“Friendship is unnecessary - like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself, for God did not need to create. It has no survival value; it is, rather, one of the things that give value to survival”.

- CS Lewis

"Alex, mister John! Oh, my God!" I said with a strong pain in my heart as I removed my hand from my face.

"They were still inside." Nathália said, putting her hands to the mouth.

My eyes filled with tears at the sight of the vehicle on fire. It was hard to see the bus we were on blow up right in our face. The guy named Robson got down on his knees and cried. He punched the ground screaming while yelling “it wasn't supposed to be this way! It wasn't! ”

"Robson, take it easy." one of his friend said.

"How can we be calm while my little brother and our only salvation is inside? I'm the one who should be in there!"

“That boy saved you, so be grateful for him." Nathália concluded.

“I didn't ask for this! He was our salvation... now the world will go burn in flames" the guy lamented. He had gone crazy. Nothing he said made sense.

"Our salvation?" Nathália raised an eyebrow.

The girl who was with him intervened: “Something very serious is going to happen and we were selected to protect him and other two teenagers, but we couldn't complete our mission."

“I didn't ask him to save my brother, Rayssa, and he still chose to save me, not him." Robson grumbled to the girl with his head in his hands.

"He must have followed some criteria to have and chosen to save you and not himself" completed Nathália.

"You can't imagine what I'm feeling and what will happen..."

“Frankly, I don't understand what's going on here and I don't know anything about you either, and I don't have brothers. However, we must not leave here. It's dangerous with those things out there."

"The world will end if that boy is not alive!" Robson said as he turned back to the burning bus and tried to find a way to see the wreckage.

"That's where you're wrong!" another skinny girl said, standing in front of him. "The world will not end! This is a story for children to go to bed early. If you think I don't know what you're going through, you're wrong. My older brother was on that other bus."

“I'm not just like this for my little brother, but for Alex too. My mission was to protect him,” the guy said in a mild voice.

"Protect him from what?" the skinny girl asked.

"Of what is to come!"

As I listened to the conversation, I struggled to get up, but I fell. My broken leg wouldn't let me up and it hurt too much. I tried to drag myself to the bus, but the heat coming from the blast debris was unbearable. I dragged myself there anyway, Alex was the only true friend I ever made. I gathered the last of my strength and dragged myself even closer. I raised my eyes towards the fire and realized that what I was doing made no sense. Nobody could survive that. It was disconcerting to imagine such a scene. I was already getting ready to go back when Nathália pushed Robson to the ground, ran to me and dragged me close with the help of that nosy skinny girl.

"What do you really think you're going to do?" the girl scolded us "Didn't you hear what she said?"

I stared, blushed and asked: "Excuse me, but what's your name again?"

“My name is Hillary da Silva." She looks like a snow-white girl, with black hair and a few pimples on her face. She was dressed in a purple blouse with a picture of a doll dressed as a cat and a pair of jean shorts. He looked about 14 years old.

“I needed to see if they're both still alive,” I said.

"You were trying to commit suicide!" Nathália replied.

"Is not true!" I responded in tears. "He was my best friend and I couldn't do anything for him in that state and..."

I heard someone coughing and turned away. Someone was getting out from behind the bus carrying a child on his right shoulder. The moment he appeared in front of us, we were witnessing a miracle. I couldn't stop looking at him. Alex walked over and handed Thor into his brother's arms, who smiled quietly.

"Great?!" I asked, in disbelief at what I saw.

"Phew. That was close!" he replied and collapsed beside us. "Didn't I say I was going to save him?"

He was panting. I could barely breathe. And now he was lying there as if nothing had happened. Robson nodded with a laughter and, if Thor hadn't died before, he would die now from his brother's grip.

"Dude, you are, to say the least, crazy! Nothing less than that!" I said, laughing with relief to see him there.

“Funny you call me crazy.

When Alex turned around, Nathália asked: "Where's mister John?"

In that instant, we lost our smiles. Alex sat up and lowered his head. It was unbelievable, mister John would never play Led Zeppelin again in his band's shows.

What the hell!

The atmosphere became tense. Alex blamed himself. He punched the floor. But what could he have done? Mister John had left this world and those weird guys were to blame for that. Nathália approached him, put one of her hands on his shoulders and asked in a low voice:

“How are you physically, Alex?

