Whimper

The boy rises before the girl. He awakes with a shudder and his eyes snap open. He jolts upright. He glances wildly around. But then his shoulders relax and he expels all of his breath. Then, he mutters something and crawls to his feet.

He shakily stands and gathers his bearings. The sun is still rising and the sky is a pale blue. Goosebumps prickle over his arms and when he breathes, there is a misty cloud that blooms as his breath escapes past his lips. "Samui desu..." he murmurs.

The boy circles the area around the sleeping girl. He leans over the rotten log and peers over it, and then he looks up into the trees. Afterwards, he touches the bark and skims his hands over the soft moss, and he wanders around craggy rocks and risen earth. Then he clambers up the side of a mountainous pile of dirt and examines the other side. Over it, there is a massive, ash-white, crater. No trees or plants grow in it. The boy sucks in a quick breath and averts his gaze. Then he slides down the ledge and makes his way back to the girl.

She is still sleeping and her chest rises and falls evenly. The boy shivers and slumps to his knees next to her. His mouth opens, but then closes and he bites his lower lip. His hands twitch. "Anata..." he begins.

The girl's eyes fly open and the boy flinches. She shifts herself to a sitting position. "What is it?" she asks curtly.

"Asoko wa..." he stutters, and he points to the risen side of the edge of the crater. He makes a bowl-shape with his arms. "Asoko ni-"

The girl swiftly gets to her feet and stalks over to the edge of the crater. She clambers up the side, dirt tumbling underneath her boots, and gazes out. Her eyes linger over the white earth and trace over the proximity. Then she slips back down.

"There was a bomb here a long time ago," she states. She cuts one hand into the air, and with the other she creates a circle with her thumb and forefinger and puts it under the hand above her. She whistles a high-pitched whistle and lowers the pitch as she drops the circle from her other hand. As it hits an imaginary bottom, she spreads both hands and cries, "boom!"

The boy's eyes widen. He jabs a finger at the crater and says something in his language fearfully. The girl's eyebrows lower sagely and she nods.

"Boom," she says.

"Boom," the boy repeats.

The girl doesn't look back at the crater and returns to her previous resting spot. The boy hesitates. He glances to and fro from the crater and the girl.

"Come on," the girl says. Her voice is flat.

The boy's breath hitches. His lip trembles. "Hiroshima desuka?"

"Hiroshima?" The girl blinks, her tone startled. "That's not Hiroshima. That area destroyed is a lot less, and it's not the same type of bomb." She shakes her head and swipes her arms. "Not Hiroshima."

The boy stares at her. His face is pallid and his hands tremble. "Amerika no hikoki desuka?" He cuts into the air with his hand like a plane. "Amerika no boom desuka?"

The girl studies his face. Her expression is hard, but then it lightens. "Oh, I see what you're saying." She pauses. "And no, it wasn't America's planes that did that. It wasn't America." She shakes her head again. "Not America."

"Nan no kuni deshouka..." he whispers.

The girl doesn't reply. The boy's gaze grows distant and the girl murmurs things under her breath. "How could you not know who did that?" she says to herself. "Did you just sleep your way through the explosion?"

The boy shuffles forward and his eyes flicker to the ground. "Come on, desuka?" he asks. He avoids her gaze.

"Yeah. Come on." Her countenance slightly softens. The boy isn't looking at her. She slips her hand into his and tugs a bit. "We haven't got all day."

---

The boy and the girl attempt to converse as they trek their way through plains and hills. The girl is the main instigator of conversations. There are hand motions and wild gesticulations, but no clear meaning. The girl mutters to herself at one point, "Maybe I shouldn't even try to learn his language. Once I get back, he's going to be taken anyway."

However, the two learn. They travel for hours and hours. They pass through broken-down areas. The boy points to signs in strange characters and reads them. The girl translates them to herself in English if she is able to. Some remain mysterious. The girl and the boy have then passed through a small village and pause to eat. The area around them is green and bugs buzz and trill around them.

The boy asks, "O namae wa nan desuka?"

