The Heavenly Tale - Nameless God's
Chapter 3
Only when they reached the nearest city that was like a dead city did Faith say to him, “May I stop by the store first? I'm thirsty.”
The man stared at the direction the girl was pointing at next to him. He pointed to a franchise store filled with fine volcanic ash. There were no people along their way here, and there was certainly no one inside the store either. He turned his foot toward the store, patiently following the girl's steps.
“What do you eat?” the girl asked when they had entered the store. His eyes revolved around the shelves displaying snacks.
The man refused subtly. “No, thank you,” said the man.
The Faith took a few packets of snacks and bread and put them in her shabby blanket that she used like a pouch. He also took two bottles of drinking water, he said, “I don't know if you should survive like a human who needs to eat and drink. But I brought two bottles of drink, just in case you need to drink.”
“Oh, thank you.” The man continued to follow the girl while carrying the umbrella in his now-closed hand. He didn't pick up or touch anything, which would be strange if he was human. But then Faith doesn't forget that this mysterious man isn't human, so it's possible that he has certain restrictions in the human world, or may be completely uninterested in boring human routines. Nevertheless, this girl did not forget the existence of the man, and she still tried to be a good friend to this fellow traveler.
They came out of the store not long later, only with items brought in ‘bag from his blanket’. Faith doesn't have to take a lot of stuff, she doesn't need it. He just needs to take what he needs. Does he steal? He thought in his heart. Yes, he obviously took the item without the owner's permission, and he didn't pay at all. Had this store been open, he would have been judged all out. But at this moment, there was no one here, perhaps there was no city in the whole. No one scolded him or reprimanded him, he should feel calm. But he was still unsure whether what he was doing right now was wrong or not. He could only reason that the conditions he was going through were extremely difficult, and he had no choice but to take it from this store without permission. If there was a chance, if he was still alive, he would replace it one day.
The red-clad man opened his umbrella again, waiting for the girl to follow in his footsteps again. It's been dark since then, probably because of the volcanic ash that blocks the sun. But now it feels like it is getting darker. Nonetheless even Faith could not state exactly what time it was.
As they walked, the man opened his mouth again. “You need a break. We can't keep going all the time.”
Feeling in agreement, Faith nodded and turned her gaze before asking, “Where are we going to rest?”
“We are looking for a rather high place,” replied the man.
The plateau? Faith asked in her heart. But he remained silent for a few minutes, thinking inside his head. “You mean like a terraced apartment?”
“Ya.” The man nodded slowly. They went back to the dead city. At a point in a somewhat central part of the city, the man pointed to a brick-red 3-storey building at a crossroads. They're heading there.
The building was a shophouse, with an obsolete electronics store on the main floor and rooms on its upper two floors. By the time they got there, the building was completely empty, abandoned by all its inhabitants. There are only silent and gripping rooms. They entered one of the rooms on the 3rd floor and Faith immediately looked for a seat. He straightened his legs on the floor, his back leaning against the back of a short sofa. He feels relieved.
“You feel comfortable?” the man asked with a smile and sat himself on the sofa next to where the girl was sitting. He placed his red umbrella near the entrance.
“For a long time I did not sit on the soft sofa,” Faith murmured while closing her eyes. His muscles that were tense earlier began to relax. He may have to find a mattress to rest better. He prayed to find a soft bed in the bedroom later.
The man looked at the girl who looked late in the comfort of the sofa. The sofa was not very nice and seemed to be a bit aged, but seeing the reaction of the girl when her body touched the sofa, she did not comment. The man's eyes flashed softly and he asked, “You managed to survive today's massacre. Do you think the gods love you or hate you?”
Faith opened her eyes. There was a long look in his eyes. “God may love me, but obviously they may also be angry with me,” he replied later. “I did not survive because the gods loved me and spared me from disaster. I survived because I was lucky, but I wasn't always lucky. I was kidnapped.”
The girl stopped and looked up at the ceiling. The man's gaze did not leave him. “I was kidnapped there was probably a month ago by a cungkring but strong man. He locked me in the basement of his house built in a small housing estate near the forest. When the earthquake happened, I was underground cooped up by the ruins. The man's basement is nice, the foundation doesn't tear down the entire basement. I spent a long time digging through the rubble so I could get out, and when I came out, everyone was dead and the volcano was erupting. I don't know should be happy or not.” he stopped.
