YP – B3: QtnoWLM – Chapter 16 (Chapter 113)

181 Days Until Desire And the Uncertain End  

Evester looked over the map, going through the details of their journey once more. Details ran through his mind as he examined the route and thought of the dates and location in his head. From the corner of his eye, he could see Zeydar tossing and turning. Much like everyone else, Zeydar had not been the same since they had found the bodies. He, simply, was the one who seemed to show it the most when he was sleeping. It made Evester want to reach out to him and comfort him, akin to the way that he and his friends comforted each other when they had their nightmares.

“The question comes down to the fact that we will need to restock on supplies soon.” Uly spoke on, drawing Evester’s attention back to the conversation at hand.

“Any deeper and we are at risk.” Shawn warned them. “We are already in a dangerous place as it is. Snow will be hitting soon, and we don’t have time to hope we can find another place. Not this far in Aralax territory.”

“So we stop.” Kim’s hand hovered over the map and pointed to a city.

“Dangerous to stop.” Shawn shook his head. “The area is not military or mage territory.”

“So Aralax?” Heiphillia asked cutting in. “We are already in their territory. We’ll be better off.”

“No. Unwanted Guests.” The word hung over them like a noose that was snaking around their necks. They’d already raided from Unwanted Guests, but to do so far into dangerous areas? There would be little room to hide.

“Even more of a reason for us to go.” Heiphillia decided for herself first. “People might need our help.”

“Heia. We can’t just save the people there. We don’t have enough supplies for ourselves.” Shawn disagreed.

“No? I think we can.” Heiphillia held her hand out to Evester. “We go live and force the world to act.”

“That’s  not really a good idea.” Evester shook his head. “We could get them to respond, but this deep out, going live would mean that they would  be able to track us faster. We won’t be able to escape as easily.”

“Then we fortify a location, leave the bus and the scout car and go by foot. Then we stay hidden until the coast is clear.” She was adamant about going in. She’d made up her mind even if the rest of them don’t want to.

“There are so many things wrong with that plan.”

“And there are so many things wrong with the fact that we can’t help these people. If we are suppose to save the world, then we need to save the world.”

“It is possible in theory, but we would need to have a really good hiding spot for everything. And ample preparation time to scout the location to get in and out.” Uly stepped into the argument that was brewing between them.

“Another option.” Kim stated slowly. “Is that we integrate into the surroundings, leaving many teams then one more team takes the bus and car to a designated location far further away and hide it there to camp out. Once inside, you’d have to secure your own method to get out, disappear, and meet at the rendezvous point. But this way we wouldn’t have to carry  everything by foot.”

“We can’t be seriously considering this.” Evester looked to them. One by one he saw them all coming to terms with the plan, in their own way. “You realize–”

“You realize that there are people dying in there right?” Heiphillia cut him off.

“Heia. We can’t save everyone.”

“Then what’s the point of following the project. If we can’t save everyone then aren’t we no better than the Superiors or the Circles who were planning to abandon everyone? Just because they  aren’t your people doesn’t mean we shouldn’t help them. Xs aren’t worthless.”

Evester was at a loss for words. Saving those in the hypothesized city would only hinder them on their path. It would alert the military to  where they were and perhaps draw the Aralax. They were already deep into Aralax territory. They could not, could not, expose themselves more than they already were and expect to get out easily. The coming winter destroying them would be a painless death, in comparison.

“Are we saving the world or not Evester?”

Evester glared at Heiphillia for a long moment before he was overruled without voicing his opinion. Kim made the decision. “We are doing it. The question now is how?”

“We need the military there by the time we arrive, not later. Not too far later. So we need to put up a warning.” Uly suggested.

“But we need time to escape.” Crass reminded him.

“I’ll do the math calculations on the best time to post a video. In the mean time we need to record a video.” Uly gave a nod to Onyx and Lynx who would be in charge of the production of the video.. 

Evester was at a loss but kept his mouth shut as he listened to the plans as they  were made. Heiphillia was not wrong, but there was no point in saving anyone if they couldn’t restart the space program, and they had not. Without it everyone was dead. 

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