Irradiated

Chapter 15: The Bomber

The Belgium border was just a mile or so away. Derrick had said that we would rest once we got there, since we were traveling for an entire day now. The fact that we had fallen behind didn't seem to bother him too much. It was because of him that we were behind, or at least that was the way he thought it to be. Either way, he didn't seem to care when we got there now, but it didn't mean he still didn't want to get there as quickly as humanly possible.

Night was about to take over, just as we finally made it into Belgium. I could tell we all felt secretly accomplished from the sudden happy mood we all expressed as we talked to each other and ate our fill. I could especially tell that Naomi and Mac were the happiest out of the five of us. The Netherlands didn't seem to come to their liking and being able to explore a different place might have given them a bit of hope.

The setting sun in the distance seemed to warm all of our hearts, seeing it glide past the horizon and darken the world, giving the moon its turn to shine. Our eyes sparkled in the slight moonlight of the waning moon that gave off a distant glow.

"Well, this certainly all paid off." Derrick grinned softly.

"No kidding. Going through what we did, it's nice to have finally made it to Belgium." I replied, speaking in a low and relaxed voice.

"It's just one more country to go, and we'll be in France." Angeli whispered, closing her eyes as if to imagine it herself. Mac remained silent, while Naomi hummed softly to a strangely familiar tune.

"Naomi? What are you humming?" I finally recognized it. The song from my nightmare - the one I couldn't remember. She glanced up at me with a confused look.

"Humming? I wasn't humming." I felt my warmed heart become a frigid and cold block of ice.

"T-that wasn't you?" I stuttered, clambering up to stand on my feet.

"Mathias, something's wrong about you. You've been acting like this for days! What is going on?" Angeli stood up and faced me, a demanding look on her face. It looked like she had finally had it with my panicked mood at strange things.

"I'll explain later." I mumbled, trying to walk away, but she grabbed my wrist before I could turn.

"No." She shook her head sadly. "If you keep this inside, forgive me for saying this, but you'll end up just like your brother. And honestly, I don't see you as a murderer." Her voice became silent at the last sentence. "It's just not you."

We stared at each other for several seconds before she finally just let go of my wrist and sat back down quietly, continuing to stare at the sky. No one said anything and I felt a surge of guilt rush through me. I was not only unable to recognize my strange connection with The Bomber, but I wasn't able to talk about it to anyone either. All the while, it was starting to make them worry. Even if Derrick never expressed his worries, I knew he at least must have felt something towards by jumpy and paranoid change of character.

I gave out a soft moan, causing them to stare up at me. I only slumped down to the ground, my face buried in my hands. Then, my hands moved up towards my hair, disappearing into the mess of the light brown strands. I stayed like that for a while, before hearing the humming again.

"Alright, that's it!" I screamed angrily, abruptly standing up again. "Who the hell are you?" I asked the wind, a deep rage surging within me. It was such a rage, that I cursed without even realizing it. I couldn't see the other four's faces, but they were probably scared out of their minds, because I was just yelling at absolutely nothing. Or so, it seemed.

To our surprise, the hooded figure I had seen twice before this time walked out from the shadowed bushes and trees, stepping into the moonlight.

"How sad." She shook her head softly. "You really don't remember me, Mathias?" Immediately, they stood up and formed a line beside me, the five of us staring at her with a mixture of anger, confusion, and disbelief.