Chapter 38 - Trapped

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Yibo sat down on the hay-covered floor and pulled me to him between his legs. He wrapped his arms around me, kissed my cheek, and finally laid his head on my shoulder before asking the three of them, "So first of all, we're glad you're alive and well, He Peng. But how did you get into captivity and when? And Haikuan and Cheng? Why are you here and not in your bunker?"

Since Yibo asked him first, He Peng answered first. "I'm also glad you guys are still alive. I was already caught at the cave. I had gone outside because I needed to empty my bladder and when I went back, I heard something crack. The next moment I felt a blow on the back of my head and I fainted. When I regained consciousness, I was in a kind of wooden cage in another cave. There they held me captive with two meals a day until a week ago. Then they set out with me and joined this King Raha."

"And did any of the Demoids or King Raha speak to you?" I asked.

He Peng shook his head. "No, not directly. I was just asked by this Raha if I knew where Bac was. That was all. No one spoke to me before or after."

Since He Peng didn't say anything else, Yibo pointed with a nod of his head to Haikuan and Cheng, who were sitting close together in the other corner of the small room. Haikuan explained, "We were looking for you. We couldn't reach you on the radios, and since we thought it was important for you to hear our news, we set out. Two nights ago we set out and were captured in the morning, just before dawn."

"And what was the important news?" Asked Yibo.

"We were finally able to make contact with the bunker where you think your parents are. We asked about your parents, but they told us that those four people are not, or ever were, in the bunker. They said they also don't have room for more survivors because they are already overcrowded since the beginning of the apocalypse. They are running out of food, water has to be rationed. The diesel for the generators is also only enough for maybe two weeks." Explained Haikuan.

"Mhhh, so they've been hiding in the bunker non-stop, never going outside?" I asked.

"That's how they communicated it." Said Cheng.

"I understand. What I don't understand is that they must have known that they would have been relatively safe at night. They could have looked for fire trucks from the fire department and used the water in the water tanks. It might be a little stale, but it would be drinkable. And diesel they could get from the broken down cars and trucks. In addition, we saw on the map that the bunker is in a relatively large locality. There should be grocery stores there, too. So why didn't they get anything?" Asked Yibo.

Haikuan and Cheng shrugged their shoulders. "You can't ask us those questions Yibo. We weren't there and we have no idea why they didn't do this or that." Replied Haikuan.

Of course, Haikuan was absolutely right. We really couldn't ask him these questions. Maybe, if we make it out of here alive, we can ask them the question ourselves. Either way, Yibo and I have to go there if we want to get to the last place we know where our parents were. And maybe still are?

Yibo was probably asking himself the same question I was, which is why he seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. I touched his hands, which he had placed around me on my belly. I guess that snapped him out of his thoughts, because he said, "Well, let's go over what we know so far."

"What exactly do you mean?" Asked Cheng.

"Well, where we are, who we're dealing with, what to expect, and how they knew where we were in the first place." Explained Yibo.

"I'll start. We are in an old country house or something like that. We are in captivity of the Demoids and their king Raha, who is still searching for King Bac. Which is probably why we're still alive. I suppose he wants to use us once again as bait to lure Bac in. And he knows Bac definitely wouldn't come if he killed us. So for now, at least my guess is, we're still safe." I said.

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