Opening my eyes, a darkness surrounds me. Yet from a certain angle light penetrated into the cave. Yao Ya was nowhere to be seen, although I don't remember much after getting into this cave I remember her body snuggling against me.
I thought about turning on the light strapped to my chest, but the rays of sunlight that shone in weren't too far. Those creatures, if they lived in this cave we would have no choice but to die. Picking myself up to walk over towards the entrance, I hear the crackling of fire and the scent of meat.
'Damn, how is she able to always wake up so quickly? During this time she made a fire and even cooked while I was out cold. Man how tired could I be that I immediately made me fall asleep? We didn't even do anything on the APC!'
Walking outside the rays of the sun shone through the tree tops onto the ground in front of me and avian creatures flew above casting shadows below. Peering out the cave I see her managing a small fire in front of her with her back turned to me.
'I could get her back for when she snuck up on me!'
Upon reaching a meter within the campfire she spun around like she knew I was behind her, the whole time handing me a leaf with some kind of cooked meat laid atop it.
"Good morning! Here's your breakfast!" She said in a cheerful tone so confidently like she was sure I was behind her.
Jumping a bit then taking the breakfast, "Eh?! How did you know I was behind you?"
"Your foot steps are so loud, of course I could hear you!" she said as a matter of fact
'How good is her hearing?! I barely hear anything when I walked over!'
"Ah? Is it? Uh I have an a little plan, I think we should head back to our convoy to see if we can find anything to help us in this place. Maybe we could get some some communication device or at least we'll find supplies."
"That's a great idea, but do we have any weapons incase they are still there?"
Finishing up my breakfast I say, "I brought a small caliber handgun and some ammo, but lets see what else we have."
Going back to the cave entrance, I began to dump my supplies in a pile and start to assess our situation. Soon followed by Yao Ya as well.
* Backpack contents (Mine):
- 1 .22 Caliber handgun (7/7)
- 2 Spare clips (7/7)(7/7)
- 1 Box of .22 Caliber Bullets (30/30)
- Purple plastic potato
- 3 days worth of Food and Water
- Flint and steel
- Phone
- 1 Spare set of clothes
- 1 Pair of mid calf socks
- 1 Roll of toliet paper
- Can opener
- basic hygiene equipment
* Backpack contents (Yao Ya):
- Hunting knife
- Tent kit
- 2 Spare sets of clothes
- 1 Pair of Thigh high socks
- Phone
- 3 Days worth of food and water
- Book: How to survive in the wild
- 2 Rolls of toliet paper
- Lighter
- First aid kit
- Mess kit
- Camping stove
- basic hygiene equipment
Noticing the tent kit I look up at her only to see her staring back at me with an innocent smile, acting as if nothing was wrong.
Gathering the supplies back up we set out back to the ambush location, thinking of a plan along the way. If they are still there then we run away, if not then we scavenge and see if we can find someone else who made it out. I'll go in first as the person with a ranged weapon and she'll follow behind incase we get jumped she can warn me.
Going along the forest, the beauty it presented to us was almost magical. The sun shone down through the leaves with fauna of all kinds surrounding us, the calls of potentially dangerous animals in the distance, and the trees around 60 centimeters in diameter scattered throughout our path.
…
Upon reaching our camp I quickly take cover behind one of the overturned APCs and scan the area for any of the monsters that attacked us last night. Weirdly enough I don't see any bones or corpses anywhere although the blood remains splattered throughout the campsite.
I know for a fact that the beast had to of had casualties as well considering the amount of bullets fired last night by what should've been trained professionals. Their blood might linger around as well, but it could of mixed in with human blood around and I wouldn't be able to tell.
They might either take their food with them to eat with their brethren or some kind of scavenger came along and took all the remaining bodies. Either way at least there aren't any horrifyingly mauled bodies for us to look at. Not seeing any movement nearby I signal to Yao Ya to come over and search with me.
"Remember to be careful, something might still be nearby." speaking in a low voice to Yao Ya
"En" nodding she starts with an APC near her.
