“Please…” Lara begged. Her tenuous control over the flow of her tears had long broken. Her face wet from the streaks of tears that flowed non-stop.

“I am sorry.” Danny apologized and lowered his head, turning around towards the door afterwards. There was nothing more to be said.

Seeing him about to leave, Lara plopped down on the ground in her knees and started weeping uncontrollably, her strength of mind and body completely spent. The previous weeks had taken its toll and this disappointment had been the straw that finally broke the camel’s back.

“I am never going to see them again… dad… where are you? I miss you…” Lara thought in despair while sobbing. She didn’t have the frame of mind to pay attention to her surroundings anymore. Caution completely discarded.

Danny walked steadily to the door, unlocked it and put his hand on the knob. He then took one last look behind. There laid the devastated Lara, her soul appearing to have left her body given her empty stare. Her hopes had been crushed one too many times.

Danny sighed at the sorrowful scene before he quickly turned back to the door. He opened it a bit while trying to discard the useless and distracting thoughts going through his head as he focused on the situation outside. Seeing that there were no enemies in the vicinity, Danny stepped out of the house and closed the door behind him.

He took a few steps towards the stairs that led to the dirt road that stretched towards the boundaries of the property and into the distance. However, as he approached the end of the porch, his steps slowed down progressively until his feet came to a complete halt, preventing him from reaching the porch stairs and leaving the boundaries of the house.

In his head, reason and emotion warred for dominance as Danny failed to clear his mind of thoughts that brought him back to the crumpled girl inside the house.

“Fuck! FUCK!” Danny screamed internally. “I shouldn’t have looked back!” He thought while he massaged his temples, feeling the headache that was bound to come.

He then sighed and walked back inside.

Seeing that Lara remained there on the ground on the same spot and in the same position, Danny walked towards her and firmly, but gently, lifted her up while grimacing.

His grimace wasn’t directed at the young woman’s vulnerability, but at his own inability to leave her there just like that instead. He wished he could simply leave and not think about it anymore.

Noticing for the first time that Danny was still there, Lara turned to him in confusion.

“You… You didn’t leave?” She asked in surprise.

“No.” Danny said responded curtly.

“Then-” Lara started saying hopefully but she was cut short.

“You won’t be coming with me.” He said as a matter of fact.

Seeing that Danny had returned only to reject her again, Lara started to feel angry instead of dejected. Rage replacing despondence, however, before she could blow up or say anything, Danny spoke again.

“Get me a picture of your dad and the other ones you are looking for and show me where they were headed.” Danny said, before continuing.

“I can’t bring you with me, but I’ll try to look for them. If I don’t find them, I will come back and tell you whenever I am in the area again. If I do find them, then… well… we’ll see what can be done at the time. At the very least you will know.” He concluded in all seriousness.

After hearing his words, Lara’s eyes widened in surprise, before they started to shine with newfound hope. She then tackled him in a hug while thanking him in between sobs. Danny’s suggestion wasn’t exactly what she wanted, but it was more than good enough. It was more than anything she had any right to hope for.

Lara could hardly believe it to be real, holding Danny firmly in her arms as if afraid he would suddenly disappear, worried that he wasn’t really there and that this was all a figment of her imagination, a construct of her taxed mind.

Danny awkwardly responded to the sudden human contact by placing his arms around the crying girl after a couple of seconds while sighing internally. In the end, he didn’t have it in him to leave and do nothing when he could do something. He apparently was still too soft.

He ended up reaching a compromise.

It wasn’t as if he would be putting his secret at risk by helping her like that – given that he would still be travelling alone –, and it wouldn’t be much of a deviation from his initial plan as well. Since he didn’t have a set destination in mind when he decided to head south, it mattered little which part of the region he decided to scout first. He might as well go in the direction Lara pointed him towards.

However, this quest he had took upon himself also wasn’t risk-free.

Something definitely had happened to prevent Lara’s dad and uncle to return, assuming they were still alive, of course. If it was just the undead blocking their way back, then all was well. He would be able to lend a hand, collect crystals and continue exploring his surroundings after having done a good deed.

