When the group was out of the tent, and when only Ross and Alpha were left alone, Alpha became dazed in thought.
From what his friend told him, it was just the beginning of a nightmare. They haven't seen the worst yet. And still, what Ross together with the group described was like hell already. His face became dark as he recalled the possible outcome his friend stated.
*I have to make him a leader. I'm not sure what will happen in the future. But I can see something special about him. Also, he said that person is special. That among all of us, he would be the one who could survive all of this.*
"Do you want me to tell you the details of the fight between the Savior Gang?" Ross interrupted his thoughts.
He nodded. "The rest of the scouts were traumatized by what happened. But I need to know all the details you have with the Savior Gang."
Ross nodded before starting to tell the adversary they encountered.
***
The giant wolf king was ferocious. It was a wonder that they were able to escape. The giant wolf king stopped pursuing them, and no one knows the reason. But they were just thankful.
Ross was carrying Yoshiko who was wounded after literally tanking the hit of the giant wolf. Akai was being carried by Daiki, Akai was wounded after he couldn't defend the sudden melee swipe of the giant wolf, he was cut by the sharp claws of the wolf. Though no one suffered major injuries, they carried the two because they suffered the most, they couldn't really walk anymore.
Yoshino lost a lot of stamina from using the Vehicle Express and the accumulated damage made him unable to lift his foot anymore. Akai on the other hand got clawed on his thigh and calf. It made walking too slow that Daiki volunteered to carry the man.
That was when they met the Savior Gang.
There was nothing different from them than any other humans.
Truth was they lowered their guards when they saw another human group banded themselves.
Having explored the Zone and not seeing anyone yet, they were starting to wonder where the other humans were.
Meeting other humans was bliss for the nine.
Ross wasn't an exception.
They just suffered from the wolf pack and needed to heal themselves. The timely offer was like a gift from heaven.
They were given a space to use. It wasn't like the tent they made in the forest. Their base was the building that was still usable even after the merging of forest and buildings. They were grateful to have their own space, especially Las who can finally start treating the injuries they have.
While Las tended to the injuries, Ross started talking with the people who led them there.
"Who is your leader? I should thank him for accepting us here."
"No worries, the leader would be happy to hear your thanks. Sadly, he's still out. Anyway, why don't you stay here for good? We will take care of you. We can even train you. I see that your group is so good. You even survived after encountering the pack."
"You are aware of the wolves?" Ross was surprised. But thinking about it, it was reasonable since they were closer to the wolves. "Good thing they don't come here."
"We have to thank our leader and elites for that. They are the pillars of the Savior Gang." The man said with pure admiration.
Ross faintly smiled. Thinking about how he admired Alpha because of his capabilities. "They are surely strong if they can fend off the wolves."
"Yes, you should stay with us. We can do more with more people on our side!" The guy was enthusiastic.
"Hm…" Ross nodded. "That's true," seeing Ross agree, the guy smiled wider. But soon, it vanished hearing Ross' next words. "I'll report this to our head. We should form our group together. Our survivability would then increase. Hm? Why?"
"Everyone, attack them! They're threats!" the man suddenly shouted.
The scout group was shocked. They didn't expect that the host that welcomed them would suddenly attack! Even Ross couldn't defend properly.
"Hahaha! Finally! Another prey!"
"I thought we would have another group to welcome, it's a breath of purity to have someone to kill instead!"
"You mean breath of fresh air? Idiot."
"Hey, don't kill them easily! Let's have some fun!"
Because of the unexpected attack, everyone got hurt. The just healed wounds renewed with others suffering more than the rest.
Yoshino had bloodshot in his eyes as he activated his skill. He suffered the most from the attack because he was receiving treatment by Las. He didn't even think about anything when he jumped forward and protected their healer. He just remembered what Elie said. That in games, the healer was the life of the party. They could save people with their power.
Everyone realized how strong the Savior Gang was. Every hit they suffered had strong energy that could kill them if they were hit in vital points. But the Savior Gang avoided hitting them in vital points.
The reason was clear: they were playing with them.
Their laughter was like the sound of devils in hell.
"Yoshino! Dispel your skill!" Ross ordered firmly. Seeing how Yoshino was on the end of his limits. "We'll do just fine without your protection!" He hissed. He was lying. They were alive thanks to Yoshino.
Yoshino smiled. "T-thank you… but… w-we need to warn them."
Everyone was shaken by that.
Yoshino was right. But no one could accept him sacrificing himself for them.
