Jamie followed Leo to the entry point. Sawyer walked behind her. It was time for them to go back. What Sawyer did was interesting! He threw the vines in their path. So, the teams on their way back got the vines. Like them, the other teams would appear here soon.
After placing all the vines, he took them back. Because Sawyer wanted to go last.
"Now, we wait."
He made them stay on the tree. They made a soft living environment. Using some sheets and nets, it was better than their tent. The only issue was that sometimes there were ants biting them.
"Only for some time."
Looking at Jamie and Leo who were scratching themselves, Sawyer felt bad.
"Let's go stay somewhere else. And we can come back here tomorrow."
He finally relented. Jamie and Leo clapped and jumped down.
"See, this is the pond. It's not entirely safe here. A water source is a thriving place for all beings."
Sawyer surveyed and walked here and there.
"Look, there are lotuses here."
Jamie ran near the water and tried to look clearly.
"Wow, Pink lotus."
"I want to pick one."
Leo entered the water and walked towards the lotus.
Sawyer stood beside Jamie and watched Leo.
"It's really so calm and serene here."
"I'm surprised no one found us. I wanted to meet another team here. It could look like a coincidence."
Jamie nodded. This place was just so dreamy. It made her want to sleep.
"Do you want to go sit? I want to lay down."
Sawyer frowned but he moved as if he had agreed.
Jamie followed him and she felt uncharacteristically happy. That feeling of pure happiness woke her up. How could she be happy without completing her revenge?
"Sawyer, this place is weird."
He paused.
But he walked forward.
Seeing no change, Jamie looked back. Leo stood frozen in the water and Sawyer was moving away from her.
She felt the danger closing in.
Jamie didn't move. She closed her eyes and felt the surroundings for the danger. Jamie didn't have time.
She summoned her sword from the space and slashed. She rotated her body and slashed back.
It was a big fish. A fish that was on the land. The fish flopped and the sound broke Sawyer and Leo out of their stupor.
Sawyer ran to Jamie and inserted his knife in the fishtail. He didn't spare any feelings. Leo blasted the fish with his lightning bolt.
The fish didn't attack them and flopped into the water with a jump and disappeared.
Leo came back and sat on the ground trying to catch his breath.
"We should leave!"
No one refuted it. They looked for a safe place to rest.
"How about here?"
Leo liked this cave.
Jamie didn't like it.
"No, caves are homes to zombies and vines. No."
Sawyer then took them to a clearing.
"It's okay!"
Leo and Jamie agreed to stay here. They set up tents here. Jamie prayed that no one disturbed them again. They were moving every six hours for three days continuously. They needed sleep now. Otherwise, they wouldn't be quick in the fight tomorrow.
"You sleep. I'll wake you up in six hours."
Sawyer took the first watch.
Jamie and Leo fell asleep soon.
Jamie woke up and found Sawyer didn't wake her up for the shift. It was Leo who was keeping watch.
She sat beside him.
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
"At present, we can take two shifts. It's your first time. Next time, we won't go easy on you."
Jamie didn't understand if she should feel moved by their actions. Before she was the one who spent her time being awake while her team mates slept.
Maybe because it was different body, she didn't train herself. And she wasn't that tuned to her surroundings. So, she was taken care of for the first time.
"Have you studied Leo?"
She wondered what the schooling system was exactly like here!
"I had my minimum schooling. Only inner city people get their graduation done."
"And what exactly are the high-paying professions now?"
"Mental smothers, it's like therapy. And then there are zombie killers."
Unexpected ones.
"First one because it's important and second one because it's dangerous."
He continued.
"And then comes farming. Not many can still farm, so food is our top priority."
Yeah, she could see the lack of natural ingredients and the food quality was worse. It looked like so many things were lost. She wasn't surprised. The safe bases then were basically researching for High yielding crops.
"So, how are leaders selected?"
Was there some kind of voting?
"Oh, each base selects one leader. And twelve leaders select their High Leaders."
It sounded not that different from the apocalypse. There were six bases then and each base was headed by a superpower lineage.
Maybe it was the same now. Oh, she forgot. No superpowers now. So what made them different?
Rustle.
Leo went into alarm mode.
Jamie sat without making noise.
Two figures emerged.
They were injured.
Leo helped them and then bandaged them. Jamie acted as his helper.
"Thank you."
The man smiled. He had a scar on his face. Heroic appearance. The girl was limping but she bowed to them in gratitude.
"I'm Clara, this is my husband Kevin."
"You don't have a team?"
"We want to get a vine so we could sell it."
It wasn't the complete truth. But they didn't need to know the truth anyway.
"Can we stay here for a while?"
Jamie and Leo looked at each other. Jamie wasn't a good judge of character and she didn't think Leo was one either.
"Sawyer!"
Jamie yelled.
Sawyer appeared with a disheveled appearance. Surprisingly cute. Like a kid wearing adult clothes cute.
"You are here for?"
He leveled the two newcomers with his serious look.
"We need a vine so we entered the guild competition. We aren't competing."
"That doesn't mean you are working for a team by eliminating others."
Jamie wanted to know how they would answer!
For all she knew, they wouldn't tell them the truth anyway.