Chapter 227: Fort Yano (13)
<Author's note: The things (racism, sexism, political views, etc.) depicted or mentioned in this story do not reflect the real world and are purely coincidences. If they do, please keep in mind that they are simply for world-building and are only works of fiction. Thank you for your understanding.>
"Nathan, right? Why don't you take a seat and let's talk about it?" said Tyler.
Nathan looked at Tyler, Aena and the rest.
'They all look like college students…'
'Excluding myself and Vincent, there's about 12 people…'
'I'm not sure if they're other people hiding inside the tents as well…'
He took a deep breath before grabbing a chair and sitting down right across Tyler and Aena.
Seeing Nathan accept his offer, Tyler smiled and then looked at Vincent.
"Mr. Officer, come sit with us as well."
Vincent neither moved nor answered.
Seeing Aena beside Tyler, Nathan made another assessment of Aena's condition.
The first thing he noticed was her clothes.
She was wearing a white tank top without a bra underneath that he could see her nipples poking through the cloth. She was blue mini-shorts and a pair of white flip-flops.
Next was her face and skin.
'Although she looks like shit from what I guess is the lack of sleep and --'
He cast his eyes at the coffee table in front of him.
There were bottles, cigarette butts, lighters, food, tin foil, paraphernalia and many other things.
' -- drugs, she has no wounds or bruises…'
'Looks like she hasn't been abused…'
'At least physically…'
'After all, there are Healing Potions to hide it…'
'But I doubt anyone would waste Healing Potions for something like that…'
'It's not like they just drop from the sky or are just lying around to be picked up…'
'But most importantly, why is she wasting her life like this...?'
'Wasn't she studying to be a doctor...?'
'And what happened to her female empowerment movement that she's so gung-ho about...?'
Tyler opened his mouth and said, "So, you --"
"Do you know where or what happened to my parents?" Nathan said to Aena.
Aena looked at Tyler.
When he gave her a nod, she returned her gaze to Nathan.
Seeing that, Nathan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
"At first, we were all together uncle Nazul. However, he had to leave for Hapek City because aunt Nadia was on some sort of a business trip or bootcamp with her friends in Hapek City when the zombie apocalypse happened. I never heard from him since then."
"Where's uncle Abbas and aunt Amira?"
A sad expression appeared on Aena's face.
"On the sixth day since the zombie apocalypse happened, the situation in the camp we were staying in Latif City was becoming a bit unstable, both inside and out. It was only a matter of time before things got worse…"
She looked at Tyler.
He smiled at her and she smiled back before returning her gaze to Nathan.
"Dad and Tyler's dad are business partners. We were all there. His dad, uncle Tom, told dad that we should head here to Fort Yano. He also said that he had a close friend who was the mayor of Nabe City. So the following day, we left the camp to head here. But as we… as we…"
Aena couldn't finish. She bit her lower lip and tears started running down her cheeks.
Tyler placed his hand on Aena's back and rubbed it.
He then kissed the side of her head.
"It's okay, baby… It's okay…"
A beautiful woman the same age as Aena sitting on the other side of Tyler got up and sat on the other side of Aena to give her a hug.
"It's okay, Aena~. Don't cry~"
Aena sniffled and wiped the tears off of her eyes with her hands.
"Huhu… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… Huhu… It's just that… Whenever I think about… Huhu… Whenever I think about everything that has happened, I just couldn't help myself… Huhu… Which is why… Huhu… I numb myself with all these… huhu…"
"It's not your fault, Aena~… It's okay to cry, honey~… Everyone's a victim here~… If there was someone to blame, it's that stupid God who made these zombies~!" said the woman.
"Yeah, Giselle's right," said Tyler.
"I just want things to go back the way it is… huhu…"
"We all do~…" said Giselle.
"Yeah," Tyler and the others said.
The rest just nodded.
Looking at their drama, Nathan had a strong urge to roll his eyes but he didn't.
'Whatever…'
'Anyways, this other feeling…'
'It's quite strange…'
'I don't recall ever having this feeling…'
'Is it because I'm a Chosen One?'
Truth be told, if someone were to ask Nathan who hurt, bothered or annoyed him the most ever since the zombie apocalypse started, it was humans.
The zombies and angels? They were important tools in his goal to become a powerful being.
Without them, without the System, without the zombie apocalypse, he would be nothing.
In fact, he would even go as far to say that he's happier now compared to when there was no zombie apocalypse.
Before the zombie apocalypse, he was just another face among the billions of average people trapped in the endless cycle of the eat, sleep, work and occasional hobby routine.
There was no way he would want to go back to that kind of world, especially after tasting the powers granted by the System.
"Ehem!" Nathan cleared his throat. "So uncle Abbas and aunt Amira are dead?"
Aena sniffled and wiped the tears on her face one more time.
"Yes… Tyler's parents also… His brother, his cousins… In fact, everyone here has lost a loved one or two… It's the bond that we all share and holds us as a family… These people became my new family…"
"Aww~ I love you too like a sister~!" Giselle gave Aena another hug.
