sure wish you don’t have a fear of vehicles though… Could’ve been something else. That way, we could’ve been going by car. I can drive, you know.’

‘Don’t ever suggest that, even as a joke.’

‘Right. My bad.’

There was no knowing what the future might bring. The road ahead was always filled with uncertainty, something that no one could ever predict fully. Despite all that, she would still travel this road. Not alone this time, but with a companion who could make the journey even more meaningful.

‘Let’s go.’

‘Let’s.’

This was Carrie and Pov’s world end journey.