*Author's Note. Apologies for the story being slow and boring, just setting foundation and stuff. Cool stuff will happen eventually.
Chapter 4
So, Where Is Everyone?
Unem always thought it was funny. The it was everything he ever did. He just seemed to just coast on through life and yet also seemed to be guided. Now, in this bizaare place, he doesn't feel anything besides an odd comfort of still following the path that he was given. Mern would've disagreed with him though. He believes life was hard and cruel, and usually comforts himself with the sweet medicine of alcohol. Unem never touched the stuff, didn't like the taste. He was deep in thought about his life and the fortunate events that seem to happen to him, for he was sitting on a hill near a small stream. The hill itself was part of a system of hills that got progressively larger until they were mountains. He thought it interesting, for there was a forest at the foot of the hills. There was smoke in the center of the forest. He debated going, for he had a nice spot right where he was sitting. Then there was an odd sound that was right behind him, a clicking sound. Unem suddenly wished that his armor and weapons hadn't disappeared while he turned around to face the origin of the noise. He thought he saw a face, but there was nothing. He decided that the smoke was a good idea and started walking.
Mern had only a single thought, what the hell did I drink? He woke up under the glare of the orange sun, making everything an odd gold color. He then decided something was wrong. After a moment, he realized it was the lack of everything except for his clothes. Then there was the fact that he couldn't quite remember what had happened or where he was. Another thing that bugged him was the native that just looked at him. The native's emotionless gray mask was starting to creep Mern out. "Um, hello," said Mern, "do you speak basic?" The native gave him a cold stare, then ran off into the forest. "What the hell?" asked Mern right when he was found by Vels.
"Mern! Do you know where everyone else is?" asked Vels, apparently he adopted a kid and neither of them enjoyed it. "No, I just woke up, but whos the kid?" Vels looked at the kid and said, "he was following us, that is as far as I got before I had to put him down for a bit." Mern shrugged then seemed to look at something then asked, "have you tried following the smoke over there?" Vels followed his gaze, said oh, then started to head in the direction of the smoke. Mern gathered up his strength and got up and, after letting himself be proud of his achievement, followed Vels.
Aden hated these situations. Sometimes, it would just be better if he had died instead of surviving. But, he figured it would be best to find the others. The problem with his resolve is that he had no ideas on how to start. There no tracks, no signs, no anything. He decided to just wait until a sign was made, and then it appeared in the form of smoke.
Aden made it to the camp, where everyone including some, except for the Colonel, was present. He saw some things that he noticed were odd. The first being was that they apparently already had a prisoner and was getting him tied up. The second thing was that they were making wooden weapons, mainly spears. The first thing he asked about was the prisoner, who was an unidentified stalker. Then the weapons, but that got an unusual answer involving the defence of our base against whispers. Finally, the location of Lembert. Snarks from Mern, light indifference from Unem, a repressed smile from Vels, glee from Kert, slight concern from Jeph, a casual shrug from Dernom, and a question of who from the prisoner. These were the answers to their beloved leader, each as useless as the last. Aden observed the sky and noted the setting sun. "Well," stated Adlen to anyone who was possibly listening at the time, "until morning comes, the Colonel is on his own." But, unfortunately, he was ignored as everyone prepared for the night. One more thing Adlen noticed was the dark yet brilliant eyes in the bush.