Chapter 38 Chapter Thirty-eight

"Do you know what this neighborhood is called?" Sifna asked.Looking at the ugly landscape of charred houses in ruins and abandoned vehicles after driving inside, she felt frustrated and helpless.It was near the middle of the third day of their escape from the hideout, and the radiance of Ornas shone relentlessly on all the black walls and broken windows. Theremon shook his head. "What, it sounds silly, can you believe it, like a prime location, Salo estate or something. It doesn't seem to matter what it's called now, it's not a neighborhood anymore. Sever na here It used to be a real estate development site, but now it has become a suburb of the fallen city of Saro, which is only used by people for archaeological purposes. "

They came to a place that formed the outskirts of the southern suburbs of Saro City.Further out is the agricultural belt, small towns, and farther away, the incredible distance... is their destination, Amgando National Park. It took them two days to cross the forest.They slept the first night in a hut that Theremon had built, and the second in the bushes halfway up a rugged hillside leading to Point Onas.During this time, there was no sign of any fire patrol following them, and it was clear that Altinol had no intention of following them, even though they were armed and had two sacks full of provisions.And, Sifna was sure, they were out of his control.

She asked, "Isn't the Great Southern Highway around here?" "If we're lucky, there won't be a big fire blocking our progress, and we'll be there in two or three miles." "Auspicious people and heaven, believe this." He laughed. "Usually optimistic, eh?" "It's better than being pessimistic," she said. "We'll get through anyway." "Yes, there will be a way." They moved steadily forward.It looked as if Theremon had recovered from his beatings in the forest, from his days of real starvation, and he had an astonishing power of resilience.Despite Sifna's strength, she had to struggle to keep up with him.

She was also doing her best to keep her spirits up.From the moment she set out, she sounded the note of hope consistently, always confident, always sure they would make it to Amgando safely, sure there were already men like them on the way. Working hard to plan to rebuild the world. But deep down Sifna was less determined, and the further she and Theremon walked toward the once pleasant suburbia, the more frightened, shocked, disappointed, a complete failure. This is a nightmarish world. There is no escape from its ferocity.Everywhere you go, all you see is devastation. look!she thought.Look around, there is devastation, ruins, and the walls of the collapsed houses are already covered with weeds, occupied by lizard groups that arrived earlier.Everywhere was the dreary remnant of that dreadful night, when the gods once again sent their curse upon the world.On the grounds of the fire, doused by the recent rain, a thick cloud of smoke rises, giving off a foul smell... Another white, pungent smoke rises from the burning cellar and curls up ...stains on everything...the streets are littered with dead bodies.Their bodies were contorted, showing how painful it was when they were dying... The few survivors gazed crazily, staring out from the ruins of their home from time to time...

A prosperous dynasty has fallen, and all greatness and nobility are gone.Everything is in ruins, everything... she thought, as if the tide had risen and swallowed all our achievements. Sifna is no stranger to ruins; her life's work has been digging them up.However, the ruins she excavated are all ancient, old, mysterious and romantic.But what she saw now was too sudden, all this made people feel uncomfortable, and there was no romance at all.She can readily accept the lost civilizations of the past.They carry little emotional weight on her, and now her own era is being swept into the dustbin of history.It was unbearable.

Why did all this happen?she asked herself.Why?Why?Why? Are we too evil?Could it be that we have strayed too far from God's track and should be punished like this? No. Absolutely not. There is no God and no punishment. Sifna is still so persistent.She has no doubt that this is just a coincidence of fate, not caused by human beings, but a coincidence that the inanimate, vast world and the sun converge relentlessly every 2,000 years. That's all.Purely accidental. An accident that Kalgesh has had to endure repeatedly throughout its history. The stars will show their majesty from time to time.In the agony of despair and terror, humans would unconsciously destroy their own masterpieces, driven mad by the darkness, driven mad by the ruthless and fierce light of the stars.It's an infinite loop.The ruins of Tombo speak for themselves.And now it's all Tombo again.As Thelimon said: this place has now been turned into an archaeological site.Not bad at all.

