It was a busy evening in Nataran, the shelter that never sleeps. A merchant's paradise and a pinnacle of growth, serving its purpose of restoring humanity back to where it was before the apocalypse. Ken and his childhood friend Marvin were having a friendly match with wooden swords in a sports hall.

"Guys!" Emilia shouted from the hall's entrance.

Ken barely parried the incoming strike from Marvin and followed up with a quick overhead blow, but Marvin dodged it and took a few steps back.

"Not now!" Ken shouted back and lunged at him.

"But dinner is ready!"

Ken lost focus for a brief moment, enough for Marvin to turn the momentum in his favor, countering Ken's attack and halting the wooden sword right in front of Ken's face.

"0-1," said Marvin.

"Give us a few minutes, don't you see we are occupied?" Ken said and got back into the fighting stance.

"All I see is you guys wasting time with this nonsense," said Emilia, clearing her short pink hair from her face.

"We will be done soon."

Rolling her eyes, Emilia left the sports hall, "Don't let the pancakes wait too long, or they will get cold!"

"Who eats pancakes for dinner?" Marvin asked quietly.

"That's what we have for now," said Ken.

"What I have are two more rounds to defeat you."

Marvin launched a flurry of swings at Ken, but he managed to block them all while slowly retreating and trying to find an opening. The opportunity showed itself, when Marvin's grip wasn't firm enough on his last swing. Ken flopped his opponent's sword out of his hands and briefly whacked his abdomen. Marvin's black hair and athletic body would have been intimidating in a fight, but skills spoke higher. Ken didn't have much muscle, but he was fit enough. His hair was dark brown with a white patch on the right side.

"1-1. If you aimed a few of those attacks better you would-"

Marvin laughed.

"Aim? You really shouldn't be talking about aim..." he said, picked up the sword and swung it towards Ken's head. After effortlessly sidestepping the careless attempt, Ken touched Marvin's chest with the point of his wooden blade.

"2-1, at this rate, the pancakes won't get cold for sure."

"Pff."

Ken made a wide swing from the right side and Marvin positioned himself to deflect it. The attack was a feint, and Marvin's sword deflected nothing but air, while Ken moved behind him and struck him in the back.

"Ouch! That hurt... can you, like, not get carried away so much?" said Marvin, holding his back in pain.

"You fought well, it's time to go."

They put away their swords and began to walk to their home across Nataran. The shelter was so large it could be even called a city, pretty crowded and busy, suitable for the centre of trade. Merchants came and went, sometimes privately, sometimes for the sake of their own shelter. Nataran has preserved its economy mainly thanks to that, along with the expeditions it arranged to harvest the world’s ruins of anything useful, consumable or otherwise valuable. Many sought for home here, as it is the most advanced and fast growing shelter, believed to be the only hope for humanity to get back on its feet.

"By the way, Ken, have you practiced with the rifle? The next expedition is tomorrow morning."

"I did a little, but-"

"Oh, this again. Come on, you’ll feel much safer," said Marvin. "And, it was your idea that getting better will help you protect your little sister."

"You’re right... but no matter how much effort I put in, I can’t get any better," he took a deep breath, "Maybe it's just not my thing."

They arrived home after a few minutes and got immersed in the vibrant scent of pancakes with chocolate undertone, when Emilia was bringing them outside on the oak table. Charlotte was impatiently waiting to finally dig into that sweet treasure.

"Freshly made and served with love!" Emilia said, welcoming them. "Take your seats and have as much as you want, there's plenty for everyone."

"Freshly... microwaved?" sarcastically noted Marvin.

Being the only one to laugh at his joke in an otherwise complete silence, he noticed something wasn't quite right. His eyes slowly moved to Emilia, only to find a stare of thousand deaths piercing his soul.

"I’m just kidding! Honestly, just kidding!" he tried to shake it off.

Emilia's cute face came back alive shortly after.

"Alright then, I will bring utensils so we can let the feast begin!" With that, she went indoors.

The house where Ken, Marvin and Emilia lived was made of wood, various metals and plastic. It was sufficient enough to be inhabitable, just like most of the dwellings in Nataran.

