Luthor was driving and Ahana was next to him. I was in the back seat. Driving on our way to where the Delivery Team's van crashed, I stared looking out of the window at the blurry forest trees as we drove past them. I tried not to look at the closer ones directly or lock on to them as I would constantly have to readjust my eye and that would make me dizzy. Instead, I focus on the trees that I could see deep into the forest. Wondering what Azalea and Doc went to do when they walked toward the forest. My thoughts were interrupted by A-Gunner.
"Hey there where did you trail off to, hey?"
"No. It's nothing I was just thinking that I walked far from the city to the crash then to the bridge."
"Tripple-L how far is that?"
"Hmm. it's a 40-mile distance from the city to the bridge. it took more than 3 hours to walk to the crash and that was only 10 miles so give or take it would take 12 hours to walk from the city to the bridge."
''Wow that is far to walk."
"He could be right. but I slept in the van overnight so it's hard to tell."
"Oh, ok I see."
"So why do you call Luthor Tripple-L?"
"Why can't I give my boyfriend a nickname?"
"Wait what you guys are together?"
They looked at each other and held hand as they smiled for a moment. Then Luthor looked forward at the road.
"Yes."
"Like together, together?"
"Yes."
"But I thought that is not allowed in the military."
"Oh that. Agh those were the old rules. After the world turn to shit and there was like a human extinction. The military allowed male and female soldiers to couple."
"Oh, I see but don't you still have to address him by his rank because he is your boss or are you guys the same rank or something?"
"Ah ha ha ha! No, he is not my boss. I'm not a soldier."
"Oh, but I thought you were one."
"No, if I was... My hair would not have been this long."
"I was wondering about that."
I was about to ask her what she was and how they met each other, but then Luthor spoke.
"Alright we are here."
He pulled over to the left side of the road were the forest and tipped over van was. When I left the van, I didn't know what happened to it. Now I have returned knowing only half of what happened. We walked over to the van and slowly we moved around it to the back. They scanned the van as we walked around it. When we came to the back, we found the doors locked. Good, the van was still the way I left it. Locked up and secured.
"Was this you?"
"Yes, I locked the van this morning before I left."
I opened the back of the van and Luthor went inside. He threw the boxes and stuffing around in frustration as he searched for something.
(sigh) "They's are not here."
"If you are looking for the snacks, you will not find any. I ate them all the were not a lot of boxes of them."
"No, I'm looking for those damn keys. There are more boxes of goods somewhere here around, so I'm not worried about them as much. If we find the keys, we can open up those locked doors and get full access to the bunker."
"What makes you think that there are more boxes?"
"The Delivery Team supplied all the outpost in the region and although that sounds like they would have the amount of goods left that you ate. They are still able to supply my outpost as their last stop. So, there should be more somewhere."
Then Ahana wanted to know where the boxes are now
"Where are the boxes now? Surly in a crash they could not be too far. We should be able to see them as a trail on the road if the driver lost control or spilled out of the back."
"Before I left the city I saw when I was high up in a building that there were rough winds blowing a forest. The winds blew so strong that it caused the trees to bend. Maybe they blew the boxes away?"
Then Luthor spoke.
"Hmm you could be right. Take A-Gunner and search within a radius of 100 meters for the supply."
Ahana asked what Luthor is going to do, and he told her that he is going to try and find the keys. Ahana and I then walked away from the van. We went to search the river first since it was the closest and the more likely place the wind could have blown it. We saw evidence that there were some supplies there because looking down stream we saw wet flat empty boxes. We continued to search elsewhere as the supply that ended up in the river is probably way down stream by now. Miles and miles away because of the strong river current. We then headed towards the forest. On our way there I decided that now would be the best time to ask her questions.
"So, why did Azalea and Doc stay but then after we left, they walked off into the forest?"
"Dante probably went to go smoke and Alazea went to stop him."
"Why? what does she have against him smoking?"
"She cares about him. They probably wanted to get some alone time and unpacked what happened yesterday."
"So why do you call your boyfriend Tripple-L, or do you name your boyfriends after their size or what?"
"Ah ha ha! No, it's not because of that. It's his initials. Wha... what kind of person do you think I am?"
"I don't know. I met you only this morning. Maybe if you told me more about yourself, I would get a better picture "
"Well...I am from India. I stayed with my two parents and my brothers. My father was a gunsmith in India, but we moved to America because he foresaw that the government would create gun regulation in India. Growing up as a girl I was always fascinated by all the guns my father made. I had to always eavesdrop on the lessons that my father taught my brothers because I wanted to know more about guns, and he did not allow me to attend the lessons. He wanted a different life for me. We moved to America when I was 15 years old. It was a new country, and I was at that age where I made friends in India but had to leave them behind. Even a boy that I liked, oh God, he was so nerdy and scrawny but cute. I was a bit of a rebel back then and as the years went by, I became even worse.
I was young and didn't really understand how much my father sacrificed so I blame my father for stupid things. Well, some of those things were not stupid. I was anger at him for making me leave my friends behind but most importantly why he never wanted to teach me how to make a gun. It became family tradition because his father and his father's father made guns before him. My father wanted me to become a receptionist so that I could help my brothers run the shop to gain customer experience to apply for a better job until he finds a decent suitor for me. I was so angry and felt like I had no control over my life that when my father sent me to go study to be a receptionist I didn't go after the first month. I went to look for other gunsmiths and asked them to teach me. They tested me because I was a girl, but I was able to convince them that I could do this. Turns out that eaves dropping on my father's lessons paid off and they took me. They did remark that American gunsmithing is way different from the one that I do but said that I understood the just of the craft.
So, each and every day my family thought I was learning how to become a receptionist, when really, I was learning how to become a gunsmith. I had planned to reveal this so well. One the day I would have come home with a receptionist certificate and then wave at them with a copy of my gunsmithing certificate in case my dad got angry and decided to tear it up. Unfortunately, he found out earlier than I expected. Turns out that the college phone him to tell him that I had not attended for months.
I then left the house and was able to pay for a place with the money I got working at a gun store. One night my father phoned me. He told me that things were not the same at home and that I have upset everyone because I left home. I told him that I left because he didn't want me to make my own decisions in life and that I wanted to be a gunsmith, but he won't let me. He then asked if I could come home because my mother was very sad that I left and that she always told him how much I wanted to become a gunsmith. I told him fine I will come the next day. That night the screams of people woke me up. I looked outside and saw the night sky shimmering."