บท 53: Chapter 53: Hellzone
"Rueben, is something wrong?"
Rueben opened his eyes and looked at a little girl beside him. Then he turned to the skies and only saw darkness and gloom.
Then he rubbed his eyes and softly shook his head.
"No...." He answered the little girl's question. "No."
The little girl looked at him, and then she let out a soft smile and cupped his face in her small hands.
"Hey, don't cry. I didn't do anything to you, yet."
"Mn." Rueben rolled his eyes to the side and gently grabbed her wrist and pulled them off his face.
Then he stood up and wiped the tears on his face with his sleeve.
"Probably just a dream." Then he turned to her and grabbed her hand.
"Come on. Let's go back, we're gonna get chided if we go back home late, again."
"Hehe." The little girl smiled and ran, leading the way. "That was your fault last time. You insisted on picking that flower."
Clicking his tongue, his cheeks burned as he spoke, "Because you begged me to get it. You whine so much!"
The little girl stopped and turned her little head to look at him. Her lips turned to pout while her eyebrows deepened their valley.
Rueben paused, them he coughed and turned to look to the side.
The little girl stared at him for a moment, then she smiled and pulled his hand, "Hehe! But you still grabbed that flower for me!"
"Because you wanted me to!"
"Nuh, uh!"
"Yes, uh!"
"Nuh uh!!"
The back and forth happened a few times before Rueben had to surrender because of the threatening look that the little girl was giving him.
***
"We're back!" The two shouted at the same time as they entered the house by the back door.
Two women looked out from the kitchen and gave the two of them a gentle smile, "Welcome back."
One of the women then frowned and went to Rueben before grasping his ear and pulled.
"Owww!!"
"Rueben Vans Luton! How many times do i have to tell you to take off your shoes when you enter the house!"
Rueben grabbed her hand and pulled, trying to lessen the pain, but as if he was pulling a boulder, her hand did not move.
"Okay, okay! Mom, stop! It's going to tear off!!" Rueben cried out.
"Tear off your head." She let his ear go before slapping his head.
Rueben's hands went behind his head and ruffled it. Then he pouted and turned his head away.
"...Its just a pair of shoes, why does that matter so much...?" He muttered underneath his breath.
His mother softly sighed and rubbed his hair before turning around, "No matter. Dinner is ready. Clean yourselves first."
Then the other woman exclaimed, "Ah! Also, Rueben? Can you tell my husband and your father that dinner is ready."
She let out a gentle yet pouty smile as she urged the little girl to hurry along the bathroom.
Rueben's mother let out a sigh and shook her head, "Knowing those two muscle brains, they must still be building that wall on the east side. You should be able to find them there, son."
"Okayyy." Rueben nodded his head and went out of the door.
His tiny body ran across the field of grey grass and soon found two men working on a wall. They were chopping down trees and turning the logs into walls.
One of them men had glasses over his ears while the other had a full beard. Both looked very muscular as if they could wrestle with bears.
"Dad, supper is ready."
The glasses man stopped, then turned to look at him. His tired eyes brightened up as he let out a soft sigh.
"Mn."
The leaves rustled softly.
"..." The glasses man stared at the source of the noise, then smiled at Rueben.
"Go. We'll follow soon after." He then rubbed his head and pushed him away, urging him to leave.
Rueben just nodded his head and left.
"Here." The muscular man tossed a dagger towards him, he looked at it and gripped its hilt.
"Yeah. We should get going."
Ragh!!
A beast screamed out while the two went into positions.
****
Boom!
"..."
"Okay kids. Go back to your rooms."
The woman said while taking out a rifle.
Rueben looked at her, then nodded her head. He grabbed the little girl's hand and ran downstairs.
"Mom, are you going to fight with those monsters again?" The little girl asked while the woman patted her head.
"Don't worry, mommy is very strong." She smiled and pushed the two of them to the room.
After seeing that the two of them was locked in the room, she smiled and turned to Rueben's mother.
"Let's go."
Rueben's mother smiled and loaded her pistol.
"Yeah."
***
"Rueben?"
"Mm?"
"Are there really monsters out there?"
"... I don't know."
"..."
"But our parents did always put us here each time there are monsters so it should exist."
"Should?"
"..Im not sure, okay?"
"If i get eaten by monsters, will you save me?"
Rueben looked at her, "But it already ate you, so why should i save you?"
"Muuu!! You should still save me! Before im eaten, you should be there and save me!"
"How selfish!"
"Selfish!? Hmph!"
"Ah? Now you're mad?"
"Hmph!"
"Awh, come on princess~"
"Hmph!"
"Okay, okay! I'll come and save you."
Rueben sighed and raised a white flag.
The little pouted, then let out a very bright smile.
"Ehe! That's right!"
Rueben looked at her becoming happy, raising both of her arms up in the air with a huge grin in her mouth. His lips unconsciously formed a slight smile.
He raised his hand and patted her head, "I'll protect you from now on."
She turned her little head towards him, then gave him a sweet smile, "Promise?"
"Promise."
Rueben said resolutely.
Knock, knock.
"Rueben? Sasha? Its us."
Female voices sounded out from behind the door.
"Its mommy!" The little girl, Sasha stood up and went to the door but Rueben stopped her.
"Is it safe to fly outside?"
"No, its not safe to fly outside, walk you damn brat!"
After hearing that, Rueben sighed in relief and opened the lock of the door.
Two women stood before them with a slight smile on their faces.