Immediately heading back to the tent I had set up, I quickly disassemble it and pack it up. Afterword I went to the Humvee I saw last that got turned over to its side. Getting close I could see the 50. caliber mounted machine gun was broken to pieces, it's barrel was a couple meters away and handles strewn on the roof. Looking in the front window I see a handheld radio a few MREs and a tactical shovel in the trunk which I took.
Going to the next Humvee there were 2 M67 grenades, another handheld radio, and more MREs. The Humvee seems to be in the best shape out of the three as its the only one right-side up with the problem from the ignition being on all night. Turning off the ignition I head to the final Humvee I haven't scavenged yet.
The final one was also the overturned vehicle I saw last night. I had to crawl through one of the broken windows to get into. This one clear had the most struggle within as blood covered the roof and seats I was on top of. Bloodied handprints were scattered on the seats and the outside vehicle frame.
In the middle of the vehicle there was a military pump-action shotgun surrounded by red 12 gauge shells. Looking up I saw a box of shells falling down as I squeeze my way in more. Gathering them up I realize the box of 25 is only amounts to 17 even with the shells loaded in the shotgun tube. There was also another 2 handheld radios and some more MREs.
Getting out with the new supplies I saw Yao Ya coming over with four other people. Two of them were the girls who came out to study the world that was beside the one who spoke on behalf of them. The herbalists and zoologist girls. The other two are a female and male I haven't seen before.
"Hello, Tao Me and Wan Ting, kinda didn't expect to see you two again after that." I say to the two I met yesterday
"Um Ip Cheng, we didn't really think we would meet again either, but I'm glad you remember our names" Tao Mei says with a small smile despite what had happened last night.
Turning to the new people I greet them as well "My name is Ip Cheng, what are the two of yours?"
"I'm Qiu Tu, the fourth APC's driver." says the lady
"Hello my name is Ngo Peng and I'm one of the passengers from her APC." Says the man while pointing to Qiu Tu
"By chance are either of you a mechanic? The Humvee over there just needs some repairs and we might be able to leave then."
"No" they both say
"*Sigh* Alright than, why don't we discuss what we should do after taking a look at the rest of the area to see if any one else is alive and gather supplies."
Everybody generally agrees in their own little way and starts to split up to search the rest of the camp.
…
After half an hour everybody returns with supplies and we start to assess our new situation.
All together we had found:
- 7 handheld radios
- 2 weeks of provisions (including ours)
- 3 bottles of alcohol
- 40 Spare batteries
- Weapons/Tools: A tactical shovel, 12 gauge pump-action shotgun (5/5), 8 flashlights, 2 Combat knifes, 7 pocket knifes, 3 pistols of two different calibers (9mm, 32. auto, 32. auto), a tactical axe, 2 M67 grenades, and a multitool.
- Ammo: 17 total shells for the shotgun, 1 spare (6/6) round mags for each of the 32 autos, and 2 spare (15/15) round mags for the 9mm
After everyone got their basic necessities the weapons that were found were handed out.
(Me): The Shotgun and Tactical axe (+ 22lr caliber pistol in my backpack)
(Yao Ya): The 32. auto pistol and Combat knife
(Tao Mei): The Pocket knife
(Wan Ting): The Pocket knife
(Qiu Tu): The 9mm pistol, Grenades, and Combat knife
(Ngo Peng): The 32. auto pistol and Pocket knife
I took the shotgun because finders keepers and I learned how to shoot back in the other country. Qiu Tu is from the military so she must have the training to use it and the gun along with the knife was already hers so I gave her the two grenades I found as well. Yao Ya knew how to use a knife(apparently) and knew a little about shooting so she got the knife and one of the other pistols.
Ngo Peng doesn't know how to shoot but wanted some protection so took the other gun. Tao Mei and Wan Ting didn't know how to use or even wanted weapons as they were researchers but was forced to take pocket knifes as the most minimal protection. The remaining knife was put away incase we found another member along with the 2 backup flashlights.
After the distribution we sat around creating a fire for lunch as well as to discuss what to do next.