— Do you need any help? — Etia was climbing a small hill with Alan's help.
Zhar's average temperature was close to 5° Celsius, so Alan wouldn't sweat a lot. He could run and jump for hours and never overheat.
— Please. — Etia was embarrassed about the fact she required him to survive. — I'm sorry for troubling you.
— I don't know how many times I have to say this. You're not trouble. I don't hate you. It's not your fault. — Alan extended his hand toward Etia. — Let's go now.
She took Alan's hand and rose. At the top, they hugged and started walking again.
Two days of walking passed, but it wasn't even a quarter of the journey.
Alan took Etia's hair and licked it. They were codependent.
Etia would give Alan water, and he would pay back with food and other assistance.
— Are you hungry? — Alan asked.
— A little.
After hearing that, he took off his backpack.
— It's getting late, so we might as well sleep here for today. I will go gather some wood, and you make a place for the sleeping bags.
Alan went deeper into the forest. There were many trees, but since he had no tools, he needed to find a very thin one.
It took Alan ten minutes to find a tree he could rip out of the ground. And so he did.
He carried the 50 kg piece of wood back to Etia. The tree was light for him, but it would get stuck because of its shape. After a few minutes, he was back at the designer camp area.
— Is everything done? — Alan broke the tree in two and set up a small campfire.
— Yes.
— Cool. — He crushed a part of the wood and started a fire with a lighter. If used wrong, it was powerful enough to melt iron.
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Etia came closer to the fire. The temperature was slowly decreasing and could fall down to -20° Celsius.
Alan took some food from his bag. He chose dried meat and a few vegetables to eat.
— Thank you. — Etia was getting tired from eating the same food over and over again, but Alan's cooking was good enough to ignore it.
They ate in silence and went to sleep.
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Alan and Etia were lying in a clearing inside a forest. Etia was hugging Alan, and he was stroking her head.
— It's beautiful. I wish we could stay here forever. — She was looking at the nature surrounding them.
— I know. We're only a few minutes away. — After a long journey, they were finally at their destination.
Alan took out a bottle of beer and ripped the cap off with his hand.
— To a new beginning, right? — He took a sip and passed the drink to Etia.
— Yes. — Now, she no longer blamed herself. Now, they would be happy again.
— Let's get going. We haven't taken a bath in over a week, and I'm starting to smell the WD-40 coming out of my knees.
— What's that? — Etia didn't know about the miraculous effects of using WD-40 on virtually anything.
— I'll tell you later. — Alan stood up and helped Etia stand up. They were both exhausted, but the sweet relief of a new house motivated them to keep going.
After a few minutes, They stood before a giant wall, and two guards screamed at them.
— What do you want?! — One of them screamed.
— Refuge status! — Alan screamed back.
— What?!
— I want in!
— Who the hell even are you?!
— I'm the Intruder! Ever heard about me?!
There was no answer for some time. After a while, the guard came back.
— Are you looking for asylum?! — He guessed correctly.
— Yes!
The gates opened. Alan and Etia walked into the giant compound. From the outside, it looked like a post-apocalyptic town built inside a nuke crater, but on the inside, it was a normal city.
— We will lead you to our mayor. He will talk to you about living here. — The guard started walking, and they followed behind.
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Log entry nr.127 We lost our civilization privilege and had to escape to the wilderness. Etia said that there's a city here, and we found it. I hope we can get back to our normal life. Good luck, future me.