She ran. The abstracted void followed. Her faceless brother held her hand and made sure she didn’t fall. The brother’s mask was still faulty, and he tried his best to cover the breach.

But the unwanted air slipped in.

Their father fell harshly on the snow. They didn’t know what happened to him after that. They only ran and followed the carved trees.

Etta didn’t let go. Her brother would keep her safe. Even as he battled something only he could see. Brother kept on swerving from time to time as if to dodge something. But there wasn’t anything in their way that Etta could see. Only brother saw them.

The glimmering sounds have increased more than before. The eyes, are numerous and all around. Etta saw them all, not their figures, but the vacant memories of them.

It’s cold.

The snow increased in its swirling storm. An everlasting dance through this blue and white fluorescence.

So cold…

Brother somehow kept moving forward without break. His breathing was audible and needing oxygen. Somehow he still had the strength to keep his sister safe. He would never let go of her hand.

Freezing…

Her memory stopped there. Only a blank space was left. The written story of her life, gone without a trace.

Etta tried to picture the rest of the scenes with the help of drawing. But she couldn’t remember the faces or recall anything memorable. The drawings were just the same as her mind…

Missing.

Her pictures were still in Nathanael’s satchel. She didn’t know that, nor did she try to find them. She felt no need to draw her memories anymore. She only did it in hopes of surfacing more of her past.

It didn’t help.

No one was in her room. She was alone. And though the room had walls to keep the snow away, she still felt cold. The bed didn’t help her from shivering. But at least it was better than the outside. She didn’t feel the need to stand up. She didn’t want to do anything but lay on the bed with the covers over herself. And all the while she thought of how she ended up in a different bunker than the one within the forest.

She knew there was something odd with her memories, they didn’t match with her situation. The bunker she remembered had a hatch on the roof, that was the only way inside. But she was inside a bunker with a door. How she ended up there remained unknown. She didn’t remember wandering around the plains of snow either.

Lost and confused. Her first encounter with Nathanael scared her. She didn’t know how to act. Though Etta was certain she had never seen his face before, she felt a strange connection with him. As if she met him somewhere…

Or it was just the feeling of loneliness. With no recollection of being with others, she felt more and more terrified. But once she knew Nathanael wasn’t a terrifying person, she calmed down. Then every time he leaves her room, she starts feeling that slight agitation. And the cold would get worse while being alone.

She didn’t want to be alone.

She left the bed untidy and opened the door of her room. She was met with the familiar corridor; she walked around the house yesterday, with the same intentions as now.

Walking down the stairs and looking around, there wasn’t a single person. But coming out of Seth’s studio, was Lydia.

Though she didn’t want to be alone, Lydia was someone she didn’t want to be around. She had an emotionless expression and was all too creepy to Etta. She didn’t like her.

“You came out of your room?”

“…Mm.”

Etta ignored her and kept glancing around, in hopes of finding someone else.

“Looking for something?”

Nathanael was likely not inside the house. It wouldn’t hurt to ask.

“…Nat. Where’s Nat?”

“Nat? Nathanael? He is out with Seth. They won’t be coming ‘til near sundown.”

That was all she needed to hear. If they were outside, then she would stay. There wasn’t a chance of her going out there, in that cold wasteland. Not alone, that is.

She turned and headed back upstairs. Lydia didn’t say anything else and let her be. But Etta did notice her odd glare. Whatever the woman was thinking, it wasn’t clear from her expression.

Nothing of note happened the rest of the day. Nathanael came back and saw Etta asleep. He wouldn’t want to wake her up.

Nathanael found Seth in his workshop, working on the damaged vehicle. The front was still covered with the tarp, while the back was uncovered and lifted up by a jack. The old tracks were thrown away, the new being installed in its place.

“Would it run?” Nathanael asked.

The old man put away a wrench once finished fastening a bolt.

“In the coming days. The engine works fine, but I have yet to find fuel. I need a replacement for the lights when I go in the dark. And the front and side plating does need some fixing as well.”

He remembered the small holes on the snowmobile. A small tingling back in his mind knew how they were formed. But what caused them specifically remained unknown. Nathanael had a feeling it wouldn’t be a good idea to ask about it.

“What exactly do you do around here?”

“What do you mean?”

Nathanael wasn’t sure what he was asking. He lately has been remembering about society and wondered if Seth did any work for payment.

“I’m asking if you work, you know, for others. And don’t start making weird puzzling sentences again.”

Seth gave a sigh.

“I’m done with work. I’ve retired. Back in that city, I have done my part to contribute.”

“So? What did you do?”

“I was an adventurer. I helped the people to go through tough lands and find anything valuable or new. And to hopefully…” His words trailed off. Seth wasn’t going to complete whatever he was saying. “Actually, that doesn’t matter. As if that would ever happen.”

Huh? What doesn’t? What would happen? Why didn’t he want to continue? And to hopefully… what?

“You won’t give an answer no matter what I say, right?”

The old man’s silence was all he needed to know.

He wouldn’t get any answers. For whatever reason that made Seth act like this was a mystery to Nathanael. And because of these secrets, he didn’t have anything much else to talk about. He would try to make small talk of something else, but there really wasn’t anything to talk about except for the answers Seth wouldn’t give.

Nathanael felt lost and confused. His memories are still nothing but a blur. All he had were the words he kept remembering and what they meant. But still nothing of who Nathanael was, and where he came from. And still, that lingering dream kept coming again every night. The people with blurred forms and faces.

