A new day began. Iris and Rory still haven't woken up since getting out of the dreadful forest.
It's been a tiring couple of days, yet everything seemed to be looking better for us. Milo never intended to stay with these people for long, but it seemed that he'll be sticking around for a while.
'Maybe it's not so bad to follow them'
The most injured person was Klein, who got beaten up by Rory not once, but twice. He got dragged across the ground as we escaped too... even though Milo didn't like him at first, he wasn't so bad.
'It really has been eventful lately, it's nice to relax finally'
Milo fished for a while, yet unlike other days, there were no fish to catch. He kept sitting on a rock for hours fishing, till he saw something floating down the river.
He took a closer look, uncovering it to be a dead animal or a creature. A deep chill went down his spine, making his thoughts run rampant.
It was definitely a creature, and by those scars, it looked to have just died, bleeding out in the water.
He ran back to the group, alerting everyone to what he found.
Ryan was preparing a campfire when he saw me running back in panic.
"What is it?" He asked with a worried voice.
"There were fresh remains of a creature flowing downstream... we might have to leave this place soon."
Ryan took a long pause, thinking about the group's condition. It has been 2 days since we got out of the forest, yet Iris and Rory don't seem to be waking up at all.
"I'm not sure what to do, we might be able to stay here for one more night, but... We'll have to move tomorrow."
Milo got lost in thought for a second before snapping back, "Where are we going to go?"
Ryan looked around, searching for his satchel. He scurried around the camp for it and brought it to me, rummaging through his things. He took an old-looking map that seemed to have been through a rough journey.
"I-is that a map? Aren't they impossible to get..."
Ryan looked at me, "It's the one I drew myself, in any way, look at this city."
He pointed towards a point on the map. It looked like a city was marked there.
"What city is that?"
Ryan paused for a moment before continuing.
"This city is called thearthia, it's one of the better cities that are left in this hell."
He lingered on his words before continuing, "This is the only place we can get any food and safety, even if it's far away."
Milo thought for a second on what to do, yet it seemed that he had made up his mind.
"Can I travel with you to thearthia? I'll help you with what you need, just promise me to take me there. Once we get to therthia, I'll stay there and won't bother you guys anymore."
Ryan shrugged and agreed for Milo to tag along. Time moved peacefully, with us just packing everything up.
As night fell upon the group, Ryan and Klein kept watch for any creatures that roamed the area.
...
Morning crept up, and Milo was just getting up, still squinting his eyes from the incoming light from the sun. He looked around and saw Rory with Iris awake, discussing something with Ryan.
Milo looked to the left seeing Klein keeping watch. The people discussing were suddenly staring at Milo.
Iris came up to the pale boy, apologising for almost killing him. It was all in the past anyway, not like she could control herself.
He looked at her and accepted the apology, as Ryan and Rory kept their conversation between them.
"So... what are you guys talking about?"
Ryan and Rory looked back at me again with an unsure expression.
Ryan spoke, "Well... we're running low on rations, all of our food got left in the old shack and a lot of our equipment too. The journey itself would take 20 days of travel, but with our food supply... we would not last."
20 days is... a very long time in the wilderness, power and strategy govern over all beings who dare survive in nature.
Yet for them, they had no choice but to walk willingly into an uncertain doom, not knowing what the future holds.
...
They prepared everything and got ready to set out, only having 1 week's worth of food.
The food supply was on everybody's mind. All of them were trying to act as positively as they could, pushing the thought of their food supply to the back of their mind, hoping to find something along the way.
They finally got through one nightmare, yet they have to face another one, it was tiring to say the least. But as fate holds, they had no choice but to set out unto dangerous places.
They pressed on, walking into the distant lands, and not much happened for 2 days. They kept walking between forests, hiding away from any threats. It was surprisingly calm, except for some close encounters the group had.
The more they went towards the direction of Therthia, the hotter it got drastically. It got slowly unbearable, with every move their clothes got stuck to their skin, it was a terrible experience, yet the night was so cold. It made you shiver to your very bones. At this point, Milo didn't know if he preferred unrelenting heat or terrifying cold.
A big metal wall came into view. It seemed to be a border of sorts. The wall was so thick that no weapon could pierce this, yet there wasn't anybody to control this border. The wall seemed to be abandoned, likely to be remnants from the time of the ancients.
The party scaled up on it, Ryan giving a hand to Iris who slipped and almost fell. The party turned around, the heat becoming even more unbearable than before. In front of them was a vast sea of sand, a no-man's land.