-Joel POV-
A year ago...
The sky was grey, clouds swirled in the sky as the thunder strikes whatever was on its path. A thunderstorm wasn't a pleasant experience for me. I almost got struck by lightning when I was five years old. Since then, the sight of lightning has somewhat frightened me. It's bothersome that I have to attend class today.
I got on my motorcycle with a new yellow raincoat I bought yesterday, I ride through the downpour with half of my eyes closed. The Alpha City is still developing a new weather system to counter the thunderstorm we always had during the last few months. Sadly enough, their progress was quite slow.
"I can't see anything," I mumbled to myself as I rode my motorcycle through the downpour. I manage to arrive on the university ground, unscathed. Although, my t-shirt and jeans were drenched thanks for the downpour.
I walked toward my class, I still have half an hour so I can take it easy. However, that's when I found her alone. Aria Schneider sat on the bench with an empty gaze, she just focused on her headphones.
"Doesn't care, as always" I chuckled.
That's when our eyes met by accident, I don't know why but she gasped when our eyes met. She averted her gaze from me and lowered her head. I approached her carefully, sat next to her.
"You're alone?" I asked her.
"Isn't it obvious?" she answered snarkily.
"Right" I chuckled awkwardly.
She seems to be snarky and unfriendly, only towards me. However, she's all bright and goofy with other people. Could it be that she hated me? There's no sense in dwelling on that feeling I guess.
"Here" she suddenly gave me a tissue. "You're wet".
She still averted her gaze from mine, I accepted her tissue rather surprised.
"Thanks" I smiled awkwardly at her.
"Sure, yeah" she still lowered her gaze.
I wipe my wet jeans and other body parts that have been drenched from the rain. Aria decided to give me a pack of tissue, probably because of how drenched I am. However, she later sneezed hard as the cold air from the thunderstorm hit her skin.
"Ah, are you cold?" I asked her.
"Not really" she denied.
Unfortunately, I have no scarf or jacket to warm her up. A sudden idea popped into my mind. I lend her a small pouch where I usually keep small changes. I put half of the tissues in that pouch.
"Here, it's your tissue pack" I added. "And no worries, it's been a while since I use that pouch to keep my small changes, so it's clean".
She stared at my pouch, uncertain whether she should accept it or not.
"Are you sure?" she asked in uncertainty.
"Yeah, no worry" I replied.
She nodded and decided to receive the pouch I offered. After that, she calmly reminded me of the weather.
"The weather is horrible and you're drenched, I suggested you change your drenched clothes to avoid getting a cold" she added. "I don't want you to get sick".
The way she spoke was firm and stiff, it lacked the feeling of warmth. Her voice is cold and yet, there's a certain attentiveness in her words. She just lacked the emotions to express her worries. After that, she left in a hurry with unbalanced steps. Her pale face turned rosy as she made her escape.
That's when I realized her feelings for me, were more than a friend.
* * *
Present-day-
"Joel, wake up" I heard a tender voice next to me.
I blinked my eyes and faced the source of the voice, I twitched my eyes slowly.
"Wake up, you sleepy boy" the stiffness of that voice made me realize who's voice belonged to.
I opened my eyes to reveal Aria's stiff expression. Her scarlet eyes wandered into my aquamarine eyes. She pulled my blanket abruptly, I groaned as I could feel the cold air seeping into my skin.
"Darn" I groaned.
"You're late, did you just have a nice dream? You didn't budge even when I sprayed you water" Aria complained. "Please, be on time next time".
"Okay, my bad" I got up from the bed, still adjusting my eyes.
Aria waited for me outside the bedroom, I shouldn't take my sweet time here. Otherwise, she'll yell at me again. After I dressed up nicely and fixed my messy self I exited the room. I was welcomed by Tristan, Kallen, and Aria who leaned on the wall.
"Alright, we have Vladimir permission to continue with Kallen" Aria explained the situation. "This time we'll infiltrate with the help of Kallen, he knows his ways".
