SURVIVORS
193 Chapter. The Door to the Other World
"It's your food. Want me a bribe?" asked Liam softly. He still feels regret to be the cause of the fall of Laras.
"Have you eaten?" ask Laras.
"I can eat after this." Liam replied quickly.
"Get the plate. I can still eat by myself." Tolsk Laras's.
"But..."
"That hurts my back, not my hands" Laras cut Liam's words.
"alright. If you need anything else, just call." Leon said gently.
"Hemm.." said Laras. He immediately bribed his food into his mouth.
Leon went out and ate with the others. All were happy because their stomachs had filled up by now. Steamed yams, grilled fish and sauteed vegetables that taste very delicious.
"It's afternoon. Why hasn't the owner returned?" Kenny.
"Eitherway. But we can rest here tonight. Hopefully tomorrow we can meet up and apologize" Liam said.
"Where will we rest?" ask a girl.
"Clean this room. I saw a broom near the barn door" Mattew said.
The men lifted the tableware into the kitchen. Clean and arrange it neatly as before.
As the two girls clean the dusty house, Mattew and Kenny bathe the children in turns. Liam noticed there were 3 small bowls of wickering near the kitchen.
'It should be a lamp container. But where does the homeowner put the oil?'
Liam looked around to get into the dining room. Unmeetable. Then Liam checked the shelves in the warehouse. Liam found pieces of animal fat inside the earthenware container.
"It doesn't seem to use oil to light lamps. But wear fat that has to be melted first." Liam speaks for himself.
Liam brought the place of fat and the lamp to the kitchen. Blow up the remaining cooking embers to re-ignite. Heated the fat in a large cauldron that was on top of the furnace. After the liquid, the oil in the cauldron was poured into the bowl of lamps. Liam immediately turned on the wick.
"Thank God this works." muttered Liam happily.
The lamps were brought in. All the doors and windows were closed. The house is not too dark anymore. Because there are lamps in every room they occupy.
Kenny and Mattew are putting together the skins that fell with Laras in the barn. It can be used as a sleeping pad.
"We are tired. Now rest." Said Liam.
Everyone agrees with him. Their bodies are very tired. And because the stomach is filled, drowsiness comes quickly. The house was quiet quickly.
*
*
"Hoaammmm.." Liam yawned and wriggled his stiff body.
Although the coldness of the stone floor can be muted with a base of 2 layers of skin, but the hard taste of the stone really makes the body stiff.
Liam looked over at the bed. Baras is still sleeping.
"It seems like it's morning. Why hasn't there been any sound?" mumbling wonder.
Liam opened the room window so that the light outside could enter inside.
The barrel covered his glare-faced face exposed to the bright light from the window.
"Holmm..." Wide vaporizing barrel.
"Is it morning?" tanyakanya.
"Yes, it's morning." Liam said with a smile.
"You sleepy?" tanyanya is attentive.
"of course. This bed is so soft. Like sleeping on a goose feather." Said satisfied.
"alright. I'll wake the others first." Liam walked out.
The girls and children slept in the spacious living room. Liam opened a window facing the vegetable garden in the front yard.2 teenage girls and children were still sleeping soundly. They just turned around and went back to sleep when the sunlight hit the face. Liam let.
Then Liam headed for the front room. Kenny and Mattew slept. Liam also opened a side window in the room. Soon the room was bright.
"Looks." Kenny muttered while blocking his eyes.
"It's noon. Let's get up." said Liam.
Liam opened the front door wide. Fresh and cold air came in. Nothing has changed on the page. It seems the owner of this house didn't come back last night. Where's she? A hunt?
"Kenny, you better accompany me to check around this town. And Mattew is accompanying the women and children here. How's it?" ask Liam.
"alright. Come on."
Kenny stood up from the floor. He tidied up the animal skin that he spread into a bed. Mattew did the same.
"But how's your back?" ask Liam.
"Still in pain." answered Laras honestly.
"But I think I can get out of bed" he said sure.
"OKAY. But if it hurts, rest. Don't force it." Liam.
"Hemm.." said Laras.
"Oh yes. Me and Kenny want to check out this town. You guys stay here first."
"Cautiously inspect. Don't make careless decisions. Whatever you see, don't decide anything first. We should discuss together. Later if you just disappear like Robert, then I'll be alone." Barrel reminds Liam.
"Have you?" Kenny's voice from the bedroom door.
"OKAY. We go first." Liam turned around and followed Kenny out of the house.
"Where is this?" ask Kenny at the crossroads.
"Today we turn left. It means we're from there. This intersection is likely in the middle of the city. You can see this sign. Either a road sign or just a city decoration." Liam pointed at the pile of rocks in the middle of the road.
"Because yesterday we went in from there, it means we haven't checked the road across it. Also on this left." Kenny pointed at the dusty road in front of them.
