Erik

I watched in panic as the gang in black, gaudy masks blustered out threats to our people, demanding them give everything they've got if they wanted their lives spared. They were armed in metal baseball bats, spiked wooden bars, and mini crossbows. The battle between the two groups was already going on. Josiah, Soeun, Nikole, and Doctor Mikhailov were valiantly fighting back and it seemed no one was critically injured. Yet. I held the items I had gathered tightly to my chest, not knowing what to do. I had to help but I knew I would be useless.

Then a gunshot echoed in the air. I flinched at the unexpected sound that came from right beside me. It was Jessica.

All people halted in their positions, taking a few seconds to register the loud bang and where it came from. The masked men finally noticed the two of us standing like Bonnie and Clyde (or more like Nobody and Clyde) who had come back from grocery shopping. It was then one of the men who had secretly approached Soeun behind his back fell to the ground, spewing blood to all directions from his forehead. He was shot dead with one bullet.

"Oops," said Jessica, blowing on the hot muzzle of her revolver. "This wasn't a fair game, was it?"

This girl was whole another level.

Some of the men took a step back from apprehension, their vulgar threats no longer coming out of their mouths. However, one of them, who appeared to be the 'leader' judging from how bombastically ornamented his black mask was, lunged at Jessica with his crossbow loaded. He aimed the end of it at her chest before she could react and released his hold on the arrow.

I saw it happen. It was a momentary series of events that happened in a split second, but I saw it in slow motion; how the arrow spiraled through the air, its course set to pierce Jessica's heart. I made my move. I dropped everything and shielded Jessica with my body as both of us toppled to the asphalt ground. Jessica yelped out of surprise as the sudden weight pressed against her gunshot wound.

"Are you okay?" I panted.

"Yea---ERIK!" Her widened eyes and perturbed cry frightened me. And when I took a look at my shoulder, the arrowhead had buried itself deep in my shoulder already. A pang of fright and physical pain shot straight down my arm. I hadn't even realized.

"Shit," I cursed to myself, rolling away from on top of my partner. The pain was intense. Blood was cascading down from the wound and permanently staining my jacket. The first thing I checked was the safety of the picture in my hidden chest pocket. It was unharmed.

"Go to fucking hell, bastard." Jessica fumed beside me, shooting a couple of times at the crossbowman at his either legs without even getting up. The man shrieked in agony and dropped to the ground. His weapon skittered across the asphalt and landed before my hand. I grabbed it instantly in spite of my injury hazing my vision.

Getting to my feet, I let the adrenaline consume me. It wasn't even a fatal injury. I would become a help to my group. I would not let myself be a burden anymore.

"Erik, what the fuck are you doing?" Jessica ran up to me and supported my lurching body. I gently pushed her away and pulled out the arrow from my wound in one fluid movement. Trying to stifle my own scream, I bit my lower lip so hard I could taste blood on my tongue. And then I loaded the crossbow with the arrow.

All eyes were focused on me. The mask gang was slowly retreating, and I could speculate that it was due to Jessica's gun and my deranged aura. I was very well aware that I was exuding a psychotic air. That was what I was going for, actually. So I approached them in large strides, fixed the edge of the blood-dripping arrow at my target who happened to be standing in front of Nikole and let the lengthy bolt glide. The arrowhead sunk deep in the man's flesh and I successfully induced a shrill howl out of him. At this point, every masked man was getting back on their motorcycle to scurry out of the scene, leaving their 'comrades' behind at our mercy. The seven fled without even looking back in no time. Jessica fired three more times, putting two down on their way. Then the remaining were gone.

"What in the world...," Josiah muttered, dumbfounded. The atmosphere couldn't be more destitute of sound and movement save the occasional pitiful groans from the two injured hostiles.

The moment's adrenaline ebbed away, and I collapsed.

"Erik!" Several voices cried out my name as people darted toward my weak form.

"I'm alright," I voiced, trying to stand back up on my wobbly legs. I failed and plumped back down on my ass to cradle my left arm. It hurt. Like crazy.

"I need to take a look at your wound," the doctor said in an urgent tone. He then half dragged me to the second trailer with the help of Josiah and Jessica. I blinked to blink the seeping lethargy out from my brain. I crashed down on the sofa and grimaced as they helped me out of my jacket, and then my shirt. Then I looked over at the heap of my clothes soaked in red with a sad expression. I liked them a lot, and now they were ruined.

The rest of the process was just a hellish nightmare occurring in the daytime. I clenched my teeth down on a rag to prevent myself from breaking my own teeth as the impromptu surgery was done by Mikhailov. I was exhausted beyond words when it ended, and with permission from the doc, I fell asleep easily on a cot provided by Josiah. A rare mixture of fatigue and pain muddled up in my consciousness as they took me by the hand into the realm of slumber.

