Two little girls are riding in a vehicle that is strong enough to carry the supplies they need. Fuel and enough food for several days are available.
While one of them is driving at the front, the other is sitting at the back with their belongings.
The girl driving the vehicle is named Alice. The one sitting at the back, hugging a rifle, is named Maria.
They are easily distinguishable as Alice has black hair, while Maria has yellow hair. Despite their beautiful hair, they have to cover it with headgear for their safety.
Both of them are wearing dark green military uniforms, for reasons only known to them. However, the current situation they are in is not good.
They are trapped in an unknown and very dark place.
"Dark... So dark... Dark and scary... Fear of the dark...," Maria sings with her self-made rhythm.
"Please stop that singing, it's very annoying!" Alice says in a soft voice, despite trying to shout.
Maria holds both of Alice's cheeks from behind and says, "But there's no one around here, right!? It's okay, isn't it? I'm bored! It's fine, right?"
"There is someone! Right in front of you now!"
"Where?"
"Here! I'm the one!"
"Oh, you're right..."
"Ugh, you..."
They continue walking aimlessly, trying to get through the dark place as quickly as possible.
"Hey, Alice, can I turn on the lantern?"
"No!"
"Why?"
"Why do you ask? Of course, it's because of the fuel!"
"Fuel?"
"We'll only use it in emergencies."
"Like?"
"Like... Hmm... Finding food, like that?"
"So, finding food... Let's find food now! Let's use this lantern!"
"No!"
"Why?"
"Think for yourself! How could there be food in a place like this!"
"Hmm, you're right... Ugh... Whose fault is it that we're here!?"
"It's yours!"
"Huh? Really?"
A few hours earlier, in a strange place underground. In a mysterious tunnel never traversed by the two girls.
"Hey hey, Alice... What if we go in?"
"We don't know what's inside. It's better to find another way! Come with me in the opposite direction!" Alice says, leading Maria away.
"Come on, I'm sure this will be a fun adventure!" Maria pushes Alice's body.
In the end, Alice agrees to enter the small tunnel.
Back to the present, where they are aware that they are trapped in a strange place with nothing inside except for a noisy machine.
"What kind of adventure is this, it's just making our journey difficult," Alice complains.
"That's true! Well, it's already happened, so let it be!"
Alice sighs and says, "You're so carefree. What were you thinking when you wanted to enter this dark place?"
"Well... I thought we might meet a mysterious creature? Maybe we could ask for its help to send us directly to the highest level."
"You! Your fantasies can't be real, right? Besides, that's just your imagination. What are you hoping for in this world?"
"Life without challenges is not life!"
"Huh? What's going on suddenly? And besides, I don't need challenges! Moreover, we've been given enough challenges, right?"
"..."
Maria falls silent and doesn't speak for a while. Alice starts to worry.
"Hey, Maria, are you okay?"
"...," Maria remains silent.
"Hey! Answer me!"
"..."
Maria fell silent immediately and did not speak again for a while. Meanwhile Alice started to feel worried.
"Oh, she's already asleep."
Alice also starts to feel sleepy.
"I think I should sleep too."
Alice stops her vehicle, moves some items from the back to make room, and lies down next to Maria, who is already asleep.
After finishing, she takes two blankets and wants to give one to Maria. She covers Maria's whole body with the blanket to keep her warm in the current night air.
After covering maria, she smiles at Maria's peaceful sleeping face, free from worries.
She covers herself too and closes her eyes to sleep.
"So warm...," these are Alice's last words before she falls asleep.
Hours pass, and Alice wakes up from her deep sleep. She yawns contentedly, feeling refreshed and no longer tired.
Everything seems normal, but as her vision and mind synchronize, she realizes that Maria is no longer beside her.
Alice looks around and only sees Maria's rifle there.
She starts to hear a voice not far from her vehicle.
"Haha, uncle, you're quite funny, right? How did you get here?" Maria's voice is heard.
"Hmm, I don't know, when I woke up, I was next to a corpse," Alice doesn't know this voice.
"Don't you remember anything before?"
"Well, it seems like I have amnesia."
"Am...ne...sia? Can you eat that?"
"Of course not..."
"Such a shame..."
Alice locates the source of the voice and finds Maria talking to a man she doesn't know.
The man has black hair with bandages on his head and abdomen, looking like a sick person. He wears dark red pants and a dark red military uniform.
Alice, seeing this, becomes alert and takes Maria's rifle.
She runs towards Maria and the mysterious man and immediately points Maria's rifle at that man's head.
"W-wait! I don't want to go back so soon!" that man panics.
"What are you talking about!?" Alice asks, still pointing the gun.
"Oh, you right, I mean... Please don't shoot me! I don't wanna die soon!"
Maria tries to calm Alice, "Alice, calm down, let's talk, okay? You're acting strange, Alice."
"Maria, you're the strange one! How can you be so calm! He's a stranger! Do you know his name? Do you know where he's from? Do you know who he is? You don't know, right!? You should be cautious! He might be a bad person, you know!"
"Stay calm, Alice! What's wrong with you all of a sudden? He didn't do anything, did he?"
"Not now, but someday!"
"Stop it, you haven't even shot once before. Your way of holding the gun is also wrong, you know."
"Qui-et!"
"You're scaring Uncle, you know! Come here, give it to me!"
"Scaring?"
Alice began to glance towards the man who was raising both his hands while tightly closing his eyes.
