July 31 : Saved

Dear Diary,

Guess who we met yesterday?

The Strange Uncle! The one that I thought I wouldn't meet anymore! But he is here! He saved us. Again.

I haven't told you much about what happened these few months, have I?

Long story short, we have been moving from one place to another, trying to find a shelter or someplace to save our dear life.

At first, our group consisted of many people, I can't count it. But then as we move, we lost almost half of them. People have been giving up on living by then.

A few weeks ago, unfortunately, we come across the battlefield. And at that time, they were so many bombings. People were so afraid that everyone was running away.

I've been used to see this kind of situation so I'm not affected that much. Neither does Joe.

But the others do. Because they have never been near the battlefield. Like sister and Anna.

Sister literally trembling as she saw the chaotic scene. She has been really scared out of her wits when she saw so many fresh blood and corpses before, and now seeing so much more explosion scared her to death.

I need to pick her up so that we can run away because she was frozen in place. Her face was so pale and I can feel her shaking body as I hold her in my arm. I feel really guilty for letting her watching this horrible sight. But I'm no God, I can't predict the future. How can I know that we'd stumbled upon a battlefield, an active one to boot.

Anyway, while I take care of sister, Joe is taking care of Anna. We picked up our paces to join the others. But the idiotic people just feel the need to scream! Why do you need to scream when you are running away?! Don't they know the most important thing to do when running away is to be stealthy about it?! Their screams attracted the soldiers' attention!

And you can guess the rest.

The enemy's cannon changed direction to our place. And voila! A thunderous voice echoed and the next thing we know, the earth around us has been blasted. The four of us can't possibly join them anymore. We changed course and run to the bushes on the other side. The bushes are high enough for us to hide ourselves as we crouched. or sat. Behind us is a huge rock. Or maybe that's part of a cliff, I don't know.

You can imagine all that moving and running do to my previously twisted ankle. Thankfully it's mostly healed when the chaos started. If not, I might as well die on the roads than slowing the others down.

I thought we would hide there till we can safely run away again. But alas, they started to throw missiles around. Joe was hurt on his head because of a shattered rock flying to him. Blood was dripping continuously. Both sis and Anna looked like they would cry. We don't have bandage so I ripped my shirts and tried to clean it with the water that we have. It's not a good bandage, but we don't have a choice.

More soldiers came from our side. With big vehicles, should be called a tank. And more cannon.

And the earth around us shook again as they fired the cannons. The ratatatatatatatata sounds of a gun added to the merriness. At that time, I also have begun to lose hope.

We stayed there until the sky got darker. I don't know how long did we stay hidden in the bushes but at the very least, it should've been more than 6 hours. Because the sun that was high up above our head has now completely set. We didn't have food, only a bottle of drink and I know we have been drained, physically and mentally. Joe has been losing blood as well. The situation wasn't looking good for us.

But maybe God said we can't die yet. Because suddenly I heard quick footsteps near our hiding place. I hugged sis tightly and I remembered hiding her behind my back. And they stopped not far from our place. Literally just beside us. And when he turned around, he saw us.

I can't see his expression clearly, but I saw him widened his eyes. Maybe he is surprised to see us there. Both I and Joe's body set to a defensive stance. You know when you are in danger, your body automatically reacts to your instinct. And that was what we did.

The soldier should have understood that as well because he put his gun on his back and come nearer to us slowly while crouching. He even raised his hand as if saying he won't do anything to us.

In which I first thought is a stupid move. What if we are actually a disguised enemy? Won't he be killed by now?

But as he came nearer, I can see more clearly on his face. There were no lights on the battlefield, but there are fires around us. The light of the fire has provided us with some light. That's when I realized that the soldier is the strange uncle from before!

I don't know why, but I soon relaxed my stance. Maybe because I've met him before and he gave me a deep impression.

Or maybe his eyes looked so much like dad's eyes.

And then he said something to the phone like things in his pocket. Soon after more soldiers came here. The strange uncle told us to come with him and that he promised to protect us on the way. I told him Joe is hurt and has been losing blood. And that we have been starving, we don't have the energy to move anymore.

The strange uncle gave a nod and then said something to the other soldiers. They picked us up and directly run to another direction, which I later found out is another vehicle. They bring us to the back seats, and then the car started to move. One soldier tended to Joe's injuries. Another soldier gave us some food and water. I ate a little after making sure that sis and Anna have had their fillings.

Not long later, sis nodded off to sleep. Anna and Joe too. We are all have been so exhausted. But I still forced myself to stay away.

But I guess I failed to do so. Because the next time I opened my eyes, I've been looking up at a tent.