The scorching heat pierced the skin. It was only 10 o'clock, but the burning sensation had already been felt by Aril, who was carrying Putri.
Passing through an asphalt road filled with broken down and abandoned vehicles. Dry leaves were flying and a few stray cats were roaming around.
Aril carried Putri while panting. "Damn it, why did you have to fight them?"
Both of Putri's eyebrows dropped and she puffed out her cheeks. "It's not my fault. It's your fault for not knowing that he's stronger than me."
One of the blood vessels inside Aril's head felt like bursting when he heard Putri's words.
"You're the one who's at fault! Why did you jump in before I finished talking?!" said Aril who was getting increasingly annoyed.
"It's your fault! Why didn't you stop me?! If you knew he was dangerous, you should have stop me!" replied Putri who was also upset.
"Agejbsvjsbdhdkkag!"
"Huh?!"
Aril paused, he stopped walking and took a deep breath then exhaled.
"You're right, I was wrong, I shouldn't have used logic when talking to you," Aril said so calmly while continuing to walk.
Aril admitted his mistake but Putri hit him on the head.
"Stupid! Stupid Aril! You're stupid!" said Putri while hitting Aril's head.
"AAAAAAAAGGHH!!! If you keep acting up, I'll leave you here!" said Aril who stopped his steps.
Putri stopped hitting Aril and immediately turned her face away. "HMMMMPPFFTT!!!"
'Why are you so upset?! I'm the one carrying you in this scorching heat!' Aril shouted in his mind.
Aril sighed once more before resuming his steps.
The two did not speak to each other for a few minutes.
"Aril, why did you run away from the lizard man earlier?" asked Putri who opened a new conversation.
"You really don't know what happened?" replied Aril with a new question.
"You managed to immobilize him earlier, if you continue, you can win."
Aril sighed once more. "First of all, he has a ( mutant system ), if you can't even defeat him, what can I do?"
"Eh? But you managed to corner him. You could have taken a machete and cut him down."
"Secondly, the (mutant system) he has is a reptilian type. I don't know if he can regenerate or not, but I won't risk my life to find out."
"Is that why you chose to retreat?"
"Thirdly, we don't know if he's alone or has friends. Even if by some miracle we manage to defeat him, what guarantee is there that he doesn't have a companion nearby and kill us when we already exhausted?"
Putri immediately lowered her face with a pained expression. "You're thinking that far?"
"Fourth, you're paralyzed and a burden. You're even more useless than me who doesn't even have a system."
"Hey! I'm not a burden! I'm a taekwondo athlete with a system that improves -"
"Then that means you can walk by yourself?" asked Aril who glanced behind him, at Putri.
Putri was dumbfounded and immediately averted her gaze. "I... I... I'm just a little tired, that's all."
Aril sighed again and returned his gaze to the front. "Yeah... Yeah... Tired..."
After walking for about 2 hours, Aril came to an intersection.
On the left was the road to the beach area, and on the right was the road to the mountain area, while the road ahead led to Aril's college.
But before deciding, Aril went straight to one of the wooden houses that seemed to have been abandoned for a long time.
Aril entered and was immediately greeted by a mattress right in the living room.
He laid Putri down on the mattress and then he lay on the floor immediately.
"I didn't think this place would be useful," said Putri who looked around.
"Because... I... knew... Today... Would... Will come," Aril said with intermittent breaths.
"Back then, you always said that we should have a stopping point before going home, but only this time did we actually use it."
Aril did not respond, his body too tired after carrying Putri for hours.
Putri looked at her injured ankle that was oozing blood. "Can you get me the medicine?"
"Huh?! Can't you see my condition right now?!"
Putri pressed her palms together and lowered her head slightly. "Please, kind big brother Aril. Please help me. In exchange, tonight I'll massage your feet."
Aril looked at Putri's teary eyes as if she was about to cry.
The young man sighed heavily. "Alright, wait here."
Aril, went into the kitchen and got a bottle of alcohol, a glass of water and some bandages.
He returned to the living room and found Putri lying while hugging the large teddy bear that Aril had picked up earlier.
"Don't move," said Aril who doused Putri's wound with a glass of water.
Putri whimpered slightly in pain, but she was still able to endure it.
Aril opened the bottle of alcohol and doused Putri's wound.
Putri felt an incredible stabbing sensation and wanted to scream, but Aril immediately covered her mouth with his hand.
The stabbing sensation in her leg brought tears to her eyes. After finishing, Aril immediately wrapped some bandage around the girl's ankle.
Everything was done and Aril returned the bottle of alcohol to its original place.
He returned to the living room and immediately sat on the chair next to the bed where Putri was lying.
Aril sighed once more and could still feel his heart beating fast due to exhaustion.
He closed his eyes slowly and let his body rest for a moment.
------------------------------------------
"Aril... Big Brother Aril... Big Brother Aril..."
Aril opened his eyes slowly and saw Putri sitting on the edge of the bed.
"How long did I sleep?" asked Aril, trying to regain consciousness.
"Probably about an hour or more. I think it's enough, let's go home now."
Aril yawned. "You're right, we don't want to worry Aunt Salma."
Aril stood up from his chair and felt a little dizzy, but he was still able to stand straight.
"Can you walk?" asked Aril who was looking at Putri's injured leg.
"I can stand up and move my uninjured right leg," said Putri who stood up using her right leg despite some difficulty.
Aril stood beside Putri, the young man draped the Putri's left arm over his shoulder and helped the girl to walk.
"There's no need to rush," said Aril who seemed somewhat worried by Putri's reckless actions.
The girl did not give any response except for bowing her head once.
The two had a rather wide age gap, but Putri's height of 169 cm made her almost equal to the 172 cm tall young man.
The two walked out of the house and immediately closed the door of the wooden house so that no one else would notice their secret outpost.
Both of them glanced around a few times to make sure that no one else was following them.
After making sure, Aril and Putri walked on the asphalt road that led to the mountainous area.