Torrent

IV - It's alright

Glass shards.
Everywhere.
But at least the girl was safe and unharmed.

People were protecting themselves from potential harm by cowering in a corner, staring me down. How DARE I enter like this while saving a life.
Only one person still kept up his smile and offered to help me up.

The incredible Vasili, presumed to be inhumane, is the only person I know that survived the Torrent. He was critically hit and lost an arm, but somehow managed to pull himself up by the side of a building and escape this stream from hell.
His white beard and shaved head made him look like a madman too, but Vasili had a heart of gold - even if he looked intimidating most of the time.

"Ilesha!"
"Yeah, I know. Not the best way to enter a building."
"I am so happy you survived! This was pretty brave of you to burst through a window like this!"

Vasili stopped, examining the little girl I carried on my shoulder and held tight. The atmosphere became a bit lighter and the guests started to examine the outside situation a bit closer.

"Ah, a little passenger! Is she a relative?"
"Eh... more of a rescue."
"Can she speak? What's her name?"

Faintly, she turned her tear-stained head to Vasili and mouthed a faint "Hana" at him. Which she had to repeat, since she didn't speak loud enough the first time.

"Hana! Beautiful name. I knew lots of Hanas back in the day. Nice to meet you!"

Hana nodded and slowly unhinged herself from my tight grip.
Vasili could see that she lost a lot of energy, so he did his best to warm her a few chunks of food up so she had something to eat. My coat had been hanged onto a rack to dry, as Vasili offered to me to sit down at a restaurant desk.

"Oh, this just in. You know how I always told you I would introduce you to my grandson and never did?"
"It's not a problem, I promise. I can meet him some other d-"
"That's not what I meant, silly! He's right there!"

Vasili pointed at a shy, chubbier guy sitting all alone at the corner of the desk. He was buried in a heap of books, seemingly not noticing his surroundings.

"His name is Linus! A nice fellow. Wants to be an engineer one day!"
"That's nice... what is he reading?"
"Eh, he likes to read about helicopters and old technology. Not my domain!"

Tapping the desk lightly, he managed to make him look up from his books. He smiled nervously and waved to me.
We sat down together.

"Nice to meet you!" I told him in a faint voice.
"Ilesha, right?" He responded, adjusting his glasses. He wasn't nervous, just a little introverted, it seems.
"Right. Can I see what you're reading?"

He slided one of his books over to me, not the one he was currently reading. Something was on his mind, I felt that.

"Is anything the matter?" I asked.
He remained silent.
"Come on, you can tell me. I don't bite!"

He giggled for a bit, then lowered his head.

"I have never steered a helicopter in my entire life."
"What's the matter with that?"
"I... I want to save my friends. I want to save Vasili. But I don't know if I am able to."
"What do you plan on doing?"
"Getting Vasili out of this hellhole. I don't want him to die. He's the last loved one of mine that's still alive."

Without another word, I pulled him into a hug. So many young inhabitants of this city have lost their parents already, he was no exception to that.

"Ilesha... are your parents still alive?"
"They're in a better place now."
"I'm so sorry to hear that..."
"It's okay, dear. We're all still here for each other."

He was shaking and trying not to cry. Pulling himself together, he buried his nose again into his books trying to learn how to steer a helicopter. I didn't want to bother him anymore, what he was doing looked like more of a coping mechanism than anything else.

"It's alright. Let's go to sleep soon, nighttime is approaching."