Chapter 30: Orphan

Orphan

Day after day.

Week after week.

Time had stopped.

Dressed in new clothes, a boy climbed the stairs: Vines Pall.

Everyone had made their own plans, and he was no exception. However, he wasn't the type of person who could forget everything overnight. Such a person probably didn't exist.

He hadn't seen them in days, but they were still his friends, classmates, or at least traveling companions, so he was interested...

"Man... Chase, are you there?"

The fat young man knocked on the door a few times. He thought he heard a voice coming from inside Apartment 11, so he assumed it was the guy he was looking for.

"...Okay. Listen, they're kicking us out of the apartments. All of us. They were too patient and they're prioritizing now, if you know what I mean."

He still didn't hear a reply.

"..."

He continued.

"Look. Earlene and Jevo will leave with Izzy. I guess they'll do something stupid... I don't know. Jevo didn't look that bad. And Rousset... By the way, where the hell has she gone? It doesn't matter... Are you listening to me?!”

Then he opened the door without hesitation.

The place could be described as a mess and nothing more. The smell of garbage was unbearable, and only a few rays of light filtered through from the window.

"Shit... What a stink."

Covering his mouth, he carefully crossed the garbage scattered on the floor, pushing aside the linen curtains that blocked his view.

"Tsk."

Finally, he found him, or them.

On the bed in the room, Chase continued to fornicate incessantly with Rousset, not caring about the visitor.

Seeing her weak reaction upon noticing his presence prevented Vines from making light of the situation.

"What do you want?" Chase said, his mouth still occupied with the girl's body.

“... W-What...? Can't you both stop... at least? ...”

“...”

Although Rousset was certainly embarrassed, her partner didn't stop.

Noticing that they were ignoring him, Vines did his best to remain in the awkward scene. He ruffled his spiky hair, sat down in a chair, and said,

“Man, everyone's gone. I'm leaving too. There won't be anyone left except you two.

“Ah...”

“Do you have...!? Shit... Do you have anywhere to go?

“No.”

“...”

He had to admit, seeing him in that deplorable state would shock anyone.

“Chase... You're not an idiot. You'll know what to do from now on.”

Separating his lips from Rousset's chest, Chase turned to look at his friend.

“…I told you that, the day you broke up with your ex at a bar.”

“...”

It had happened several years ago. Vines was surprised Chase remembered it. Something so trivial.

Still...

"Whatever. The owner sent me to tell you to clean up this dump. And if you're staying longer, have the decency to at least help with errands," he warned, leaving a notepad on the bed. "Pff..."

Standing up, he blew the smelly air in front of his nose and prepared to leave.

"I just came to say goodbye. After all this shit blows over, maybe we'll have a drink again."

"...Ah."

He was annoyed to see that he still wasn't paying attention, but he soon calmed down. They probably wouldn't see each other ever again after all.

Time continued to pass.

Opening his eyes, it seemed like it was already morning, and only the sounds of birds and running water could be heard.

Rousset was taking a shower in the bathtub.

Chase rolled up his pants and put on the first T-shirt he found.

How many days had passed, repeating the same sequence?

He slept for several hours but still felt physically unmotivated. He then leaned his back against the bathtub door, lit a cigarette, and sighed.

"Rousset..."

"...”

"I've thought... If I had made a different decision and faced all of this, do you think things would be different?"

"...I don't think you did anything wrong."

"Yeah... No one could have predicted what would happen, right?," Chase said, answering himself.

The girl stopped for a moment to think.

"I mean, where you took us. I... I admit I hurt someone, but it was only to save that girl... for Earlene. We just wanted to get out alive, and we did what was necessary, right?"

“...”

She remembered the murder she had committed in the cabin. Like the others, her hands were stained with other people's blood. Chase didn't know the details, but he had a curious thought.

"(Earlene was the only one who came out with a 'clean record' uh... How long will it stay that way? Hope it stays that way…)" He looked up at the ceiling.

"Heh, if I hadn't met you, I don't know what would become of me now."

"Rousset... Sorry, for everything."

The young woman was still shaken by what had happened. She couldn't help but shed a few tears.

"D-Don't worry. It's okay. I'm just a troublesome, lovelorn girl... I know. We're both... tired, that's all."

"..."

He turned off the shower, and the drops stopped falling.

"Uhm... I think... Should we clean up?"

"I suspect so."

"How about you run the errands the landlord asked for?"

The notepad was on the floor. Chase picked it up as he put out his cigarette.

"I'll be back in a bit. If it is possible, could you wait for me?

"Yes, of course," she replied.

He stood there, carefully observing the two marked lines.

After washing his face and hands in the sink, Chase left the apartment.

