Walk You Home

"An extraordinary discovery by our brilliant scientists, the solar power generator, which was published a year ago, will now be commercialized for general use starting today to replace our inefficient and non-renewable electricity sources. The government will provide subsidies to the entire population so that everyone can use them.

Currently, I am with Dr. Theodora Campbell, one of the scientists who contributed to the development of this power generator. Hello, Dr. Campbell, Today I would like to invite you to have a discussion about a few things. The first one is …."

I could only smile as I gazed at the billboard displaying the face of a woman in her forties being interviewed. Her firm jawline and graceful demeanor captivated the attention of many people. Not only did I stop on the sidewalk in front of that billboard to see my mother, but many others also stopped around here to watch the footage. I was holding hands with my younger sister who had a striking resemblance to the woman in the footage.

***

Today, 3 days from the worst day I ever experienced. That day was when I had to be separated from my mother and had to take my younger sister back to where my father is, a place I still don't know exactly where he is. Only a letter was given to me, without saying anything, just entrusted to his colleague to give it to me.

That day, at 2 in the morning, someone came knocking on our door. With a feeling of fear and worry, and also a sense of relief because I thought my mother had come home since she hadn't been home for 2 days. I opened the door and found a familiar figure standing in front of my house wearing all-covered clothes.

The first thing I said when I saw the man's face was, "Uncle Parker? Where's my mom? Why are you here at this time??" He didn't answer, only handed me a letter and car keys, which I knew were his car keys, not my mother's. He said the letter was from my mother. He also said we had to leave this town as soon as possible. But why? What's wrong? How is my mother? But Mr. Parker only asked me to read the letter after he left.

The letter said:

Dear Chris,

You may be confused about what is happening, but if you ask if I'm okay, yes, I'm okay at the moment. Thank your uncle because he was able to give you this letter. Don't look for me; it's not safe here. Go to your father's house in the village; I entrust your sister, Claire, to you. Take care of her, take her to your father's house. There, you will find happiness. I have told you about your father's place, haven't I? Maybe you don't remember much, but you used to live there 12 years ago until you were 5 years old, and when your sister was 1 year old.

That green and beautiful land, I'm sure it's the best place for you to go back to right now. Go, don't look for me. I will join you there if this unrest can be resolved. Walk out of this town through the west gate, keep walking west, then ask about the town of Alba to anyone you meet. Your destination village is Irvine, behind the hill behind the town of Alba.

Take care of your sister, and walk your sister home. I love you, Chris, my son. I love you two, my children.

With love,

Mommy

I could only cry while reading the letter sent by my mother. I wondered if I would ever be able to see her again. But I hoped that wouldn't be the case. With a tumultuous heart, I immediately woke up my sister and invited her to leave the town right away. I prepared clothes and whatever food was available, and Uncle Parker had also prepared plenty of food and supplies in the car he gave me.

That morning, at 4 o'clock, my sister and I finally left the town. We arrived outside the town at 5 o'clock, and it was very quiet because each town here is not directly connected to another town, and the distances between them are quite far. My sister sat next to me, asleep, hugging her favorite pillow that she always brings when we travel long distances.

"Don't worry, I'll take you home," I said while stroking her light brown hair.

At 6 o'clock, we had traveled quite far from the town, but we could still see it behind us—the town that had raised us with love and care. After a while, when we stopped by the roadside to have some food, we heard a loud explosion. We could hear it from a distance of about 20 kilometers. Then, thick smoke rose from the city we had left that morning. My sister screamed hysterically and pulled me to go back to the city.

"Mommy!!! Let's go back, big brother. Mom is still there. Let's take Mom with us," she said while crying and screaming.

I could only hug her and try to calm her down. I had promised our mother not to go back there again. "Don't worry, believe that Mom will be fine. Mom promised to join us at Dad's house after this. Do you believe Mom, right?"

"But it exploded, Chris. The city is now covered in smoke. I'm scared. How is Mom? Mom will be fine, right, Chris?" she said while holding my slightly damp shirt due to her tears.

"I can't promise you anything, but believe in Mom. She said she would be fine. So she will be fine. Mom is a strong person. Do you believe it, right?" I reassured her. I was scared, but there was nothing I could do. I could only follow what Mom had said and bring Claire to Dad's house.

"Yes," she replied softly.

