Chapter 12: Lost Roads. Part 3

21:30:00hrs.

The cabin was plunged into darkness, barely lit by the faint flame of a candle resting on an old wooden box that served as a table. Outside, the wind carried the rustling of branches and dry leaves, shaking the skeleton of the trees as if the entire white forest were breathing.

The night was cold, the kind of cold you felt in your bones, but inside, the air was thick. Not because of the temperature, but because of what was about to happen.

A drop.

The faint sound of a drop.

A hand slowly moved the container away, letting the last drop fall onto the wood instead of the plastic.

Izzy (Eve): …

A long silence, but their gazes remained locked.

The girl looked at the floor and leaned her hip against the table with a certain resignation, knowing exactly what he meant. And yet, she tried to evade the question in vain. She had to try.

Izzy (Eve): It's just bottled water. You should be able to drink it safely.

She didn't look up, remained calm.

Gitta (Ace): Please tell me.

Cautiously, the boy approached, perhaps trying not to frighten her.

He didn't really blame her; he wasn't that kind of person. He was just seeking to satisfy his curiosity, hoping that his suspicions had been entirely unfounded; mere delusions of the mind, a product of the uncertainty and bewilderment of recent events.

However, the scales wouldn't exactly tip in favor of that tiny possibility.

If he was wrong, he would be relieved and treated as paranoid. If not, he had to know it right then and there. Such knowledge could determine their fate.

Without looking up, young Izzy shrugged and walked to his side.

Izzy (Eve): There's nothing else, just water. Go to sleep. It's late.

She acted timid, giving herself a clear path.

Of course. She wouldn't have a compelling reason to tell the truth even if there wasn't one. Continuing the same lie for another day, another week, another month wouldn't be impeded.

She was about to open the cabin exit when a thick hand landed on her shoulder.

The young woman turned around immediately, this time her gaze fixed on him. Her serenity was gone.

Gitta withdrew his hand. He had seen through her facade.

Izzy (Eve): Don't you dare touch me.

Gitta (Ace): …

Exactly what role were the actors playing?

Izzy knew his helpful nature, knew he wasn't a bad person, and wouldn’t try to hurt her in a fit of anger.

Gitta knew her well enough to discern her obvious overacting, to know full well that she wasn't the emotional type.

They had traveled together, lived together, and survived together for a long time. They didn't exchange too many words on their journey because they knew what had to be done.

Evaluating their relationship, one would conclude that they had nothing less than respect and trust for each other.

Gitta (Ace): Why are you doing this?

Izzy (Eve): …

However, she shouldn't tell the truth. It wasn't convenient.

Gitta (Ace): I know you're smart —he said, relaxing his shoulders, trying not to appear confrontational.

Izzy (Eve): …You get agitated for no reason, Gitta.

Gitta (Ace): I'm not the person with a weapon at hand.

He had noticed. The girl's hand had slithered behind her back to grasp a piece of wood detached from the cabin wall. Rotten, but sharp enough to be a threat.

Gitta (Ace): I know you have a reason. Please tell me.

The tension increased with each step he took, but he felt calm.

He was right, she was smart. Any reckless decision she made inside that cabin would be far from the logic she'd always followed. However, the fact that she was willing to throw that fact away meant there was an important cause at stake.

She questioned herself, whether she would ever trust him again.

Impossible. Impossible for something like that.

Izzy (Eve): You'll be better off knowing no more than you should —she bowed her head in denial—. Believe me.

She would persist.

Gitta (Ace): The water... it's contaminated. There's something in it, am I right?

He had said them, the words she didn't want to hear.

There was no going back, no chance of the situation ending well.

Izzy (Eve): What makes you think that?

He moved closer. When the girl realized, he was standing about a meter in front of her.

Izzy gripped the wood more tightly in her hand.

Gitta (Ace): With your permission…

And he held it back, moving it aside.

There were no strong reactions from either party.

Izzy (Eve): Why did I worry? —She frowned, tilting her head as she watched him place the wood on the table. Perhaps she had been annoyed by her inaction, or the cause of it—. You wouldn't raise your hand to a woman, part of the reason you oppose resorting to force, just as he does.

Gitta didn't bother to address that conclusion.

Gitta (Ace): So…

Izzy (Eve): We've been through a lot, Gitta, but unlike him, I've only known you for a few months. I still don't know what you're really willing to do.

