Somewhere in the northern side of the makeshift camp of "Alpha office". It was a different type of tent just like the tent created for sleeping, treating people and eating; this tent was specially made to conduct meetings.
Alpha's thoughts were simple when he made the office tent. It was to isolate important information that shouldn't be told to the crowd, lest a panic would be made.
Eight figures were inside Alpha's tent. They all look grim. No one dared to talk.
"It's worse than I thought." Alpha finally said after the long silence.
"I-I couldn't save them." Las, the medic of the scout group, said. His voice heavy from the pain and brokenheartedness.
It was common for someone in the field of medicine to want to save people. Las is one of those.
"It's not your fault. Even if I'm not there, I'm sure you did what you could do. And seven of you are still here. That's what matters most." Alpha comforted him, but his mind was on the fact of the worse case scenario he thought could happen.
He just received the report from the scout group.
***
Ross raised his hand and gestured for the group to be alert. Being part of Alpha's squadron, he was trained to mind his surroundings. And he felt incredible bloodlust hidden behind the trees. It didn't help that the area was darker than usual because of the trees ample leaves.
As the scout team stopped, everyone became alert.
Silence.
Nothing could be heard around.
But that was the more reason they knew something was up.
In formation, that was thought by Ross, they surveyed the far scene behind the trees, looking for any sign of the possible danger. Even though they didn't know each other and just came to introduce themselves after Alpha created the team, no one acted like a noob making unnecessary noise.
There was a reason why they were picked by Alpha.
Ross was Alpha's right hand. They both were from the military and he was under Alpha. Being brothers-in-arms who survived together through life and death experiences, Ross was the perfect scout leader.
Las was a resident Emergency Room doctor. He was good with impromptu dangers, which was why he was picked instead of Doctor Wan. Being someone who can keep calm in dangerous scenarios could save the team.
Elie was the one who could draw maps. She was a mangaka and her weird attics made her too calm in the sudden emergence of Super Phenomena. The only thing that made her panic was her inability to draw everything into a manga. She only brought her sketchpad, pencils and ballpen afterall. She didn't have her whole kit.
Daiki, who was as big as a bear, was tasked to pick and carry anything valuable they could find. His big muscles were actually not for show. He was part of construction nearby, his muscles were part of his hard work being a blue collar worker. Even though their country was advanced and many things were done by technology, there were still works that only humans could do.
Yoshino, Akai, Oliver, Sota and Touji were the main force of the scout. They were tasked to attack and defend the group. Oliver and Sota were foreigners who just happened to be waiting for their transferring trains before the Super Phenomena hit. Whilst Yoshino was a local security guard, Akai and Touji were local gym enthusiasts.
The group of scouts hit it off with Elie's casual interviews about their life. She brought positivity with the group and she looked like a little sister who kept touching her glasses when she got excited. They occasionally chatter, but those who weren't being interviewed by Ellie would be on alert. Everyone was briefed of the situation. Ross and Alpha warned them of possible danger and death might be possible too.
No one really took it easy.
Who would take it easy if they suddenly hear voices in their head and could even see their status window? They knew everything that was happening was real. And if they let their guard down, death would be their only end. No one wanted that.
Contrary, they chatter to lessen the stress they were feeling. They were mature enough to not let their feelings get the better out of them. They lived in Yamato. Those who didn't have thoughts of suicide actually had stronger mentally compared to others.
As such, being in a new environment that would cause others distress, they were able to enhance their senses enough to feel the threat lurking around them.
"Tighten the circle!" Ross hissed.
The eight quickly followed through. The three lesser combatants–Las, Daiki and Elie were at the center. They could support the team in case anyone needed help. On the outer circle, Ross was at the front with Oliver and Sota at his side. Yoshino, Akai and Touji were protecting the backline.
Just as Ross gave the command, ten wolves encircled them. They ran as fast as the wind and the group barely could keep an eye on them. Ross was fairing the best because he was trained properly. However, the other eight weren't like him.
"In coming!" He warned as he saw the five wolves starting to change course readying to attack. He immediately summoned his sword that came with his skill, Samurai's Intention.