"You know she is trying hard," said Ken, "And her dishes are becoming very tasty lately."

Charlotte looked around, searching for someone.

"Where is Aleric?"

"He was supposed to watch our duel before dinner, but I guess he couldn't make it," said Ken.

"He's going to miss the chocolate pancakes too..."

"Don't worry, we will leave some for him."

Emilia came back with the utensils, gave them to everyone and sat down at the table. It was her first dessert and she was very excited for the hopefully good feedback.

"Enjoy!" she announced.

"When are you going to join us on the treasure hunts again?" Ken asked her.

"Well, at headquarters, we’re trying to resolve the Laar’s suspicious behavior.”

"What do you mean?"

"They haven't been contesting any resources for some time. Not even in the areas assigned to them. It’s almost as if they have completely withdrawn."

"Maybe they found something else," said Marvin.

Emilia shook her head. "Nah, knowing the authorities there, they’ll try to take as much as they can."

"Or, maybe those authorities got replaced," said Ken, thinking about all the possibilities.

Laar had been quite a troublesome shelter with their oppressive ways of acquiring resources. Its military had often disrupted Nataran’s expeditions and other shelter’s well being, which had led to a series of diplomatic agreements, to secure peace.

"Democracy is not a thing there… We are speculating they might be planning something... Anyway, how are the pancakes? Do they taste like the good old ones you used to have?"

“Well, honestly… they’re great.” said Ken.

“Yeah, right?”

The pancakes were almost finished when Aleric appeared. As expected, he was wearing his grey hat again. Every single damn day, no matter the weather. One could barely see his blonde hair.

"There he is!" Marvin shouted.

"I am really sorry for coming late, but I had some unfinished stuff."

Aleric spotted the source of the tasty aroma, "Pancakes?"

"At last you’re here, take a seat and have some," said Emilia.

"Did I miss something?"

"Besides an one-sided duel, not really," said Ken.

"Wasn't that much one-sided..." Marvin mumbled, chewing his third serving.

Aleric sat down and took two pancakes for himself. Emilia realized they have been out there for too long.

"They are probably cold, I can microwave them for you," she said.

"Sure, thank you."

Charlotte stood up.

"Let me! I will do."

She was sure she could do it this time without failure. Without turning the food into coal. Charlotte went near the plate and raised her hand above it. After a brief moment of her visible concentration, gentle flames came from her palm right onto the pancakes. She stayed focused a bit longer, until the edges started to go brown.

"I think that's enough," said Aleric. "Be careful though, magic is not something to be toyed with."

"Where have you been slacking off lately anyway?" asked Emilia

"Oh, umm, not really worth mentioning, but don't worry."

Aleric looked like he was keeping a secret, but everyone knew he just had been minding his own business. Especially after overhearing him talking about a person, possibly his girlfriend, they didn’t need any explanation.

"Are you coming with us tomorrow?" Ken asked.

"Unfortunately, I won't be able to-"

"Hey, hey! I am here!" Charlotte grabbed Ken's shirt, "Why don't you ask me? You know very well I wanna go."

Ken softly grasped her hand and replied in a bitter tone:

"It's very dangerous, you will be better off safe and sound here."

"But you promised! I just want to see the world outside myself..."

"I know, but it will have to wait," said Ken. "Besides, there really isn't much to see."

Charlotte turned her head away from Ken and angrily crossed her arms.

"Hmph!"

She ignored him for the time being, while the others talked and enjoyed the rest of the evening together. The sun was about to set when they decided to call it a day. A good amount of rest before the expedition was well needed.

"Come, Charlotte, it's bedtime!" called Ken from indoors, while she stubbornly remained on the chair, fiddling with her long, dark brown hair.

Aleric, about to leave, noticed her sadness and sat down next to her.

"You are the only one Ken has left, he just wants to protect you."

She looked at him in despair.

"Mmmm, but I really want to go outside," said Charlotte beggingly.

"One day, when the time comes, I will take all of us to a much better place, but you have to be patient."

"You said that many times, but how do I know whether you aren't lying to me as well?"

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Aleric searched for something in his pockets, until he picked out a coin shaped object and gave it to Charlotte. It was big enough to cover her whole palm as she was trying to figure out what's inscribed on it. Emitting a light blue flare, the luminescent ink displayed something that resembled a wing.

