Kindred Connection

Chapter 14 - Understanding The Situation

Later, at 11 PM Somewhere in the Mexican Jungle

Nea's glow acts as a lantern as they walk through the now-intimidating forest at night. The sounds of owls and crickets echo throughout the forest as they walk on leafy peat. Evan is relieved since Nea had previously thrown his only flashlight at a soldier, leaving it unsalvageable. The thought of blindly walking into trees for hours on end sounds horrifying.

Nea yawns and leans up against Evan's back. They're both exhausted and once Evan notices this, he kneels and decides to pick up a few sticks around by his feet. Nea peers around Evan's back, curious.

"Let's stop for the night. Not exactly the best place to crash but if we build a fire then we should be fine... I hope." Evan also yawns.

Evan lays out the sticks and twigs he has collected around in a circle to make a campfire. He vigorously twists a stick into a bark in the center of the pit he made. As he struggles, Nea looks from afar.

"Ahh! Blasted thing! Come on!" Evan says with gritted teeth. Evan tries even harder and starts to blow on the friction between the stick and the bark. "Gaaah! Come on already! Light up!"

Evan eventually gives up and throws the stick to the ground in anger. Nea begins to get up slowly and starts to walk over to the fire pit. The same zap she gave to Ryan Stone in the temple she does again on the fire. To both of their surprise, the zap slowly starts a fire.

"Couldn't you have done that sooner?!" Evan snaps, slightly irked. Nea responds with mumbling gibberish which Evan doesn't understand, but she seems to be proud and happy with herself. Evan sighs, and then turns and enjoys the warmth of the fire until it slowly burns itself down.

Later that night, Evan lies on his side, the glow of his phone reflecting on his face in the darkness. His head is propped against his bag, a troubled look on his face. Nea is sleeping under a small flannel he had beside him. Evan looks at a photo of his family on his phone, knowing how far away he is from both his parents. The phone's battery begins to run critically low as a notification message appears on his screen. He knew it would happen at some point, but he had never felt more alone than now. He stares into the distance as he feels a tap on his shoulder.

"..." He turns around and looks at a half-asleep Nea. She mumbles incoherently, clearly drowsy. The flannel is half-wrapped around her body and drag marks in the dirt are behind her like coattails. Evan attempts to regain his composure in the face of this disoriented girl and tries to shake off his sadness a little.

"Oh, Hey. You alright?" Evan questioned Nea. Nea comes over and lies down next to Evan. He lets out a surprised "oh" that seems to hang in space for the slightest amount of time.

She then covers herself with the flannel again, a curious look in her eyes. She points to Evan's phone, seeing the image on display. She reaches out to the phone with a hand and gestures to Evan to bring it closer. Evan slowly brings down the phone a little bit to her as she looks at the display.

"Well, you see... This is my family here. You see. That's my mother there. That one there is me if you couldn't tell." Evan smiles. Nea, understanding the image, returns the smile.

"And then this one here is my..." Evan pauses and takes a deep breath. "He is my father." His pace speeds up as if he needs to get every last word out, or he will forget, as well.

"He always took me on the best adventures. And he was always saying how proud he was of me... But, one adventure of his own ended up costing his life... And I had no idea what happened to him. He was... the best." Evan looks at Nea, and although his body is strong as ever, his eyes are just as lost as hers, and his voice falters. At that moment, she hugs him, seeing how much pain even the mention of his family brings. Understanding their similar plights, she attempts to explain herself.