The feelings throughout our group had an overall odd tone. On one hand, we had survived a siege, we all had each other, Hearts was walking after the shrapnel got him in the head, we were in a whimsical world that looked cheerful, and we had all the things needed to survive out here. On the other hand, our militia was destroyed, we witnessed an execution, we didn't know where to go, we didn't know what to do, and we were in a world where we would need a portal to escape.

As we wandered, each of us slowly grew the feeling of being watched. Personally, I was shaken up by being kidnapped and taken to someone's little pocket dimension, and I was worried about how a mamono now had her sights on me. From what I've heard, that usually ends two ways, being captured or killing the mamono after you. We were in her world too, so it's more likely for either one of those outcomes to happen soon. It doesn't help that the option to preserve my dignity and freedom isn't as simple as it seems, being that I never killed anyone nor do I want to.

Yes, I have shot at mamono, but not once has it ended up killing any of them. I don't know, hurting people is not something I like doing, it's never been something that I could do, and now I have to since some horny, monster-related women want to kidnap men from another world because some lord in their own world couldn't figure out how to make mamono birth men soon enough.

Similar cynical thoughts about the way things were kept on coming up until we came across a cabin. It looked empty on the outside, and there was a road that led from the front door towards the treeline. We approached the door, taking position like the way soldiers do in movies and games before Hearts tried the doorknob. To our surprise, it was unlocked.

We stepped inside, scanning our surroundings as we did. There was furniture that looked like a cross between modern and Renaissance, a staircase in the living room leading up, and a thin layer of dust on everything. We closed the door behind us and locked it before clearing the first floor.

We found nothing of interest aside from some framed pictures of the owners of this house, a human male and one of those cat girls. This one seemed different though, she had purple fur unlike the ones I've seen personally, and she had a very wide smile. It kinda reminded me of something but I wasn't sure what it was.

After we cleared the first floor, we walked upstairs to go clear it, which was easy since there were only a couple rooms to search. One of them was a bedroom with bondage stuff so we just left.

With the entire house clear we looked through drawers and cupboards around the house for anything useful but found nothing. Literally nothing, there wasn't anything in the drawers besides some things for romantic activities. We all theorized about what the cabin was for before we came to the conclusion that this was a getaway cabin for the couple that owned it. With nothing any of us could do given our circumstances, we decided to settle in for the night and hope some members of our militia would contact us on the radio with some sort of plan.

We put away the bondage stuff before Hearst claimed the bed for himself since he was still kinda dazed from the hit to the head. Clubs took the couch for himself, leaving Diamonds and me with nothing comfortable to sleep on. We decided to stand watch then, seating ourselves in the dining room.

Despite the two of us being awake with nothing to do, we didn't talk much. Neither of us wanted to or couldn't say anything after all that happened. What little we did talk about was how, if we did end up back in our world at the end of this, there wasn't much we could do.

Our militia would be disassembled so we would only have our four person friend group, which meant we would probably go back to using our normal names as strange as that would be after using our nicknames for this long. It would also be winter, and since none of us had our winter gear on us anymore we would have to find someplace to keep ourselves warm as soon as possible. Then after that, we would have to survive on our own. There was no one to figure out what to do to survive for us, no one to help keep us safe, no one else to help provide necessities for ourselves, just us four guys who barely had the opportunity to experience college if any of us actually went to college since we were all late teens.

With how bad trying to live in our world would be if we somehow escaped, Diamonds suggested that letting ourselves be captured might possibly be a better alternative. I thought he was being dumb and hopeless at first, but I had to agree with some of his points. There would be no more running, hiding, fighting. No more having to scavenge food, sleep in uncomfortable conditions, or live like a homeless person. Plus you get a girl who will take care of you.

The obvious downside is the marriage would be forced, you have to spend a lot of time fucking someone who essentially enslaved you, and that person is apart of a world that kidnaps people who look decent, and executes those who are old or look less than decent. It's like choosing between two serrated knives to get stabbed with, each one with their own unique serrated pattern. Both suck but feel different, maybe one even has a more favorable outcome than the other that you wouldn't know unless you experience it.

Regardless, things sucked.

A few hours passed, and our radio came to life momentarily. The guy on the other side asked for any militia members still alive to converge at this palace. Apparently, he climbed a small mountain and saw a large town or city in the distance with a tall palace in the middle. He said if royalty lived there, it could be the only means of escape since somewhere there had to contain a portal out of this world. He said that the town was west of our old militia camp, and that we could spot it if we got up to a high place.

After that, he wished us luck and the radio went silent. Diamonds and I discussed what to do next, agreeing that we would tell our other friends about the plan to go to the palace, and if Hearts says we aren't going for whatever reason, Diamonds and I would split from the group and head out on our own. We agreed that although escaping through the palace would be a long shot, there wasn't much of an alternative for our future besides being captured.

The beginnings of sleep slowly grew in me as we talked so I eventually told Diamonds I'd get some sleep soon. He was fine with it and said he'd keep watch for the night. After that, I left to go figure out where I would sleep.

There were a couple chairs with removable cushions so I grabbed those and laid them out on the floor. I found some blankets that were being used in the room Hearts was sleeping in so I used a couple of those to help with the makeshift bedding. After it was done, I went back to check on Diamonds to make sure he didn't accidentally pass out as I was doing my thing.

He was still awake, but was standing up and looking out for the window.

"Diamonds, whats up?" I asked.

"Something. I thought I saw someone looking through the window."

"You sure?"

"I don't know. Whether or not there was someone there, we're leaving as soon as there's light in the sky." Diamonds stated as he sat back down.

"Alright. If anything else happens or if you need to sleep yourself, wake me up." I said as I went back to my makeshift bed.

I laid down on it, ignoring the obvious unevenness of it all and closed my eyes.

Chapter end.