We are called « the survivors »

VI

It was dawn when they woke up. The rising sun had left a red and orange sky above their heads. The survivors felt the warmth of the sun on their body and smiled. In the base, their was only one window that had to be closed most of the times to prevent the robots from seeing it. It was one of the first time since the invasion that they had seen the sun and they had almost forgotten the sensation of its soft warmth on their skin. The joy of this awakening had almost made them forget about the horrors that had happened the day before. Shanna's face turned angry and sad. She felt a deep rage in her mixed up with the sadness of losing someone she loved. She stood up
and ran into the forest. She had to see his body, she at least wanted to bury him properly. He had died as a hero after all.
"Shanna come back! Where are you going?" Anna yelled.
She didn't answer and continued running, head down. When she arrived into the forest, she stopped, looked around, then down. At first, she couldn't see anything but after some cautious steps, she saw it. His body. She was far from it but near enough. His face was all red, covered with white blisters. Shanna took a hand at his mouth. The smell of the corpse was repulsive. She turned around, disgusted and crying. Anna and Emma were behind her, paralysed. After some minutes, Emma said, sadly:
"We have to bury him."
The teens got some shovels out. They started digging silently, thinking about the horrors that this represented. Sixteen years old! That was the age where you are supposed to be a student, pass exams, go out with friends and have a girlfriend. Not die in the forest because of some radiation wave. After digging, Emma and Shanna lifted the body and put it in the grave. The silence was so loud and heavy that Anna said with a broken voice:
"Brendan, rest in peace, you have always been a great friend to us all. We won't forget you, ever. "
Shovel in hand they started, one by one resealing the grave. Then, Shanna moved away further in the forest and picked up some flowers. She gently put the flowers down on the tomb in a B shape.
"I have to go and check on the man." Announced Emma. "Don't stay out there too long, you know what could happen."
She turned back to the campside outside the forest. Ryan was up, preparing a fire for the breakfast. She could see from his face that he wasn't feeling well.
"We have buried him..." she said slowly, helping Ryan with the fire.
"I'll go and say goodbye".
Ryan had said it trying to conceal his emotion. Emma knew it, he was feeling guilty. For him, it was his fault, he was the leader, he was the one that had decided to go out on an expedition. Without him, none of this would have happened:
"You know it is not your fault right?"
"Of course it is my fault. Ailana was right." Ryan said angrily.
He had this rage inside him that he couldn't control, the rage of being a bad leader, the rage of, after just one day out of the base, already having a body to bury.
"No it is not Ryan. We all knew what a risk that was and yet, we all chose to follow you. It's nobody's fault! We couldn't have saved him, the fog was catching him. You would have died trying to save him."

Ryan looked away and started walking towards the forest. He had to say goodbye to Brendan. Emma entered the man's tent. He was still there, lying down, motionless. She kneeled down and took his pulse. He was breathing. Just in case he would wake up, she tied the man's hands and feet with a rope. It was a good thing they had searched him the night before, taking every weapon he had on him, which consisted of knives and daggers. His clothes were filled with blood especially his leg's. She torn the clothes so as to see what had been bleeding so much. The man had been shot in the leg probably by the robots. She was surprised to see his wound wasn't infected and had nearly cicatrised. She left the injury to search his muddy bag. In it, she found a scan insulating blanket, some clothes and a cylindrical item. She didn't know what it was. On its sides, she spotted a square-shaped button. Hesitating, she pressed the button but quickly shut it down when high-pitched sounds resonated in her ears. Her head started to hurt and she felt dizzy. It was a machine capable of creating illusions. That was it, it was him who had illusioned Anna! She knew it because it was the only illusion machine whose sound was capable of making people feel dizzy after only two seconds. She went out of the tent handing the illusion machine. When she saw that Anna and Emma were back from the forest, she shouted:
"Anna I've found it. Inside is the man who illusioned you with this machine."
They smiled. Back at the base, they could interrogate him and finally have answers to their questions. They ate their breakfast quickly and packed the tents up. They had to go back before Ailana turned crazy. Ryan had got back from the forest. He looked better, more peaceful as if his goodbyes had helped him in his grief. He took his backpack and led the way. They were going back home.
~
"Ailana! Come upstairs!" Yelled J excited by his discovery.
Ailana raised her head and climbed the ladder. Once she had reached his level, she looked at J and said enthusiastically:
"What is it? Have you located them?"
"No, but if what I am thinking is right, then it is much much better."
Ailana sighed, she was worried. It had been one whole day without any sign of life from her friends.
"Come on, tell me, what is it ?" she asked
"To be sure of what I am telling you, I need to go out." announced J calmly.
"No, you are not going anywhere, I've ..."
But before she could continue, J shouted:
"I know, I know that you don't want to risk more lives but if what I am thinking can work, it could save us all."