One of the women, Rueben's mother grabbed his head and rubbed it, "You cheeky little rascal! That was a good password."
"Mm."
"Don't you "mm" me! You cheeky brat!"
***
Rueben looked at his hand, filled with white liquid.
Then he turned to his mother, who softly held his hand and massaged it. Then she spread the white liquid to his arms.
Then she cupped his cheeks and rubbed it for a moment before smiling.
"Okay! With this extract, bugs would not be biting you and Sasha." The she stood up and stretched.
Looking through the bag, she then turned to the window.
"Don't go outside of the walls, okay? And if you hear anyone speaking from outside the wall, ignore it and immediately tell us, okay?"
Rueben nodded his head.
His mother smiled and gave him a hug, then pushed him to the door.
"Come back before dinner. Take care of Sasha and make sure she's safe." She said with a smile.
"Even if it costs you your life."
Rueben stared at her, then nodded at her words.
The door opened and Sasha was already waiting for him.
"Rueben! Hehe! Come, let's go play!"
Sasha held his hand and the two stormed off the house.
Rueben's mother sighed and cupped her left cheek, earning her a chuckle from Sasha's mother.
***
Sasha grabbed a piece of paper and put it down the ground.
Rueben stared at the paper, a map of the entire estate and cupped his chin with his hand.
"We should go here today." Sasha pointed at a location in the map, earning her a frown from Rueben.
"Stupid. We went there yesterday."
This remark earned him a pout and a soft smack on his head.
Rueben rubbed his head and pouted too. Then he turned to the map and poined at a location, "Here."
"Near the walls? Isn't that dangerous?"
The entire estate was one kilometre large. From that one kilometre was a huge wall that made beasts and monsters unable to enter. The walls were created to both deter anything that tries to approach it.
The estate was divided into 3 locations.
The House, a place where Rueben and his family lived.
The Forest, a location that took up most of the entire estate and hid many blind and hiding spots.
The Farm is where the entire family get their food from, processed and frozen food were stored there, a large farmland filled with vegetables could also be found there.
There were no animals because Rueben's father knew that the disease would only infect them and turn them into beasts so he killed all the animals in the estate along with Sasha's father.
The two killed every animal inside and everyday, they would patrol the estate and kill any animals that got inside and use their meat to feed the family.
"Well, not really. And i heard father and uncle were cutting down trees near the area. We could play with them."
Sasha thought for a moment, then nodded her head. Her face beamed and grabbed Rueben's hand and pointed at the sky.
"Let's go!"
Rueben smiled and followed after her.
"Pssst."
A few moments had passed when Rueben heard someone calling for him. He held Sasha's hand tightly and kneeled on the ground. He then hid in a bush and held Sasha's mouth shut.
Sasha immediately knew that something was wrong and looked around cautiously.
Just as she found that there wasn't anything around them, Rueben suddenly stiffened and let Sasha go.
Sasha swiftly rolled forward but before she could do so, a hand grabbed her.
The two children looked at the person who caught them with a frightened look.
"Children in this estate? Is someone living in that estate still? Or did the Luton family survive the pandemic?" An old man stared at the two of them.
On his back were two long swords, wearing a full metal plated coat, a belt over his chest with two pistols strapped in the belt.
The old man had a full beard but it completely blended his looks, making him a handsome old man.
The old man turned to look at Sasha, then to Rueben. For a moment he stared at Rueben before he put them down and patted their shoulders.
"Its dangerous for children to go out of the house, much less two weaklings like you."
Rueben stared at the old man with a cautious look, he held Sasha's hand and the two of them stepped back for a few steps.
The old man saw this and let out an impressed grin. "Were you trained?"
It was obvious that they were trained, from the forms of their stance to how quick they were to react when he called to them...
Though who trained them remains unknown, the old man thought to himself.
Looking at the boy infront of him, sprouting dark brown hair and black eyes, a somewhat good looking face but that's just it.
Then the old man turned to the little girl, having golden colored hair that shone even in the darkness, blue eyes filled with innocence.
The old man placed his hand on his mouth and muttered, "Such good looking children... But that's all." The old man stood up and stretched.
"With walls in this estate, someone or something would be living in it. Tell me, children, aside from you, is there anyone else?"
Rueben stared at him with a cautious look on his face. "No"
He answered swiftly without any hesitation.
"A lie." The old man grinned.
"That means someone is here, probably an older brother, sister, or parents?"
Rueben stared at him in a daze.
The old man laughed and gave Rueben a winning grin, "Parents it is. Dear me, they should also train you to lie a bit better."
"Lying is not only through the mouth, it is also through the way you hold yourself while lying through your mouth that makes the lie much more credible like the truth."
Then he turned around and smiled, "Come now, children. I mean no harm."
Rueben's mother was behind the old man, with a rifle on her hands pointing the nozzle at the back of his head.
"Get away from my children."
"..." Whistling while looking at her rifle, he stared at the woman in the eyes and let out a grin, "As i have said, i come with no harm."
"I highly doubt that."
"Hn. So does your husband."
His eyes then turned deeper into the forest where a man wearing glasses was looking at them, his brown eyes glowing in the shade of the trees.
He held what seemed to be a saw tied in a stick, making it into a makeshift spear of some kind.
The old man shrugged his shoulders and cleared his throat. Then he grabbed the ends of his hat and bowed down deep towards them.
"Good evening, my fellow survivors. I am Alan Mortimer, a wandering Hunter who seeks out survivors like you."
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