Chapter 14: The First Expedition

The day had finally arrived. It was 3:00 PM, and the sun was getting closer and closer to the distant mountains of the Acracia Mountains, turning a delicate saffron shade with every passing second.

The weather was clear, with gusts of wind here and there, but generally calm.

Such peace would soon be interrupted, as it had to be. The initial plan was to leave before sunset, and there wasn't much left until that moment arrived.

They didn't carry much either. They only carried their "gala attire." In their bags: small snacks, water, and on their waists or backs, some blunt object.

The scene was laughable to a certain degree.

Under different circumstances, seeing a group of young people wearing clothes and objects that looked like they had been pulled from the trash would be compared to a ridiculous parade (and in fact, some considered it to be). However, Izzy, Garwin, and their closest friends knew in advance that the situation was more serious than it seemed at first glance. Garwin bowed before the group gathered at the entrance to Homen Central. There weren't many outside spectators around. Perhaps relatives of those leaving, and a few interested people.

Most were inside the gym, preparing for the weekend's prayer.

"Okay, some of you know how to ride a bike now. You'll have to share it with those who don't."

“Of course you can. Rocky will have to sit on Carlo.”

“What if we take the seat off YOUR bike and you sit on the seatpost? That way the ride will be more enjoyable.”

“Ha ha ha ha.”

"(At least they don't seem nervous. Very nice)" Garwin kept his thoughts to himself as he watched them joke among themselves.

The members of this excursion: Garwin, Izzy, Sein, Miruno, Xiomara, Gitta, Haeri, Doger, and the few new companions from the Central of Homen.

You could say this would be their first real, official excursion, fully directed by them.

Izzy had expected many more participants, but it would be asking too much after everything she'd been through to convince those standing before her.

"The goal of this outing is nothing more than to collect those who never returned," she used more informal language to be better understood, at Garwin's advice. "There are many of us this time, so we have to take advantage of it. Whatever comes our way, take advantage of your numbers, and avoid... Hm... You must stay together at all times."

That slight pause in her speech was something the audience was skeptical about. She was about to put her foot in it. Very close to doing so.

At no point did they reveal details about the attackers they encountered on their previous trip. They only mentioned that there were 'dangerous people' who might attack them, a disjointed information regarding her statement at the Central’s gym. If they revealed more than that, panic would spread, or worse, everyone would desert.

Numbers, they only needed numbers. Without enough time to prepare properly, that would be the way to deal with this situation.

"You heard her, comrades!" Garwin said, reinforcing the order. "One by one, exit through the small door. No need to open the entire exit, is there?"

People were excited.

“About time, you mean! Cross!”

“Woah woah!”

Obeying, they left, waving their hands in the air. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. Maybe being in Homen Central without doing anything productive was fueling their boredom.

"Heh, they sure are having fun..." Doger muttered, among the last to leave. He adjusted his black helmet, and the white straps on its sides.

"Nisha isn't coming? Since we're all going..." Xiomara questioned from behind him.

He would be riding behind Doger on his bike this time. They'd already made up, so there'd be no reason to object to the idea.

"I asked around, and it seemed like he wasn't feeling very well. I've even looked for him everywhere. But I don't blame him, not at all."

"...Ah. I should stay too----"

"Too late! It'll be uncomfortable because of the suit, but make an effort, Xiomara, I mean ‘Silk’!"

"Hey! Wait. Don't go too fast, okay? There's no rush... Who is Silk?"

Without delay, Doger began pedaling so as not to fall behind the other cyclists on the street.

Xiomara was wrong; they were actually in a hurry. They had to finish the trip before nightfall. If their surroundings got that dark, there'd be extremely hard to find their way around a neighborhood divided into sections without streetlights, not to mention no one would know what was waiting for them in the dark.

By now, it was well known that Homen Central was not a place to be "riding at night," and its surrounding areas... It was expected they would be no better.

The sound of chains scraping on bicycle wheels and the panting of cyclists drifted across the pavement.

Everyone followed Garwin this time. He was given the exact address of the supermarket. Without stopping, it would take them no more than 40 minutes to reach the indicated location, according to his estimates.

After 20 minutes, halfway through the journey, they hadn't seen anyone else along the way; everyone must be at Homen Central.

The route was similar to the one the minibus had taken previously, except they could save seconds by sneaking into convenient passageways between settlements. They even traveled near the dark corridor where they hid, where they last saw the 'white spots'.

They were close, very close, but they didn't know it at the time. The supermarket was a couple of miles away from where they were left behind. If they had known, if they had at least been told, they would have walked on their own and perhaps avoided all the curent trouble.

Garwin let out a bitter smile as he thought about it on the way, a smile that would disappear when he saw they had arrived.

"Stop. This is the place," the tall young man warned, raising his hand to stop his followers.

The others caught their breath as they saw the end of a steep slope where the supermarket was located. Houses adjoined the slope, with similar infrastructure, made it look like a sprawling settlement.

"Well, I don't see anyone," Doger said at his side.

"What do you say, Izzy? Where do we store the bikes?"

The young woman scanned her surroundings with her pale eyes, searching for a good spot. Luckily, some structures and empty spaces stood nearby.

She then approached to check on a vacant lot with some rocks, protected by a chain-link fence. It had a 'private property' sign in the middle, but the fence was open, so it would be useful.

"This area shall be fine for now. Good visibility will help in case of any misfortune."

