The sound of burning pieces of wood had replaced their voices. Their eyes captivated by the fire, each of them were in deep thoughts. One was wondering what had happened, the other was curious to know the truth behind what he had seen, one trying to remember the good old times with her son and the other one, the little one, striving to find an incentive to talk again.
They spent the night and the next day came with the sunrise which shined all over them. The little girl woke up as the sun light stroke her eyes. Everyone was asleep. They were tired. Unlike them, she didn't have to do much, even with the vehicle, she didn't have to walk long distance anymore. She could rest more than them.
Nodin was lying on the ground next to her. She went nearer and sat beside him. Staring at his face, she opened her mouth but something stopped her. It seemed the time hadn't come. She didn't even know why she was refusing to talk, when there were no enemy beside them.
Once again she opened her mouth, then the moment her mother got shot to death flashed over her eyes. If she hadn't screamed, the soldiers hadn't found them. If she had stayed quiet like her mother told her, her mother could have escaped death.
"Momma died, I don't want Nodin to die, too."
She thought.
If she opened up a bit, she would have realized it wasn't her fault, war wasn't her fault. She felt like she had murdered her mother, when Nodin asked her about her mother, all she thought of was how she let her die. If only she was stronger, braver and wasn't scared of the horrible attack, she could have been able to sleep into her mother's arms every night.
Nodin kept tossing and turning around. It seemed as he was about to wake up.
"Why does he want to protect me? Who am I to him? He doesn't even know me."
She was still young to understand unconditional love. She had a lot to learn from her mother but she wasn't able to learn, sometimes people act on their own without wanting anything in return, only because they are kind.
She couldn't understand those but she knew Nodin was a good guy.
Nodin turned towards her and opened his eyes.
He smiled.
"Good morning."
She hugged him.
"What has happened?"
He hugged her back and patted her head.
"Her mother must have given her a hug every morning."
Nodin thought.
"Did you sleep well?"
Nodin wasn't expecting any answers from her, then she nodded her head.
"That's good to know."
.
.
.
"Look around you. Isn't it a nice scenery? Make sure to remember everything you see, because once you grow up you won't have much time to enjoy the nature."
As she was sitting on his lap, she turned around. He was right. It was a memorable scene.
"Once I met a foreigner, he was from a country which was called the cradle of valiant heroes. He told me in ancient times people would believe in the Goddess of Sun, Mithra. People would pray to her. He told me she was a savior to them. They held her so dear and precious. She's believed to have left Earth for a place up in the skies. I don't know much but people who believed her are awaiting her return so that she purifies all badness and helps humanity. Maybe that's why the sun always feels warm. She's somewhere out there looking out for us."
Nodin seemed to enjoy telling her about different people, different cultures and she was eager to hear them.
"Let's wake them up make breakfast."
He put her down and woke Eden and Anna up. As they were making things ready, Nodin stole glances of the little girl. She was smiling and enjoying the warmth she was receiving from the sun.
"Is Mommy with Miss. Mithra? I hope she is."
Nodin didn't know exactly what she was thinking of and smiling that brightly, but he was happy that she was happy. Happiness acted like a real virus between those two.
The sky was clear without any clouds, even the nature appeared to be gone. They got on and drove for hours. The next city was a bit father and their fuel wasn't enough.
While Anna was driving, the car started to slow down and then they could not move it anymore.
"What are we supposed to do now?"
Eden asked Nodin and Anna.
Anna: "We have to walk."
Eden: "What about food?"
Anna: "We don't have much."
Eden: "What are we going to do? There isn't even a single creature here to hunt."
Nodin: "Calm down, we'll reach the city and we'll be fine. If we leave mow, we may arrive sooner."
Eden: "But…"
The little girl grabbed his clothes. She wasn't talking but she did tell him to stay silent and trust him.
Nodin and Anna carried everything they could.
After walking for a few minutes, Eden lost his strength. The effect of the pain killers had worn off and his pains had come back. They stopped for a bit to let him recover his strength. They had used up the pain killers they had, Eden had to bear all those pains once again. The place where his hand was cut off, had started to bleed a lot. In the previous days, something like that hadn't happened, as if he was under some kind of spell.
Despite all they had to carry, Eden got added to their burdens. Neither Nodin nor Anna could carry him on their own, so they carried him both. The little girl, luckily, could walk on her own. But she got tired sooner than them. Instead of taking breaks every three hours they walked, they had to stop every thirty minutes.
A few days passed while they were struggling to get to the city. Their food supply had ended. No food, no water, no more medicine, they were all starving to death. There was no color left on their lips and their faces had become paler. They could barely walk and their vision were no good, either.
As they were crawling on the road, unclear signs of the city caught their attention. They stopped for a moment and Nodin put Eden down.
"The…ci…city is…over…. there."
"We've…. Finally… arrived."
Nodin wanted to fly out of happiness but he was way tried to even open his eyes completely.
In their half open eyes, there was a slight trace of joy and hope.
A few steps away, the answer was waiting for them. They could join others and head to shelters provided for survivors. They could eat enough food, they could drink water, they could rest. They could be protected.
Their smiles were lightly giving their faces some color.
"Finally, we're saved"
"Thanks goodness."
"My feet hurt."
"We're gonna eat."
"We're saved."
Hopes, second by second, got increased. What was awaiting them a few meters away? They weren't sure but they wanted to believe help was over there.
"Bullets cannot be recalled. They cannot be uninvented. But they can be taken out of the gun."
-Martin Amis