Shock within its pupils–the beasts’ head fell onto the floor as quickly as it rose to bite me, “Goddamn..I…was not expecting that..” I sighed and held my throbbing right forearm, looking at it anonymously. With the unconscious animal–Alaine soon showed up with extra cloth in her arms, “W-What!? Did you guys do it without me!?” We both looked at her, “Uh..yeah–guess we didn’t need an extra hand with Linden on our side..” Looking confused Alaine stared at me, I stared emptiedley to the side–still faintly holding my right forearm. Without speaking she only observed, “Anyway…let's get to work, unless you want it to be awoken again and nibble off a finger or two–you should probably tie it up” Flinching with faint forgetfulness–Alaine soon hurriedly sped towards the animal; then she paused “Hey…are you guys seriously going to let a girl do this by herself?” Dax only crossed his arms; “Yes, Yes we are.” After some time Alaine finally finished tying the animals’ front paws, back legs and snout; “Augh! Finally done!” Dax only leaned against the wall and said, “About time–we only have a couple of hours left before sunset” Alaine looked with slight annoyance, “Ah..seriously–who touched your buttons?” Dax only looked at Alaine before looking in my direction; “They're not mine..” Alaines’ eyes soon followed–she then looked towards the ground before standing back up. “Well–why don’t you try carrying the thing? You did after all–train for stuff like this-” Dax looked and before he said anything I walked passed him towards the unconscious beast. “It’s alright–I’m the best fit to carry items” both my comrades stood without question, “Alright..if you say so..but just say the word if you need a break okay?” With a clarity of gentle words from Dax, I nodded with understanding, “Yeah, don’t worry–I won’t get in the way..” Lifting it by the legs–I shouldered the beast onto my back and started walking out of the room; standing in front of me were the six people that were huddled in the corner, “Ah–there you are!-” Noticing the beast on my back the woman only stood silent; the young man on the other hand–looked surprised and impressed. “W-Whoa! Is that..!?” he enthusiastically exclaimed, I only stayed silent to observe; “Holy crater! Donna is going to have a time with this thing!” I looked in confusion. “A-Ah! Sorry, Donna is our town butcher–since we don’t really get our own meats around these parts–stuff like this is rare…” Faintly curious, I was about to speak until the woman from before spoke up, “Alan–what did the town elder say about telling strangers of our neighbors business?” His face flinched with the bare reaction of a slight panic, “A-Ah..haha..I’m sorry..I forgot..” Itching a finger on the side of his face he looked away with slight embarrassment. The woman huffed a sigh, “Well, I guess it isn’t the worst–they did save us when we were in trouble..” the man took in an air of reassurance. “Oh, I guess I should introduce myself–names Alan. There’s not much to my name..or any of my family but people usually know me as the corner guy who would sometimes help with trouble; which is why you’re in this mess now right?” The woman replied, “Y-Yeah...” timidly replied Alan. “Well since you’ve introduced yourself, I’ll do the same; name’s Vanessa” she held out her right hand as a greeting. I shook it; “I’ll be your guide towards our town, I also own a scrap and parts shop along with my uncle.” I looked at the others standing in the hallway, “The name’s Archie; I’m Stella” the other two girls exclaimed. The little boy looked at the unconscious beast before looking at me, “Um, I’m Tess..” I rotated my head to the right in question; “Ah..Tess here is actually a girl–despite her appearance..” I nodded my head in understanding. Next was the other little girl who was behind one of the other two women, “Hey it’s alright–they were the ones who saved us, remember?” gently spoke Vanessa; she peeked her head–the strands of noticeable white within her hair showed an unnatural discoloration of pigmentation. Not only was the part of the hair unnatural, her right eye was of a blue painted color compared to the other left, which was of an oak gold. “I-I’m..Ester..” squeaking in a voice minute to even the tiniest grains of sand–I used all my ability to only hear her name. I stared with a concentrated understanding, then saluting a hand to my head I opened my mouth and said, “I am scouting cadet Linden Coales; my official rank is five hundred fifty nine” in a professional manner I stood still in an up straight stature. “Ahem” announcing their attention from behind me, both of my comrades stood in the hallway waiting for their introduction, raising both of their right hands to salute; they stood firm. “I am scouting cadet Daxton Hills, my official rank is five hundred forty eight!; I am scouting cadet Alaine Skies, my official rank is five hundred fifty three!” Almost all in tandem we all said, “We will do our duty to protect, aid and help the helpless'' with a couple of claps and awed faces–Dax soon said, “Now with formalities done; you can just call me Dax.” Pointing to me and Alaine he said, “You can just call them Linden and Alaine” and with that–we started moving out of the colosseum.
