When we arrived, the familiar trio in casual clothing hurried to us. Two of them; Qara and Khenbish, had assault rifles slung over their shoulders. They halted in front of us and scrambled for words to say.
My eyes caught sight of a few dead soldiers at the entrance of the apartment.
'They've come here?' I thought.
"They, uh, huh--" Khenbish gasped for air, too nervous to speak up. Perhaps he couldn't figure out how to put his thoughts into words.
"Are there anyone else besides those guys?" asked Segma. She let go of her hands after Tuya said she could move on her own. Segma was calm somewhat. I supposed she didn't doubt their capabilities in taking out the enemy soldiers.
"No, Tsetsegmaa," answered the short-haired girl, Odval. She fidgeted for a few moments, somehow contemplating whether she wanted to say anything else.
"I'll take Tuya and the kids," proposed Helena.
"Ah, thank you," replied Segma. "Khenbish, assist her."
"Y-Yes!"
Those two helped Tuya to get inside the apartment slowly. The kids stuck close to Helena as they followed her.
Segma turned to Odval and frowned. "You seem to have something else in your mind, Odval?"
"Um." She looked at Qara with her puppy eyes.
"Ugh. Fine." Qara sighed. "You see, Tsetsegmaa. We spotted a few members of The People's Light nearby."
"Oh!" Caesar walked to his side and leaned closer to him. "Care to tell us more?!"
Qara grimaced when Caesar's mask touched his forehead, and stepped back. "Look, you're not a part of this group. So back off."
"Qara," called Segma. "Where did you see them?"
He stood firm and faced her. "About a few blocks from here."
"That's close," I said.
"Too close." Segma bit her nail and narrowed her eyes at Qara. "They wear hooded jackets, right?"
He nodded. "There were four of them. I think they're just scouts. Maybe The People's Light has this city as their next target."
"Hmm. I'm afraid that might be it."
"If I'm not mistaken, there's a bunch of those hooded people in the city closest to this one," said Caesar. "About a few weeks ago before we came here."
Segma clicked her tongue. "This is too soon. Does Ulii know about this, Qara?"
"Ah, yes. And . . . that military coup might just come back again here."
"They will. But not for a few months. They're that disorganized."
Caesar whistled. "Well, I don't think they know about this hideout. Since we just got rid of them."
"But they'll notice for sure," said Segma.
"Indeed."
As those two talked, I looked at Qara. Odval next to him kept poking at his shoulder and he shooed her away. However, Odval didn't seem to take that lightly, as she pestered him even further. Unknowingly, I'd approached them.
"Odval," I said.
She stopped and looked at me with a frown. "Yes, Ava?"
"Hey, don't be nice to her," said Qara.
"Come on. She's just a kid. Ulii said to be nice to them, remember? They don't hurt us, so it's fine." Odval crouched to meet me at eye level. "Do you want to ask me something?"
"Can you teach me about this . . . love you keep talking about?"
She and Qara were taken aback by my question. They both looked at each other before Odval faced me again with a smile. "Sure!"
"Wait a minute, Odval--"
"It's fine, Qara. She just wants to know about love. I mean, you keep rejecting me."
He winced. "But I don't like you. Not one bit."
She narrowed her eyes at him with a pout. "That's mean."
"Well, it's the truth."
Segma turned to the three of us. "I'll have Sarnai and the others be on the lookout for The People's Light."
"I'll scout for a while. Maybe for a few days," said Caesar. "Is it okay for you, Lady Ava?"
I nodded. "It's fine. I also have something to do. Finding Hope can wait. If he's with that rebel group, he must be fine . . . It should be that way."
Caesar patted me in the back. "If I catch them, his whereabouts will be the first question they'll have to answer."
I held Caesar's hands in mine. "Thank you, Caesar. I appreciate your help."
"No biggie, Lady Ava! We're here in the first place because of that angsty blond teen. I'll be supporting you. We'll get that guy soon enough."
With that, Caesar and Segma walked inside the apartment, which was Enkhtuya's hideout.
I looked back at Odval. "Um."
She smiled. "Let's go!"
Qara raised an eyebrow at me. "Are you sure about this, kid?"
"Ava," I said. "It's Ava."
"Er, okay . . . When I think about it, there's not much a guy like me know anyway. I'll just leave this to you Odval." He started to walk back inside with his assault rifle.
"I love you, Qara!" yelled Odval.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He waved at her until his figure disappeared into the apartment.
"Hmph! I'll be sure to get his attention someday!" said Odval with a pout. My skin could feel her determination radiating from her body. She turned to me and that expression of hers loosen. "Let's get inside."
_._
_._
In the hideout, Tuya and the rescued kids were being surrounded by some members of Enkhtuya. A few were tending to her needs and necessities, while the others played with those kids. I walked over to get a better look.
"These painkillers should help you, Tuya," said Helena. She sat next to that pregnant woman on a red sofa. It was next to the stairs on the left.