A few seconds of silence enveloped the girl as she stared at the ceiling. “Maybe the gods are being kind to me.”
The man softly muttered. “Hmm, so it may be true if the gods are not completely black or completely white.”
“Ya.” Faith was back in her own mind. He never cursed the gods. He complained once, well, maybe often, but he never thought that the gods hated him so much that it gave him various grueling trials. Whether who taught him, or where he learned from, he always had a belief that the universe worked mysteriously and continuously; everything happened with a specific purpose. Maybe there was something he had to learn, maybe there was a debt he had to pay, maybe there was something he had to do, what was clear was that the tribulation he had received did not solely happen because the gods hated him.
“Despite that I don't really know what's going on and make people die suddenly. But yeah, it's Judgment Day. It is not unusual for people to talk about Judgment Day, as if it is a sure thing that will happen and become a great terror for mankind. I'm still fascinated today when I came out of the basement and found everyone dead because of the earthquake and the volcano erupting, I mean, when it turned out that Judgment Day was really happening, I still suspect the mystery of what it hides and how badly it impacts the earth. Did everyone really die from the earthquake and the volcano erupted?” Faith voiced her thoughts.
The man berh ‘ah’ria as if agreeing to something. “True, Judgment Day really happened and man questioned his own worthiness. Do they deserve to be saved or not? Did they all just die? Did they not have a chance to save themselves? But that's not the right thing. In fact, they can save themselves if they have the ability to save themselves, or lucky like you, or they are quite loved by gods. You may not know this because you are confined, but when an earthquake occurs and cracks appear on the ground, poisonous gas comes out from within the earth, destroying those who accidentally kiss it. This happened in a very short time, as fast as a snap of a finger, the gas appeared and disappeared instantly. The poor have no chance to save themselves. Perhaps they were near a crack, and they instantly died in an instant. Did you see the crack of the ground around where you were?”
“Oh yes, true too. I saw a crack not far from the kidnapper's house, probably because that's why everyone in there died. Does that mean there are still survivors elsewhere?”
“Still a lot,” replied the man loudly. His gaze was staring out the window. “Remember only, Judgment Day lasted for eleven days and now it is only the first day. There is still a lot of time and there are still too many people living with their sins.” The man finished his sentence and walked to the window. He closed the glass windows and the curtains in smooth motion without making any noise. “I have to go for a while. Will you wait for me here until I get back?”
Faith flinched a little. “Abviously I can go there myself? Untouched place the anger of the god.”
The man smiled again. For some reason every time he smiled, his smile looked charming, but it constantly emitted a mysterious aura. “Then please rest well tonight and don't worry about anything. Look for food in this room and make yourself comfortable because you need to rest. Promise to wait for me to come back, can you do that? I have promised to take you wherever you want, so I will not leave you, and will definitely return.”
The girl nodded, didn't she really have no other choice? “Alright, I will wait for you until you return.”
“Thank you,” the man replied politely and walked over to pick up his umbrella. “Oh yes, can you promise me one more thing? Please don't come out of this building or touch the ground in the slightest. Tonight will be very dark, and darkness is dangerous. Can you do that?”
“Eum, yes alright if it makes you calm,” Faith replied with understanding, without objection.
“Thank you. Please careful. See you again.”
As soon as the man said his farewell, Faith lived alone in a foreign apartment room. The door of his room was closed by the man and his window and curtain were also closed, as if the man had prevented him from coming into contact with the world outside the apartment, or even forbade him. But the man's message resonated in his head and he decided to follow his instructions. He was looking for food in the kitchen, but he found all the electrical appliances and gas masti. He could consume canned food without the need to warm up, and he thought he could last for a day or so with the canned food that was now in front of him. He began to think about how to bring food and other supplies. Maybe he should borrow a bag or something from this house?
Amidst the deafening silence, he heard a roaring sound from the surroundings, followed by the sound of iron being forcefully bent. For a few minutes observing the voices, she could not help but feel her curiosity and got up from the bed, then peered at the window carefully.
In the apartment he occupied, a tub car was parked in front of him with three people wandering around the car. They were seen hauling things from inside the store and loading them in the car tub. They all wore hooded jackets, hats, and covered their mouths up to their noses. They're looting a store on the first floor.
“What do you guys do?” the girl poked her head and asked cautiously, not sounding angry.
The three men were surprised to hear the girl's voice and looked for the source of the voice before finally looking up and finding Faith. “Is this your shop?” a man asked while shouting.
