The Way the Wind Blows (Third Entry)

Answered Prayers

ID: Whitfield, Noah

Status: Alive, Overwhelmed

Location: West Side Chicago, IL

Date and Time: September 8th, 1:24 pm

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I had to pull over after around ten minutes of driving. I was hyperventilating due to the intensity of what happened. Turning on the hazard lights, I placed my forehead on the steering wheel, trying to catch my breath. 

"Hey, we're good, Noah," Jacob said, putting a gentle hand on my shoulder. "We survived." 

"What about Shy?" I asked with more anger than I meant. "Did he survive after all we dragged him through?"

Everyone was quiet besides the occasional interruption of my heavy breathing. Jacob shook his head. "I can't help but feel like this is my fault."

"Why?" Yuri asked, concern in her voice. 

"I should've just kept my mouth shut," he answered, starting to break down. "He'd still be alive if we didn't beg him for his possessions." 

Monika leaned forward in her seat. "It was his choice, guys. He was the one that welcomed us into his home. He put his life on the line for us. We can't continue to sit here and do nothing." 

"She's right," Sayori said, still looking towards the floorboard. "Shy did so much for us. Let's use the gifts he gave us and beat Kronos and his gang." 

I couldn't help but smile a bit. Once again, Sayori is the one picking out heads up and pushing us to keep going even though she probably feels the same feelings we do. I took a deep breath and unbuckled my seatbelt, scanning the girls before speaking. 

"Sayori and Monika are right. We can't stop regardless of our decisions, and Shy chose to do what he did to help us." I took a second to make sure I had my thoughts in order. "Do I feel bad about leaving him behind? Yes, I do. The truth is that if we stayed behind, one or more of us may have been killed. Going back on what Monika said, we have to keep our heads up and push forward. There's a bigger obstacle that we have to hurdle, and if we quit now, the universe falls into Kronos's hands." 

The group fell silent again. After a few seconds, Natsuki picked her head up and flashed her golden smile. "Hey, Noah's right. Let's stop sulking and kick that stupid blonde's ass." 

All of us returned the energy she gave us, hyping each other up. I turned back around and fastened my seatbelt before driving back in the direction of our home. 

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Sayori had begged us to pick up lunch, so Jacob decided to call an Italian restaurant so we could take it home to eat. We had eaten a couple of times at this particular place, and the food was never disappointing. After ordering, I drove to the location of the restaurant. 

The restaurant was busy enough to where we dropped Monika at the front entrance to pick up the food. I was circling a few times around the parking lot until I came to an elderly man trying to cross the busy road. He noticed me and stopped for a second, but I smiled and waved him on. He returned the smile and once he started walking, I was noticing that he was having a hard time walking. I was about to get out to assist the man when he suddenly fell to his hands on the rough pavement. 

"Noah!" Sayori cried out. 

Jacob and I both scrambled out of the car and ran over to where the man was laying. I put my hand on the man's shoulder.