"His speech was definitely rousing… but who the hell would feel confident if they saw him now?"
Growing suddenly conscious of himself, Al stopped walking to and fro and turned to Jordan, who had spoken without even trying to be discreet.
"What do you know about planning, my dear dunce of a brother? This is how people look like when they think. You should try it; I hear that it really improves one's quality of life."
Al puffed up with pride when he heard Jessica support him, even though he tried to stop the emotion as he still remembered exactly how cold she had been just a few hours ago.
Still, feeling happy about himself, he resumed the nervous pacing and continuous muttering under his breath that had elicited Jordan's words in the first place.
He couldn't help it; for as long as he could remember, this was how he would act every time there was a tough problem in front of him, and right now, what he wanted to solve was one of the toughest dilemmas he had ever found himself in.
Standing up from the sofa she was sitting on, Jessica folded her hands and asked, "I've heard that it helps, sometimes, to think out loud. What are you looking for, exactly?"
Al looked at her from the corner of his eye, and right away, he felt the urge to agree with everything she was saying. He wanted to hit his chest in the hope that it would stop his heart from pulling him towards things he knew he shouldn't do, but for now, as he really didn't see any problem with what she was suggesting, he shrugged and took a seat on the single sofa nearby.
Bending forward, he said, "Everyone who has been in an odyssey knows that heroes and villains are given certain roles to help them steer along the odyssey. For example, in my last one, I was a Mayor while the hero was a returning resident of the town I was cruelly ruling. In every odyssey, there is always a situation that is ready to be used by either the hero or the villain, depending on their wit. In my case, the situation gave me power and wealth that I used to distract the people from the revolution that the hero needed to start. I wish to do something similar here, too… but what are our roles? There was no information about them in all the messages we have received. So what are we, in this odyssey? Are we just random people dropped into this place, expected to make the best of it? Or is there something I'm missing?"
This had been the problem persisting in his mind since the very moment he had begun to make a plan regarding what they were supposed to do next. Without being told about the roles that they could use to affect the odyssey, what could they even do?
Jessica frowned, pondering on the same issue. Jordan tried to do so, scratching his face in a way that made him look remarkably like a pig, but he gave up after a few moments.
Jessica didn't, though. Without even being aware of it, Al found himself musing about how he loved when she tucked the strands of auburn hair that fell across her face behind her ear, so he had to hurriedly look away when she looked up and found him staring at her, again.
Through the corner of his eye, he saw her smirk for a moment. Then, sitting back down, she said, "You're right. I hadn't noticed it until now… but after hearing you talk about it, I recalled something a friend of mine told me. She is also an assistant, but as she is older than me, she works with more experienced heroes and villains. She once said that if the odyssey system doesn't give you something you need right away… they it either means that you don't need it, or that it is waiting in the odyssey to be found."
For a few seconds, Al just ruminated on he words…and then, he slapped his forehead and said, "Exactly! How could I have been so dumb? I've seen odysseys like these, but because I was just spectating, I just thought that it is normal for people to go out and find their roles… hell, I didn't even notice that that was what they were doing as it seemed that they already knew what they were looking for! Come on! Follow me!"
Jordan grumbled as he pocketed the snack bar he had just opened to eat. Together, all of them exited the house, and after checking a map nearby, Al set off to his left, where there was an empty alleyway littered with garbage.
On the way, he grabbed a copy of the map of the city from a directory, and while repeatedly referring to it, he led them down an increasingly complex maze of alleys and passageways. None of them spoke, afraid to spoil the dreary silence that hung over the city and call down danger upon themselves, but they did notice that the further they went, the more dilapidated the city was becoming.
Most of the buildings they had seen on the main lanes of the city were well maintained, but the ones they began to encounter had peeling plaster and in some cases, ceilings that had caved in but left without being repaired.
He stopped, finally satisfied, at the entrance of a road that was dotted on both sides by ramshackle hovels made of the most primitive materials possible. Most had been built out of wood, but some used leftover construction materials while still others were just cloth tents hung on wooden sticks.
There was a rank smell to the whole place, a scent of sweat, human refuse and sickness, all rolled into one.
Men, women and children huddled together against the cold, empty eyes in empty faces staring out from their empty homes. Their possessions seemed to be limited to just what they had on their backs, and most of them were even starved, with ribs that popped out of their chests and hollow, sunken arms and legs with the skin clinging onto the bones.
Even Al was surprised when he saw what was waiting for them. He had expected that something similar would be present here… but he had never thought that it would be this bad.
They walked into the empty street that wet on and on, and the more they walked, the worse it got. At one point, there was even a corpse with flies buzzing around it that was ignored by the residents of a hovel just a few feet away.
"Why are we here?"
For the first time, in the face of humanity that had been trodden on until it was barely recognisable, Jordan spoke without any of his signature rudeness. Al was busy searching everywhere, so he didn't answer… but he finally spoke when he spotted something ahead of them.
"Whatever happens, act as if you expected all of it."
Hurrying forward, he got to the porch of a small house. It was different from all the shacks they had seen so far; although it was crumbling, the bricks that it was made of were strong and solid, and there was even an iron door set into the entrance.
Al banged on it after adopting the face of one who belonged, instead of one who had come here by chance. A small shutter on the door opened, and then, it was thrown back in barely an instant.
"Inside! Quickly!"
The three of them obliged, and a moment later, they gawped at the man standing within.
He was healthy, with strong muscles half-hidden by army fatigues… and holding an assault rifle in one hand, it's muzzle up in the air.
"Leader! You're finally back! Come, we've all been waiting for you! Long live the resistance!"
Saying so, he ran in the direction of a staircase that led underground, and for a few moments, the three of them just stood, completely taken aback due to what they had found.
Al was the one who had led them here, but even he was pleasantly surprised that it had worked. Recovering first, he shrugged to the other two and said, "Long live the resistance, I guess?" Before walking forward, and down the stairs.