Chapter 16: Solidarity: Part 3

Solidarity: Part 3

“Jevo… Yesterday…”

“…”

Muttering, Earlene pestered Jevo with the white feather she always carried with her.

The thoughtful boy, sitting in one of the seats of that bus stranded in the middle of the neighborhood, didn't pay much attention to her.

“…What? What do you want, Earlene? I was…”

“What happened yesterday…? Were we chased because we were witnesses or something? Hm… My head hurts… Yours?”

“…You only live in the present. Isn't that what Chase tells you every day? This isn't the first time there's been a riot in this country.”

“…”

Without any further answers, she shifted her gaze from her friend to the young woman sitting silently in another of the back seats.

She looked restless, impatient, yet still. Jevo stood up and sat beside her, taking a deep breath.

"...Rousset?"

"Jevo..."

Almost immediately, she clung to his shoulder, and he, without much empathy, massaged it to comfort her.

"Where did that boy go?"

"We're fine, Rousset. The San Ramael Institute... I reckon we're miles away right now."

"M-Mom... She was... J-Jevo..."

"(They just hurt her... Why is she so distressed?)"

Talking about it would only hurt her more; not just her, but everyone else.

"What's taking them so long...?" Earlene murmured to Jevo.

"If they don't come back soon, the only option would be to leave..."

"(Mm... I don't want to go out...) Uhm… To look for them, right?"

"..."

He fell silent.

"Jevo?"

"I've mentioned it before, Earlene, we'll just wait for them to come back. With enough luck, they'll have found a gas station on their way," he replied, then changed to a more optimistic expression. "...It is a good time for them to relieve themselves, or they will have to wait until the next stop... And you, are you okay?"

The last question was directed at the foreigner hiding in the darkness between the seats. He jumped for a moment and looked at him with a shaky gaze, shifting between the boy and the floor.

"Yes... Excuse me. I'll go... I'll find a place for that later. I don't feel like it right now, thanks."

"At least get some fresh air..."

"HEY, EVERYONE GET OUT!"

"!!"

Without warning, Chase and Vines appeared outside. They were holding onto the bus door, panting wildly, their clothes torn and bags in their hands.

From the looks of them, there was no way to predict what they were going to say or do next.

"Chase, what...?!"

"Get out... ah... of the bus!"

"W-Wait, why?"

Taking a moment to answer, Vines was about to do so until Chase intervened.

"...Those things... Ah... Ha... The ones we saw yesterday... They're back!"

Such an announcement alarmed everyone.

Vines, for his part, decided to play along with the lie. He raised in the air the keys he had obtained earlier and continued.

"W-We know a place to hide! Forget about preparing and just follow us."

"Good! O-Okay!"

Heeding his words, Jevo helped Rousset up. No one on that bus held back for a second; the clothes, the sleeping bags, the bus itself... Nothing mattered to them.

Even with their vague memories, they perfectly recognized the seriousness of such a warning.

Then, they ran onto the desolate asphalt.

They didn't know how long they'd been doing this or where they were going.

The only sounds they heard were the bags Vines and Chase were carrying, their footsteps, and their labored breathing.

“(7th Street… 7th Street…)”

Vines paid attention to the signs they came across at every corner. Finding the right one, they took a detour.

They had arrived home; a two-story house, so secure it matched the surrounding conceited settlements. The wall protecting it prevented them from calculating a true value, although that was about to change.

Quickly, the young man extracted the keys and, after a couple of failed attempts, found the correct one for everyone's entry.

And there they were, a group of sweaty young students, catching their breath inside a stranger's house, in a neighborhood they had never seen before.

"Ah! Ah! Gh...! Ah... You two... Ah... You have a lot to explain..."

"...”

To be continued…