"Excuse me?" The girl turns to look at him. Her eyes peruse him. "Okay, nan desuka means what is it. O what now? O na..."

"O namae wa." The boy nods and bites into his sandwich. Then he points to his nose. "Watashi no namae wa Yamanaka Haruto desu. Haruto."

A few seconds pass until the girl's forehead smooths and her eyes lighten. "Name. What is your name?"

"Haruto."

"Haduto?" the girl repeats.

"Haruto. O namae wa?" A smile spreads across his face.

"Persephone. My name is Persephone."

The boy gives her a puzzled look. "Pa... Pasefoni?"

"Like the mythology. Oh wait, you probably can't pronounce that, can you?" She chuckles to herself. "Persephone. I guess it'll take some getting used to."

"Pa... Se... Fo... Ni..." The boy rolls the syllables around his mouth. "Pasefoni."

"Yes, Persephone. Ha... How do you make that sound? Hadu... to..."

"Ru ru ru," The boy gestures to the roof of his mouth. He flicks it with his tongue. "Haruto desu."

"Haruto," the girl says.

"Hai! Ii desune, Pasefoni-san." He grins at her. The corners of the girl's eyes wrinkle and she giggles quietly. She smoothes her hair back as the boy finishes his sandwich, and then she places half of hers back into her satchel. The contents of it are nearly empty.

"Let's keep moving," she says. Her eyes fix onto the interior of her bag for a second longer before she closes it. "We're close to where we need to go."

She stands. The boy frowns and clambers to his feet. "Doko ni ikimasuka?" he asks. He points to the horizon.

"Doko means what?" She shakes her head. "Doko..."

"Doko wa wheredesu."

"Right. Where are we going? We're going to an airport. Air..." The girl waves her arms in the space around her. "Port..." She lays her arm flat in front of her and with the other hand, runs it along it and ascends it into the air.

"Hikouki desuka?" the boy asks. He makes noises similar to an engine and sweeps his hand in the air like the girl just did.

"A plane?" She tilts her head to the side and looks to the distance. "Not exactly." She shakes her head. "Not quite."

"So so so." The boy nods swiftly. "Airport ni ikimasuka?" He motions with his hands to the ends of the the area.

"Yes. We're going to the airport. Let's keep moving, okay?"

Then, there is a loud humming noise. And it grows to a steady roar.

The girl snaps her gun out and tackles the boy to the ground. His breath whooshes out as he hits the earth. The branches of the trees lash in the sudden wind, and the girl grips the boy hard by the arm and half-drags him under the cover of a bush. She keeps the muzzle of the gun pointed out and a flying silver craft screams above them. The foliage ripples with the vibrations in the air. The boy grasps onto the girl's arm tight enough for his knuckles to go white.

The craft speeds away and tears through trees. Birds take off and scatter. Animals wail. The girl shoves the boy down when he tries to sit up and leans her body over him. She keeps her gun level. There is gold streaking across it. The craft's roar eventually ebbs into silence.

The girl swears and heaves herself to her feet. She wrenches the boy to his. "Nan deshitaka!?" he demands. "Nani o mimashitaka!?"

"What was that?" The girl laughs bitterly and grips onto the boy's hand. She drags him briskly through the woodlands. "That was not a good person. Yokunai desu. That's what you say when something's bad, right?"

"Are wa yokunakatta ka?" The boy's mouth drops for a second, and then he closes it and glances back. "Pasefoni-san, nani o shinakereba ikemasenka?"

The girl tucks her gun under her arm for a slight second so she can grip onto her white bag. She squeezes the insignia hard. "I don't understand what you just said," she says, "but I know we have to get out of here. What was that you told me? Airport ni ikimasu?"

"Hai. Sou desuka. Airport ni ikanakereba ikemasen. Wakarimashita."

There's another loud humming.

"Get down!" The girl throws the boy to the ground and covers him as another craft roars above them. The girl's eyes are trained onto the grey vehicle and her gun follows its movements. The craft is the size of a small car and has a blood-red and black symbol of a jaguar pouncing on it. It's sleek and the cockpit shimmers onyx. The boosters in the back glow red and blue as it rips its way above the two.