The boy exhaled heavily, his fingers cupping his forehead, tired from all the loitering and lateness of the night.

Gitta (Ace): If you don't tell on your own, I'll tell the others. If I'm wrong, at least I'll have planted a seed of doubt one way or another.

Izzy (Eve): No, you won't. Unless you want to lose yourself.

He narrowed his eyes, confused.

Gitta (Ace): Lose myself?

Izzy (Eve): If you insist… I'll lock the door.

Saying it might make the situation more negotiable, contrary to not doing it, she thought. Additionally, I could gain more insight into a topic she couldn't possibly discuss with anyone else.

Gitta (Ace): I blocked it beforehand.

It wasn't an accounting.

The two of them, side by side, leaned together against one of the cabin's furniture pieces. Izzy noticed the friendly gesture but didn't know how to feel about it, so she didn't emphasize it.

She simply picked up the plastic bottle she was filling near the water dispenser and observed it closely.

Izzy (Eve): Haven't you ever wondered how we can act normal?

Gitta (Ace): Is that another rhetorical question? —he asked.

Izzy (Eve): No. Although you might expect that you hadn't considered it until now.

He listened attentively.

Izzy (Eve): If we were to recap what we've been through during this time, if our story were being told by a stranger, they would see it clearly. However, from our perspective, we see everything as normal, as part of our reality, and therefore, as part of the reality of others.

Gitta (Ace): …

Izzy (Eve): Yes… You two are different… —she had noticed that he was having difficulty following the thread of the conversation, but she continued nonetheless—. ​​At the very least, you should have perceived a difference; a different sensation, a different outcome.

Those were the reasons that had raised Gitta's suspicions in the first place, ever since he woke up that morning. No, even before. It could have been before, but he didn't know how much.

She seemed willing to talk about it, so Gitta put his hand to his chin, taking a few seconds to remember, and answered.

Gitta (Ace): Sensations… My body felt light when I woke up this morning. Even now. Yes, I've been wearing this full suit of armor since yesterday, but… it feels comfortable. It's well known that this should be heavy.

Izzy (Eve): …None related to what happened, from what I see, just related to your well-being—she expressed disinterest.

Gitta (Ace): Isn’t that what you wanted to know? —he answered with another question.

Izzy (Eve): Not only that. Do you remember individuals? …People.

Was this another convoluted question of hers? Knowing her personality, it was difficult to tell whether to take it literally or with a hint of sarcasm.

Gitta (Ace): I…

The young woman leaned closer to him until their shoulders were touching, her light eyes staring into his dark ones.

She would be direct.

Izzy (Eve): You’ve seen human beings being dismembered in front of you, Gitta Vintana—she helped him remember—. Crushed, decapitated, mutilated, eaten, just hours ago. This isn’t a mere coincidence; it’s happened before.

Gitta (Ace): …

She was right.

Izzy (Eve): So the question is… How have we carried on despite everything? When other people would fall into depression, anxiety, suffer trauma, or flee and hide in panic, we carry on without a trace of the atrocities we have witnessed.

She finally turned her gaze.

She lifted the bottle like any other, holding it by its rim as she would the glass of the most exotic wine, and declared.

Izzy (Eve): This is the answer.

Of course, its value lay in its contents, in the liquid that lingered inside as she lightly swirled it.

Gitta (Ace): That's not water.

A sentence spoken with complete certainty, but the statement would be corrected.

Izzy (Eve): It is, of a kind.

What could she be referring to this time?

Izzy (Eve): Don't expect a profound explanation. I haven't had the time to test it thoroughly, and I'm no scientist —she clarified— There are only two conclusions I've been able to draw to some degree.

Gitta (Ace): Which ones?

The bottle was placed on the counter between them, separating them. The fluid continued to swirl due to momentum.

Izzy (Eve): The first; it's not possible to purify it, not completely, not by ordinary means. The mixed substance doesn't separate by distillation. I tried using a membrane filter, and the red remained the same no matter how many attempts I made.

Gitta (Ace): Where did you get it? Throw away the dispenser and—

Izzy (Eve): The second, —she interrupted —. It's everywhere.

Gitta (Ace): What…?

The revelation left him stupefied for a moment. He didn't even blink. He just stood there, hunched slightly forward, his gaze fixed on the floor as if the sense he was seeking was hidden in the wood grain. But there was nothing to lighten the weight of the scale of what he was hearing.