"Yes, but at the front end there's only a white wall. It seems like it ended up on the city wall." Liam assessed the situation on the street opposite them.
"Then we go down the left road. There's probably another gate there." Kenny said.
"Well, let's see." Liam turned ahead. Kenny followed.
The ravaged building makes the city view so gloomy.
"After I observed, it should have been destroyed like this, this was a prosperous city. Buildings high. You can see the rest of the stone walls that high back there." point Liam towards the back of the ruins.
"Building stone but can be destroyed in this way. Maybe earthquake?" Ask Kenny.
"It must have been a terrible earthquake." continued Liam.
"Well, the closest possibility is an earthquake. If we lose the war, the victor will plunder the city and occupy it." Said Liam again.
"We have reached the city gate. It really collapsed." point Kenny at the gate wall which is now only as high as his waist.
"Hemm.." Liam's response was brief.
He was interested to see the situation outside the city walls. The green trees up ahead. Totally different from the dusty and gray cityscape. Not a single tree grew within the city walls. Except in the yard of the house they occupied. Liam feels something is awkward here. Shouldn't there still be one or two trees standing among the rubble? Or at least the vines and moss that cover the debris. But in the city it's completely grey. While out here the tree can even grow to that height.
"What's in this town?" mumbling Liam.
Liam continued his steps into the tree line. Get under one of the trees. Liam looked up.
"It's very high" he said when he saw the clear blue sky became the background of the green tree tops.
"Well, maybe as old as this town. Or even older." Kenny also raised his head to the sky.
"If we want to build a house here, the first challenge is to cut down this giant tree. Ahahaa.." Kenny laughs.
"You're right." Liam agrees.
"Let's check there. Looks like there's a way to get there. Lookie! The grass in this section does not grow, as it is often stepped on. And it extends that way." Liam pointed at the trail of the rat path.
"Let's check it out." Kenny's interested.
The two quickly followed in that trail. Stop in front of two stones. There were no trees near the two stones. Like intentionally made different. Kenny and Liam have lyrics. Liam squatted observing the chunk of rock. Suddenly he was surprised and turned his head towards the short gate behind.
"It's like a broken city gate." point Liam towards the city.
"How is this here? There's no way an earthquake could make this rock roll up here." Liam just kept talking.
"More impossible anymore because there are 2 equally large stones laid in a row of 1 meter here." Liam thought hard.
'Could this be a sign?' inner Liam with sparkling eyes.
Curiously Liam circulated a glance towards the grass. Meet me! Some old twigs fell from the surrounding trees. He had to test it before he believed. Liam threw a twig in front of him, near the tree trunk. The twig touched something and fell to the ground. Instantly a transparent light appeared from his former throw. Keep rising up in the sky. Liam turned around to see the light splice up to the top of the city.
"That light encircles the city!" Kenny said he couldn't believe it.
"That means we're in a small world. And it's only as big as this city." Obviously Liam. Kenny's confused.
"And in my opinion, this stone is a marker of the gap between the worlds." pointed out Liam.
"But why would the occupant of the house put up a marker if he can't come back? He's been working hard to bring a rock fault of this size from there to here." Liam was very confused.
"Maybe he doesn't know if he can't go back to his house after that." Cetus Kenny's.
"Or he's too good. Leaving clues for anyone who got lost in the haunted forest and got stuck in here." Kenny said again.
"Is there anyone that good?" Liam chuckles.
Now Liam walked up to the 2 miles it was. He can't get through it. Throwing a small twig in his hand towards the empty space between stones. Visible transparent light appeared. But the twig disappeared.
"Yes, there it is!" he muttered with a happy face.
Carefully Liam came closer. Directing the twig a bit long to the wall of light that had obliterated the twig he threw.
The twig went through the wall of light. But Liam did not feel any difference in vibration in his hand. Try pulling the twig back. There is no change of form.
Liam begitu penasaran dan ingin sekali melihat ke balik dinding cahaya transparan itu. Tapi dia ingat pesan Laras. Kakinya mundur selangkah dan berbalik. Dia berjalan meninggalkan tempat itu.
"Let's collect firewood for cooking. After that, go back home.
"Then how is that?" kenny asked dissatisfied. He's very curious.
"We discuss it with the others first. Don't take reckless actions. Or we'll never see them again." Liam answered seriously.
Now Kenny understood why Liam turned around. He salutes Liam's self-control. Although very curious, but can refrain from trying too far.
'That must be because the experience crosses many worlds. Now that I believe more and more about their world' Kenny stares at Liam's back in awe.
"Why bengong? Let's go get some firewood. After that we come back. Oh yea. We'll see if your trap at the gate gives results."
"okay." Kenny Sahut.
He's happy now. Glad to be led by a more experienced person like Liam.
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