Little Companion

Sometimes, it's quite rare to see an expanding base like the one I was encountered before. Seems like they have enough budget to expand into critical zones, but I think they just gonna pull back to their main base because of the unexpected insurgents' ambush. Hell, it's like a cycle to me that leads to the total destruction of this city.

Oof, another near miss from the sniper. I must move quickly!

****

Well, it's the end of the day. No wound received, no trauma increased, and no loot to be found. Loots these days are becoming scarce. Man, I don't think I'll be luckier than not receiving any wound or trauma, but I'm still glad. I found yet another abandoned apartment building, but it still intact. Promising...

I open the door, walk upstairs, and get into one of the rooms. As expected, electricity has been cut off, the smell of dust greets me, and nothing more. But when I check the bedroom, I found several magazines, bullet casings, and a note on the bed. I took the note and read it.

Leave sector 4 immediately

Military convoy is on the way

Tel our leader to pull back

Huh, this is maybe from the insurgents. One of their snipers spotted the convoy and maybe his radio is broken. The note continues...

K: 2

M: 4

0L: -

Today is not bad. The rifle is half-broken, my aim is fine, better try to collect it.

Oh right...

He's a sniper, so he knows what to do. Surprisingly, I don't find any valuable loot from him. It's late at night now, I better go to sleep.

****

Another day, another challenge...

My sleep this time is kinda rough, maybe because of the bed. As my vision is clearing out, I observe the room once again. To my surprise, there's a male child (probably 14 years old) standing at the doorway, pointing his pistol at me. His hair is messy, he wears a dirty, white long sleeve shirt, a track pants, and a pair of used boots. His hand is shaky, but his eyes looking sharp at me. I calmly put my hands up and talk to him.

"Hey there, what's up?"

He didn't answer my question. I continue to talk.

"Want some food? I have some."

I pull out one of the canned food of my backpack and hand it to him. He didn't respond...

"Okay, good talk... Anyway, you live here?"

He nods.

"Alright, sorry to trespassing your house, but I found it empty. So I slept in here."

Now he lowers his pistol, but his eyes still stick to me cautiously.

"Listen, maybe you live alone here. That's dangerous, especially for kids like you. Well-"

He suddenly raises his pistol again, seems annoyed by my statement.

"Whoa, whoa! Okay, sorry for calling you "kid". I'm sorry!"

"..."

"Well, I have an offer for you. You can join me if you want. I have food, drinks, and protection from me. But you know, I'm a nomad. I sleep in any shelter that suits me. Are you okay with that?"

He seems thinking about my offer, and he nods. He holsters his pistol and grabs his little bag.

"Good. I'll protect you, I promise."

He just ignores my promise and walks beside me. As we go downstairs and to outside, we exchange nothing but silence. It's dark in the morning, our opportunity to avoid the snipers. I swear if I found any map about this city, we can get out of here today.

Fire from the wreckage provides us some guidance to the streets. Some minutes later, we're at the coastline. I can see the bridge from here, the only way to another part of the city. But it still miles away by walking. I look at the boy, he seems tired by walking. I pick him up, but he refuses. Alright, we continue to walk again...

****

Near a tank, we take a rest. The tank almost crashed into a store, leaving a safe space for leaning and rest for some time. The gunfights are still echoed as usual as we leaned by the tank. The boy pulls a canned food from his bag. I do the same and eat it together.

"So, do you have a name?"

He nods, still eating his meal.

"What's your name?"

He gives me a hand signal to wait and he pulls out a book. It's a small-sized book with lots of words and sentences written on it. He points at the name "Daniel".

" Daniel, huh? Your last name?"

He shook his head.

"Okay, Daniel. Why won't you talk like a usual person?"

Now he kinda explains something with his hands. He points at his mouth, mimicking scissors, and other hand gestures that I can't understand.

"I don't understand most of it. Can you write it down? I have a spare pen."

He refuses, and instead take a pen from his bag and write a sentence with big letters.