***

"Why, though?" Erik asked. He was a small boy, six years of age. Erik clung to his mother's long skirt with his little hands and let tears fall from his unblemished cheeks. "Why, mama?"

"Erik," his mother tenderly explained, stooping down to the boy's eye level. "This is for the world's sake. You may not understand now, but you will understand in the future." She wiped away the briny droplets on Erik's tear-stricken face and smiled.

"But I don't want her to go. I want her to stay," little Erik complained.

"Some things are inevitable. Do you know what that means? 'Inevitable'?" The mother tilted her head to one side.

"...No."

"It means unchangeable. It means it has to happen no matter what. It means you can't avoid it even if you wanted to," she expounded to the young boy.

"Why...," Erik faltered. "Why is it inevitable?"

His mother stood up and only sent a somber glance at the boy and the narrow window to her left. The smile on her lips was faint and distant.

"Why, mama?" The boy demanded yet again.

"As I said, you will understand in time." She repeated. But young Erik could not understand. He was anguished. Sad. Frustrated.

The boy received no answer and only tugged at his mother's skirt in vain. He stomped his foot but gained no response. Outside, beyond the metal door, muffled screeches could be heard. He could make out only some of the sentences and words.

"Stop!" The high-pitched voice protested. "I don't want to! Fuck off!"

"You have to cooperate," a gruff voice ordered.

"You have no right!"

"You will be rewarded," the voice promised.

"I will not be spent as a battery! I know it's no paradise!" The girl's voice wailed, but it was silenced soon.

Erik rubbed his red eyes, trembling from fear. He looked up at his mother's face and wrapped his arms around her leg. "I'm scared."

"Honey, there's no need." The mother blankly replied and shook off Erik's arms. She then went to the window and peered outside. Erik followed her but he wasn't tall enough to see what was happening outside. He jumped and jumped, but it wasn't enough.

"Mama," he pleaded. "Please let me see, too."

However, his mother completely neglected his plea, blue eyes glued to the scene outside. She waved her hand once at the people outside and proceeded to dab at her cheeks where tears had made their trails. Then she hollered out her last words.

"Take care, Eden."

***

I woke up with a start. It was the same dream over again. Why was it meddling with my sleep two days in a row? The sole bad memory of my youth, the only event that had seared a mark in my childhood was haunting me again. I did not want to relive it, but my subconscious must have wanted me to. Otherwise, there would be no explanation for this phenomenon.

Maybe it was the trip. Maybe it was the fact that we were finally embarking on a real journey to Elysia. I had wandered around two weeks or so on my own, not knowing where to go or who to meet. Now that I found a breakthrough for the petty problems, there was a possibility that my brain was trying to alert me of the reason why I was engaging in this one-way trip. Anyhow, I despised it.

"How are you feeling?"

I looked up, astonished to find Nikole sitting beside me. She was reading a book written in another language. Was that Russian?

"Uh...," I wondered out loud hoarsely. "Fine, but not fine." It was true. The pain was alleviated thanks to Doctor Mikhailov's thorough treatment, but it still burned and my head was hurting from the dream I just had.

"Oh," Nikole commented. It seemed like she couldn't find the right words to say. After all, we were not the greatest of friends. I was certain she detested my presence.

So why was she sitting here beside me out of all people?

Nikole shut her book close and then laid it on the table beside her. She leaned forward, clasping her hands and putting on an unreadable expression. There was a long pause of awkward silence before she began.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"What?" I blurted out. I was not following the context.

"For bullying you. I know I've been pretty mean to you the past week."

Wow. The girl was straightforward. She did not hesitate to plainly call out on her own behavior and attempt a reconciliation. She had acknowledged that her attitude may have been detrimental to me in a way. However, it was never out of groundless spite. I had provided her a reason in the first place.

"Um...that's fine. I wasn't that bothered. But...," I swallowed down a lump in my throat, "I think you don't need to apologize. I was the one at fault."

"I felt like I had to. Or else I would never be able to 'make things better' between us. Things never work that way. At least for me," she confessed.

"Well, then...I'm sorry, too." Although I had said it at least a dozen times the first two days.

"It's cool," she replied.

Another wave of silence assailed the two of us. Then I realized that the trailer was on the move. The rhythmical rumblings and gentle rocking movements below my body indicated that.

"Where's Jessi?" I inquired.

"She was really worried about you and wanted to stay by your side, but someone had to drive that nice car of yours." Nikole pointed at the door with her thumb. Ah, yes, I could hear the familiar sound of my Cadillac's engine from outside. My heart warmed like a marshmallow in hot cocoa at the thought of Jessica worrying over me. I was relieved beyond anything else that I had saved her life earlier.

"So are you guys together...?" Nikole cautiously asked.

