The river.

Chapter Twenty Five

"Guys? Mom? Peter?" Johnny stood up, looking all lost and confused. He was literally in the middle of nowhere.

"Moooom!!!" He shouted once more, with the hope that his mother would come to his rescue but alas! It's not very normal for anyone to appear out of nowhere in the middle of a black sand dessert.

The sun was scorching hot, I mean, double up the average temperatures of all the saunas you've been to. Exactly. Poor Johnny stood up, looking in all directions.

"How did I get here?" He kept asking himself, shaking in both fear and dilemma.

"Peter! Mundas?" He called out again, but nothing.

"Fatheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!" He called out to his father, "Don't abandon me."

Poor Johnny, if only he knew his father was alive, looking for him. Worse, if only he knew another creature took his form, pretending to be him. Anyway, he decided he will walk straight, in one direction, towards the rising sun since that marked east.

"Johnny!" He woke up, startled by an incredibly beautiful girl, around his age. She was slightly taller, dark skinned and had long brown straight hair, almost as though her hair and skin were painted in one shade. Her light grey eyes would pierce through the hardest of souls. Her fingernails and toenails were so well kept. She had a small nose and slightly plumped lips, "It was just a bad dream, come here."

They were resting right against the wall of one of the mud houses in the camp, enjoying the mid-morning breeze.

"I still don't understand Talma, how did I get here?" Johnny asked as he lay down on her slender thighs that were beneath a long white robe.

"You never believe me when I tell you Jojo," she stroked his curly hair.

"You were unconscious, in the woods. You were bleeding, profusely, and I wouldn't let such a cute soul die, so I called my brother and he helped me bring you here, where we treated you. You kept calling for your father and when my brother asked why you kept doing that, you narrated a story in your sleep," she explained.

Johnny sat upright and looked into her eyes, which he was trying so hard not to get lost to. He kept trying to talk but those eyes failed him. He couldn't help it.

"Hey," Talma snapped her fingers to bring Johnny back.

"Sorry what? Oh yeah, I sleep talked?" Johnny asked, with some sense of doubt, "I mean, no way. What was the story?"

"I don't wanna go there, let me enjoy seeing you smile now yes?" Talma stood up and stretched her arm to help Johnny up. He gazed at the floor, trying to remember how he lost his mother and Peter.

"The waterpoint! Is that where you found me?" Johnny asked.

Talma looked back as she slowly began walking and nodded, then faced forward, tucking a thread of hair behind her right ear, "come on, soup awaits!"

The refugees loved Talik's soup, Talma's brother. No one ever knew what the soup was made of, nor did anyone know why he only made soup and nothing else. The thick consistency, almost as that of porridge was what made it so filling. He gave it to his neighbours, every single day, for free then sold it to other people.

"So where did you guys come from?" Johnny asked as they walked through the camp's market, with concrete blocks that had round holes for windows and green tents right below them where the residents sold food stuffs mostly.

"A small town called Nelai, right before the Eldon Capital," she answered.

Johnny looked at her and smiled, she was gazing down as she was walking and talking to him, her side view was very distracting too, how her eyes reflected the world, how her small nose revealed its tip right below her cheekbones.

"What?" She smiled as she looked at Johnny.

"I come from the Eldon Capital, which makes you," he turned towards her and tapped her small nose with his index finger, "my neighbour."

They both snorted and looked forward and proceeded walking.

"I was cooking for my family, one specific night, and a group of soldiers banged down the door and randomly shot anyone at their sight. My parents and sister were shot and died instantly, I managed to hide behind the curtains, trying so hard not to make any sound, I held my breath for as long as I could," Talma explained, tears ran down her cheeks, "my brother was right behind his bedroom door, had they turned to see what was there..." She stopped walking and covered her mouth, crying. She let out a sob.

"Come here," Johnny tiptoed to comfort his beautiful friend. Everything will be okay. Johnny got emotional too, remembering how his mother came home completely down when his father was shot dead. They both cried and hugged each other tightly.

"The soup," they let go of each other and wiped their tears and running noses.

"You were late kids," Talik was at the door, waiting to ruin their afternoons, "you can cook some eggs instead."

Talma walked in, "you two look miserable," Talik complained.

Johnny stood outside, debating on whether to tell Talma his story or not.

"Come in kiddo," Talik invited him in.

He followed Talma straight to the kitchen. Talik watched them go and formed a wide smile, almost as though he loved the idea of them two being together, depending on what you want to take together as.

"Pan?" Talma asked.

"Pan," Johnny handed it to her.

"Oil?"

"On it."

"Ouch!" Johnny hit his head on the shelf above him as he was closing it.

"Are you okay?" Tamla rushed to check on him.

"Clumsy me," he looked aside and rubbed his forehead.

"Let me see," Tamla insisted.

"I'm fine," Johnny assured her.

"Why did you cry when I hugged you?" Talma asked Johnny with a concerned face.

"When you mentioned how you lost your parents, I remembered the day my father died. He was shot. And ever since, my mother has never really been okay," Johnny explained.

Talma hugged him, Johnny sinking his head under her chin. He cried even more, "Let it out dear, let it out," Tamla advised.

"Let's get you back to your mother, where in Eldon Capital exactly?" Tamla asked.

"I don't have a home anymore, we were attacked too, we were lucky to have seen them seconds before they targeted our house and escaped," Johnny explained, still hugging her.

"I've lost them, I've lost the only family I had and a friend too," Johnny complained.