The girl shook her head strongly. “Not.”
“You should come with us, hey girl. This place is not safe anymore, we have to go to the capital, there are survivors and there is help from government officials and social services. You're lucky to survive, there's nothing left of this town. We only collect items that are likely useful for survival.” one of the men said.
Electronic goods and junk to survive? Maybe they're technicians and intend to build survival gear. Who knows. They might be lying. Clearly, with two sides imprinted on her heart, the girl answered the three men carefully, “I can't. I'm waiting for my friend.”
“Where is your friend? Can you escape?”
“He will be back later.”
“Are you sure you'll survive? We'll be leaving town soon and you'll lose your ride to the capital.”
Faith nodded. “Iya, I'm fine.”
“Good.” So their conversation ended. After loading some other items, his third car drove away from the building. One of the men exclaimed as he passed, “Be careful!”, as if praying for the girl to be safe. His third car drifted away, his voice disappeared in the darkness, and the gripping silence re-coloured the girl's solitude.
He closed the window and the curtain, then crawled back on the bed. Blanketed with a blue jacket and blanket, she lay down on the bed and fell asleep. Despite all the chaos and horror that loomed over him today, he was able to sleep soundly even though it felt like it was not long. When he woke up, the red-clad man was back in the apartment, sitting on the chair where yesterday the girl had put her dirty blanket. The blanket is now gone. The man sat down with his legs resting, his umbrella in his lap.
“Good morning,” said the man gently. “How do you sleep?”
Faith rubbed her eyes. “I can sleep,” he replied simply. This simple thing is actually very big, considering its confinement days which made it very uneasy just to close its eyes.
“Contact and prepare yourself. We are in no hurry, it is now only the second day of the eleven-day barrage of Judgment Day.” The man said it lightly, as if the Judgment Day event was not a big thing. Hearing this, the girl seemed to have the impression that her death was not something to be hounded.
The man waited patiently for her as long as she cleaned her dirty and smelly body, then changed her clothes with the clothes he found in the closet. He carried a backpack filled with food, drinks, blankets and some supplies they might need. When she says ‘they’, maybe more precisely ‘ia herself’. He still did not know whether this nonhuman man needed the things that humans needed to survive or not, so he was just on guard.
They came out accompanied by a rumble from the volcano in the distance. The mountain had subsided, but the ashes were still soaring high. Whether this was his feeling or not, he felt the damage the mountain had brought shifted in another direction, not heading directly towards the city he was in.
“Some people came looting the store last night. They say in the capital there are a lot of people who survive, they also receive help. Do we need to get there?” faith asked when their steps had gone down the paved road. The man returned to paddle him.
The man seemed to be breathing slowly. “You know, if you were someone who wanted to take down a country, which place would you attack?”
The girl was silent for quite a while. “... Capital?” said doubt.
“True. If I were a commoner who knew that an enemy country would attack my country, I would stay away from the capital. But it just so happens that the direction we are heading is in the direction of the capital, so I will take you there, but we will not stay at the capital.”
Faith nodded in silence. Right too, he said in his heart. The gods will target a densely populated place if they really want to exterminate humans, then he should avoid the crowd. It was not that it meant that he would be saved if he stayed away from the crowd, but at least he understood the logic behind this action, and he did his best to avoid it.
“Are you here last night? The air is very cold.” Faith broke the silence a moment later.
“No. But I know.”
“Do you know that last night was really dark? I think so, before I fall asleep..”.
“Oh, yes, last night was very dark. In fact, over the next eleven days the night would become very dark and cold. I'm glad you followed my advice not to get out of the room.”
“Ah about it...” the girl started. “You said you weren't human and you seem to know a lot about Judgment Day. More precisely, what creature are you? I didn't mean to offend you, but I couldn't help my curiosity.”
The man laughed softly, his voice melodious. “I can't tell you. I am your guide and your companion, I will tell you everything related to our path, but I cannot tell you more. However, believe me that I am not trying to hide anything from you. Oh, look.”
As the man stopped talking and pointed, Faith stared at the direction the man pointed. A tub car filled with electronics and junk stopped in an odd snarling position. They passed the car and there was no one in it. The girl recognized the car as a car driven by 3 men who looted it earlier. “What happened?” Faith asked as her eyes searched for the impossible in the vehicle.
“I told you, the night will be very dark and cold. Who knows what terror he hides in the dark?”
