Early the next morning, even before the sun had risen the three of them were already on the road. Mr. Alvarez purchased the land a few years ago and had plans to develop it but he never got around it since he had been busy with other things. Now that he had found time and a team to do the development project, he did not waste time and completed all the necessary documents for the project to push through.
It was a piece of land located in Baryo Madlaw, a rural area within the jurisdiction of Cartnan City. It would take them a four-hour drive just to reach the city and another hour to reach the site but Mr. Alvarez had assured them that the long journey was worth it so Xander trusted him and the pictures that were sent to them.
The place was buzzing with activity when they arrived and one of the people in-charge of clearing up the site and surveying the area came to greet them. He led them to a small cabin they built.
"Welcome, welcome. We reserved this cabin for you, we hope that you like it." The man showed them the inside of the cabin. Xander and Carl looked around while Xerra already claimed one of the beds inside. Carl was amazed that they were actually able to build a simple cabin with a small kitchen and dining area. There was also a small living room where they can do their work or just sit down to relax.
"Nice. I have to commend you for making this place in a short period of time." Carl patted the man for the work they did while looking at the place where they were going to stay.
The man waved his hand, "It's all thanks to the manpower and materials provided by Engineer Castillo. Since we do not lack anything, we were able to build this place and quarters for the workers."
After some small talk with the man, he left to let the three of them rest for a while. "I thought they were from Mr. Alvarez's side, I did not know that you knew them personally," Carl was not aware that they had them as employees as he could only look at Xander with raised brows.
"They had been working in a small company affiliated to ENIGMA for a long time now and when I took over, they already had this kind of attitude. They always tell me that their families are living comfortably because of my parents. At first, they were actually hesitant to accept me as the new CEO of the firm but after working with them in our past projects, their opinion about me changes." Xander sat on one of the couches. He drank the juice that was already prepared for them beforehand.
"Your parents never failed to ignite the spirit of loyalty to people they socialize with. I remember my parents talking about their meritorious deeds and this was the reason why their friendship remained strong despite them passing away. It is also the reason why my parents like you so much because you are so much like your parents to the point that they like you more than me." Carl acted like he was hurt and made faces to Xander, he even pouted after he sat down beside the man and hooked his hands on the latter's arms which made the Xander chuckle.
"Enough with your childish acts, you know very well that your parents dote on you and even indulges your every whim," Xander helplessly pushed the man who was clinging to him like a koala.
Carl let out a loud laugh at those words and looked at Xander with a glint on his eyes, "Yes, everybody loves me, that is the reason why you can't help but dote on me too." He grinned and gave Xander a bear hug.
"Hey don't leave me out of the group hug, I want to join too." Xerra appeared and jumped towards the two grown men who were acting like children. The sudden action caught the both of them off guard but they still managed to catch Xerra whom they included in their hug.
After the hug, they dispersed and went to get some sleep on their own beds. No one was in the mood to eat, except for Xerra who still got a big appetite. She enjoyed the meal and fell asleep right away after their meal.
After the short rest both Xander and Carl called for a meeting to check on the progress of the site clearing and inspection. They also reviewed the map and with the help of the staff they were able to identify all the areas that had been cleared and inspected.
"Although we've managed to clear half of the area, half of it is still untouched. The site area is wider than any of the projects we've handled before. This place had been untouched for years so we need to be careful of wild animals or anything that can be dangerous so before we clear a space, we send people to scout it first, once the area is clear we will proceed with the clearing." Mr. Reyes, the person who met them during their arrival, pointed at the map of the project site on the table. Half of the map has been marked with an 'X' while the other part is yet to be cleared.
Xander studied the map and saw that some parts were circled, "How about these areas?" he pointed at the circled sections.
"Oh, that places are the next sections that we will be clearing. I already formed teams to explore those areas," Mr. Reyes gestured outside of the cabin.
"Alright, can I join one of the teams?" Xander asked after staring at the map for a while. He wanted to see the current appearance of the site and have a basic idea of the land's topography since the satellite mapping system they had had a difficult time assessing the place due to thick canopy of trees covering the land.
Mr. Reyes was taken aback at the sudden request, "Are you sure? It's a bit dangerous and this place is literally unexplored so we would not know what would happen once you enter those sections."
"Mr. Reyes is right. They had been doing this longer than you so we should stay here and wait for them." Carl agreed with Mr. Reyes's words. They were not familiar with the project site so it was common sense to stay put in the cleared part of the site and not wander around.
"I'll be fine. I'm doing this to familiarize myself with the overall condition of this place. That way I can clearly assess unexpected situations that may arise during the construction." Instead of agreeing with them, he gave them a smile and even patted Mr. Reyes's shoulder. "I'll go prepare and join you in a short while."
"Hey, wait…" Carl was not able to continue his words as Xander hastily left the cabin. He could only sigh and shake his head in defeat. "You better go and inform the team that Xander is going with them. I'll be staying here to monitor our work and wait for them."
Mr. Reyes nodded his head and also left to tell the teams of their additional member. Xander entered their cabin and packed some spare clothes, a flashlight, a bottle of water and some other necessities he might need during their scouting which did not go unnoticed by Xerra.
"Where are you going?" she asked with a frown while watching her brother scrambling around.
"I'll be going out for a while. We will go and scout some areas to be cleared. I will be back by evening." Xander zipped the bag and lightly patted his sister's head.
"Okay. Be careful then, is big brother Carl going with you?" she asked when she saw that the other was not with his brother.
"He will be staying here. I'll tell him to come here later and keep you company," Xander could not resist his sister's cuteness and pinched her cheeks.
"Brother!" she exclaimed in horror. "Stop doing that!" she pouted and pushed his brother out of the cabin. "Remember to come back safely."
Xander was laughing as he made his way to where Carl was. "Look after Xerra while I'm away, make sure that she won't be mischievous."
Carl nodded and after some introductions to the team, they set out to the sectioned area on the map assigned to them. The forest was dense and the trees were thick, almost no sunlight can penetrate the leaves of the trees, thus the group needed to use a flashlight to navigate around.
They were there for hours now and kept on recording the things they observed around. Looking at his watch, one of the men told them that it was time to leave. After one last look, they were ready to go when they heard a loud piercing howl from a distance. The team froze on their spot. They carefully around and unconsciously drew to each other.
"That was a wolf's howl," one of them suddenly spoke and those words managed to scare them further. "There should be no wolves in this area, right?"