Part 7 - Worries

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     On the hammock, Simon was sleeping soundly with a smile on his face, as Ron with black sweaters just watched him in disappointment, "is he a useless boyfriend now?"

      "He works at night, leave him be," Elena said, she was sitting at her hammock, sitting still while holding her cane, she was thinking of the team situation and what she was supposed to do. Though her minds wander she wasn't getting the answer.

      "Elena, do you know where Amber went?"

      "She went to District 6 to get one of her record books," she replied.

     Hearing that Ron looked worried, "it's going to be cold soon, is she alright alone?!" It is going to snow, and in District 6, it would've probably filled with snow once she reached there. Ron got worried, even though he knew that he wasn't supposed to get close to Amber, he was still worried about her. 

      "Amber was always alone during her missions," Elena said, she was confident nothing was going to happen to her sister while she left to District 6. "She was always the one standing alone, ready to die, while I was the one who always in need of the help of others and..."

        Elena let out a heavy breath, "I am questioning whether I am fit to be a leader."

       "But you were the one who started all of this!"

      "So? I may as well be the person who ends it, because... everyone lives is in danger because of me, my bad decisions, it so selfish... and in the end, all of you get hurt and I am safe, what's the point?" She said, in a tone between anger and sadness, she could almost feel the weight of the world on her shoulder. She disliked thinking about it and had tried so many times but she failed.

      "You saved our lives more than you ever harmed us!" Ron said, encouraging Elena, he knew that if Elena was the one who lost hope, the entire team would lose hope. Ron knew that Elena was going to blame herself for everything that was unavoidable, and he doesn't want her to go down that path. "All of us, where do we go without FEARS? None of us could've even thought about surviving without FEARS," he said, he even tried to catch his breath while saying it.

      He clutched his fist tight, "you did something amazing Elena, and I am sorry I can't speak long, I need to go out," Ron said. As he started to left, leaving Elena the only one awake in that place, as she was left to think what she was supposed to do, she was hoping there was at least a way, to unite everyone back together.

       Meanwhile, Amber was sitting inside the bus, she had her trench coat, with a white warm shirt, a blue backpack that she placed to her side, and a blue scarf wrapped around her neck. She wore a long grey trouser, and her usual leather shoe, she was looking out from the window with Fernado's diary in her hand. After she was done, she looked down reading stuff, "what did that guy wrote in there?"

       Amber gained weight today, she said she's getting old that's why. I kind of hate when she uses her age as a reason for everything.

       "Damn you, Fernado."

       The person in front of her got up looked tired and irritated, he turned back to look at her and started screaming at her. "Shut up lady, I am tryna catch some sleep here!"

      "Sleep is for the weak, pathetic," Amber said looking down at the person in front of her.

     All that she didn't expect was.

      She got kicked out of the bus after getting refunded because the people on the bus were complaining about her. She just watched as the bus left, leaving her in the middle of a cold desert and was feeling quite down about it. Either way, she continued walking while talking to herself to comfort her heart.

     "Did they think I am afraid? Just gotta find..."

     She sees a gas station from a distance and her eyes were glued to it, she said, "bingo," and started walking towards the gas station down the sandy hills.

      She entered the convenience store at the gas station as the glass door slide to the side, "now, just to buy--"

      She heard a muffled sound, and she looked front to see the cashier was all tied up and was struggling to break free, with his mouth covered with a piece of cloth. She looked around and realized she was surrounded by bandits, each of them holding knives in their hand, with their mouth covered with a bandanna.

     "Ah look," one of the bandits said, pointing his knife at Amber, "sorry lady, shop is closed." 

     Amber looked unfazed when they pointed the knife at her, she slid her hand inside her trench coat calmly and took out a gun pointing at the bandit after reloading it in a flash, the bandit looked quite surprised when she did that, and she turned her head, "sorry, you made a big mistake by disturbing a heartbroken lady."

        In a flash, the bandit tried to stab her, but Amber dodged down, and crouched down to his side before kicking his head to the glass, "YOU IDIOTIC BANDIT!" She screamed, as she grabbed the bandit's hair, "you haven't seen the wrath of me yet," she said, and she threw him down on the ground stepping on his back.

        "You never know the feeling of your eye getting scooped out, amateurs..." Amber was extremely pissed off this time, the bandit pointed at her as she turned to them, ready for another fight.

       "GRAB HER!" They screamed, the bandit charged towards her, as she ducked down and kicked their legs, making them lose balance and dropped them to the ground. She kicked them in their guts immobilizing them from taking a step further as they coughed on the ground. "Listen up idiots," she said, taking steps closer towards them, her uncovered eye reminds people of a blue flame burning deeply.

      "This is a normal day for me in District 6."

      The bandit tried attacking her, swiping their knives at her, but Amber was fast to dodge, and she was faster to attack. The bandits were trying to group against her, but they failed, as she managed to grab each one of them, using her elbow to knock them down, kicking them down to the ground, or even just choking them using her scarf by using one hand to hold and bite the other end just to give a grip to choke them.

