Step by step, they crawled with bodies heavy like iron-made machines. Nodin, Eden, Anna and the little girl, were saying their prayers as the city appeared in front of their eyes. Was it an illusion? Were they hallucinating hope?
They didn't seem to care about the truth, they just wanted to believe.
As they got nearer, the city, the real city, got nearer and nearer.
The entrance sign on the right side of road was covered with rust. The city had become a lot better since a decade ago but that sign and the way the metal parts had corroded, spoke of ages.
A few steps away from the entrance, the real city had begun but it was in a horrible state. Cars broken down in the road, corpses every two meters, blood was shed all over the city. There was no sign of living creature.
The little girl was about to pass out due to the hunger, fatigue, disappointment, emotional damage after emotional damage. She had become tired of hoping.
Nodin who had been giving false hope to each of them, regretted his optimism the second he saw the city in that state.
Eden who was still holding onto Anna said: "Is it the end?"
No one had the courage to answer the question.
"Are we gonna die after all these hardships?"
Even Anna wasn't trying to correct him, she had nothing to say. After every complicated situation showing up, she would get reminded of her son. No matter how far they could go, it wasn't far enough for her to forget.
"I guess I'll see my son, soon."
Anna thought.
"If I'm gonna see him, then why should I bother living for a longer life?"
.
.
.
"We're gonna see each other someday, I can see him sooner and have more time with him."
"It's not that bad at all."
.
.
"But what about this son?"
"It's not like he has a lot to live, too."
.
.
.
Nodin knew he had to do something or they all would have chosen death in such situation.
"I'm… gonna…. look for…. a place….to stay in."
They had no more strength left to talk. Nor they could come along him. He was as tired as Anna but he felt like a dad who needed to find a shelter for his children.
He walked away as the three of them were lost in the destroyed city of hope. The same happened again, once again walking, struggling to reach another destination, the hope which was built brick by brick like a wall fell down in a second.
If the other city was the same, then what about other cities? What about other countries? What about the whole planet?
What was happening in the world? Or better to say, what had happened in the world? Everywhere they went, felt like they were the last humans alive, even the last creature alive. Was it only a war between two countries? Was it only an invasion? The cities had aged a lot but they looked the same as they were before the invasion.
Was it only a war between two countries? Were humans capable of destroying everything? Were humans capable of scaring the animals away? Were humans capable of changing nature in just a few days?
They all knew clearly, humans could do anything, they could kill, they could burn, they could chase away, they could murder, they could alter, they could do anything to live up to the monster they were known as.
Was anyone waiting for them?
"Is my mother alive?"
"Is he alive?"
"When will we have peace?"
.
.
.
Nodin was hobbling, his vision was blurry, he wasn't even sure what he was seeing was real or not, but he kept on going, he needed to find food, find a shelter, he needed to find hope.
The streets had been destroyed, buildings were no longer buildings, nothing was the same. In that awful state, he couldn't find the clinic to get medicine.
"What's gonna happen to Eden if his injury gets worse than this?"
Nodin felt chills in his whole body.
The city wasn't a clean place, anytime his injury could have gotten infected by other diseases. Were they even fine there? He did not know.
As he was searching the area, he saw a building. Back then it used to be the most crowded places in winter, summer, spring, even autumn. People, young and old, everyone would gather around there and play. It used to be a gaming center. A place where people would always fill it with their bright smiles and laughter, was no longer in shape. It wasn't there anymore, people weren't there, laughter wasn't heard. Once again, Nodin saw the leftovers of war. Once again he got reminded of its cruelty. In a world where they were somehow trying to live, war was the least needed.
.
.
.
Finally, he found what was left of a store.
The glass doors were shattered. There wasn't much left in the store but he tried to take as many he could carry.
It seemed weird how the store had changed. Nodin had doubted everything since their journey in the fields. Something was definitely off. He looked around to find a calendar. Under some of the fallen goods, he found one but the years were cut off and Nodin wasn't sure that they day it was showing was the right day.
He knew he was being silly but he just wanted to confirm something.
He looked around to find something which could lead him to the date of that day.
"What can I use? There's no calendar here, there's no phone here, there's no…. wait a second."
Nodin took one of the can he had taken.
That was it!
The date!
He suddenly hesitated to look. What if he was right? What if something unbelievable had happened?
"No! it's not fantasy, It's real world we're talking about."
He turned the can around and saw the date.
He dropped the can as soon as he read it.
He couldn't believe his eyes, so he looked once again.
It was real, the date was different. It was over one hundred years ahead of their current year. He tried to think about it once again, but as far as he could remember the time in which they lived in was not the date written on the can.
"It must be a prank, yeah, soldiers did this. The enemy did this"
He checked another one, it was the same.
Time had passed but it couldn't have passed.
"It's not possible."
He was rapidly moving his eyes to think of something, to get a result, a logical result.