However, if other humans were responsible for their disappearance, than it would be somewhat problematic. Humans were tricky and dangerous. They could be cunning and devious. They could lie and cheat, so Danny had to be extremely careful in order to avoid falling into whatever pit Lara’s family stumbled upon.

The last scenario was the least likely but also the worst. If her family somehow encountered one of the invading forces, then Danny probably would not be able to do anything about it. Though it would be good to know where some of his main enemies were, Danny still very much preferred to be very far away from any of the invaders as of now.

Hell, he wasn’t sure if he would manage to keep his life if he was spotted, extra strength or not. He had to turn tail and run to the opposite direction as fast as his legs could carry him, praying he would not be discovered if any of the invaders were involved. Well, praying might be the wrong choice of words given the nature of this war, but whatever.

After she calmed down, Lara brought many photos of her family members as Danny had requested and also showed him pictures of them in the clothes they were wearing when they left. She then started describing any noteworthy aspects she could think of that would make it easier for Danny to identify them.

Lara made sure to through everything she could think of that could increase Danny’s odds of finding them, even if just slightly.

Then she told him about the small village her uncle and his family lived in together – the place her dad and uncle had been heading towards when they left two weeks ago. The village was about forty minutes to one hour of driving from the ranch, something around 70 kilometers, which wasn’t very far, but would take a while to get to considering Danny would be going by foot.

Lara also showed him pictures of her uncle’s house, maps of the village and detailed everything she could remember from memory about the area. The streets, stores, which places were more crowded, which spots were more isolated and many other things.

Danny grilled her for every tidbit of information that he could think of that might come in handy or could possibly make a difference.

If Danny would be doing this, he would do it the smart way. So, he got as much info as he could copied down and collected a few pictures for ease of identification before filling up his backpack to the brim. Lara did offer to pay him for the job, so he wouldn’t stand around on courtesy.

Everything that Danny had been looking before he entered Lara’s house he now had, with the sole exception of a replacement for the crossbows. The only ranged weapon in the house was the rifle Lara was using and she needed it for protection, so Danny could not take it.

However, after completely filling his bag, that was the only thing he still had to keep a lookout for. His new backpack was bursting at the seams and he had gathered everything he thought he might need. Multiple copies at that.

With Lara’s help, Danny quickly organized everything as neatly and efficiently as possible before walking outside and saying their final goodbyes. For good this time.

Lara felt she couldn’t thank him enough for the much-needed assistance, but Danny had to get going.

He already had wasted more time than he wanted to, and though he had managed to get even more supplies after agreeing to help Lara – which would probably save him time in the long run – he wanted to get back to collecting crystals and progressing his training.

Lara, on the other hand, knew that her family might be in dire straits, so she didn’t want to hold him back any longer now that he had already assured her many times that he would do his best to try and find them.

“You are a good man, Danny. No matter what happens, thank you. I will forever owe you for this.” She hugged him one last time and kissed his cheek for good luck.

There had been no passionate moments shared between them. Danny hadn’t been considering something like that as well. He was just lending a hand to a person in need while passing. There was nothing more to it than pure and simple empathy.

Maybe if Danny had opted to travel alongside the pretty girl, something might have blossomed between them, but that wouldn’t be happening now. He had his plans and goals to care about and she was too worried about her family to think about anything else in the short time they spent together.

Love was secondary. Passion was irrelevant.

Danny had a long trip ahead of him now and he was as focused as he could be now that his conscience wasn’t hammering his head and distracting him from the journey. Hopefully this would be and uneventful and easy mission. Just some side note of minor importance on his travel journal. One could only hope.

“You are a good man, Danny!” Lara cupped her hands around her mouth and said again from the door as Danny got off the stairs of the porch’s house for the last time of the day. She then started waving her hand at him when he turned around to face her one last time while still walking away from the place.

Danny waved back at her and smiled in response to her enthusiasm. Inwardly however he thought: “You are a stupid man Danny. It would be so much easier if you haven’t looked back.”