"So beautiful, what’s this?"

Aleric smiled.

"It's from the place I have been talking about... Now listen to your big brother and get some sleep."

"Okay..." Charlotte muttered as she glared at the object. "Thank you for this thingy."

"I will be going then, good night!" said Aleric while standing up, stretched a bit and walked away.

Charlotte was aware she mustn’t say anything to anyone about the place Aleric mentioned, but she never understood why. Ken had also been talking about some kind of a better place, but she thought they are just trying to restrain her seeing the outside of Nataran. Charlotte was too young to remember much from before they moved there.

She couldn't stop examining the object and silently replied when Aleric was too far to hear anything.

"Good... night..."

It was a cold and foggy morning, a thick layer of clouds held back all the sunlight while leaking a mild drizzle. Twelve groups of up to ten people were about to be discharged from Nataran into multiple directions in hopes of finding anything valuable, useful or consumable. Men and women of various ages, possessing enough stamina for the task and capable of using a gun, in case of a need for self-defense.

All the groups were given some water and food to snack on during the day, rifles for each, a horse-pulled carriage and instructions. Ken and Marvin were teamed up with six others.

"Give me a minute!" Ken shouted at his peers.

"See you later, Charlotte. When I come back, you can show me the new song you learned on the violin, alright?"

She nodded.

"But don't hurry, I need a little more practice!"

Ken smiled, ruffled her hair and walked towards his mates prepared to board the caravan.

"This again? I thought they will give us a van or two this time..." he complained.

"They were supposed to, but there have been some issues with the fuel delivery." replied Clare.

"My spine will fall apart in this shaky crap before we get there."

Marvin joined in with instruction papers and gathered his team for a few more words.

"So, they gave us a different goal, which is to retrieve this sculpture from a museum," he said and handed them a photo of a man sized abstract sculpt.

When the photo came to Jason, he got confused. The sculpture looked like it was made of something shiny and firm, a thick ruby-colored plate with a bunch of random holes.

"I can't even make out what this is... what's so interesting about it?"

"Its' value," promptly replied Marvin.

"We are most likely going to find it in pieces. If not, recovering it from the debris will be a rough task," said Jason.

"Right, if we manage to locate it, we will call for David's help and his group will help us. They are going to be surveying the area around the museum."

Most of the expedition teams have finished their preparations, as carriages began to pass through the main gate.

"Others are leaving, we should too," Clare said.

"Any questions?" asked Marvin, but nobody answered. "I take it as a no, let's go then. I would like to reach the museum at midday the latest."

While approaching the carriage, Ken spotted what to him looked like two human figures on a distant hill. It was really hard to see anything because of the mist.

"Did you see that?"

"See what?" asked Clare

"I think I saw someone on that cliff behind you for a moment."

Marvin stared at the hill for a bit and said:

"Nothing there. It's just the trees going in and out of the fog, let's move now."

Ken doubtfully checked the spot one more time before settling on the driver's seat next to Marvin. He waited for everyone to get in, grabbed the reins attached to two black horses and set off.

The rain began to pour as they traveled, washing off the dirt on the destroyed buildings around, watering the barren fields and filling the cracked stumps of fallen trees. Disturbed by a smell of rotten flesh coming from the decomposed corpses, Marvin couldn't help mentioning:

"It's like straight from a nightmare."

"And we probably won't ever find out what caused this.”

"Well, you know that people say some kind of a huge rift opened in the air, where the shockwave came from... but rumours are rumours and I can’t believe them less," Marvin said. “Sometimes, I envy those spared from living to see this sight.”

Ken got mildly upset.

"Ho- how can you say something like this? Do you believe they would think the same?!"

"This world is an ever-growing cemetery and a day will come, when there will be noone to visit our graves."

Shock spread on Ken's face, because he knew it's true.

Marvin looked at him. "But you... You still go on, working hard on these expeditions... What is it for?"

After a short silence, Ken spoke:

"I want Charlotte to live in a better world. I will do all I can even for the smallest steps towards that possibility. She doesn't deserve this hell, people don't deserve this..."