"I am fine. I feel a strong throbbing in my head and every time I breathe, my chest hurts a little, but I'm fine. Thor only suffered a few light scratches and what about you?"

“Thank you so much for saving my life, by the way,” she said and blushed. "Yes, I'm fine. Thanks to... you."

"You're welcome."

“We saw the bus explode and I remember you were on it. How did you get out of there?" It seems that all the teenagers wanted to ask that question, because as soon as Nathália asked it, they all gathered to hear the answer. He explained it like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Why did you take so long to show up?" I asked.

"The explosion threw me away and I hit my head."

A young girl approached and checked her injuries. According to her, she has already taken a first aid course. Then she studied him and was startled when she saw through his hair. "You're bleeding! Did you hit your head?"

He nodded.

"Fainted?"

Yes, more than once.

"What is his diagnostic?" I asked.

Alex was airy, weak and very close to passing out again. “He's in shock." The young woman said as she got closer and analyzed the cut. “His pupils are huge. Look for a first aid kit, matches and some alcohol. I need to stitch this cut or he'll bleed to death to get him."

Several bags were scattered on the dirt road nearby. And, after finding the box, as I had alcohol instead of water in my bottle, the girl started the proceedings.

"Are you diabetic?" she asked him calmly.

"No, why?"

“I'm going to stitch your head and we don't have anything for anesthesia."

I intervened: “Alex, drink a lot of this. That's why she asked for alcohol."

"I'm not going to drink, Micke. We're not old enough for that."

“Who cares, man? It will make you better."

"I care. I won't drink just because you're asking. Better to do it without anesthesia."

The girl interrupted: "Are you sure about that?"

"I am."

She took the matches, lit and sterilized the needle, threaded it and, with help, laid him down in a cleaner place. However, it continued even with him in that state. Robson laid his brother on the floor and got to his feet, staggering to Alex for help. She held him and gave him something to bite, because according to the girl, Rosana Xavier, it would hurt like hell.

That girl had a round face, well-defined cheekbones, very expressive eyes, and was almost Alex's height. Then, she cut the hair around the cut with scissors. He tried as hard as he could to get them close to his skin. Then he poured alcohol on the wound and Alex squirmed. 

This is really going to hurt. I thought.

"Are you ready?" the girl asked.

"I am. I'm a tough guy. I'll take it."

The girl giggled evilly. She should have known he couldn't take it.

In the first puncture, there was no scream, there was no aggressive response. The pain was so strong that he simply passed out, but Rosana kept calm the whole time, it even looked like she had done it several times.

Alex woke up a few minutes later in a hurry and threw up. The nausea took him by surprise as if he was hitted by a sledgehammer in the throat. Then he said he was better, but when he touched the wound, he let out a high-pitched scream. He took a painkiller and an antibiotic that they found and Rosana told him not to make any sudden movements. Robson walked up to him and gave him a hug.

“Thank you so much, Alex!" He thanks. "You saved my brother! Thank you very much indeed. Thanks for not dying. Those eight stitches on the head will make a nice scar."

“ Another one?!" was all he needed, another scar to hide on his head. “You're welcome, I think." he finally replied.

The guy shook his head and Alex took one more look at the survivors, but seeing Nathália, she called him to get some rest. I could have sworn I saw a smile as he nodded and then helped him down onto a bag. Then he went to help another guy. The skinny girl, Hillary, approached us both. “Before you rest, we need to talk, Alex."

"Excuse me, but do I know you?"

“My name is Hillary and I want to ask what we're going to do now."

“We could call our family members,” Alex suggested as he sat down.

"What phone? Our smartphones are in the backpack of the other bus.

"What about the cells that rang on the bus, Robson?"

"Broken by the accident," he replied, annoyed.

"And now?" Hillary asked.

Alex shrugged.

"Aren't you our leader? You're the one who saved most people! You need to decide what we are going to do next."

"It was a joint effort, and who elected me leader?" Alex replied in disbelief.

Hillary raised her hand and then the other kids did too, including Thor, who had woken up a few minutes ago and Robson had explained what had happened.

“But, I didn't apply as leader! I don't even know what to do from now on. I'm still processing the problem of mister John and the broken smartphones!" Alex protested.

