CHAPTER 131: A STORM BETWEEN BEST FRIENDS.

Sunshine could feel the eyes and attention of others on them, so she took the car keys from Nimo, and they entered the car. She decided to drive because this conversation would mess with Nimo’s stability.

Sunshine’s pale eyes shimmered with a different kind of weight, knowledge she had carried but never spoken out loud. As far as she recalled she had been by her best friend’s side since childhood. They had held hands through heartbreaks, funerals, graduations, betrayals, birthdays and all of the anniversaries of her parent’s death.

Hopefully, they would get past this as smoothly as possible.

"Neems." Suni whispered, her voice careful, almost brittle.

Nimo looked at Sunshine, her lips pressed tight, fear already etched in her face. She knew that voice, it was the bad news voice, and it was scaring her already. She had always had a feeling that Sunshine was holding something back concerning Alfred and she had a dreadful feeling that it was about to be revealed.

"Suni...I do not think that I can handle whatever it is that you want to tell me." Nimo said. "You are scaring me."

Sunshine hesitated. Her breath formed mist in the cold air. One of her arms reached for both of Nimo’s hands that were laying still in her lap, their warmth grounding her. "It is about Alfred."

Nimo bit her bottom lip for three seconds before deciding to ask the inevitable question. "What about him?"

Sunshine looked away from Nimo and focused her eyes on the road for she was feeling heavy and ashamed. "In my past life.....your brother Alfred...." her voice wavered, carrying both regret and compassion. "He didn’t survive. In fact, he did not make it to the apocalypse at all. He died in an aircraft accident on the day the meteors fell. All this while I have known that there is a possibility that he could be dead, and I did not say anything."

Nimo’s eyes widened, horror flooding them. Her chest rose sharply as if struck by a sharp weapon, and she shook her head violently. "No..don’t say that. Don’t_" she buried her face in her palms, her shoulders trembling.

Sunshine stopped the car and said into the walkie-talkie. "Stop the cars for a moment but don’t get out of the vehicles."

Immediately, she unbuckled the seat belt and turned to Nimo, reaching over to hug as much of her friend as she could. "I am so sorry Neems, I should have said something earlier on..."

"So why didn’t you?" Nimo’s voice cracked. "Why...?" She let out a loud wail that came from the depth of her soul.

Sunshine’s heart trembled and she tried to hold on to Nimo that was fighting against her. Without a choice, she let her go and Nimo rushed out of the car. Sunshine followed after and grabbed her, dragging her back to the car.

Nimo had taken off without her helmet. The weather absorbent under suit was all that protected her from the drops of acid rain.

As she pushed Nimo into the passenger seat of the car, Sunshine yelled at her friend, "Listen to me. That was then. That was before. Things are different now. You called him before the meteorites fell remember? He got on a plane before the meteorites fell, and he landed safely. By telling him to come home, you changed something. You gave him a chance the other life never offered even though we don’t know what happened to him after."

Nimo’s sob caught in her throat. "But what if fate doesn’t change? What if he is already dead?" Her words cracked like a fragile glass.

Sunshine rubbed Nimo’s back gently. "Fate is not a stone_ it shifts like the mist depending on the circumstances. I cannot confirm that he is alive, Nimo... but I do know this: He did not die in the plane crash. Not this time. You heard that man, he said Alfred was in the hotel and there are people that left the hotel.

Maybe he is one of them or maybe he is not and he met an unfortunate end despite my efforts to save him. We know nothing for sure but at least we have done something. Look around you, we are outside in acid rain searching for him.

Alive or dead, Alfred would be proud of you for doing your best to help him. But he would also take a stick and beat your ass at least three times if he knew you were risking your life for his. It is time to go home.

We are not giving up on the search, but we are taking a break and re-strategizing. We have injured people and civilians. We have a baby with us Nimo, I know that if that baby dies, you will blame yourself. If Alfred is alive, he knows where we are and he will find us."

Nimo continued to cry for at least two minutes, unable to withhold her emotions. After a while, her fingers clutched at Suni’s sleeve as her crying came down slowly. She pulled in a breath, shaky but determined. "I am not giving up; I still have hope. But I won’t let anyone else get hurt because of my desire. I will not put anyone’s life in danger anymore. When it is safer, I will come out again and look for him."

Nodding continuously, Sunshine released the tightness in her throat though, her tone steadied with resolve. "And I will be at your side until the truth is found. Whether it brings sorrow or joy, we will face it together just as we have always done."

The silence that followed was heavy but no longer suffocating. Nimo’s tears dried up, her gaze hardening with fragile courage. She looked up at Sunshine and said slowly, "You should have told me. Before we started, you should have told me."

"I know," Sunshine whispered. "I have been living with the guilt every time I saw your eyes fill with hope when we came across survivors. It wasn’t that I did not want to tell you, but I did not want to kill your hope right from the beginning. I wanted to wait until we searched his last known location first. If we didn’t find him, I would come clean and that is exactly what I have done. I hope you don’t hate me for the choice I made"

Nimo looked down, her eyes red. "I don’t hate you and I even understand you. But I still think you were wrong. All this time, you have been mourning him alone while hiding the truth from me. I am his sister; didn’t you think that I deserved to mourn him if he is dead? Your decision was not fair on both of us, and it was not yours to make alone. Get in the car, I will drive."

She moved over into the driver’s seat and Sunshine took the passenger seat. "We are heading back to Westbrook." She informed the team.

Static crackled before major Elio’s weary reply came in. "Copy that, madam president."

The drive back home started in uncomfortable silence, the storm between the two best friends was quiet and yet it seemed unresolved. Nimo did not seem to be in the mood to talk.

"I will be in the space." Sunshine said.

She vanished before Nimo could respond and immediately reached for the phone. "System I want to call home."

[Host, you only get one free call a day, it has not been up to twenty-four hours since the last call. Even if you spend points, you cannot make a call right now.]

She was disappointed and feeling lost. Sunshine laid down on the bed in the space and allowed herself to cry. Lying to your best friend about the death of her brother was probably a betrayal. Would their friendship survive this?