Arthur was giving Ethan a knowing look when Lukas walked in. He felt way more tired and run down than anything. Drew looked somewhat worried about him, after vaguely hearing what they were talking about out there. Ethan was sitting back on the couch, and Lukas decided to sit next to him again. Ethan scooches away a little bit, which Arthur notices with a hint of disgust.
"Ok, everyone! How do we free all 24 camps?!" Drew asked the other three. They just looked at the floor, until Arthur said: "24?! How?!" with his mouth gapping open.
"The camps are named after a letter in the Greek alphabet, and since the Greek alphabet has 24 letters, it's a pretty safe assumption…" Drew explained. "Also, this IS the second biggest country in the world, so there's gotta be more than 2 or 3…" Lukas seemed like he didn't want to say anything for some reason.
How are we supposed to free every single camp? There's only the 4 of us!" Arthur asked.
"What if we… raided them…?" Ethan threw an idea out there.
"Oh yeah and get killed…" Arthur shot it down immediately. "You do realise they're going to kill, and/or torture us the second we infiltrate that place…" He said. "Y'know what would be the best idea? If we left! We already got Lukas and Drew back, why are we still here…?"
"Because that's our job…? We're supposed to help people in this country, y'know!" Drew said.
"Yeah well CLEARLY these guys don't wanna be saved! Did you not see how they were acting at our attempt!" Arthur reminded them of what happened. "Plus, some of them probably deserve jail. You never know how many people there actually committed a heinous crime when they were thriving outside. They wouldn't just let only the bad guys free, that would be a bad look on their part!" Arthur was making some great points, everyone else was pondering, except Lukas. He was in his own world for now.
"Please… I want to go back home…" Arthur was begging for them to let it go. At least for now. Drew looked at the others, who weren't helping at all, and sighed deeply. "Alright, fine. Let's leave…" Ethan was going to protest, but Lukas cuffed his hand around his mouth, shutting him up for now.
"Hey…" Bhyngaux came out of nowhere. Scarring the shit out of everyone else. "If… you need help, please…. My friend Mhyngaux… he will be your… best help… If he's still… around…" He notified. Drew gave him thumbs up, before exiting the tent with the other in tow. He circled back, and said: "bye Bhyngaux, I'll meet you again sometime…" which gave Bhyngaux a slight smile on his face, as he watched the four of them leave for good.
Walking
Walking
Walking
Walking
Walking
Walking
Walking
That's all they did, throughout the forest, they weaved through shrubs, trees, and other stuff. Lukas managed to sneak into the back, where he would continue with his thinking into another world. Sometimes slowing down a little bit, before correcting himself seconds later. Ethan also would whisper into his ear, so he wouldn't fully transition his mind into other worldly places.
It took them all a while a silence, before making it back to the field. They never realised how close Bhyngaux's home was to the edge. The more you know I guess. The ash that used to be a barn, has pretty much blown away completely in the wind. Leaving only the chard body for the world to see. They walk past it really fast, with Arthur having to look away and cover his eyes. Ethan watched him do this, and was kind of amused on how adorable someone like him could be in the right situation.
They make it over to the car, but something… seems off. It didn't look like anyone was in there anymore, which makes no sense. Ethan opens the door, to see that in fact, yes! No one was in there.
"What happened to Braxton… and that other girl…?" Drew asked.
"I-I don't know… they should be here, or somewhere around here maybe?" Ethan reasoned. Arthur also seemed to be visibly worried as well. Not knowing that the two of them were just gonna leave like that.
"Maybe he went through that field over there!" Arthur frantically points over at the other side of the road, seeing even more field. Only with a tiny ass indicator of someone's footsteps flattening the grass a little bit. Arthur went over there, and started following where the grass oh so slightly part away from themselves, showing movement, that probably follows all the way through this really long field. The others also pull up to, with Ethan finally locking his car door for once.
The day was coming to a close, with the yellow tint in the sky showing up. The footsteps were going all over the place, in every which way. They even seemed to be going in a curtain direction, which Ethan and Arthur remembered pretty fondly. They were going to Quélkunstown again! Which was a pretty big surprise.
Some smoke was emanating from the distance, with the smell traveling through the wind, all the way to the four of them. The smoke clouds were really big, considering how far back they would have to be from them.
A pit in Ethan's stomach formed.
A pit that would not be going away anytime soon, especially with the fire that was bellowing from afar. The thing was huge, standing the entire horizon, for them. Arthur's eyes went wide, as he hoped the worst hadn't happened, but only time would tell if their wishes would come true or not.
"Oh. My. God!" Drew gasped out, before sprinting top speed towards the fire. The three of them were shocked at his eminence speed, not even being able to try to match it. They still ran though. Ran all the way over, to the fire.
They all stood in a line, in absolute shock and despair, Lukas wans;t truly conscious yet, but when he stepped closer, and felt a finger on his shoe, that's when he realised the true horror of what's going on here.
This was the burning of Quélkunstown…