Slave: Zero Chapter 11: Chapter 11

Read chapter 11 of Slave: Zero by HEAVENLYLARPER on NovelPedia.

Eric glanced up at Arop. Did he say something, he wondered. As soon as the rush of wind finally disappeared he could hear again. “Eric, hurry up.” He looked up and saw Arop waving towards him, before he jumped down into the mall. So he’s just gonna leave me here, he thought as he continued to crawl, all while feeling the chilling cold breeze tickle his skin, causing his arms and legs to shiver. One wrong mistake and I might actually die, he thought as he was now slithering. Then all of a sudden gun shots rang in the distance, along with screeching tires. Eric flinched as he began to crawl faster to the broken window. Then gathering all of his courage, he jumped down into the mall. “Was that gun shots?” Eric nodded. All of a sudden a clanging noise erupted in the mall, echoing. Eric flinched. “What was that?” Arop pointed to a rat running across the lowest floor of the mall. “Well that’s good, wherever rats are there is food. Isn’t there a saying like that?” Arop asked, as he turned towards Eric. “I never heard of it.” “Oh. Really?” Eric shrugged. “I guess I made it up.” They descended the mall, all while hearing the low echoes of critters in the mall. With each of their steps, sounds of small concrete gets crushed under their feet. This only made Eric more nervous. But Arop seemed unbothered. I wonder, does anything really scare him, he thought as their feet touch the lowest floor. At the center of the mall was a statue of a tall naked woman. It seemed as if she was floating mid air, as she reached out to touch the heavens. Above her was the glass ceiling, each one filtering the moon’s light towards the goddess, revealing her smile of love for man. Surrounding her were statues of people from all different tribes kneeling before her and worshipping her. It looked as if she was blessing them with a rainy season. “Orisha.” “What.” Arop turned to Eric, gesturing to the statue. “That is the goddess Orishun, one of the Orishas who help people. I only heard about them in stories. Do you know the song about them? Eric shook his head. “I think it goes something like this. Oh goddess Orishas, grant me joy, grant me wisdom. Give me your blessing to fight demons, or something like that.” Eric stared up at the statue, admiring its beauty, but there was something off about her, about her smile. “Hey, Arop. Don’t you think that she’s suffering.” “Haah, why. Eric pointed up at her face. “She’s smiling, but is she really happy? If she had to constantly help people, and hear their cries and screams for help, is she really free.” Arop paused, thinking of a response. “I don’t know, maybe she loves doing what she does.” “Maybe.” Arop stared at Eric for a while before tapping him on the shoulder. “C’mon, let’s hurry up and get what we came for.” He nodded. As they walked, what Arop said replayed in Eric’s mind. Maybe she loves doing what she does. Maybe that’s exactly why she isn’t free. In my eyes, she is the slave to the very people she tries to protect…. Wait, no no. I’m contradicting myself. She’s a goddess, she can’t be a slave for or to anything. So are people. Everyone is free in this world. We can dictate our future through our own efforts we make in life. And we have the freedom to choose anything we want to do in life. There, I proved it. The concept slavery does not exist. Everyone has freedom. That is the basic right given to all living things at birth. Yes, that’s right, the concept slavery is not true, he thought. They continued their walk, checking store after store, trying to find some way to break in. But the shops and windows were protected by security grills. But Arop still insisted on searching some more, he said if they didn't find anything in the next 15 minutes they would leave. Eric nodded in response. He was beginning to feel signs of a rising headache, and he had a feeling it would get much worse. Eric’s mind was a storm of thoughts and memories swirling around. From the strange dream to Arop’s philosophy to the revolution