Like Arlan, Dr. Curtiss, and everyone else in the bunker, Tristan and Laurel had eaten the contaminated food, and like the others, they had felt a change in their bodies.
This increased strength was what distinguished them from the soldiers who had disappeared a week ago.
It might not make much of a difference, but feeling strong gave them some peace of mind in the face of the unknown they were about to face.
Arlan visited Allete as usual, the woman had not woken up even after two weeks. The doctors concluded that she had suffered a severe concussion that had left her in a coma.
And considering the severity of the accident, it was bizarre that Arlan had only broken an arm and a few ribs.
Allete was the only one in the bunker who had not tasted the contaminated food, as she was unable to eat and was only fed through a tube.
After a few minutes of Arlan just fiddling with his black knife, which he no longer kept hidden, one of the soldiers assigned to the three of them approached Arlan.
"Mr. Arlan, all preparations are made"
The soldier respectfully took his leave and walked away.
Arlan sighed softly and rose from his chair.
"If we do not meet again, thank you for everything"
Even though Allete couldn't hear him, Arlan decided to thank him for helping him for a whole year.
It could be said that Allete was the person he had shared the most with during his recovery after he woke up. She was more than an assistant to Arlan, she was a friend.
Arlan slowly moved away from the common area, even though he didn't want to feel it, he was still reluctant to leave the bunker and go deeper into the forest towards the volcano in search of a sanctuary whose very existence was doubtful.
After everything that had happened before he arrived on the island and the disappearance of the soldiers, it was normal for Arlan to have doubts.
He had no desire to commit suicide, and it was more than clear that the chances of survival were low, extremely low.
But if Arlan did not decide to go with Tristan and Laurel and they never came back, what would happen next?
Slowly things would get worse, to the point of no return where his death would be virtually certain.
With these thoughts in mind, Arlan convinced himself that it was better to go looking for something that might not exist than to stand by and do nothing to help himself in this situation.
A moment later, Arlan arrived at the entrance of the bunker, where Tristan, Laurel and 4 other soldiers were waiting for him.
As soon as Tristan saw that Arlan had arrived, he greeted him and immediately looked at everyone seriously and spoke:
"Even though we've gone over it a few times, I'm going to repeat our plan"
Everyone was silent and listened to Tristan.
"We don't know where the shrine is, but we know it's in the direction of the volcano. Therefore, we will go to the Deus Bunker before we go to the Sanctuary"
The plan was simple, they would move as quickly as possible to the Deus Bunker. The goal was to secure a base near their destination, and more importantly, to see if there were any survivors.
The Deus Bunker was a research bunker about what happened on the island 7 years ago, so before everything started, dozens of researchers were already installed with their corresponding security.
So, it was safe to say that there were still people in the bunker, or at least that was the most likely scenario.
If they found someone there, they could gather more people to go to the sanctuary.
And if all their previous assumptions were wrong... they would have to go to the Sanctuary themselves.
With nothing more to say and everything explained. Tristan gave the go-ahead to open the door, and a pair of soldiers in charge of guarding the entrance overrode the security system so that the door would slowly begin to open.
As the first rays of sunlight that most had seen in over two weeks broke through and entered, illuminating the bunker entrance with natural light, everyone felt different emotions.
But of all those emotions, one was common to all: fear of the unknown.
The air was heavier than normal, and breathing it directly was uncomfortable for the first few minutes before one slowly got used to it.
Tristan took the first step out of the bunker, the others following shortly after.
They paused for a moment to catch their breath as they waited for the bunker door to slowly close.
"Okay, let's go"
They all nodded and began walking at a brisk but not quite running pace, prioritizing stealth over speed.
The most important thing right now was to get to the Deus Bunker safely while avoiding the invisible and not-so-invisible monsters as much as possible.
Arlan nervously tightened his grip on the knife he carried in a sheath attached to his pants.
From now on, his life was in danger and this knife was his only option to stay alive.
Arlan took a deep breath to get those negative thoughts out of his head and concentrated on walking and his surroundings.
However, his body was strangely hot, and he was sweating profusely, which he attributed to anxiety.
What Arlan didn't remember was that he hadn't taken his medicine for two full weeks, something that was bound to affect him sooner or later, if not already.