"If you see us waving frantically, come pick us up, call for help, make grimaces or something, whatever, he he," Doger told Xiomara.

She, Miruno, and Haeri would all stay behind. They agreed to come, not continue. And no one would force them to.

Haeri gave Gitta one last glance before watching him put on his football helmet.

"How long could it take? A few minutes?"

"If everything goes as expected, it shouldn't take more than an hour. Before nightfall," Izzy warned.

The group seemed restless. The quiet place probably didn't provide a comfortable atmosphere. One of them preferred to stay behind, watching the bikes as well.

Before more joined, Garwin moved forward.

"There's no reason to wait any longer. Grab your bags and let's go. The sooner we finish, the better. I don't want to interrupt the prayer. It would be embarrassing, wouldn't it?"

The irony of seeing him talk about sorrows while wearing his flashy suit was laughable at the very least, but making it all seem like a simple cleaning task might have encouraged them enough to continue.

They nodded and split into two groups separated by the street; one led by Garwin 'Cross' Stanford, the second by Gitta 'Ace' Vintana and Izzy 'Eve' Rylee, though Ace wasn't exactly leading them, merely walking at the front.

The soft wind swept through the air, and the orange sunlight was already signaling dusk by then. Both lines of people were moving down the hill toward the supermarket.

"There's... no one?"

"We won't know if we don't go in, obviously," their companions murmured.

The supermarket had the words 'JeyJey Market' marked on its entrance.

Surprisingly, the sliding doors worked. They only needed to step through.

As they were bathed in the lights from the ceiling, they realized it was quite large for an independent supermarket. It included the first floor, where they were standing, a second floor of administrative offices, and a warehouse at the back, although they couldn't see the latter. The aisles were crammed with various products, with high shelves that made it impossible to see across.

"So... let's search, shall we?"

"(The offices...?)" Izzy mused, raising her gaze to the sections on the second floor.

According to Izzy's instructions, it would be best to first conduct a visual inspection of the place before proceeding to call Jeylon and his companions by name. In fact, since their arrival, they have been nothing but cautious.

Izzy was well aware that they might not be the only ones there; her past experience gave her that feeling, so exhausting options first one by one was more advisable.

Despite that, they wouldn't have the luxury of taking all the time they wanted. After a quick check on the first floor, one group climbed the stairs to inspect the rooms there, while the other continued on.

"(The boys turned out to be quite obedient, huh)" Garwin thought, his serious expression unchanged by the situation.

That was indeed the case. One might expect this from their closest friends, but it was a surprise to see that the new companions were barely distracted.

Of course, this wasn't the determination or boldness of a soldier hard trained. Simply put, they followed what they were told because they didn't know what else to do at the time, so they just felt safer doing so.

They were afraid, afraid of the unknown.

It has always been easier to follow orders than to give them, in the history of this world. And safety plays a primary factor in defining this.

Everyone can follow orders, but not everyone can give them. That was the image Garwin gave.

Tall, strong, with a deep voice and inspiring words. He never seemed to hesitate in what he did. Anyone would follow such a figure.

On the other hand, Izzy was confident, but lacked tact when speaking, and her pretty appearance did not help impose authority at all. She was the kind of person who could only gain the trust of her subjects through actions. And actions, unlike appearances, take much longer to demonstrate.

Fortunately for her, she had friends who "played part of the role."

After a few minutes of searching, some grew tired of walking around, heads down and cautious. They occasionally stood up to look at interesting products, one of them even putting things in his pockets for himself.

Nothing happened, and they found no one.

By then, the second-floor group, led by Izzy and consisting of Doger, Gitta, and their companions, had already made most of the journey on their own. There were a few rooms left at the bottom of the metal scaffolding. Dodging the pipes along the way, they reached it. Fortunately, no one had complained about the height.

Suddenly, Gitta stopped walking. Being the furthest ahead, the others saw him and became alarmed.

An indescribable chill ran down his spine.

He didn't say a single word... He looked at the others and back again repeatedly.

Izzy grew tired of trying to decipher what he was pointing at, so she walked a few more steps to verify it with her own eyes. In one of the last closed rooms, faint movements could be heard; sounds that were difficult to distinguish, as if they were light objects being placed and moved on some piece of furniture.

Immediately, a strong smell of cigarettes filled his nostrils.

The office room had multiple white shadows walking from one place to another. They could be distinguished through the frosted glass.

Immediately, Doger, who also saw the white silhouettes, returned to hold onto the railing. From his angle, he could only see Garwin's hair walking down the halls with his group.

The reflex was to retreat immediately, to get out of there as quickly as possible, seeing that they hadn't been discovered yet. They would decide later what to do about it, but they had to leave right away.

The color of those clothes forced them to take that option.

Sein happened to look up, seeing Doger desperately making incomprehensible signs.

"What...?" he murmured aloud, wrinkling his face in confusion.

Meanwhile, in a different hallway, one of the new kids continued to steal groceries from his pockets. Garwin and the rest of his group hadn't noticed him leaving them.

As he grabbed a liquor bottle from the shelf in front of him, the worst happened; he accidentally pushed a second one to the side, shattering it on the floor and releasing all sorts of rumblings that echoed throughout the supermarket.

"...!"

Needless to say, everyone on the second floor was paralyzed.

It was at that moment that the silhouettes in the glass stopped, then made sudden movements in an alert manner, and aggressive babble was the only thing that could be heard from outside.

The doors violently opened in unison.