Chapter 136
It seemed the toxic gas I inhaled when I shoved the Flares into the Anaconda Monster's maw last night was causing problems.
'I wondered why my body kept smelling strange. It was because I was poisoned.'
Once the headache completely subsided and my head cleared, I worried about the group I had left behind.
Right, Enoch and Kaiden wouldn't do anything bad to me. It must have been a misunderstanding. I should have at least heard them out.
But even if I had heard their side, would I have taken their words at face value with my mental state back then? Probably not.
I was the idiot who couldn't distinguish between delusion and reality in my confused state and ran away.
"Damn it."
I adjusted my crossbody bag and looked around. I had lost my way while running away in a daze.
Even if Eunji could sense my location, it was difficult for her to find others, so I had to move on my own.
'Are they looking for me?'
Whether the conversation I overheard last night was true or not, they would be looking for me.
More than anything, the faces of the men who looked at me with bewildered expressions and despair as if the world was collapsing when I ran away alone lingered in my mind.
"Right. Let's meet them and ask them directly."
Whether I left alone or not depended on their answers.
I took out a map from my crossbody bag. However, no matter how much I looked at the map, there was no river nearby, and there were no noticeably unique terrains, making it difficult to gauge my location.
'If I shoot Flares, it's obvious that even Monsters will flock here.'
I had no choice but to move in search of a flat terrain with good sunlight. It was to check the direction.
I planted a long stick on the flat terrain. And after checking the direction of the shadow, I unfolded the map.
The cave where I met the giant Anaconda was further up to the west. After figuring out my location, I moved properly again. I had to find the cave before sunset.
Fortunately, I hadn't run very far, so I found the cave before sunset. However, there were no traces of people left in the cave other than the spot where the campfire had been lit.
I lightly touched the campfire where no embers remained. There was no warmth at all. It seemed they had left a long time ago.
'It feels like déjà vu for some reason.'
I had experienced something like this before. Enoch had returned while I was looking around the cave back then. Wouldn't it be the same this time?
I sat at the entrance of the cave and waited for Enoch and Kaiden, and Luzef. Endlessly.
The sun was setting, creating a red shadow in the sky. The sky was still. I sat quietly at the entrance of the cave and looked up at the sky.
Even though I knew it was dangerous to stay here, I couldn't move, as if I was rooted to the spot for a while. In case everyone came back.
Could it be that they felt betrayed because I didn't trust them? Even if that was the case, I had nothing to say.
So I waited.
Sss-
Eunji flicked her tongue nervously and paced back and forth. I blankly sat and stared at Eunji.
Twilight was setting in.
And no one returned.
'Should I wait one more day?'
In fact, it might be better to go to the Bunker alone. I took out the notebook I found in Zenas's Cabin from my crossbody bag and unfolded it.
-I heard Zenas told you about the Gate. I'll be there soon. Wait for me there.
It was a memo written on the last page. It was clearly a different font from the previous memos.
'Gate?'
And there were very scribbled letters written under that sentence that were difficult to recognize.
I took out the flashlight Zenas gave me and shone it on the diary in detail. There were traces of pressing down hard with a pen, so after staring at it for a long time, I was able to read the letters.
-I'll tell you how to bring Margaret.
Wait, what is this? A way to bring Margaret...?
Rustle.
However, there was no time to think more about the problematic content. Because I heard something moving nearby.
I quickly turned off the flashlight and put it in my bag, then grabbed the Flares I had put down and brought Eunji, who was on the floor, into the cave. Then I slyly covered the entrance of the cave with leaves.
Holding Eunji in my arms, I leaned against the cave wall and held my breath.
Rustle.
I heard the sound of leaves being stepped on nearby.
Thump. Thump.
Then I heard a dull footstep. It was a rough sound that didn't seem like Enoch's or Kaiden's.
I held my breath and looked outside through the leaves covering the entrance of the cave. There was a fish moving slowly on two legs.
'Disgusting.'
But even more disgusting scenes unfolded in succession.
Flap, flap.
A bird flew up near the two-legged fish. The mouth of the fish that found the bird opened wide. Soon, a long torso like a caterpillar with sharp teeth densely packed inside popped out and swallowed the bird whole.
