Part 3
Waking up in his room, still sleepy, Seven began to stretch a little awkwardly. Even though he had slept, he still felt tired from the previous day.
It must be the growing pains… He felt his body sore and a bit difficult to move, especially the muscles in his arms and legs, while his mind felt refreshed.
After finishing stretching, he looked to the side.
"Good…" he murmured in a slightly hoarse voice.
With a serene face and soft breathing, Ísis was sleeping peacefully in bed.
I was worried…
While sleeping, a heavy breathing had woken him in the middle of the night. Following the sound, he saw his sister sitting on the bed right beside him. She had a frightened look fixed on the bedroom door that led to the kitchen. With her hands around her neck, she was trying to find something.
She had a nightmare… As soon as he saw her, he understood.
Although he didn't have much time, it seemed to have been enough to calm her down… With a tender smile, Seven watched her sleep for a few seconds. You've grown…
Hearing a sound coming from the kitchen and realizing he was getting distracted, he started moving.
Jumping from the bed, he landed on the floor, bending his knees to cushion the impact. Ignoring the pain he felt and his muscles' complaints, he moved quickly and silently to the door.
Opening it, he quickly left the room.
Outside, closing it carefully, Seven turned around.
"Good morning, Father ."
With a smile, he greeted him.
Seated in a chair at the end of the table, there was a glass beside him with a bit of steam rising. In front of him was a notebook, where he seemed to have been writing something, but had just closed it upon Seven's arrival.
Already prepared for the day, he wore camouflage clothes that were quite worn out, with several patches on the arms and parts of the fabric faded, especially where they suffered the most friction.
"Good morning," Father said, giving a slight smile.
Surprised, Seven stopped walking.
How rare… Being someone who almost never showed any expression, even a slight smile from him was something that caught attention.
Seeing that Seven remained near the door, Father asked, pointing to the empty chair beside him:
"Aren't you going to eat?"
"Ah, yes."
Snapping out of his thoughts, he approached the table and sat down.
The usual…
Glancing quickly at the bowl of porridge with dried fruits, he picked up a cup of tea, from which a light steam rose, took a sip, and began to eat.
"Where are we going today, Father ?"
Although he had already been told that he would accompany him, he didn't know the destination due to the lack of time.
He wanted to ask last night, but… He remembered that after dinner, Ísis had asked many questions in a row, leaving no space for him. It lasted until bedtime…
"We're going to a safe place so you can learn how to shoot."
Hearing this, Seven was so surprised that he dropped the spoon.
"What?"
It was sudden. He hadn't expected something like this. He thought they would go to a more distant or dangerous area, something only the two of them could do, or even search for batteries, but not this.
"Don't you want to learn?" Although light, due to Seven's reaction, there was a hint of surprise in Pai's voice.
"No, it's not that. It's just that it was very unexpected…"
He had always wanted to learn this, but right after that lecture about how I acted, a reward…? He had already been taught how to handle weapons, maintenance, safety procedures, and the names of each part that made them up — in the case of bolt-action rifles and revolvers — but it had stopped there.
Picking up the spoon again, he continued:
"I just didn't expect to learn this after what I did yesterday…"
Noticing Seven doubt, Father explained:
"…Your encounter with the humanoid, although caused by your bad choices, confirmed something I had already been noticing. The city is changing, much more than I expected. Humanoids are not only leaving the center, and those beasts we saw at night, even if common, shouldn't be so close to home…"
Pausing, Father looked at Seven before continuing: "Because of these changes, you need to be ready to protect your siblings from larger beasts that may start appearing."
Remembering the forest around the house that was recovering, Seven nodded with a serious look.
"I understand…" It wasn't a reward, but a necessity.
With a lighter expression, Father stood up as he spoke: "If it were some time ago, I would forbid you all from leaving the house. But besides not making any sense nowadays, you need to learn how to live in this city."
Turning around, he began to walk away.
"Finish eating. We'll leave soon."
A short while later, already ready, both stood beside the exit.
Wearing similar clothes, the only difference was that Father carried two rifles on his back and a much larger backpack, although he moved with ease.
Noticing something strange at his waist, Seven asked:
"Why are you taking two helmets with gas masks?"
