The Truth About the Food
After opening the door to their house and stepping inside, "Thud!" they dropped all the groceries on the dining table. Irwan looked at the plastic bags and sacks of rice on the table.
"Can we really cook and eat these ingredients? What happens if we eat them?" Irwan wondered to himself, staring at the pile of food in front of him.
"Hey, why are you zoning out?" Nadia asked, poking her head to look at Irwan's face.
"Nad, maybe we shouldn't cook these ingredients," Irwan replied.
"Why? It's fine, isn't it? Earlier at the village hall, that woman gave us some slice of cake in a water bottle bag, and it was delicious," Nadia said.
"Huh? You ate it?" Irwan asked.
"Yeah, when I was talking to Lusi earlier, I even gave her a slice because I felt bad for her. Why are you asking?" Nadia asked, confused.
"Let me see the cake," Irwan said, extending his palm.
"Rustle!" Nadia took a small black plastic bag from inside the water bottle bag and handed it to Irwan. When Irwan opened it, he saw two plastic-wrapped slices of layered sponge cake and two empty plastic bags. Irwan took a slice of cake and examined it. There were red dots on the cake, like strawberry jam, which made the cake look delicious. Then he turned to look at Nadia, who was starting to take out groceries from the plastic bags.
Irwan put down the cake and picked up a can of sardines he'd brought back to the village. He slowly approached Nadia.
"Oi, Nad," Irwan called out.
"Wh... ugh!"
As Nadia opened her mouth and turned her head, Irwan immediately put a piece of sardine into Nadia's mouth. Nadia stared at him with a surprised face but chewed the sardine. After that, "Psssssss!" red, strawberry-like smoke came out of Nadia's head, and "Thud!" Nadia dropped the bag she was holding to the floor.
"Eh... wh-what happened? Just now, I thought we met Lusi and Felix, and then I don't remember anything," Nadia said, her face confused, scared, and pale with shock.
"You ate that cake," Irwan said, pointing to the slice of cake on the table.
Nadia turned to look at the cake on the table, and she realized she had eaten the cake with Lusi while they were chatting. Nadia immediately backed away from the dining table. "Thump!" She pressed herself against the wall, then looked at Irwan, who was standing next to her.
"You saved me, Wan, thanks!" Nadia said.
"Not me, but these sardines," Irwan said, holding up his sardine can.
"You brought that sardine?" Nadia asked.
"Because it's flat, not cylindrical, and you can open and close it, I pocketed it," Irwan replied.
"I-I see. (She turned to look at the abundant groceries on the table) S-so we shouldn't eat that food?" Nadia asked.
"It's better not to. The food is what makes people here feel comfortable and happy to live in this village without questioning anything, blind to the truth," Irwan replied, pointing at the groceries on the table.
"Then what do we eat?" Nadia asked.
"We don't really need to eat much anyway. Besides, there's a lot of expired canned food at the school we can eat," Irwan replied.
"Hmm... okay. So now what? We need to find Brian and Riana," Nadia said.
"You said Riana was pregnant earlier, right?" Irwan asked.
"Huh... no... I don't remember," Nadia said, holding her forehead, confused.
"I figured. We still don't know exactly what happened to Brian and Riana. Don't act rashly. For now, let's just stay home and think carefully about our next step," Irwan said.
"What do you think we should do?" Nadia asked.
"Hmmm... there's one thing I'm still curious about, but I don't think you'll like it," Irwan replied.
"What is it? Just tell me," Nadia replied.
"Brian and Riana said they met Rahman at that Japanese guy's place, right? Then Rahman invited them to his shack in the forest. Well, I want to go into the forest once again to find Rahman's shack," Irwan said.
"Ugh... go into the forest again? Like yesterday? Will we get lost again?" Nadia asked.
"Relax, this time we have rice, and this time we're bringing bags," Irwan replied.
"Rice? What for?" Nadia asked.
"Trail markers. And bags with clothes in case we have to stay overnight. We're getting out of here, one way or another," Irwan answered.
Nadia was silent for a moment. She turned to look at the abundant food ingredients lying on the dining table, then she turned to look at Irwan and studied his face, which this time seemed calmer than before.
"Okay, I agree. This time, we'll think it through carefully, no more trying things blindly," Nadia said.
"Alright, let's get ready. We're leaving tonight," Irwan replied.
"Why tonight? Why not during the day or evening? Night is scary. What if there's a cat like yesterday?" Nadia asked.
"We're bringing bags, not just clothes, Nad. (He walked to a dining chair and lifted it, "Crash!" Irwan slammed the chair to the floor and broke it. He took several pieces of chair wood, then tied them together with rope to make a spear with a pointed broken end.) Here," Irwan said, throwing it to Nadia.
Nadia caught it and looked at Irwan's crude but strong creation, which could be used as a weapon. Then Irwan went to the kitchen and took out two kitchen knives, then he placed them on the table.
"These knives can also be used," Irwan said.
"Hmm, okay. So if there's a cat like yesterday, we can fight it," Nadia said.
"Yeah, but don't be scared," Irwan replied.
"Okay, I get it. I'll try not to be scared," Nadia said.
"And if things get really bad, we have that ruined school base camp. So tonight, we'll go to the school first, and then tomorrow morning, we'll search for Rahman's shack in the forest. Who knows, Brian and Riana might be there," Irwan said.
"I understand," Nadia said, gripping her spear tightly with both hands until her knuckles turned white.
After that, they both went into their room to pack their belongings and put them into their backpacks, getting ready to leave tonight. As she looked at the table, Nadia saw their marriage certificate lying there. She immediately picked it up.
"Should we bring this, Wan?" Nadia asked Irwan.
"Whatever you want. If you want to bring it, just bring it. What's the point of bringing it anyway?" Irwan asked.
"Proof that we're married, hehe," Nadia replied, putting the book into her bag.
"Once we get out of here, we'll make it official with a real certificate, not something makeshift like that," Irwan said.
"Okay, if we get out of here," Nadia added.
After they finished packing their belongings, they both came out and placed their backpacks on the living room chairs. Then Irwan poured rice into one of the plastic bags and put a knife into his pocket. After that, he carried his bag to the living room table and sat next to Nadia. They both looked at their house, which, though simple, looked comfortable, with mixed feelings.