The Ascent

Chapter 11

Instead of allowing herself time to worry about all the little things that could go wrong, Jasmine repacked her backpack and started thinking about what needed to be done. The most important thing on her mind was reconnecting with Isaac as soon as possible. No matter how brave he had shown himself, he was still just a little boy lost in the madness that the world had become.

Once upon a time, Jasmine was in his shoes, afraid and lonely, and she knew that what he wished for more than anything else was someone to chase away his fears or at least face them with him. He was probably scared of the dark the way she once was, before she learned that there were far scarier things to worry about, one of them being the people.

People were sometimes far more unpredictable than the dark ever could be. That was her biggest fear, the fear of the unknown. And human nature was one of the biggest unknowns out there. That was one of the reasons why she wasn't sure if the bald men were aliens or just very unpredictable humans.

When it was dark enough for her plans, Jasmine peeked out of her hiding place, checking all around to see if anyone was in sight. All she saw were eerily empty streets, something she couldn't get used to no matter how hard she tried. It was so unnatural for such a bustling city.

Upon ensuring that she could do so unnoticed, Jasmine carefully slipped down the tree, only then noticing the scrapes and bruises that her misadventures had painted on her hands. Ignoring them as they were a problem she couldn't deal with then, Jasmine started sneaking around the back of the buildings like a ghost in the night.

Having noticed that the bald men seemed to prefer the flat ground, she tried to climb over things, on top of things, whenever she had a chance or needed some rest. It was a much longer journey than it would have been if she had taken a more direct route. However, she wanted to ensure she wasn't followed before joining Isaac.

Jasmine was so focused on evading the bald men with their little quirks that she didn't even think about where she was going or what or who else she might run into. That was until a hand suddenly appeared out of nowhere and clapped itself firmly over her mouth.

Before Jasmine could either bite it or try one of her self-defense or even martial arts tricks, the stray hand pulled her into the shadows, where she heard a low whisper.

"Shh, I am not going to hurt you," the voice said as she felt a large body inches away from hers. "You are just the first person I saw that wasn't one of those things, and I thought I should introduce myself."

A string of furious, muffled mumbling followed his words instead of a kick Jasmine had wanted to deliver mere seconds ago. It seemed better to let things unfold and make sure that the guy was a bad guy before breaking his nose or something.

"Oh, sorry," he said, only then noticing that his hand still covered her mouth. "I'll remove my hand, but you have to promise you won't scream. Otherwise, we are all done for."

Noting the word 'all' instead of 'we' carefully into her list of things to be investigated, Jasmine nodded vigorously, annoyed by the contact with an unknown man.

As he let go of her, Jasmine spun around to face him. She did so for two reasons. Firstly, Jasmine wanted to ensure he wasn't one of those strange men. Secondly, she was determined to give him a piece of her mind.

In the dim light, all she saw was that the guy was well-built and that his light blue eyes shone with an intensity she had never seen before. To think that only hours ago, she had wished she had come across a strong guy who could help her survive. Yet, now, it was his strength that terrified her.

"Well, that sure is a strange way to introduce oneself to people," Jasmine whisper-shouted, knowing that when faced with a predator, one should never show fear. Or at least she thought so. "Dragging them into dark building entrances and putting your dirty hands over their mouths."

As Jasmine proceeded to dramatically wipe her mouth off, she thought she saw a brief glint of teeth in a half smile, but she could have imagined it as it was gone in a second.

"I do apologize for my bad manners, but these are the end times. I was worried you might scream and draw attention to us," he said, barely apologetic. "My name is Asher, a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Of course I would have screamed," Jasmine said with righteous anger. "Why do you even go around grabbing people' 'at the end times' as you call them? I am Jasmine, but I can't say that it's nice to meet you, as you almost gave me a heart attack."

"You are right, of course, it's a normal reaction, having everything in mind, but I couldn't pass up this opportunity to get someone's help," Asher said pleadingly. "We really do need some help."

"Who is we?' Jasmine asked, finding the not knowing unbearable.

"You can come out now. This lady won't hurt us," Asher said, looking inside the nearby building.

Only then did Jasmine notice two small figures cautiously approaching them. To her utter shock, she realized that they were children. It was as if the moment the apocalypse started, Jasmine became a magnet for children, as if her mother's wishes were coming true in the oddest possible way.

The older child seemed to be a bit younger than Isaac, while the younger one appeared to be just the right age to cause them to be captured or killed. It was around two or three years old, clearly at an age when making her understand what was happening was impossible. Jasmine felt she knew what was coming. She was already cursing her bad luck.

"Hi, I am Arman, and this is my little sister Ariyana," the older child, the boy, said. "Nice to meet you."

Whatever Jasmine expected, it was definitely not polite children who knew how to behave. After all, most of the children she had met before meeting Isaac were acting like spoiled brats most of the time, except the ones she met at her job. However, Jasmine wasn't sure if they were naturally friendly and polite or if her stories had them spellbound. Looking at the two children with good manners even when the world was falling apart, Jasmine was curious to see children being well-mannered outside her work.

"Hi, my name is Jasmine. It's a pleasure to meet you," Jasmine said, shaking hands with both children.

If reading to children had taught her anything, it was that as much as they loved her making faces and doing voices, they liked it even more when she treated them like adults. They loved when she shook hands with them, answered their questions honestly, and listened to what they had to say.

It was only then that she realized that she actually liked most of the children who weren't her spoiled relatives. However, she still didn't like that two small children were dragged into the whole mess of surviving whatever was happening. It was already hard enough to get by. How was she supposed to do so while constantly worrying about the children?

Even as those thoughts swarmed her mind, a worm of worry about Isaac started gnawing at her heart. Every second she spent politely chatting was a second more he spent all alone and probably terrified.

"We were planning to head for the less populated areas, but I was afraid to move while I was the only adult around. I wasn't sure I could keep an eye on the two of them and watch out for those things," Asher said. "Can you help us?"

"I happen to be going to the forest myself, so you can join in. We just have to hurry, Isaac is all alone, and I don't want him to wait too long," Jasmine said.

Without asking for any further explanations, Asher put on his backpack and grabbed his son's hand. He started to take his daughter's hand as well, but she put her little hands up, standing in front of Jasmine with the cutest expression on her face. Unable to resist the invitation, Jasmine picked up the little girl. Then they headed to the forest together.

Together.

Not being alone was both scary and amazingly good as they marched onward. One thought was stronger in Jasmine's mind than any other.

Isaac needed her.