"Thud... clatter." I heard the sound of products falling from the shelf, and I turned. As planned, I had told my uncle to contact my closest friend—the one I consider a brother. It's my dear friend Julius! My friend, with whom I grew up in the neighborhood. We bonded because we were the only orphans around. In reality, he wasn't originally from here, but he used to come to sell flowers in our area and sometimes play with me. I discovered that his situation was just like mine: an orphan without parents. Sometimes, when the rain was heavy, he would spend the night at my place.
When Julius reappeared, he was holding a small figure by his side. I couldn't make out their features because of the dim light and the cap hiding their face, but there wasn't time to waste. Since Julius cared enough to help them, they had to be important to him—maybe his remaining family.
I rushed towards him, grabbed his hand, and quickly pulled him towards the storage tank. I lifted the child he was carrying with all my strength. Despite their light weight, I struggled. "Damn, why am I so weak?!" I cursed myself for neglecting my physical fitness, relying entirely on my intellect. But with some effort, I managed to lift the child, and we got into the tank. Suddenly, a strong hand pulled me, and when Julius closed the hatch, I realized that the uncle hadn't entered with us.
"Julius, what's the meaning of this? How could you close the door on him?" I shouted angrily.
With sorrow on his face, Julius replied, "He told me he wouldn't make it due to his injury, and that he'd be a burden on us. He lived for decades while we are still young. He knew the supplies and oxygen would run out if he stayed."
I paused, then said, "No, it's okay. It must have been a tough decision for you... I'm sorry, Julius."
Silence filled the space for a moment. I prayed that the uncle would rest in peace. He was one of the best people I'd ever met.
A few moments later, the alarm went off, but nothing happened. "Strange... shouldn't we have arrived?" I said. Suddenly, we tumbled over each other in a series of collisions. When things finally settled, we turned on our phone lights, and that's when I discovered the small person with Julius... was a girl!
But after that, silence dominated, and frankly, I was used to it. The other two remained in a state of shock and silence after the recent series of events, and I couldn't blame them for staying like that for a quarter of an hour. Then, the silence was broken by the sound of a message from my assistant, confirming through my smartwatch that he had found us and was now next to the tank as ordered.
I had to speak to break the tension, and I said to them: "Hey, listen, you two, I've given you enough time to process things, to be scared, to panic, and all the other emotions. But now, wipe away all those damned feelings."
I forgot to mention that the reason others disliked me was because of my arrogant personality; I was always blunt, especially with girls. Honestly, I don't know what they did to make me hate them, but that's just how I am. If I don't trust someone, I won't treat them kindly. Most of the girls I met didn't seem to have any boundaries when it came to interacting with new schoolmates, or at least that's what I thought.
I spoke again: "We're supposed to reach the surface in an hour, and if you keep breathing at this rate, we're going to die, no doubt. So understand what I'm saying quickly and stop panicking. Let's go!" As I finished, I wanted to see their reactions.
Julius started laughing, saying: "Pff… ha ha ha, even in a situation like this, you're still as blunt and emotionally stable as ever, you rascal!"
Then he added: "Oh, come on, you're still unable to show your true feelings, even now. Don't forget, I know you well; you can't hide your emotions from me. If you didn't really care, you wouldn't have thought to save us in the first place." Then he turned to his sister and added: "Or maybe you were planning to marry my sister?"
Shocked, I said: "Wait, wait, she's your sister? You never told me! And who said anything about marriage?! Ugh, you're still as infuriating as ever. I must've been a fool to save you; I should have just saved the girl."
Julius replied with a grin: "Oh, come on, it's your chance to become my brother-in-law. Isn't that exciting?"
I angrily responded: "Damn you... just shut up."
I turned away, not wanting to see his annoying face.
At that moment, I heard a soft voice: "Excuse me... can I... speak now?" I turned to see the girl, lowering her eyes and clutching the edge of her jacket with trembling hands. I had almost completely forgotten about her.
Her hair was brilliantly white, and every time the phone's light hit it, it reflected like sunlight. Her eyes were a clear, deep blue, like a sky without clouds. She looked incredibly delicate, as one would expect from Julius' sister. Even he was very handsome and strong.
I leaned slightly and said, "I'm sorry for not noticing you."
But the girl remained silent. She lifted her eyes and looked at Julius, asking, "What's wrong, brother?"
Julius was in a state of shock, as if his mind had stopped working. I called out, "Ooooi, Julius, what's wrong? Did you lose internet connection?" He turned to me with a terrified face and said, "You're Ali, right?"
