"Pull up over there."
Relief and joy exploded in Joachim's chest at these words. For quite some time he struggled against the impulse to simply close his eyes by concentrating fully on the traffic. Every time he threatened to doze off, he pinched his arm hard, which was sure to leave a bruise.
He wanted to shed tears of joy, but he didn't allow himself to lose his concentration on the last meters. With one smooth movement, he entered the side street. Before he slowly and extremely focused, began to bring the bus to a stop.
He held his breath, the vehicle stopped, without a single jolt.
Without a single jolt!
He had done it! Joy swept through his body. This was certainly not something in Frederic's repertoire!
Stretching, Aaron and Steffen rose from their seats. A grin on their faces, Steffen tapped Joachim's shoulder heartily.
"Well done! You even braked well today, haha!"
Joachim blushed at these words.
Joachim also left his seat, shaking out his legs and arms, and turned to the other athletes in the back of the bus, who were now approaching the exit. Although he did not dare to look directly at Kay, he still had to smile excitedly.
Never before had he been so proud of himself, with light steps he got off the bus.
In front of them, a dense needle forest stretched out. One couldn't see far into the forest, the thicket of branches from the firs and spruces blocked most of the view.
Quickly the athletes unloaded the trunk of the bus to build another camp.
Joachim also tried to help the others this time. He helped set up tents, carried suitcases and cut vegetables, he even prepared his own stew, careful not to make any more trouble for Kay.
Unfortunately, Joachim was too intimidated to simply apologize to Kay. Instead, he always observed the other's situation and as soon as Kay did anything he could assist with, he was ready to help.
Kay finally commented the whole thing with a raised eyebrow and a "Lie down, you have dark circles under your eyes."
Joachim paused, almost like a stone.
Tears rose into his eyes.
He nodded briefly, before he headed for the bus and the seats that came with it.
Joachim sank onto a seat.
Little by little he curled up and put one arm over his eyes. A soft sob escaped his lips.
His mouth was twisted into a smile, but he himself was not quite clear what emotion he was expressing.
Was it joy? Self-irony? Or just surprise and disbelief?
Overcome with emotion, he sobbed for quite a while, until finally fatigue took over and he simply fell asleep.
***
"Hey, you're Joachim, right?"
Joachim was startled awake, his swollen eyes staring at the man who had disturbed his rest.
Frank looked back at him with his brown eyes, in his hand was a bowl of stew and a bottle, judging by the smell, of alcohol.
He handed the bowl to Joachim and, with an exaggerated sigh, let himself drop onto the row of seats opposite Joachim.
Joachim once again felt the soothing warmth of soup as he clasped the bowl with his now somewhat cold hands. As he slowly scooped the soup into his mouth, he looked out the window of the bus. The sun was barely visible above the fir treetops and the sky was now bathed in a spectacular pink and orange, chased by a clear dark blue. The sky looked so much more beautiful.
"You know, I didn't drink all day long, yet in the evening, still nobody wants to join me in drinking!" Frank sighed dramatically one more time.
Only then could Joachim remove his gaze from the sky. He turned to Frank. Of course, he had understood his hint, he was extremely careful and attentive in everything that concerned Frank.
"I'm very sorry, I will unfortunately not be able to keep you company either," Joachim paused in his movement and apologized sincerely to Frank, most careful to remain courteous.
"You too? It is so boring when Nick is not here!"
The mention of the former bus driver made Joachim wince. Why was this damn bus driver always brought up?!
"But you can at least sit next to me while I drink, can't you?" Frank asked in a bad mood.
Joachim nodded and resumed eating his lunch, or rather, dinner.
Frank put the bottle of alcohol to his lips, threw his head back and took a strong sip. Then he continued in a lamenting voice: "It is really terrible. Without Nick, nothing interesting ever happens... Although, you've created some funny situations."
This comment gave Joachim a little sting, it was a pity that Frank only took breaks to take a sip of alcohol.
"Well, Nick was quite an asshole, but you could always persuade him to have a drink...," Without warning, Frank woke up from his melancholy and stared at Joachim, "Has anyone ever told you how Nick died?"
Again he didn't give Joachim time to answer.
"He went home after partying for a long time. He had drunk a lot and was not quite in his right mind. He was just about to get into his bed when the murderer appeared."
Meanwhile, a wicked grin had crept onto Frank's face.
Joachim swallowed hard. Why is he telling him that?!
But he still waited anxiously for Frank to continue.
After another sip, the bottle in Frank's hands was already half empty.
"They found him dismembered. His intestines were scattered everywhere, blood was splattered all over the walls, vomit and other excrements lay on the floor, emitting a horrible stench, but the worst thing was probably the way his head dangled from the ceiling. His eyes forever agape, frozen in an expression of pain and greatest fear. He looked like a frog, haha," Frank laughed out loud.
Disturbed, Joachim squirmed in his seat. He had put his stew to the side for a long time now.
There it was, the aspect of his 'Realm' he would have preferred to forget.
Shivers ran down his back, while goosebumps made his hair stand up. Nausea arose in Joachim when he thought of the scene, which was very well described by Frank.
Why did he have to get such a card? He didn't even like watching horror movies!
Frank gloated over Joachim's anxious expression, his grin widened even more as he opened his mouth once more: "Oh yes, here's something else."
Joachim stiffened, but could not stop Frank from continuing to speak.
"Aaron loathed Nick more than anyone else here, do you know why?"
Swallowing was hard for him, his mouth was completely dry, but Joachim's hands were wet with cold sweat.
He wanted to stop Frank, he was extremely nervous. This story was like a wake-up call, he was faced with two possibilities, and one of them could put him straight on the 'Death Route'!
"Nick constantly harassed Kay."