"Mmm~ Yummy~," Carla said while eating a tasty vanilla ice cream she just bought. All three of them are having their time while eating ice cream. That afternoon, the sun is scorching hot, making anyone throat's dry. With that opportunity, the ice cream sellers come to the street.
"It is sure tasty," said Adipati while eating his coffee-flavored ice cream beside her. "And it is sure hot," said Yusuf, eating his chocolate-flavored ice cream beside him.
Right now, they are visiting a city called Beryl. A city where you can find a lot of delicious food even on the street. This city is also popular because it is located near beautiful beaches. The crystal-clear water and the sand's pearly white made the city even more charming.
"So, which place should we start looking?" asked Adipati after finishing his dessert. "I don't know. Maybe somewhere dark?" Yusuf asked for their opinions and ideas. "How about we check social media?" suggested Carla while taking out her phone. "Wait, are you sure? The hashtag could have been blocked in Beryl too!" said Yusuf. "Let me try something…," Carla taps on the setting button and changes the location.
Magically, the hashtag did appear on Carla's phone screen. Yusuf couldn't believe what he sees with his own eyes.
"How could this hashtag appear right now?" Yusuf was utterly shocked and confused. "Maybe the Beryl city didn't decide to block it yet," Adipati gave his opinion to him. "Let's check it out, okay?" Carla taps the hashtag and it loads with lots of content.
There they are, the videos and images of the hideous monsters. Hundreds and thousands of captions and comments could be read endlessly. Carla immediately exits the page and the app and then turns off her phone. Adipati frowns with confusion and massages his forehead repeatedly.
"I can't believe that it doesn't get blocked yet. At least we can use it," said Adipati. "Huh? What are you going to do with that creepy page?" Carla was confused about it. "With that creepy page, we can track down the monsters," explained Adipati to Carla. "How can we track down the monsters just by using the page?" asked Yusuf to him. "We could track the creature down when the images are posted on that page," he said.
He continues, "Usually the uploader would state a place where they took the image." "With that, we can go to that place and kill it right there and then," planned Adipati. "I see. But…, how about the hybrids that you said to me before?" questioned Yusuf. "Oh, right…, about that…, I think we should find these creatures first," Adipati said. "It's hard to find the hybrids to be honest," he said, "The chances are slim, very slim."
Yusuf trying to understand him, "So you are saying that hunting is our top priority?" "Yes, precisely. Do you want to know why? Because hybrids are similar to humans." "And there is no way they will come to us magically, alright, I can see that," he said. "Good. Where we should go next?" Adipati asked his comrades for some suggestions. "Oh, a hotel!" Carla said excitedly, "I'm so tired of walking, I want to get some rest."
"Alright, to the hotel we go," said Adipati while standing up. They throw away their ice cream wrappings into the trash bin and head off to find a fine resting place.
Carla is searching for a hotel with the help of the internet. She suggests every each of the hotels to Adipati. Not a lot of Carla's suggestions matched Adipati's preferences. They end up debating peacefully about the hotel while walking.
How long since I didn't upload any videos to my channel? How many days have I put on hiatus I wonder? Do my viewers and subscribers question my absence? What should I explain to them if I come back?
Those are what Yusuf is thinking right at that time. He could not bear to ignore his work schedule. Usually, he would follow the schedule without a miss. But now, with this kind of odd condition, how can he explain to them all?
"Adipati, how about this one? It says that this hotel is so cheap and has good service!" "Does the room is clean and tidy? Do the reviews say that the room is comfortable?" "The reviews say… it is very clean and tidy! Look at this! No creases on the sheets!" "Good, how about you ask Yusuf? Maybe he will not like it," ordered Adipati to her. "Okay! What do you think of this hotel, Yusuf?" asked Carla to Yusuf out of the blue.
Yusuf suddenly comes back to reality from his bubble of thought. He looks at Carla with total confusion before stuttering to answer her sudden question.
"Huh? Oh, uh, right! It's a fine hotel! I'm fine as long as you two are fine," he said. "Really? Are you sure? If there's nothing then I'm going to press 'BOOK NOW'." "No, no, no, it's okay! I'm okay with it! 100%! How about you, Adipati?" he asked. "I choose that too. Before we asked you, we have already discussed it," said Adipati. "Okay then," Yusuf said while nodding his head toward Carla. "Alright! Book now!"