*Fuck, fuck, shit, damn! Think! Think damn it! Ross! Think how to save everyone!*
But he couldn't come up with a solution. They were able to break free of the human encirclement before Yoshino hit his limits and collapsed unconscious.
Daiki was tasked to get Yoshino. Ross needed to use his skill to better their survival. But before they could catch their breath, the faster Savior Gang member managed to catch up with them.
"Akai, Oliver, Sota, Touji! We fend them off! Daiki carry Yoshino!"
But as if taunting them, the Savior Gang focused on getting Yoshino and they also started going after Elie and Las.
They were inhumanly fast!
He cursed under his breath. He wanted to be calm, to think things further. But it was also a luxury he couldn't afford. "Akai, Oliver support Daiki! The rest, follow me." He commanded as he saw how the Savior Gang started to create distance forcing Las and Elie to separate from the group.
If they were fighting for their lives, the members of the gang were just having fun.
Ross' expression was grim. He knew what he needed to do. He just refused to accept it. Because the only way out of the situation was to give up on someone… and that someone was Yoshino who tried his best to save them.
He refused to give up their savior.
"L-l-leave me…" Yoshino who gained his consciousness coughed blood. He was smiling at Ross. Even when they were afar, when the two met eyes, Ross understood Yoshino… but he still couldn't accept it.
"Guuh!"
"Akai!"
"Run! I'll hold them off!"
Akai, who had received a big injury, pushed Daiki and Oliver towards Ross, leaving them no chance to process what he meant.
"Sorry, partner, we're going together." He whispered to Yoshino.
The two smiled at each other knowing it was their time.
Akai summoned his strongest skill: Bladestorm.
He didn't use it before because the distance was short. It was only useful to create a wall of blades at the moment. He was even fantasizing how he could upgrade his skill after gaining a deeper understanding of it. He didn't expect to… die like this.
The scout group was left with no choice. They couldn't come near Akai anymore.
"RUN!" Akai said firmly.
"P-please, survive…" Yoshino said to the seven.
Everyone has pain in their face as they run away.
"HAHAHA! Let them run! They'll come back later on!"
"True! Let's torture this two until the rest comes back!"
Akai paled but his brows and eyes were determined. "DON'T EVER COME BACK!" He shouted as he continued to fend them off.
The rest that happened was heart wrenching for the seven remaining scouts who could hear the pained screams of their two teammates.
They argued for a while to save the two or not. Until Ross came to the decision that they would honor the words of the two. They would come back to the camp and inform them of the dangerous group.
***
Alpha was silent the whole time, occasionally his face would pale, anger would be visible in his eyes and he would emit killing intent.
But after more or less five minutes when Ross finished recounting their experience, Alpha calmed down.
"They're heroes. But didn't have enough time to prepare themselves for this change. Ross, after you find the way outside, you are to train everyone to survive… you're better at me for training people. I believe in you."
Ross frowned. He thought Alpha should take the role, but thinking Alpha would be busy leading, he nodded. "I understand."
Ross left Alpha alone who was deep in thought.
***
Outside the tent, a girl was frozen in place. She had heard everything and shivered with fear. She was also deep in thought. Death was not in her option. She would do everything to survive. Quickly, she formulated a plan in case things got awry.
She would survive here.
She needed to make sure that she could meet her sister once more.
***
Sho's muscle was aching when he was finally done with jogging around their camp. He could honestly say that jogging in the forest is harder than jogging on cement. There were times he would stumble on small rocks or even exposed roots. Good thing he wasn't running fast, if he was, he would surely fall miserably.
Catching his breath, he slowly walked to the "canteen" area of their camp. That was the only area that would give food and water–unless one wants to risk the water in the waterway. They had no science expert in their group, so they decided not to touch the waterway water for now.
So far, because their group found a building that has a convenient store in it, they were able to have enough resources for everyone. But even so, Alpha was being careful with food distribution and was just giving enough to satiate hunger.
Sho understood what Alpha wanted to do. They weren't sure what was waiting for them outside. So, it was better if they had a food stack after they came out of the Zone. It would be useless to survive in the Zone only to die when you don't have any food outside the Zone. And since they have little knowledge regarding the Zone, they don't even know if they got outside the Zone would they be safe or would they just end up in another zone.
The unknown was really a scary thing.
But other people in the camp didn't get that. They felt like they should eat as much as they can to have energy to run in case of danger. Though no one has experience with Zones, after hearing Sho's experience with the murlocs, everyone was too scared to just sit and wait for their deaths.
