Chapter 13: Flowers and butterflies and bones
Molly
The whirring of a helicopter woke them up.
Patrol, Molly thought. She hesitantly turned about and willed her still drowsy body to sit up. Bill also stirred at the sound, and sighing, covered his ears with his pillow to shut off the sound.
He had grown thinner. So did Molly. Their supplies were running out faster than they could replenish it. For the first week, they had been so focused on finding clues. Now, after the food they brought was finally emptied, they had to devote their time scavenging the area. They went into stores, kitchens, or rather what was left of them. Noodles were mostly soaked through. They could only find canned foods. The most tragic thing was the small department store of the nearby town had utterly collapsed. It's broken ceiling covered the shelves in debris and immovable stone. If only they could uncover it.
Molly crawled out of the tent and unzipped the door. The small hills of purple flowers bloomed in splendor under the sun. It was a grand sight, a grim and solemn one.
They had altered one of the bone mounds in order to make a small hollow space inside. In this way, they could not be spotted from above by helicopters. And also, it kept them discrete, hidden to a little degree from whomever they were waiting for.
Molly breathed in the morning air, deeply like it could console her.
The last few days had been fruitless. It was like searching for an elusive wolf that would never come out. Well, at least wolves would leave footprints. Until now, they did not completely know what they were dealing with or whether there was anything to deal with at all. There were no footprints to tell them how big it was or any claw marks to say how dangerous it could be. Not even an animal stool lying around.
She had thought of giving up, more than once. It had crossed her mind, doubt overwhelming her tired heart. But she tried to suppress it. She had made her choice, dragged Bill into it and should see it through. There was nothing to go back to anyway.
Bill would not get up in an hour. So she strolled around, caressing the purple flowers as she went. There was a strange smell to them that lingered when she sniffed them. At some point, she could not help but keep on smelling them. It was addictive, she found. She plucked the largest blossom she saw and tucked it in her ear.
She walked all the way to the edge of the piles of giant bones. It was there where she spotted a child moving around, dressed in white clothes; and for a moment she thought it was Princess. She could not exactly make out the child's face though because she was too far away. The child then stepped nearer to her but stopped and stood so still. The resemblance was striking, she saw, now that the girl's figure was discernible. It could have been Princess except that cute little P was already dead. Or was she?
She never saw her body too. She disappeared along with the birds and Connie.
Molly called, "Hello?"
"Molly!" The girl's voice faintly answered. It almost sounded like P's. But the morning breeze was blowing, muffling everything. Molly's ears might have been mistaken. It could have been 'Morning.' There was no way this girl would know her. Yes, she likely misheard.
"Molly!" The girl kept on calling. It was indeed Princess.
Molly took a small step forward, her legs trembling because she could not seem to believe it. She took more steps. And P's cheerful face came into focus. She looked fine. And alive.
Alive. Molly felt like crying. When she could not hold her emotions in, she hastened her steps and ran towards her. She was not even a hundred meters close though when Princess's smile vanished and terror replaced it.
The child shrieked, "Don't! Get away!" Princess began to back away, flinching at the sight of Molly.
"P, it's me, Molly. There's nothing to be afraid of." Molly then approached cautiously so as not to scare her.
But the child continued to step back and as Molly came nearer, she turned and ran away, frightened.
Molly could not understand it. P was scared of her. Something was amiss.
She remembered Princess's head hitting the pavement. It must have damaged her brain a bit.
Before she could catch up to her, P was too far off, disappearing amid the ruins that surrounded them. And at that moment, the whirring of a helicopter pervaded the air. She needed to hide. If they ever saw her, they would definitely remove her from this place. Saddened, she ran back to the bone hills.
When she arrived back at the tent, Bill was nowhere to be seen. But he had left the blankets folded and then piled them together with the pillows at a corner. She soon heard his footsteps.
"Where you've been?" She asked.
"Where have you been?" He asked back.
Molly thought twice whether to tell him. She opened her mouth, trusting, and said, "I saw Princess."
Bill's brows crunched together but he said nothing offending. "Isn't she... You said she was gone."
"I don't know anymore. I saw her hit her head unconscious and then she disappeared along with Connie. But I don't understand, just now she was running away from me. Like she was so scared of me."
"Maybe she's just traumatized. We'll find her."
The chopper flew nearer.
"Come," Bill beckoned as they entered the hollow cavity of the bone mound. They sat as they let the helicopter pass by.
"They've been coming back and forth many a time. What do you think is happening?" Molly pondered aloud.
"What if they're dropping off men here? This purple mounds in the middle of the city would pique anyone's curiosity." Bill followed the sound of the chopper with his eyes.
"It's been almost a month now since Malong. What's kept them for so long?"
Bill only shrugged at this. "Molly, I don't want to say this. I think it's better for us to move out. While we still could."
Molly could only stare at him, unsure of what to say because she felt the same. Yet she was afraid to admit it. She made a vow to herself to see it through. There was no going back for her. "But I saw my sister P. Isn't that a reason to continue?"
"I'm not - No, I'm not suggesting we stop. We don't have to stop at all. You saw your little sister. We should go the direction she went."
Bill said it with so much resolve that she felt she had no other choice but to be moved. She pursed her lips and nodded. "Okay."
When the sounds of the chopper vanished, they grabbed the opportunity to pack up and walk out of the purple garden. Molly had gotten so used to the sight and smell of the purple blossoms that leaving it all permanently behind shrouded her with a deep feeling of insecurity and longing.
