START     OF     BOOK 12
STARTING SOUND.

Chapter 98
Starting Sound

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[ Paths So Far ]

{Escapees}

.Ray.

.Emma.

.Gilda.

.Don.
.Anna.

{ Demons }

.Mujika.
.Sonju.

{ Goldy Pond Residents }
.Oliver.
.Gillian.

.Violet.

.Nigel.
.Zack.

{ More }
.Norman.

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1.

Reader's POV

[ March 2046 ]

{ It's been half a month since we arrived here.
 Currently, we're a family of 64. 
Our personalities, ages... and home farms are all different. }

{ But... everyone gets along. 
Cooking. Cleaning.
Obtaining food.
These and other tasks... are divided equally. }

{ This place is smaller than the house. 
And we have less food. But it's really fun everyday. 
I have more friends. 
And there are more things I can do. 
That's why I'm really happy right now. }

I sat on Ray's lap, looking at the phone with narrowed eyes.
We never got a word from the supporters so it was so boring just watching a phone each day!

Lucas was also with us, standing up.

Emma came down a few seconds later.
"Any word from the supporters?"
she asked.

"Nope. Still no contact from them,"
Ray said.

------------- Flashback

[ Seven days before ]

"Let's get in contact with the supporters first."

"Yeah. We have to confirm that we can actually do that,"
Yuugo said.

"To do that, we have to fix all of the current circuits that are broken... and then..."
Nigel muttered. His hat was off for once, and his hair was so fluffy.
I wanted to touch it, and I currently was, my eyes wide in awe.

"But... is it okay to contact them?"
Sonya asked.

I stopped touching Nigel's hair and looked to her.
I shivered in fear, but not because of Sonya.

But because I was being glared at by my lover.
I turned back and stuck out my tongue.

He crossed his arms.
I never took Ray for a jealous person, but it really was fun to mess with him.

I knew he wouldn't act on it, because he didn't want to hurt me.
He knew I had my friends.

I turned my attention to Sonya quickly.
"What if the supporters have already been discovered by our enemies and killed?
Then, even if we get in touch, we won't know if they're working for the enemy. They could be pretending to be supporters."

Shivers ran through everyone and I messed with Nigel's hair.

"Even if we just fix the circuits, that may lead the enemy here too,"
Sonya finished.

"Yeah, Mr. Minerva already warned us of that danger."
Lucas said.

"'Don't leave traces when going back to the shelter. Be careful when entering and leaving the shelter.' We were careful to follow those rules when we came here,"
Lucas added.

"And it seems that there's a mechanism on this shelter's circuits that makes them undetectable from the outside. He also prepared a few dummy shelters,"
Gilda said.

"The password to confirm each other was set too. But even with all these precautions, there's still danger,"
Ray spoke up.

"But despite the danger, I want to make sure. If there are supporters, I want them to help us.
And if they're already gone, we need to come up with an alternative plan.
I want to clarify things while we still have time,"
Emma added.

"So how do we get in touch with them?"
Gillian asked.

"That's..."

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"Yuugo, did you know about this?"
Chris asked Yuugo, on his shoulders.

"Not a clue,"
Yuugo responded.

"No one would have guessed that this would be under that room,"
Don said.

I looked at the phone, not saying anything.
Ray had successfully taken me from Nigel, and now had me on his back. 

"A phone..."
Oliver muttered.

"We just have to call the designated number from this phone. Then they're supposed to call back within 24 hours,"
Emma said, picking up the phone.

"I'm going to call."

-----------------------------Flashback End

"It's been seven days. We haven't heard anything,"
I said with a sigh, leaning onto Ray.

 "It's been 15 years since Mr. Minerva's recording. Perhaps there are no more supporters,"
Ray said.

"Ray, don't think so negatively,"
I muttered.

Then...

The phone rang.

All of us got up in a hurry.
Emma went at it and picked it up.

"Morse code!" 
She said, shoving the phone to Ray.

Ray took it and started to listen to the beeps, holding me protectively as if something would come out of the phone.

[ Sorry but I cannot meet with you now. I'll contact you soon. Be careful. 
Enemy is Peter Ratri. Minerva's younger brother. Head of Ratri family. ]

"Hold it, what about the password?!"
Ray asked.

[ Don't move from there. I'll come for you. Promise ]

"He hung up,"
Ray muttered.

I took a deep breath.

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5.27.2020
Word Count: 734