"Lucian is really late. It's already past 6 o'clock." Felix complained as he looked at the half-light, half-dark sky, the dawn was slowly getting up, dispelling the dark cold night.
Suddenly, he perceived a familiar voice.
"Isn't this our Felix?" This slightly mocking voice was from the leader of the bullies who used to bully him.
Felix was a little startled when he heard this voice, although he had changed a lot since then, becoming brawnier, but after all, he was still just a timid, apprehensive person.
"What are you doing here?"
Although he didn't want to reply, Felix still had to answer that guy's question.
"I'm waiting for Lucian."
When hearing that name coming from Felix's mouth, the rest of the bullies couldn't help but look around worriedly to see if Lucian was nearby. After making sure that he wasn't there, the group breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, the leader suddenly smirked, he said: "If you are talking about that blond kid, then I just saw him being dragged to Vintage. He must have gotten into a fight with the people there."
Felix was shocked, he must have known very well what kind of place Vintage was, it was a place that people like him should never approach, let alone enter.
Felix was an honest person, easy to trust others, so he believed every word that came from those bullies. Moreover, his first friend was dragged there, although he was scared and worried, he couldn't leave Lucian alone.
Then, Felix rushed straight to Vintage.
'No, I can't do it!!!' Felix was now standing cowering in front of the giant gate leading to Vintage.
He could see a few bloodstains behind that giant gate, being a coward, he was very scared when he saw blood. Furthermore, after that tragedy, he was even more afraid of witnessing dead or injured people.
'No no!' Felix slapped his face to calm himself down.
'I have to help Lucian!'
Just like that, Felix walked through the giant gate. Even though he seemed very brave and confident, he was actually very uneasy inside, feeling like his heart could explode at any moment.
At that moment, Felix's vision darkened.
'Huh?' It seemed like a sack had been put over his head.
Felix was kidnapped right after taking one step into Vintage.
***
I entered Vintage, trying to look as dangerous as possible. I looked around Vintage as I kept going.
This place really looked like a battlefield, where conflicts happened every day. The roads were covered in blood and the houses were mercilessly destroyed, but it still had the shape of a house. If I had to compare, I think Vintage would look a lot like my town but after the zombie apocalypse.
Homeless, unconscious people were lying on the sidewalks. It seemed like they used trash as bedding. Almost everyone here looked very muscular and had scars all over their bodies, which was to be expected, since they fought every day.
I covered my nose as I walked because of the stench of garbage and corpses that fluttered in the air.
'I wonder if Felix is okay.' I couldn't imagine what Felix was thinking after seeing what I was seeing now.
'I need to have information.'
I needed to gather information so that I could find clues to Felix's whereabouts. And in order to get information, I would need to ask someone. I looked around, seeking for someone who looked knowledgeable and trustable to gather information.
The only people I found were homeless people eating rotten food and thugs being knocked out.
'I definitely can't get any trustworthy information from them.'
I bounced onto the roof of a two-story building to look for someone who could give me useful information.
However, all I saw were homeless people and bloody fights.
Just as I was about to jump down, I saw a grey-haired boy wearing ragged and dirty clothes rummaging in a trash can.
'Maybe I can ask him.' While I was thinking, the boy accidentally bumped into an enormous bald guy with tattoos all over his muscular body.
The boy apologized in confusion, but the guy still looked very mad, showing no signs of letting the boy go. He raised his fist and prepared to punch the boy.
Seeing that, I created a long but narrow ice spike the size of a pencil from my palm. I closed one eye and aimed with the other so that the ice spike would graze the big guy but not kill him. Then, I hurled the sharp ice spike at the big guy.
As I expected, the ice spike flew through his brawny arm, leaving a deep scratch. A great amount of blood continuously flowed from the scratch.
While the gray-haired kid still didn't understand what was happening, I jumped down and pulled him away.
***
I stopped in a tiny alley after making sure that the big guy from earlier wasn't chasing me. I gently put the kid down, who seemed to be very confused.
I smiled softly to dispel his fear.
"It's okay kid, you're safe now."
I was a little stunned when I witnessed the boy more plainly. He looked exactly like my friend Felix, from the hairstyle, face, posture, etc. The difference between the two was that the boy's hair was gray while Felix's was snow white and he was younger than Felix.
"Thank you…" The boy thanked me fearfully. Even his tone was exactly like Felix's.
"It's nothing. What were you doing before?"
"I was looking for some food to eat."
"In the trash can?"
"Yes?"
A feeling of compassion suddenly rocketed inside me. Even though the child was only about 4-5 years old, he had to try his best to survive in this deadly place.
"Is there a restaurant around here? Do you want to go there to eat? Of course I'll pay."
"There are a few restaurants around here, but the food there is really expensive, and the people inside look really horrifying."
"It's okay, I will beat up anyone who threatens us!" I smiled brightly and led the boy to that store.
I knew that giving him food wouldn't make his life any better, but at least he would have more stamina and will to continue to survive in this cruel place. Besides, the fastest way to a person's heart is through his stomach.
***
We stopped in front of a restaurant named "John The Meat" with no doors and broken windows. I boldly walked in.
As soon as I entered, the noisy restaurant suddenly became quiet, I could sense all the eyes in the restaurant were on me. That was quite obvious, everyone in this restaurant seemed to be amazingly powerful and muscular while the two of us were just children.
I glanced around the restaurant, it looked very shabby and there wasn't a single lamp, the only source of light was from the sunbeam shining through the broken window. I noticed an empty table in the corner, where it would probably get the least attention. I took the boy's hand and led him to the table.
"Chef, bring out all the dishes you have!"
Even after we sat down, the judging gazes and whispers did not lessen, or even increase. But I ignored them all.
While waiting for the dishes to be served, I started a conversation with the boy.
"Hello, kid, let me introduce myself. My name is Lucas, what's your name?" In Vintage, revealing my real name could be unnecessarily menacing for me, so I came up with a fake name.
"I'm Kains…" The boy replied, perhaps he had trusted me a little more.