***

Back to the present, it has been three days since we embarked on this journey. I carefully drove Uncle Parker's car. Fortunately, the conditions outside the city are not bad. Everything is still normal, except that the prices of food and fuel are higher than usual. Luckily, we have plenty of food and fuel in the car, so we don't need to buy any. When night falls, sometimes we stay in hotels if we find a town, but if not, we sleep in the car, pulling over and hiding our car on the side of the road.

"Chris, why is it so far away? When will we arrive?" Claire said, sounding quite bored with this rather monotonous journey.

"There's a town up ahead, we'll ask if our destination is still far or not, okay?" I replied, smiling and facing her.

In the late afternoon, we finally arrived at a town called Albus. Like the previous towns we entered, maybe because there are problems in our hometown, every town now has tighter security. Fortunately, I have a national identity card, so we can enter, but of course, we're not exempt from inspections. There's nothing suspicious because all we have with us are food, clothes, and fuel for our journey so far.

Our first destination is a motel on the outskirts of the town. Before checking in, I asked about our intended city, Alba. The receptionist was surprised to know that we had traveled quite a long way and that we came from Cellos. Finally, we found out that Alba is still very far from here, approximately a 2-day journey by the jeep we've been driving all this time. The receptionist said that on our journey, we will still encounter two more towns, Lecra and Radna.

The receptionist also advised us to be careful because that town is not very friendly. He said it's better to take a detour around the town instead of going into Lecra. Luckily, I found kind people here, so I can learn about things that I should avoid during this journey.

Finally, after getting a room, we went to sleep. My sweet little sister still hugged me tightly in her sleep. We are very close, and I love her so much. Since our mother is busy, I've always been the one who is with her.

"Sleep tight, I promise we will arrive safely soon."

***

After morning came, as a precaution, I bought several liters of fuel for our vehicle and continued the journey toward the city of Lecra. The city looked like a dwarf city that I often read about in books. Large buildings made of clay, it felt like seeing a city from the Stone Age. From the outside, its aura appeared somewhat gloomy, and it reminded me of what the motel receptionist I met in the previous town had said.

Finally, I decided to bypass the city and not enter it. However, I didn't realize that some of the city guards seemed to notice that there was a jeep trying to go around their town. They chased us and shot arrows toward my car. I accelerated and distanced myself from the city, but a jeep of the same size as mine continued to follow closely behind me. I wanted to stop, but I didn't have any weapons to defend myself. The only thing I had was the revolver that Uncle Parker had slipped into the pocket of the small bag I always carried on my chest. Fortunately, during our entry into the previous towns, no one stopped me because of that item.

After a while, they were still following at a close distance. Finally, I decided to stop. Hopefully, they would realize that we just wanted to pass through and had no ill intentions toward their city.

"What are you doing outside the city like this? Oh my, why is a child your age driving a car outside the city? Oh, God, not alone apparently, you're with a little girl?" said one of them, whom I assumed was their commander.

"I'm sorry, sir. We just want to pass through, we're only going to another city to find our family, not to do anything bad to this city. Please let us go, sir," I pleaded.

"Where are you from? And why are you going this far without any adults accompanying you?" the person asked again.

"We're from Cellos, I don't know what happened there, but my mother asked me to take my little sister back to our hometown. Do you know the current situation in Cellos? We've been away from the city for about five days, I think," I briefly explained about myself, hoping to be allowed to leave soon.

"I heard that the city is almost completely destroyed. There was a bombing from a foreign country that wanted to seize the people's invention in that city. I don't know the exact details because this city is not well connected to other cities. That's why we're concerned that there might be infiltrators coming to harm this city as well."

"Chris, is Mom okay? She said the city is destroyed. How is Mom? Those bad people must have done something bad to her. I'm scared, Chris," my little sister, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke up. With a trembling voice and tears streaming down her face, she held onto my shirt tightly.

"Mom is surely fine. Trust me."

"What is your mother's name? Maybe I can help someday if she passes through this city like you two," the person said. I felt that they were not bad people. Thank goodness.

"Theodora Campbell. Dr. Theodora Campbell, one of the scientists who created the technology that was eventually destroyed by those foreigners." The people looked shocked when I mentioned my mother.

"Go now, I hope you reach your destination safely," they finally allowed us to leave. It seemed like they knew something about my mother, but I decided to quickly leave and continue our journey.

