Something disturbing

The whole situation was weird, and I could feel something strange coming from her.

Why was she apologizing like this? Did she have some sort of fever?

"Ah, um... Why are you—"

Before I could finish speaking, Lianne grabbed my hand, pulling my arms around her.

"Uncle Ally, please don't leave me alone again."

As she repeated these words over and over again, she clung to me even tighter than before.

And yet, despite her clinginess, she still held on firmly enough for me to be able to stand up straight without feeling any strain.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Fredrick wiggling his brows as he watched me. 

He looked at me, smirked, and shook his head.

"Man, I've never seen anyone cling to someone like that before."

I gave him a questioning look.

Frederick shrugged his shoulders and continued to grin.

"Well, she's probably going through withdrawal symptoms. It would make sense for her to act like this."

"What do you mean by 'withdrawal symptoms?'" I asked curiously.

Frederick looked at me strangely, like he hadn't considered this possibility.

"Hmm... Well, you know how they're always saying that people who get addicted to drugs become physically dependent on them?"

"Yeah, I know. But why should that apply to us? This isn't about drugs."

I felt like there was more to it than that, though.

"You must have done your job taking care of her; she no longer feels comfortable without you around," Frederick explained.

I bent down to pick her up, holding her close to me.

"Shh, it's okay now. It's fine now. I'm here."

"Lia promise Uncle Ally not to cause trouble again. No matter what happens, Lia never let go of Uncle Ally."

The tears continued to pour down her face, soaking into my shirt.

I stroked her hair gently, trying to calm her down.

"Hey, hey," I whispered. "Look at me."

When she finally lifted her head, I wiped away the rest of the tears on her cheeks with my thumb.

"I'm not going anywhere. And neither are you."

Ding!

[Serotonin level: 1.5/12.5%]

I looked around us.

Our car was damaged, and walking was out of the question. The best option would be to find another vehicle, which meant finding a garage.

But I knew it wouldn't be easy.

They might be destroyed, or worse, in an area like this one.

So we were going to need to search for them first.

"Let's keep moving," I told Frederick. "We need to find a spare car, and hopefully one that's undamaged."

"Yeah..."

Frederick nodded reluctantly.

He didn't seem very enthusiastic.

I tried to cheer him up by offering a few words of consolation about his damaged vehicle, but he just smiled awkwardly.

"It was worth the ride, Allen." He patted the hood affectionately. "One of the best rides I've ever had. If only we could find parts to fix her uppa."

"Could we actually... uhh... search for a replacement rather than repairing the car ourselves?" I suggested. "I don't think we'd be able to fix anything in such a dangerous place."

"Mm, yeah," he agreed readily. "A good idea."

With that settled, we set off again.

–––––––––––

Frederick took the lead, using his phone to locate nearby garages.

"There's a garage a couple of streets ahead. Let's check it out."

We walked until we reached our destination.

A small sign read, 'Garage & Auto Repair.'

"Looks promising," I said, peeking inside the door.

However, when I did so, I noticed a man standing behind the counter looking right at me. His eyes were sharp and piercing. They seemed to pierce right through me.

"Uh, sorry." I apologized hastily.

The moment I stepped forward, I noticed the man's stare hadn't changed at all.

"Y-you survived being out in the open?"

He spoke slowly, as if talking to himself, but he still managed to sound quite confident.

"We just need a car, and we'll be on our way," I assured him quickly. "No need to worry about us. We won't cause any trouble."

I turned to look at Frederick and saw that he too was staring intently at the man.

He looked almost nervous.

"Hmph... You two aren't from around here, huh? Not many people come here anymore."

His voice was deep and rough.

Like he'd been smoking a lot.

"That's right. We're from the capital."

"Oh, I see. Then why do you come to places like these, then?"

He asked the question casually, but it felt more like a warning.

"We need a BIG car!" Lianne shouted, waving her hands wildly.

Her sudden outburst caused the man's gaze to shift slightly toward her.

"Ah, I see." The man sighed deeply, sounding relieved. "You want a car. A good one too, I can tell."

He chuckled lightly.

"Well, you're in luck. I happen to have one lying around."

"Really?!" Lianne squealed happily, looking toward me with a smile.

"What kind is it?" Frederick asked excitedly.

"Hmm... It's a large van, I believe. There's plenty of room inside for everyone."

'Perfect!'

"Hey, Allen—"

"Don't worry about it, Fred," I interrupted him, nodding firmly.

I wanted to get everything over with as soon as possible.

If we were going to get this vehicle, we needed to hurry.

Standing in front of the black van, a smile made its way to my lips.

This was going to work!

"Titanium-plated armor, a high-strength alloy body, a reinforced chassis, and a reinforced engine—a real beast. No matter what you throw at it, it's sure to survive."

The man continued to list the vehicle's specifications with an air of pride.

I could only believe a fraction of what he said.

"Sounds perfect for our group," Frederick replied eagerly. "Let's go ahead and take it."