With the sands on our heels and the day growing darker by the minute–we all knew not to grow desperate to find shelter. “So..how much farther is this town?” questioned Dax, “Uhm..if we kept trekking through the night–we should arrive soon..” hesitated Vanessa. The group moved with sweat droplets, “Do..you know any place that we can rest for the night? Even if it's just a ditch..?” Vanessa nodded her head sideways and said, “I-I’m not sure..I really only know the directions from town and the colosseum..sorry..” with a seemingly hopeless situation, the group all took on solemn expressions; that was until Alan sparked up and said, “Oh, there is a small cavern near a great rock–it might be up ahead if we fasten our pace”. It was then the group in tandem rose with hopeful eyes, “W-Wait, why didn’t you say anything before?” Alaine questioned. With what seemed to be a slight blush, Alan said, “Ah..haha..I almost forgot about it since I’ve been passing out these past few days” Alaine raised an eyebrow, “Passing out?” he lowered his head. “Uh..yeah..I’ve been the punching bag for all of those guys back at the colosseum, they use me as a warm up dummy before fighting in the arena..” his tone went somber, “Oh..I’m sorry..” Alaine responded. “N-Nah..it's fine–as long as the others are safe, I don’t mind a little beating” laughing as a cover–he only put on a smile. With the night finally reaching full bloom–the light of our stickening lantern guided the way, “Linden, you okay back there?” worriedly questioned Dax; “Yeah..I’m fine..” with huffs and puffs I could only respond half heartedly. Slowing down to get to me–Dax walked beside me while transporting the still unconscious animal onto his back. “There’s no need to mull things over to the very end you know? You have comrades–take advantage of that” exclaiming with confidence along with a gentle shroud Dax looked at me with a comforting haze. I could only look with appreciation, “Thanks Dax..” his smile grew wide; “What do you think comrades are for?” walking side by side we both took turns guarding the back while Alaine guarded the front. After almost two hours of walking we finally arrived at the cavern Alan talked about only an hour before, “There it is” he reassuringly exclaimed. The entrance was covered with a cloth which had a split in the middle; it danced with the tight knitted winds which carried the sands–back and forth, back and forth–its fluttering composed the grains with a tremendous alluring. “We should be able to rest here for the night” speaking with confidence and relief–Alan and the rest of the group soon walked into the small cavern that held a decently sized backroom and a small entrance which housed a couple of empty crates and bags. “Did..there used to be food here..?” questioned Alaine, “Yeah..this used to be a stashing spot where rewards were either stored or sold…but I guess ever since everyone ran for their lives–they must have taken all they could before fleeing tail..” it was then we all soon settled down within the backroom; “Ah..finally a break..” Alaine relented. “Guess you can say that again..” Vanessa chimed. There was a moment of silence before Alaine spoke, “Say..how old are you?” Vanessa took a pause and then put a finger to her chin, “Hmm..well..I think I should be turning nineteen this year..” Alaines’ face lit up, “Really!? I’m also nineteen this year–oh wait, when is your birthday?” Vanessa looked with curious confusion, “Uhm..about that..” looking to the side she said, “I honestly don’t remember..” Alaine cocked her head, confused; “Well..I guess the reason I don’t remember is because we don’t necessarily celebrate singular birthdays, at the end of each year anymore–we celebrate everyone’s birthday.” Vanessa explained; “Since the season is just sand all round, it's hard to keep track of who’s birthday is in each month–so the town would just celebrate everyone’s birthdays at the end of the year.” Alaine nodded her head in understanding; “So, is it just a end of the year celebration?” Vanessa only took a silent thought. “Yeah..guess it could be summed up to a new years celebration–though with more food and drinks, since everyone just turned a year old” Alaine crossed her arms and nodded, Dax only listened as well as I. “Hey..” pausing Alaine, “How big is your town anyway?” Vanessa only pondered whether to tell or not; “Uhm…I’m not really sure..most of the town's population is counted by the town elder and his five trusted partners, guess you could say they’re something like the final verdict for big decisions” she soon laid back with a relaxed motion before saying, “What about you? Where are you guys from?” Alaine only paused–then looked at us before looking back at Vanessa. I nodded; “We’re from-; The underground” Dax finished. “Only just a couple of days ago we came from the bunkers underneath the city of Dunbermont–or what’s left of it..” the room was silent for a moment, “Oh, so are you guys like–part of the rich folk that escaped before everything?” Curiously asked Alan, “Alan!” Vanessa whispered, “Oh! Sorry..!” Dax only huffed a breath of calm; “No, no..nothing of the sort..” he closed his eyes for a brief moment before looking at the group, “We were child soldiers, trained for the very moment when we leave the bunker to find a way to bring back society” Vanessa looked upon Dax with confusion. “Wait..if you were child soldiers–then how come there are only three of you?” Dax looked with an opinion-less expression; “That’s because..we’re the last generation to have the mentality to survive our training…the rest stayed behind..” The group only listened. “There were many others before us..starting back all the way to when the apocalypse started” he took a pause before saying, “I’m not sure what happened to them..but since the world still looks like shit–they’ve failed in their mission..” The group only fell silent for a moment, “Wait..that’s not all true..Filip and Dean sent a distress signal from a backup extractor just a couple of months ago, remember?” Alaine desperately exclaimed. Dax only looked at her with indifference; “And counting this month–that makes six full months since their departure from site Z; we haven’t gotten a word from them since” Alaine only grew quiet. I watched with observation; “Whether they’re out here or died a while ago, we have to finish the mission so we can get back to the rest” surprisingly–I spoke with a calm and expressionless tone. “That..” Alaine feigned, “We..can’t know for sure..” to reassure herself she spoke with a somber voice, I looked with contrition; “Alright, look why don’t we just nod off our thoughts for the night, we have a long day tomorrow” exclaiming Dax. Vanessa nodded her head, “Y-Yes, you’re right..we do have a couple of hours to get through before reaching the town..” with a silent agreement–we soon picked our separate corners and quickly nodded off to sleep.
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