I LOST MY TONGUE

"Oh God, really? Open your mouth!"

He hesitates to do it. And as to my surprise, I see nothing inside his mouth except his teeth. There's some kind of healing wound at the base of what a tongue should be.

"Okay...I believe you. I'll keep it a secret between us, okay?"

He nods with a cold face.

"Don't be mad about it. I swear, it'll be just between us. For the exchange, I'll tell you my secret, okay?"

"..."

"Alright, then. I..."

I don't know if I must tell him this thing, but I made a promise. It's not like a bad thing or worse... Here goes nothing...

"I... I accidentally shot both my parents and got away with it..."

He's surprised by my secret, yet he seems relieved. Maybe it's a good thing?

"I take that as a yes. We're even, right?"

He nods.

"Good. I'm glad you didn't shoot me first. By the way, can I see your pistol?"

He pulls out his pistol from his bag. I'm surprised that pistol fits into his little rag bag. I take the pistol and inspect it. It's a regular M1911 with some scratches and little cracks on the slide. The trigger guard is missing, with no iron sight, and poorly maintained. On the grip, there's an engraving reads "Dad's Best Gift".

" Do you really love this gun?" I asked him.

He nods.

"Well, I'll be honest, this gun is poorly maintained. You better grease it before it breaks, okay?"

He nods again.

"But, I know some basic maintenance on firearms, so this might be easy for me to repair. It'll not be perfect, but it'll be better than this. Do you want me to repair this later?"

He nods happily and shakes my hand.

"Whoa, whoa. Easy now, I'll repair this later, okay? Right now, we need to eat and rest for a while. There's still a long way to go."

He releases my hand and leans on the tank tracks. His smile warms me. I did a good thing, at least. I still don't know his past or his current life. He's still a boy, but he had faced this reality and live with it. And me, I've learned many things and also living my life in this situation. Yet, I still feel somewhat empty...

Between my thoughts, Daniel staring at me. I snap back to reality and reply to him.

"Eh, don't worry. I'm just thinking about something. Nothing serious."

He still staring at me.

"Cut it out, okay? You're making me nervous."

Finally, he stops staring at me and leaning back. I do the same, as my fatigue slowly fade away...

****

With another long walk, we arrived at the Chinatown. Looks like the place has been fortified at some part and people lived there has a somewhat regular life with some extensive security. We decide to explore the town. After all, we need to resupply.

"Hey, is the trade open?" I ask the guard.

"You can shop there, but only food and drinks." Answer the guard while pointing at a mini store with guards beside it.

"By the way, is he your brother?" He asked, referring to Daniel.

I look at Daniel. He just shrugs. I reply to him.

"No, he's my close friend. We want to get to the other side."

"You're in luck. The bridge border is now open, but you must make an obvious reason to cross. They're not going to let any undercover insurgents slip pass the border, especially when you and your friend have a gun."

"Okay, thanks for the info. C'mon, Daniel, let's resupply."

Daniel runs back to me after he wandering around. We walk to the shop, bartering some stuff, and proceed to walk away. 3 snacks, 2 canned food, 5 water bottle, and some kind of MRE is I think is good for both of us. I look at Daniel then ask him.

"Were you born here?"

He shook his head.

"Okay, so do you want to go home?"

Again, he shook his head.

"Then why you live around here?"

He points to the ground.

"This city is your home?"

He nods.

"Okay, so you live somewhere in here before. I understand, but still, you can't live by yourself. It's dangerous. Good thing I'm here, giving you some safety, or you found me."

He punches me in my gut. It's not hurt, but I kinda annoyed him.

"Hahaha, hey! I'm just kidding. But seriously, I offer you safety and you agree. Now we can find somewhere safe and secure from any attacks. I don't want to let you down, okay?"

He nods slowly, kinda understands my statement. I stroke his head, but he punches me again.

"Hehe, okay. Let's go, those soldiers won't be patient enough to wait."

And we both run again, rushing between vehicle wrecks, and still hoping no bullet will hit us...