Through The Stars

Chapter 44

Chapter 44

I just stared at the door after having a few conversations with my comrade Paulo.

All of our other friends continued their nap, while Paulo and I chose to stay awake and wait for Lee Jun to come back.

Few minutes passed, and the alarms finally stopped; making the place quiet again.

“Oh, seems they finally found the problem! The alarms were finally off finally!” Paulo said.

“I hope so, not because I was irritated by the nuisance they caused us, instead I want Lee Jun to come back here as soon as possible!” I replied.

“Don’t worry pal, I am pretty sure that he would arrive here in a minute! With the alarms being off, it only signifies one thing. It implies either that the problem is already solved or the authorities were on their way to respond and see what is really happening.” Paulo said.

“If that was the case, then I guess Lee Jun should probably head back here, right? I mean the authorities cannot see him out there exploring on his own, right?” I replied.

“Yeah, I am sure his probably on his way back here now! I am sure he’s also aware of those things Gen! Let us just wait for him until he comes back, alright? I would stay awake here with you so we can wait for him together. Also, if you need someone I would get it for you, as you can see our other buddies chose to continue their nap, so there would be no one up for you just in case you need anything. But, you are really lucky I am here to save the day!” Paulo said while laughing.

“Thank you man! I appreciate all of those! I promise to make it up to all of you as soon as I recover from this thing!” I replied.

“What the hell? You know that’s not necessary! You know that I am doing this because you are all my friends or even my family! We don’t mention things like these whenever we help our family, it’s all part of taking care of your own family!” Paulo said while laughing.

“Thanks man! I really appreciate all of those!” I replied.

“Nah, don’t mention it pal! I am always willing to help all of you here!” Paulo said while smiling.

Paulo walked his talk; he stayed awake with me as I wait for Lee Jun to come back. We exchange different stories of us and I know him even more.

“So uh, if you don’t mind, can I ask you a question?” I asked.

“Sure, what is it?” Paulo answered.

“How did you become a cadet here? Uh you could not answer my question if you feel it’s too personal for you, I will respect that!” I said.

He sighs deeply and smiled at me.

“Whoa, it was my first time to meet someone who wants to know the story of my life! Well, I am not telling the story of my life when I was in the outside world; but for you I would make an exception!” Paulo said.

“No no no! Like what I have said earlier, it’s alright if you chose to stay quiet about it. You may choose not to tell me if it feels too personal for you! I will respect whatever your decision is!” I said.

“Nah, it’s alright. But I want you to promise me something!” Paulo replied.

“Yeah what is it?” I asked him.

“I just want you to promise me that whatever things you hear right now, stays within you and only you forever, alright?” Paulo replied seriously.

“Okay, I promise to keep all the things that I am going to hear from you all to myself until death! I promise that those stories would remain here inside me forever!” I replied.

“Alright, but first I would like to warn you that I am not that good in telling stories. I mean you might fall asleep when you are listening to me!” Paulo said while laughing.

“No, it’s alright! I promise to lend my ears to you while you were telling me your story!” I replied.

“So this is how it goes, whether you believe me or not; my personality here was really different from my personality when I was in the outside world. You cannot see me laughing at the outside world, because in the place where I came from, people do not know how to smile.” Paulo said.

“What do you mean you guys don’t smile?” I asked curiously.

“In the place where I came from, all the individuals in there were poor. We do not have permanent supply of food and water. We were lucky if we are able to eat once or twice a week. Those are the reasons why most of us were dying, because of starvation or sickness. Then, one day my father; the former leader of the colony, was murdered by one of his trusted friends. The colony never experienced hunger when my father was the leader, but when his friend killed him to be our new leader, everything changed. My father was able to grow a mini farm with lots of trees at it. He was also able to build one machine which produces clean water for all of our people. He was a mechanical engineer, which is why he was able to develop those things. Technology, of course has its limitations as well. We were only allowed to harvest the farms every twice or thrice a week as well as the device that produces clean water, but those supplies were more than enough to feed our colony. Everything was just fine, but when my father died, his friend rule over our colony and everything went crazy. My mom became sick when my father died. In order to keep her alive, I needed to work for the new leader in order for me to feed her. They abused our machineries as well as the farm. The designated time for harvest like what I’ve said earlier was every twice or thrice a week only, but when father died, no one was able to regulate them. Our new leader was so greedy; he doesn’t care if we distributed our food equally as long as he had some supplies in his table. One day, the machines that my father built when he was alive got broken; leaving our people hungry and our supplies limited. With those things, the hunger started to ruin the lives of our colony. I’ve tried to fix the broken machines that my father built, but I failed because I am not as good as him. I wasn’t successful to rebuild our broken machineries. I’ve watched our people suffer from hunger, sickness, and even death, but I cannot do anything but to watch them. Then one day, our leader decided to rob and steal the supplies of other colonies in order to feed our starving people. I do not agree to what he wanted, but he threatens me that he’s going to kill my mother and he would not give us supplies if I do not work for him.  With that, I didn’t have a choice. I have to work in order for my mother and I to survive. I joined them as they took every supply they saw in every colony. I was also able to see others dying because of protecting their supplies and their families. Innocent people were murdered just to take their supplies. I saw children crying over the dead bodies of their parents. I was able to witness spouses crying over the dead bodies of their husbands. Everyone who disagrees to give us their supplies are going to be killed. Then one day, I woke up and said to myself that I’ve already had enough, that I am done doing this thing. I decided to take my mother with me and escape the colony, but we got caught unfortunately. They tortured me for weeks; giving me neither food nor water. They hit me so hard with ropes for days. After a week, they decided to display me while I was tied in front of others. They said that I was an example for those who want to disobey the leader. Then, they tortured my mother in front of me that day. I was screaming because of anger; I wanted to help her so bad. I want to take the punishments to myself, because my body was strong enough to handle such punishments like those. On the other hand, my mother was already weak due to her age and to her condition. I wanted to hit them so hard for doing that thing to my mother, but I cannot do anything but to scream and beg for them to stop it. I saw my mother bleed and screaming in pain. I was able to feel her pain even she was just looking at me. Then, the soldiers of Galaxias came to rescue all of us, but our leader refused. The soldiers and our people engaged into a war. Blood spilled all over our lands. The soldiers of Galaxias came to help all of us; they free me from the ropes that bind my body. I didn’t think of anything else that time, I ran into my mother’s location and asked help from the soldiers who came to rescue all of us. Then, they all brought us here together. They tried to rescue my mother, but it was too late. She died because she already lost too much blood while we were on our way here. From that moment, I decided to be a cadet, because I do not want other people to experience the way I did. I want them to live in a place where hunger isn’t present. I want them to live in a world where their kids can play everywhere. When I entered the academy, I said to myself that I would forget what happened in my past life and I would use all of those to build a new and better version of myself. It wasn’t easy at the first place, but I guess I do not have a choice. From that day forward, I promised myself that I wouldn’t let anyone hurt my family again.” Paulo said while some tears are falling out from his eyes.

“I am very sorry to hear all of those.” I said sincerely.

“No, it’s alright. Without those things, I wouldn’t be your comrade today.” Paulo said.

I hugged him so tight because I was able to feel his emotions as well.

“Thanks for that bud! I really appreciate it!” Paulo said.

“You are welcome, thank you for sharing your story with me! I promise I would keep it inside me forever!” I replied.

We were getting emotional at that very moment.

When suddenly……………

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