Gently smiling, he pointed at one of the ruins nearby. They were remains of a huge building with its two crumbled floors.

"It's the museum. We have arrived."

The raincoats deemed themselves useless, as the rain was too heavy and Marvin was already dripping wet. They jumped down and swiftly moved to the back of the caravan, joining the others.

"How long are we going to wait?" asked Clare.

"We can afford thirty minutes, then we will have to proceed no matter how much it pours," replied Marvin, "But it seems like it's calming down."

Jason was leaning on a weapon crate with his eyes closed and head tilted up, probably listening to the raindrops crashing into the caravan’s hood.

"This weapon crate was rather heavy this time, we surely are armed for these lifeless wastelands," he said.

"I hope Laar won't come bargaining for our loot. We have had enough of those hassles," said Ken.

A voice spoke from a transmitter:

"Hey--- guys--- ca--- you hear me?"

Ken took it and handed it over to Marvin.

"Here, captain."

Marvin corrected the antenna to fix the signal quality and answered:

"Yes, who is it?"

"It's Emilia, I need to talk to Ken."

"I am here, what's up?" said Ken after Marvin gave him the transmitter.

"Bro, I can't find Charlotte, wasn't she supposed to wait for me at the entrance gate?"

"That's right, maybe she went home alone."

"She wasn't there either... I am sorry, I should have come on time."

"Talk to the police officer. I believe Charlotte is within Nataran, because the gate guards wouldn't let a child out." said Ken, "If the police searches for her, she will hopefully be found easily."

"I am actually using the officer's transmitter right now, and I told him everything. I will go and ask Aleric too after I finish my duties. He should be home, working at his project or something... and sorry again."

"Don't blame yourself, I shouldn't have brought her in the first place... thank you, Emilia."

"Alright, good luck with the sculpture, see ya tomorrow."

Ken wasn’t really worried about Charlotte as long as she was in Nataran. A lot of people know her from her violin performances, so even if she got lost, he was sure somebody would take her in and report to the police.

With an irritated expression, Ken sighed. "What is that little pipsqueak doing again!?"

"Hey!" a voice came from the weapon crate.

Jason quickly bounced off the box in terror. Others gazed at it in shock. The crate was being attempted to be opened from inside.

"I am not---"

With a bit of struggle, the crate finally opened.

"---a little pipsqueak!"

"Though you did fit into that small box," noted Jason.

Ken's face fell into his palms.

"Why..."

"I will tell the officer that she has been found" said Marvin and took up the transmitter.

"You shouldn't be here, I don't want something to happen to you," said Ken while giving Charlotte a mix of angered and worried look.

Jason hanged his muscular arm over Charlotte's shoulders, as she almost fell under the weight.

"Come on, she is a tough girl, she will be safe with us," he said.

Marvin finished talking on the transmitter.

"I informed the officer, but Emilia wasn't there anymore..." he told Ken.

Charlotte crawled out of the crate and promptly headed towards the carriage's exit. She was about to see the outside, like she always wanted. Ken went after her in an attempt to stop her, but didn't do so fast enough.

"Finally!" she said, and excitedly jumped down.

Ken followed and saw her standing as if petrified a few meters away. He slowly approached her as she turned to him. Trails of rain were blending in with the tears on Charlotte's face. This was not what she had expected. It didn’t look nice, it wasn’t like what she had been told at all.

"You will get wet, come back inside," said Ken, frustrated that he failed to protect his sister from that view.

"All the pictures, it was... a lie..."

The rain had stopped, while the fog became dense enough to make it unable to see further than eight meters. The group was about to begin surveying the museum's ruins.

"Jason and Clare, check the south-eastern part of this building, Lucas and Michael, southwest," said Marvin, "I will be searching in the northern half with Sam and Chris."

"Ken isn't coming?" asked Jason.

"He will be waiting with his sister," Marvin replied. "Be careful not to let stuff fall on you, people. And if you happen to find anything that resembles the sculpture, report to me."

----------------------------------------

Emilia had been wandering in Nataran, searching for Aleric’s house in a certain district.

"I swear it was around here somewhere… I haven’t visited him for ages, how rude of me," she told herself.