"We could see how the people on the other bus are doing, how about that?" the skinny girl suggested. “That way we can see if we can find our cell phones. Anyway, I'm sure you'll figure out what to do.” Then she patted his shoulder.

Alex nodded. "But first, we needed to rest."

We woke up to Alex screaming and writhing like one of those B-rated horror movies.

"Astaroth, no please!"

I saw figures running towards him and people shaking him. I sat up and saw that he was sweaty. His temples throbbed extremely visibly. I've never seen anyone have a nightmare like that. I was completely scared. I recognized Robson pulling him aside.

“Where did you hear that name?!" I heard him ask in exasperation.

"In my dreams. That's where I met you and the two of them.” Alex pointed at the two teenagers behind the guy. "That name is very common from what the people say. But that was the first time I really saw him."

"What do you say?"

“I never remembered to say that name. My grandfather said he'd heard it and when I dozed off in the square, a gentleman woke me up because I was screaming that name. But, this is the first time I've seen this Astaroth guy."

"Have you seen Astaroth in your dreams?" a girl asked.

“Yes. He was an immense being. A kind of giant."

Robson, the girl and another guy looked at each other.

“Robson, can you explain to me what's going on?"

Suddenly, they looked at him. Somehow, that guy knew what was going on. Then he cleared his throat and started talking. “Do you remember those guys fighting on the road?"

“I will never forget it.” Alex emphasized the last word.

“You and three other teenagers were chosen to protect the Universe from beings like that. You, Pollyanny, Johnathan and a boy on the other bus, Yan,” he said as he pointed.

"The universe?" Pollyanny asked at the most of her shyness and apprehension visible in the gestures she made with her hands. She was a girl with dark brown hair, very shy eyes and wore a jeans pinafore, a white blouse inside and a dark green sweatshirt. A murder of the current youth fashion. “Totally out of the question."

"The Universe is in danger. Astaroth wants to destroy everything and restart the Universe with him in charge."

The guy named Johnathan approached. “I didn't quite understand. Can you explain us better? This Johnathan you said is I?" He was thin, blond, light blue eyes and as tall as I was. He was dressed in a red New York long-sleeved shirt and gray jeans. We were wondering what was going on. I faced those guys and asked curiously about this Yan. Hillary replied that the only one going to camp with that name was her brother and she was worried about him.

"I believe that Rogério will protect him with his life if necessary!" Robson looked optimistic before Alex resumed the question of what was going on.

"Robson, how can we be the salvation of the Universe?"'

A younger, brunette version of Johnathan intervened: “Well, what we do know is that if we don't protect you, the Earth will go up in flames."

“Did you already know that, bro?" Johnathan asked.

“Yes, I was the one assigned to protect you."

“That's exactly what I said.” Robson resumed his point of view. “We don't know all the details, but we were told we had to protect them or the world would be destroyed."

"Did you just believe it?" Alex asked.

"Believe me, if I were you, you'd be believing even Santa Claus if he said he existed."

"Would he be the man with the yellow eyes?" Alex finally asked and startled the other two young men.

"Yes, that's him. The aliens."

In that instant, we laughed. This was hard to swallow. "Aliens?! Impossible!" As we laughed, Robson, Alex, the other guy, and a girl were looking serious. I swallowed the laughter.

Damn! Aliens. Is this serious? But what the hell! Is it really serious?

“Guys, you 've seen what those guys are capable of. You saw that there was one with blue skin. Is it so hard to believe in aliens?!" Robson scoffed. “We were abducted and experimented with on us. Blood typing, eye tests, set us up for better things."

"How did they adjust?" I asked.

Johnathan 's brother replied:

"Before the experiments I had astigmatism and myopia. After them, I no longer need to wear glasses."

"But you still wear glasses, Johnson," Johnathan interjected.

"I use it, but it's for decoration. I couldn't blow the cover.” he said as he took off his glasses, Johnathan looked up and commented something about the lenses having no prescription at all.

The atmosphere was still, silent. Now it all made sense. The aliens were responsible for all this happening to us. I saw Hillary climb on a rock before screaming:

"Excuse me, but are we or aren't we on the other bus? I'm worried about my brother."

"Yes, we will go!" Alex replied, standing up straight and strong to our surprise.