~Chapter 6~

“ Didn't I tell you to stay in the tent?” An angry voice yelled, as his figure hollered over me.

“ Leave me alone mom, the bed is hard” I muttered sleepily. The bed or rather the floor was really hard and uncomfortable.

“ I'm not your mother you idiot!” He shouted.

“ Ahhh” I panicked and landed a kick in the middle of his legs. I stood up immediately, trying to figure out who the person was. It was the jerk from yesterday, I guess I'm not only a sack of potatoes. 

“ Ouch” He jumped, greatly pissed at my actions. Okay, so I panicked. I thought a strange guy was in my bedroom. They weren't any bedroom because I cried myself to sleep last night. Heavens knows how he managed to find me under my tree of depression. I quickly apologized. It was really my intention to.... hurt him.

   “ What was that for? Are you out to commit murder?” He asked as he groaned in pain, holding his crotch.

 “ Murder? ” I managed to say, despite my embarrassment. I've lost my dignity in front of this guy. There'll be no self-respect for me anymore, not like there was before but still...

   “ Killing my way of making babies, hereby killing any child I'll possibly have.” He started bluntly, having recovered from my attack.

 “ Sorry,” I said almost Inaudibly. My cheeks burned with embarrassment as a blush crept up my face.

“ Red looks good on you” He winked suggestively, teasing. My face was probably now redder than a tomato. I allowed him to laugh at me, enjoying himself.

   “ I'm sorry though, it was unintentional. My instincts kicked in, plus you startled me from my sleep” Honestly, this was unlike me. I don't usually attack harmless guys.

  “ Trust me, that wasn't only the thing that kicked”

  “ Okay, you've had your fun. That's enough” Face-palming, I walked ahead of him, trying to ignore his annoying laughter. Sadly, I'm happy that he was nicer today. Not throwing me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing. Increasing my pace, he panted behind me trying to catch up.

 “ I'm done laughing now. It's not my fault though. Your skin is pale enough to show the redness of your cheeks, and it's a sight to behold” He snickered, walking by my side.

 Today must be a good day, yesterday he didn't treat me like a pal. I decided to make good use of this opportunity and ask questions about my appearance here. Before I could find the right word, he spoke up first.

“ What were you doing under the tree?” He asked.

  “ Sleeping, just as you saw for yourself,” I answered, thinking of a way to swerve the conversation back in my favor. If I couldn't come up with the answers on my own, they need to know something that would be useful in helping me figure things out. To find the solution, I need to understand what the problem is first. To get back home, I need to understand how I got here. 

   “ No kidding. I mean why did you wander off only to end up under a tree?”

  “ The tent wasn't comfortable enough for me.” I gritted my teeth.

   “ Yet, under a tree was comfy enough to be considered your bedroom.” He arched his eyebrows, seeming to ponder over that.. I hadn't intended to fall asleep there last night, it just happened. Strangely, it was still comfortable. Even my body aches were partially gone this morning. 

   “ So, why did you come to find me anyway? It wasn't your business.” I shot at him. For someone who didn't like me yesterday, he sure seems to have warmed up to me. Like he has different personalities....?. Or he was extremely grumpy last night. 

   “ I just thought to let you know that we're going back to the old building. The one where you were having a nap yesterday,”

    “ The old building? A nap?” He swerved towards my direction all on his own. I need to start working less, maybe I'll get a vacation here or something. 

 “ Yes, that was actually where my family lived before the war. It's not exactly sturdy anymore. Some people go there to find shelter when they're tired of walking or running. I thought you were one of those people too? But I didn't expect you to follow us, you were on a different journey of your own. It wouldn't be long before the remains of the house are brought to the ground too.” Sincere hurt flashed before his eyes. The words I had just heard recurringly echoed in my head.

  From what he said, they found me there. How did I end up there? And what's this about a war? So I woke up in a different city, in the middle of their crisis. A war. I was too busy thinking, to pay attention to the other things he was saying. They didn't even know how I got here either, they just found me. What if I died and this is my eternity. I don't remember dying on my way back from school, but I don't think people remember those kinds of things. The crisis here appears to be serious for them to abandon their home, to live on a cliff. What are the chances we wouldn't all die in the middle of this? Does that mean I would die twice in a lifetime? No, I couldn't think like that. I wasn't dead.

  “ If you aren't sure the building still stands, then why bother to go there?” My perplexed self blurted out. 

   “ That has been my home since I was born. A little part of me hopes that one day we will return there and hear that the war has ended and everything can go back to normal. Of course, nothing will ever be normal around here anymore but all we can do is hope right?” 

 My thoughts were right, the damage caused by all of these was indeed serious. Too serious for me to get in the middle of. I wanted to ask more questions, but we got back to the tents and he scurried away without saying anything more. So much for answers.