I fumbled with my words before I could reply. "No! I mean, I don't know. Or yeah, just no. We did have a go and cuddle and stuff, but I don't think so. Not that I don't fancy her, I just---"

A clear sound of laughter filled the trailer. Nikole looked at me with interest gleaming in her pupils. "I get it. I get it. You don't have to get all flustered about it." I pursed my lips, feeling my face redden from embarrassment. What have I just blabbered out? To a girl I just started sharing a decent conversation with? I was such a loser.

"By the way, you were impressive out there. When you took out the arrow from your own wound and used it to shoot down the raider. I've never seen anything like it," said Nikole. I was glad she changed the subject.

"I don't know how I did it. I get crazy sometimes," I looked away and swatted my hand. "But you said raider? Those were raiders?"

"Yeah. I didn't know about them until Jessica and Josiah told me about them, either. They said that raiders often form gangs of ten or more people to rob wanderers. That their numbers are growing. We need to be wary of them."

"Another problem when we have enough." I snorted. "What did you guys do with the injured ones?" I asked although I knew the answer.

"We left them there...They could be dead by now," Nikole seemed uncomfortable with sharing this information. I, too, felt queasy in the stomach. It was the first time I had used a weapon on someone with the intent to harm or...kill. I wasn't sure which. I was taken by the flow of adrenaline at that time. It was abhorrent, knowing that I had murdered someone and feeling not a massive wave of guilt shredding me asunder. Even if it was to protect.

"It's alright. Your bravery saved us all, in the end," Nikole tried her best to lift my mood up.

"Nah. Jessica did most of it. She's the fighter."

"From what I see, you have it in you as much as her. Making you two a perfect duo." she giggled. What was she connoting?

Before I could even open my mouth, the trailer came to an abrupt stop and soon the door opened. Jessica stormed inside. As soon as she saw me awake and well, she ran over and gently tapped my cheek with a smile.

"I knew you were a strong one, darling," she said. I grinned back in response, getting up to sit on the cot. "You escaped the Weakass Zone."

"Tell me you didn't leave one scratch on my car," I joked.

"You bastard. You care more about your damn car over me, don't you?"

"Of course! She's the love of my life," I dramatically enunciated.

Jessica made a face. "Your kinks are strange."

"Not as much as you," I countered. "You 'like ruined pretty faces'," I repeated what she had proclaimed in my face the first moment we met each other. It felt like ages ago.

"I'm pretty sure ruined pretty faces are better than inanimate objects with no sexual organs," she cackled. "Jokes aside, we arrived at a nice place to stay for the night. Do you want to stay in the trailer and relax, or come with us inside the building and make camp?"

"Come with you, of course."

"Alright, darling. You can't sleep alone, can ya? You need big Jessi by you to warm your side." She poked my cheek with her finger. I caught it before she retracted it and pulled her close to my face.

"Don't treat me like some baby," I said.

"Does a child suit you, then?" She winked. I rolled my eyes and let go of her hand.

"Arguing with you is pointless." I laughed as I got to my feet and beckoned Nikole to come out of the trailer with us. I felt sorry for her as she sat there quite uneasily the whole time Jessica and I exchanged meaningless words.

"Come and see our luxurious hotel for the night, ladies and ladies," Jessica introduced in an exaggerated tone as she gestured at Nikole and me to get out of the trailer before her.

I stepped outside the van with a slight limp. A sinister ruin of a once-large building was towering above us. Its steel structure revealed behind concrete walls resembled the skeleton of a decaying animal. All entrances were open and fractured glass windows were glistening in the moonlight like the hollow gleam of a dead man's glassy eyeballs. I did not like the looks of this building, but we couldn't always find ourselves a 'luxurious hotel' every night. The Wasteworld itself was a giant ruin.

Without a word, I followed everyone inside after putting on a blue cardigan Soeun offered me. It was exceptionally chilly at nights. This year's fall was not nice to anyone accustomed to the usual heat that stretched on to November. So we built a fire inside the building, sharing food and throwing some words back and forth with each other before going to sleep in our respective blankets.

I mulled over all the things that happened today. Hearing Jessica's past, the fight with the raiders, the dream I had for the second time, and the making up process with Nikole. A lot had flown by in the past 24 hours. It was midnight, in my guess, when I decided to go to sleep as my shoulder began to throb from the lack of pain reliever injection. I needed rest.

Hoping that I would not have the same dream again, I closed my eyes.

-----

Hello, my lovely readers! I apologize for the late update as my daily routine has met a great change due to the start of a new school semester and all. I have not lost the motivation to write this story, so if you're interested in reading on, worry not:) I will have more chapters updated in the near future. Thank you so much for your devotion.

As always, comments and votes are immensely appreciated!