Alan could not help but smile at Mark's words because they were just so 'Mark' for the lack of better understanding. They were not elegant, nor were they defined.
They sounded like something that was made up right at the moment but Alan had come to understand that it was just Mark's way - to plan for the future and then come across something that could stump you and overcome it somehow.
He had spent a week with this man and seen things that he should not have at such a young age and all he had wanted was his family by his side.
And that had shifted in the last week and somewhere along the path, this man had made himself home in the family Alan had. So any effort on Mark's part touched him deeply.
Now that this person was here things would go alright. He was not alone and had someone to look out for him. 'Someone he could look out for and who didn't treat him fully as a kid'
Mark was frowning as he took a look at his map and Alan thought to do the same with his own. Kuro was still nesting near them but her ears were up and alert.
Alan found himself trusting her too in such a situation. While she was an animal and could turn into a beast (his brother's words), he trusted her if Mark trusted her. She too had been there from the start with him.
"Alright, we have our next destination marked. Now remember, if you feel danger - you shoot and put yourself first" Mark's words were the same as they had been before they had entered inside the power plant.
"I will" and this time Alan agreed because he could not be the helpless one again. If he froze again then he would put Mark in danger too and he only understood it minutes before.
"We will go from the processing room since it's the most open area that connects into the right corridor, but route 2 would be a problem. The roof has already started to collapse" Mark's observation was the spot that collapsed.
Route 2 was directly above their head and unstable in nature. His map showed it when he zoomed out and Alan wondered how he had not noticed before?
This map was much more complicated than his normal one and Alan was still not used to every feature of this system. It was temporary but he did not want to really do too much on it.
"So, what should we do then Mark?" Alan asked, feeling a little lost and the elder looked at him with understanding eyes.
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Mark looked at the younger who looked to be a little lost and that was a given. For someone so young to be thrust into such a situation was a disaster. But there was no time to address this right now.
"Right, be on guard - the plan won't change. Hold onto Kuro and she'll inform you of danger beforehand. We'll take different routes in the same area to reach the other end, just to be safe. Keep yourself in my line of sight" Mark made sure his words were as clear as possible.
He did not want to confuse the kid even more than he already had. Alan nodded and picked up Kuro, his eyes darting from one place to another and really not focusing.
"Kuro, keep him in line" Mark whispered to the feline who agreed in her usual purr.
Mark allowed Alan to leave the safe zone first, giving him as big a buffer as he could before he started to move again. Time was the biggest constraint before them and they needed to capitalise on it.
Mark was moving as soon as he felt comfortable to do so. Alas was going really well, his focus on Kuro who seemed to be guiding him excellently in the falling debris.
Nothing big was falling down from above but the ever-present danger was always there. Mark focused his attention on the floor above. If Liam took the time to mention it then something must be up with those floors.
After all, that person was not generous enough to do it out of the goodness of his heart.
Mark followed Alan at a distance and watched as he barely dodged the falling pipe of the above plumbing system. Mark breathed a sigh of relief as the teen emerged from the debris cloud without much injury.
Mark really wanted to be there with him but that would be a bad idea.
Already, he could feel the presence of monsters closing in on the area they were in. The noise was, no doubt, attracting them. Once Alan made it out safely, Mark breathed a sigh of relief because the presence of monsters was inside the chamber now.
He could see their shadows on the above piping network and he made sure to shoot the collapsing ring before he exited the room and locked the door behind him.
It would not stop them for long but every second counted toward their survival.
"Let's go, we're almost there" Mark ran toward Alan at his full speed and ran past him. The younger joined his pace almost immediately, once again proving how athletic he was.
"Were they inside?" The teen asked, his voice huffing.
"Yes, they just arrived but I locked the door on my way out. It would stop them for the time being but I don't know for how long. We need to find our destination now" Mark himself was huffing, the oxygen level in his body running low now.
The corridor ended in a suspended mezzanine floor section and the lower area that consisted of the remainder of the processing plant.
As soon as they were out in the open, Mark pulled Alan back by dragging on his shirt. There were too many presences down below.
And there was one that tingled his senses in a different way. Its presence was unignorable but still weak. It felt very similar to Kuro but very different too.
It was something still in the cups of development.
"Wait, there are a lot of monsters down here. I'll take a look while you watch our backs" the teen obediently nodded this time and Mark crouched down, almost flat with the ground as he looked through the gap in the railing.
The spider monsters were gathered in clusters around the centre of a big pot. He could not make out what was inside there but he could see spiders entering inside but not coming out.
Mark had an idea what was going on but even thinking about it was disturbing. He was not sure he would be able to handle it in his current mental condition but he could not always rely on the system to solve his problem.
The presence grew stronger every time a spider entered inside and Mark looked at the map he had.
Whatever was inside the pot, it was their destination and needed to be retrieved.But with this many monsters around, security was too tight and it would be impossible to approach.
They would need to weed out these monsters if they wanted to go further and complete their objective anytime soon.
Mark carefully crawled back to Alan's place before he looked at the map. The search area was wider than last time, but it was clear that whatever was down there had the monster's undivided attention.
Just at one glance, it was clear that more than 85% of the monster population inside here was concentrated down below while the rest of it made its way around the base.
"Did you find our objective?" Alan asked once Mark was back. There was hope in that voice which Mark felt bad about because the answer was a bittersweet one.
"Our objective is down there but that's the only good part about it. As you can see, there are too many monsters down there so I don't think we can apply the same tactics. Let's find a safe spot and think this through again" Now the time limit made more sense.
2 days to look for objects did not make sense, no matter how big the building was. Mainly because they had the map and the location already in their grasp. But changing one parameter made the whole situation change.
Now the time limit looks to be a tight fit.
The nearest safe point turned out to be just a couple of rooms away and Mark bolted it shut before he sat down and looked around the room.
Another small office with a table, couch and a window and an attached toilet - a luxury really. It allowed them the time to refresh and look after their bodily needs.
"Refresh yourself. Sleep for a little while if you can manage it because I will need you to be alert later" Alan looked like he was going to protest and Mark felt relieved that his personality seemed to be coming back in the safe zone.
But he did not allow the teen to make his point at all before he added.
"We can't be sure that one of us will not go down if we are both exhausted. You have a better physique so you need to be the one to work later" Mark knew that he had to make it seem like sleep was a crucial factor for their success.
And the tired brain of the child would not protest too much once it made even a little sense.
And it did- the child closed his eyes and went to sleep.