This time around, Nathan had the strong urge to vomit but he didn't.
"I see. I'm very sorry to hear that. Please accept my condolence."
"Thanks. We appreciate it," said Tyler.
"Where's my big brother? Weren't you together in Womania? How did you get here?" asked Aena.
A thousand images of what happened in Womania, especially the ones where Amir was a human-dog, flashed inside Nathan's head.
"Yes, he was with me. But he didn't make it…"
"Nooo…!" Aena said and then cried once again.
Giselle and Tyler comforted her once again.
"It's okay~… It's okay~… We're here for you~…"
'This is getting annoying...' Nathan thought. "What about your other relatives?"
Nathan and Aena's mothers were sisters.
Aena broke away from Giselle's embrace and wiped her tears.
"I don't know… When I came here, the only people I had with me were Tyler and the others…. We've become like a family, we've helped and protected each other… In fact, Tyler even had to kill some people to protect us… You're the only living blood-relative that I know of who's here in Fort Yano…"
Nathan turned his gaze to Tyler.
He then returned his gaze to Aena.
'Well, I guess this is good...?'
'At least I won't have to bother with any unnecessary drama...'
Nathan wasn't particularly close with the relatives from Amir and Aena's father's side. In fact, as far as he was concerned, they were no different from strangers to him. And the only people he really interacted with from that side were Kaaf and Kaab which he wasn't close with despite working for their company, which is why he didn't even bother looking for them during the zombie apocalypse when he was in Womania.
"I see," Nathan said and then swept his gaze to the people in the room. "Thank you for taking care of my cousin. I really appreciate it. I don't have much right now and I'm a bit in a hurry, but I'll return the favor one day. Let me owe you guys one for now."
"It's fine."
"It's okay~"
"Yeah, we're a family unit. You don't need to."
"Yeah, Aena is like a sister to us."
"Yeah."
They replied.
"Thank you, thank you. Well, now that I'm here, I'm in charge of her. Aena, pack your things. We're leaving."
They all became silent.
"What do you mean exactly by 'we're leaving'…? asked Aena.
Nathan got up from his seat.
"We're going to the south to find the rest of our relatives. Hurry up."
And of course, when he said the rest of his relatives, he meant only the people from his side.
Aena didn't move from her seat and just stared at Nathan in confusion.
"Aena, you're really leaving~?" said Giselle.
She turned to Giselle and said, "No… I…."
As far as Aena was concerned, everything was moving too fast.
Her cousin suddenly appeared out of the blue and is taking her away.
He didn't even bother to ask about her opinion, let alone give her time to think about it.
He just came here and then just drop this bomb out of nowhere.
And plus, she knows firsthand how dangerous it was outside.
Seeing Aena hesitating, Tyler decided to butt in.
"Bro, I know you're her cousin and you want the best for her. But it's not safe out there. This place may not look much but it's the safest place."
Nathan looked at Tyler and raised an eyebrow.
'Why is this wannabe gangster rich kid acting like he has a say on my family matters...?' he thought. "This is a family matter. Stay out."
Tyler got up from his seat.
"No offense, but you're only her cousin, not her brother or parent," he said. "And as her man and I love her, I have as much right as you do. The last thing that I and not just me but everyone here want is to see her in a dangerous situation."
"Yeah!"
"Yeah, we won't let anything bad happen to Aena."
"We won't abandon anyone here! We're all family!"
"Yeah!"
The rest of the members said.
"In my opinion, what you're doing right now is putting Aena in a very dangerous situation, so I won't allow it and I don't care who I have to face," Tyler said. "But if Aena does decide to go with you without being forced, then I will respect her decision and will even personally see to it that it will happen, even if the other members will disagree. And on the other hand, if she wants to stay here with us, then I will make sure that she will, no matter what."
"Aena~…"
"Fuck off, cousin boy!"
"Like hell we're going to let you take Aena!"
"Get lost! Who the fuck do you think you are?!"
The rest said.
Nathan didn't bother looking at the others and just locked his gaze on Tyler.
He smiled in amusement and said, "Really now. Well, let's see about that."
He turned to Aena.
"Aena, who are you going to choose: Me or these people?"
Everyone looked at Aena.
Her eyes bounced between Nathan and the others.
"I… I….."
She held her head down.
"I need some time to think… This is all too sudden…"
"I see," said Nathan. "How much time do you need to think?"
"I... Ah… I… A couple of days…"
Everyone looked at Nathan, especially Tyler, in case he would make a scene.
But to everyone's surprise, Nathan flashed a warm and understanding smile.
"A couple of days, huh. Okay. I'll come back 3 days from now. I expect you to give your answer by then."
He didn't wait for Aena to answer. He turned around and headed for the door.
Ka-cha!
He opened it and exited.
Vincent followed behind him.
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Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading!
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