Mark made a hasty attempt to catch the falling body only to fail as the teen collected himself. He had a hand on his temple and pained groans left his mouth.
"It hurts. My head really hurts'' the teen called out to him, his voice weak and small. The body seemed to fold on itself and the tight hold he had on the gun loosened significantly.
"It's mental fatigue. You really went in a trance back there and now you're feeling the consequence. Have some water, it will help a lot. Also, cool yourself down if you can since the heat is not helping" Mark handed the teen a bottle of cold water and helped him lie down safely.
The teen was swinging too much to give him confidence but it was not really that dangerous of the situation. Maybe he could check with the system.
Alan was still a part of this system and unlike Mark, his data was still present there since his presence and apparent death was never confirmed in the canon of the video game. And also unlike Mark, there was quite a mention of him further to give the system control over him.
He allowed the teen to rest for a bit as he caught Kuro in his arms. The kitten had a lot of dust on her fur, so he made his way toward the end of the cave with water to clean her fur. The water was not sanitary enough to drink but it could be used for all other purposes.
This also allowed him the time to care for his personal hygiene and other functions he had been neglecting for the day and it made him feel lighter and in better mental condition.
He made his way back toward the HMMWV with Kuro in his arms, now clean, to see Mark sitting up. He seemed much better and his complexion had returned back to normal.
The haunting look in his eyes was still present but it no longer seemed to be that prominent as before. The teen seemed to be coming to terms with everything.
"Are you feeling better?" Mark asked as he came to join the teen who made space for him beside himself. The kitten wiggled in his arms and headed over to the teen's lap when he let her go and curled there.
"I'm alright. Today was just a shock to me but I'll adjust soon" The voice that came out was much stronger than before and it made Mark happy to hear.
"You did well today, much better than me when I started. I'll bring dinner now" Mark opened his system window to take a look and get the food.
______________________________
Current mission statue: 4 days 02 hours left
Current location: 132/500 KM covered
Location: Safe spot - immunity from the monsters for the duration of the stay
______________________________
He confirmed the time and calculated how long they could sleep. They could have a safe sleep for 6-7 hours before they had to leave.
It was still a relatively safe area and the real danger would stary once they reached the last 200 KM. He wanted at least two days to cover that area, so he would take tomorrow to reach the rest of 168 KM at least.
It would not be easy but it would give them the best chance of survival in the coming times.
The food he chose was high calorie and low fat which would cure their fatigue for the time being and help them recover. The shop had energy supplements and fatigue relievers but he was not sure how much he trusted them.
They had no information available and he was not sure they were safe for consumption. So they will be out till they can be verified. He'll ask Liam as soon as he can and then go from there but not before then.
Especially when the growth of a teen depends on him, he did not feel like taking chances.
The sleeping arrangements were easy to make and in the end, Mark occupied the back seat of the HMMWV while Alan occupied the narrowed front part. Kuro bunked with him, her body curled on top of his own.
It was an uncomfortable contrast with the previous night in the hotel, but their bodies were too tired out to complain at all and soon there was silence in the vicinity.
Mark woke up in exactly 6 hours, not from any external factor but by the alarm blazing inside his head. He held his head at the noise and opened the system to turn it off before it assaulted him even further.
Picking up the kitten on his stomach, he put her down at the side before he decided to freshen up. He did his morning routine the best he could before coming back to wake up the company.
The night had been considerably warm and the uncomfortable sleeping position did not favour the pains his body felt but at least he was well-rested.
"Alan, wake up. We don't have long to be here" Mark called out the teen who ignored him as he went back to sleep before finally waking up enough to give him a glare.
"It's an unholy hour. Why are you awake?" The tone was biting and it was clear the combination of sleep and uncomfortable sleeping position did its job in bringing the real personality of the teen at the forefront.
"I'm not awake by my own choice. We just need to leave right now" Mark reminded the teen who grumbled but finally dragged himself out of the bed. Mark held out a water bottle and other hygiene necessities to him which he took and went to the back.
The kitten was awake too as she made her way to him for a snuggle and for breakfast.
Mark allowed Alan to make his way back before the breakfast was served. This was a heavy meal because stopping for lunch might be difficult. There was too much to cover and there was a yellow spot on his map.
And there was a new share button on the map now. He did not know what it did but he decided to try it out anyway. It was better to try it out in safety than to be ignorant when it was needed later.
"What's this? Did you always have this with you? Weird, I do not remember you ever using this" Alan asked with a curious voice as he looked at the map which startled him. Could he see the system?
"Can you see this now?" Mark asked as he changed the screen setting to non-sharing and the teen just shook his head.
"It disappeared all of a sudden. What was that?" The teen asked curiously and Mark made a note to himself. Apparently, the teen could see the map on sharing. This was an extremely useful tip he would have to remember in the future.
He switched on the sharing option once again and the map appeared.
"It's a map of this area our organization developed. We need to get to the other side of this desert canyon. Green areas are safe and the red ones have monsters. We have somewhere close to 3 days left. But first, we will retrieve the thing from the yellow zone"
Mark looked at the system report and could see Alan turn in disinterest once he did. Apparently, the map was the only thing visible to him on sharing mode for now. Good.
______________________________
Current mission statue: 3 days 20 hours left
Party members: 3
Current status: party-sharing
______________________________
The shop had nothing new for now but Mark had a feeling that it would change soon. The yellow zone had become a treasure trove, not for the item it held but the hidden boss itself. It's drop was too precious to waste since it could be used to exchange for excellent items.
He at least had to try and get one of them while he could. The last 200 KM would be too dangerous to try it out and generally there was only one per area he could do till now.
Besides, the time it would provide them would be crucial in covering the area faster.
"Yellow zone?" the teen asked in a curious voice and Mark felt his eyes travel to the teen. The teen looked disinterested before but he asked it all of a sudden.
Still, Mark decided to humour him this time.
"It has a monster more powerful than the normal ones. Kind of like a hidden boss but if you beat it then the monsters stop to appear for some time and you get useful items for the future" the teen looked interested.
"Useful items? Things to make us more powerful? It's too much like a video game, don't you think?" the teen asked with suspicion in his voice and it drew a small laugh out of Mark.
Like a video game? The teen had no idea how close he was to the truth. Really too sharp for his own good, the teen was good.
"Don't try to do this alone though because you need a special device to get the reward currently. But don't worry, you'll get your chance to shine later" Mark was sure that these drops were exclusive to him for now but that could change in the future.
There was no saying how this thing would work since the manual only talked about it from the protagonist's perspective and the setting and co-op was not that well developed but was in progress.
Well, he was sure to find out now, wasn't he? It would surely be an experience to be had.
(Please add this to your collection if you are reading)