Soon the caravan was moving forward once again, but this time it was moving at a slower pace than before, both because of the recent ambush and the possibility of more ambushes lying ahead. With night about to descend, the humans were getting desperate for shelter, as moving at night would be far more dangerous than during the day.
"Amy, hand over that spyglass of yours for a bit. " Commander Arihant said, extending his hand towards Amy.
"Oh, okay, here, Commander. " Amy said as she handed over the spyglass to Arihant.
Taking the spyglass, Arihant rose from his seat and poked his head out through the open roof in the center of the vehicle. It was strange but practical to have one, and all the vehicles had a similar hole in their roofs. Arihant took some time looking around the forest before nodding to himself and lowering himself into the vehicle again.
"Hob, how are your injuries? Can you fight?" Arihant asked Hob with a frown on his face.
"I'm still a little sore in the muscles, but if it comes to it, I can put up a decent fight. " Hob said while stretching his arms.
"Friz, signal for everyone to take a right at the fork in the road ahead. We need to find a safe place to spend the night. " Arihant said to Friz while thinking something to himself.
"Yes, Commander. " Friz said and climbed onto the roof of the vehicle to signal the others of Commander Arihant's orders.
Soon, the caravan took a right turn, and after going on for over a kilometer, it came to a stop in front of a cave.
"Let's hope we find it as empty as when we left it. " Arihant said as he got out of his vehicle and started walking towards the cave.
After arriving in front of the cave, Arihant sat down and looked at the ground, searching for any signs of activity.
"Looks like the cave did have a visitor, but it seems like it is outside right now. Well, it should be about time it came back." Arihant said, chuckling to himself.
"What are your orders, Commander?" another seemingly young hunter asked Arihant.
"Scout the cave and make sure there isn't any danger inside. Clean it up if there is, and get all the vehicles inside the cave. Ready yourselves; the visitors won't like it when they come back and also make sure to recreate these marks as they are. " Arihant said, stroking his beard.
"Yes, Commander. " everyone said in unison, and they got to work.
In around half an hour, the cave was cleaned up and the vehicles were parked inside safely. It turns out the cave is used by humans as a resting spot between journeys and has been artificially excavated to make it more spacious. But no one could stay in the wild to look after it, so from time to time, wild animals take shelter in the cave, resulting in conflicts when humans return. It seemed like that was the case again.
"Commander, do you know what it is that's going to come back?" Friz asked while laying low on one of the rocks near the entrance, waiting for whatever it was that had taken a liking to the cave.
"I can take a guess. There were five pairs of footsteps at the entrance of the cave. This suggests animals that live in a pack, but the marks weren't too big, which eliminates the possibility of larger animals. If I were to guess, I'd say it must be some wild dogs, coyotes, or wolves at most. We should be able to deal with them with relative ease, but I still don't want to see casualties, which is why we will proceed with utmost caution. " Arihant said, explaining his guess and the reasoning behind it.
Upon hearing Arihant's answer, everyone relaxed a little and continued to lay in ambush inside and around the cave. An hour passed, then another, but nothing arrived at the cave. Just as everyone was starting to get tired, they heard it—the sound of howling.
Before anyone made a move, Commander Arihant signaled everyone to be silent. Sensing the gravity of the situation, everyone held their breath, not making the slightest sound, staying ready to attack at a moment's notice.
As everyone watched in horror, over 30 small, human like monsters stepped out of the forest and made their way toward the cave. They looked so human like that one might mistake them for children, except the skin of these monsters was a leafy green, which made it easy for them to camouflage themselves.
Arriving next to the cave, the monsters checked for signs of activity just as Arihant had, but thanks to Arihant having asked to recreate the marks, they didn't notice anything amiss and walked straight into the cave.
Sitting in the middle of the cave on a high platform hidden from the sight of the monsters, Arihant signaled everyone once again it was to not kill anyone but to capture them instead.
Everyone was shocked to receive this order because fighting without restraint was one thing, but not killing anyone was a difficult task, especially if the other party was ready to kill.
Soon, the signal from Arihant came, and the humans launched a sneak attack, knocking 10 monsters unconscious at the very beginning of the fight. But seeing their companions attacked, the monsters went on the offensive, attacking with their claws like wild animals.
And like that, the humans and monsters were entangled in a fierce battle where the monsters were trying to rip them to shreds, while the humans were trying not to kill them, even at the cost of injuries.
Hob and Friz were working in sync in this battle, with Hob using his shield to defend them from the claws while Friz was fighting barehanded, using her hands to knock out the monsters.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Geld and Amy were also working as a team, with the bolas having been handed to Amy, while Geld used his large body to fight the monsters head on.
The other Hunted were also using different strategies to deal with this strange no kill order from Arihant, but because of this order, the humans were getting injured quite a lot, which made them question the reason behind not killing these monsters.
After a long back and forth between the humans and the monsters, the element of surprise that the humans held led to the monsters facing a complete defeat.
"Commander, why did you tell us not to kill them? They're monsters, right?" a tall Hunted asked Arihant.
"Everyone, I understand that all of you have many questions, but I cannot answer them right now. You will all know what you want to know once we reach the safety of our base. As for these ones, put them all in the cage and lock them up after tying their legs and hands. Make sure to tie them properly; they shouldn't escape. " Arihant replied to the question.
"Since that's the case, we'll do as you say, Commander. " a middle-aged man said.
After that, all the Hunted got busy handling the monsters and tying them up.
"Hob, what do you think of these monsters?" Friz came close to Hob while tying up one of the monsters and asked in a low voice.
"I don't really want to assume things right now, but I think they might be allies since the Commander ordered us not to kill them. Besides, we are in the wild; let's try not to make assumptions. Let's leave it for after we get to the base." Hob replied to Friz's question.
"Your thoughts are similar to mine. Let's keep the opinions from spreading, like you said." Friz said to Hob with a smile.
Soon, all the monsters were tied up, and the humans were lined up in front of the entrance inside the cave.
"Since we've caught the visitors, let's take turns sleeping. We've got a journey to cover tomorrow, so it's best if we're all well-rested. But before that, go get your food from the food truck at the back and make sure you're in your best condition. " Arihant said to everyone after inspecting the restraints on the monsters.
"Yes, Commander. " everyone said in unison and went to the truck to get their food.
"Hob, Friz, you guys go to sleep first. We'll keep watch for now. " Amy said to Hob and Friz while walking toward them.
"Thanks for the concern, Amy. " Friz said, giving her a thumbs up.
Soon, Hob and Friz were sleeping together, with Friz using Hob's hand as a pillow inside a small tent that had been set up in the cave for people to sleep.
Meanwhile, when both of them woke up, it was already morning!
"Why didn't you wake us up?!" Hob and Friz said in unison to Amy and Geld, who seemed to have pulled an all-nighter.