The instant it disappears, the girl grabs onto the boy hard and drags him fervently along the undergrowth. "Come on come on come on," she hisses. The boy scrambles on his hands and knees after her. She crawls furiously away. There is a low buzz in the distance. "Come on come on come on."

Then there is a loud rustling in the woods.

The girl pushes the boy underneath the limbs of a bush. He lets out a cry as twigs snap under him in the process. "Stay there. Stay there. Don't move." The girl's voice is raspy in her ventilator. She presses her palm fiercely on his chest when he tries to rise. "Stay. Stay here. Don't you dare move."

"Iie!" His hands fly forward and clutch her shoulders. "Iie! Iie!"

The girl pries his hands off of her and bolts. The boy lets out a small cry and pulls himself upward, but when he hears shots get fired, he ducks and covers his head.

The girl tears through the forest. She slings her gun forward and rips through undergrowth. The humming and buzzing grows closer as she moves. There are shouts. The girl dives behind a thick tree and two men rush out into the open. They carry large cannons and knives at their belts. Dark, angry masks shield their faces.

The girl forcibly slows her breathing and peers around the trunk. The men swing their cannons around. Their jackets have flowing sleeves that conceal half of the gun in them. Their right hands do not show. The cannon only does.

"Come out!" one of the men yells. His voice is staticky and muffled behind his grotesque mask. It is akin to the distortion the girl's mask creates on hers. However, a thick accent covers his tone. "Come on out! We you're out there!"

"They've got England on their side?" the girl whispers.

The men stalk around. Their masks depict monstrous creatures. Dark red and blue faces with horns and fangs sneer in the forest. The girl grips her gun hard and waits behind her tree. The men stop a meter away from her, peering over a boulder. "We know you're here," the other man says. "You've left traces in Sendai and we've followed you here. This is Parliament territory. You have no right to be here."

The girl's brow furrows.

"Come out peacefully and we won't harm you. We just want to talk." He cocks his gun.

That is when the girl sees something. A pair of slanted dark eyes peer at her from above a shrub. It's the boy. He mouths something to her and motions wildly. He has a rock on his hand. He mimes throwing it behind the two men.

"Haruto!" she hisses. "Go! Go!"

But the rock he has slips from his fingers and tumbles into the bush. The rustle is just loud enough to be noticeable.

The men swing around as the girl leaps from her hiding spot. The boy ducks. The girl's bag falls onto the dirt. Shots fire. Blam! Blam! Tseew! Blood sprays from the girl's arm and she screams. One of the men falls. His face has been charred away and smoke plumes from it. The other man cocks his cannon and points it directly at her. With a cry of agony, the girl swings her gun up. Her grasp is quivering and her other arm hangs limp.

"Don't you dare shoot!" the shout tears from her throat.

The masked man holds steady.

The whole forest is silent.

"My name is Persephone Lillis and I am from the United States of America." The girl's voice shakes. "I have been assigned a scouting mission and I am on our President's orders. I was unaware that Parliament's control was here. Please spare me."

The man lowers his gun. His sleeve catches on a wire on his cannon and it does not cover his forearm. Metal from the cannon is embedded directly into his skin. He has no hand. The cannon has replaced it.

"The U.S.?" he asks. "I was told the United States was gone. I assumed the epidemic had gotten all of you."

"That's not true." She lowers her gun as well. "I sincerely apologize on behalf of America. I did not mean to harm you or your partner."

The man pauses. His body is tense. "We can deal with the legalities later. I first thought you were one of those Japs or treasure-hunters." The blood drains from the girl's face as his lifts his gun. "Just go. Leave. Leave now."

The girl hesitates for only a split second before she bolts into the forest. The man slings his fallen comrade over his shoulder and walks the opposite direction. The boy only cowers in his hidden area. Tears stream down his cheeks, and when he gets up after the forest goes silent, he lets out a sob.

The girl is not there.

There is only her pure white bag and the scarlet trail of blood from where she ran.