On December 1, 1937, Paige watched as her home was blown up right in front of her eyes.
Inside the house were her elderly grandparents, and her parents who were rushing out to protect their two children.
But before they could reach the door, a bomb fell from the sky.
Just like that, the explosion happened right in front of the siblings.
They should have been caught in the blast, but suddenly, a glowing shield appeared around them, protecting them.
Although they weren't hurt, the intense heatwave still pushed them far away.
The fence around the yard was already destroyed, so they were thrown out with no obstacles in the way.
Paige's whole world turned silent. She saw the house reduced to rubble.
She saw the neighbors running for their lives.
Old people were stumbling behind their children and grandchildren, afraid of being left behind if they lost sight of them.
Children fell to the ground crying, frantically looking for their parents.
Young mothers were running quickly, one child in each hand.
The young men held whatever farm tools or food they could grab, carrying them on their backs, helping their wives by carrying another child or supporting the elderly.
Everyone's mouths were opening and closing, but Paige couldn't hear anything.
Her younger brother grabbed her arm and cried out loud, but Paige could only see his mouth moving and his endless tears.
The past ten years of happiness played over and over in her mind.
Paige felt like her head was splitting, as if someone was hitting her skull with a heavy hammer.
"Paige, Paige..."
Her hearing seemed to slowly come back, and it sounded like someone was calling her.
But the voice was very far away, so far that she couldn't tell where it was coming from.
Soon, someone grabbed her hand, and her little brother was also pulled up from the ground.
The person's mouth was moving, opening and closing, and Paige could only hear a faint voice from the distant sky: "Paige… mountain…"
Then, someone pulled her along to run, and her brother was carried on someone else's back.
Paige recognized the two people. They were the twins from Mr. Nu's house, Winn and Uziel.
This was Rin Village. Everyone in the village had the surname Rin.
Paige, still confused, was dragged along while running. She felt like she had forgotten something important, but just couldn't remember what it was.
Her head still hurt, but during an escape, pain had to be ignored.
Bombs kept falling from the sky. When Paige looked at the red target dot, hatred boiled in her blood.
One day, she would tear that target apart and turn it completely into funeral-white cloth.
The survivors in the village all ran toward the mountains. Any cave that looked even halfway decent already had people inside.
Paige and the other three had no choice but to keep running deeper into the mountains. The path was rough, and it was hard for the three of them to walk.
No one knew how long the bombing would last.
Some people said the soldiers were going to abandon the civilians and run. No one knew if that was true.
If the soldiers really ran away, how could the common people survive?
Paige pushed herself to keep running until they reached a cave. Only then did she shake off the hand holding hers, collapse to the ground, and hold her head while crying in pain.
Ely, who had seen their parents killed in the blast, had already fainted from the shock.
When Paige was about to smash her head against the ground, Winn got scared and quickly hugged her tightly.
At a time like this, things like men and women keeping distance didn't matter. If Paige really hit her head, she might not survive.
Anyway, since it was winter and both of them were wearing thick clothes, he was just trying to protect her from hurting herself. That didn't really count as physical contact, right?
Winn quickly convinced himself.
"Uziel, I'll watch over these two here. You go pick up some firewood. If you find any food, bring that back too," Winn said to Uziel.
The two of them had nothing to do during the winter at home, so they decided to go to the mountains to see if they could catch a wild chicken or a couple of rabbits.
Who would have thought the enemies would still be causing trouble in the dead of winter, even destroying people's homes?
Because the enemies often came around and caused destruction, many villagers had hidden some food in the mountains, although not much.
It was enough to last a day or two.
People hid their food in all sorts of clever places. After all, it was the wild outdoors. If someone found your stash, it became theirs.
Paige was still holding her head and groaning in pain.
The energy inside her body was slowly waking up, but Paige's small and weak body had been suffering from long-term malnutrition. It couldn't handle the huge surge of energy all at once.
One side wanted to give, the other didn't want to accept. They were clashing inside her, and neither was giving in.
The one who suffered most was Paige herself. Her head hurt terribly.
Soon, Uziel came back with some of their stored food and the firewood he had collected.
With a fire going, the four of them wouldn't freeze that night.
After all, they only had one thin, torn blanket and a straw mat in the mountain.
After starting the fire, Uziel spread dry grass on the ground.
There was no blanket, but putting a thick layer of dry grass under the straw mat could help keep out some of the cold.
As for food, looking at Paige and Ely's condition, they probably couldn't eat anything right now.
As for the two brothers, skipping a meal wouldn't be a problem.
Both of their homes had been blown up, and most of the food at home was probably gone too.
They still didn't know how they would survive the coming winter.
All they could do was wait until the bombing stopped, then go search through the ruins. Whatever they could find would help, even just a little.
Uziel thought about his grandparents. Their parents had died early, and it was their grandparents who raised them. But now, before he even had the chance to show his gratitude, they were gone.
Uziel wiped away his tears. Those damn invaders, one day he was going to kill them all.
"Brother, is Paige asleep?" Uziel asked softly, noticing that Paige seemed very still.
By now, it was already dark outside. Uziel had pushed a big stone to block the entrance of the cave. It helped keep the wind out and also stopped animals from coming in.
Inside, the firelight flickered gently.
It wasn't very bright, but in the cold night, it brought them some warmth.
Winn could feel that the person in his arms wasn't moving anymore. He figured she had probably passed out from exhaustion.
So, he slowly turned her over to check, and sure enough, her eyes were tightly closed.
"Sigh, finally asleep. Come help me. I don't have much strength left," Winn said to Uziel.
He had been holding Paige down all afternoon, and his strength was completely gone. By the end, he was only holding on through willpower.
Uziel walked over, took Paige from his brother's arms, and carefully carried her over to lay her down on the grass mat they had prepared.
Suddenly, Paige opened her eyes. Her eyes were red, and her stare was cold and sharp, without any emotion. She looked straight at Uziel, scaring him.
"Paige, Paige, I—I'm not taking advantage of you. You passed out, and I was just putting you on the bed to sleep," Uziel quickly explained.
Winn heard that Paige had woken up and hurried over too.
But at that moment, Paige couldn't hear what they were saying. All she could see was the man standing in front of her.
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