Aditi didn’t know her friend was left heartbroken only a few minutes after they separated. She simply continued perusing the alleys, subtly checking the faces of everyone she passed, and helping those who asked for it.
This was in stark contrast to how it was before the war. Back before she got scammed to serve, she was a normal citizen as well.
At that time, even when there were thousands of people in the territory, they were either busy gathering supplies and resources to sell outside the territory or just hiding inside their homes, afraid to be targeted by the guards who were roaming around the streets.
Now, there was a lot of noise. Whether it was people talking to each other, or people looking for others—and thus yelling out their names—the noise pollution that surrounded her was something she hadn’t experienced after the Disaster.
Fargo Village had essentially become a marketplace outside the clinic and village center and, to be honest, Aditi found it comforting.
"ADITI!" a voice yelled and she whipped her head in the direction. There were a lot of people walking about and a lot of people talking over each other and she was half-certain she was hearing things.
"ADITI!!!" the voice called again, this time closer, and she could see a few people giving way to someone. After another yell, a mocha-skinned man revealed himself.
"Brother!?" she yelled and met up with him, immediately breaking into sobs as soon as he was in arm’s reach."Brother!!!"
"Aditi…" The man smiled and sobbed at the same time, embracing his baby sister tightly.
This was Raj, Ansel’s Financial and Banking officer. He and his brother went to war on his team, too, and had been helping with the cleanup.
"Do you know what happened to the family?"
Raj sighed and shook his head. "We don’t know where our parents are," he said. Though his instincts told him they were already gone, he still kept up some hope that they were fine. "But Ramil is with me."
Aditi blinked looking around. Raj smiled and shook his head. "Ramil is in Altera now."
Ramil had been injured in the fight. There were too many injured on Fargo’s side and the Alterans had preferred to get treated in Altera. Betty was there, anyway, and she would only be transferred to help Fargo citizens after the first wave of Alteran injuries had been settled.
In fact, Raj had wanted to carry his brother, but the other insisted he stayed. This place was entirely unexplored by them with new sets of people. What if they could’ve found family?
And he did! His older brother was really so smart!
"Come," he said, holding the girl’s hand. "We have much to talk about!"
…
Near the clinic, Vivian watched the various reunions and meetings from the side.
What was happening now was the convergence of three territories, and it was inevitable that there would be many happy news.
Vivian though, just stared blankly at the slaves being treated in front of the clinic. She knew she wouldn’t find her husband there… but she wanted to see to keep her sanity.
As time passed, there were more and more people who found family, and it was making the women feel complicated.
So many people had met their family, why couldn’t she?
Others could find multiple family members, but her only one was getting taken away from her.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World