Chapter 13

Girl

When Al's getting back his consciousness, I got closer to the dead body and pull out to their hands Al's technology and my key. I couldn't still understand how it happened, after all, that I've experienced—some glitches in my neck, maybe that was the trigger that would end up being exploded.

I handed it back to Al and see him shaking his head after getting a concussion and passing out of what the girl did to her, he then suddenly was surprised to see blood all over the store and the three bodies without their heads. His eyes were widened and couldn't define how all those things happen when he was passed out. I helped him to stand up and patted his shoulder.

"We need to move out, Al." I said but his attention we're still into those dead body, I hold his both shoulder and make him face me, "they're dead, and I think there are some malfunctions in their tracker that they ended up like that... we should hurry now, Al... the sun's almost peaking up."

He timidly nodded, but his attention was still on the three bloody mess. I pull him out of the store, I don't have any idea if anyone heard the explosion, the store might be soundproof but I'm not sure of it, someone has heard it.

"Where to go, Al?" I asked him, and now he got his senses back and focus on his technology, "my technology was losing its signal, maybe the explosion interrupts its connection... fuck." He hissed.

"We should go without your tech, Al."

"We need to find another store, for our supply."

I shook my head to him, "I know, we needed supplies but there is another day to search for food, we don't know much about this place... we need to get to the glass house."

He sighed in defeat, "okay..."

From the dark sky as we stepped out earlier, slowly it turns into blue one as the sun shared its sunlight. Al and I run back to the same direction where we have been before but I have to stop when something familiar I have seen on the mirrors.

Al looked back on me, "Dylan? What are you doing?"

I didn't answer him 'cause I really don't know what's happening. He gets my hand but I didn't move, that's why he was trying to figure out what's happening on me. I looked straight into the refracted mirror, not far from me and if I'm not mistaken it is my reflection but different from what I'm doing. It is simply the opposite of me.

Al gulped and pull the hem of my shirt, "that's not you Dylan, it is just the light making to fool your mind. Wake up, Dylan."

But I just shoved him away from me, he keeps calling me and instead, I headed straight to my refraction whose just standing to wait to get closer to him. By the time I get to reach out the mirror, the image turns to be my brother, my anger rises up to see him happy and as the time I got to knock down the mirror, Al jumped on me and stopped me from doing it. I immediately pushed him away from me.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

He scoffs, "I should ask you the same thing, Dylan, what are you doing?" he said, "look at the mirror, there is nothing!" he pointed the refracted mirror and somehow, the portraying image of me and my brother suddenly vanished and I don't know how it happened, he finds me so occupied that I didn't get to know how all it happened. "It is just in your mind, Dylan... it shows somehow your anger, fear... it all comes into one perspective, the mirror shows what you hinder inside."

I smirked on what he said, "you don't know that, Al. You can create technologies but you don't know it."

He shrugged off his shoulder, "I'm just saying what's in my head."

"Fuck what's in your head," I hissed and stood up from getting slammed on the floor. I started to walk and he just followed me but we stopped as we heard something from above. Al run comes to me and holds my shoulder, "what's happening?" I said while we're still figuring out what's happening.

"I don't know..." he said.

There's a loud noise coming from above and we couldn't distinguish where it is coming from. But on a sudden, from not a far we saw a huge number of crows flying together and it's like their running from what? I really don't know.

"We should run," I suggested, and without any hesitations, we run as fast as we can. The morning fog coated the city and couldn't see the road but as to dwell in it. The next thing happened, the flocks of crow comes in our direction. "Get down!" I yell and put ourselves on the ground as the crows fly so very low that they were gone when they enter the fog.

We stayed on the ground for a few minutes as we feel it safer to move forward.

"Why did we end up in this place?" Al said, looking at me with his forehead creased.

I shook my head, "I don't know, I just bound to follow the road until we get here. Don't blame me, every place has its threats and we bound to experience all of them."

"Touche." He said.

The fog still enveloped the whole place, when you look up, you couldn't see the towers because of it but you will be scared because you don't know what will fall from above. As we make sure that we're good to go, we stood up and run to the direction leading back to the glass house. We didn't get any supply. The thing we planned to do didn't go well. As much as we want to roam around the city, we still couldn't take the risk of being seen in such a place like this. There's always gonna be a reason to deal with and you gotta make sure on yourself, you can do it.

