Day after day, the routine was repeated. Search for food, return to the base.
They had been at the outpost for a week, but no one knew the military's purpose. They were not attacked, but they suffered from other things.
The wounds of some showed no sign of improvement, due to complications.
Food is scarce at all outposts, everyone had to ration food and look for ways to find food.
The chest pain has not subsided, but Ralph has already gotten used to it. The injuries to his ears already showed signs of healing.
Briella had also improved, she could already hear normally.
"One week ... What do these bastards want?" Ralph wondered.
"Maybe they are testing our psychological." Briella suggested as she baked a potato.
"If that's really it, they're pretty stupid ... I think there is another way to do that than resorting to such a boring game." Ralph spoke and sighed.
Briella neither agreed nor disagreed.
"Tsk, Victor said he found eggs from some animal near his base, the bastard must have a full stomach now." Ralph spoke with envy.
Briella ignored him and started eating.
"You know what! I won't be following their shitty game anymore!" Ralph spoke and stood up.
Briella pretended not to have heard anything.
"Perhaps that is what they hope for, but I think we should not continue in that place. We must regroup and leave this region." Ralph then took the Walkie Talkie and suggested it to others.
"... I understand your line of reasoning, but some of us can't move well yet." Victor spoke in a worried tone.
"Dark Green broke his arm, but he said he agreed with Ralph." Junior, who was at post C spoke.
"Why don't we take a vote?" Ralph suggested.
"Heh, I don't think this is a good idea. Some of us may decide to stay behind, in which case, would you go without them?" A Walker spoke.
Ralph frowned and pondered before speaking:
"This training is not individual, it is not as if we have the luxury of not coming together ... Think about it, if the military had something in mind, why wait a week to do this? They had already picked up the pace before, for "lack of time", and now they have decided to have enough time? I think if we stay here, we will all be disqualified. "
Upon hearing this, the others were silent, they could not refute Ralph, who continued to explain his plan.
"You thought about it a lot during that time, heh." Victor laughed.
"... I agree with your idea, Ralph." Thiago spoke.
One by one, the Walkers agreed, even though they didn't like the idea so much.
"Hmm? One person is missing, your mate, Ralph." Victor spoke.
Ralph frowned and looked at the woman, who seemed to be taking a nap, and said:
"Don't worry ... She will understand and agree." Ralph spoke.
"Hehe, it looks like you already ..." Victor was about to speak but was interrupted by Ralph, who said goodbye and hung up.
"Tsk, what a mean fellow ... I like that." Victor spoke up and started laughing, making the Walkers on his side look at him strangely.
"Hey, you're not really asleep, are you?" Ralph approached Briella and asked.
Briella didn't seem to hear what he said, making Ralph sigh.
"I will face your silence as accepting the collective decision ... We will not need to leave here, since we are right in the middle of the three posts ... The others will come to us at dawn." Ralph spoke, even though he knew she must have overheard the previous conversation.
"If you don't agree on something it's better to talk now, when they arrive you may not have a chance." Ralph sighed and left Briella alone.
Slowly, Briella opened her eyes. She had a slightly hesitant expression, but decided to remain silent.
Ralph spent the time doing a quick maintenance on his equipment, making sure everything was in order.
He had 30 bullets left, and he didn't know if that would be enough to be useful.
After spending almost a week eating only sweet potatoes, Ralph was a little pale and weak, but he had to overcome this obstacle.
Ralph's eyes started to glow with flames of motivation. The greater the obstacle, the greater Ralph's desire to overcome it.
After taking a deep breath, Ralph finished preparing everything in his backpack, and lay down in the sleeping bag by the fire.
He had already gotten used to Briella's attitude of always taking the first shift, so he just fell asleep.
Briella looked at Ralph for a moment and sighed.
"Why the hell did I decide to come to this end of the world?" She murmured.
She was excited when she got her ability, even though she didn't remember killing any kind of beast ...
She is not the only one though, many of the Walkers have achieved beast skills without even seeing a single beast.
Her parents... Unfortunately, they passed away during the post-Aurora chaos. It's not like she liked them, but they were her parents after all ...
Thinking of the parents, tears started to appear in the corners of her eyes.
Her parents never treated her well, and she will never have the opportunity to know why.
She doesn't even understand why they left England.
Briella wiped the tears away with one arm and smiled bitterly.
It doesn't matter anymore ... What matters is what she has to do now.
Determination filled Briella's empty eyes as she looked at the fire.
After a few hours, Ralph woke up and saw Briella looking at the fire.
"You can sleep, it's my shift." He spoke as he stood up.
Brielle didn't answer and kept looking at the fire.
Ralph frowned and said nothing more.
He had already noticed the girl's strangeness, but he saw no reason to know other people's lives beyond what was necessary.
He took some water and prepared a piece of potato.
"Sigh ... How boring ..." Ralph murmured.
Briella then looked at Ralph with a strange expression.
Ralph laughed and said:
"I thought the challenges would be more fun, but besides that alligator, everything has been a pain, even you. That irritating personality of yours gets on my nerves sometimes."
Briella looked a little irritated, but before she could say anything, Ralph continued:
"My God ... Since that damn Aurora, everything has been in complete chaos... Sometimes I wonder if I went crazy, but sometimes I think it doesn't matter."
Ralph then reached out and made a small flame appear.
"What really matters now, are our wishes ... We always did what we enjoyed before, and that hasn't changed even after Aurora."
The flame then started to rise and the temperature increased.
"Particularly, my current desire is to reach the top, not political power or anything. Nothing gives me more pleasure than overcoming a challenge that seems impossible... The world has changed? Okay, I'm going to overcome this. Do beasts want to devour me? Okay, I'm going to get over this. My wish is to reach the height of my own self-satisfaction, "Ralph said with a bitter smile.