They look like the helmet Leon found… Even though similar, these had small numbers on the side of each one — 11 and 97. Although worn by time, with light scratches and cuts, they weren't in the same condition as the one from the lake, but still functional.
The number eleven is my Father 's. It was larger in size. He imagined that the smaller one was the one he would use.
"You'll understand when we get there."
Entering the password, Father unlocked the bunker door, making the gears begin to work.
As soon as it opened, the two quickly left the house, hit by a strong current of cold air that invaded the mansion.
"Winter seems very close…" Playing with the steam as he spoke, Seven waited for Father to finish closing the bunker.
"Yes, but we're still relatively far from it."
It hadn't been long since autumn had begun, but even so, the temperature had dropped to the point where it felt very close to the change of season.
"If it keeps going at this pace, it might snow this year… That would be fun, but hopefully not as much as it did last year." Remembering the blizzard that hit them, he hoped they wouldn't have to stay inside the house for long months again.
It was a very tedious period… Even though they had things to do, like reading and playing some simple board games, after four months everything became tiring quickly.
Pai, pulling the cabinet to hide the door, paused for a moment before finishing, something that caught Seven's attention, before speaking:
"I also hope it doesn't snow that much."
Observing him in silence, Seven remembered.
Except for a few intervals… only Father could go out. During that period, he had to leave the house to fetch some things, both from the greenhouse and from more distant places, sometimes taking more than a day to return.
Blizzards were not new; they had happened a few times, but the last one came with much greater force than normal.
It even arrived earlier than it should have, catching them by surprise.
Because of last year, we prepared earlier this time… We just need a few more things to finish…
"Let's go." Turning his back, Father walked down the corridor with Seven following him.
Reaching the main hall, they went to the entrance door. Unlike the night before, Father opened it more calmly.
...
Outside, still early, a timid sun was beginning to rise, casting a few beams of light across the sky. While in the middle of the forest, more than in the mansion, an even colder wind blew, carrying a thick mist that left both the vegetation and the ground wet.
Amidst those plants, Seven and Father walked until, passing a bush, they arrived at a large greenhouse. With a height and width that even surpassed the mansion, it consisted of a large central dome connected to three smaller ones by corridors.
It had brick walls that went up to a certain height, and from there began the steel and glass structure that covered everything.
Still moving, passing through a small square covered by nature, both headed to the main entrance connected to the largest dome.
Entering, they reached a wide empty area, the old entrance hall of the place, with a large metal sign on one of the walls containing a map of the location.
On it, among faded letters and erased lines, only two words were legible.
Botanical Garden...
Reaching two large doors, Father began to push them. As soon as a gap formed between the doors, as if welcoming them, a strong wave of heat began to escape, until they were fully opened.
No matter how many times I see it… Stopping, Seven admired the beautiful landscape before him. This place remains wonderful…
In the middle of that greenhouse stood a colossal tree, more than thirty meters tall, with a large canopy that covered a vast area around it. The plant was illuminated by the timid rays of the rising sun, which enhanced the dark green color of its leaves, yet they felt warm.
Quickly resuming his walk, Father headed toward the center, descending a long staircase.
So we're going to pass by there… Surprised, a slightly bitter look appeared on Seven's face.
Running, he followed him as they passed a series of empty flowerbeds or ones with small hibernating shrubs.
Entering beneath the canopy, they approached the trunk, stepping into a small flowerbed that surrounded the tree. In it, there was a great variety of flowers that, even close to winter, still bloomed in the most varied colors.
Following a path between them, they reached a small open area and stopped near the trunk. Right in front of them was a grave with a name written on it: Hazel.
Turning toward it, Seven lowered his gaze.
Mother.
Over where she had been buried, he found hundreds of flowers in orange hues.
Yuliya said they are the same color as her red hair… and as vibrant as her lively personality. She had died during his birth, which is why he never knew her, but he knew that his name had been given by her.
Observing the grave with a distant look, he turned to Father when he saw him move. Kneeling near the headstone, Father began to pull out the few plants that had grown over it.
His face, although it looked serious as always, showed a slight melancholy to Seven, who watched him in silence.
After pulling out the last plant, Father stood up, and they resumed walking.
Climbing another staircase on the opposite side from where they had come, Seven cast one last glance at the grave before following toward another greenhouse.