"Is it safe?" asked Tuya.
"Yes. Pregnant women can take acetaminophen as their only pain relievers. It's safe so there's nothing to worry about." Helena flashed a smile at her.
Tuya returned it with her own smile. "Thank you." She took the medicine from Helena's hands and swallowed it. She drank the mineral water Helena had given her immediately.
"You can stay in a room on the ground floor with your son. There's an elevator, but it was broken," said Ulii suddenly. That old woman approached those two and said something to them. After that, they talked among themselves.
"Ava," called Odval next to me.
I shifted my attention to her. "So, where do we--"
"Hey! Odval!" yelled Khenbish near the stairs to the right. "Ceci needs you! It's about her plushy!"
She sighed and then looked at me apologetically. "I'm sorry, Ava. After I'm done, I'll come to your room. You're staying, right?"
I nodded. "Yes. I'm not going anywhere for a while. Those members of The People's Light are my priority right now. It's feasible to get the information I want from them since they're here already."
"Ah, I see. Well, good luck! Oh, one more thing. You look different from before."
"Different?"
"Somehow . . . Maybe it's just my imagination . . . Bye, Ava." She dashed towards Khenbish, joining with Ceci that was waiting at the cement staircase.
"What is love?" I mumbled.
Not that I knew what that was, so to keep thinking about it made no sense. Seeking someone suitable could help me. "But who?"
I pondered and pondered for a few minutes, but came up with no answer. Going elsewhere to clear my mind would do the trick. At least, it should be.
Alone, I went upstairs and explored the hideout.
Members of Enkhtuya walked past me as my eyes glanced at my surroundings. Nothing popped out to me. Pale gray walls and wooden doors filled my vision at that time. A few rebel sentries moved around ever so often, but that was it.
"Boring . . ."
I could go back to my room and read some books, but I was not feeling it. I mused to myself about the things I should be doing.
"The rooftop . . . Perhaps going there can help me clear my thoughts."
Quickly, my legs took me to the top floor. A staircase at a corner led to the rooftop and I pushed open the wooden doors.
I gaped.
The clear, blue sky above was spread wide. Metal railings formed a rectangle cage around me. Other than that, nothing else came to mind.
"Huh?"
I went over to the railings and saw the city beneath. The happiness in my heart quickly whisked away.
Rubble upon rubble scattered throughout the city, with only a few winding roads here and there. Anything else was hard to spot since that was basically the whole scenery.
I sighed. "This reminded me of Rigris . . ."
"Rigris?"
My head nodded. "My town at Mansel Island. Except that place was burning back then. Don't know what it looks like right now."
"Mansel Island? W-Where's that?"
"In Canada. It's a part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago if I'm not mistaken."
"Hm Hm. That's quite far from here then."
"Yeah . . . Wait a second."
I looked over my shoulder and found a frail, young girl was behind me. Our eyes met and she screamed from the top of her lungs.
"Stop!" I said, shaking my head after her sudden scream.
Looking at her upside down, she wore an oversized blue jacket that had a skull logo plastered in the middle. That jacket of hers seemed to drape over her entire body due to how big it was. Those eyes of hers were brown, almost black even. And her dark hair was messy, like Lily's in the past. The girl's hair was scraggly, unruly. From the looks of it, her height was about 165 cm. The strands of her hair stuck out like hard wires. Her left eye was covered by her hair, as she whimpered from what I just said.
"Have you been here the whole time?" I asked.
She nodded a few times. "Y-Yes. Don't h-hurt me!"
"That, I won't do. I'm curious. What are you doing here?"
It took a minute, but she finally answered. "Just looking at the sky, by myself."
"Uh-huh." My eyes focused on her face. "Aren't you Erhi? The one that Lily took hostage the first time we came here."
She whimpered from my statement and took a few steps back. "Y-Yes! That's me."
"Hmm. You look different. I suppose it's because of your hair. It's quite messy. You didn't take care of it?" If memory served me correctly, her hair back then was tied into a ponytail. She hid it inside a different blue jacket.
"I . . . don't want to," said Erhi. "I'm lazy you see. Even when I f-fought your friend before, I let myself got caught." She sighed. Her eyes then darted to the side.
"You're worse than I thought."
She flinched. "Er, thank you."
"Wait, that's not a compliment."
"Oh . . . It's just that . . . I'm suffering from depression, you see. Mongolia is collapsing right now. I don't think my contribution so far means anything to Enkhtuya."
"You don't mean . . ."
"Not doing anything, for me, seems good enough." Erhi moved to the metal railings behind me and sat down.
"But then, why did you approach me?" I asked, my eyes narrowed at her.
She looked at me but then shifted her focus to the door leading to the floor downstairs. "You look like me."
I jerked my head. "What?!" My mouth opened wide after what she just said.
Erhi continued, "You look lonely. And, from what I can see, you miss someone dearly. Just like me. Um, am I w-wrong?"