        Although in her mind, she was feeling extremely sad.

     No matter how much I fight, how much I train, no matter how many bloods I had under my nails, I couldn't protect who I loved the most, I was too late, and my wish to be in love, even though I have just an arm or just an eye, it feels like it is impossible to me.

       She managed to knock the last of the bandit down, as she walked towards the counter, untying the cashier who was looking at her with fear, "don't worry I won't kill you," she said in a calm tone, "call the police, they'll take care of this."

     "Aren't you a cri-criminal too?" He stuttered, shaking in fear.

     Amber sighed and put one hand at her waist, "that's an old story, now tell me the location of where I am, also, can you explain to the police that it was self-defense?"

     "Uhh, how?"

    She looked around in the store that seemed to be rummaged, when she lifted her head she could see some CCTV cams, and she sighed as she took out her phone and dialed Ron's number.

     "What are you doing?"

    While the phone was still dialing, she said, "If you don't know how to explain to the police, then at least let me delete the footage, hello Ron, how do you delete the security cams videos?"

     "You just go to the computer and delete it..." Ron said on the other line.

      "He said just delete it!" Amber screamed.

     "Uhh, okay?"

     The two walked towards the security room filled with monitors and it was dark only lighted by the screen, they were trying to figure out how to delete the footage so the police wouldn't have so much suspicion towards the situation. 

    "Oh, he said 'give me the pin code, I'll somehow edit it out.'"

     "Wait," the cashier said, trying to get the right moment.

      "Give the duration too, so it'll be easier," Amber said.

     "Give me a moment, oh shoot, this is the last week one," the cashier accidentally went further back for the video.

        The video started loading until there was footage showing a man wearing an eerie panda mask was walking slowly, his hoodie was black on one side, and white on the other, with his panda hat covering his hair not giving its shape nor color. It was hard to guess who was under the mask. The most noticeable detail was he had a metal bat with blood splattered across it.

       "What is that? Is that a ghost of a deceased panda?!"

         "There's no ghost here, of course not."

     "Look," the cashier zoomed, "there's even blood on the bat he's holding! I should send this one to the police at least."

       Amber eye opened wide looking at the video, she felt like it was something to be worried about, the mask managed to hide the eyes, so there was no way Amber could tell who was under the mask, she was worried because she was about to walk alone. If the video had only been around for a week, there's a high chance he's still walking around here.

       After a while, Amber managed to pay for some food, despite the boxes were a bit torn off, she needed to buy some food before she started her journey back to District 6, the cashier bowed down a little bit, thanking her for saving his life. 

    "T-Thanks for saving me," he said, nervously.

   "No problem, stay safe okay?" 

   "I'll try."

  As she left, the cashier thought to himself.

    This woman is so weird, she's so brave and serious, it left me wondering, who is she?

    Amber continued walking in the sandy cold area, until she reached the bus stop, and started munching down on a chocolate bar, and had a long stare on the chocolate bar after she munched it.

-Amber POV-

     I looked at the half-eaten chocolate bar with a sigh. If only he didn't cook for me, it's probably easier to forget him. I was quite hungry, so I kept on remembering things he made for me, mushroom risotto, cocoa cookie n cream's milk, strawberry banana smoothie. I started to scratch my face, screw this longing, I mean, mushroom risotto, I can order that easily! Plus, why does my man cooks for me? I should be the one who does the cooking instead.

       I am pretty sure if someone sees me feeling frustrated at the bus stop, they are going to think I am crazy. I try to keep myself cool after all, luckily, I was the only one here. 

      It doesn't help that I am the only one here, being alone makes me remember the past, I started to remember how he once came into my room, asking me what I wanted to eat, I remember telling him that I was on a diet, and that was I getting old so I needed to take care of my health.

        "You are the last one to get fat in all of us, just say what you want, I'll cook for you even when you turn grey," he told me.

        I asked for mushroom risotto, I didn't expect him to make so much for me, I told him I was on a diet, I guess he just wanted to give me something to eat. I probably had ignored the times he was attempting to show that he likes me.

       I mean the mushroom risotto was nice, so screw it. 

    I heard my stomach grumbling, of course, I have been eating chocolate bars, even though I have bread, wrong choice Amber.

        I felt a drop on my head, as I looked up and realized that it was starting to rain, how odd, it rarely rains here. "Huh, it rains?" I said while reaching my hand out, trying to test whether there was rain, and before I knew it, it started to rain heavily, as I started running trying to find shelter and I was more shocked when I heard the sound of thunder. I don't want to die because I got hit by a bolt of lightning. 

     I saw something, and I stopped in my tracks, I think I saw someone, as I walked slowly closer towards them, the wind was blowing quite wildly, and when my eyes managed to catch a glimpse of look.

      It's that guy, the one I saw in the video, he was wearing the same thing, I was observing him from a distance, he wasn't moving, he had a metal bat that looks familiar, holding it, and he was placing the bat near his neck, he was wearing fingerless black gloves, and the same hoodie, the same black, and white hoodie, I don't think it's a coincidence. He was turning his head slowly to me, I don't know what he wants to do.