He really had no motivation to make the request, even if they threatened to evict him. The reason he'd left his comfortable isolation had been merely, you might say, 'oversleeping'.

According to the notes he'd been given, he should help load shipments of medical supplies onto vans in the middle of the city. It seemed that resources to care for the sick were drying up, prompting surrounding towns to increase their exchanges and move the sick to less crowded areas to the west, closer to the coast.

In other words, the mysterious disease was spreading to such an extent that no city could contain it on its own.

"(When will it start?)"

Thinking, he walked the city's roads.

It was only a matter of time. Perhaps that's why he stood there, waiting for that moment.

The wind blew in his direction, with a hint of sea sand. It was calm, in contrast to the busy morning in the eastern town of La Quilla South; people were running from one place to another. They didn't seem stressed, but they were in a hurry.

Without the slightest idea of ​​what exactly was happening around him, he continued calmly on his way.

After crossing a few small bridges and passageways, he finally reached the warehouse.

He approached some tall gates and touched the metal with a rock.

He watched as men loaded cargo onto a single truck in the warehouse. One of them approached upon seeing him.

"So you decided to come, huh? A little late, I'd say."

It was the landlord himself.

"Is there anything I can help with?" Chase asked quietly.

"No. There isn't. There's nothing else to do. This is the last truck. We're clearing out, you know. Your friend should have told you.”

"Yes."

"I hope you'll at least leave the apartment clean by nightfall."

"..."

The hint was clear. That would be his last night.

Without replying, Chase crumpled the notepad and dropped it on the floor.

He left the place. And, not knowing what to do, he wandered around the suburbs for an indefinite amount of time.

-[Ø]-

"Gah!"

The white birds around him fled, frightened by his shock.

It seemed he had fallen asleep somewhere.

Bushes of grass and a road... He looked around, but trying as he might, he couldn't recognize where he was.

He looked up and saw mossy concrete. Under a bridge... It was probably some kind of exit from the city.

He looked down and saw someone squatting. It was a small boy. It was definitely strange to see a child in the middle of the night, which made him think he might still be sleepy.

He wiped his eyes, but he was still there.

There wasn't much he could do, so he decided to get closer.

The little boy was playing with a piece of wood, making paths for a group of anthills circling the ground.

"...”

He had been mistaken. It wasn't a boy, but a girl. One he could remember; a seven-year-old girl with Asian features and black hair like that night.

"Hey, little one," Chase said, his words emotionless. "Are you lost?"

“…”

How could he forget her? She was carrying the same creepy stuffed doll.

Maybe she didn't recognize him by his beard. That would be for the best. She wouldn't remember that he was the one who had broken into her family's store and raided her home.

The girl turned toward him. Her gaze was passive. She was sleepy.

"!”

Chase was surprised to see that she didn't hesitate to take his hand.

"You're asking me to help you, but there's not much I can do..." the boy said, looking around again.

Noticing this, the girl handed him a piece of paper.

It had an address written on it, as well as what appeared to be a message from someone trying to gather people at a shelter.

It was written in Spanish. It was understandable why she was lost.

She would have preferred to wait until dawn or find someone who would help her, however, knowing that she had to return to the apartment as soon as possible, not to mention the curfew, would cause more problems if she didn't act immediately.

No. He didn't really feel like that was a problem. There was a reason he decided to help her on his own, and looking back, it was simple.

There were barely any streetlights in the area. La Quilla was known for its cultural areas, leaving "modern artifacts" as a dent in that image.

Now this was turning out to be a problem for Chase.

While searching the surroundings for a guide, he stumbled for a moment, knocking a shiny object out of his pocket: a watch.

He was about to pick it up again, but the girl grabbed it first. She seemed very curious about it, so he allowed her to continue admiring it throughout their walk.

“...”

The reflected light from its glow immediately brought back memories. These filled his mind as he walked along the dark paths.

Chase Termiane.

Since his youth, he had always been a city boy. His residence was in the province of Matria, the nation's capital and, consequently, the province with the greatest concentration of economic power.

Whether being the highest-class in his group had turned him into the jerk he was now was ambiguous, it's clear he didn't waste his status.

Most of his teenage years, he was seen in bars and clubs squandering the profits from his mother's lucrative fashion agency. He had no qualms about treating his friends to drinks every night if he wanted.

His father had cheated on his wife, and despite years of living together, it ended in divorce. Probably not having this figure made him lose an important guide.

Circumstances led him to be popular in his circle; however, Chase was intelligent and knew what was going on; he was clear that they were nothing more than friendships of convenience.

He got a glimpse of the difference when he met Earlene Gresham, one of his classmates at St. Ramael High School, whom he would describe as an innocent and absent-minded girl who didn't discriminate against anyone who approached her. At least, this was the image he built of her the more schoolwork they did together.