'Fucking hell. What is that.'
I was so surprised that I bit my lip, swallowing the scream that was about to burst out.
The fish that swallowed the bird looked around. I held my breath as I watched its movements. Then, the gaze of the thing that was quickly scanning the surroundings was fixed in the direction I was in.
Hup. I raised my hand and covered my mouth. And I quietly stepped back and stuck my body close to the cave wall.
Thump.
Thump.
I was too scared to check outside, so I just closed my eyes tightly. The sound of footsteps was getting closer, as if it was approaching the entrance of the cave.
Rustle.
I slowly opened my eyes at the sound of touching the leaves covering the entrance of the cave. And I made eye contact with the fish that poked its head into the cave.
My heart almost stopped.
At that moment, Eunji, who was in my arms, suddenly poked her head out,
Kyak!
She revealed her sharp fangs as if threatening.
It was a small Anaconda, but its spirit and intimidation were truly great. The fish hesitated and then pulled its head out of the cave.
As if Eunji had been waiting, she spat fire at the fish.
Kuweeeek!
The fish's head caught fire. The thing screamed and stepped back, and I picked up Eunji and ran straight out of the cave and into the forest.
Fortunately, I didn't hear the sound of footsteps following behind me.
Was Zenas watching? He said he wasn't always watching through the eyes of the Monster. I hope that's true.
I was running through the bushes mindlessly when my foot got caught on a branch and I rolled uncontrollably on the dirt floor.
"Agh!"
I screamed and curled up. Because a thin, sharp branch was stuck in my left forearm.
"Fuck."
It hurt so much that tears came out.
Damn it, where did everyone really go? I felt sad again because it hurt.
I wiped away the flowing tears, looked down at my forearm, and took a slow, deep breath. Because I had to pull out the branch stuck in my forearm.
Hoo. After repeating the deep breath again, I reached out my trembling hand. And as soon as I grabbed the branch, I pulled it out.
"Aaaah, sniffle. Hiss."
I endured the pain and tried to calm down by taking the longest deep breath possible. Tears continued to flow even while I was taking deep breaths.
With trembling hands like a person with tremors, I rummaged through my crossbody bag and took out a bandage. It was the bandage I used to wipe off the Anaconda's poison earlier in the day.
'If germs get in, it's useless even if I stop the bleeding...'
But if I tore my T-shirt, it would become a bikini. The pants were made of a material that was ambiguous to tear and use as a bandage.
I had no choice but to fold the bandage in two layers and put the part with the least poison on the wound and wrap my forearm.
Only after covering the wound did I relax and slump to the floor. Tears were flowing endlessly down my cheeks. It hurt, it was hard, and I was sad.
"Damn it, I'm hungry in the midst of all this."
I mumbled while wiping away tears with the back of my hand, then I raised my head.
Before I knew it, the sun had completely set and the sky had turned purple. If it gets any darker here, my movements will become sluggish and I won't be able to respond quickly to the Monster's attacks.
I had no choice but to look for a place to hide for the night.
Then Eunji, who was crawling on the floor, tapped my leg with her head and crawled somewhere. Then she turned back to me and crawled, then turned back to me again.
She usually shows that kind of behavior when she wants me to follow her. I held the Flares tightly in my hand and quietly followed Eunji.
After pushing through the bushes and continuing to go inside, Eunji stopped at a certain point and spun around.
"Why here? There's nothing here."
It was just an ordinary forest. There were only long trees packed together with no place to hide.
Eunji kept spinning in place. I rested my chin on my hand and quietly watched what she was doing.
Then I noticed that the ground beneath her feet was shaking as if it was rattling. It was clearly a dirt floor, but it was shaking suspiciously.
When I knelt down in front of it on one knee, Eunji finally moved out of the way. When I slowly swept the dirt floor with my hand, a wooden plank appeared.
"What is this...?"
There was a doorknob attached.
Eunji didn't seem to know exactly what this wooden plank was either, and she was hovering curiously around the wooden plank. I slowly lifted the doorknob of the wooden plank on the floor.
Then, stairs leading down to the ground appeared.
I was speechless for a moment and stared blankly at the stairs. Why is something like this here?