The group was nervous. If earlier, they were just alert, now that they saw something that was about to attack them… reality kicked them hard. Accepting something without evidence and accepting something with evidence were two different things. As such, it was normal for them to be nervous.
Even Ross wasn't in better condition.
The concept of their logic was thoroughly questioned as they saw other wolves from the distance aside from the ten wolves encircling them.
Fast!
*How were these wolves? They are basically cheetahs!*
*This would be good material… only if we stay alive to tell the tale.*
*This is bad, we need to move or we'll get stuck here.*
They had different thoughts, but that didn't matter anymore as five wolves jumped towards five of them–leaving Ross, Las, Elie and Daiki alone.
Ross cursed in his mind. He instantly knew what the wolves were thinking. They left the strongest alone and focused on the weaker one. But since the weakest–Las, Elie and Daiki were protected in their circle, they could only attack the other six. Being the lead, he was left alone.
He carefully looked around and knew that the situation wouldn't be good if neglected. He could sense many other wolves hiding behind the trees, and there were more than fifteen already that he could count.
"Yoshino, activate your moving vehicle. We need to break out of here. There's too many wolves!"
Yoshino's skill was Vehicle Express. They had tried it earlier when they just went out of the camp. It was summoning a tank type invisible vehicle. It wasn't too fast but it wasn't too slow either. The main key of it was it could protect everyone. The downside was that any damage taken by the tank would be felt by Yoshino.
"Touji, Sota, prepare your ranged attacks. Akai, Oliver, we will defend Yoshino if they come close. Daiki, check if we have anything useful we've picked. Las, standby. Wait for my signal before you heal Yoshino! Elie, help me check if there's any special details regarding this wolves!" Ross quickly gave order as he helped Oliver and Sota fend off the wolves attacking them.
He heard from Sho that the Zone he got in before were murlocs that were intelligent hunters. And seeing the wolves' action, they too were intelligent hunters. They were attacking on turns. Any wolves who had suffered or were panting would retreat and be replaced by another wolf. It was a ridiculous action that Ross even thought they were human for possessing such intelligence.
"Sota, protect Yoshino while he readies his skill. I'll protect you." Seeing as no wolf bothered him, he decided to take initiative to take over the wolf going after Sota.
He was confused after protecting Sota. He thought the wolves were highly intelligent, but after he had taken a step forward, the wolves didn't change formation. They maintained the same and he was able to freely protect Sota.
He felt something was amiss.
However, he didn't have luxury to think because Yoshino was successful in activating his skill. Riding the invisible tank that housed the nine, the wolves became confused.
*Why did they stop attacking?*
The wolves started smelling before: "Awoooof!" One by one the wolves started howling. It felt like a chain reaction was triggered.
Ross felt something bad was bound to happen.
"... T-they're calling for their lead…" It was Elie who paled when she realized the action of the wolves.
"Quickly! Run as fast as you can!"
~Thumpthumpthumpthump~
He felt a foreboding tug in his heart. He knew what that meant. It was a life or death situation. He had experienced a lot of that when he was in the military. He readied his sword.
His heartbeat was frantically beating. He didn't wander for too long as he heard a different sound of howl. Everyone who heard it shivered down to their bones. Nine sets of eyes looked back and saw a gigantic wolf that had chains around his body.
Ross gulped. "D-don't stop! Continue running!" He even shook Yoshino to snap him back to his senses. The guy blinked quickly five times before he finally made his tank run.
"Awooooo!"
The giant wolf howled once more, the nine became tense. Ross gritted his teeth knowing one wrong choice could lead the team to eternal rest. His palm started to feel sweaty as he watched more than forty wolves run towards them.
"Fire at them Sota! Touji, slow them down!"
The two who were given the command started casting their range skills. Sota has fire attribute skill while Touji has wind. It worked… but only for a few wolves. The wolves were too many and it was too much to handle for range users who use mana. And in knowledge of magic, they are all noob. The two were pale when they reached their limit.
"Out of mana!"
"Same to me!"
"Akai, Oliver, be ready!" The three who knew they would fight soon have creases in their forehead. They were sweating more than they sweat while scouting.
