The next day, when Keroli woke up, he found Helek still sleeping in his arms.
"Helek, wake up, it's morning,"
Keroli said, gently patting Helek's back to wake him.
As he did, Keroli noticed long scratch marks on Helek's back, and blood was still flowing from them.
Keroli quickly sat up, and Helek woke up as well.
"What happened, Keroli?"
Helek asked, his voice calm, as if he weren't in pain.
Keroli cupped Helek's face with both hands.
"What happened to your back? Did those skinwalkers do this?"
Helek wrapped his arms around Keroli's waist, pulling him closer.
"Yes, you understood correctly, Keroli,"
Helek whispered in a deep voice, his face close to Keroli's ear.
"Don't come so close,"
Keroli said, pushing him away. But perhaps Helek was hurt by the push, as his face paled, and it seemed like he might cry at any moment. Seeing this, Keroli felt bad.
On one hand, Helek was injured, and on the other, Keroli was treating him harshly.
Keroli gently made Helek lie down on his stomach on the bed and searched the house for some ointment.
After a moment, he found some and began applying it to Helek's back.
"Heh...!"
Helek hissed in pain. Keroli immediately understood that the ointment was hurting him, so he applied it more gently.
Afterward, Keroli helped Helek put on his shirt and asked,
"By the way, what happened last night? How did you disappear so suddenly?" Helek then explained:
"I was asleep when I started hearing strange sounds in my ears. When I opened my eyes, I was lying on the road in a dark alley."
Helek paused and continued,
"I tried to find you, but then the skinwalkers started following me. I'm just glad to see you safe and sound."
After hearing all of this, Keroli started thinking, Those skinwalkers—or whatever they are—are very clever.
But when did they take Helek out of the room? I was sitting outside with Vruk's team, so how did I not notice? Could they know some kind of magic?
While Keroli was lost in thought, he felt Helek's warm hand resting on his.
"What are you thinking about, Keroli?" Helek asked.
"About those aliens," Keroli replied.
Keroli and Helek searched the whole house while talking, but there was nothing to eat. The electricity had also stopped, and there was no water.
Despite having such a nice house, it was useless to them.
However, the morning came like any other day, and the sun was shining outside. Keroli and Helek looked at each other, unsure of what to do next.
Just then, they heard the sound of a gunshot. It was so loud that it numbed Keroli's ears for a few seconds.
"What happened? Who's firing the gun? Has the military arrived?"
Keroli asked Helek. In situations like this, the military is usually the one to show up and try to help people.
"I don't know, but they don't seem like good people," Helek replied.
How can the military be the bad guys? They're always ready to help us, Keroli thought to himself. He held Helek's hand and led him outside.
Keroli was right. As they stepped out, they saw many soldiers standing in front of them with their guns drawn.
Helicopters were flying overhead, and soldiers were visible inside them.
"It's good that you guys came to save us," Keroli said, stepping toward them.
"Hands up and don't move from your spot," one of the soldiers ordered.
But that soldier's eyes were fixed on Helek, and when Keroli looked around, he saw that all the soldiers were pointing their guns and eyes at Helek.
Without thinking, Keroli quickly stepped in front of Helek.
"We'll shoot you if you don't hand him over," the soldier threatened, demanding Helek. But why did they want Helek?
"Why do you want the boy behind me?" Keroli asked, his voice steady and unafraid.
"We'll make an antidote for this disaster from that boy," the soldier replied, smiling.
Keroli felt uneasy hearing the word "antidote." According to the news, those skinwalkers were not from their world, so who would need an antidote?
If it were for a zombie virus, maybe he would have believed it, but with these skinwalkers involved, Keroli didn't trust the soldier at all.
These people hadn't even examined Helek yet, so how could they be certain that an antidote could be made from him?
How did they know Helek had they have encountered before meeting Keroli?
When Keroli was standing in front of Helek, the soldier who had been demanding he move away for so long fired at him. Thankfully, Helek moved him just in time.
Keroli then realized that the soldiers were willing to kill him to take Helek.
Is Helek really an antidote, as they say, or is it something else? Questions swirled in Keroli's mind.
"How can you call yourselves military when you attack a common citizen?"
Keroli said angrily. The soldiers didn't seem to appreciate his words, as they immediately pointed their guns at him.
Now, Keroli was the target of multiple soldiers' guns. He knew they could shoot, and his heart sank.
Frozen in Helek's arms, Keroli suddenly heard the sound of the rooftop door breaking, followed by the slow entrance of the Skinwalkers.
Seeing them, Keroli breathed a sigh of relief for the first time.
His mind was only focused on one thought: Skinwalkers, wipe out these soldiers without hesitation. You have my permission.
"Don't be afraid, it's okay," Helek said, holding Keroli's hand. Together, they quietly moved back inside the house.
From the window, they watched as the soldiers fired at the Skinwalkers. But it was having no effect on them.
Instead, the Skinwalkers tore through the soldiers one by one, even throwing some of the dead bodies onto a chopper.
The chopper lost its balance and crashed to the ground.
Keroli felt a sense of relief as the soldiers perished, but the bigger problem was that the Skinwalkers were now approaching their house.
Suddenly, the sound of someone speaking came from a microphone below the building, causing all the Skinwalkers to rush toward it.
"We should leave now, Keroli,"
Helek said, and Keroli nodded in agreement. They both exited the house and slowly began descending the stairs.
With each step, Keroli's heartbeat grew louder in his chest.
They moved cautiously, knowing the Skinwalkers could be hiding anywhere, waiting to strike.
As they reached the first floor, they saw all the Skinwalkers gathered outside the building, shouting loudly.
Someone had set a recorder on the road, playing distressing voices—"Save me, save me…"
Keroli looked at Helek and silently signaled for him to crouch down. Once Helek followed suit, Keroli whispered in his ear,
"How will we get out of here?"
Helek bent down and whispered back,
"Let's wait a bit; maybe we'll get a chance to leave."