The young woman pointed to the large container on one side.

Izzy (Eve): This dispenser was simply filled with water from the sink. Everyday water. So that's how it's been in this province, and it's how it is in the others.

The candle flickered, and its shadow danced across the rotting walls of the shack, as if it had shuddered just like him.

If what she said was true…

Gitta (Ace): …How long have you known about this?

Izzy (Eve): Long enough.

Gitta (Ace): …

He was starting to get annoyed. He was losing his patience from the stress. With an index finger and a thumb, he massaged his own temple, trying to organize his thoughts and find a way to process the situation.

If she was right, it wouldn't matter what they did or where they went. It wouldn't matter what they thought or said.

If he was right, nothing else would matter.

There was no right choice.

Gitta (Ace): Hm... This is serious. It's serious —he reiterated, shaking his head— think about it. If it's the cause of the Dreamers' emergence, all of us who've been drinking are doomed. In fact, we don't even know for sure what effects it might have.

Izzy (Eve): I know what it does.

Gitta (Ace): No, you don't know.

Izzy (Eve): I've told you before, this is the answer.

Gitta (Ace): Then give me that answer.

Izzy raised the bottle once more, and this time, she drank from it immediately. She would try to prove her point by using herself.

Of course, he looked shocked by the madness she was committing.

Izzy (Eve): You know... Yesterday I slit a man's throat. His head fell at my feet. His body collapsed like a puppet without strings —she gestured with her hand, pointing to the path she took on the ground, remembering perfectly—. Who would have expected it from an exemplary student just a few weeks ago... Now committing first-degree murder, such a barbaric and inhumane act. And yet, I'm standing in front of you tonight, having a conversation with you, as if nothing had happened.

Only a few drops remained from her bottle, sliding on the surface of the container, others sliding from her thick lips.

She stood in front of him, and once again the bottle was between them.

Izzy (Eve): This keeps us focused —she declared serenely— I can't think of a clearer, more concise way to describe it. You can think of it as a one-way road, a single route to follow.

Even among her tangled verses, he could see that she wasn't merely referring to concentration on a daily task.

Prioritizing what consumes resources, energy, attention, setting aside distractions as irrelevant. A monumental act of closing doors, silencing the hubbub between infinite possibilities, fixing one's gaze on a solitary star in the firmament.

A single path forward, then, didn't imply the sacrifice of infinite branches?

It was about the whole. It was, broadly speaking, focus as a concept itself, applied to the whole, and all that it entailed.

However, they didn't know what that entailed.

Gitta (Ace): We're drunk —were the first words that crossed his mind.

Izzy (Eve): If that's how you want to see it...

Moving away from the counter, Izzy would ask.

Izzy (Eve): You linked the water to the virus, to the Dreamers... Why?

She was curious. There wasn't a direct link mentioned in the conversation, even if Gitta brought it up as a true and confirmed fact.

To date, they hadn't seen one of those creatures being born, if they were alien to their world, or mutate, if they had been human. With their current knowledge, beings from other planets, undeads, or demonic entities seemed equally possible.

Gitta (Ace): I... saw one of them up close.

He twisted his forearm, the scraping of metal. The bite mark on his gauntlet remained, dents in the solid metal.

Gitta (Ace): Its face was deformed; I don't remember exactly, but I'm sure his eyes were like ours.

On the metal, some reddish traces permeated its hard surface. He slid his glove over the lines formed, trying to remember more. Izzy looked at the piece of armor with a certain degree of distaste.

Gitta (Ace): They were crying... The tears... they were thick and reddish like that liquid, although more concentrated, I think.

For a moment, Izzy thought she'd said something too much, something she could have easily hidden during the conversation in order to invent some excuse that didn't connect the Dreamers' existence with the fluid. Less resistance would have served her own purpose.

However, now that he had reached that conclusion by himself, there was no point in looking for further justifications.

An untimely conclusion, but valuable information.

Gitta (Ace): He was human. I'm sure of it. And if this continues, we'll be equals.

Izzy (Eve): It just needs to be rationed; pure, no more than a liter a day, I can assume —she deduced immediately—. Otherwise, and under your assumption, how have we not become them?

