Emotions

Chapter 22: New Face

The decision was tough. Should she have heart attacks, but remain herself or take the pills, but lose herself more and more. I'm torn. What is for the best?

Helpless, the woman stares at me. Not knowing what to say, I remain silent. I look at the ground, the tears of the woman still dropping on the dirty floor. Not being able to help her makes me mad. It's the one goal I have in life, save other people and find out what is going on in the dammed city, but I can't even seem to do that. I shut my eyes, clamping my teeth in frustration.

''Well, I'm with you!'' A sudden yell echoes through the bunker. Once I open my eyes again, I see that it was the man, marching his way to the woman. Lido let the man pass, but keeps a close eye on him.

He bends down, taking hold of the trembling shoulders of the woman. 
''Listen to me. You have to take those pills. You want to see your daughter grow up, right?''
The woman raises her head, tears still pouring down her cheeks. In a soft tone, she answers;
''Y-yes... Of course, I do. But-''
''Then take them. Please...'' The man begs, pulling the woman in for an embrace. ''I'll be with you, to prevent you'll start losing yourself. I'll keep reminding you, again and again, that you are a tough, lovely woman.'' The man loses the battle against his tears. ''I promise.'' He adds wailing as a whimper escapes his mouth.
''I...'' The woman is at a loss of words. She puts her arms around the man, hugging him tight. ''Thank you.'' 

I take that as my cue to give the two of them some space. I join up with Lido, who's anger has settled down after the heartwarming moment. As we watch them, Lido suddenly gets sentimental.
''I'm glad you have my back.'' He says, giving me an honest smile. 
''Me too, bud.'' I grin back. 

After a while, the man and woman appear to feel much better. They each lean back, undoing their embrace. The woman looks perked up by the man's words, her tears have dried up. The man wipes away the last tears that slipped down his face. 

I then recall something very important. The fact that the kid of the government is on his way to this very bunker. 
''What's up, bud?'' Lido asks with a frown. 
''The kid... I totally forgot!'' I reply frazzeled. Lido's jumpy reaction makes it clear that he just remembered, too. 

We rush to the two sitting on the ground.

''Sorry to break it to you two but, we got to go.'' Lido's voice sounds rushed as he points to the vent.
''Why the hurry?'' The man asks, raising an eyebrow at us.
''Because someone is coming to inspect this place.'' I reply in a nervous tone.

The woman's eyes widen in shock. The man, however, lets out a short laugh.
''You're joking, right? There is no way that-'' But as the man turns to us, he sees our stale and sweaty faces. ''I see...'' The smile fades from his face. ''Then we have no second to waste.''

He helps the woman stand on her feet as they move to the vent. First, they boost me up. Once in, Lido follows. Lido pulls in the man with pure strength and the man reaches out to the woman to assist. 

With haste, we crawl to the outside world. Our feet and hands clanging against the metal. When the giant creaking fan comes into sight again, I felt like we did it. That we made it in time. The light hits my face and I feel relief. 

However, that was short-lived when an unknown voice rings through the vent, causing everyone to halt. I hold my breath, paying attention to the source. 

''Hm, so this is the case they wanted me to investigate, huh?'' The voice sounds like that of a young boy. ''But, I can't jump that high... Oh, I know!'' He says. The new idea that sparked from within him goes into action. We hear him rustle and shove things into place.

Thoughts of fear race through my mind. Should we go back and wait? No... No, we can't. If he finds his way in, there will be no place to run or hide...
Every possibility I can think of ends in us being seen. 

 I look over my shoulder, hoping Lido would have a better idea. At first, he shakes his head. But a sudden lightbulb moment creates a smug on his face. He then whispers:

''Hey, Ziro. How about surprising him by jumping out of the vent and make a run for it?'' He suggests, hitting his palm with his fist. 

I wanted to disagree with his reckless plan, but I couldn't think of any other way out of this situation. So, I nod back with certainty. 

''That's our best bet. You and I should get the jump on him. After that, we'll get him to leave. The faces of the man and woman are known by the government after all.'' 
Lido agrees. He turns around, explaining his plan to the other two. Once he finished, we part ways with the woman and the man, sneaking towards the blade. 

In a soft tone, I count down.
''Ready? 3...2...1... Now!'' We take the leap, hitting the young boy who has been stacking boxes to reach the vent. He gets thrown back with the mountain of boxes.
"Ah!" He yelps startled as he hits the ground. When we land I notice the boy is younger than us. He has strawberry blonde hair and a black scarf with the signature smiley face printed all over it.

"What the hell were you guys doing in that vent?!" He growls, rubbing the back of his head.
''We uh, found it! So, we went inside to check it out!'' Lido bluffs, faking a smile. I do my best to match his. The boy scans us with a skeptic look before giving a simple nod of the head.
"Okay then. I trust you this time." He gets up, readjusting his scarf and removing the dirt from his jeans. 

The moment we thought we were off the hook, he closes the distance between us, leaning in with an unsettling grin.
"But there won't be a next time, got it?"
I quickly nod. "Yes! Of course!" I respond in a rush as he backs away from me and turns around to walk off.
I and Lido both sigh in relief, but the lad turns on his heels as if he forgot something. His scarf flickers in the wind.
"Oh right. It isn't smart to walk around with those disguises. Maybe you can fool some of the staff with that, but it looks obvious to me." He looks over his shoulder with a smirk, before turning his head and continuing his destination down the road.

When he is out of sight we can finally let our guard down. We call the man and woman from the air vent. Lido and I help them to get down safely.
"Thank you." The man smiles.
"That sure was scary, wasn't it?" The woman adds shaken, staring off into the distance where the kid had wandered off in. Me and Lido share frowned look.
"Yeah, but we shouldn't stick around." I say with a nervous chuckle.

Still being a little jarred, we move to Lido's house.