Chapter 28: Wakefulness

Wakefulness

How much time had passed?

Or how far had he traveled?

It seemed like noon, but the clouds gathering in the sky made it hard to calculate accurately enough.

One step, two steps, three steps... Four hundred thousand steps... The importance seemed meager in his mind, which had only one thought: walking.

The golden grasslands, the grayish clouds, and a road as far as the eye could see. The environment didn't change. He reached a point where if he turned around or closed his eyes, he wouldn't know if he was moving forward or back.

This was what the boy feared most, so his concentration didn't waver from the path ahead.

"Ah... Ah... G-Gah... Ha..."

He felt tired, exhausted. The stressful experience he had endured hours before, and not even having had breakfast or lunch, was playing tricks on him in the worst of situations.

Even he was surprised by the resilience and tenacity he'd shown so far, but everything has a limit.

Thinking he'd reached it, he stopped the wheelbarrow he was pulling and picked up two wooden sticks from the ground. He broke one of them and formed an arrow on the asphalt with the three pieces.

It was his guide, which way he should walk after waking up.

He stood at the side of the road and leaned his back against the wheelbarrow.

There were no cars coming from either end of the road he was facing. This wasn't a surprise; the Republic of Manecia has always had a kind of culture based on the minimal and necessary use of vehicles, probably as an environmentalist ideology inherited from the first residents. But he was frustrated that he wasn't lucky enough to find one.

He had no food, and his only drink was a bottle of tap water he'd poured himself in the barn. He wasn't an expert at survival, but any person with common sense would know to save it. He was no exception. He felt dizzy, so he took a short sip to calm himself.

For a moment, he stared up at the clouds, hoping to relax. Their movement made him feel worse, so he slowly stood up and returned his gaze to the ground.

“...”

On the rustic two-wheeled cart lay Cadie.

Her dress, once as white and spotless as snow, was stained with mud, sweat, and blood.

The maiden in white rode in a not-so-elegant carriage. This generous person was in charge of the shelter in the capital. She provided them with food, clothing, and a roof over their heads, without even asking where they came from or who they really were.

Such people are respected by all, especially if their philanthropic acts are heartfelt.

Jevo believed that. He found it distressing to see the state of a person of good faith like her; someone who chooses to help because it's the right thing to do. He could relate to that even though he didn't know her well.

A feeling of unease surged through his chest and was ignored.

He looked more closely.

The delicate features of that female face and body couldn't be obscured by the wounds. Her black hair and pale skin immediately reminded him of Jasmine, the nurse at his school, whom he often secretly visited.

However, at that moment, he didn't think about what had become of that woman. Instead, his attention was drawn to the one standing right in front of him.

She seemed beautiful to him.

There was no one else around both for miles. Just him and her.

Weak, sick, and vulnerable... If he did anything, anything that crossed his mind, who would find out?

Not even in the worst of scenarios would he act in such a way. He wondered what triggered an impulse in him that would justify the sin he was about to commit.

"Tsk..."

Again, he felt grateful. This time for his lack of energy.

He took his hand away and leaned his back against the wheelbarrow, overlooking the endless road.

The plants felt soft beneath him.

“...”

Time passed.

His eyes slowly opened. He didn't know how long they'd been closed. It could have been seconds, minutes, or even hours. His only guide was the wind that blew, carrying the clouds across the sky.

Then, he turned his gaze toward the road. A fact immediately brought him out of his lethargy.

“No...!”

He looked at the pieces of wood scattered in disarray by the wind.

He held his head. It was starting to hurt, and the dizziness was still there.

He still had a reference point, his second compass, and it was the direction he'd positioned the wheelbarrow, but his memory no longer functioned as it should.

He forgot which position he'd sheltered it in.

“Ah! ...”

Holding his head tighter, Jevo looked around.

“R-Right.”

He only remembered one thing, and that was the fact that Cadie hadn't eaten or drunk since being treated at the Saint Ivonne clinic. In her condition, she needed medical attention. His own situation was already precarious, but at least he was able to feed himself.

He drank more water from his bottle, and as if his body moved on its own, he rolled up his sleeves, grabbed each handle with his sweaty hands, and pulled the handles of the wheelbarrow.

Step after step, where the only sounds were the carriage wheels on the asphalt, the wind blowing, the movement of the plants and his labored breathing.

Perhaps he would not go further if he stopped thinking about his own exhaustion, so he thought about his own story.

"Ah... ha... I doubt the supervisor will let me take the day off..." Jevo said to himself in the midst of delirium.

Since he turned 16, he had worked in various jobs. The last one was as a telemarketer and negotiator. His older brother, who also worked at a young age, was an inspiration to him.

His youth was like that of any middle-class boy, or one could say that of a current citizen of Manecia.

He lived with his stepfather, stepbrother, and older brother years before. His own mother, a sad woman in poor health, had died of tuberculosis at the age of 40.

Her husband was the most affected by the news, and although he tried to support both young people on his own, he gave up a few years later. He moved away with his stepbrother.

The thought that they weren't even his blood children led him to reject all responsibility as a father.