She seemed calm most of the time, and this made Chase somewhat envious when he compared his own world of love affairs, absurd arguments, and stupid fights.

When he realized it, he spent more time locked in his room playing video games and bothering strangers on the internet than hanging around bars.

However, his problems didn't disappear; they just changed, along with him.

His arrogance made him hated by everyone, and in order to protect himself, he reciprocated that hatred.

"You know our objective..." the boy thought.

"You know our objective..." were the last words he heard from Izzy Rylee.

They could be interpreted in many ways; Izzy was a girl who loved to twist her words, but in that context, he knew it was an invitation.

According to her, her family's death hadn't happened in a simple accident. And the culprits were probably still out there, which meant...

"An invitation..." the boy whispered to himself.

Izzy was giving him a chance to respond. But like his silence in the church, he didn't offer a reply.

If at this point it was natural for him to have lost faith in people, then what was stopping him from venting his frustrations?

The answer came like a flash of light in a memory sealed for him.

An event that had occurred years before, the epitome of a nation's tragedy, the so-called Riot of '26.

He had been there firsthand. Face to face, he had seen the beginning of a catastrophe that consumed the lives of thousands.

It wasn't a natural disaster or a fictional event. The flame had been lit by human reality.

In the midst of that fire, he had been saved. A stranger, one of the rioters, had pulled him away from the danger he was about to cause.

Chase understood at that moment but refused to change his mindset.

People are too complex to be defined as friends or enemies.

“...”

…His mother would wait for him at a shelter. She had left some lunch at home, and would wait for him there. That's what he heard.

She would be buried next to her brother in a cemetery near their hometown.

“Maybe I should go...”

With those words, he gave his own answer to Izzy's invitation.

Chase wasn't that kind of person.

He wasn't like her.

A tug on his arm woke him from his slumber. The little girl he was holding showed him the watch once more.

N S E W. The arrows and signs bordering the hands indicated cardinal points. Apparently, this watch also built as a compass rose.

The girl pointed ahead, and he followed her gaze.

They were able to make out a few white tents. They had finally reached one of the shelters.

The first thing they heard was a couple chatting incessantly with one of the area doctors. The smile that formed on the girl's face confirmed it was her parents.

She immediately let go of Chase's hand and headed toward them.

He had done it; he had returned the girl to her parents. There was nothing more to say or do.

It was even ironic.

However, the girl stopped halfway and turned back.

Extending her small palm, she showed the watch. She planned to return it to its owner.

"Would you tell your parents we didn't damage their property? Well, maybe just for a hammock." Chase knelt in front of her.

"Hm...?"

"I guess not... You can keep it. It's been a good guide," and he closed her hand.

After so much time, he thought he'd forgotten to give a genuine smile. That night he realized that hadn't been the case.

The girl nodded and joined her parents from a distance. They couldn't have been happier to find their lost daughter.

Chase didn't know if they recognized him, but when they saw him, bowed in gratitude. So Chase said goodbye to them from afar.

He gazed at the full moon in the sky and the white doves circling the clouds.

With this contemplative expression, he returned to his apartment. After all that, he knew the way.

Room 12 was completely empty. He then entered his own apartment.

When he opened the door, he noticed a rose-like fragrance. There were no trash, dirty dishes, or boxed food anywhere. The place, in fact, looked better than it had when he'd first found it.

He put his shoes aside and sat down on the bed. He couldn't hear anyone else.

Had Rousset left too?

"You've taken longer than I expected... The sun is about to rise."

She was still there. Her voice could be heard in the next room.

She approached him, holding a suitcase she was finishing packing, along with a new dress.

"The landlord's wife gave me some gifts for a job well done before we vacated this place."

"Oh..."

Chase continued to stare down at the ground as he listened to her.

She would leave.

"This will be a great help. My grandparents live in the mountains of Acracia. Secluded from everything. I've only visited them once since they moved in, but I know it's a looooong trip."

"..."

"..."

She noticed his silence. He didn't notice her unease.

She sighed quickly and approached with faint steps.

"Uhm..."

She had no words to express it. She just placed the object in her hand.

It was a test. And this one was positive.

Puzzled, Chase stared at those two vertical lines.

Unsettling seconds passed without answers.

His emotions were mixed, but equal.

She massaged her belly with an expectant look.

"W-Will you come with me? Please…"

Rousset couldn't finish her sentence. Her breath caught.

It was the boy's arms around her.

"...”

A strong hug like he'd never given before, and a new opportunity.

It was him accepting his reality, taking charge of his responsibilities, deciding for himself, and taking charge of his future.

The warm rays of saffron light pierced the small window of apartment #11.

A new dawn.

The End...