"Yeah, I do" Kallen answered somewhat bitterly.
Something about Kallen changed, he's being defensive and distant from us. I'm not sure what's his problem but I wish Aria would tell me about this. We stepped outside the settlement, my legs trembled once more. The fact that I might face another danger, made me scared. However, I have to remember Ender's words to me before he passed out.
"I have to protect her, in his stead" I muttered to myself.
My sole purpose has always been to protect myself, but that changes since I met Aria. I may be weaker than Aria and Ender, but I want to be able to protect them. Minus Ender, because he doesn't look like the type that wanted to be protected. He'll probably turn cringe if I said this to his face.
"Hey, stop daydreaming" Tristan pat my shoulder. "You've been dozing off".
"Ah, sorry" I scratched my head awkwardly.
We walked toward the entrance to what Kallen implied as an ex-subway station that turned into a sewer drainage system.
"This is the entrance, follow me and don't get lost" Kallen commanded.
"I'll leave that in your hand" I added.
We descended toward the stinky smelly place, my legs accidentally slipped the steel ladder.
"Hey! Watch out!" Kallen warned me.
I almost fell, but that doesn't happen because I grabbed onto the handrail tightly. After I descended with Kallen, Tristan followed with confidence. When he descended I just realized what Aria is wearing.
"Wait, a skirt?" I gulped.
She's wearing a hoodie with a skirt, I hope that she realizes that if she descended we can see her visible underwear.
"I'm going down" she spoke nonchalantly.
She doesn't realize it? I need to distract these boys so that they don't peek upwards.
"Guys, I heard something over there!" I stuttered nervously as I pointed to the hollow space on the other side.
"Huh? Where?" Tristan asked.
Tristan and Kallen followed me toward the hollow hole across us. I thought it's only a bluff, but it turns out there is something there. It's the putrid smell of a decaying corpse. Kallen covered his nose on instinct, while Tristan covered his eyes and nose to avoid the horrible sights.
The corpse is barely recognizable, maggots devoured the corpse flesh to nothingness. Aria looked at the corpse, she doesn't look particularly surprised at the horrible stench and sights.
"What the heck!?" Tristan panicked.
I am trying to hold myself from vomiting as well, vomiting in front of a girl makes me look less like a man.
Aria inspected the corpse closer, not afraid and disgusted of the corpse.
"It's been dead here for a while, maybe even before the chaos happened" she stated.
"How can you tell?" I asked.
"The maggots and the flesh condition give it away" she rubbed her chin.
Kallen wanted to add something but he seems to be nervous, his fidgety fingers show anxiety.
"I know what happened to that person," he added.
"You do?" I asked him.
"Yeah, he ran away from something and got killed in the process" Kallen stuttered between his words.
"And you know this because?" I pressed him for an answer.
Kallen doesn't seem to want to share what's on his mind.
"That's enough Joel" Aria cut in between us. "Let's focus on the task and be done with it".
"Okay" I replied short.
We walked away from the corpse, Aria is still in deep thoughts after encountering that corpse. The clothes on that corpse look like a hospital robe, and since Kallen said he saw the person trying to escape from something, maybe there's something in the sewer.
"My prediction might be off-mark" Aria added. "However, I feel like there's something more than just a cyberterrorism attack".
"You think so?" Tristan inquired Aria about her suspicion.
"Well, yes" she nodded affirmatively. "Just take a look at the poisoned victims, drones attack, and now the tattered corpse we just saw earlier".
"It's fishy," I added.
"Yes, it is," she replied in deep thoughts. "I feel like the perpetrator of the attack might be trying to lead us to discover something".
"Like what?" I asked again, this time completely confused with what she meant.
"I don't know, don't ask me" she shrugged. "It's just a speculation so far".
Kallen has been keeping his mouth shut after that horrible corpse sighting. Maybe he feels uneasy with the corpse? He lowered his head, avoiding my gaze, and everyone gazes. It looks as if he hides something from us.