SET DUSK

The Part 20

"Mr Syamsyr?" Ida was surprised to learn the owner of the hand that pulled her was Shamsyr.

The young man's face was filled with dust and blood from the wound on his left temple. Almost Ida did not recognize that she did not recognize the voice of Shamsyr.

"Yes, it's me."

"Why is it here?" tanya Ida was still astonished.

"So I saw you coming out of the Wire Office, just as a bomb fell on the house near me" Syamsir said.

"Then I saw you running this way, Rizal and I followed you" Shamsyir continued.

Ida saw Rizal coming following with gasps. Rizal is beaming while holding his stomach.

"Hurry up and run you, Da, too" said Rizal while adjusting his breath.

Rizal's appearance is no less chaotic. His hair was full of dust, blood from the wounds on his arm making the drill shirt he was wearing change color. Her face was also almost unknown to Ida.

"When do you get to Bukittinggi?" tanya Ida still does not believe will meet the two young men.

"Yesterday night, we got a wire message that the Dutch would attack Bukittinggi. Bukittinggi Wire Office did not respond, we want to convey the message received by Padang Wire Office," Syamsyir said.

Ida stunned.

"Do you know how my aunt is doing?" Suddenly he remembered his madam. He hadn't heard from his master for a long time.

"Last I met at the Planting Wood" said Syamsyir.

"When?"

"About a month ago."

"How is he doing?"

"Alhamdulillah healthy. You never saw your mom again after you were ushered home?"

"The last time I met when my mom and I happened to come home three months ago" Ida said.

"Your wounds need to be cleaned" Ida said when she realized that the wound on Syamsyr' temple was wider than she had thought.

"Later, we have to find a safe place first" Syamsyir said. His eyes were still watching the sky.

The Dutch mustang still circled in the sky of Bukittinggi that morning. Blue color sky covered in smoke. The sound of explosions and the roar of aircraft engines are deafening.

"How's the base going?" ask Ida with a glare.

"Let's see how it is, now let's pull over first, don't stand here" Shamsyir asked.

By late afternoon, the attack by the Dutch by air began to subside. The three of them walked back to the base. On the way, they met some people who also saved themselves.

They walked back towards the city of Bukittinggi. However, fear was still drawn from their faces. The journey was silent, the fear made them seem unable to talk to each other.

Arriving at the headquarters, the three of them found the condition of the headquarters that had been destroyed. Ida tries to find her other friends among the ruins. Some of them found that some were lifeless. While they were still leaving the crisscrossing headquarters, a student soldier approached them.

"You should quickly gather in the field, the Mobrig group will leave for Jirek. Some people from the headquarters had gathered in the field," the young man said.

"What about the dead?" ask Ida.

"No need to think about it, someone will take care of it. Now we save the living first," the young man replied hurriedly inviting the three of them to move onto the field.

On their way to Jirek, Ida heard that political leaders were meeting to form a new government in Bukittinggi. Ida is aware that her country is in a state of emergency. But he tried to shake off all his worries.

Let the scholars seek the best way for their country. He is enough to put his energy into helping on the battlefield, he thought. Suddenly he remembered amai and Tini in the village. Whether the house is safe, or is also a target for the Netherlands. His mind was not calm.

Then, suddenly his mind switched.

"Sir, may I ask you something?" Ida ventured to start a conversation with Shamsyr.

"Yes? What's?" shamsyir asked in surprise, because all this time he knew the girl had never started a conversation first. If asked, the girl always answers. Even Syamsyr heard the news, the girl was difficult to approach.

"Last year, after I was brought back to the village, did you come back to Sicincin?"

"Yes, we fix the surau again, even though we no longer occupy it," said Syamsyir.

"Then ... Do you know how Maryam's fate is?" Every time she remembered Maryam, Ida could not hold back her emotions.

His lips trembled as he spoke the name of his friend.

"Marh ...." Syamsyr seemed to think hard remembering the name of the girl called Ida.

"The PMI officer who was with me in the manau. The tall girl who died in a grenade explosion." Ida tried to strengthen her heart so that she could make Shamsyr remember her friend.

"Oh! Yes, when I got to Surau, all the dead victims were buried. I didn't see his funeral. But they were buried in the land behind the surau."

"Oh! Thank you," replied Ida briefly.

"Have you? Just like?" Shamsyir's sharp eyes probed Ida's lowered face.

"Yes, already. I just want to know how the fate of my best friend's body," replied Ida while laughing.

"Do you know Ros and Amir?" Shamsyr tried to lure Ida to speak.

"Yes! What's up with them? Ever since I was transferred to Sincin, I haven't seen them again." Ida was excited when Shamsyr asked her best friend.

"They're married, haha!" gelak Shamsyr.

"really? When?" Somehow a sense of happiness slipped in Ida's heart.

At least of the many sad news about death and separation, the news of his best friend's wedding was a little comfort in the conditions at that time.

"Hm ... About three months ago. No one thought they would get married. Because no one's seen any sign of them having a relationship." Shamsyir smiled widely making his eyes become in line.

"Yes like the late Rashid approached you first, Da. Almost as soon as I know that Rashid is after you," said Rizal.

It was like a knife had suddenly hit his heart. The happy smile that had adorned his face suddenly disappeared.

Shamsyr nudged Rizal hard.

"You are sensitive a little" whispered Shamsyr.

"Ah sorry Da ... I didn't mean ..." Rizal misbehaved.

"Ah, no need to. It's over," tepis Ida. However, he was still unable to cover the changes in his facial water.

There was a sudden sense of awkwardness created between them. Ida turned her face outward.

The twilight scene reminded him of the twilight he had passed on the battlefield. The last twilight when Rashid came to see him after he had finished his vigil. The twilight he went through with Maryam. And the twilight that he went through with his other colleagues when he saved himself.