Outside a bar at midnight, a group of friends was walking out after having met to talk about much more than just their boring or happy lives.
Many of them were married men, some had families and others were trying to form one, but that wasn't a restriction for many to leave them at home.
"What did you say it's called?"
"The King's Road, it's a route that goes through the Santa Carmen mountains and you can go in the summer."
"Ah, this one is similar to the Appalachian Trail."
"Yes, but this route has more history than mountaineers. Let's do something fun, don't you guys want to go to Amsterdam?"
A man named Luke, who was in the group of friends that had gathered tonight to plan their next vacation, said: "Don't you want a bottle?"
"Come on, I'll go with you." Robert looked at his best friend and nodded, even though the others had refused to go for obvious reasons. He, as someone who thought the same way as Luke, accompanied him.
Luke looked at his friend and joked, "Don't you think every year it's harder for us to get together with more freedom?"
"I agree…"
"Dom wanted to meet for lunch, that's damn crazy."
But at that moment, when they entered the liquor store, Luke saw how a woman with a clear hit on her face was hiding beside the counter. She was terrified, something that could be perfectly seen the moment one looked at her face.
As his first instinct, Luke hid, and that's when things turned murky because they discovered the liquor store was being robbed by a group of thieves, who saw Robert, who hadn't moved.
"Hey, give me your damn wallet." One of the thieves pointed at Robert, who said nothing about his friend who had hidden, and took out his wallet.
"Now give me your ring!"
Robert hesitated; he didn't want to give his engagement ring to a stranger, but without giving him a chance to explain, the thief struck his head with a metal bat.
"Damn it, man, what the hell are you doing?" The thief's partner couldn't believe his companion was hitting someone; things weren't supposed to get out of control like this.
But without answering him, the man continued hitting Robert's head.
Luke, who was hiding while holding a bottle of tequila, wanted to come out, but fear completely paralyzed him and he couldn't move a single muscle.
…
A few months later.
Santa Carmen Mountains.
"That dream again…" Luke opened his eyes remembering how his friend had been brutally murdered in front of him. He had that dream every day he went to sleep, and the depression had soon consumed him.
Why didn't he move to defend his friend?
Luke blamed himself over and over for not taking a step forward to defend his friend. He wanted to turn back time to change that outcome, but he couldn't.
When his friends told him he did the right thing, that if he had done anything else, he would be dead too, Luke knew those weren't really their thoughts.
Maybe they said it to make him feel better, but in a way they were also a little confused knowing he hadn't made any movement to save his friend.
"I'm so sorry…" Luke murmured as he opened his tent.
To hold a ceremony for Robert, he and many more of his friends decided to do a hiking route in his honor. That night everyone remembered Robert's insistence on doing a route together, so today they were here halfway through to honor his name.
At first light, Luke woke up and stepped out of his tent. After having that dream, the only thing he wanted was to breathe fresh air to clear his mind of those harsh dreams.
Those nightmares had been haunting him since the day he cowered. None of his friends knew about his situation, no one was aware that he had let his friend die, and he preferred it to stay that way.
But what he didn't realize was that conscience kills. After only five months, guilt had consumed him so much that he was in immense depression.
"I made some coffee, you should have a cup." Dom, who was outside, looked at Luke's state and offered him a cup of coffee.
Luke took it and sat down, looking at the sunrise while the others were still waking up.