The darkness of night had completely enveloped the forest. The dense shadows of the deep trees had disappeared from sight.
Kaaya was still looking at Arav intently. The shadow of doubt in her eyes was gradually turning into trust — Arav's words, the expressions in his eyes, and the gentle tone in his voice about protecting the children held a truth that pulled Kaaya out of the fear that had troubled her for years. The fear of whether they would ever be able to escape the Earth or not.
She slowly stepped back, slipped her sword into the belt around her waist, and said in a quiet voice —
"If you are lying… then I will kill you."
Arav nodded with a slight smile, "If I were lying, my aim wouldn't be to save you now but to kill you."
Kaaya looked at Arav and Niya again — they no longer seemed like strangers to her. Perhaps… they were a ray of new hope.
Kaaya lifted and removed the shelter door, covered with moss and old twigs. Behind it was a narrow stone tunnel, probably used by some kind of soldiers — now, that shelter had become a home for Kaaya and twenty children.
Arav and Niya exchanged glances. There was surprise in Niya's eyes and depth in Arav's. They followed Kaaya into the tunnel.
As they entered, they felt a slight warmth. Old light strips were fixed on the walls, connected to some power source — perhaps Kaaya had powered them using old solar panels.
In a corner of the room, children aged between 5 and 7 were sitting — some asleep, some silently hiding behind Kaaya. A small child grabbed Kaaya's shirt —
"Didi... who are these people?"
Kaaya gently stroked the child's head,
"Don't be afraid, they have come to save us."
Arav's eyes wandered around — old broken furniture pieces, cracks in the walls, and yet amidst it all, there was a peace… a feeling of home. He noticed an old laptop in a corner with solar cables attached — perhaps this was where Kaaya was monitoring and controlling her system.
Niya sat down near the children. She took out some biscuits from her bag. The children's eyes lit up. A little girl, about six years old, clung to Niya's shoulder —
"Are you a fairy?" she asked innocently.
Niya laughed,
"No, but if you want… I can be your fairy."
As the children started eating the biscuits, Kaaya took Arav to a corner.
"You still haven't properly told me… what exactly is your mission?"
Arav took a deep breath. Now he began to explain.
"You probably know that Earth will end in the next 10 years, and almost everyone has moved to Nyura-7. But after going there, we found out some people remained on Earth. I and my team have been given the mission to safely bring those remaining people to Nyura-7 before Earth is destroyed."
Quietly, Arav muttered to himself with tears inside, "I just came to explore Earth… but somehow, you people found me."
Kaaya was silent for a few moments. Then softly said —
"You know, when everyone was leaving… me, my mom and dad, and the people who stayed with us in this shelter — we were all waiting for the red alert. But the red alert never sounded, and we got stuck here on Earth. One day, when we children came back from playing, I saw that my parents and the others with us had been killed. All the children got scared. I somehow calmed the children. But I was so scared myself that I always felt someone was coming to kill us. When I saw you in the forest, I thought you were the one killing people. That's why I ran away."
Arav was silent for a while and then lowered his head, saying,
"Kaaya, what happened to you was truly terrible, and I know you have gone through a lot of suffering. But at that time, the entire world sent signals simultaneously, which caused the system to collapse. That's why the red alert probably didn't reach your shelter."
Kaaya's eyes became slightly moist.
"You know, these 4 years with these children… how difficult it was. A girl who was not even grown up herself had a huge responsibility to take care of these 20 children. Every day finding food for them, calming down crying children — how hard it was."
Arav looked into Kaaya's eyes for a moment.
There was fear and somewhere deep loneliness. For a moment, Arav himself felt that same fear and loneliness within him, thinking, ("Will I really be able to save everyone?")
The night was growing deeper. Arav sat outside the shelter, typing some codes on his watch — he was sending the exact coordinates of the shelter to Nyura-7's Central Rescue Grid via his laptop.
Niya was sleeping inside near the children. Kaaya was still awake. She came to Arav and sat quietly for a while, then asked —
"Are all the people over there… on Nyura-7… safe?"
Arav nodded,
"Yes. The oxygen there is stable, the biosphere is pure. You all can survive well there. Children can go to school… and you yourself can study further."
A hope gleamed in Kaaya's eyes for a moment.
"I won't trust you until we reach Nyura-7."
Arav exhaled and said, "Alright!!!"
For the first time, both talked to each other like friends.