A single car drove through dusty, abandoned roads and crumbling houses heading towards the only human settlement close by.
Skyy poked his head out of the window, taking in all these sights. As hours went by, he started to feel very weird. The earth he had read about was lush and filled with trees. Humans were so scarce, and they all lived amongst the trees.
But this place had landed in looked so... run down.
"don't you guys have fruit trees around here?" he looked towards the young man who was sleepily lying on the seat.
The young man did not respond. Instead, his sister in the driver's seat answered his curious question.
"Fruit trees? Those things are a rarity. We only had a few mutated plants around here. Since they were creeping close to our base, we had to take them down."
Skyy blinked confusedly., "Mutated plants?"
"hmm, you know plants that can move and eat you. That kind. The vines growing around here were not that bad, but they spread too fast, making it harder for us to travel through."
"oh...." Skyy leaned back. 'that's why it looks so abandoned.' he thought to himself consoling his slightly anxious heart.
Unknown to him, the young man beside him had opened his eyes and was peering at him intently.
Feeling his gaze, Skyy looked his way with a smile. "sleep. You look exhausted."
"Where did you meet trexa?"
"Huh?" Skyy tilted his head slightly. "who's trexa?"
"The rat. Where did you find the rat?"
"is she yours?" sky pointed at the small bundle of fluff that was carefully stowed in the passenger seat up front.
"hm, she disappeared when I was about ten years old."
"oh...." Skyy smiled softly. "I'm glad he is back home with her family. it was a bad fate to be caught by a scientist and to be experimented on."
Chen gritted his teeth. "it's this guy's friend who hurt trexa like this and you expect me to talk jovially to him,"
"he also was kidnapped obviously. So, show some kindness." she cutely glared back.
Grunting, Chen leaned back against his seat. "Fine." his narrowed eyes fell on the young man again. "Stop covering like an idiot and sit up. I'm not responsible if your back breaks."
Trembling, Skyy peaked out at him. "You promise you won't hurt me?"
"yeah yeah, so sit down properly. You're damaging the seat,"
Skyy glanced at the worn-out dusty, blood-soaked seats. 'it's already ruined...' Even so, he lowered his legs and sat down properly. "When are we going to find Kyle," he whispered.
"After we get to the base."
Skyy grew apprehensive. "When is that? Are you sure you sense Kyle?"
"Yeah, he is right up ahead." saying casually, the man closed his eyes again.
Skyy peered at him, biting his lips. 'is he lying.... they are not bad people, right?'
His wide eyes fell on the hole in the ceiling of the car. Then he gazed at the man who was nonchalantly seated beside him. A strange fear gripped his heart. 'Will he hurt me?'
As if sensing his apprehension, the eldest brother looked his way. "What?"
"n-nothing...." he glanced away instantly.
'They are dangerous.... I have to find Kyle soon and leave. We must stay as far away from these siblings,'
Chen held back a smirk. 'Gosh, he resembles a rabbit. But i need to stay vigilant. This guy is too weird, and his stories don't match up. He could be sent by one of those black flag bases.'
In recent years, a new base named black flag base appeared out of nowhere and started to plunder nearby bases. Till now at least five bases have fallen victim to their tyranny.
'Everything adds up now...'
'This guy must be their spy...'