Chapter 5

Trust

I managed to roam around three fourth of the city, where some people who have seen me tried to follow and run but obviously they can't cause I'm on full speed and won't let them have it just like that. Finders keepers, it is one of the rules but also it can be mandated by anyone, but as I have seen around there were some who got to start up a vehicle but mostly those people are teaming up and I think they're tactic is great but it cannot be the same as the day passes by. It will change, they should know it.

The nights coming with the grey sky slowly turning into the dark where in just a few minutes, the whole place was covered by such darkness and the only thing that keeps the place with lights are with some flickering light post that almost running out of electricity. I haven't seen much of a people around, I don't know where to look or what to do but just to get through the night, I needed a roof to get some sleep.

When I'm bound to see a street where I found townhouses but this place is like a ghost town, seems like no one was here ever before. I jump out of the motorbike and stop the engine to keep it quiet along the road 'cause the engine echoes throughout the place. When I look at the façade of the houses, those were actually nice, could be a home for about nine months or less because we might not know when the first trimester will end. There were people sneaking on windows from inside and when I get to see them hiding behind those curtains, they immediately hide and stay quiet. I pick the one house without the second story because of this really convenient for one person.

I parked my motorbike at the garage and search for some rope to strap it on some steel to hold it out. I don't trust people around here and they had the capabilities of steal the things they don't even own—well, technically, I'm not the owner of this motorbike but this place is abandoned and all the things are free, you just have to know how to use it.

When I think that the rope is tightened enough of not getting to disrupt easily, I get to invite myself entering the house, as I walked down the door, the dust and webs are all over swinging around and I swept it off my hands. I reach for some switch but the lights won't work and I get to find a flashlight on my backpack, and luckily, it has some batteries and when I open it and lit up the corners of the house, it is spacious enough with a couch on the living room and a wooden center table. I headed to the kitchen where I found some inventories and stocks. Would the High Council purposely put some things around to be used—or maybe, there were a lot of hidden things that it has gone through deep critical thinking. Oh, I'm thrilled by the thought of it.

I put down my backpack and set all the boxes and canned goods I found. I did check the label of the goods but I found none of them. I tried to open a canned good of beans, I take a small spoon to taste it before getting into it. As it lingers around my taste buds, I think the foods are good and can be eaten without restrictions or risk of getting poisoned.

I finished one can, I didn't get to have one more because it is good to set it aside for the coming days. I get my thermos and drink up some water, in just one drink it goes empty and when I try to find some water on the sink, luckily after turn the tap, the water flows abruptly and the funniest thing about it, the water is clean. I filled my thermos with water put it back on my backpack.

The next thing I did is too checked the bedroom and as a surprise, there's a foam lying on the floor. There's no bed but just foam and pillows and I think that's enough to get on sleep. I lay myself down and feel body so exhausted, I took a deep breath and just as that, my eyes fall into sleep and can't help myself to have some rest.

I woke in a sudden outrage of sound coming from outside, I stayed in bed for a minute and just keep it observed on what's happening there but the next thing I figured out what's going on. I immediately stood up from the foam and run towards the door and I got frozen when I see them stealing my motorbike.

"Hey!" I yelled at them and when they saw me coming, they hurriedly run for their lives that they almost got my motorbike but they failed to get it. I don't have any choice but to put it inside the house and don't let it seen by those people. I don't know those people, I've never seen them before or is it just I don't care about a lot of people in the Waste Land because someday you'll forget about them.

I sat on the couch, for a minute I get to back on sleep but suddenly a flickering sting woke me up, it goes with something electrifying impulse that coming from the therefore tracker, I put my hands on it and it won't help on the fact that it's giving me some sudden movement from its activity but after dealing with pain, a few seconds it's gone.

I chase my breath, gasping of air and I couldn't believe what just happened. I poked the tracker on my neck and it felt like there's nothing happened but I could still feel inside the impulse it gave on my nerves. I don't know what does that mean but I think it's just some of the tracker's glitch.

