Episode 6: Mu (2)

"When was the last time I've sat down like this?" I said looking into the sky.

"Every time I see this," Antonio said walking towards me, "it feels surreal."

"Just like something out of a fantasy book…" Rose added.

"How did they manage to simulate… this?" Karen said lying down on the floor.

Claire's hair fluttered in the wind as she gripped tightly on to the rifle.

Sam walked up towards the edge of the land. He dipped his hand into the water. "The water in the river flows… and it's clean as well."

"Everything seems like it's part of nature," I said.

"How did they even build something as big as this?" Karen question.

"I don't think they built it… what do you think, Sam?"

"No… Sam muttered. "They did. Or at least, a part of it."

Rose firmly held on to the cup. "How…?"

"Well, I guess it's not that hard to build this place since we've already seen the raid shelter above ground," I assumed.

"Precisely that," Sam said. "If they can build something as big as the one above, then building something like this, isn't impossible for them."

"Them…" Karen murmured. "It's them again…"

Rose turned her head facing Karen. "Hmm? What did you say, Karen?"

"N-Nothing."

"But, who would build something like this?"

Touching the green grass I stated, "I think It's not necessarily built."

"What do you mean?" Karen said looking towards me and Sam.

"What he meant is that this place wasn't completely built," Sam added.

"What does that mean?" Rose question.

"It means," Sam began to say. "That this place was developed sometime after it was built."

"You can see that this place is massive. Like for example, we can't even see the end of the river and in the distance, we can see those mountain-like structures," I pointed. "Everything just… fits." I noticed Sam glaring at Antonio.

"So, Antonio, was it?" Sam stated. "How much do you know about all this?"

Sam went straight to the point. The light atmosphere suddenly felt heavy and everyone's attention was drawn towards Antonio waiting for his answer especially Karen and Claire; they were wary of him.

"Hahaha," Antonio laughed. He looked around but no one was laughing with him. We were all concerned and serious about the situation. "Hey, hey, no need to be like that! I'm in the dark as much as you."

Same spoke up. "Are you?" He glanced towards the house and then at the guards patrolling the area. "You seem awfully familiar with these people, the inhabitants here."

"Antonio, how much do you know?" Karen questioned.

"I..." Antonio began to scratch his head but suddenly, the door sprang open.

Freya and Andrea walked happily out of the house.

"Hey everyone! We're preparing a biggggg meal! My mum said so!" Freya chuckled. She ran directly towards us with Andrea following closely behind.

"Be careful, Freya!" Andrea concerningly said. They both stopped in front of Karen.

"Hey, Freya," Karen said. "Hey, Andrea."

"Hiya Karen sis!" Freya replied.

Andrea bowed lightly. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Much better. Thank you," Karen smiled.

Freya leaned towards Karen and whispered into her ears, "You have to keep 'that' a secret, okie?"

Karen nodded.

"Let's get going," Antonio decided. "Let's not make them wait for us."

I noticed that all of us were still concerned about it but I spoke up. "Let's leave the matter aside for now. I bet everyone's hungry." I extended my hand and yawned. "I'm quite tired as well."

"Yeah… It's been a long day," Rose added.

"Tch," Claire blurted. "I'll leave you off the hook for today."

Karen smiled a little and we headed into the house once again.

* * *

We travelled a little bit and arrived at our destination. Surprisingly, we were eating outside. Instead of being welcomed by Freya's family only, we were welcomed by the people, who lived within the confined area underground. Everyone around was very friendly and welcoming especially Freya's parents. The food they presented was very simple yet delicious and the utensils were made from wood.

"Here you go," I said passing a plate of food and a bowl of soup to Rose.

Rose's expression was gloomy but she smilingly said, "Thanks."

"Are you alright?" I asked sitting opposite her.

"It's just… I feel something's off."

"Off?"

"Yeah, it's like these people… They don't know what's happening in the city."

"Hmm."

"And, they are treating us like… too friendly. Don't you think so?"

"Yeah."

We continued to munch on our food.

"But," I began to say, "they don't seem to be harmful people. Plus, Freya, that little girl, she's part of them. I don't really understand fully what's going on either but we should observe for now."

Rose stayed silent.

"A lot has happened. In a mere month, the city was destroyed, no, the entire world that we know, and then we were forced to hide in the shelter-" I said but Sam cut me off.

Sam placed his food on the table and sat down next to me. "And now, here, a primitive underground, livable environment or shall I say, a 'paradise' of some sort."

"Paradise, huh?" I muttered. "This place does seem very relaxed."

"Something is very off."

"We know, Sam."

"Then you know what we need to do right?"

"...yeah…"

"What?" Rose questioned.

"We need to stay low, again," Sam stated. "Just like in the shelter before, we need to stay low until we get a better grasp of this situation."

"Hmm…"

"Don't forget," Sam pointed the spoon at us. "We don't belong here. No matter how much affection they show us, no matter what they are up to, we should leave as soon as possible. Something is definitely not right here."

I glanced towards Karen and her group. "What about them?"

"Leave them be. They aren't a part of us and we can't afford to bring them along. It's too risky."

"But they helped us before!" Rose exclaimed. "We came from the same place, shouldn't we bring them along if we're going to leave?"

"Rose, I understand what you're saying but we don't know where they came from, or who they are," I stated. I swirled my spoon inside the bowl of soup. "One is an injured police. She seems to be escaping from pursuers."

"The other," Sam added, "is a well-trained… soldier."

"But they helped me and Claire escape from our pursuers. We didn't know why they were chasing us or where they came from but it was Antonio and Claire that saved me. He even got some information out of the Lieutenant."

"Lieutenant?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah, there was this one soldier that commanded them to chase after us. Antonio and Claire…" Rose paused. It was as if she was afraid about jolting back the memories from before.

"Rose, how did you know one of them was a lieutenant?" Sam asked in a low voice.

"Antonio said that guy was."

"That…" Sam stopped and began to eat again. He swallowed a mouthful and stated, "How did he know that guy was a Lieutenant?"

"Are you saying that he knew that guy from the beginning?" I asked.

"Precisely."

"He's connected to them!?" Rose gasped. "B-But! He saved us and killed those soldiers! There's no way he's connected to them!"

"Hey guys," I said quietly. "Let's stop here. They're coming over."