Who knew that a laboratory of some sort had been residing near the outskirts of the town?
Just as Itsuki had informed the terrain leading towards the building, I have noticed several trails and hidden passages before we had came and resided behind the waterfall, which was needed to venture deep inside the forest from before. It was surrounded with an abundant amount of mangroves and alligators on the nearby swamp, guarding the water way of the said laboratory. I must say they were heavily making themselves barricaded despite living in these peaceful world.
"At any chance, would both of your parents hid inside around at the laboratory?" I asked, surprised to even account the chances they had confined themselves in a riskier and populated area such as a facility.
"I think so? There are no caves nor other settlements living outside the town; none other than this building, of course." Itsuki's ponders through the inartistically drawn map on the ground.
"We could also gather some supplies in the laboratory. If we're lucky enough, we can even find some sort of clues left by scientists…that is, if there's still alive." I excitedly added, hoping to find any leads for my kidnapped friends.
If my guesses are right, this lone Spectre laboratory branch here in Okinawa could be a key that can help us locate the main research facility where Andrew Turner resides.
"We'll be searching high and low for your parents. They haven't gone that far, you know?" I assured the two kids who seem to be a little bit upset from the beginning of our conversation.
With that in mind, we finally conjured our meeting.
Just as we were about to head out of the cave, a monstrous snarl echoes which had came deeper from the cavern; from where we were headed to.
Unsure of what to do, Itsuki dashes forth on the medium stone that was resting across our side and wielded it as a form of a weapon, while the three children kept tugging the ends of my uniform, shivering from the sound. They had intended to run away, however the path behind us was unfortunately swarmed with a horde of zombies wandering on the woodlands.
We were completely caged by two entities on each of our routes; one being infested by an unknown existence, while zombies on the other.
"Konoe, grab hold of my hand and do not let go. The rest of you, align yourselves and do the exact same thing!" I undertake a sprinting stance, where it was easier for me to move around, and awaited the rest of my group to form in a line.
"All set!"
"I'm ready."
"Nee-chan…ready…"
I glanced to their side and assured their safety once more. Studying carefully my surroundings, I glued my eyes on the specific trail on the right end of the cavern and affiliated my focus unto the next course of turns, which I will be later on execute once I have taken hold of my position.
Suddenly, the roars of the zombies, coming from the back, had leisurely entered the cave, as it continuously wanders by. These zombies consists of the ones we had previously encountered; the regular undead, the vine zombies, and the embers. Luckily for us, these ember type zombies had served the entire tunnel a dim light which illuminates extensively inside.
The shadowy figure had finally came to light, and a humungous sight of a four-legged animal appeared, which was far scarier than the zombies walking from our rear.
The monster stands at approximately 10 feet tall and measures about 100 inch wide, as it sluggishly landed on its feet and bared its razor blade claws. The animal was coated with dark brown fur with the hint of scarlet blood scattered from all over its body. Its eyes were beaming with anger, knowing we had accidentally step foot unto its territory.
"Grizzly…bear" I murmured.
It appears that the bear had mutated into an undead species after it had taken a bite around its leg, evident from the scar painted in red. Moreover, its claws were abnormally wide, indifferent from the usual forest bears found in your g**gle images.
"Grab on tight"
Using the force of my lower feet, I rapidly discharge myself in a tremendous speed and launched my whole body on the nearby rock. There, I landed both of my feet and took a halt from the current force of my body's rapid velocity, as I hurriedly shifted a turn with the children behind my back.
Across my left, the bear stood confused from the brisk movements I had performed. The mammal then slams its upper limbs towards my fore, which I abruptly dashed ourselves towards our safety.
Like a speedy worm sliding left and right across the dirt, we zipped our way, mimicking the Nematoda, and bypassed the giant bear and briskly ran deeper inside, where the light flashes its last. Then, we were welcomed by darkness itself of the silent cave. Thankfully, the bear was uninterested to give chase, knowing that the light had already been exhausted provided by the embers from the breech.
I could still feel the warmth of Konoe's little hands interlocked against mine, and that alone indicated their safety.
"Is everyone alright?" My voice reverberates across the room as I worriedly queer the a question.
"Cold…"
"Freezing"
"Fleur-san, we're fine"
I sigh in relief after hearing their response.
We soon slower our pace and walked cautiously inside the waterfall's labyrinth, taking our precious time to discern the next trail.
"Konoe, do you remember the path we should take?"
"Yes. Just head straight for the tunnel and turn right at the far end"
Upon hearing her instructions, I switch my body towards my right as we continuously progress in the unlit cavern. Using my right hand, I began stroking the moisturised walls, which was the only checkpoint that we have, as we unceasingly advance on the exit of the cave.
We had been walking inside the tunnel for 15 minutes straight without shifting our speed. Eventually, our hard work had finally paid off as we could discern a faint light dazzling from afar.
"There it is! Just keep moving, everyone" I threw a little bit of encouragement for the drowsy children from behind. Despite not being able to perceive their physical appearance, their fatigued body had relatively slowed down our stride. Yet I kept all of my complaints to myself and grew silent in the course of time. At long last, we had finally reached the light at the far end of the tunnel.
Our eyes soon began registering the images shone by the bright light, which was accustomed from the dark cave voided from any sort of radiance the moment we had stepped foot outside.
A sea of various trees laid before our eyes, and the nature itself was beaming with wonder and awe, as it was filled with living creatures such as birds and flowers fluttering around. Fortunately for us, there were no zombies within our sight. It seems that all of the infected had rallied from the tunnel inside.
"Take a straight line from here for about 3 kilometres ahead. There we can find the laboratory surrounded by a swamp at the far end of the wilderness."
Konoe points out her finger towards the north at the heart of the jungle. It will take us roughly 20 minutes, without any breaks, upon finishing our journey. Just as we were about to resume our march, the 2 children, who had been left behind, were now grasping for air in the nearby log.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a 5 minutes break"
We decided to ingest our packed lunch consisting of varieties of fruits and vegetables stored in my bag. Although we prefer any sort of breads and pastas in our plate, the gourmet was still lavishly nutritious for the time being, especially for these growing kids. The sole purpose for these snacks is to stabilise our appetite and to absorb the vitamins and minerals stored in these rich grubs.
"Water…"
Tomori said, thirsty for water.
It was a good thing that I had saved the bag which I had previously stored and purify from before. Impaling the bottom part of the bag, the filtered water slowly drips to the ground filling the cup-like stone that I found inside the cave (which I had also cleaned earlier in advance). I gave the stuffed glass, which holds about 500 millimetres of water, to each members of our group.
Our resources presently holds 2 fresh apples, 2 corns, an extra pouch of filtered water, and an empty magnum shell resting inside my bag.
"Shall we?"
On my command, we began our trip headed to the laboratory from miles away without encountering any zombies.
On a distance, piles of rubbles could be seen scattered throughout the ground. My only guess would be that the site could've exploded and abandoned prior from the zombie outbreak.
Just as I had expected, a figure of a collapse building stood at the enclose area around the wide crater.
"It looks more like fortress than a laboratory to me" I said jokingly and awaited their response.
"…."
And that was the day I had promised myself not to kid around between these overly serious people