The Answer to Life
Chapter 6
"Whoa…"
Green. Green was all they could see. The landscape encompassing them was certainly a sight for sore eyes compared to the dreary and dispiriting cavern they had managed to escape from. Taking in deep breaths, they all savored the incredible feeling of fresh air filling their lungs. The feeling was enhanced further as they remembered the musty air they had been breathing all this time down in the tunnels. Stepping further out of the cave entrance, they began to look around and take in their surroundings. Although there was a dense wall of trees and foliage that cut off their vision from the front, there was still plenty to observe in the area that indicated they were not in any immediate danger.
There was an overgrowth of trees, plants, and grass as far as they could see. Numerous small boulders and debris were scattered around on the ground, most of them congregating at a nearby stream. Its soft trickle complimented the scenery they found themselves in, gently soothing them inside. The air around them seemed to be permeated with a hazy mist, giving the setting a mystical quality. The children were all wide-eyed in amazement and their mouths slightly hung open in awe. Seeing this, David couldn't help but smile in understanding. Again, he couldn't help but envy how simple children could be, completely forgetting previous troubles in favor of excitement and intriguing stimuli presented before them.
"Well, this wasn't what I was expecting when we got out. This certainly is nice to look at eh?"
The children all nodded their heads, transfixed in wonder.
"Still, we have to find out where we are first. We're probably in some kind of national park or hiking trail of some sort, at least I think we are. Though, I guess it wouldn't be any use asking you guys how we got here in the first place."
David sighed and scratched his head.
Truthfully, David didn't know if this place was really a park, a hiking trail, or even just far out wilderness. He had only told the children that to put himself at ease. His memories might be fragmented and full of holes, but he just knew that the last place he was in was within an urban environment. He liked to think that he was a normal, sensible person. Any sensible person with even a hint of common sense would be more prepared and wouldn't just carry a handgun with them if they were heading out deep into the woods.
Come to think of it, that place is settled in a pretty questionable area. An underground lab within a cave out in the middle of nowhere? Don't even get me started on those bullet casings down in the cave, it looked like a mini war zone in there. I work with search and rescue teams along with medical care. I definitely don't remember working there, whatever that place is. Again, more questions with no answers.
Wonderful.
With apprehension, he gave a final scan of the area before turning towards the children.
"Hey, I know you're itching to go out and explore this place, but I need to make sure it's safe first. I need you to stay here for a few minutes and keep out of sight. I'm going to go and check it out first okay? It'll be quick, I promise."
The children started to pout and voice their displeasure, but relented as they understood the logic. Despite the dissent, they still seemed bubbly and filled with anticipation. He turned his head in the direction of the eldest three and lightly pulled them to the front of the group. Smiling, David crouched down to eye level and started to softly speak.
"Jonathan, Kate, Petro. You all did a spectacular job earlier guiding everyone, that takes some real leadership skills to pull off. I don't think I could have done it all alone. Thank you for everything you've done so far. I really appreciate it."
Kate and Petro looked abashed, the two of them struggled to curb their smiles while Jonathan looked away and tried to appear impassive. The smudge of pink on his cheeks betrayed his demeanor though.
Chuckling, he stood up and ruffled their heads.
"Alright, I'll be counting on you three again. Everyone listen up! I'm going to go out now to survey our surroundings to see if it's safe to travel. I want you all to go back in and wait near the entrance of the cave. Go in just a little deeper to stay out of sight, right behind this big rock. Make sure you behave and listen to your big brothers and big sister! If I come back and they tell me you've been bad…"
David tilted his head up and faked a scary face by widening his eyes and biting his lower lips. He paused for a second before slowly dragging a thumb across his throat.
Truly it was a terrifying visage that promised pain and misery for all who upset him.
That is…
If only there wasn't a couple nose hairs peeking out of David's left nostril.
The children all proceeded to laugh and giggle at David's expression. Even Jonathan, being as quiet as he usually was, couldn't help but let out a snort. Perhaps they would let him know about it later so the man can tidy himself up.
Seeing his threat did not have the intended effect, David huffed and started to move out.
"I'll be back soon, so please don't cause any trouble!"
With that, David headed towards the stream and followed it down.
0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0
It had only been a few minutes since he began following the stream, but David had already begun to regret walking out in the warm and humid weather. He was reminded just how hot, stuffy, and uncomfortable wearing body armor was in such temperatures. The vest trapped his body heat, causing his white dress shirt to stick to his body. His rolled-up sleeves only brought him minimal comfort. The jeans he wore were agonizingly snug, causing his underwear to be disgustingly damp with perspiration.
This was not his day at all.
As he continued to hike, he noticed that the rubble around the stream had started to take on more distinct shapes. They looked like they were pieces or chunks of something bigger. Bending over, he picked up a small piece and looked at it in further detail. Rolling it over in his fingers, it felt like it was made of coarse particulate material.
Hm? It looks and feels like concrete. That's strange, why is something like this so far out here?