At first, I didn't understand what he meant, but after a moment, I realized. He was surprised that I didn't look at his sister with disdain, like I usually did with girls. I looked at him and said, "What's wrong? She's a person, after all. And besides, she's your sister and just a little girl. Why should our first meeting be bad?"
Julius, still in confusion, started shaking me violently, asking, "Haaai, Ali, did you hit your head? Are you okay?" His grip was so strong that I lost consciousness for a few minutes. I started opening my eyes slowly, hearing the girl scream and someone sprinkling water on me.
"Ali... Ali!" the girl screamed. "My brother killed someone!"
I fully opened my eyes and shouted, "Shut up!" That shout broke the moment, and I regained full awareness. Before I could say anything else, they jumped on me. "Ugh... hey, you're supposed to be careful with someone who just regained consciousness!"
But the sound of crying overpowered my words, and it was understandable considering all we had lost so far. The situation lasted for a full minute, and gradually, they felt embarrassed.
Julius broke the silence, saying, "Haai, man, what's wrong with you? This isn't like you."
I replied, "Honestly, even I'm surprised, but... hold on, don't change the topic. Why did you shake me so hard, you rascal?"
Julius started whistling and looking away. With an angry tone, I said, "Damn... answer me, don't dodge the question."
After a pause, he answered: "Ah, I was just shocked... I mean, my friend, who was rude even when asking for something in his favor, and hasn't shown any emotion since birth, is now being nice to a girl."
I paused for a moment, then told him what had been on my mind since the disaster occurred: " and the answer that I saw before my eyes, that you can recognize people in these situations, and when I saw your sister next to you, I involuntarily trusted her since you trusted her as well."
"After a moment of silence, the girl spoke while holding her brother's hand and trembling, her fingers shaking, to the point that her voice was very low. She said in a faint voice: 'Ah... honestly, this is the first time I've felt this way.' She continued, 'You were brave and saved us without any hesitation, and you tried to carry me despite your obvious weakness. You were the first person to say that you trust me. Most importantly, you were my savior. I don't know how to repay you... but I will try as much as possible to help you if you need anything.'
In this atmosphere, Julius spoke, with a completely inappropriate comment for the timing: 'I'm now done being shocked at talking to a girl normally, and then I'm shocked again that my sister said all this without stammering. I didn't think there would be a day she'd speak with such confidence... Oh, if there's a third shock, please get it over with now. Really, you said, "You're really bad at timing comments," you idiot.' Then his sister said, puffing out her pink cheeks: 'Brother... baka... hmph.'
We all laughed, and then I said, 'Well, little girl, may we have the honor of knowing your name?' Julius made one of his expressions as if thinking in his mind: 'He's not used to me speaking like this.' The girl spoke and said, 'My name is Noor, and I'm 10 years old. Nice to meet you.' Then the situation calmed down.
After five minutes, I spoke and said, 'Alright, given the current situation, we have 15 minutes to reach the top. I will now explain what we will do to stay alive. For your information, my consciousness has started to fade due to the oxygen levels we consumed in our previous conversation, so you should try to reduce your breathing rate as much as possible. And now, I'm done with the first part.'
The girl tried to interrupt me to ask me something. Julius suddenly, with fear filling his heart, tried to prevent his sister from asking or interrupting my lecture. He knows how I get angry and turn into a demon if interrupted while I'm explaining something, even if it's due to an unintended small sound, but he couldn't speak, and his sister didn't see him. He just managed a small smile that wished her to rest in peace: 'What? If you have a question, try to keep it until the end.'
Julius was shocked to the point that it almost killed him. She said, 'Alright, Brother Ali.' Then she continued, 'As for the second part on how to transport the materials after securing the tank above the water, I'll briefly explain the plan. We need to keep the air in the tank so it doesn't sweat because the tank is made of iron. We'll start manually securing the intake downward to keep the air in the tank, and the person who will do this will be the strongest, which is Julius. He might not seem like it, but he's the champion who won 10 gold medals in various sports at last year's Olympics, such as martial arts, swimming, and running, and excelled greatly. As for Noor's task, she will set up the inflatable boat and stay on it to prevent it from moving with the ocean waves, and oversee organizing the supplies that will reach it. As for me, I'll be the delivery boy transporting the supplies, and since all the supplies are packed, there will be no problem delivering the food cans even if they are wet. And thus, the plan is complete.'"