Sarah and James held in their laughs.
Tom broke the silence with a laugh of his own, Aryan was furious.
Not like that guy could say anything though, 8 out of 9 people kicked you from your own group and called for a change in both governance and purpose.
From what the girls and boys recounted, they recovered from the initial shock of Tyson's death and originally agreed to help gather food and water.
But that quickly proved meaningless.
There was quite literally an uncountable amount of fruit in the forest, and ponds proved frequent as well.
It was at this point they began to question Aryan's validity as a leader.
Aryan got his leadership skills from Andrew Tate youtube shorts, so obviously this absolute specimen of a sigma male knew what to do.
During the questioning, Aryan had blurted something out about 'Tyson' and 'not wanting to end up like him' or that's what the angry had mob said.
So that's how all the groups agreed to rendezvous around the same time.
By the afternoon, Aryan was kicked out of office and Marie was placed in charge of "placeholder group"
Now that the mood was lighter, people started to eat some more fruit and recount their experiences to their friends from the other groups.
Sarah, Marie, James and Tom sat in a circle and began discussing.
"That bear is more robot than bear." Sarah kicked off the second meeting with.
"Apart from that freak, this forest is safer than I could ever expect. Which is a bad sign." James started on his point.
"If that bear is the only problem then I would love for some way to confirm it. But there is no way but to explore, and that risks running into something else."
Tom chimed in "I've been thinking about that so-called goddess right? what if this forest is filled with giant animals that we either have to kill or be killed by?"
James continued "Our point is, the exploration team is no safer than the bear management team."
Sarah thought about for a moment whilst taking an apple Marie had offered to her.
These are the precautions we must take so we dont end up like Tyson.
If the bear management group has to find Mike and hold off the bear then we need some kind of defense weapon.
If the exploration team risks running into an unknown beast then they need weapons as well.
And what of the weather? If it rained at night, would we be safe?
If we were to spend more than a few days in the forest, would we need different clothes and better shelter than trees?
"Shelter and Weapons group"
"What?" The three asked in unison.
"Shelter and Weapons group, Marie will run it. You guys can make pointed sticks and straw roofs, so if it rained we wouldnt die of cold." Sarah's idea was well recieved.
What do you know? A group dedicated to supporting the others, without engaging in conflict themselves.
I wonder if there was any other group like that but worse~
But all this talk of Mike makes me want to tell you what that poor boy was doing for the past few hours.
Ive buried my friend. I took his bloody zip-up hoodie and found his head in the woods.
I had to dig his grave with my fingers.
At first he was in denial, he held the headless body in his arms for minutes, waiting for it to speak.
Or do anything at all, if this was another world, then he could come back to life right?
Mike watched the blood spill out onto the grass as the footsteps of the giant got quieter.
He held the bodies chest up to his ears, no heartbeat.
Mike laid the body gently onto the ground, got up, and began to scream.
From a deep pit in his heart, he could feel all these different emotions swirl up and destroy him from the inside.
Guilt, denial, rage, sorrow, loneliness, pain and confusion.
He turned to the path which the bear had chased down his classmates and he bolted for it.
I am going to find that bastard! I will make him pay!
Mike snatched stones from the ground and one by one, he built his army.
Each one probably couldn't do anything on its own but together it will create his message.
'You are my enemy, I will kill you no matter the cost!'
The bear was in sight, Mike lobbed the set of the first few stones.
The volley of stones hit the bear and left it unfazed.
Mike threw, and he threw, and he threw. One by one, his army got smaller.
Until there was nobody left but me.
The bear walked on two feet, maybe it would fall if it walked on four? Could it handle its own weight? How does it eat?
It's slowing down, did I do anything? Or is it of its own will?
The bear turned to its right, facing a tree and some high grass.
It reached it's long paw out.
And grabbed the high grass.
It began to chew slowly.
It eats... Grass?
Mike couldn't mistake the sound of chewing and gulping. The bear fed on grass.
He fell to his knees, those stones seemed so irrelevant now.
Tyson... Tyson's dead!
Dead for no reason, his killer doesn't eat humans!
No reason. There was no reason for him to die...
Mike tried to grab the sky with his hand, he couldn't reach very far.
Tears rolled down his face uncontrollably. A friend has died a undignified and preventable death.
There was no way to inform the family, nor bring their sweet child back home.
He's met Tyson's parents, good people. They loved their son.
Tyson's head is somewhere in the forest.
I can't bury him without it.
Mike searched far and wide for a disembered head, he found one nearly blown to bits from the flight it took.
By the time the head reunited with the body, Mike's eyes had dried up.
Before he put his dear friend Tyson into the ground, he hugged the headless body one last time and took off the hoodie.
"We used to share this, remember?"
I'm sorry Tyson, I'll get him even if it kills me.