Chapter 62: A walk in the park

The motorhome, a beast of a vehicle, rumbled through the streets of City D. Inside, the atmosphere was unfamiliar. The seven were already familiar with each other. With the addition of the six people, a sense of unfamiliarity arose that would not be resolved immediately.

Ember stood in the middle of the living area. Her gaze swept over the new faces. Chloe, the shy girl, was huddled in a corner. Mika and Fernando, the two friends, sat at a small table. Maya, the athletic one, was stretching. Cassia was giving Ivan a massage. And Mario…he was staring out the window, in a world of his own.

“We need to be clear about something,” Ember began, her voice even. “We are not a charity. We are not a rescue mission. We are a community. And the community survives if everyone contributes.”

She pauses, “The Fellowship Contract you all signed isn’t just a fancy scroll. It’s a vow. You fight for the community, the community fights for you. It means we have your back if you have ours.”

Her gaze landed on Mika, who had opened his mouth to protest. “If you think you can get by being dead weight, that won’t happen. I won’t protect people who can’t follow a simple contract. You’ve all read it. I asked more than once if you were sure. If you think you won’t fight, I will kick you out right now.”

She smirked as her gaze travelled among the newcomers. “It’s fine if you don’t want to fight. Just know you’ll get the worst rooms, the worst rations, and the worst care. This isn’t a hotel. This is survival.”

A tense silence filled the air. “Understood,” Maya stated.

One by one, the others nodded. Even the defiance in Mika’s eyes lessened. As for whether he was only agreeing because of what Ember said, it didn’t matter; they would learn sooner or later.

They travelled during the day and slept in the motorhome at night. Three days later, they arrived at what should be the city park. Rather than a road that passed the city park, they saw an expanse of green. This was the second time they had seen such a large section of green. The first being back at Aiden and Ember’s villa.

Ivan shuddered when he thought of what happened. He didn’t feel like reliving the same thing again. “Is there another way around?” he asked.

The group of seven understood immediately why he asked.

Aiden patted his shoulder, “There isn’t. Unless we plan to go back to the library and take another back road around, but we might still end up close to the park just the same if there is a problem with the other roads.”

Ivan sighed, accepting his fate.

“What’s wrong?” Cassia asked, noticing his aversion to the field of green.

“He’s traumatized. Don’t mind him. We just need to hope we can pass this place safely.” Ember said.

In the driver’s seat, Marcus said, “I don’t think we can drive through it.” He pointed at the cloud of green, “If I’m not wrong, those are spores. If we drive through it, the filtration system won’t be able to handle it.”

Everyone walked up to the front of the motorhome, and they stared out the window. This time, really looking outside to observe. The tall grass swayed without wind. A cloud of green moved along with it. There were vines wrapped around trees hanging lazily with barbs that seemed to glisten in the light.

It doesn’t look like the place people should visit. However, now, it might be their only choice.

Aiden thought about having to turn back. He did not want to have to find other roads only to have them lead back to the same place. It would be a waste of time they don’t have. It has already been two weeks. They needed to get to the base in the next four or so days, or they would be in trouble.

“We’ll walk,” Aiden declared.

Ivan’s loud groan made people look at him. His hand covered his face, and he slumped against a table.

“Stop being such a baby.” Ember countered. “You didn’t know it would happen before, but you know now. Why are you acting as if your life is about to end?”

“Who says it isn’t?” Ivan replied. “I have a psychological shadow.”

Ember scoffed. Adrienne walked up to Ivan and patted his shoulder. “I can throw you in if you want. Help you get rid of the shadow.”

Ivan gasped theatrically and faced Alex. “You woman is trying to kill me. Don’t you know you can’t just throw people into their worst fears?”

“You won’t die,” was all the reply Ivan got from Alex.

After Ivan calmed down, everyone disembarked. Ember put the motorhome in the space. She took out machetes that gleamed in the light. Guns wouldn’t work in a place like this. The best way to deal with plants is to cut them or light them.

There were too many plants to burn. That would put them in danger. So cutting their way through was the only option for now.

When she handed them out, she said seriously, “Be careful. Stay close. Watch each other’s backs and don’t let anything touch you.”

They started their walk. As they stepped into the green, they felt the soft, spongy ground beneath their feet. The scent of dead trees and rotten earth could be smelled. Massive mushrooms stood, hovering over their heads.

They were only a few yards in when it happened. A thick vine covered in barbs wrapped around Chloe’s leg. A terrified scream ripped through her throat as it began to drag her away.

Marcus shot out, swinging his machete. The screeching sound of metal on metal was heard. Unexpectedly, the vine was tough. Marcus didn’t give up swinging the machete again with more force this time.

He caused a cut in the vine, which caused it to pause and gave Mario the time to grab hold of Chloe. The vine was still wrapped around her leg, so Marcus swung the machete again. This time, it completely broke the vine. A spray of what looked like black blood came from the vine. It went limp ad Chloe scrambled up Mario’s arm, clinging to him.

No one comforted them. “We told you to stay alert,” Adrienne hissed. “Did you think it was a joke?”

Alex patted her shoulder to calm her down. The seven knew the newcomers wouldn’t be able to stay as alert as they could. They trained in the system; otherwise, they would have been in a pickle just like the newcomers.

The six newcomers didn’t argue. They really didn’t take them seriously. Because they hadn’t seen any danger since they had been with them, they thought it wasn’t as bad outside as it was in the first few days. Now they knew they were mistaken. The world was much more dangerous.

After the experience, everyone became more alert. They made sure to stay close and keep an eye on their surroundings. This way, they wouldn’t end up with the same issue as before.

The journey was agonizingly slow. They had to fend off vines that wanted to eat them, moss that tried to entangle them, dodging branches from trees that decided they were the enemy. Ivan and Marcus stood at the front. Their speed and efficiency created a path inch by inch.

To their surprise, Maya was a natural. Her athletic build meant she didn’t get tired as easily as others would. But it also appeared that she had some level of martial arts training. Mika and Fernando were clumsy but determined.

Cassia screamed a lot, but helped by pulling people out of the way of whatever attack might have fallen on them because of a blind spot. Mario was the most noticable however. Maybe it was seeing Chloe get attacked by the vine, but something changed.

He was no longer thinking about whether he made the right decision. Now he was a machine. He wasn’t just clearing a path; he was massacring every plant around him. Aiden nodded as he saw Mario working out his fury on the plants.

It took them the entire day. By the time they came out of the green hell, it was almost dark. The sun was setting, creating long shadows. They were exhausted and covered in all kinds of grime, but they were alive.

What they needed to do now was find a place to stay the night. They couldn’t stay out in the open like this. Covered in green slime, they decided to try to find a place close by.

As luck would have it, there was a hotel nearby. There wasn’t a need for them to go too far to look for shelter. Although a few floors had been torn down, the rest of the hotel was still standing.

They decided to make this their rest spot for the rest of the night.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep