Myriad

Chapter 5 - Fear

A random forest - Cycle 499 - Day 260

Jonas' POV
I carried Cierce to a spot under a tree at the edge of a forest and set up camp for the night. The fire crackled as I threw another dry stick inside the fire, and I placed the moonrock beside the fire (done everytime we set up camp).  This should keep us safe. I stood up and stretched myself. After that day's near death encounter, I was exhausted from that and I was sure Cierce was too. After all, she fell asleep in a few seconds.

Just as I was about to doze off, Cierce suddenly opened her eyes. She looked panicked and scared.

"NOOOO!" She jumped and knocked her head against a low-lying tree branch. Rubbing her head quickly, she started crying. Immediately, I snapped wide awake at attention and got worried. Was she crying because she knocked her head, or was something happening to her? Tears were streaming down her face and her eyes were red and puffy as she started to stop crying.

"Hey. Is everything okay? Do you want to talk about anything?" I asked with concern. She looked up at me. Seeing those pitiful eyes made me wonder what horrendous thing she had experienced that caused her to be like this.

Seeing that she was trembling non-stop, I told her that it was okay if she did not want to tell me. She nodded her head, and buried her head in her knees. A few seconds later, she burst into uncontrollable sobs. Seeing her cry like this again made my heart hurt, even though it was not me who was remembering a bad experience.

Suddenly, she blurted out, "My family died a cycle ago." Still shedding tears, she continued, voice wavering. "My entire family made it out of the the Final War alive. None of us were killed by the dust bomb. They died in the middle of the night. We were taking refuge for the night in an abandoned building, but..."

Sniffing, she paused for awhile, immediately continuing after. "But a Deathless happen to roam around the area. The moment it entered the building, all of us could sense it. We hid behind anything we could and tried not to utter a single sound. I even held my breath... But, my mother, father, and my little sister were unlucky. They were sniffed out by the Deathless, and I saw them die before my eyes. My sister Clara died last. I saw her locking her gaze with mine, just before the Deathless cruelly killed her and ate her up. I saw all the blood... ALL THE BLOOD!! I COULDN'T HELP MY FAMILY AND I SAW THEM DIE BEFORE MY EYES, YET I DIDN'T DO A THING! WHY IS LIFE SO CRUEL? THE DEATHLESS SHOULD HAVE KILLED ME AS WELL!" Cierce screamed until her voice was hoarse.

We sat in silence for a few minutes. Apart from Cierce's occasional sniffing, our surroundings were filled with crickets chirping their melodies, frogs croaking, wolves sending out mating calls, and owls hooting. A few kilometers of plains lay ahead of us, with a mountain in the backdrop. That was our destination, as I figured that it would be far enough from the Deathless colonies. Cierce's head leant against my shoulder. "Why am I the only one alive? Why did fate choose me to be alive? In this horrendous hell of a world, what is the point of living? We are easily killed by the Deathless, yet we still carry on. Why?"

"That, is the marvel of the human race. In times of no hope, we still carry on, hoping for the best. This is why we are at the top of the food chain. Always striving to succeed, and improve ourselves, that is the human race." I continued. "By living on, we are carrying on the dreams of everyone who has died. Now about your family."

"I don't believe in anything like fate, destiny, or any coincidental stuff. But if you were lucky enough to survive, shouldn't you be looking to the future, not dwelling on the past? The past may contain many monsters that we wish to conquer, but the future will contain even more challenged and hurdles we have to conquer. By staying in the past, you will be swallowed by the fear of repeating your misdeeds. By being in the present, you have the ability to change the future, whereas you do not have the ability to change the past. I'm sure that if your parents were still alive, they would have been proud of you. Your little sister too probably."

Cierce started crying again, but this time, she was touched by what I had said. She sat in silence for 10 minutes, reflecting on what I had said earlier. Suddenly, she hugged me tightly and whispered in my ear, "Thank you... I needed that inspirational speech..." With that, she kissed my cheek and feel asleep on my lap. I rubbed the side of my cheek, and stared at the clear night sky. Have the skies ever been so clear ever since the dust bombs? I looked at the sky dreamily, dreaming about the adventures we would have together. The mountain ahead seemed like an impossible task that we had to conquer. But I was very sure, that I could conquer it...

One of my hands was holding the moonrock, the other, was holding Cierce's hand...