CHAPTER 38 - Shocking Revelations

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It was now two days later that passed by and revealing as the end of that third week of the month in Z-city.

And frankly, Eden seemed to be a bit relieved when she, Homer, and Sahara had come back to Safe Haven and told the others of the setback from checking out the survivor message and revealed the results when they went to inspect and see the end of it.

Much to some of their disappointment and dismay, it turned out to be nothing at all, and the message they received and heard from the radio before had been fruitless upon checking it out. But it looks like Eden wasn't phased at all by these upsetting results, since she still seems relieved and glad that the message didn't turn out to be some kind of lure to a trap, that was going to harm them or so.

However, Eden didn't show it on her face and her expressions on hers were all calm and cool so that the ones who were disappointed and upset by the news about the survivor message won't see it from her and they'll become more upset if they noticed that she doesn't seem fazed at all with negativity upon the sad results they had found and discovered upon checking the message out when Eden, Sahara, and Homer went there the day before.

The routine went back to continue and go on as usual, and there wasn't anything else that needs to be concerned about or worried about that was going to come at them unexpectedly in Safe Haven. Despite that it turned out to be a dead-end, Mark and Homer took over the duties of maintaining and listening to the CB radio in case it might catch any more messages or survivors reaching out however far the range it can reach from Z-city and beyond.

It looked like Eden was thinking deeply over something like she believes that it might be peaceful and quiet from then on. But then that changed when a day later right after the previous one, something happened that got Eden upset and anxious, and her reaction is like how a naughty child would react upon getting caught by its parent with a hand over the cookie jar or something similar like that.

The main reason for that was her sudden awkwardness and tension towards Ryu when he somehow got more suspicious of her other secretive activities and such and decided to be bold and brave to sneak around and snoop on her stuff, finding what Eden has been hiding from the group, but to her relief, he hasn't shared or revealed about it to them when he discovered it.

Needless to say, she was a bit chagrined but also irked that she wasn't aware that Ryu still has been keeping an eye on her when he was still suspicious of her hiding something from them and thought that she must be laying a trap of sorts to catch his family off-guard or something like that.

But when he found out the real truth about what Eden has been hiding, it seems that he was holding back his amusement upon finding that said item, and Eden didn't know whether she should be angry or amused that the Asian fighter finds it so humorously funny for her to keep such a thing sacred and hidden from them.

She's not very pleased with being caught red-handed, so to speak, but at least she's relieved that Ryu is keeping her secret to himself and promised to stay quiet about it until Eden deems it time to tell the others and show them the proof of it when the time comes or not.

Eden sighed as she watched Ryu casually talking to his brother Daiyu about something upon gathering together for dinner like they're a complete set of a kind of unique dysfunctional-like family and she saw that Ryu is holding his little brother Haru in his arms, letting him eat some of his share from his plate as they ate. After dinner was finished, they went off to clean up and settle for bed, and then Eden had just tucked her kids to bed, giving Archer a stern glare that this is the last time they will be sleeping with the kids since it's growing faster and bigger as time goes on.

Archer nodded like it understood and wriggled in between Michael and Annie while the two children cutely snuggled and cuddled against their canine guardian before they surrendered to deep slumber. Once Eden is sure that they were asleep, she moved to lie beside them, sitting upright first, then reaching out for the hidden item, which is her journal, and started writing a new entry into it. She patted Luna who kept on staying by her side, lying down on the ground alert and awake and watching out for them.

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JOURNAL ENTRY: DAY UNKNOWN, 10TH MONTH OCTOBER, YEAR 2XXX

Hey, it's Eden again.

Do you ever wish that you need to be careful about whatever you wish for? Even if you intended it to do or not?

Well, I should have known better when I thought, hoped, and wished that no one would find out about this but…it happened anyway and I got caught right there and then.

Blast it!

How the hell did this happen?!

And here I thought my kind of luck was getting good and was lasting long as I expected it to be!

Anyway, I'm rambling on.

Here's how it happened and the main reason why I'm suddenly reacting and writing the entry like this.

First things first, I'm sure you're wondering how it went when Homer, Sahara, and I went out on the day before to do a quick perimeter sweep and check out the survivor message by going to the last known coordinates the message had pointed out on where the place was.

Needless to say, for me but not to the others…it was a real relief to see that it was nothing and all a dead-end, when we came in, sneaking quietly into an abandoned building, and the only thing we found in there is a turned-on running recorder, playing the survivor message repeatedly through the radio device, and dead bodies of the 'survivors' who had been waiting in vain for anyone else but they died from dehydration and starvation upon locking themselves inside the building.

Homer and Sahara were both disappointed at this and I held back the relief I've been feeling and did not let it show on my face so that they won't get upset with me upon seeing my expressions reacting over this. Still, I almost felt pity for them when they were hoping that they would find more survivors and share some space with them too since the message had mentioned before that their place is safe and secure.