When we reach the glass house, we were so sure that no one followed us but when we came inside, we were shocked to see someone sleeping on the sheet. I looked at Al and he just shook his head—he didn't know what to do.

I slowly walked towards the girl sleeping on the bed sheet. I didn't know her, and I haven't seen her before, I kneeled down to see her face, suddenly her eyes opened and being surprised from what she did, I didn't get to move away from her instead she caught my neck and put me down on the floor. She gets a knife on her boots, however, Al wanted to stop her, she points the dagger to him.

"Don't move," she said and shifted her attention on me, "hello, you boy."

My eyes narrowed on what she said, "who are you?"

"Don't you ever recognize me?" she smirked, and her hands were gripping my neck slowly and it's choking me.

"I-I won't ask if I do," I uttered, trying to grasp some air. "P-Please... stop..."

She loses her hand from my neck but didn't remove it, but okay for me to breathe. On the way she looks at me and trying to familiarize her face, I still couldn't find parts in my head where I have known her because if we already get to face each other on the Waste Land, this meeting shouldn't happen in the first place.

On my peripheral vision, I saw Al trying to reach out for my ax but then it slips off of his hands and suddenly, a flying dagger comes on his way but it didn't hit him—almost but she got eyes on her back, and it's breathtaking that she almost killed him.

"Did I just said, don't move, right?" she said, smirked. "I only wanted your help, I didn't mean to intrude and now we're here and I got your attention, I've got one condition."

"I also got one," I said. "But please, don't harm us and move away from me."

"Why would I do that? Or you were spinning me around with your words?"

"No," I said, directly. "Trust me, if you want our help, we'll be glad to help you... just don't hurt us."

She nodded and stood up from sitting me, but on the other hand, Al took the long metal and hit her in the back, and she passed out landed on the floor.

"Why did you do that, A?!" I said, don't know what reaction to show.

He scratched his head, "you can't just trust a stranger because she said she needed help." he said, "if she wants our help, she had to have it in a hard way..."

"So, what do we do now?"

"Tie her up, and if she wakes up, we'll ask her what she knows in this place and why she knows you in the Waste Land..." I nodded to him, and carry the girl to the corner and tied her hands and feet with a rope and tied it to the post for she can't move or escape in any other way. "And also, Dylan, if she was here just to kill us, do the same on her."

My forehead creased on him, "what?"

"It's the only way."

"No," I said, shaking my head, disagreeing on what he said.

"Whatever what you want Dylan, but if it goes in the wrong way... just do what I suggested, okay?"

I didn't mind his suggestion. He sits down and fixes his technology. I just watched the girl. She's still unconscious, I still keep thinking how she knows me in the Waste Land or it is just her way to get my attention because I never really get to have any interactions with random strangers, I only get to bond around with my friends and my family... but this girl, who are you?

I picked food on our last supply, the food we have won't go any further. This might go up to this day and we should look for somewhere, where the place doesn't look like an apocalypse. I give the biscuit to Al and his attention was still on his technology—I think some parts of it weren't functioning that's why he's trying to work on it again.

When the girl starting to wake up, I came closer to her but still has the distance, if she tried to rush on me—but I think the rope will strongly hold her. She raised her head, mumbling around and I think she's aching from what Al did to her.

"Hey," I called her out and she looked at me, but when she got to come at me but she felt the rope that strangling her. "Just don't move okay, Al did that thing because he wanted to make sure you're good and not a harm to us."

"You just made an enemy, boy." She smirked.

I took a deep breath, "I don't want that, we don't want that—we just wanted to be safe, and I think you needed our help—"

"Not anymore." She scoffs. "After learning that you guys can't be trusted, I knew I shouldn't let myself stay into this glass house."

"If you already knew that, why would you still risk it?"

"'Cause you're the only person I know around."

I laughed, "you know me? I don't even know you."

She sighed, "you never will because you never saw my face..."

"What are you saying?"

"Remember the Landfill?"

I timidly nodded, trying to go back to it, "yes... I just came to the Landfill because it is my way of coping up and finding some things to recycle and make it more valuable... why would you ask that?"

"You're the one who saw my dead sister on theLandfill."