We are called « the survivors »

VIII

"He was helping us carrying the man and, the fog was catching him. He fell on his knees and disappeared under the green fog. There was nothing we could have done." Shanna explained, a lump in her throat.
Ailana was commiserating with her. It wasn't their fault, yet Ryan had disobeyed her and had put the life of his friend in danger. She didn't want to punish him. He had punished himself: the death of Brendan was already enough. Now, she had to go with J to check on the spaceship looking thing.
"Are you ready?" J asked handing her a gun and a backpack.
"Let's go" she answered. She turned towards the people: "We'll be back at noon". They opened the door and left. Outside, the air was hot and heavy and the sun was already high in the sky. On their guards, they walked, gps in hand, always cautiously looking around them. When they arrived at the huge grey junk spaceship, J realised how much it was damaged. He sighed, annoyed. That was going to take ages to repair and it wasn't sure they had enough pieces.
"How does it look?" Asked Ailana.
"Not very good. I don't know if I can repair it but let's be positive and see the bright side: it is indeed a spaceship wreck."
"Okay, that is good but not that good. We have to build fences around it so you can repair it securely. I'll ask some of the warriors to do it. But you need to start now. We don't have much time, soon, the robots will have much more weapons. And we can't allow ourselves to die after all we have gone through to survive."
She took the walkie-talkie and asked three warriors to come and protect J.
"I am going back, be careful, I trust you."
She ran back to the base in no time. Luckily, the spaceship was not very far from their base and she entered safely. Straight away, Emma ran towards her and said: "The transfusion is completed, the man is awake"
Frightened by what the man could say, she walked briskly towards the medical room and looked at the man. His eyes were open with a vague confused look on his face. He was looking at Ailana, scared.
"Wh.., where am I?" He stuttered
Emma looked at Ailana, surprised. He was speaking English!
"You are safe, we mean you no harm" Ailana said calmly
"Who are you?" He said straightening "Am I dreaming?"
"No you are not, this is real. We found you in the forest and brought you here. We saved your life." Ailana explained.
"That is not possible there can't be other living human on earth! We searched the entire forest!" The man whispered.
"Wait, who is "we"" Emma asked
"Well, me and my village. They're not here?"
"No they aren't. You are the only one we have found, nearly dead in the forest. Without Emma's help, you would be dead by now."
"I have to go and save them! That is why I was in the forest!"
The man tried to stand up but Ailana pushed him back on the bed.
"You are not going anywhere."
"I am sorry but I think your people are dead.." Emma announced sadly.
"No they're not! Why would they be?"
"Shhh you need to calm down. When we went into the forest, you were nearly dead. A robot had shot you and the green fog had touched you. Luckily, you were beneath leaves and mud so the fog couldn't burn you. But we lost a friend there because of the fog and, I don't think an entire village would have survived this."
Emma had explained this calmly, compassionate. She knew how it felt to lose someone.
"Now... tell us why you weren't in the village and why you illusioned one of ours" Ailana said harshly. Emma looked daggers at her: she was disapproving the way she

was talking to him. He was injured and shocked, he wasn't going to answer questions from her if she was aggressing him. The man looked down, hurt, but silent. When he raised his head again, he had a stern look on his face: he wasn't going to answer any question.
"It is useless Ailana. Leave him alone, we'll try again later." She nodded and they went out of the room.
~
J looked at the ship: it was going to be hard and he had work to do. The warriors had started building the fence around the ship so he could work safely. He had called Anna to help him but she had to rest from the trip. For the moment, he was alone in his thoughts: was that going to be enough space for everyone? Would some people have to stay here, to sacrifice themselves? No, he couldn't think about that. Everyone would be safe. He looked, once again at the wreck of the spaceship. There were pieces missing or destroyed. He wondered how he would manage to get anything to replace it.
"Hey! If I draw you something can you try and find it for me? He asked to the warriors.
" I think that would be possible, show me" one of them said.
J quickly drew several pieces of metal he was going to need and gave them to the warriors. They nodded and said:
"We'll try our best to find this"
"Thank you." he answered, grateful.
He sighed. That was going to be tough. But with a fresh mind like Anna's, he was going to be okay. He knew the huge potential she had and what she was capable of. They were going to make it. Together.
~
Emma went back into the medical room to bring the man some food. He was still in the same position as when they had left him: hands on his head and knees against his chest. He was crying. Slowly, Emma left the tray of food on the table next to his bed and said:
"You should eat, it'll make you feel better."
The man did not answer. He was falling apart. She understood that. His whole village, his family, his friends, all of them dead.
"Tell me what it was like, your village" she asked, curious and trying to make him feel better.

Again, the man didn't answer. She pushed the door handle down, ready to leave but as soon as she touched it, she heard his voice:
"It was a very small village, full of little houses made with wood, leaves and mud. That was all we had. No electricity, no radios, just nature. We were hunting the forest's animals to eat and using its plants to heal. Our weapons were all made of wood and rock: there were axes, spears, and other things we could find. Our population was divided into three parts: the warriors, the hunters and the feeders. I was a warrior, that is why I can speak English, we speak another language in the village but all the warriors have to speak English. We fought against the robots to save our friends, our lives. The hunters were always with a warrior to protect them and they only killed or took what was needed for the community: we would never kill an animal just for the pleasure or take a plant just to take it. The feeders, stayed in the village, they were the ones who prepared the food, cut the animals, cleaned... Then, there was the healer...my best friend..." The man stopped talking, a lump in his throat.
As he had spoken, Emma had sat on his bed, listening to him carefully. Listening to the details of his daily life had moved her a lot and, she had realised that, he was a human being after all and hurting Anna was surely not his intention. Unconsciously, she touched the man's shoulder, to show her support. The man shivered to this contact and Emma quickly took her hand off. She did a quick smile and asked:
"What is your name?"
"Khalon" he answered.
"Get some rest Khalon."
Emma had said that slowly, smiling and closing the door behind her.