The reservation has finally been made and sent to the database. The trio continues to walk together and talk together. They finally arrived at the hotel that Carla booked. They enter the hotel and checked in at the counter.
They go to the floor on which their rooms are located. Using the given keys, they open the door that leads them into their room. Carla's room is next to Adipati and Yusuf's room. They put the bag on the floor, take out their stuff and arrange it.
Then, they all head outside the room and lock it. They discuss the fine place to eat for lunch. They keep talking to each other while walking in the hallway. They walk down the stairs and head outside the hotel.
***
"Looks like I'm all alone again," Carla said slowly, walking behind them. "Carla, what's wrong? Is there something bothering you?" Adipati asked concernedly. "It's just…, I'm the only girl among us. So…, it's kind of boring," she said to him. "I know you try to say something but I don't get it. Can you elaborate on it?" he said. "I want to have more girl-to-girl talk. I want to talk about girl stuff with another girl,"
Adipati smiles, "I see, that's what bothers you. Don't worry, we'll meet her one day." "But why did you bring this up now? I'm kind of curious right now," asked Adipati. "Well…, at first it didn't bother me that much. Until Yusuf came along," she spoke. "Huh? Why me? What did I ever do wrong?" confused Yusuf wanting an explanation. "There's no problem with you. It's just, Adipati has a friend from the same gender."
"So, you must have more time to talk with each other," she continues with her points. "Girls and guys usually talk about different topics, right?" Carla wants confirmation. "It's true. But doesn't that mean you have been bored for some time?" asked Yusuf. "Well…, I'm bored. But the teddy bear from a few days before has been my friend." "Huh?" both Yusuf and Adipati were confused. "Remember the big pink teddy bear?"
Yusuf tries to remember the teddy bear she spoke of. Finally, Yusuf remembers the image of the teddy bear in his head.
"Oh! Right! That teddy bear, what's about it?" Yusuf asked, wanting to hear about it. "The big teddy bear has been my companion when I'm staying at the house," she said. "Oh, the house next door when we were at Kyanite, right?" Adipati questioned Carla. "Yes, you are right! The teddy bear is so fluffy~ I feel like I want to bring it home~" "I'm sure you can't because it belongs to the owner," Yusuf disturbs her daydream.
"S-Shut up! I know! I'm just saying! Hmph!" she said with a little stutter. Adipati laughs it off and the three of them continue walking. They finally arrived at the restaurant that they looking for. They take a seat right after they enter it.
Adipati immediately take out his phone, "Can we start searching now?" he asked. "Adipati, please let us eat first. We just sat down," beg Carla to prevent his quest. "Oh, I'm sorry. So, what do you want to order?" he asked as he keep his phone back.
At that moment, a waiter is handing out the menu to them, and they look at it. Yusuf ended up with chicken fried rice and iced lime tea. Meanwhile, Adipati ordered iced sugarcane juice and crab fried rice. On the other hand, Carla demanded to have shrimp fried rice and iced pomegranate juice.
The waiter leaves them with their order noted on the paper. All they have to do right now is wait.
"Hey, do you think that the monsters could ride a train?" asked Adipati to his friends. "Maybe…? I think so…? Why?" Yusuf asked him back. "Remember the first day we arrived at Kyanite?" Adipati recalls their past few days. "Yeah, and?" Yusuf trying to get his point. "I thought that the infected could also ride a train just like we did to get here," he said.
"I don't know. But it could be terrifying to think so," said Yusuf. "Imagine one of them sitting next to us. I would get up and walk away," said Carla. "I'm concerned, to be honest. People's safety is in great danger," said Adipati.
The waiter comes with their drink on the tray. The waiter put each drink onto the table gently. After they got their drink, the waiter leaves to take another order. They sip their drink with the straw in the glass.
Carla takes a look at Adipati's drink, "Hey Adipati, can I have a sip?" "Well, sure if you-" "Slurp!!! Ahh~ Thank you so much Adipati~" Adipati gives an unpleasant look at her, "Hey look! What is that?" "Huh? What is it?"
Slurp!!!
Ahh~
"Well, that's refreshing. Thank you, Carla. I appreciate it." "Adipati how could you?!" "You are the one who sips my drink first without my permission!"
The two of them keep on arguing over the simple stuff. On the other hand, Yusuf just watched everything and hoped they would stop immediately.
***
The gang is on their way to the hotel after lunch. They don't have plans for the evening because they have something else to do.