Now, strangely, one of those existences suddenly became slightly clearer. Nathanael still couldn’t discern that one soul, but he felt it would surface out of that void and show itself in the near future. Or he hoped it would.

He wanted to ask him. To question him. To speak to him. On why the old man was about to leave the girl to her fate. Nathanael still didn’t understand his first motive. Perhaps Seth isn’t as benevolent to others as he thought.

Then why help Nathanael?

“Seth, there is a city nearby, right?”

The old man didn’t look willing to speak. His expression turned reluctant.

“There is. Though not as close as you think. And the travel there is highly dangerous. I rarely go there anymore.”

“But I might find the answers of my past there. Or there might be a chance people know me and could help me. Please tell me you are willing to show me where that city is.”

“And what if I show you the way? Are you going to go by yourself? I won’t lie, you will die.”

“But I won’t go alone. You’ll accompany me.”

Nathanael knew Seth wouldn’t budge. The image of the man suddenly changed from the mysterious, kind-hearted man, to more ill-tempered and reluctant.

“That won’t be happening in the coming days, Nathanael. Only if I find the need for it, I’ll go to the city.”

“Then, when would that day come? How long do I have to wait?”

“Who knows.” Nathanael looked angry, and Seth saw it quite clearly. “And once we leave, what are we going to do with the girl? Leave her in the house with Lydia, and make me take care of her for who knows how long. Or take her with us?”

“Well…”

The girl still has yet to give her name for the past few days. Nathanael knows nothing about her. She could’ve come from that city, or perhaps she got lost from her group wandering the snow. Perhaps she has a family, that is what her drawings showed him. Though those pictures weren’t exactly a good omen.

Before he would leave the house, he felt like helping the little kid. He didn’t want her to stay with the man who was ready to leave her be in that cold and dark bunker. Nathanael wanted to protect her. And he still felt an odd feeling of knowing her somewhere. But, yet again, it was just an odd feeling.

Nathanael decided he wouldn’t go anywhere until he knew more about the girl. And to hopefully help her find her home or people.

A goal has been set. Helping Seth around the house wouldn’t help recover his memories. Nothing has changed since waking up. Talking to the old man wasn’t going anywhere. And though Nathanael was saved by the man, and feeling great gratitude, he was starting to feel less trust.

Also, an adventurer? Shouldn’t the world be nearly fully explored? Maybe not the ocean, but on land… He pondered his thoughts for a moment but decided to leave that be.

Two days passed. Barely a word has been spoken since inside the workshop. And the girl has yet to speak.

The snowmobile was in better condition than before, and the plating was repaired. They only needed fuel to really see if the vehicle would run. Seth went out with Nathanael to hopefully find that needed liquid.

A village. That was his first thought. Ruined and forgotten, abandoned after many untold years. Broken ceiling and walls, ice and snow covered it all.

There were only a few houses in the area Nathanael and Seth visited. And they were all unlivable. Yet survivable if managed to light a fire inside.

“What happened here?”

“Time. And due to the harsh winter, the people moved somewhere else. Not knowing when they left, or where they went.”

They hoped to find fuel in one of the buildings. It was highly unlikely they would find anything since Seth has wandered into this same village many times already.

Is it the same as the bunkers? Do people just leave stuff around for others? Even around a place like this?

Whatever the reason was, Nathanael would put that question on hold for the time. Seth isn’t going to give any after all.

There wasn’t anything of value. Inside, where the snowfall reached just barely, footsteps of other wanderers already scoured the broken time capsule of a village. Only that was left were remnants of the villagers. Likely valuable for the ones who lived here before, but not for the people looking for supplies.

Dinner plates, shattered or intact, traces of whatever they were eating were frozen for a long time. Most of the houses had that same trait. Perhaps it was dinner time, and the families ate their fill until something happened. They abandoned their houses at the same time, leaving their food on the table. And let it rot until preserved with ice.

There were no skeletons or other remains. Only the pictures on walls and cabinets show who lived in each house. Yet their faces were all obscured. Their features all vanished from the timeline. Whoever they were, the pictures wouldn’t reveal. Only their forms of children and parents. No names or words.

“I wish that I could have met the villagers,” Seth said.

“Why’s that?”

“To ask them a question. How was it? Living a peaceful life ‘til the end came. You were a small community, supported by other villages and a city. You all celebrated special days, worked the fields and cattle, growing your children to inherit your house and land. That peaceful life must have been greater than what it is now.”

“They were eating until something happened. Was it a raid? Bandits looking to steal? Or something worse?”

“Yeah, this village was attacked. The ground rumbled due to the falling objects from the sky. None could have predicted they would be next. I would guess they couldn’t escape far. The snow would have killed them if they couldn’t find shelter.”

“That’s sad…”

“That’s just how things are around here. The sector of snow and ice.”

They didn’t find anything. Nothing beneath the rubble, no hidden crate to reveal fuel. Nothing at all. Just a story of the village’s past.

Nathanael stared behind him. The village was already far from his view. And behind it, that odd, obscure blur. The distance he couldn’t see. He could only think of that as a wall. A vertical object that he couldn’t see past.

Staring long at it made his mind become more sluggish. That ringing and static noise he heard in both of his ears. He could feel himself about to fall unconscious. Closer and closer, that idea nearly reached.

He turned away, facing Seth’s back, and ignored whatever that feeling was. He already had many things to think about. That strange thing beyond the horizon could wait.