CHAPTER 17

Zoi's country has good weather and it looks beautiful to go for a walk. However, the people in the slums had cautious glances. Soldiers and citizens entered the slums searching for something or someone. The slum dwellers noticed that the people weren't normal either. They almost look like dolls moving without emotions. Even if they didn't care about the citizens they knew something was wrong with the whole city so they hid in their houses.

Whatever it may be, they knew that the thing or the people that they were searching for in the slums wouldn't be found soon. Even those who had lived much time in the slums didn't know the entirety of the slums. There will always be a place where you can hide in the slums. It was luck for Rosalba and Aaron.

Both were sitting in a place where the smell of the sewer wasn't so penetrating. Aaron was sleeping and had a pale face. He looked very tired. Rosalba gave him most of the supplies because she knew that she could put up better as a vampire. But the situation was far from good. Rosalba couldn't make contact with Nicholas since a week ago. She didn't know anything about her other teammates. Rosalba had a little knowledge from the sewers, she lived in the slums for some time. There, she learned about the sewers. However, she had never explored it.

Maybe it was by the desperation for escape that Rosalba remembered this place and ran with Aaron here. There were other people here, but they didn't care about both and they didn't seem controlled either.

—Hey, if you let him here for more time he could die —A raspy voice interrupted the thoughts of Rosalba.

She looked at the elderly man that sometimes talked with her and said —I know —The elderly man seemed interested in her dry answer.

—Oh, So, You know they will find you soon, too? —Rosalba knitted her brows and said irritated.

—What is your interest in us? —Rosalba learned that this old man was intelligent and clever. She should have killed him but she had the feeling that he didn't want to denounce them. Also, he approached her when Aaron was asleep. The boy was very scared of the people from here and the old man seemed to know it.

—Nothing important, It is just that you have something against the people that control the city and the factories —Rosalba heard the last word and it called her attention.

—Factories? —The old man said calmly.

—Yes, the place where the people that disappeared was taken —The face of Rosalba didn't look good. When she arrived here she had an idea of the situation but she still couldn't get used to it.

—How do you know about it? —Rosalba seemed to see an ironic smile on his lips for a second.

—Someone that I knew was taken to that place —Rosalba understood that he didn't want to say more about it so she didn't continue asking.

—I'm old but I'm not stupid. I realized that something was happening in the city. So I used my knowledge of this place to search the factory —Rosalba couldn't avoid feeling surprised.

—Did you find the factory? —The old man nodded.

—Why did you tell all this information —She was confused.

The elderly man laughed and said— You had to have some abilities if you could escape from the people outside —Rosalba's eyes' twitched. The man didn't care and continued —I had never been a good person but maybe because I'm growing old and I'm dying. I wanted to do one last good action —He shrugged.

Rosalba didn't care that he wanted to use her. It was true that he was dying, she felt the first time she saw him. She understood that she didn't have much time either. Independently of the result. She had to do something. She closed her eyes for a moment and said to herself.

'We go to do it.'

***

—Why does the smell get worse as long as we walk in that direction? —Aaron said, covering his nose and mouth with his hand.

—Because we are near the source of the wastes —The elderly man called Claudio said.

Rosalba was a little surprised by his tolerance. The smell and the aura from this place were terrible. But this man almost seemed to be perfect. If it weren't for his pale face Rosalba would be thought that he wasn't affected.

They walked for ten minutes more before Claudio stopped and said —From here on out, we are in enemy territory. Some people are watching this place. We only need to evade them. It could be easy, but I'm going to give you some advice on something. Whatever you see here won't be nice. So please make your best efforts to bear it —Rosalba felt her heart frozen when she heard Claudio's words. She had a very bad feeling.

Her feeling made a reality when they were around the corner. The pupils of Rosalba shrank with the view. There were many bones in the passage, some of them still had their clothes. She hadn't had to imagine many things to know that Peter was responsible for this. Whole the place stank to blood and death. Rosalba felt her body numb.

—We needed to continue —Claudio said and started to walk. Rosalba recovered a little and followed him with Aaron in silence.