***

Going around that city turned out to take quite a long time. It wasn't just one or two hours, but we had to walk for 4 hours. It was probably around 9 p.m. when we stopped to rest after passing through the city of Lecra. Our car was running out of fuel, probably only enough for another 100 km from here. I hoped that the next city wasn't too far from this one or maybe there would be a fuel seller outside the city before we reached the next city.

Finding a fairly large tree by the roadside was something very valuable to us at that time. I pulled over the car we were in and parked it under the tree. I asked my sister, Claire, to move to the back seat to sleep for more comfort.

"Move to the back, Claire. We will rest tonight. Don't force yourself to stay awake," I said to her, which was only answered with a nod as she already looked very sleepy.

At five in the morning, we continued our journey towards Radna. Fortunately, it turned out that the city wasn't too far from the previous one, so we still had some fuel and food left. We entered the city at 10 a.m., but unfortunately, the city was a bit strict, so we had to wait a long time to be able to enter. Due to a significant conflict happening in our hometown, they were a bit afraid to accept strangers. But finally, after a while, we were finally allowed to enter because they knew we were just teenagers who wanted to pass through the city to reach another city.

We rented a room at an inn to freshen up and rest for a while before continuing our journey to our final destination city. At 12 noon, we visited a restaurant for lunch and asked for directions to Alba, our ultimate destination city before heading to our intended village, Irvine.

Finally, we resumed our journey at 4 p.m. after a short break. The journey itself didn't take a very long time, but the road from Radna to Alba was somewhat rough, so we had to take several breaks because Claire felt dizzy due to the poor road conditions.

"Chris, I feel like vomiting!" she shouted a bit loudly while covering her mouth and holding her stomach.

"Alright, wait a moment, we'll stop up ahead," I replied as I pulled over our car.

"I can't take it anymore, Chris. Can I just walk? I feel like dying," she cried, emptying her stomach, probably most of it.

Finally, I gave her something to drink and gently massaged her neck to provide some relief. After that, I said to her, "Okay, I'll drive very slowly after this. Can you still hold on?"

"Ughh... alright," she replied weakly, as she couldn't handle it anymore.

"Move to the back seat so you can lie down. I'll slow down the speed of the car, so you rest," I said while gently stroking her hair.

"It's alright, Chris. I'll accompany you so you won't be alone," she replied softly. My sister is very kind, and I love her very much.

"Okay, but don't force yourself. Rest if you're tired."

"Got it, captain!" she responded enthusiastically, giving me a salute.

At 11 p.m., we finally arrived in the city of Alba. It was a free city. There were a few guards, but they kindly allowed us to enter the city. I was a little afraid because we could easily enter, but it turned out not as I had expected. This city was truly friendly and good. Despite it being nearly midnight, we felt welcomed by the beauty of the city. Many shops were still lit up and seemed to invite us to visit them one by one.

We decided to stay at one of the inns near the main road of the city, so we wouldn't need much time if we were to continue our journey. At 8 a.m., we looked for a place to eat and asked the owner of the restaurant about the location of Irvine Village. The people there were surprised that someone was asking about the village. According to the restaurant owner's statement, Greenland was a very secluded village, and even the people there rarely interacted with the residents of this city.

The village was located beyond the mountains behind this city. However, our car couldn't reach the village because the road route there was inaccessible for larger vehicles. So, we decided to exchange our car for a motorcycle that only the two of us could ride. Fortunately, there was someone willing to trade our car for a trail motorcycle that could be used to reach the village. That person gave us the motorcycle and some money as an addition to the car we gave. I feel like I need to apologize to Uncle Parker someday for selling his valuable car.

We stayed another night in the city and decided to leave in the morning as it would be better and allow us to reach our destination before evening. The kind people we met in the city warned us to be careful because the road we would be taking was a bit dangerous. And indeed, the road was worse than the one we had passed to reach this city. It was a steep road with only rocky terrain as the path.

It was truly beautiful. Those were the only words that could come out of my mouth after crossing this high hill. All we could see around us was greenery. There was a large river that connected us to the village. The river had crystal-clear water, similar to its name, "Irvine," which means fresh water.

"We're here, I can take you home, Claire. Mom, we've arrived. We will meet Dad here. I've brought Claire home. Thank you, Mom, thank you. I love you," I said while crying. I no longer knew if these were tears of happiness or sadness because I didn't know if we would see Mom again or not.

“Thank you, Chris.” She hugged me tightly and cried.

~END~