The flame in Ralph's hand went out, and ashes remained.
"However, life is hard enough... it keeps knocking us over and over, wanting to destroy our dreams... That alligator, I thought he would destroy we all... But luckily or not, I got over that immediate fear and I put that damn grenade in his mouth. " Ralph went on, as if he didn't care about Briella.
"That was the first time that I thought it was impossible, I thought that winning would be impossible... But we won in the end. But what an incredible lesson."
The ashes then became incandescent and another flame formed.
"I'm really stupid, really." Ralph started to laugh.
Briella nodded and said:
"You are showing clear signs of anxiety and... madness?"
Upon hearing this, Ralph laughed even louder.
"And to think that you could make such a comment without any malice, I really underestimated you." Ralph gave Briella a thumbs up, who was visibly uncomfortable.
"The reason I'm saying all this, in addition to my little narcissism, is your visible discouragement. Don't think so much about the present or the future, try to think more about what's in front of you... That's how you get there, your dreams." Ralph spoke as he leaned against a log.
"You talk like you're an old man or something." Briella spoke and shook her head.
"Come on, if you want to laugh don't stop yourself, these comments of yours don't hide anything you feel," Ralph said as he pointed at Brielle's expression.
"Look at this, you are clearly smiling."
Brielle was startled and put both hands on her face, as if to check.
"Hahahaha" Ralph started to laugh.
Briella immediately understood that she was tricked by Ralph and closed herself up again, lying down in the sleeping bag.
That attitude made Ralph laugh even more.
"Can you be cute at that level !? Unbelievable!" Ralph murmured, but loud enough to make sure Briella could hear.
Briella shivered at that, and covered herself all over with the sleeping bag, making Ralph smile from ear to ear.
After a few minutes, however, Ralph looked at the fire and murmured:
"Bonheat... I hope I don't need 'souls' in the future."
Remembering the game he barely played, Ralph sighed.
When the sun came up, Ralph made contact with the other Walkers, all reported to be on their way to station B.
Since there was nothing to be done, Ralph and Briella just waited while they talked for a while now and then.
Ralph doesn't know if it's a mistake, but he had the impression that Briella was more open to talk. Her attitude generally improved, although she remained cold.
"My God, what a damn place." Victor spoke from afar, taking Ralph and Briella by surprise.
"We had to cross a river before arriving here, but the worst were some bees that we met on the way ... Those were not ordinary bees." Victor spoke with a partially swollen face.
When Victor and three other Walkers approached, Ralph twisted the corners of his mouth.
Everyone was in miserable states. Maybe it has something to do with the bees?
"Are you seriously not able to scare something as simple as bees ?." Ralph asked directly.
The three Walkers looked at him with hostility, but Victor laughed and said:
"You don't change, direct as usual. As I said, those were no ordinary bees, the damn ones were too fast! We only reacted when it was too late."
Ralph shook his head in an instance that said 'I don't believe it!', Which irritated the three Walkers a little, despite knowing that Ralph was just playing.
Victor then looked at Briella, who was standing next to Ralph, and narrowed his eyes.
"I never imagined that you would endure this woman for so long, you impressed me this time, Ralph." Victor said, taking Ralph by surprise.
Briella tried to remain indifferent, but the look of hostility was clear.
"Cough... You better rest for a while, the others should be coming by now. We won't wait to leave." Ralph decided to change the subject quickly.
The others agreed and sat down.
Briella looked a little uncomfortable and distanced herself a little from the others. Ralph noticed but didn't care much.
He already knows Briella's personality a little, if he tries to convince her otherwise, she will only resent him.
After half an hour, the others finally arrived.
"Damn it, we found some bees on the way." Junior spoke with a partially swollen face, and then looked at Victor and the others.
Victor gave a bitter laugh.
"If you want to fill your canteens, you better do it soon. As we already decided, in ten minutes we will be leaving." Ralph spoke as he headed towards the river with a canteen.
After a brief moment, others got up and went in the same direction.
Briella suddenly frowned as she looked toward the river, but was silent.
After they were all ready, they started walking towards Venezuela.
The border was forty kilometers away, but the relief was easier in that direction.
While marched, everyone tried to find sweet potatoes scattered in the woods.
"I can't wait to get out of this place ... Heavens, the taste of sweet potatoes can't get out of my head." Victor spoke while putting a potato in his backpack.
Ralph laughed and said:
"Well, it is better to give up soon, since if you pass this test you will probably go to the front line. Who knows if there will be sweet potatoes in the feed."
"That was not funny." Junior spoke while shaking his head.
"Excuse me then, sir, joke expert." Ralph scoffed.
"Hey ... You forgot it here." Briella spoke as she threw a small rock at Ralph.
The stone made a parable and was not fast. Even a child would be able to trim the stone.
Even so, Ralph dodged the stone quickly, causing it to fall on Junior's shoulder.
"What's wrong with you? If you can't get a simple stone why are you here?" Junior complained.
Ralph just shrugged and looked at Briella with a sharp look. Briella ignored him.
After about an hour, everyone decided to take a break in a small stream.
There were signs of wild animals, though scarce.
"I can't wait to eat meat, real food!" A Walker shouted.
"Right? These bloody bastards don't know how to do decent training and are making up stupid things like that." A Walker woman said while changing a bandage on her arm.
Ralph said he wanted to pee and distanced himself a little from the group, but after a few minutes he returned.
"Heavens, I could hear the sound here. Since when are you holding on?" Victor spoke.
Ralph did not answer him and said:
"We will be attacked."
Everyone was surprised, but before they could ask anything, the mutation occurred.
The ground started to shake and the trees and the water too. The sound of heavy footsteps could be heard.
"I hope it's not a T-Rex." Junior spoke while swallowing his own saliva.