       I think he's the real deal, as I walked closer towards him. When I took a step closer, he hit the ground using his metal bat, giving a loud thump and I saw blood on the metal bat, it was obvious, there was blood that was dried up mixed with fresh ones, my eyes opened wide. I knew he must've been a killer, an efficient one at it, his clothes didn't have any sign of blood, only his weapon.

        He looked at the side, he must have signaled that he doesn't want to fight me, he was trying to scare me, I couldn't see any hair coming out from him, he covered his hair under that panda hat and inside that thick panda mask, the panda mask even had sewn marks on its mouth, it looked pretty creepy. 

      If he wants to scare me, then I have no fear of him.

     I took out my gun from my coat and pointed at him looking straight at him in the eyes, "did you seriously think I am scared of you?"

     He seemed more alert, he was ready to raise his bat, as his hands move up, he was ready for a fight I am guessing.

      "I killed more people than you can ever kill," I tried to intimidate him glaring straight at him, if he wants to fight me, then so be it. "So, don't even try to scare me."

        When he gripped the bat a bit lower, I saw some letters on the handle, -BER, written in marker.

       I think I know who this guy is.

     I pointed the gun at my head, as he took a step back looking extremely shocked, my hand was close to the trigger, and in a dash, he ran towards me and swing the gun off from my hand, denting it as it fell to the ground. My eye widened as I felt my heart beat faster.

      "I KNEW IT!" I screamed at him, I was getting angry, now I am sure who is it, I am going to be mad at him. "I knew it was you under there, so stop pretending already!!!"

       I was about to burst out again, I was close to just ripping that mask open.

       But he spoke.

       "I lost almost all my memories, but I still remember you," he said in a sad tone, it sounded bitter, and he raised his head a little bit to Amber, his voice sounded husky, like someone's voice after days going on without water, "you were and still are fearless, you saved my life, how could I let you die?"

         He took off his mask, revealing his dark green hair and I know that face, those lime green eyes that were tearing up, and I was worried about him, he said he lost almost all his memories, didn't he? 

     "It's so saddening, I only remember despair thanks to that drug, but the only thing I remember that was happy was with you," he was crying his eyes out, I could see that there were black circles under his eyes, had he not been sleeping? No... Fernado, what happened to you?

     It breaks my heart to hear this too, he looked like he had been so tired, I knew he must've been scared, why else would he even kill someone? He must've been so afraid, walking all alone, oh no...

       He was sobbing, "you stood by my side when I felt so much despair, it hurts..." He wiped off the tears using his sleeve, but more tears just dropped down from his cheeks to his chin, I could hear his stuttering, he was trying to say words, but it was hard for him to say it.

      He finally managed to say what he wanted.

      "Because I still loved you when I can't even remember who I am?! I didn't want you to hate me, so I ran away, I am sorry, I killed so many people! I don't know what to do anymore!" He shouted words that sounded like pleads, it was heartbreaking to hear him doing it.

         He was shaking in pain, I got closer to him, how can I leave him like this?

       I was like this too once, when I killed for the first time, I thought that everyone would hate me, but I guess at that time I just wanted someone to forgive me, to give me another chance to try again.

       "I killed more people than you, you were just scared I am sure," I said, trying to calm him down, I held out my hand, "come back, I won't tell anyone about this, I promise."

           He took a step back and started running away in the rain, I tried chasing him as fast as I could, but he was running away too fast until what I could see is just a shadow of him as it fades away in the thick rain. I lost him again, and how am I supposed to find him?

        At least I could confirm, he is still alive. I decided that I needed to find him soon, but not now, it's too risky for me to find him now.

      I went back to the bus stop, before stopping by at a motel and getting a room for myself, I took a shower before calling my sister, explaining to her what happened to me.

      "Hey sis, I just found Fernado."

     "Huh?! You did?!" She said in a shocked tone, she must've been so worried too, knowing how she is, she's the type to get extremely worried over something.

      "Yes, but the catch is he ran away, but I can at least tell you how far he might go," I said, 

      "Wait is he okay? Are there any bruises or scars?"

   "Can't tell, but all I can tell you were he got drugged, so go and tell Simon about it, whether he knows anything about a drug that can remove certain parts of memories, I think that's what happened to him."

-Third POV-

       Simon was in a restaurant, making himself look the best as a waiter, he was wearing a black vest and a black bow tie at his neck as he walked out from the room. A customer raised their hand and he walked towards them, "what would you like to eat milady?" He said in a flirty tone, the girls blushed at him, "we have tenderloin steak, and also that dress looks good on you milady."

       Endure this Simon, you need to collect money.

     Truthfully, Simon dislike flirting with other people, he felt like he was being low while doing so. He started carrying the food to the table, as a bold girl told him, "damn you look hot."

      I wish Rose would say to me right now, urgh. 

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