"Wait! Look! They're not catching up! The tank is faster than them!" It was Elie who was the first to notice how the wolves were slowly losing them.
Ross noticed it half a second later, but he didn't bother to say the same thing Elie pointed out. "Daiki, did you find anything useful? Anything that has a strong smell in our loot?"
"Y-yes!" the giant bear answered as if a light bulb lit in his head.
"Good, out with it."
Daiki immediately brought out a peppermint spray. They decided it might be useful in case of encountering insects or mosquitos. Little did they know they would use it to shake off wolves. Alpha was right to get anything they could see. There were few things that was left in the ruins but they were still lucky to have found some.
After using three peppermint spray the group relaxed a little. But Ross was still alert. He felt it wasn't over yet.
And he was right.
There were no hoards of wolves coming after them.
There was just one.
It was the giant wolf that had a chain in his body.
And then the hell began…
***
Alpha sighed. Recalling the description. He knew the giant wolf was strong. It couldn't even be hurt. The normal wolves it carries already have thick snake-like skin-fur, but the giant wolf's defense was even stronger. And if Ross and Elie's observation was right, that the giant wolf's chains were actually a restraint. He could only grit his teeth thinking how much stronger it would be.
So, with Ross' command, they continued their retreat. They suffered minor injuries. And while Las were tending to those injuries, they encountered humans. Being new to everything. They became friendly with the other group. They let them lead the way towards "their camp" so they could safely treat the wounded.
But they didn't know it was all a trap.
The group introduced themselves "Savior Gang" but unlike the name of their group they didn't just save anyone. They tried to recruit some of them. Ross tried to talk to them. But once the group heard there were a lot more of them that weren't there, they decided to attack the group.
Being injured from the fight before. Two of the fighters died. Seven were able to leave, thanks to Ross' leadership, they were able to shake off the group. But three were heavily wounded, so they decided to go back to camp to report, instead of proceeding with scouting.
"You all did good. Having a dangerous group like that… we need to get out of this zone as soon as we can. For this, your mission would be the same, but you are to avoid the group. I'll also create another group for a scouting mission regarding this Savior Gang. We need to know where they are, what their territories are and how they operate. I'll personally handle this matter."
"I-I don't t-think w-we should go near them. T-they are the devil themselves! Y-Yoshino and A-Akai's death… t-they don't deserve their brutal death! The Savior Gang is too strong! They could've killed Yoshino and Akai in one hit, but they didn't! When they caught them, they decided to play with them! So, we would try to help them out. W-we wanted to... b-but they are just monsters! They are too strong! W-we couldn't even hold a c-candle when we were nine... What could we do if we were only seven! T-those people... I don't think they're human anymore! We only have been in this God forsaken zone for thirteen hours! And yet, they… they're too strong. I don't even want to face them anymore." Oliver shivered as he muttered. The trauma he suffered was very visible in his eyes.
"I understand. But we can't just wait here until they discover us. If they really are too powerful, that even those of you who have certain experience with fighting had a hard time confronting them, then our people who don't even know how to fight would be nothing but rats getting fed on snakes.
"I don't want to sacrifice anyone. Call it idealism, but I also want to survive with as many people as we can. We don't know what's waiting for us out in this zone. We don't know what happened to anyone. For all we know, the world outside here is far worse than hell. And we would need man power to overcome any hell coming for us." Alpha said in utter determination. Making the group before him calm down with admiration for him.
"I'll scout this group so that we are better prepared. You should all rest. It would be best if you could leave at 148 or 147 hours. This way, we won't give any fear inside our camp. We don't need unnecessary fear here, it would only bring trouble for us."
"Why?" Elie curiously asked.
"You may have been feeling settled with our group already. But that doesn't mean everyone feels the same. We only got together because we are all in the same place. We are human. We feel safer with numbers. If they see people getting hurt, some would start to panic. We don't know if anyone from us would make a mistake that would cost us our lives. It's better to be cautious."
"I understand." Elie said enlightened.
"We understand," said the rest.
"Ross, stay for a while." He said to his friend. When the eyes of the two met, Ross immediately knew what Alpha wanted.