"Wait." I stopped Fredrick, and I turned to the man. "If you had this with you, why haven't you left for safety yet?"

The man shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

"Because there's no reason to leave now, is there? Why should I abandon my home to some strangers? I'm as rusty as an old car, after all. And besides, who would take care of this place while I'm gone? So I stayed back to keep watch, waiting for someone to show up. That's how I met your group, after all. If not for that, He trailed off, shaking his head sadly.

"But—"

"So don't think badly of me. This is where I belong. In fact, I'm happy to help. Besides, it looks like you came all the way up here alone. It must've been tough on you, especially with a little girl tagging along."

The man smiled broadly.

I could feel the tension drain from my shoulders.

"Do you have any family?" Lianne asked timidly.

The man nodded.

"I had a wife and three children, yes. But they passed away at the borders when the a—"

He paused the moment he looked in my direction.

My eye-twitching said it all; I didn't want him saying anything further.

"—when they took a long trip," the man finished awkwardly, trying to cover for the awkward pause.

He cleared his throat loudly and continued.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have brought them up. Anyway, let me give you the keys to the vabt. So you can get moving."

The man took out a key ring and tossed it to Frederick.

Frederick caught it easily.

"Thank you very much, sir." Frederick replied, giving him a polite nod.

As the man began to turn away, he suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, my name is Ralph," he said. "It'd be nice if you remembered that, okay? I'll be staying here until the end."

Ralph waved goodbye with a smile before returning to his chair behind the counter.

Lianne rushed over to meet Ralph, hugging him tight.

"You saved us! Lia can go to Magic Castle now!" she exclaimed happily.

Ralph laughed softly and patted her head affectionately.

"No need to thank me, young lady. I am only doing my duty as a citizen."

He then gave her a wink, which made her laugh.

"Okay then, let's go!" Frederick called out cheerfully.

With a clank, the door opened, revealing the interior of the van.

There are seven seats arranged across the two rows.

Lianne immediately jumped into one of the rear seats, grinning from ear-to-ear.

She was ecstatic to be sitting in the same row as me.

I sat down next to her.

Frederick took the driver seat and started up the engine.

Then, without hesitation, we were off.

–––––––––––

"I'm hungry."

That was the first thing out of Lianne's mouth once the van pulled away from the gas station.

We hadn't eaten since breakfast, so it was understandable.

I thought about stopping by a fast food restaurant, but then I recalled that it might not be safe to do so right now. We weren't exactly in a good neighborhood, either.

Instead, I decided to stop by a nearby convenience store and pick up some snacks.

After getting directions from the map on Fredrick's smartphone, we found the nearest convenience store.

It wasn't far away—just around the corner of a street lined with shops.

The convenience store was fairly large and clean inside, with a wide selection of items.

And, of course, plenty of junk food.

I watched as Fredrick sprinted down the aisle toward the magazine rack.

His face was flushed red from running so hard.

"Hey, slow down, will you?" I called out.

"What?"

Frederick stopped mid-stride, looking at me questioningly.

Then he pulled an explicit magazine off the shelf, holding it out proudly.

"See what I mean? The world is coming to its end, but these babies still rule supreme, and are mine for the spoil!! Muaha ha ha!"

I couldn't tell if he was serious or joking. Either way, he was clearly excited.

I shook my head in displeasure.

"Can we please not talk about this right now? Just grab whatever you need quickly, alright?"

I was worried about what Lianne would think of seeing Fredrick act like such a pervert.

But instead of listening to me, Fredrick turned his eyes back to the magazine.

I turned my attention back to Lianne, who was currently distracted by a spinning wheel toy.

I walked toward her and asked quietly.

"Um, Lianne, what do you want to eat?"

Lianne glanced around the store, her eyes darting between the shelves. She seemed unsure of what she wanted.

There was a huge display of potato chips. They were probably the most popular item.

However, Lianne shook her head slightly.

"Oh... Okay. What else?"

I tried to offer other options, such as candy or cookies, but again, she rejected them.

"Well, there's always ice cream."

Ice cream was a good choice. I mean, it was cold outside. Plus, it was sweet.

"Ugh..."

She grimaced and shook her head again.

"Not today. Not now."

'Hmm. This girl is difficult to please.'

"Okay, I guess that leaves us with..."

Aha! There's something in this section over here. It's called 'snack packs'—they're little containers filled with different kinds of food.

I picked up a box and handed it to Lianne.

"Here. Take these. Try each one. You never know what you might like."

"Really?!"

Her face lit up.

She grabbed all twelve snack packs from me at once.

"Let's try everything together!" Lianne declared excitedly.

"Hm, well... Okay."

"Yay! Let's go, Uncle Ally!"

Ding!

[Serotonin level: 2/12.5%]

We walked toward the door with our loot in hand.

As we exited the building, I saw Frederick standing against the wall of the store. He had a strange expression on his face.

He looked as though he'd seen something very disturbing.

"Well, well, well. Look who's here for the group reunion," said a familiar voice at the corner of my eye.