The world they once knew no longer exists.But we are still here, she thought. what should we do?What will we do? The only consolation she could find in the midst of this desolation was the fond memory of that first night in the hermitage with Theremon. It came so suddenly, so unexpectedly, so wonderfully.She kept thinking about that moment over and over again in her mind.His weird, shy smile when he asked her to stay with her...wasn't a sneaky seduction trick!And the look in his eyes.His hands caressing her skin...his embrace, his breath mingling with hers. She hasn't been with a man in a long time!She had almost forgotten what it felt like...almost.At that time, I was panting and uneasy every time, with a feeling of making a mistake and going the wrong way, but it was different from Theremon: there was no obstacle, no reluctance, no fear, it was convincing, and it was permission.To put it bluntly, in such a broken glass and devastated environment, she no longer needs to be alone, she needs to form an alliance with others.And what about Theremon?Although a bit rude, she is upright and straightforward, strong and strong, just what she needs and desires to rely on.So she sacrificed herself without hesitation and without regret.How ironic, she thought, that she fell in love at the end of the world!Although she lost everything, at least she had love.

"Look there," she said, pointing, "a highway sign." It was a baffle made of green metal, hanging crookedly from a lamp post. Its surface was blackened by smoke, and there were three or four holes that might have been pierced by bullets.However, the eye-catching yellow characters are still visible: Great Southern Highway.An arrow directs them to go straight ahead. "The Great Southern Highway isn't a mile or two from here," said Theremon. "We should be in--" Suddenly, a bullet whistled past, followed by a bang, and Sifna was startled and covered her ears with her hands.After a while, she felt Theremon grabbing her arm and pulling her to the ground.

"Climb down!" he whispered. "Someone shot!" "Who? Where?" He held the pocket pistol in his hand, and so did she.Looking up, she saw the bullet hit the road sign: a new hole had appeared between the first two words, and several letters had been sent flying. Thelimon, who was curled up, quickly moved towards the nearest building.Sifna followed him, feeling unmasked, a thousand times worse than standing naked in front of Althinor and the fire patrol.The next bullet could come from any direction at any moment, and she simply couldn't defend herself.Even as she stood curled up against Therimon in the corner of a house in the alley, she felt insecure, her breathing rapid and her heart pounding.

He looked down at the row of charred houses at the other end of the street. On the far corner, two or three remained intact.Now she saw dirty, ghostly faces peering out of the windows of the furthest house. "Someone's there, transient, I bet, or crazy." "I see it." "There was no fear of our patrol scarves, so far from the city, maybe the patrol didn't work against them. Maybe it was because we were wearing scarves that they shot at us." "You think so?" "Anything is possible." Theremon moved forward a little. "What I want to know is, are they trying to attack us for base and nasty reasons, or are they just trying to frighten us? If they want to shoot road signs Shoot us like that, then we can get away as best we can. But if it's just a warning..."