Upon arriving at the canteen, Sho noticed the grim look of the group. Looking around, he noticed that there were more boxes, which he knew contained food, inside the tent area. He was outright confused by their expressions. It seems the Scout Team was successful in bringing more food on them, but why was everyone being gloomy?
Sho focused his attention to his surroundings. From the worried look of everyone, it seems something dire had happened.
*Was it related to the task that Alpha said we would do once Miya is back? He didn't give me any details. He just said to be ready to move out once Miya is back. From what I heard, Miya is a local here, that's why she was tasked to scan the neighborhood and see if anyone else would need assistance. If someone needs it, she would then bring the person in the camp. I don't know the details of her skill.*
*Judging from Alpha's trust and the admiration she got from the people of camp, she must be the real deal. She must have some combat ability to wander alone. She's just a teenager. She looks just like the same age as the original Sho.*
*She looks so young to be a real fighter. If I was given a choice, I won't let her do battle. But we also don't know how the world is now. Maybe we won't have any more luxury after this to care about who is young or old.*
He didn't think that the way he was thinking was odd. He forgot he was in a body of eighteen years old himself. He just couldn't help referring to the original Sho as another entity that was not him.
"Mister Glum, what happened?" Finally, Sho curiously asked. He realized he won't gain anything more after observing everyone.
Mister Glum looked at him. Hesitation was visible in his eyes. "You haven't heard? It might be best if you haven't heard. If you heard of it, like all those people, you'll get attacked by anxiety."
This just added curiosity for Sho. "I don't mind getting anxiety. It's better to know than not to know. What is it?"
Glum looked intently at him. It was as if he was deciding if he could handle the news. For this, Sho knew Glum didn't just randomly spread whatever knowledge he now possessed. After a while, he sighed in the form of resignation. "Two of the scout team had died." He started, Sho felt his heart on his throat.
"Monster?"
Glum shook his head. "Humans. They were killed by a bunch of devil humans."
Sho's jaw dropped. He was speechless for sometime. "I didn't expect it to be like that. It seems we have more threats than we know."
"I, myself, can't imagine humans killing us. But who knows, maybe they're just plain murderers or psychopaths. And when this damned thing befall us…"
He didn't continue, but Sho understood it too well. He also experienced it with the train. Someone snapped and just wanted to die with everyone. Upon remembering the gruesome train event. He passively cast Hobbies. Replacing the stomach churning into happy images.
After calming himself down, he asked MIster Glum. "Where did you hear this news?" As far as he knows, when he woke up and continued his training with Alpha early in the morning, he didn't catch a glimpse of the scout team. And from his interaction with Alpha, he knew it wasn't him who spread the news. It's very unlikely for him to spread unrest in their camp.
"I just heard it circulating already when I distributed food. Many people are panicking and want to get more supplies than we give. I have to display my abilities just to calm them down." He said wryly. The way he said it seems he didn't want to use his skill at all but was left with no choice but to do so.
Sho understood why he didn't want to show his skill. They were in camp together, but having a trump card in case of emergency–in case of betrayal–was life-saving. All of them were wary regarding this. Even he didn't tell everyone what his skills were when asked. He just stated it was not for fight and more of support. Only Alpha knows most of their skills, and he didn't share it with anyone. Which was why he earned so much respect from most of the camp.
"To be honest, I really want to leave this zone as soon as possible. But I heard from the patrols that there were monsters lurking around. They were able to keep them at bay, but they weren't able to kill any of them. I don't know what would happen if we carelessly went outside our camp."
*That's why everyone is so grim. They felt helpless and powerless with this situation. Even if they want to escape the Zone, they couldn't just do it, unless they seek death.*
"I believe Alpha would be able to come up with a solution soon. Let's not lose hope." He tried to give encouragement.
"I hope you are right. If it was just monsters, then, we might be able to do it. But with humans… I don't know. Monsters that the patrols and guards have seen weren't that smart. But this is entirely different. Humans possess knowledge. And we are cunning in nature. If it's about survival, we would do anything possible. I don't even want to fight another human if I have a choice."
He was shocked by his analysis. But then, he thought he was somehow wrong. He fought murlocs, and they were highly intelligent beings. They also know how to hunt in groups which was concerning.
But he didn't say anything, afraid to add more fear to the old man.
As he ate, he tried to ask for more information regarding the source of the news. He wanted to know if the one who spread the news had any ill intention for spreading fear in their camp. But because it was more of a rumor than solid detail, no one knew who was the source of the information.
Few hours later, while he was going around, he heard news of Miya's arrival.