Log VII: Blooming Flowers

"That's not possible."

Abel quickly shot the suggestion down with a cold voice.

"Oh? Why is that?"

The man smiled and asked in reply.

"It's... It's my system. It warns me when a Void Walker is nearby."

"I see... Well, you caught me. I am not a Void Walker."

The young man laughed and stood up.

"I can breathe without gasmasks because this area is radiation free. These tombstones belong to my wife... and a friend. I don't know why this place is like this nor do I care about details like those."

"This area is radiation-free... ?"

Abel quickly checked his rad scale and sure enough, the scale was barely above zero.

"How come I didn't notice this... ?"

He usually wasn't so careless that he would waste the precious radiation filters like this. Yet...

"Isn't it fine to make mistakes every once in a while? You are a human, after all."

The young man said with a gentle voice before extending his hand forward.

"I didn't introduce myself back there... Well, my name is Leon, nice to meet you, Walker."

Abel stared at the hand for a few moments before sighing.

"Abel Walker."

"Not going to shake my hand?"

Leon asked with a chuckle before letting his hand drop.

The dark blades around Abel decreased to two at the same time.

"Come with me. My camp is not far away from here. Ah, your little friend can come along too."

Abel nodded and gestured for Leon to lead the way. He still felt suspicious of the man, but the latter had already helped him once. Not to mention, he was unarmed.

It wouldn't be bad to rest for the day before continuing the journey tomorrow. So, along with Nightshade, he decided to follow the man.

"Is it your first time visiting the Forgotten City?"

Leon tried to make small talk as they walked through a narrow path between crashed cars. Abel hadn't noticed before, but everything around them was covered in green, starting from the hill.

It was an extremely bizarre scene, considering how the area surrounding the place had turned into a radioactive desert.

"Not gonna answer?"

The walker snapped back to reality and looked at the man in front of him. Leon had stopped walking and was now waiting for Abel's answer.

"... it's my first time here."

He said after a brief pause.

"No wonder you didn't recognize this place. The flowers and the hill have been there ever since the city was destroyed... I think it was ten years ago when that happened?"

"It was destroyed that recently?"

Even Abel couldn't hide his surprise. Judging from the damage to the city and the corpses, he thought that the place would be hundred years old at the least.

"Mhm. Surprising, isn't it? Anyhow, I was there when it all crashed down. That was also when I lost my wife and my friend."

"..."

Abel didn't respond to those words. He just stared at the young man, who finally chuckled.

"Quite the stoic one, aren't you? Well, no matter. Come, we are almost there."

They walked for a few more minutes before arriving at a large building. The building was made completely out of class, letting them see the insides of it clearly.

Lush vegetation grew inside the enclosed space and those were then surrounded by countless flower plants.

"Is that a greenhouse?"

Abel asked, surprised once again. Greenhouses were extremely rare, and only the top brass of the major cities could afford to build one of them.

Mainly due to the cost of maintaining a greenhouse alongside the fact that its yield was quite low, people in the frontiers weren't so interested in building them.

Yet, one of those rare structures was right in front of Abel. It was even working perfectly.

"I crave organic food, so I took the liberty to fix one of the few greenhouses left intact inside the city. The yield is low as expected, but it is more than enough for a single person."

Leon explained while approaching the door of the greenhouse. The glass door slid open and let the man enter, who then beckoned Abel to follow. The walker took a deep breath and came into the building.

He immediately felt the comfortable atmosphere inside the greenhouse. It wasn't too hot, nor it was freezing in here. The whole place had to have a thermal system for that.

"How do you get the water needed to survive? And how come there's electricity inside here?"

Abel asked as he observed the place. Green vines rose to the ceiling, covering the pillars completely. On his both sides, countless vegetable plants were planted on fertile dirt.

Nightshade started excitedly barking. Abel removed the gas mask from the dog and looked at Leon.

"It's fine to let it run around."

With his permission, the walker let the dog free. For a few moments, both men just stared at the dog playing on the ground... Until Leon spoke up again.

"About your previous question, there's an underground well in that shed in the corner. It thankfully didn't dry up with the city's collapse, so I am using that for the water. And in the case of electricity... Well, I don't need any."

"You don't need any?"

"Not really. I can't explain further... Just know that it's my system."

"Alright."

Abel didn't ask any further questions and walked with Leon through the rows of plants. Eventually, they arrived at the end of the building, where Abel saw the same beautiful flowers Leon had placed in front of the graves.

Noticing his gaze, Leon gently smiled.

"Those flowers are really important to me. It's a memento of my late friend."

"I see."

That was all Abel could muster. He wasn't a sociable person, nor he ever would be.

"Anyhow, I have a small clearing... There it is. You can sleep there."

"Thanks."

Abel accepted his help and looked at the small clearing. Dirt was piled up there, probably to plant more trees. It would make a decent natural bed if Abel put a cloth on top.

"Now then. It should be becoming dark soon... I'd like to tend to the graves, so let's meet in the morning, shall we?"

Leon smiled and looked at Abel, who gave a short nod.

"Seems fine with me."

"Great."

With that, the young man left the building.

"Nightshade, keep guard for me."

The intelligent dog quickly understood and gave two short barks before lying down in front of him.

"Now then... Let's eat something and sleep."

He couldn't waste this opportunity... The odds of finding another radiation free area full of vegetation inside a red zone were almost zero after all.

...

The young man walked through the concrete jungle along, a flower in his hand. He gently held the flower in front of his nose and inhaled the sweet scent.

His eyes then drifted towards the tombs before him.

"Even after your deaths, you burden me so much..."

He said in a slightly irritated tone, but if one could look at his eyes now, all they would see were love and respect.

However... No one was there to see his emotions, nor was anyone there to hear his whispers.

"Well, I guess... I guess such meaningless actions band together to give my life some worth. So... Rejoice, for I, Leon, shall keep our promise for a while longer."

He let go of the flower in his hand, which gently floated down and rested on top of one of the gravestones.

The next moment, vines erupted from around the stone and covered the dark object with countless red flowers.

A sickly sweet smell spread throughout the area.

Just like the night ten years ago.