The car steadily moved on the road to the little town called River. The road was lack of people or animals. It was truly empty. Even the sound of bird twitter was nowhere to be found.
The sun shone pleasantly through the branches of trees, casting shadows on the road. Keith whistled as he was trying to calm his mind. A pleasing breeze fluttered through the window and made his hair clustered.
He turned on the radio and tried finding a host he wanted to listen to. Although the weather was nice and all, he was trying to find even more ways to relax his mind.
He frowned, looking at the road toward River. He pressed the pedal and increased the speed. He had broken the speed limit and didn't bother to care anymore.
He should not be here. He should be nagging his sister to make him a delicious curry. He should be on a date with Mary. There were so many things to do and yet, he was going to his home. The forgotten home. For stupid paperwork, the company didn't even need. If not for Gery's stupid order.
He sighed.
The stupid paper worked which he needed for his resume. Gery was eyeing to make his life miserable. The reason? Because Mary rejected his proposal.
Keith laughed in a dry tone. “ Relax Kei, this problem will be over as soon as you get the promotion. Gery won't have the ability to bully. ” He talked to himself.
After all of this is over, his rank will be equal to Gery and he will have a chance of climbing up the ladder. Then he could give a sweat favour in return. He giggled.
“ PL
Keith nodded. He had been following the Spaceship 223 news for a long time. Leaving the Erk was his childhood dream.
He changed the radio host and landed on a podcast.
“ You heard the news about the round Earth theory, right? ” A mocking voice echoed inside the car. Keith shook his head in disappointment. Who the hell believes that the Earth is round?
“ Yeah. That group of scientists tried to prove that but I heard they got proven around. ” The second voice said.
“ Forget about those losers. They don't even believe we managed to get the picture of our plane. ” The third voice said.
“ Do you think S223 will get the full picture of Erk? ”
“ No. My source says that those places were covered by some kind of energy. ”
“ We should focus on developing a means to get past the ice wall, instead of leaving the Erk. You know there is nothing outside of the Erk. It is a vast empty void. We are at the top of the food chain here, on Earth. That is because we have not met anything beyond those ice walls.”
For that, Keith agreed. Currently, they live in a vast pool, on a large landmass surrounded by ice walls. In scientists' estimation, ocean life forms will die because of the ice melting and mixing with the salt water.
Keith turned to the left side of the road when he noticed the strange animal. His body landed in front, almost kissing the steering wheel. “ Shit. ” He cursed.
He turned around and checked behind. There was nothing. Not even a trace of leaves, the road was smooth. Keith squinted his eyes and knitted his eyebrows.
His right hand moved to the box beside the radio. He opened the box and grabbed the revolver inside. Feeling the cool metal, Keith scolded inside his heart. He didn't like using a weapon. It brings back terrible memories.
After a while, he put the revolver on his belt and left the side. ‘ That was weird. I swear I saw something. ’
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Keith finally saw the River sign ahead. The sign was covered in moss and the letter was in diminished barely able to form a word.
River.
Keith drove past the sign. This place didn't change a single bit. The road was filled with rubble and dust. The dust was so bad that he had to roll up the window. He scanned the road on each side. He remembered walking on the sidewalk with a backpack, trying to run away but his father stopped him.
There was a beating. A punishment. A swear. A pain.
Keith smiled. He felt worse. He drove the car farther into the town. There were only a few people in the town, mostly senior citizens. That was because this place was vetveteransme. Every soldier lived here. The places were cheap and the views were chilling.
The weather was perfect. The only downside was wild animals roamed during the nighttime. Even that was stopped by the hunters.
Keith turned to the mud road and drove inside. At the end of the mud road was his father. A blacksmith workshop.
His father was a former Navy soldier of Feinom. He served during World War 1. His mother told him that because of the war he changed. Keith didn't care about that. In his eyes, he was a monster who treated his son as trash.
He could change and turn into a new leaf. But he will remain the same in his heart.
Keith parked the car.
The constant striking of metal could be heard. The rhythm was peaceful as well as carried strength. Keith slammed the door and walked inside the workshop.
The place was the same. Even after 7 years, this place remained the same like his wounds. No. There was dust.
There was a furnace boiling fire, raging inside. An old man with a good build held the red metal piece and struck it with the large hammer. Each strike formed a spark which flew to the ceiling.
Keith felt the sweat in his hands. Not because of the heat, he was used to that. He looked down and clenched his hands to form a tight fist. ‘ You are strong. ’
He gathered himself and coughed. No answer from his father.
He coughed again this time louder. Still no answer.
“ I know you are here. ” His father spoke without turning back.
“ Good then. I need you to sign me something. ” Keith said.
“ Why should I? You left me. ”
Anger formed inside. Keith raised his voice. “ Yeah. I left you because you are the Fucking piece of shit. Now I need you to sign a stupid paper and I will let you again. You like that right? ”
His father stopped his work and turned around. Even his face, gaze and feeling remained the same. Uncaring heart.
“ I don't. You take away my wife, my daughter. ”
Keith walked over to him. He gazed into his father's eyes. He noticed the eyes were not as scary as before. He was even shorter than him.
Keith looked down on him. “ Don't say a word about being your daughter. Tell me one thing, you did for her. Tell me about her birthday. Tell me her best day. ”
Keith turned around and kicked the table. He laughed inside. He always wanted to act like this.
“ Roey, You are not involved in my family. I came here for a sign. ” Keith said.
“ Fine. ” Roey said. “ I am wrong. Just tell me where you live. I want to see my family. ”
Roey was a straightforward man. Keith knew that. That was why he acted like this.
Keith was stunned. He paused for a moment, trying to find a word.
Suddenly, the ground trembled.
Earthquake.
A blue panel floated in front of Keith. He managed to read a few words before he got pushed by Roey. His head collided with the table he just kicked and the world turned black.