Liam and Lune walked toward the industrial complex, staying cautious. The houses next to them seemed to deteriorate with each one they passed.
The darkness had fallen in long ago. A few houses still seemed inhabited, but not as many as before all this started. The faint cries for help could still be heard in the distance while Lune and Liam walked in the opposite direction.
With each step they came closer to the monstrous complex made out of metal pipes and tall concrete halls. It seemed like the apocalypse hadn't come here. It seemed like nothing had changed.
"Do you have a place in mind where we are going?" Lune asked. "If not, I know my way around here a bit. I came here often because it's not that far from my house, and there is a spot where you have a pretty good view over the whole thing. It's a nice place — not a lot of people appreciate it." Her face looked like a wave of emotions had just hit her like a truck.
Liam nodded. "I think that would be a good idea. We would have the upper hand if we see the military from far away — we could escape before they even noticed we were there. Then situations like the one at your house—" his voice dropped into sadness, the pain of losing a friend still fresh and hurting like hell, "—don't happen again."
"Stop it. We don't need to bring that up the whole time. Thinking about that will just slow us down. Let's first get to safety, and then maybe we can mourn the dead." Lune's voice was cold as ice — so cold and calculating that Liam realized he didn't even know the person walking next to him. That she was a complete stranger.
The sounds behind them faded into something barely louder than a whisper from far away, and the industrial complex looked more and more like something straight out of a horror movie. Cold mist flowed between the pipes. A dark feeling of unease spread through their bodies.
"Say, Liam — what's your deal?" Lune's gaze locked onto his face. "You seem like a good guy, but at the same time I feel like you could kill me at any given moment. So why are you a good guy? Something must have happened to make you that way, because in this world good guys aren't born — they're just a myth."
"I have my reasons. Not trying to sound mysterious, but everybody has a reason to do good — either their own morals or something significant that happened to them. Myself, I just want to be the best version of myself that I can be. Someone told me that if you do something to someone, expect to be paid back threefold in the same way. So if I just do good, good will come back to me." Liam answered with a little grin on his face while he looked back at Lune.
"But do you really think there are no good people who are just born that way? What about Lucius — what about you? You two seem like good people. Are you saying that someone like Lucius is not a good person, even though he took that soldier on by himself? And you — you took me in even though we didn't know each other. We are basically strangers, and I'm sure you already knew that. So why do you think that way?" Lune said, coming to a halt and watching Liam's expression.
His face was still — processing. He hadn't thought of it that way before.
Her face was puffy and red from crying earlier. Her lashes clung together. But her eyes had a look of full confidence behind them.
"I get why you think that way — in your perspective it really does seem like that," Lune said. "But myself, I wouldn't have trusted you if Lucius hadn't brought you in. And for him — he's not as good a person as you think. There are facts about him you probably don't know. He saved me once, and that's why I trust him. But he also has a father he has had no contact with since childhood. He was a bully — not in the usual way where he made fun of kids. He beat them until they couldn't get back up and got expelled for it. And when he came back, he just did it again. The reason was simply because he could. So don't just trust people blindly."
The realization hit Liam harder than a car ever could. He never — not in a million years — could have seen Lucius that way. He had been naive. Dumb. He had trusted blindly a man he never even knew. Is that just how the world works now?
He took a step back. "Why do you trust me then? If I can't even trust you — we don't know each other."
A small chuckle came from Lune's mouth before her face turned dark. "I don't. That's the point. How would I trust you if I just met you? How could I lay my life in your hands? Because right now — you could easily slit my throat, or do even worse things to me. The only reason I decided to stay at your side is because Lucius trusted you. And right now there is nothing you could do that is worse than how this whole situation with Lucius makes me feel. He wasn't just my boyfriend. He was far more than I could ever put into words."
Liam said nothing. His face turned white.
Lune took a few steps forward. She reached out and grabbed the hilt of the knife still tucked in Liam's waistband. Slowly she brought it up to her own neck.
"Do you understand now? You can kill me. I'm not afraid to die."