~ Chapter 26: To believe them or not ~
[Kardian’s point of view]
After listening to their story, I wanted to have a private talk with Nataly and Xerya. Both Yumino and Zuiza were currently in a terrible shape, and I could not even begin to imagine what the two must have gone through during all of these weeks, especially when you consider the fact that they were forced to trade away the life of their former classmate as a slave to be eaten away like a roasted pig on a Christmas morning.
It was terrible and disturbing on so many levels.
As I stopped at the end of the hallway and looked out the window at the devastated sight of this one beautiful city, I said “They went through a lot...”
Nataly was the first to speak her mind “The guilt created from their mistakes is now eating them up from the inside. They are neither warriors nor fighters, they are just two survivors who are struggling to live from one day to the next. They can’t live out there on their own, they need a camp, and the sooner they reach one the better, however it’s also clear that they can’t join just any camp. If they are met with the misfortune of stumbling upon a bandit nest, they will be treated worse than they were in that Styler Gang.”
“Certainly, the raiders won’t spare them even if they are children...” I said as I remembered what I saw in the destroyed Symbol Camp.
The 6Ryzers were merciless in their acts, if it was them in the first place.
“I do not see the reason why we should care about what happens to the two of them. They are not part of our group and they have not shown us yet that they can be trusted.” Xerya argued.
“I hate being the one to say this, but she is right...” Nataly said “Depending on what they experienced in that camp, how involved or how much they have changed mentally, they could very well be spies that act out their roles perfectly.” she pointed out.
“Coming from you, this means that you don’t find a reason to trust them?” I asked.
“Yes. I can agree with my ‘probation’ period during which Xerya can make sure that I don’t act out of hand, and I also get to know the two of you, but they don’t have such a convenient safety measure.”
“I could infect them and then assume control over their bodies as I did with Nataly’s, but I would require a substantial amount of nanocores to facilitate this process.” she offered.
“Let’s not. Also, what is it with you and infecting others?” I asked her, raising an eyebrow.
“It is part of my core programming just like your sexual desire for Nataly’s body is part of your natural instincts.” she replied.
“That’s... well... erm...” I looked away.
“I appreciate the compliment but let us not diverge from our subject at hand.” Nataly said with a gentle smile that felt colder than the ice caps.
“Yes, let’s not...” I replied with a wry smile.
Honestly, I didn’t know what made this situation so complicated other than the fact that after all these months in seclusion with the threat of imminent death from cannibalistic monsters even the most calm and gentle of individuals could change to be rash and ruthless.
The protection from the government vanished when the Interstellar Communication Station Hub went offline, any form of military or local police organization was in shambles at best. Ordinary citizens like us had no one to call for help when our own safety or rights were being stepped on by others. Survival of the fittest became the main law on what should have been one of the best colonies of our current interstellar civilization.
“Why did they go to the Callipso Stadium though?” I asked as I furrowed my brow.
“When they built the cities, they began with several main constructions. I think you remember some of the advertisements that showcased the process?” Nataly said as she looked at me.
“I think I remember, yes... One of them showed the Commerce Pyramid in City 23.” I replied with a nod.
“Well, those buildings have more than the role of being shiny tourist attractions, they are in fact locations designed to be easily turned into refugee camps or military strongholds. Each of them, in fact, has a secret basement that can be accessed with the code from those who have at least the rank of Sargent in the military in case of an emergency. They hold various supplies as well as stockpiles of weapons and ammunition. That’s why I presume that the biggest camps in the city are currently in this sort of strategic locations.” Nataly explained.
“I... I didn’t know about that.” I said and then looked out the window. “But if they told everyone that there is such a stockpile of supplies there, shouldn’t have all of them agreed to go?” I wondered.
“Maybe they didn’t tell them because they weren’t sure if they could protect all of them or not. With the whole city turning up into a big gathering place for the undead, it would have been a strategic choice not to say anything and then, after they secured the location, have a scout sent over to verify the situation with the survivors.”
“And if they saw that they ended up falling to that sort of an inhumane level...”
“They probably chose not to send help after them...” Nataly let out a sigh.
“Then is it right to abandon the two teenagers or not?” Xerya then pointed out the elephant in the room, and I felt that just by thinking about it placed a heavy burden on my heart.
The building we were in was free of the threat of Nano-Z, at least for now, but we knew now that there was a chance for a horde to drop by any time. With every day that went by, they were evolving and becoming smarter and stronger. Mankind could only temporarily keep a base, but unless they had powerful weapons or defensive structures, trying to oppose a wave of Nano-Z wasn’t going to end up in a success.
The Resonance High School was good only as a temporary base, but there were buildings within the city that were designed specifically with the intention of becoming strategic outposts or fortresses during a war, Callipso Stadium being one of them. Heading for a bigger camp and concentrating mankind’s chances of survival into one place sounded like the best idea at the moment, but the rapidly mutating Nano-Z made me wonder if it was indeed so.
Now, whether or not we agreed to keep the teens with us was another matter. If we just sent them off to be on their merry way, they could end up getting captured by one of the hordes or even another Mutated one. Nataly was also right in the sense that we really had no way of telling whether or not it was safe for us to be together with them. We had no clear proof that they had not been sent out here as spies or if their minds were more twisted than they initially appeared. After all, the cannibals and raiders who emerged from among survivors were individuals who cared not for the wellbeing of others.