It is not. Since the long-dead survivors were idiotic enough to trap themselves and get stuck inside the building, causing them to run out of food and water and die from starvation.

I'm a little surprised that when they died, they didn't turn into zombies already, as it is usually from the first wave of the zombie apocalypse. I think, in my theory or something, they must not have been infected by whatever disease that has spread from the first stage of the zombie outbreak, thus showing why their rotting corpses haven't turned ever since they died.

Once we confirmed that the survivor message is all a dead-end and nothing else was worth looking for, I immediately got Sahara and Homer out of there before we get nose-blinded by the overwhelming stench coming from the dead survivors at that building. It didn't take long for the three of us to return home back to Safe Haven and then Sahara decided to be the one to break the news to the others, disappointing and upsetting them as well once they hear it from her.

I tuned out the background noise around me as I watched Sahara tell the others about the dead-end message and the survivor corpses they found, also explaining the state they were in. They reacted as expected upon being disappointed that there are no other living survivors out there but I can see that they're still holding out the hope that there might be more out there beyond Z-city.

But I knew better than to dash their hopes down if I try to voice my opinion about it, even though I knew very well that I have been stuck here and stayed very long in Z-city for a year and have not been brave to travel beyond the city to go out there on the lands to find more survivors.

And so, our routine staying in Z-city, and living in Safe Haven went on as usual as it would be and I thought the days ahead in the future are going to be quiet and peaceful as it goes.

But that changed the next day later, which I never thought was going to happen in the entirety of my lifetime or something.

Ryu found my journal!

Yes, it's true. I don't know how, but he found my survivor's journal from its hiding place when he was snooping around my room. And he told me straight up on my face that he had a viable reason to do so because it turns out he still thought me suspicious when he noticed some of my strange antics and such when he caught sight of me acting that way.

Needless to say, I was completely floored and stunned speechless when I came to my room to grab something, and I was standing by the doorway, staring with complete shock upon seeing Ryu reading my journal, already halfway in the middle of it or something when he found and discovered it from its hiding place.

It didn't take me long to snap out of it and demand at him how he knew about it and why he dared to read it since it is like my personal diary and everything. And he didn't even flinch when he boldly told me his reasons and right to look through my stuff, even if one of his own was acting suspiciously and appeared to be hiding something, which he has the responsibility and duty as protective guardian to see through the act and find out what they're hiding.

I knew that I had no comeback against that since Ryu was being all reasonable and all that, but the man admitted to me that he was a little impressed upon seeing the kind of survival list I made up as well as reading and knowing part of my true self that is written into the journal. He quickly told me that he'll keep it quiet and promised to keep my journal secret since I seem to be bristling at him like an agitated angry cat or something like that.

But I know that I can see a tiny amused grin on his face, even when he expertly tries to hide it from his usual blank expressionless face under his so-called true 'facade'.

Still…I'm a little relieved that he said he promised he'll keep it a secret. Even though I have my doubts, I know very well that I can't just break trust like that so instantly, even if it's my journal that he intruded and invaded my personal space.

And I'm glad he'll keep silent about it and let me do it my way into revealing the truth about my secret hidden journal. So…yeah, that's it.

I know I overreacted like that, but come on! It's my journal, for crying out loud! I'm sure others would have reacted the same if I go sneaking around, find their diaries, and read them without permission.

It's like a deep invasion into my very soul. Anyway, that's all there is to it. Nothing majorly bad or something like that has happened yet, but I shouldn't jinx it if I say it out loud or someone does, because it will bring trouble if it ever came true.

And it doesn't help with the 'Bad Moon' still shining over us this month. So on the next time for the next new entry on this journal, it will be about what I need to talk more to Ryu about the journal and I need to deal with some issues with him so that the kind of conflicts I've been feeling about myself will be resolved and I won't be feeling angst and guarded more, that will distance myself from the others in the future.

Until then, this is Eden signing off.

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After Eden finished writing the entry, she closed her journal and then put it away back in its hiding place, but she didn't settle and lie down to sleep, as she kept sitting upright on the bed with the children beside her and her eyes turned to look up at the ceiling like she's thinking of something deeper in her mind.

She seemed to be thinking about how she was going to confront Ryu and have a talk with him concerning her journal and also wondered what he was going to do about it, even though he had promised her before that he'll keep quiet about it until she reveals it herself.

But it looks like Eden has some issues with him that she needs to deal with first before settling matters with the Asian man until she can fully trust him to keep her secret quiet about it. Eden doesn't know what is in store for her, concerning the shocking revelations she unknowingly revealed when Ryu caught her on it, and she's wondering how it's going to turn out between the two of them once they discussed and talked it out reasonably.

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