CHAPTER 91: FROM CHAOS TO THE SEA

White birds moved in circles in the sky, spiraling under the ball-like clouds floating in the blue sky.

On the street below the birds, two cars moved past each other, a black BMW moving outside the opened gate of Bion City, while a blue Civic entered.

The moment the trunks of both cars met, two figures, one at the front, and the other at the back appeared as the windows of the blue Civic rolled down.

A lady at the front of the Civic moved their right arm, stretching it as if wanting to touch the top surface of the BMW’s trunk.

When the second figure at the back of the blue Civic moved his gaze from the BMW, he closed his eyes and inhaled as if he knew why the BMW was moving out.

As the BMW moved past the bridge that loomed over the clear stream of water, Kai, who sat at the back seat of the BMW, rolled down the mirror at his left side and peeked his head out.

Kai waved, moved his head back, and rolled the windows up.

But at that instant, Oin, who had just exited the blue Civic and was staring at the BMW, moved a step forward, then turned and looked at the empty entrance of the city.

"Where are the soldiers who are supposed to keep guard and check those entering the city?" he asked, whirling himself around.

When the lady at the front side of the driver’s side exited the Civic, her eyes widened instantly, and when she saw no one entering the city, her expression changed from bad to worse.

"Why is no one entering the city? Is something going on?" she said, rushed toward the side of the wall and peeked her head inside the space, and looked at where the soldiers usually rest when they feel tired.

Both Oin and Jinx stood there, staring at each other, but as the last person sitting at the driver’s seat of the Civic exited, he placed his hand over his mouth and screamed.

"WTF! Here smells like shit..." he said, swiped the air from his face countless times, pulled out a black handkerchief from the pocket on the chest side of his shirt, and wrapped it over his nose and mouth.

For ten minutes, Jinx, Oin, and Nich stood there, tilting shocked faces at each other.

They entered the car, then drove into the city, passing by the unnaturally silent buildings.

When they reached where the old women and ladies usually carry baskets of green vegetables and fruits, the car slowed, windows rolled down, but continued when they saw corpses lying on the corners of the road.

The moment the Civic reached the area where the green building was, a plop, plop sound echoed as the tyres rumbled over the soft skin and smashed it.

Blood patterns filled the alley’s road as the car moved forward, dressing the road with blood pentagon patterns.

Meanwhile, at the far distance from the barracks and onto the road that stretched long in the middle of the thick trees, the tires of the black BMW sped up, rumbling over the smooth obsidian road.

Trees flashed past the car like a shooting star, reflecting on the tinted mirror of the car like a reeling movie.

As the car moved past a billboard that had the inscription: Bion City is seventy meters ahead, slow down.

Clara inhaled, turned and looked at Kai, then exhaled.

Kai, who sat quietly at the back, kept his gaze fixed on the reeling trees, watching them like how he looked at the star at night.

And in that instant, memories of him and Gray appeared in the reeling trees.

One tree after another, the memories came, and at the sight of Gray’s blue eyes, Kai’s eyes welled up, but he maintained his posture, noticing Clara looking at him through the rearview mirror.

Kai closed his eyes, hoping to make the tears re-enter himself. But in that moment, two drops of tears dripped down from his eyes, snaked on his cheeks, and rolled to his chin.

The BMW drove hastily from villages and cities. Little by little, the sun moved, following them until it finally settled, letting the moon take over.

For five days straight, the car moved, moving from a distance of one thousand meters away from Bion City.

When the car moved past a bridge and entered into a road closer to the heaving sea waves, it slowed.

At that instant, Kai, who was asleep at the back, woke up and leaned toward the door, and rolled the window down.

The wind rushed into the back of the car, cold at first, carrying a bite of salt that tapped on Kai’s eyes, awakening him fully from his drowsiness.

Kai blinked, letting the breeze slap gently against his cheeks.

Though he had smelled countless fragrances; one from Gilgal Village, and another from the sweet smells from Bion City, he was new to this one that carried heavy silence as if the air itself was alive.

As the BMW crawled onto the center of the long, arching bridge, Kai pushed the window down completely, letting the outside world open like a widening mouth in his gaze.

Below the bridge, the sea writhed in slow, powerful breaths that rose as the waves swelled more, and decreased when the swelling waves collapsed into themselves in a white-foamed hiss.

The sound traveled upward, echoing beneath the bridge like distant applause, deep and endless, then entered into the car like a soft blast.

Kai peeked his head out, just enough for the wind to tug at his hair, then closed his eyes. The smell hit him fully, wobbling through his nostrils with wet sand, and something cold like the scent of metal left outside during rainfall.

The air slid into Kai’s lungs, cleansing the dryness of the days he had spent inside the car. The feeling at which Kai felt seemed as if the sea was trying to wash him clean from the inside; from what he experienced in the last days he spent in Bion City, and the names the people of Gilgal Village called him... monster.

The early afternoon sun layered low, its rays stretching across the water and breaking into scattered gold on the restless waves.

From above the sea, the light made the sea look like shattered glass, catching everything moving on the bridge and off the bridge; even capturing the reflection of the birds hovering above the sea and humming.

Kai watched the waves slam gently against the stone pillar of the bridge, watched the spray rise in a silver mist, and watched the foam curl like white fingers before sinking again.

And when the BMW moved from the bridge and entered into a bamboo-filled land, it slowed, turned to the right.

Clara finally smiled as she noticed three men wearing a wine long straight dress and standing at the front of the monk-like building at the far distance.

Kai closed his eyes for a brief moment, letting the breeze from the sea and the bamboo trees carry across his face.

As Kai cracked his eyes open, he felt something inside him snap, as if a chain inside him had been shattered into countless pieces.

When the car neared the three men dressed in long wine cloth, it stopped.

Dried sand spiraled in the air, brushing on the faces and the completely shaped heads of the men standing there. And as the sun shone bright on it, the ray of the sun reflected from it and threw on the mirror of the car.

Clara walked out of the driver’s side of the car, walked and greeted the three men and began speaking to them.

At that moment, Kai, who sat calmly in the car, could see their lips moving but couldn’t understand their communication.

Few minutes after Kai tilted his gaze from the three bald men dressed in wine, he saw Clara walking toward the door at the back of the car, smiling.