This once gentle and beautiful city had been turned into a nightmare that made the slums of Earth look like a veritable paradise. What once was supposed to be a no-brainer question turned out to be a real mental struggle for me now.
Should I help the two of them or should I ignore them? Should I or should I not believe them that Resonance High turned into such a ruthless lawless zone? What was I expecting to find there anyway? Hope? Salvation? The sense of my past life or maybe a trace of the idea that I might just be stuck in a very weird nightmare? I thought and then let out a sigh.
“This all looks so unreal... like taken straight out of a horror movie.” Nataly spoke in a soft voice as she looked out the window.
It was like she was trying to comfort herself with the idea that maybe this was indeed just a figment of her imagination or maybe some strange fictive virtual world created by the top super computers in the galaxy. For all we knew, it could have been, but...
“Nightmarish or not, this is the reality we live in. This is our world now. It’s not like if we close our eyes everything will suddenly go away. We can’t just pretend like our problems will vanish overnight. We have to remember where we stand and become more aware of what we can actually do... Sometimes, the world is a nightmare because we are fools enough to believe it to be so... After all, we both had experienced this once in the past, haven’t we?” I said as I looked back at her.
For me, it was the time when I lived in the slums of Earth, while for her was the nightmare on Planet 6.
“Yes, you could say that...” she replied and showed me a sad smile.
“I decided on what I’m going to do...” I told her.
“I look forward to it then.” she nodded.
We stayed like this for a couple more minutes, just admiring the endless sky outside, which for the most part was still unstained by all the blood that was spilled on the surface, and then we returned to the teens.
Zuiza looked at me with a worried expression and so did Yumino.
“I find it very hard to believe your story.” I told them directly and they both looked down. “However, this doesn’t mean that I won’t take into consideration the possibility that it might be true.” their gazes shot back up at me “In theory, you have no reason to lie to me, but if what you said is the truth, then Resonance High is currently under the control of three very scary factions, and we can only pity the fool who tries to head there.”
“You don’t believe us, but you think our story might be true? How does that work?” Yumino asked a bit confused.
“It’s simple, you two will stay here, and I’ll leave some provisions behind just in case. I will barricade the lower entrances so that the Rabid Nano-Z won’t enter.”
“Rabid? You mean the Raskals?” Zuiza asked.
“Raskals? Yeah, you can call them that. Well, I will make sure the barrier is sturdy and as long as you don’t do something stupid, they will never know you are here. I recommend not making a single sound during the night and keep your guard up just in case. I will return for you in a couple of days at most no matter if you spoke the truth or lied about it.” I told them.
“We didn’t lie to you, teacher Pandora!” Yumino retorted.
“Considering the situation, I don’t know.” I cut him off. “That’s why, the best solution would be to go to Resonance High and see it with my own eyes.”
“But teach! If you go there, they will capture you and then they will kill you!” Zuiza was the one to talk back now.
“Maybe, but I doubt they can kill me off that easily.” I shrugged.
The two of them didn’t believe me that easily, so I had to remind them of my strength.
“Did you two forget that I killed the Mutated Nano-Z who was about to turn you two into human kebabs?” I asked them with a raised eyebrow.
“Ah!” they seemed to have realized now that I wasn’t just their ordinary teacher anymore.
“We might look weak, but appearances can be deceiving.” Nataly added from where she was standing near the entrance.
“What will happen after you come back?” Zuiza asked with a bit of worry in the tone of her voice.
“We’ll head to the Callipso Stadium to see what sort of camp they made there.” I replied.
“We understand, we’ll wait for you then.” Yumino declared with a determined nod.
“We’ll choose to trust you, but if you are late or we see you coming back with someone suspicious...” Zuiza bit her bottom lip as she did not want to continue her words.
“Do what you want then.” I told her and shook my head “By the way, is there anyone we should keep an eye out for to bring back with us? Someone who didn’t fall to the madness you two described?”
They looked at each other for a moment and then back at me.
“Not that we know off. The more reliable folk were either traded as slaves and broken down mentally and physically or tried to flee and got caught... We were just lucky, very lucky... because we pretended well to be a part of them. That’s why... that’s why, teach, we don’t want to go back there, we don’t want to do those things again... to those people... to our former classmates... we don’t want to. We can’t do it anymore...” Zuiza said as she broke down into tears at the end.
Those were either a world class actress’s crocodile tears or she was genuinely disturbed by the very idea of returning to the lifestyle in those camps. I chose to believe it was the latter.
Then, just as we promised, we built up a sturdy barricade for the two, one at each of the lower floors, leaving the top ones for them to move around freely. The food we left for them was enough to last for a week, and we also gave them a pair of clean clothes.
Nataly instructed them with Xerya’s help on a few rules they needed to follow in order to survive on their own until we returned, since they did not have a trusty scanner like ours.
At this point, I could safely say that they had enough to flee to safety if they were trying to scam us or survive until we returned. Despite everything they said, neither Nataly nor Xerya believed that a bunch of human survivors without the help of some powerful weapons or a combat cyborg could do anything against us. If worse came to worse, we had to remember that technically, both me and Nataly were Nano-Z. Xerya was our greatest ally and their worst enemy.