"I think," Ryan stood with his hands on his waist, he turned to Cinnong, "You're right. Dozens of them have left Earth."
Cinnong looked up, noticing every flicker of light up high. She saw the dots of light that Ryan meant.
And then, there were noises. The boom of explosives, the explosion of guns, the rumbling sound of something big crashing into the earth from a distance.
Ryan and Cinnong looked at each other.
"Better call our friends!" Ryan took his cell phone out of his front pocket.
Ryan put the gadget to his wrist. In an instant, the holographic light has formed a virtual screen. Ryan contacted some of his colleagues.
Meanwhile, Cinnong ran into the house which was also their workshop to prepare something.
"Naomi, Boris, Yuma…" Ryan called out to the three avatars that appeared on the virtual screen, "Come in!"
***
"What is your name?" Aldi asked the little girl who came with him.
They are resting on Enggano Island – an exotic island that was part of Bengkulu Province for centuries. But now, Enggano is a dead island. Once upon a time, there was a man who ruled there with his famous formidable castle. However, the resistance of the exiled natives destroys the existing life.
That said, in that war, they used poison gas. In the end, they were all forced to leave the island, a hundred years ago. Until now, no one has dared to go deeper into the island. People are still afraid of the residual gas that might remain.
Aldi parked his chameleon on one of the beaches on the southernmost side of Enggano Island. The entire coast of the island is very, very dirty, as are all the beaches on Earth. Aldi quite often uses the dead island as his resting place. Well, of course, to hide from the pursuit of the Andalas Government, the Federation, and also the gangsters.
The little girl did not answer the question from Aldi. She was busy wearing clothes that were very loose to her body. There are only clothes of that size that are owned by Aldi. The little girl climbed back into the chameleon, then lay down on the back seat. She wrapped herself in a thick blanket, trying to sleep. She didn't care about Aldi at all, as if the back of the chameleon was her throne.
Aldi sighed and shook his head. "You stubborn little brat!" He leaned his back against the back of a broken sofa, facing east, looking up at the high sky. Enjoyed only a few sticks of jelly left in the box on his lap. The little girl had spent more than half the initial amount.
On top of the chameleon, the little girl opened her eyes. Looking up at the night sky implies a million dreams. Her eyes heated up, the warmth rolled down her cheeks.
"Ely," said the little girl.
Aldi glanced up at the chameleon, he could only see the head of the little girl.
"My name is Ely," she said again. "Elysium."
"Elysium?" Aldi almost laughed. "What are your parents thinking?"
"How could I know?" Ely hid under the blanket. She didn't know what her name meant, or what his parents were thinking about it. But she knew for sure, Aldi was laughing at her.
Under the blanket, Ely's tears started to flow. Memories of her parents flashed before her eyes. It was as if there was a transmitter component on her forehead that beamed moving pictures on the blanket layer. Memories about her father's, his smile that made her happy. About, her mother's laughter was so soothing.
Elly smiled sadly. But her smile suddenly disappeared, replaced with deep sadness. The shadows of the gangsters who brutally raped her mother to death. About, the people scrambling to mutilate her father's body, and ended up being food for those cannibal bastards. And the shadow of fear herself who must witness all these events.
She survived by hiding under a wrecked car.
Ely covered her face, sobbing in silence. Even though she tried to suppress her tears, Aldi could still hear the sound of the crying.
Aldi let out a long sigh. He didn't know for sure what Ely was thinking. At least, just an estimate. If it wasn't about her who had been raped, it would be about her parents, Aldi thought.
"I think…" Aldi looked up, looking at the expanse of stars in the sky.
The dream charm presented by the twinkling stars above forced the muscles of his lips to form a curved line.
"Your parents wished you could be in a place that is the same as paradise," Aldi glanced at the little girl. And like before, Ely didn't seem to respond. "Like what your name means."
Ely got up and sat stretched out with a blanket wrapped around her. "Paradise?" she repeated. "It's just the nonsense of parents to trick their children. That place doesn't exist!"
"I don't know." Aldi got up and stretched his body.
Ely's violent nature irritated Aldi a little. The cruelty of life that she experienced had a big hand on her petrified character. Well, it must be, Aldi thought.
How many people still believe in God in this time?
"I've never been there," said Aldi, again. His hands were at the sides of his waist. "So, I don't know if heaven exists? Or—well, as you said just now, just some old-school bullshit."
There was no reaction from Ely. The little girl remained silent, her gaze completely vacant at the darkness.
Aldi forced his feet to approach the shoreline. Piles of garbage danced to the rhythm of the water below, sometimes swaying slowly like the grace of a stripper's fingers, other times swelling loudly with the smell of suffering.
At the southeast end, Aldi can still see the reddish glow. Incandescent lava from the Child of Krakatoa Mountain. The glow reddened the horizon. Also, thick puffs of smoke are visible even at night.
Disaster is bound to happen, he thought.
Aldi turned to Ely, and said, "Are you going to keep following me?"
TO BE CONTINUED ...