The Remnants Pact

Chapter 2: Beyond the Horizon

Days turned to weeks as Atka and Miki honed their skills, preparing for the journey that lay ahead. Atka's unwavering determination fueled their every action, her resilience igniting a spark within Miki that had grown stronger with each passing day. The sisters tirelessly scavenged and strategized, crafting tools and supplies from the discarded remnants of the wasteland.

Their shelter became a hub of activity, the sound of clanging metal from them both creating more and more attention to every corner of the wasteland, telling "There will be more who tasted the gate."

During the day, Atka and Miki would search and scavenge all around the wasteland starting from their shelter and moving outside, reaching new perimeters each day goes by since that promise Atka made to Miki that night.

In the evening, Miki would prepare their resting place, and put on the cloth barrier on their shelter to reduce the insects and mosquitos from coming in. She would also light a hand-made candle from materials she found around, oil, broken perfume glass, etc. While Atka continued venturing the wasteland in the pitch darkness of the night, all by herself.

In that further venturing, Atka would search for more dangerous materials for their journey preparation, sharp knives, strong metals, cables, gears, and other reusable garbage. With her broken lantern that uses oil, Atka lit up some meters to ease her way walking on the inconstant wasteland's surface. She kept holding onto her makeshift bow and arrow tube that she made out of PVC pipes.

"Hm? What's that?" She recognized something bulging out from a spot she never knew existed there. All she know this perimeter had already been scanned by her and Miki, she then check again on her own made 'shelter-wasteland map' she drew on a piece of magazine paper with a charcoal bar.

She was surprised this spot was never detected by her and Miki, she then put down her lantern on the ground to give her a better look at it. Slowly, Atka reached out her hand to that thing that looks like a ... scroll? Inside a broken tube?

"I-Is this...?" She was shocked on knowing the object that she had found is real and now is in her hands.

She brought it back to her shelter and insisted to show it to Miki tomorrow after scavenging. Now they need to get some sleep.

The next morning, after Miki boiled some muddy water and filtrate it into a better consumable water, they drank it and ate their breakfast of re-cooked moldy artificial meat.

"I can't wait for us to eat some proper food soon, Miki" Atka sighed after she ate that breakfast which made her stomach growl more.

"Proper.. food? Is this not proper, Atka?" Miki tilted her head and asked her sister as if what she has done was not proper because until yesterday Atka never commented or said anything about proper food.

"Xixi... Don't you worry, Miki. I'll show you what kind of foods we can taste and eat more once we succeed in getting out of here!" Atka said that with the widest grin Miki ever saw while rubbing her hair out of adorableness.

That day they scavenged less than before because Atka insisted that these several weeks would be their last weeks of living under this canopy of them that they called their shelter. Atka said they need to focus on making and preparing the things they need to bring and put inside their bags. Atka then experimented with constructing more efficient arrows from the scavenged materials she found in the evening in previous weeks, while Miki meticulously sharpened her steel pipe to transpose it into useful spear. Together, they fashioned packs that could carry their meager belongings, now that they were 17 and 14 years old, Atka would be the one to lead the track while Miki could protect Atka from closer-range dangers.

After Atka finished her crafting, she continued to look at the thing she found earlier and piecing together an uncertain path through the surface of that page, that separated the supposed to be their location to The Frontlands.

That late evening, as the sun cast long shadows across their shelter, Atka held up a faded piece of paper she found the previous night, worn at the edges and marked with the scribbles of a bygone era. "This, Miki, is a map," she said, her voice tinged with excitement. "A map of The Frontlands. If we follow this path, we might just find a way in."

Miki's eyes widened as she studied the markings on the map, her heart racing with a mixture of hope and uncertainty. "Do you think it's real, Atka?"

Atka's gaze held a mixture of determination and conviction. "We won't know unless we try, Miki. And we have each other. That's our strength."

As the sisters prepared for their journey, the wasteland seemed to tighten its grip, as if reluctant to let them go. Strange figures lurked in the shadows, watching from a distance. Whispers of their journey reached the ears of those who had survived as long as they had, and uncertainty clung to the air like a shroud. But Atka and Miki's resolve remained unshaken, their bond an unbreakable force against the impending challenges.

The day of departure arrived, marked by a sunrise that painted the wasteland with hues of orange and gold. With their makeshift packs secured, Atka and Miki stepped away from their shelter, facing the horizon that beckoned them onward. Atka's eyes were set like flint, a reflection of her unwavering determination.

"We go together," Atka said, her voice steady. "No matter what comes our way."

With that, the sisters ventured into the unknown, their path lined with remnants of the past and shadows of an uncertain future. The wasteland stretched before them, a realm of danger and promise, as they embarked on a journey that would test their strength, loyalty, and the very essence of their hope.