"But if you want, we can vote. Whoever wants to come with me can come. Whoever wants to go with you can go. Let everyone make their own choice."
Mike paused for a moment for a moment.
"So… what do you say?"
The man looked thoughtful, but eventually he agreed.
"Alright, that sounds fair. But how are we going to vote?"
"It's simple. Whoever wants to come with me should stand behind me, and whoever wants to go with you should go to your side."
The others who heard this were divided.
On one side was Mike—his words sounded crazy, but he had a point.On the other side was the man, who seemed more logical and had safer choices.
098 made the first decision and walked behind Mike. When Mike saw her coming to his side, he began to feel more confident.
Then another slave went to the man's side, and slowly everyone began choosing who they wanted to follow.
In the end, the man clearly had more people with him, but Mike also had many.
The man sighed and said.
"The sun is setting. Let's rest today, and tomorrow our paths will separate."
Mike didn't say anything. He simply nodded in agreement.
That night everyone slept inside the ruins of the old factory,everyone except Mike.
He was sitting on the ground with his back against the wall, and his ribs hurt much more than before.
"Are you okay?"
Mike suddenly turned around in surprise and saw 098, who was also awake and sitting a little farther away.
"Yes… I'm fine."
Of course that was a lie. He was trying with all his strength not to scream from the pain. For a long time now he had felt his body becoming heavier and weaker, while his ribs hurt terribly.
"Are you sure? You don't look very well."
"I'm fine. And you...why don't you sleep?"
Mike said, trying to change the subject.
"i am not feel sleepy."
"How is your leg?"
"It's fine."
Mike paused for a moment before speaking again.
"What's your name?"
"What do you mean? I'm a slave. I don't have a name."
"Yes, but you weren't born a slave."
Anyone who wasn't born a slave had a name. But when someone became a slave, they immediately lost their name and it was replaced by a number.
"They used to call me Samantha."
"That's a beautiful name...you can call me Mike."
"Mike? I thought you were born a slave."
"I was. But I named myself that. Only James knew that I had a name."
The girl smiled. It was the first time Mike had ever seen her smile, and for some reason it made him happy.
"It's silly, isn't it?"
"Not at all. It's beautiful that you gave yourself a name."
Mike smiled, and after a moment of silence he said.
"Let's sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day."
The next day, just as they had agreed, the man with the scars on his head took his followers and left. They said they would go to the nearest city and hide there.Some people even changed their minds at the last moment and went to the man's side, while others stayed with Mike.
"So, what's the plan?"
someone asked.
"Do you still have the maps?"
Samantha took a map out of a handmade backpack .
She open the map, revealing cities and roads.
Mike didn't even know how to read his own name, so it was obvious that he couldn't read the map. He looked at Samantha with a look that clearly asked for help. She understood and pointed to a spot on the map.
"We are here right now. To reach the ruins we need to pass through Fana, Kel, Olia, and Raila."
She said while pointing at the cities on the map.
"First we will go through Fana. In every city we pass through, we will need to gather supplies for the journey to the next city."
Samantha and the others looked at Mike.
One of the people there asked.
"And how are we going to get supplies if we don't have money?"
"We don't need money."
Mike said.
"Because we're going to steal them."