Even so, in those years he taught them both what they needed to learn for life.

Jevo grew up with a responsible, loyal, realistic, pessimistic, and even hypocritical mindset... This inconsistency has haunted him throughout his 18 years of life.

Perhaps being abandoned became the greatest lesson he learned.

Without realizing it, he found himself living alone in a rented apartment. Like others, this was completely normal in Manecia.

"Tsk... Ah... Maybe I should go there..."

Recapitulating recent events, there was little left to truly motivate him to remain a citizen of this nation.

His brother was abroad, working for him. If he were by his side, it would make things easier.

Was it his memories or his heart?

"Alexis, when we reach that hill, it'll be your turn."

"Because of doing nothing all day long now you’re paying for it. You should carry him longer; the exercise is good for you."

"I'm sure you'd do great too..."

The three brothers walked up the path, Jevo carrying his sleeping 4-year-old stepbrother on his back.

The orange light of the sunset, the lakes, and the sun setting behind the clouds in the distance as they continued to climb through the bushes and avoid puddles of water.

A faint sound could be heard as they walked.

It was nothing more than a simple family weekend outing.

Their father had received a raise and seemed to be in a good mood. He had enough to buy a new house, and now they were visiting a quiet place to look around the grounds. This trio had slipped away while he did so.

"It's too late to wander off into unknown territory."

"We won't get another chance. Well, not if Dad decides to opt for another terrain. I hope not."

"Personally, I don't care where we live," Jevo said, readjusting the boy on his back.

"It's not the same."

The young man in front of him led the way. Alexis Deems, his older brother, had so many similarities with Jevo that they said the latter was like a lanky version of the former, though their personalities didn't differ too much.

The river current flowed uphill.

"I really don't understand why people love traveling around the world so much; even make it their life's goal." Alexis shrugged.

"It must be the sense of adventure, I guess."

"Or not having anything better to do... Can you hear it?"

"Hm? What...?"

"I guess we need to climb a little higher... I can hear it perfectly from here."

“...Seriously, it's your turn to carry Lio.”

“Look.”

Pointing with his finger, they had finally reached the most desired place.

Vast lakes atop mountains and waterfalls descending from their edges. Along with the saffron light of the sunset and the stars visible in the blanket of the sky, it seemed like a surreal scene.

They were the lakes of the province of Loa, north of the Republic of Manecia.

“Why leave my country when this is right under my nose?

Jevo was amazed.

“This nation is very big, Jevo. Very big and diverse, Alexis murmured. “It's because of things like this that I'm glad to belong to it.”

It's was relatively new region, little known to the world like that homeland, and the sense of adventure was intense in discovering places never before explored even for residents.

Everyone has a responsibility to the country in which they are born and raised.

“...”

“You were taking too long. Did you take the long road?”

A comment came in. Looking down, they both noticed a couple waiting. It was their parents waiting for their arrival.

"Was there another way? I had no idea, he he."

"Get down from there and we'll have dinner," their father announced.

"Well, what can I do? Then you can pass Lio to me."

"I'm sure he'd wake up... It's okay. I'll carry him back too."

"If you insist. Don't complain later."

He was light; it wouldn't be a problem carrying him as his family walked ahead of him.

In fact, with each step he took, he felt lighter.

The sun was getting...

"Huh?"

Jevo blinked for a moment.

Dusk hadn't arrived because the sun had disappeared over the horizon.

Perhaps it was a spot caused by looking directly at it.

He blinked again to make sure.

It wasn't a sunset, a sunrise, or a nightfall.

The light of the sun really was being obscured by the moon. His eyes hadn't lied this time.

It was a solar eclipse.

"How…?"

"How had I not noticed?"

He heard a voice in his ear.

He immediately remembered it; when he'd been locked in the shelter and had seen a child trapped in a room.

He felt like something was dangling and swaying in his sides. His legs were shattered.

Jevo couldn't forget how he stabbed the boy with a piece of wood, or how he looked at his blood-covered hands.

The one he was carrying wasn't his stepbrother, it was the child whose life he had taken.

-[Ø]-

She hadn't entered despite finally reaching La Quilla hours earlier.

There was a roadblock, but because of her condition, she was allowed to cross.

Exhausted, hungry, and thirsty, she still refused to do so.

Although the police insisted endlessly, Earlene continued to wait on the outskirts.

Under the dusk and the blanket they provided her, close to fainting, she looked up.

"Jevo...!"

In the distance, a figure could be made out. Her eyes didn't lie, and they never have.

With her heart racing and little energy, she ran toward that figure.

She wasn't mistaken; it was his companion, Jevo Deems, slowly pulling the wheelbarrow behind him.

His shuffling steps on the stony ground were weak and hesitant.

He didn't stop.

"J-Jevo, are you ok?! A-Ah!"

Flicking his black hair over his face, the young woman was immediately startled.

His skin was burned. No, to be precise, it was as if part of his face had melted to the point where it was difficult to tell if he was still alive.

“…”

A single eye was open; its dilated pupil filled with the reflection of that dazzling sun.

To be continued…