"Behind that building? Let’s see."

She walked a few meters.

"Seriously? Am I lost? Maybe this way... No, that’s the headquarters. On the left is a dead end aaand on the right it’s the farm, uhm...”

Emilia desperately looked around before committing to a direction. There was one last corner she didn’t check and after doing so, she found Aleric’s house.

“Bingo!”

She reached the front door and tried to open it, but it was locked. Nonetheless, she shouted Aleric’s name a few times and knocked on every window. All in vain.

“What? I strongly believe he was supposed to be home, where else would he go?” Emilia thought aloud, “This means Charlotte isn’t with him either… this is bad.”

She heard footsteps from behind, to her relief. While slowly turning around, she stretched her arms as for a hug and happily said:

“There you are! I have been looki-... oh…”

She put her arms down and cleared her throat.

“Hi, Daniel… what’s up?”

Daniel gazed into her eyes with a serious face and after a full three seconds, he replied:

“You should be at headquarters, fooling around like this will get you into trouble.”

“I know, but my friend’s sis-”

“And speaking of trouble, come with me. We found out why we didn’t have our fuel for the expedition delivered.”

“You can just tell me here and now, then,” Emilia said

“It’s better if you see for yourself.”

They both went to headquarters, a building nearby. Some of the main expedition and military leaders have been summoned there, sitting around a round table and fiercely discussing over something.

“So, what’s the deal?” asked Emilia.

“Hand her the photographs,” Daniel said.

A few photos have been lying on the table. Marco, one of the leaders, gathered and nicely sorted them, before giving them to Emilia. She inspected them one by one, slowly raising the distress in her face.

“Are those people from the Tagume shelter?”

“Yes,” Daniel answered, “They were ambushed on their way to sell fuel to us.”

“I see the fuel is missing, it was taken obviously, but who did this?” asked Emilia.

“The scouts who brought us these photos said they found one fatally wounded ally, named Jeffrey. With his last breath he said they were ambushed by bandits from Laar.”

“This, for a few fuel tanks?” Emilia said, while looking through the pictures of the bloodbath.

“Well, the reason we gathered everybody is because this might mean that...”

The pack of photos slipped from Emilia’s hands, spreading all over the floor.

“It can’t be.”

“...that they are targeting us,” Marco finished his sentence.

“Our expedition teams are out in the open, what are we going to do about this?” asked Emilia.

“Well, Laar now has access to vehicles thanks to the fuel they technically stole from us. With having such a significant advantage, they completely outmaneuver us and therefore we can’t do anything about the sit-”

“What?!” Emilia shouted. “Are we really going to abandon them?! Our comrades, our friends?!”

She couldn’t believe that after all that hard work to reach truce, Laar would throw it away. It has been beneficial to both shelters, after all. “Just what are they up to with this? It’s not like they are going to get much,” she thought.

“There’s nothing we can do,” Daniel said.

“Call them. Every group has a transmitter, just tell them.”

Nobody replied. She looked at each person in the room, landing on Daniel behind her as last.

“Emilia, they don’t work. Something is interrupting the signal.”

“What do you mean? Then find out what it is!”

“We are trying to.” Daniel said, “But that’s all we can do.”

Emilia clenched her fists in anger before calming down. She remembered using the officer’s transmitter, so she thought it could be the only way to let her friends know about the threat.

“Maybe not,” she said and sprinted out of the headquarters.

Emilia gave it all her sporty body could offer, as she passed through the walkways. It didn’t take longer than five minutes to reach the police office. She bursted in and gasped for breath. The officer was sitting in his chair.

“Oh, it’s you, the girl from before, what brings you back here?”

She approached him.

“May I… borrow the transmitter, please?”

“I see. For some reason, it stopped working some time after you left,” the officer said, “But before that, the guy you were talking to has informed me that the child you were searching for is with them, so you don’t have to worry anymore.”

“Charlotte… too?”

“Yes, her, if my aging memory didn’t fail me. Anyway, take a seat and rest for a bit. You look like you’ve just finished a marathon, I will bring you some water… are you alright?... Is- is something wrong?... Young lady, why are you crying?