"Adipati, can't we go somewhere? Like, street art?" Carla suggested. "Carla, we only have three days and two nights, right? We can't waste our time here." Carla expresses a little upset in her voice, "Okay…" Yusuf heard the conversation, "Adipati, how about we go tonight? Or tomorrow?" "Hmmm… I guess we will go tonight. This evening we will make a little research."
Carla smiles brightly while giving a thumbs-up to Yusuf. He is glad that Carla got what she wanted but deep down he knows Adipati's true intention.
"STOP! PLEASE! I'M BEGGING YOU! PLEASE!"
A loud shout could be heard not far away. It came from a defenseless woman and it caught their attention.
"PLEASE! LEAVE ME ALONE! I CAN NOT STAND YOU ANYMORE!" "ALL I EVER WANTED IS FOR YOU TO ACCEPT ME! IS IT THAT HARD?!"
Screamed the insane man right to the poor woman. It looks like an intense quarrel is happening between them.
"WHY SHOULD I ACCEPT YOU?! YOU ARE A CREEP! A STALKER!" shouted the woman. The man was stunned by the genuine statement that came out of her mouth. Those words hurt his feelings so badly but it also triggers his anger. "HOW DARE YOU?!!!" yelled the man, raising his palm to the sky.
Yusuf runs straight away towards the angry crazy man. He grabs the hand and pulls it away from hitting the woman. "Have you lost your mind?! Please calm down first!" Yusuf convinced him. "LET ME GO! I SAID LET ME GO!" said the man maniacally.
DUSH!
Yusuf got punched by the maniac so hard on the face. He lost his balance and almost fall onto the ground.
"THAT IS WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU INTERFERE ME!" the man said loudly. He then turns around to the woman, "AND YOU! I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU YET!"
"NOOO!!! PLEASE! PLEASE! HELP!!!
Snatch!
The man got pulled hard by his shirt collar. He got thrown onto the ground and tumbled so hard. He quickly gets back up on both of his feet. The man takes a look at whom throws him far away.
The person who threw the man is staring at him angrily. The atmosphere around the angry person felt eerily threatening. He just stood there in front of him very menacingly. Yusuf slowly approaches him as the man slowly backs away.
"Please! Don't hurt me! Please! I will walk away now, okay?" begged the man. His words couldn't calm Yusuf down, not even the slightest. The man trips over a tree root and falls onto the ground. Yusuf grabs and pulls the man's shirt collar angrily.
Yusuf gives the man a frightening death stare on his face. The man could only see Yusuf's silhouette towering over him. Yusuf begins to lift his fist over his head. His knuckle is targeted towards the man's annoying face.
"Woah! Yusuf! Calm down! How about you put him down first?" said Adipati.
Yusuf snaps back from his anger and looks at Adipati. He slowly releases the man's shirt collar from his tight grip. The man falls onto the ground and starts to crawl away. He then stands up and runs quickly but he got tackled by two random civilians.
"It's okay guys! We will bring him to the police station!" said another one. "Wait, please, bring this woman too. She needs your protection," ordered Adipati. "Oh, of course. Come, let's go make a report," said the civilian asking her to join him.
The woman thanked Adipati and Yusuf before following them. The two civilians drag the man and shoved him into their car. The woman sits in the passenger seat and then closes the door. The car drives away from the place to the nearest police station.
"How did they get here?" asked Yusuf. "I'm the one who called out for their help~" claimed Carla. "Good work Carla. If not, it could be much worse," said Adipati.
Carla smiles proudly at herself after being praised by Adipati. Yusuf still can't believe to himself that he almost hit a person out in the open. He then takes a look at his tightly curled fist. His head feels like got struck by lightning after seeing it.
He slowly opens up his fist and sure enough, his nails became pointy and sharp. He flips his hand to take a good look while trembling in fear.
"This can't be!" he thought to himself, "I almost killed a person! What if I punched a hole in that guy's head in front of everybody?! I can't allow that to happen ever again!"
"Yusuf, are you okay? Is your face still hurt?" asked Adipati on his condition. "What? Oh! Nothing! I'm fine!" he said as he hides his hand behind his back. "Are you sure? You look… pale," Carla inspects something from him. "Maybe I'm a little bit tired, that's all," Yusuf tries to convince them both. "I see. Let's go back to the hotel. I also want to get some rest," Adipati said.
The rest of them walk leaving the place behind. Yusuf walked behind them, hoping that he could control his anger so no human will get hurt.