12 Chapter Twelve: Family of Friends (2/2)
Rose looks up at Siran as he says, ”I can give you that boost you need if you agree to join us. However, your sister joining us would be a different story, since she'd have to volunteer herself to join us. We can't force her to do that. We'll help you find your sister, as long as you help us along the way, agreed?”
Rose wipes away her tears, sloppily, as she nods while still crying. Siran holds out his hand with the same blackish smoke like substance emanating from his hand as he says ”then we'll shake on it”. Rose shakes his hand and the smoke envelopes her before disappearing suddenly.
”For now” Zia says, ”we gotta worry about whether this place will be safe to stay in”
”It should be fine” Finn says. ”I doubt they'd just stumble across this hideout, especially while fighting a war”
”True enough” Alex says, ”but you said you knew where this Holly person should be at?”
”Yeah” Rose says behind tears.
”Well, where is that?” Siran asks.
”She said she was going to America to collect 'data' or something” Rose responds.
”Oh no” Siran says.
”So we're going to The United States then?” Zia asks.
”Apparently so” Alex replies. ”We'll get to see the country that Siran came from”
”This is going to be unpleasant” Siran says.
The team finds it hard, but eventually find sleep shortly after the sun arose. After they had awoken, most of the fighting had stopped, but there were still sounds of fighting coming from Cairo. They found their way around the city, although it took them a while since they had to avoid Cairo completely. As they headed northeast, towards Israel, they came across some Sayeret soldiers shuttling civilians away from Cairo, evacuating civilians from the battlefield. From there, they were able to get a ride to Eilat, a city in the southern corner of Israel and far south of Jerusalem. After once again exchanging the currency of all the money Finn had, they were able to board an airplane from an airport in Eilat. From the plane, they arrived closest to their destination. Cuba, just southeast of Havana. According to Rose, Holly had left to Jacksonville, Florida, a coastal state on the southeastern side of The United States. So they would have to find a boat that would take them to Florida and find their way to Jacksonville. After several days of nonstop traveling, they arrive in Florida and slowly walk their way north to Jacksonville. Several more days pass as they walk, rest, eat and gather more food. There were lots of towns that still housed lots of people. Most of this land was still perfectly habitable. They would even find buses to use to go long distances as they took time to rest and close in on their destination.
”This place isn't so bad” Zia said. ”I was expecting more of a wasteland”.
”Well” Siran begins to explain, ”after several decades plus a century, most of this land was cleaned up and reestablished. However, a lot of places weren't fixed, since most of this country was a battlefield for a long time. Some people just decided to adapt to the change and live amongst the debris left behind from the war”
”What do you mean?” Finn asks.
”You'll see if we ever come across it” Siran replies.
Eventually they reach Jacksonville. They arrive at the coast in specific, where they were first greeted by a very old aircraft carrier ship that has crashed onto the beach. The ship was very very old, and vines and moss covered most of the ship. There were several enormous holes in the hull of the ship, and shelters and houses built inside of the ship, exposed by the large holes.
”That's pretty impressive” Alex says. ”Really turning a curse into a blessing”
”This is what I meant by adapting to the debris of the war” Siran says. ”Now where is this Holly person supposed to be?”
Rose just shrugs her shoulders and then says ”All I know is that this is where she came to. I don't know where exactly she went, how she got here, or if she had left already”
”Then I guess it comes down to a manhunt” Alex says.
”But first, we need to rest for a while” Zia says. ”Hopefully there's a hotel or something on this giant ship”
”Good idea” Siran says with an exasperated tone. ”Rest first, then come up with a plan. We'll have to find some way to track down Holly, but we need rest so we can keep our heads on straight”
Finn let's out a loud yawn and says ”I'm all down for that! I'm super tired”
”Agreed” Alex says, rubbing the back of his neck.
”Then it's settled” Rose says. ”Rest first, then find Holly”
”Being back here still makes me uncomfortable” Siran says. ”But a promise is a promise”.