One hour later, all the survivors—the leader, the four players, and the explorer who had survived the nightmare—reached a certain point. They all took a final peek at each other, then slumped on the ground. "I don't even have the energy to scream," one of them murmured before everyone fainted.
.....
A middle-aged man stood atop the ruined building, patrolling the surroundings. Suddenly, he squinted, muttering to himself as he brought a pair of binoculars to his eyes, "Uhh! Is there someone or is it just my hallucination..." His words trailed off abruptly, replaced by a single sentence, "Alas! Where have we reached?"
Glancing towards a young boy who lay on the ground, nervously chewing his nails, he shouted, "Hey boy! Inform the leader that there is a survivor about 1 kilometer away."
"Luckily, they've fainted within the camp's range, or they would have become breakfast for zombies." With that mutter, he resumed his patrol.
...
In one of the main buildings of the camp, there were some low whispers going on.
"What do you think?" one voice asked.
"I don't think they have a chance," another voice replied.
Suddenly, a young boy entered the building, and all attention, including that of the leader, fell upon him. However, the young boy remained calm and made direct eye contact with the leader as he informed, "Leader, the scout noticed a survivor about 1km away."
Abruptly, the leader stood from his seat and ordered, "Let's go and meet." He then exited the building along with some other middle-aged men.
The leader wasted no time and commanded, "Ready the players for any unexpected situation." Everyone responded, "Ok, leader."
Soon, the leader and the other middle-aged men departed from the camp after leaving some instructions for the others. Meanwhile, the scout who initially spotted the survivor led the way to them.
*Swish*
In an instant, as swift as the wind, everyone vanished, only to reappear moments later near the survivor.
One of them whispered, "Are they alive?"
Another shrugged, "Don't know."
The leader disregarded the whispers and scolded, "That's why I always told you to practice." He then glanced toward the scout and ordered, "Bring them to the camp."
"Okay," the scout agreed, but before he could proceed, some middle-aged men interjected, "But brother, wouldn't that..." Their words trailed off as a sudden wave of oppressive aura emanated from the leader, nearly bringing everyone to their knees.
With horror etched on their faces, one of them stammered, "B-Big brother, your cultivation?"
Ignoring their concern, the leader cursed, "Understood?"
"Yes, brother," every middle-aged man echoed in unison, exchanging uneasy glances.
Without another word, the leader turned his back on them and fixed a final gaze on the scout. "Bring them to the camp," he commanded, before leading the group back.
Watching them depart, the scout pondered over the leader's words. It seemed clear to him: focusing on cultivation was paramount, even above enjoying a beautiful night. Glancing toward the survivor, he felt a surge of confidence. If anyone dared to cause trouble, the leader would handle it swiftly.
Shaking his head, he took out a communicator which seemed like an old version of a Tik-Tok radio, and soon the radio was connected.
"Brother, I need your assistance."
"Where are you?"
"Come using the locator."
"Wait, I'm coming."
.....
The scout brought them and laid them on the open ground, but suddenly one of the survivor's bodies trembled and started to mumble in sleep.
"No... No, I don't want to die."
"Someone, please save me."
"I won't move an inch from here."
All the camp members glanced at each other but remained silent. Meanwhile, the leader ordered, "Pour the water on them."
"Okay, leader," and went to fetch the water.
*Splash*
The water whooshed like a wave washing over them, and suddenly, with a curse, the explorer was the first to awaken from his slumber, "You f*cker, you are the reason….," and suddenly met eyes with the camp leader, letting out a trembling screech, "W... who are you?"
The same situation happened with every player and team leader.
Seeing their state, the camp leader understood clearly, they suffered a traumatic accident.
He glanced toward the scout and ordered, "You take care," and with authority, he instructed everyone, "Please everyone, refrain from coming here and let these survivors have a moment to catch their breath."
"Okay," and only the scout and the trembling survivors remained, slightly curled up like balls while their faces showed numerous perplexed emotions: fear, worry, guilt, etc., and their minds were in a trance.
Sometime later, the survivors regained full control over their consciousness and bodies and fixed their gaze on the scout, asking while their bodies flinched a little, "Were we saved?"
The scout nodded his head and explained their situation, how they ended up here from their unconscious state, and lastly said one word, "Saved."
Tears welled in the survivors' eyes, choking them as they glanced at each other. "We were saved."
"We were saved from that nightmare."
"Now, we don't have to worry."
Seeing their excited faces, the scout quickly went behind the team leader and the explorer and calmly patted their backs one by one while encouraging them, "Don't worry, nobody will harm you."
"Yeah."
"Hmm."
Soon, their state returned to normal, and they said while bowing their heads, "Thanks for saving me," but the scout waved his hand in the air, "No need for that," and glancing toward their camp's main building, he added, "The leader's waiting for you guys."
"Oh... okay, let's show the way to your leader," the team leader replied.
"My pleasure," and with that, the scout led the survivors to the leader's building.
…..
In the camp's main building, the camp leader and every middle-aged man took their positions, sitting beside the leader. One of them asked, "Big brother, do you have any guesses?"
The camp leader calmly nodded his head, bringing his hand to support his chin. "Seeing their extreme emotions, it shows that they visited ....