The youth looked up at the starry sky, nothing seemed to change. Apart from the tree growing out of the moon. Yeah. . . . ,a tree almost as disgusting as the monster he had fought just now, growing out of the side of the moon. He frowned as he looked at the moon, the only remaining means of sanity was no longer sane, it also showed that the apocalypse affected it.
He turned his attention back to his surroundings as he cautiously stepped out of the school vicinity. He wandered the streets in the dark with nothing more to guide him than the vague illumination of the moonlight.
He walked warily till he reached a sewar tunnel that was blocked by broken cars and other junk. He unlatched the handle of the sewar tunnel and climbed in. He slowly pulled the cover back onto it and jumped down from the top. The tunnel was pitch black, so he rummaged through his bag, his hand fumbling with the objects inside until he pulled out a lantern.
The dark passage was lit with the light coming from the lantern. He took a series of lefts and rights before reaching a metal door. He pulled the handle and what greeted him was the influx of light, people and civilization. He locked the door and walked into the underground sewar cave, where the remaining people of the city made their home after the apocalypse.
As he passed the many dilapidated looking tents and different types of junks, people greeted him as he passed by.
''Hey Leo, welcome back '' a woman said as she came out of her tent and greeted people as he walked into the inner part of the cave as he walked towards a particular direction. He stopped in front of another tent and knocked on the piece of wood leaning on the side of the tent.
A girl opened the tent covers and said with a surprised scream ''Leooo'' as she hugged him.
They separated as they walked into the tent and Leo saw a little girl lying on a dilapidated hay bed. Her skin was pale, and her flesh was sunken. She had her eyes closed but when Leo entered, she slowly opened them.
''Le . . . . '' she was about to say when he shushed her with a gesture of his lips.
''Save your strength'' Leo said as he pulled out the three pebbles he harvested from the monster's brain. He passed two to the girl who had a guilty look on her face. She did not want to take it from him since she knew what he had to go through every time to get them. In fact, she wished she didn't know how he got them, the stress and the injuries he came back with every time.
Leo saw the guilty look on her face and he immediately knew what she was thinking. She wouldn't want to collect them from him since she took no part in getting them.
''Take it as your pay. . . . for. . . . . '' he didn't complete his sentence but took off his shirt. Revealing the injuries that he obtained from his most recent battle. She gasped as she saw the injuries on his chest and his back. They were turning purple, and she was sure they would be hurting like hell.
''You know you don't have to pay me'' she said as she walked out of the tent. She came back minutes later with a towel and hot water. She started cleaning his wounds.
''You go through so much pain . . . . yet you give us two and you take one'' Leo nodded his head in silence. Wincing at the sharp pain.
They said nothing again and silence filled the room as she slowly used the cloth to massage his wounds. His face contorting in pain.
********
After she was done, she stood up to return the bowl of already warm water and the cloth. Leo slowly wore his shirt and stood up to go. He looked at the short girl still lying on the hay bed, he brought his face closer, and he could see tears in her eyes as she looked at him.
He cleaned the tears from her eyes and stroked her reclining hair softly. He gave a soft smile as she slept off due to his petting.