Chapter 1161: Dilemma - Because we can?
Hearing that statement just made me extremely concerned for this place because a preserved forest wouldn't mean shit if the people preserving it wouldn't be there to witness it—but looking at it from a dark perspective, nature could simply survive on its own and the reason they needed to be preserved in the first place was because of us humans.
It could range from the need for space to build resorts or condo units to just simply needing firewood but yeah, I've said it many times before that if we just vanished or died right here, right now, the world would just thank us for it.
In any case, one might say that we could just simply encase part of the forest but that's practically impossible because it just extends for miles and as big or perhaps even bigger than Manila and it'd just defeat the purpose of it being a natural forest. However, that just might be one of my proposed solutions if these people wanted to keep the legacy of their ancestors alive.
There were more ways available than to be a stubborn fool to risk everyone in their family just to appease someone that was already dead. Saying this might sound harsh but if I was their ancestor, I'd try to reincarnate then and there to bonk their heads of this stupid decision.
I then turned to Eden once more:
"What are your thoughts on erecting a log wall a certain radius around your home?"
Eden's ears perked up, "That'd be great, actually! It'll mess up some of the traps but some of us will feel safer—"
"Only some of you?"
"Well, Mom and Dad are against doing that because they simply love the forest and the view it gives each morning—even most of our residents who don't have any idea about what's going on outside…"
Kaley cut in, "Really? There are some who don't know?"
Eden nodded, "Y-Yeah though it's not for lack of trying… Some of them are too old to be put on more stress while some would just forget the day after. For the ones who came to the realization, some accepted it and even volunteered to work but not all of them can move like they used to before.
Our staff, friends, and family are amazing even the soldiers who came from the DDR Camps and the other evacuees who found or sought this place for refuge…"
"I see, I see…" I trailed as I looked over the sea of trees, "Still, you should still convince your parents to listen to you guys and I have to ask, with those traps lying around, do you have early warning devices put up or nah?"
Eden looked confused, "Warning devices? What for?"
"..." I just looked at her silently while Kaley already figured out what I was going for. Read new adventures at m_v-l'e|-NovelBin.net
"W-What for?"
I let out a sigh, "Do you… Do you always come with your Dad or do you have days where you switch with your siblings?"
"Well— At first it was mostly just Austin but Dad would put us in a rotation so that we'd all get familiar with his design."
"Did he let you guys come alone or do you sometimes come in groups?"
"We used to come in groups but as of recently, he'd just take me four or five days out of the week and take one of the soldiers or one of my brothers or sisters when I'm on break."
"And you've never encountered anything else aside from the dead?"
"Yeah— W-Why are you asking these questions?"
"Look… I'm not saying or implying anything but have you… Have you thought about other people trying to sought refuge in your home?"
"Huh? Of course— I just told you earlier!"
"I mean… Without using the main road…"
"What? Why— Huh? I mean… No… No. No! What?! NO!
WHY WOULD— THEY— NO!"
"..."
Kaley tried to calm her down, "Eden… Calm down—"
"CALM DOWN?! WHY WOULD I— WE MIGHT'VE JUST KILLED PEOPLE! THEY— WHAT—"
I waved her down, "We're not 100% sure about that. I'm just speculating that—"
"You speculated just fine!" Eden exclaimed as she touched her stomach, "I think I'm gonna be sick— I— Why didn't I think of this earlier?! I-I need to talk to D-Dad right now! Excuse me—"
I grabbed her hand just as she turned around, "And what would you say?"
"I'd get to the bottom of this, of course!"
I shook my head, "You need to calm down first. You think your dad would—"
"WHY DO YOU CARE?! AND HOW WOULD YOU KNOW?! HE'S NOT YOUR DAD! ASK YOUR DAD IN YOUR OWN TIME!"
"My dad's dead."
"...! I-I'm sorry, I—"
"Don't worry about it. It's been a long time—"
"A-At least he didn't die a gruesome way—"
"Umm… About that… A drug addict broke into our home and killed them both… I'm still counting the days that passed in my head…"
"WHA— I-I'M SO SORRY! I SHOULDN'T HAVE SAID ANYTHING! I WAS JUST— I'M SO SORRY!"
I lightly chuckled as I forced a smile, "Look, you're not one for great timing but I think you should really sit down first and take a few deep breaths."
"O-Okay…"
At that point, Eden followed my suggestion after her blunder but after a couple of minutes, I opened the conversation once again as I turned to her:
"Look, it might have come as a surprise to you but your Dad's doing it for all of you. We don't know, it might be to increase the trap's effectiveness since it's the only 'wall' between you and them and if you think about it, why would those people not use the direct route if they wanted to seek refuge?"
Eden still shook her head with a frown, "Still… That's still a lot of what-ifs…"
I scratched the back of my head, "It's not like we weren't doing the same thing but we lean more on early warning devices or something along those lines because we could afford it."
"Afford it? How?"
"Umm… Because we can?"
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