Falling asleep got me in the waves of thought, still thinking what would that be, because somehow that wouldn't go out with some flickering sting that gives something a message or really, I was just making things in my head for worst scenario that could happen. Because they could kill us with the tracker they put on us. By that, in just a second, we're all be dead.

The flickering sting woke me up again and so to see the sun rises up. I took a deep breath as the tracker on my neck still goes on and I still don't understand what's happening. Somehow, a knock on the door got me quiet and slowly walk to reach the ax on my backpack. My step towards the door was smooth that the wooden floor doesn't seem to recognize my footsteps. The knocking continues and I don't know why I'm holding the ax—would that make me a threat or surprise that person on death or I was just afraid.

I reach for the doorknob, slowly turning it up and when it clicks, the door loosely went for an opening. I stop for a second and took a breath of courage and hastily open up the door and my hands gripped on the ax to make the first attack.

"Stop!!! I'm not the bad guy here!!!" The person in front of me yelled in frighten and his hands were shielding himself not to be chopped by an ax. When I recognized the person, I calmed myself down and put down the ax and let it slide on the floor. He let out a breath, "I thought you're gonna hit me with that thing."

I laughed shaky because I almost killed him but lucky, I didn't. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to do that."

He nodded, "I know, I know, you're just cautious."

"But still, sorry 'cause I almost killed you."

He patted my shoulder, "least you didn't." he said, "but just like what I said, I found you, Dy."

"How, Al?" I asked, but of course, before he could answer that question, I invited him inside my house and he sat on the couch. I don't have any idea how did he find me here, or he has this some kind of instincts that he could find someone easily by that.

When he found himself comfortable in the couch, he started to get this thing from his backpack and show to me a piece of a full-length screen which optimizes a map and a pinpoints across on the map and the blinking pinpoint on the center where actually I am located.

"How did you that?" I asked him.

"Well... I was awake when the armed men dropped me off along the streets, I just didn't show them that I am awake and so I when they leave, I get the chance to find something that could help me build this thing. There were a lot of abandoned stores, if you had figured that out..." he said and I nodded, "great, and I found this electronic supplies stores where most of the unused and waste gadgets can be found and I just needed the time and pieces of equipment to work it out and I did, so here I am..."

I nodded to him, "but how did you know that I'm the one you're tracking."

"That's not complicated to do, I just needed to search your attributes and voila!"

"So, okay... you did it, but is it you? The one who does the flickering sting on me?" I asked him.

His eyes narrowed and got himself confused about what I asked, "no? I didn't do anything, I just followed my mobile tracker... why, what happened?"

I shook my head, "nothing... it just, I thought, it's—you know what, don't worry about that thing, so tell me, what in the are we?"

Al told me that only he knows about this place. As seen on his mobile tracker, this city is placed on a four-cornered most likely big as one continent and all bad things could happen here because on his knowledge this place is a technological dimension which the High Council's ruled out every piece to manipulate every circumstance. Just like the acid rain, they made it.

"Wait, let me ask you something, Al," I said, "if it's okay."

He nodded, "yeah, sure, what is it? Supposed it is not having regrets of not killing me, huh?"

I laughed on what he said, "no, no, it's not about that," I said shaking my head. "I just wanna ask... if all these things you surely know, why are you so confident telling me that kind of information?"

He just smiled. I don't have any idea what would be like to him asking that question but based on his reaction, he's so sure about that. "I don't think you're the person who's gonna betray me and of course, holding up an ax on me doesn't bother me because you just wanna be safe and okay... and yeah, I trust you, Dy."

"Wow..." I said, "that's a big gesture, Al. But I don't know how to do the same."

He nodded, "I understand but we'll get to that but for now, you don't have to be afraid to me. We all just wanna have the same life on Noble Land, right?"

I agreed to him, "yeah... we all did."

Getting along with Al won't be so hard, I justneeded to learn to trust him. I also let him stay with me on the house, ofcourse, we won't fit in one bed, he chose to stay on the couch. He also sawthat I found a motorbike which he says gonna be a big help to roam around thecity to search for foods and pieces of equipment and he says, we always got tobe ready anytime because those tests and trials won't make the schedule, it willsurprise you and kill you if you don't prepare yourselves.