"Give me back my gun, let me handle it," Maria said as she took her gun back from Alice's hands.
"W-w-wait! Why did you take it just like that!"
Alice and Maria seemed to be arguing because of the mysterious man.
While the mysterious man looked at the two little girls smiling.
Time passed, and eventually, the mysterious man stayed with the two girls. After making some preparations, they set off together on their journey.
"My name is Joe Walker," the mysterious man introduced himself.
"My name is Maria, and the girl who is angry and driving in front is named Alice!" Maria said.
"I'm not angry! I'm just annoyed!" Alice protested.
"being annoyed means you're angry, right?"
"No!"
"It's pretty obvious, why are you still trying to hide it?"
"I said no, so it means no!"
"Okay, okay, Alice is so cute!" Maria said, pinching Alice's cheeks.
"Stop it, I'm driving!"
Joe Walker smiled at the moment.
"Why are you smiling like that? It's so disgusting!" Alice said.
"Uh... How do I explain this? Seeing you two so close like a family makes my heart comfortable."
"What's that supposed to mean? It's so disgusting! Stop looking at us like that!"
"Ugh... I never thought a few words could hurt me like this! But it's not as bad as I thought, maybe?" Joe Walker said, holding his chest.
A moment of silence passed among them.
Suddenly, Alice, who was focused on driving, said, "perverted."
"Eh?" Joe Walker, realizing that he was being referred to, still didn't understand why he was called that.
They continued for a while until they found their way out of the dark place. It turned out to be an underground mine and also an armory from ancient times. Although it was no longer in use, there were no weapons they could use.
They ended up finding nothing from that place.
Currently, they were passing through an area full of damaged planes and some vehicles containing food supplies and weapons, even bullets.
They stopped there and gathered some things they could bring for future preparations.
However, Joe Walker was not allowed to move at all. He was being watched by Maria at the moment.
In the end, Joe Walker could only sit leaning in the vehicle owned by the two little girls, feeling the cold snow beneath him.
"Uwah, so this is what cold feels like. My skin feels like it's freezing!" Joe Walker muttered.
"Hahaha, it's your fault for not wearing gloves. How could you forget your gloves in such weather?" Maria, who was relaxing in the back of the vehicle, said.
"It seems I owe you an apology. Am I burdening you?"
"Not at all, there's even more space in the back here. I don't mind your presence. I don't know about Alice though."
"Haha, she clearly seems to hate me."
"That's right."
"Do you know the reason?"
"The reason? Hmm..." Maria seemed to be thinking hard and then continued, "I don't know the reason, but most likely because of this world."
"This world? Why?"
"You know yourself that this world is very cruel. We are forced to survive by adventuring. Because if we don't, we will die of hunger due to lack of food. That's why we decided to keep moving."
"The goal?"
"Huh?"
"Your goal, the goal of this vehicle. Where is your final destination? Do you have a place you want to make your last stop?"
"A place with plenty of food!"
"Huh?"
"You want to know what kind of place I want this vehicle to make its final stop, right? If I want a place where Alice and I don't have to worry about food issues until we die."
"Hoo, very realistic, I thought you were always joking."
"I'm serious about this because food is important for humans. Without food, we would die so easily without resistance. Since the beginning, the reason we keep moving in this cruel world is for that."
"I hope you can find that place," Joe Walker smiled.
Maria also smiled, then she said, "if only that such a place exists and we know it. But even if that place exists, we don't know where it is. From the beginning, I was just kidding, I never expected anything from this world again. It's unlikely there's heaven in this world."
"...," Joe Walker fell silent at that moment. He felt uncomfortable with the current situation. This was not what he wanted. What made it even more painful was that he realized Maria was genuinely smiling. That meant she had made peace with this despair.
Maria accepted all the cruelty in the world and let herself smile as if it were nothing. But that smile was not happiness, it was just because she was used to it. It was like Maria was laughing at herself right now.
But Joe Walker could only remain silent, he couldn't say anything to the blonde girl. Because from the beginning, Joe Walker didn't quite understand the suffering innocent humans had experienced in this world. He was a stranger and should never have existed in this world.
Joe Walker wanted to encourage the girl. He also wanted to say, "you're wrong!" to the girl. He also wanted to make the girl smile out of happiness. Same to the other girl named Alice. But because he realized he was a stranger, he couldn't do any of that.
"Ah, how about we play a game?" Maria said, smiling at Joe Walker.
"A game? What kind of game?"
"Just accept it!"
"A-a-alright! But what game do you want to play?"
"Hehe," Maria smiled at that moment.
Joe Walker didn't know that Maria would ride him like a horse until Alice came to stop Maria.
***** ***** ***** *****
"Huft, what are you all doing?" Alice asked while doing something at the back of the vehicle.
"Hehe, that was fun... wasn't it, uncle?" Maria said.
Meanwhile, Joe Walker, exhausted and trying to catch his breath, spoke, "Y-yes, it was fun!"
"Stop supporting his actions! He will only get dumber if you do," Alice warned Joe Walker.
"I'm not dumb!" Maria protested.
"Then who am I really?"
"Hmm..."
"Why you Still thinking? you seem to be hopeless."
"Ah! You are my mother!"
"No, you fool! I'm your little sister!"
"Oh, I forgot!"
"How could you forget such an important thing!"
"Hehe," Maria looked proud of it.