"I want to see her grow up..."
But the woman just shook her head again.
BANG—!
The sound of a fist hitting the wall made the woman flinch violently. The man, barely suppressing his explosive anger, glared at the woman, his breathing heavy.
"Why don't you understand?! Your baby is already... Anyway, this is your only chance! If you don't accept the inspection, you'll have to stay here!
"Do you think they'll take care of you if you stay here? Do you think they'll be kind enough to care for someone like you who can't do anything?!
"They're not gods! You can only start a new life by taking the train and going to the base! Or would you rather leave here, wander this city like a ghost, and rot in some corner with your baby?!"
The man punched the wall again. In the end, his words had become too harsh.
The woman kept her head down, silent.
The man waited quietly for several seconds, but there was no response. He suddenly stood up, furiously kicking a nearby trash can. The loud noise made everyone turn their heads.
Three months had worn away all the man's patience. Tormented by hunger, fear, and cold for three whole months, the man had long lost the composure of an upper-class elite.
And he didn't just have himself to worry about. After listening to the MOTH's broadcast every day, he had to think about food and water for the entire shelter, figure out what was edible, and prevent chaos from breaking out.
Not a single person here was someone he knew!! Including this woman!!
What was he doing it for? Wasn't it because of the education he had received since childhood, because of the kindness in his heart, that he had stepped up to be the leader?
Can you eat kindness?! No!! What good was leading these frail people? They were just a burden!!
Making fires, purifying water, distributing food, tuning the radio—he had to do everything! He had been these people's nanny for nearly three months, and now that liberation was finally in sight, the train to the MOTH's base was right there!
And you want him to wait?
He couldn't wait any longer! He couldn't stand this damned place for another second!
Taking a deep breath, the man calmed himself. He turned back and said one last thing to the woman.
"We have half an hour before we get to the departure station. You'd better think about it carefully. I won't help you again." The man gritted his teeth, uttered his final words, and then stormed off. He went through the inspection again and got on the truck.
The woman, left alone in the corner, leaned against the wall and slowly slid down, finally slumping to the ground, clutching her child.
In that moment, she was as helpless as a little girl, not even knowing if she should cry.
"Lady Judah, this..." The soldier in charge of the inspection suddenly felt a wave of guilt, which made her uneasy.
"Don't be so hard on yourself. You did well. Even I have something to learn from you." Theresa sensed the soldier's unease and offered some comfort. "Leave this to me..."
The relieved soldier thanked her repeatedly and turned to prepare for departure, but Rita stopped her.
"Excuse me, could I have a piece of paper? Just a blank one is fine."
---||---
The man hadn't been lying. They really did have half an hour before departure.
But something that couldn't be figured out in the past few days, how could a decision be made in just half an hour?
Hugging the silent child in her arms, the mother curled up, trying to transfer a little of her body heat to the cold infant.
"Hello..." a hesitant voice sounded. The woman looked up in a daze and saw Durandal squatting in front of her, her expression complicated.
"Hello..." Seeing Durandal, the woman seemed to regain some of her senses.
Durandal looked down at the child in the woman's arms, wanting to speak but hesitating.
The woman saw the struggle written all over Durandal's face. Then, she smiled, a smile that was incredibly desolate.
"Don't worry about me... Just leave me here..." The woman's voice was still hoarse, but her words were so fluent they didn't sound like they could come from someone who was mentally unstable.
"You..." Durandal was surprised, but when she looked up, she saw the woman stroking her child with a gentle expression.
"You think I don't know... I know... Of course I know... I'm actually very clear about everything..." she said slowly. "I know how much trouble my actions will cause for you, and I know you have the ability to help me get my child past the inspection...
"But there's no need... Someone like me isn't worth you losing face for... I won't let my child trouble you..."
As the woman spoke, she stared at the infant in her arms with a look of infinite tenderness. The scene should have been incredibly heartwarming, but once you knew the truth, it became somewhat chilling.
"Since you know, why don't you..." Durandal didn't understand. If the woman could think clearly and even understand the consequences of her actions, why was she so insistent on this, even to the point of acting crazy?
The light in the woman's eyes dimmed. Or rather, from the very beginning, apart from the intense motherly love in her eyes, there was no other light to be found.
"Because I don't know what else to do... She is my entire reason for living. Without her, I don't know what I'm living for..." the woman said softly.
She knew she would probably never see this girl again, this girl who would still praise her child's beauty even after knowing everything, so she could open her heart.
"If you can, please thank that man for me. I'm the one who troubled him and then let him down..."
Durandal suddenly understood. What the woman was unwilling to let go of wasn't her child, but her reason for living.
It was her heart that wanted to see her child grow up, see them live happily, see them smile at her.
If you cut out that heart, a person could no longer be said to be living, but merely existing.
Durandal was silent. She really didn't know what to say... She could only close her eyes and carefully feel the unease in her heart.
"What a poor child..." Just as they fell silent, Rita's hand reached out and placed a flower folded from white paper on the child's chest.
Both of them looked up in surprise at the suddenly appearing Rita.
But they heard Rita say, as if to herself, after placing the flower.
"I wonder, in the other world, if a child has no one to take care of them, will they be sad..."
"Just like here, with all those children who also don't have their mothers with them."