Chapter 6: Bonne Fortune

Bonne Fortune

An exhausting two-hour journey through the green mountain roads. Accompanied by the ever-present danger of landslides, or so the warning signs along the way emphasized.

Occasionally, the landscape cleared to reveal the beautiful valleys; vast, reflective lakes crisscrossed by native animals; and dusty white clouds of mist that hugged the hillsides broadly.

A young woman sitting by the window witnessed this pristine scene with a thoughtful and distant face.

In her hand, she held a small feather, which she played with while massaging her lips.

An hour passed in which only the groans of the wounded could be heard; however, now they lay resting comfortably in silence.

Jevo Deems drove without taking his eyes off the cracked road, and Vines Pall, naturally, snored carelessly, asleep in a nearby seat.

Walking almost on tiptoe, Chase approached the brooding young woman and took the empty seat next to her.

He couldn't sleep, so he decided to find a casual conversation to pass the time even though that wasn't his strong suit.

“...”

“...”

“Hm... It's the end of the trip. We're going home after this two-week punishment. Doesn't that make you happy?”

“Yeah... I think so, Chase.”

“Luckily one of us knew how to drive, besides 'old Roy'”

“I know too... Um... The professor... That's right. What... happened to him? Where is he?”

“You weren't paying attention, uh...” he sighed. “Why are you asking me like I know? I'm not his mother.”

“He went back to school,” Jevo clarified, still focused on the road. “He told Vines and me he had to return due to personal urgency, and without further details, he left the place... We didn't even hear the engine of any of the means of transport at our disposal start.”

"Tsk... That guy was crazy from the start. It showed all over his face. I wouldn't be surprised if he walked back to admire the scenery or some other stupid thing like that."

"Abandoning a group of students out in the open... It was an irresponsible act, no doubt about it. I trusted he'd be back soon, which is why I didn't reply... So…" Jevo quickly changed the subject. He glanced up at the rearview mirror, observing the reflection of the two students and raising one of his prominent eyebrows. "What's the plan going to be when we get there?"

"Uh?"

"Don't act ignorant, Chase. You must have some countermeasure in case we run into any 'inconveniences' in the city.”

"That's right, Chase!" Earlene took his arm, emphasizing. Her mood had changed unexpectedly.

"Damn, shut up or you'll wake these guys up."

"Leave the evasions for another day," Jevo reaffirmed. "It's not that I have faith in what our colleagues declared, but I like having backup plans, you understand?"

"Stop tugging at my shirt, Earlene (weren't you depressed just a second ago?)" Chase thought for a brief moment before answering. "There is no such plan as backup. We'll just drop the strangers off at the first hospital we find on the way to the institute and return to our poor and sad lives, that's all."

He announced as he took his cell phone out of his pocket. He raised it hopefully in the air.

"(Shit, still no signal.)"

Frustrated, the boy raised both hands behind his head and slumped completely in his seat.

His friends, seeing him like this, decided to go back to what they were doing and not argue anymore, but the moment they looked back at the road, it was impossible for Jevo to remain silent.

"C-Chase..."

"Ugh! I've already answered what you wanted, haven't I? Now stop bothering..."

"Chase, look outside," Earlene said, pressing her cheek and the palms of her hands against the window. Curious, she opened it to try to peek out.

"Hey, wait. What are you doing?!" the young man stopped him, tugging at his friend's light blue uniform. "Do you want to lose your face in a lamppost?"

"Uh... I'm not that careless."

Holding onto the bus bars, the boy stood up and walked alongside the driver.

After passing through several trees, the road seemed to be better maintained. It was already possible to make out some middle-class businesses and homes along the road. Although something didn't add up.

"... What's the damn problem? I can't see a thing."

"That's exactly the problem, Chase," Jevo regained his composure. "These suburbs are frequented all the time. I used to frequent them for work too, but now there's... nobody."

"Or something's going on and you're being dramatic..."

"There aren't any upcoming holidays, so I don't believe it... Not to mention it's already strange not to see someone in a populated area."

"If you don't believe me, then look over there," Chase pointed. "Uh! Wait a sec...!"

And he immediately retracted his gaze.

A noise began to be heard in the area.

In the distance, a huge cluster of people could be seen in the middle of the streets.

The further they walked through the city, the louder the commotion became, and the easier it was to notice that they weren't lined up or organized in groups, as one would expect at a typical parade or celebration.

They were, in fact, scattered, running from one place to another, entering a building into a settlement, a commercial establishment into an institution, mingling amid screams and desperation.

"W-Wait! Wait! ... What...!? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON...!?"

Dark smoke and incessant flames rose above the settlements of the nation's capital.