"I thought so too. It's impossible for the bullet to miss the road sign. It's so mysterious." "Perhaps so," said Therimon, frowning, "I thought I'd let them know we were armed, to prevent them from sending someone up to scout, sneak out of some house, and attack from behind. " He looked at his pocket gun, adjusted the scales to maximum width and distance, then raised it, firing a bullet.A flash of red chirped through the air, hitting the ground directly in front of the building where several faces appeared.The grass where it landed was scorched, and a plume of smoke rose up. Sifna asked, "You think they saw it?" "Unless they're completely out of their minds, they won't miss it. I guess they see it, yes. And don't like it at all." The face appeared at the window again. "Lie down," warned Theremon, "they have a heavy shotgun, and I see the muzzle." There was another chirp, another loud bang. The road sign wobbled and fell to the ground. "They may be crazy," Sifna said, "but with good intentions." "So kind. They fired the first shot, just for fun, to taunt us. They told us if we showed up, they'd blow us away. They've got us in check, and they're having fun .” "Can we get out of here by the other side of the alley?" "It's full of rubble. It looks like there are more temporary residents waiting for us there!" "Then what shall we do?" "Fire that house," said Theremon, "and burn them all. If they're too mad to surrender, kill them." Her eyes widened. "Kill them?" "Yes, yes, I'll kill them if they push us beyond our means. Do you want to get to Amgando, or would you rather hide in this alley for the rest of your life?" "But, you can't kill people, even if you...even if they..." Her voice dropped, and she didn't know what she was trying to say. "Even if they tried to kill you, Sifna? Would you have fun even if their bullets whizzed past your ears? Wouldn't you kill them? She didn't answer.She had thought she knew how the new, diabolical world created by the night of the eclipse was supposed to work, but now she realized she didn't understand anything, nothing at all. Theremon crawled a little further up the street, aiming his pocket gun.Fiery flashes hit the white facades of houses along the street, and the wood began to blacken immediately.A small flame rose, lit a live wire on the front of the house, paused, and fired again. "Give me your gun," he said, "mine's too hot." She handed him the weapon.He adjusted the weapon and fired a third time.Now the entire front of the house is ablaze.Through the flames, Theremon aimed toward the interior of the house. Not long ago, Sifna thought, that cabin belonged to someone.The people who live there are family and they feel very proud of their home.Their neighbors... tend their lawns meticulously, water their plants, play with their pets, set up dinner parties for their friends, sit in the yard with a drink and watch the sun pass through the sky Pass.And now all that is gone.Now Theremon was lying flat in the alley of ash and debris, firing efficiently and rhythmically at the house.Because this was the only way for them to safely escape from this street and continue to Amgando Park. A nightmarish world, not bad indeed. Now, a plume of smoke is rising from the house.The entire left side of the front of the house was on fire. People jumped out of second-story windows. Three, four, a total of five people.They were choked by the smoke, panting, three men and two women.They fell on the lawn, and lay there for a while, as if fainted.Their clothes were dirty and ragged, their hair was disheveled, and they looked like madmen.They were not like that at all before sunset, and now they are only part of a great crowd of wild-eyed, brutish-looking rogues.They were suddenly assailed by a frightening, swooning astral light that drove them into perhaps permanent insanity. "Stand up!" Theremon called to them. "Hands up! Now! Come, let them stand up!" He stepped out, revealing himself, holding two pocket guns.Sifna came out and stood beside him.At this moment, the entire house was shrouded in thick smoke, and a huge and terrible tongue of flame engulfed the entire building, burning like a crimson flag. Is anyone else trapped inside?who knows?So what does it matter? "Form there!" ordered Theremon. "That's it! Face left!" They stood at attention scatteredly.A man moved a little slower, and Theremon shook his gleaming pocket gun in his face, urging him to cooperate. "Run now, toward the street! Come on! Come on!" One side of the house collapsed with a loud bang, exposing rooms, closets and furniture like a toy house cut away.Everything was on fire, and the men ran into the corner.Theremon kept yelling at them, urging them to run on, occasionally firing a shot at their heels. Then he turned to Sifna. "Okay, let's get out of here!" They holstered the pocket guns, turned away from the street, and ran in the direction of the Great Southern Highway. "What if they actually come out and shoot?" Sifna asked afterward, as they crossed the fields and came to the entrance to the highway. "Are you really going to kill them, Therimon?" He looked at her firmly and seriously. "If that's the only way we can escape that little lane, I think I said before, of course I would. What choice would I have? I have no choice!" "No choice, I suppose," Sifna said, her voice barely audible. The sight of burning houses still burns her heart, and the sight of ragged people fleeing down the street. But, she reassured herself, they had fired first, they had caused the trouble.I wonder what they would have done, and how long they would have shot, if the idea of ​​burning the house hadn't suddenly occurred to Theremon. that house...someone's house... Not anyone's house, she corrected. "reached".Serimon said, "The Great Southern Highway. If you drive, you can safely reach Amgando in 5 hours, and you can also have dinner there!" "If only we had driving tools," Sifna said. "It can only be an 'if'," he said.