Almost three hours away from the purple hills, they came upon what seemed to be the remains of a helicopter. Its body was upturned and one of its rotors dug into the ground, while those that did not were all twisted and bent. All that was left of the pilots and their passengers were bones, their skull and the helplessness they felt when they probably crashed and burned. It lingered and Molly could feel it.
"Strange," Bill quipped, "The bones. It's as if they had been here for a long time. Look, not a single shred of flesh left."
"They burned."
"Well, then shouldn't we be seeing a group of charred corpses? But it looks like someone nipped every tissue off and put all the bones neatly back together." He inspected the remains, coughing lightly, palpably troubled.
"Could it be..?"
Bill sighed, eyes dark and shadowed with worry. "What are we dealing with, Molly?"
They looted the soldiers of their guns and bullets. They dared not even touch their grenades. Molly had never used a gun before. But she could learn. If some complexity arose, weapons would be handy.
By nightfall, they saw no trace of Princess. They had to make camp under the stars. helicopters were not a problem this time. They were nowhere to be seen or heard.
The next day, they had to race for cover as a helicopter whirred into the horizon. They hid under the ruins of a high school. They were lucky to find a standing room. Half of its ceiling and most of its walls had collapsed though. But it was enough to hide under.
Princess, Molly kept thinking. "Princess, she's alive." She muttered it like a prayer as though mumbling it for countless times could conjure her little P. Molly kept pacing around and she could not sit for even just a second. She held on to the last three blossoms of purple flowers she had brought along. She clasped it right on top of her heart. Its fragrance was the only thing keeping her from screaming out at the top of her lungs.
They were wilting. And a few petals had fallen off along the way. But still, she held them as dearly as the plump doll she used to sleep with all the time. It was a gift from Sister Maricelle, the fancily dressed doll with the prettiest curls. The only gift she received on her seventh birthday. But it was gone now along with almost all the people she ever knew in her life and all she had left was these flowers and Bill and her hope.
"Princess," she muttered again.
"Molly, stop pacing," Bill told her, clearly annoyed.
"Where's my sister? It's been two days. Why haven't we seen her?"
He said, "You're just going to tire yourself out." Bill was the one sounding tired. He let out a soft cough.
"What if we went the wrong direction?"
"We'll find her if she is just around here. She's just a child Molly, she could not have gone too far."
"She was right there, you know. But I could not get to her. These stupid feet," she snarled at herself, stomping as if to hurt her feet that had failed her.
"Molly, calm down."
"How can you tell me to keep calm when my sister-"
"Molly quit it!" Bill's voice froze her, cutting her slurring. He broke into muffled coughs again.
"I'm sorry. Are you allright?" she said, settling down on the stone.
"I'm just -" he coughed again, " I'm just tired. Let's go to sleep early." He wiped at his lips with the back of his hand. Something dark smeared the fringes of his lips.
She moved over to him and gasped. "Bill! You-"
It was blood.
"It's alright. I already took some pills. I'm feeling alright now."
It was impossible to believe him though because he broke into an uncontrollable fit of cough again.
The blood splattered onto her feet. "You're not okay!" She cried, now tremulous. What was she supposed to do?
He started to spasm and tipped over, nearly unconscious. Thankfully, she caught him in her arms before he hit the ground. "Bill, hold on!"
At such moment, she had to make a crucial decision, a quick one.
Bill needed medical attention. Molly had no clue how to treat her. But the nurses and doctors back at the evacuation camp could.
A helicopter whirred louder, approaching. And Molly had made up her mind.
"Lie down for a sec, Bill. I'm gonna get help." She guided him down to a prone position and tucked the flower stalks in his hand, closing his fingers around them. Dabbing a kiss on his forhead, she made a dash for the open, away from the shadow of the ceiling.
"Hey! I'm here!" She yelled, waving her hand. "I need help!"
The helicopter did not seem to notice her, it did not change course and went straight east.
She grabbed a dirty piece of cloth, a towel lying on the ground and waved it. Dust flew into her mouth and eyes as she shouted at the top of her lungs, "HEY! LOOK AT ME!"
The chopper continued for a moment before turning in midair, towards her.
She had never felt so happier in her life. But her relief was short-lived.
A cloud of yellow butterlies sprouted out behind the ruins like angry bees swarming in for a kill. They beset the helicopters from all sides and not even the wind of its rotors could shoo them away. They flocked into the cockpit. The pilots's screams could be heard from down on the ground.
They were like flames consuming a lone sheet of paper. They ate up fast and flared largely.
The helicopter hovered unsteadily for a moment before it crashed into the ruins.
It was over in a couple of seconds. When the butterflies withdrew, all that was left of the pilots were their bones, every tissue cleanly picked off, gone.
Molly watched everything, eyes wide open in fear.
"I thought you would never come out of that poison land again. You see, my babies are starving." A figure stepped into her view.
Molly's knees buckled, weak.
It was Princess's voice and Princess's body. But it was not Princess at all.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
theEDAMIR
theEDAMIR Hi there.
So you might be confused as to the timeline of events. For Molly, it's been a month since the storm. But for Connie and Julius, it hasn't even been a week.
You see, they are in two different planets in two different dimensions so time flows differently for them.
As for Trefereisa's explanation that a 'year' in her planet is equivalent to one and a half earth years, Trefereisa's 'year' is actually a different concept. We'll learn about it soon.
Keep reading! Thanks.
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