Freedom of the Wild

Chapter 9 • Betrayal

They were gone. We didn't know where. They... They abandoned us. Yan Jun, Amber and Strange Boy. I seethed with rage. It must have been Strange Boy's idea. Yan Jun and Amber couldn't have left us for no reason. What's even more odd is, if they are gone, why is Evelyn still here? Something was wrong. They didn't even leave a note...

"Evelyn...? You didn't go with the rest?" I stared at Evelyn, confused and demanding an answer. She simply continued looking down at her feet as if she was thinking of the answer too. Sigh. I felt extremely helpless. Like the people who mattered to me just left once more. And it hurt.

Soon, the basic instinct of survival covered this emotional loss. Focus on what's ahead. Yeah, no use pondering over the past. "Yan Jun abandoned me. I knew it would happen someday, I just didn't know when, nor was I ever expecting for this day to come. I am a burden to him. You don't see it, because nobody else knows about my medical condition except for my brother." Evelyn mumbled with a blank look on her face. It was as if she had already accepted fate but was still stuck in her own thoughts. "Med..medical condition?"

I was trying to piece things together. Yan Jun, Amber and Strange Boy had left us and a fist of sadness and loss hit me. Yan Jun had undoubtedly saved my life before. And now Evelyn is telling me she has a medical condition? She never told me that before. All I know was that she was a cheerful girl who was so bubbly she became my daily dose of entertainment. Anger, or what seemed like disappointment, slowly filled my head. She could have shared it with me, I would have tried to help her and the rest wouldn't have abandoned us! Furthermore, was Yan Jun that heartless to abandon his own sister just because of this? But inside I knew, in the world where survival only mattered, he was forced to do it for his own sake...

"I have... chronic heart disease. Before this happened, the Doc said that I only had a month or two left to..." Evelyn broke into tears. "...before I go." I couldn't stand the sight of her crying. I put my arm over her in an intendancy of protection or simply as an act of empathy. "Hush... It's alright. I know you are a strong girl..." The brokenhearted girl who was always filled with optimism, created tension in the atmosphere. It was as if her humid tears were not shed for a long time and they evaporated.. Yeah they evaporated. She rested her head on my shoulder and it felt pleasant. Strange... Why was I getting affected by this? And there's this feeling..

I casted my thoughts aside. They could wait till we found safer ground. The current place we were staying at was too open. Anyone could just come in and murder us. To put it simply, we were easy prey. Thirty minutes ago, I even heard some trashing noise at the bottom of the building, followed by frenetical shouts and loud muttering. We had to be careful as we left. Luckily for us I still had my rucksack, with some supplies and gear left. And my trustworthy knife. My eyes glowed in the familiar thrill of hunt. "Let's go, we need to get better shelter." Evelyn nodded and stood up, ready to leave.

She got over her troubles fast, and that was useful in this torn world. But the thought of her dying any time was branded in my mind. I would be totally unprepared for that, and now I realised how much she meant to me. There were days when we had deep conversations about our past stories and what we thought would lay ahead of us. It would be a huge blow for me if she ever left, but I had to stay strong for my own survival.

"Where do we go?" Evelyn murmured while staring out of the windows at the toothpaste-coloured clouds. We could