Gitta (Ace): I don't know... It could have already started as far as we know. My memories of my best friends are cloudy. They're there, but... it's like I can't 'go into detail.' They're just... there. Do you understand? —he stammered as his thoughts came to him— ...Haeri has changed too, she's been acting strange lately. Alon, my friend, was with her at the church during the incident, but all I found of him was his clothes covered in blood. I don't know what happened to them that night...

Izzy remained still, leaning against the furniture. This time she looked out the cabin window; there was nothing, only darkness, only facts. And the facts outweighed any comfort she could give him.

Izzy (Eve): ...All the more reason to keep going. You're both here now, safe and sound. You just have to follow my instructions, and you'll be able to return to your country the same way.

Gitta (Ace): And what if we don't?

He was still visibly frustrated.

Gitta (Ace): If we just leave...

She looked up, closing her eyes, taking a deep breath.

Izzy (Eve): You know what would happen to you; you'd be left on your own, in a nation unknown to you, a nation infested with Dreamers, and under the current circumstances, no one else would be deranged enough to help you.

Gitta (Ace): As derange as you? —He was annoyed to see that she showed no sign of interest in a solution— Stop and think about what you're doing. This isn't a Vigilante's job. We really could become them at any moment.

They were doomed to an inevitable fate.

Izzy (Eve): I'll repeat it one more time. If you follow what I say, we'll all benefit. Each of us will be able to fulfill our own purpose. Neither you nor I have any other choice.

Gitta (Ace): …

The cabin was filled with silence, barely broken by the distant murmur of the wind through the trees and the occasional creaking of the walls. Izzy remained still, giving him space, no pressure, no words.

It was the weight of a bitter realization, a certainty that fell like lead inside their chests. They had lost so much. Friends, refuges…

In the end, all that remained was the truth. Cruel, immense, but immovable.

Gitta (Ace): Right… Tsk… For now… But keep this in mind; things won't turn out exactly as you expect. At the end of the day, everything will be revealed itself out.

Izzy (Eve): If it delays long enough, that shall be enough for me.

And a tiny glimmer of hope.

Midnight was falling, and they were beginning to feel it in body and mind. The girl pushed herself away from the counter and turned around. This time she would take a screw-top bottle and fill it with… water from the dispenser. Finishing their conversation, they both headed toward the exit together.

Gitta (Ace): And by the way, you were right about one thing —he added— I'm not like Nisha. I would have jumped on you the moment you threatened me. Being respectful doesn't mean being docile and harmless.

A subtle smile forced its way onto her lips.

Izzy (Eve): I know.

Gitta (Ace): Please don't do it again. I'm not looking for trouble with any of you —he clarified again— I just want to take Haeri to the East. That's all.

Izzy (Eve): (The East...)

As he reached the cabin door, the hand unlocking it stopped.

Gitta (Ace): Iz.

Izzy (Eve): One more question? —she asked from behind him.

The exit had been opened. The chill of the night immediately blew into their surroundings, making it difficult to see the white trunks in the thick forest. Impossible to see beyond them.

It was a dark night.

Gitta (Ace): When... did it all start?

His last question, and the only one that had taken the young woman by surprise that night.

Izzy (Eve): ...

However, before they took another step, a voice could be heard not far away.

Haeri (Holyday): Ah, Gitta. There you were. Jeezzz… I was looking for you.

The newcomer hugged herself in her black sweatshirt, rubbing her arms for warmth.

He didn't expect to find her still awake, but it was to be expected considering how long he'd been gone.

He didn't know what to say.

Gitta (Ace): Sorry I…

Izzy (Eve): He was looking for something to drink. I poured him some.

Haeri (Holyday): Can I have some too? I haven't had anything to drink since lunch…

Gitta (Ace): Uh…

Izzy (Eve): Here. Just a little, we have to ration.

In the blink of an eye, the young Haeri had grabbed the bottle and drank from it without thinking.

Haeri (Holyday): Ah… Thanks. I'll go to the bathroom. Will you wait for me, Gitta?

Gitta (Ace): Yes, sure…

Haeri (Holyday): I won't be long.

She had left, leaving the two of them alone again at the exit.

He continued not knowing what to say. He had no words.

Gitta (Ace): …

Izzy didn't bother to see the angry expression on the boy's face.

Her gaze, clear as the full moon that night, remained fixed on the starry sky.

Izzy (Eve): We are in this together. We just have to keep going.

To be continued…