The Seed of Hope

Chapter 44: Stream

        -"I never thought that we would find the east exit, I was starting to panic!"- Naoko took a sigh of relief at the sight of the giant iron gates.

They all stayed in the car while Rai spoke with the guards. He checked everyone in as they marked them in the system from "Access Granted" to "Departed". Kate wondered what had happened in Lueng Khan's history for this to be a system of tracking anyone and everything that enters and leaves the Capital. It was suffocating, to say the least. To think that Tanius, the port city where all ships depart from was just a day's travel from Bás Frontier, but Vindúr law requires all travelers, tourists, merchants, and civilians to register in Lueng Khan before doing anything in the continent. Offenders and culprits will be prosecuted and brought to the court of Law to face justice.
Kate recoiled at the thought of the strictness of the law here. The commotion about the two dead bodies of the bounty hunters that were found in the gas station caused Kate to feel nervous. She was afraid that Logan could be arrested and sent to prison, but it had to be done. Those men wanted Rai dead and they hurt Ivee. That reminded her of Kayn and why he needed to have his son dead. It worried her but she wasn't going to go back and find out why.

        -"You are granted leave, Thank you for visiting Lueng Khan, Mr. Dupont."- The guards opened the giant iron gates, and on the other side of them was a lush dark green forest and the road between the trees was bleak with a blanket of fog.
        -"Off we go."- Naoko slowly accelerated as the gates closed behind them. Kate looked back at the giant walls that surrounded the city, the yellow clouds of spores were visible from far away. It was heartbreaking how these people lived after the Great Shift, another reason to stop Elohim.

        -"Do you think they'll do anything about the bodies of those two men?"- Kate asked worriedly,
        -"I let them know what happened..."- Rai said.
        -"What!!?"- Kate and Naoko shouted in unison.
        -"Listen, my life was in danger, Logan risked his life for us...they needed to know that it was self-defense. The thing is, since Dupont is in my name, they just swept it under the rug. As easy as that..."-
Silence filled the car as they all stared at Rai.
        -"I can't believe the Dupont name has such a powerful influence even up here..."- Kate lowered her eyes. In a way, she felt sad about how easily people's lives can be reduced to nothing under that last name.
        -"Hey, whatever gets us off the hook, I'm all for it!"- Ivee said with a mouth full of cheese chips.
        -"You almost died! Your life could've been nothing too!"- Kate raised her voice.
        -"Nuh-uh! I trust you too much, you wouldn't let me die."- Ivee licked her fingers. -"Which that reminds me--Katie, when I was losing consciousness, I saw you!"-

        -"What do you mean you saw me?"- 

        -"Mm, like,"- Ivee's tongue slapped and smacked around. -"It was you, but...also not you. It's hard to explain but I could tell it was you but, I couldn't see your face because it was covered. I don't know."- Kate stared at her sister, puzzled by what she was trying to say. -Me but...not me?-

Night came around rather quickly and Naoko parked the car in a nearby clearing, next to a fresh spring. The stars appeared one by one in the dark blue sky, like speckles of milk on expensive blue velvet. Since there wasn't any light contamination from any big cities nearby, it was much more bright and beautiful. Ivee and Naoko set up the blankets and picnic baskets for a quick snack before bed. Logan stared up at the stars unaware of anything that was happening around him. Rai looked around, looking for Kate.
        -"Hey, Nao, where did Kate go?"- He asked. -"She went to wash herself in the spring. That was the first thing she thought of as soon as she heard the water."-
        -"I see..."- Rai eyed the edge of the forest in the direction of the audible stream.

        -"Don't you think about skipping the line, Rai! I'm next in line!"- Naoko pointed at Rai with a plastic knife. He raised his arms and laughed. -"I wasn't gonna! I'll wait till all of you are done."-