The frenzy of the crowd on the asphalt proved impossible to understand amid the wailing sirens of ambulances, police units, and fire trucks frantically dodging pedestrians in the congested area.

People tripped over each other. They confronted each other over objects they considered valuable. They broke into homes, roughly pulling young men and women out by their hair if necessary, and threatening them if they went against their every wish.

The classic yellow school bus with black lines drove to the quietest street it could find and abruptly parked, while the three students still lay in shock from the chaotic scene.

Manecia had a history of having “issues”, but this time, it was different.

"I-I was right..." Jevo emphasized. "I was absolutely right that something wasn't right!"

For his part, the baseball-cap boy walked back on shaky legs until he slumped into a seat. His pale complexion was flooded with cold drops of sweat. His heart was pounding uncontrollably.

"(N-Not again...)"

Trying to compose himself, he held his already aching head with both hands while looking down at the ground.

Earlene, who was peering through the windows, noticed the boy's condition in his reflection and quickly went to help him.

"Chase! Chase. Come on, calm down!" the desperate girl shouted, shaking him from his shoulders, causing the boy's cap to fall onto the seats.

"Damn it, this is the worst time for this, Chase! What should we do now? They cut us off, but aren't you going to tell me to evade them and go back home? Something's really going on!" Jevo exclaimed confused.

The commotion had awakened the injured foreigners in the back, who could sense some of the chaos in the city.

They confused themselves and those around them with panic and exaggerated declarations in different languages, some more than others.

"Nous sommes condamnés!”

“W-We shouldn't have followed these kids from the start!”

“Look at that!”

“May God help us!”

"Mommy!”

Chase placed his palms on Earlene's shoulders and, switching positions, held her violently against the same seat.

"You don't understand..." he whispered in front of her.

"...?!"

"Don't you know what this means!?"

Hearing this, everyone on the bus fell silent. Chase continued.

"Everything you said... T-This is real!... Don't you see!? It's r-real!... ha ha... shit..." he muttered with a fake laugh that only frightened the young woman more.

"C-Chase..."

A rough memory.

He slowly let go of her and stood up in front of everyone. With a sudden, forced change of gaze, he continued reciting.

"Don't fuck with me! Did you hear? This is war! The damned Third World War! We don't even know if we'll get out of this alive, much less if you'll return to your countries... Whatever becomes of you from now on is no longer our concern.”

From experience, he knew that the fewer people he had to "carry with him," the easier it would be for him to emerge unscathed from the predicament he was facing. Any excuse would come in handy at that moment.

"...So we're on our own," a voice sounded from the audience, and from its source stood the blond American boy with thin glasses. "I-It's not like anything has changed; we always were from the beginning... In fact, if that lady hadn't convinced you, you probably wouldn't have taken us with you."

"(Don’t you say…) And what will you do about it, foreigners?" Chase asked reluctantly, waving his hand.

A little nervous, Alon turned to look at his friend Brawell holding one of his injured companions, who was writhing in pain.

He returned his gaze to Chase.

"...As I mentioned, nothing hasn't changed. Get us to a hospital as soon as possible, young man.”

"Um... Chase, can I tell you something?" Jevo whispered from behind the boy.

Then he approached. Earlene did too; very close with interest.

"Look, Chase... It's a terrible idea to go near a hospital, any of them."

"... J-Jevo, do you... do you want to leave them...?"

"Earlene, be quiet... What I mean is, the medical centers must be really overwhelmed because of this. It would be inconvenient, both for them and for us, to arrive there now."

Both young men waited for a solution from Chase.

"You're overthinking too much... Like I said, we'll stick to the plan."

"So you did have a Plan 'D', huh?" Earlene looked at him closely, clearly happy.

"...”

"You mean plan B," Jevo corrected her. "And more than a plan B, this is what you were preparing for from the beginning, or am I wrong?"

He looked at Chase. He just remained silent, shook his head a little to gather his thoughts and addressed the group in front of the foreigner, Alon.

"This is what we'll do. We'll go to an institute. It has a decent infirmary. Anyway, most of you suffer from harmless fractures, cuts, and burns, right? Our nurse can handle that."

Alon exchanged glances with all the foreigners around him first, still in doubt.

"...If you're still not convinced, you can find a hospital from there. And pray to God for a miracle because I doubt you'll ever be treated."

And the foreigner listened. He made the decision for all the former plane passengers present.

"...Good."

"You heard him, Jevo. Heading to San Ramael."

"Good Lord, we're finally agreeing on something." Slightly relieved to have his beloved countermeasure, the boy stepped on the accelerator. "I know a route less traveled. Farther, but better late than never. Hold on tight."

To be continued…