David continued walking till he ended up at a ravine. As he was about to trudge through it, he stopped and thought better of it. He felt hesitant to go any further as he didn't want to stray too far from the children. Instead, he backed up and decided to get a bird's eye view as scouting the area from a higher vantage point would prove more useful. Seeing the trees were tall enough and broad enough, he determined they could help him out with that. David began climbing up a nearby tree, drawing the knife from his vest to etch grooves as he made his way up. When he had reached an acceptable height, he tried not to look down and carefully balanced himself on a thick branch.
Squinting his eyes as he gazed out, all he could see at first was more woodland and forest. When he focused his eyes some more, he realized that wasn't the case. Off in the distance, he could see objects surrounding him that did not make any sense to him. To his left, he could make out a round outline with what looked like small boxes hanging on it right above the edge of the tree line. A Ferris wheel? Even further to his right, he saw a blurry shape that looked like the telltale, gravestone buildings of a city. With how fuzzy the outline was due to the distance, David couldn't be sure if it really was a city but he felt a small sense of elation anyway. However, the most confusing of sights were the dilapidated castles poking out from the vast forest in front of him and the oversized animals.
What the heck? I don't remember wild boars being that big! What about those robot things from before? Never mind the animals and robots, why are there castles and a Ferris wheel out in the middle of nowhere?! Where are we? I don't recognize anywhere with castles or forests with trees as big as these. Wait, wasn't that a city I saw over there?
It must be, it just has to be!
Crap, but that's so far away! Judging from the distance, it would take days for me to get there on foot, let alone having a large group of children tag along! This means we need water, food, shelter, and other tools. We would have to make frequent stops, build a makeshift tent or portable shelter of some kind to camp during the nights, forage for edible food, make sure there isn't any danger along the way, and the children must be taken care of as well. We don't have any supplies or any form of communication! Even if we did hike it out and get to that city, this is assuming we don't run into anything or get lost in the wilderness along the way!
Damn it, we won't make it! We just can't!
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!
Countless thoughts and worries started swamping David's mind. As he was being overwhelmed, he began to feel lightheaded and was starting to lose his balance. As his eyes bulged with alarm at his poor footing, he was shocked out of his reverie and tightened his hold on the tree. After he steadied himself, he stayed still for a few minutes and took the chance to catch his breath. He had closed his eyes and gasped for air to calm his frenzied state.
Shit David that's no good, you need to get a grip on yourself. Breathe in. Breathe out. You need to remain calm. Think rationally. Getting so stressed out like that for nothing, how embarrassing. You can't help yourself or the children if you start panicking now. Who said you had to make the trip right away? Just settle down near the cave for now, sort everything out before heading to your destination.
You don't have a radio, phone, or any flares to contact anyone. For shelter, you can just build a round lodge or the classic lean-to shelter with your knife as you go, there are plenty of branches and trees after all. The days are hot and the nights will probably be chilly, but that wouldn't be a problem since the kids all have warm clothes on. Supplies and other necessities can be gathered a little later after you've organized yourselves, you won't die immediately right? I mean, you saw that there were boars out there, plenty of vegetation, and for heaven's sake you were following a stream you dunce. That's potential food and water right there. You should go back now, you've been away long enough. Who knows if there are more of those robot things out there…
David's eyes opened abruptly and widened with dread.
He overlooked something important.
He had told the children to stay put and out of sight. However, this didn't mean they couldn't be found. They were hiding in front of the cave behind a large, slanted slab of rock that concealed them from the outside. However, he didn't consider that they were exposed to the cave where he was attacked by those robots not even an hour ago and he didn't know if there were more in the cave or if there were any out here. David palmed his forehead and grit his teeth in frustration at how he let himself get distracted by the surroundings as well. He quickly began to descend and monkeyed his way down the giant tree using the grooves he had made earlier. As he was nearing the ground, he missed a foothold in his haste and tumbled down the rest of the way. He had been fortunate enough to land on the grass and not into the rocky ravine. David groaned in pain before he hurriedly got up.
Oh God, I hope I'm just being paranoid and there isn't more of those things near the children. Please let this be the case! Please!
Just as David was about to sprint his way back to check on the children, he heard a sharp, audible crack of snapping twigs behind him.
…..
His expression stiffened. He froze in place and slowly turned around. As he saw what was behind him, his mouth hung open in shock.
"Fuck. Me."
Author's Note
Hey everyone, it has been a long time since I updated.
Sorry about that, writer's block and RL got to me yada yada yada.
If anyone's curious about where they came out from, its outside the world map you'd see in game. If the desert region and the forest region are situated near the north, I'd say David and the children are somewhere in the north-east. Far enough to see only forest with very blurry outlines of the city ruins and amusement park just above the horizon. I'm only making a guess here based on the map I'm looking at so I can't say it's 100% accurate. We just don't have enough info on the geology of the rest of the N:A world so I might take a few liberties here and there regarding the environment.
Anyway, thanks for reading as always!
I hope you enjoyed it!
