The sand was somehow worse than the day before but the HMMWV was holding up marvellously. They had left the cave a mere minutes ago and already the sand was making everything difficult to see.
Not only that, the whole place echoed the voices of monsters in the vicinity which made it incredibly difficult to pinpoint their location or even their number. The type of monster they would encounter was also up in the air.
This time the matchup was not in their favour at all.
Kuro had been growling all the while he had been driving but the kitten could do nothing at all due to her young age. All she could do was growl at the sand.
It was also difficult to drive fast in this weather since you could not see where you were going half the time and the chances of crashing into something were incredibly high at this point.
"Where should I shoot?" Alan asked him, his head peeking out from time to time. Mark could not blame the kid for his confusion when he himself could not see anything.
There was a blink on the map, almost right at their location which caused Mark to shout out a warning of 'duck' and the teen did that just in time to miss a massive claw heading his way.
A shadow covered the front window of the car and it was obvious where the monster was at this point in time. Right above their HMMWV.
The teen reacted quickly, loaded his gun and fired right above the vehicle from the small space he could access in this situation. The bullet hit the monster somewhere significant to let it stop chasing them.
Either that or made it enraged enough to try again from a distance.
But this was a big problem for them since this made their one way counter really ineffective by a lot. Every time Alan was going up, he was risking an attack now. However, that did not mean that there was no upside to the whole thing.
They had not encountered any land monsters so far so the journey was another.
But that was the only good part available and the sand continued to pose an overall issue for them. It obstructed their vision enough to already make it tough but now it was getting stuck to a level that made it impossible to see in front of them.
It was time to manually clear it by hand.
He had to stop the HMMWV when it got really unbearable to drive blind any longer. It was done with a jerky motion and the car barely stopped before a monster flew right in front of it. Had the vehicle not stopped, its side would have collided with the monster with a slam.
"What's wrong?" The teen had a question on his face and Mark was loathed to tell him this but he needed the teen to be aware.
"I can't see anything. I will need to clean the front mirror by hand. I need you to protect me for a few minutes while I do it. Can you?" Mark could have asked the teen to do it instead and take up the guard.
But he would like to think that he was better than that. Risking a young teen like that did not sit right with him at all.
"Should I take the upper post?" Alan butted the upper roof with his gun as he asked this. It jerked a little with the motion and slammed down with a heavy bang. Something had collided with the roof and they both knew what it was.
"That would not be advisable. Roll your window down a little and if you see that I am in danger, then shoot" Mark would only need one minute max.
He did not open the door to his side, just rolled down his window and leaned out from it. His hand was barely tall enough to reach the front window and he cursed himself for his medium build.
Had he been tall enough then this would have been easier. Now his hands barely covered the important area of the window. His body was stretched to its limits, the fingers hurting from the strain he was putting them under.
Then he jerked himself back and rolled up the window as soon as he saw the shadow coming near to him. He made the switch in time as the next second bore witness to a huge bird-monster slam right into the window.
The front window was not fully clean but it was functional once again. He stepped on the clutch and started the car. The speed was fast from the get-go, his concentration not wavering from the road.
Alan had picked up on his panic and had turned into his concentration mode. With this tactic employed every few hours and experience of previous days, they somehow made it through the day with only 75 KM remaining to their journey.
As Mark had observed before, the safe spots were pretty much identical but they were effective.
The night was once again opted out to be camped in the safe cave and Mark felt much better. There was 1 day and few hours left in the time allotted to them and as much the journey had scared him in the start, it went better than he had expected.
Having someone to watch his back did wonders for his survival chances and he would be the first one to say that out aloud.
But he knew that it was all temporary since Alan still had family left. Family, he would be meeting soon in the base.
Mark knew that the right thing to do would be to hand Alan over to the 'protagonist' since it would increase his chances of survival. Also, it would give him an inside ally if things got tough like this time.
That was why he had taken Alan in in the first place, to always have a voice on his side. Even if the teen would not be able to sway things in his favour, he would be enough to at least give him a fighting chance.
That was more than enough.
And yet the thought of being all alone once again scared him. Kuro was a great company but she was not human and she was too young to be a real companion. She spends most of her time sleeping and growing.
What he carved was human companionship. It had been so since a long time ago. He was dependent on it to keep himself sane.
It had been his parents first and En later on.
But would he have anyone from here one? Should he even go to the base if that was the case? He could keep Alan with him forever.
Mark knew that was a selfish thought on his part and he could not really act on it. He had promised the teen to take him to the base and he already was hiding things from him.
Besides, this lifestyle would ensure a faster death for him and his potential companions. NOt a very compelling combination.
The next day was somewhat easier than the last one and Mark had a feeling that it was not because the difficulty had somehow gotten easier but because Alan and he had adapted to the tempo of the place.
It was already an advantage to have two party members who could pull their weight, but by the end of yesterday, the kitten had begun being a real help too. Her sharp senses meant that she was often the first one to hear any incoming attack.
She generally bared her teeths at the general direction which was a massive help in avoiding the danger and to fire back. Although she could not maintain her vigilance for long, Kuro had definitely saved them some close calls.
'Maybe I'll reward her with treats' Mark thought as he looked at the map.
They were really close to the base now, the red area merely more than a sliver in front of them. A few meters more and they would be past the line.
Kuro's growl caused him to make a turn and avoid the incoming attack and then he was across space.
He made it. Finally, he made it across and right in time too. The desert looked so far away now and so peaceful too but it was a dangerous place.
"A-are we safe?" Alan asked and Mark could only look at him tiredly. He had no energy to reply and all he could do was nod his agreement. He took a look around his palace lazily before opening the system window.
______________________________
Mission status: cleared
Time took: 6 days 20 hours
Reward: please check your inventory
Vehicle condition: 700/1000 (upgrade available)
______________________________
It said to check his inventory but he was in no condition to check what he already possessed and what he had gained as a reward. His brain was as good as shut down from the fatigue.
What he needed to do was to find temporary shelter since they were still in the wilderness and the map showed the location not far from their current statue.
The night was very different and certainly with the threat of their doom no longer lingering over their head, the sleep was even comfortable and sweet. The morning felt fresh and exciting in the peaceful kind of sense.
The routine did not change at all, but the expressions on their faces were certainly brighter now.
The entrance to the base was located in one of the local mines and one where you would never think to look. But all Mark had to do was to follow the map and soon he was at the entrance of the cave.
But before he could enter, he felt as if his party was in danger and he dragged the teen with him to dodge an incoming attack.