"This way leads to a lake. On the other side is the camp, however it will take us longer this way," Yerah, who was leading the team, said.
"We need to hurry," Sophia added.
They did not have enough food and water for four people. Initially, Sophia and Yerah had planned on rescuing Silas, however, because of certain unexpected change of events, they now had another member in the team—the young boy Harrison.
Any longer and they would run out of the last bottle of water. A person can live for several days without food, but without water? They had to keep moving at all times.
After taking a detour, avoiding those mysterious-looking human figures that seemed to have tamed certain monsters, they were on their way again. Faster than ever this time.
"How long will it take?" Harrison was having trouble keeping the mask up, his legs were starting to give up.
"Not much, keep walking," Silas instructed.
The team kept moving ahead. On their way, they crossed several impact craters and fallen building ruins. They also discovered some structures still standing, however the walls had been painted with the characteristic black.
The entire world was painted in the same shade of void, one that reminded of evil, one that was symbolized as hell. If aliens existed and were to find Earth, they would not call it the blue planet, for the blue planet now had become a big black ball of ash and dust—something that could never sustain life.
However many people had survived, be it strategy or be it luck, they would slowly meet their eventual end. The population of the world would continue to dwindle until none remained.
The team kept walking. Silas felt the thirst kicking in by the time they reached their fourth hour, but he tried to ignore it and kept moving.
The land was cracked, charred, and riddled with multiple sinkholes. One had to actively keep track and watch their steps because one wrong move could be deadly.
The atmosphere was quiet. The omnipresent eerie silence was only broken at times by the sound of land crashing and distant collapses. They could still feel faint aftershocks even hours after the impacts had stopped.
After walking for over four hours, they had finally arrived. They had reached the bank of the massive lake that separated them from the survivor camp.
"If we had walked the original route, we would have arrived on the other side," Yerah said, pointing in the direction.
"So what do we do now?" Silas asked.
"We think."
"What?"
"We have one option. That is to go around. It will take two more hours. The problem with this plan is not the extra time but the steep path. According to this map, we will have to cross really difficult climbs and descents before making it to the other side."
Silas looked over to the side. To infer that the path would be dangerous one did not need a map, for he could clearly see the big deformed hills created from rubble and large meteorites.
"What's the other option?" he asked.
"There is no other option unless you want to try swimming," Yerah said.
The lake was full of what did not look like water at all. The surface was dull, ashen gray with floating debris. In the deeper center, as far as the eye could see, it was pitch black. In some places, steam was rising, hinting that it was still extremely hot. Above all, the water carried dissolved minerals, shattered rocks, and burned organic matter.
"We can't swim!" Harrison cried out.
Harrison was only twelve. In his short lifetime, he had never learned how to swim. But not knowing how to swim was not even the real problem, for the real problem was the lake itself.
"Obviously. I was just getting you both to agree to going through the only path we have. Once you have seen the condition of the lake, your mind suddenly has less of a problem walking for another two hours. After all, it is better than going through that nightmare lake."
What does that even mean? Were they at some point really thinking of crossing the lake? Silas was left confused.
As the team started their long trek along the shoreline, they found it full of irregular surfaces. Some parts were slippery while others could suddenly collapse. If they had planned on completely skipping the lake, their detour would have taken over a day. With no other options left, the team moved swiftly but cautiously as they progressed further on their path.
Suddenly the ground started shaking. The black sludge that floated on the surface of the lake formed small visible tides, as something was making its way up from beneath.
A large whale-like thing leapt from the lake, causing the water to splash everywhere around. Silas and the others were at a significant distance from the scene, so they were able to avoid getting drenched.
What the— Ok, does that mean there are such large corrupted beasts, and all this happened in almost twenty-four hours or so? Silas was starting to realize how big of a problem this was.
The apocalypse, which he had first assumed to be a meteorite shower, and later corrected when he was cornered by a horde of zombies, he had believed was caused by meteorites starting corruption.
But now, looking at the beast in front of him, Silas realized this only meant one thing: there was something or someone that had actively accelerated the corruption to reach a stage that would have naturally taken a month.
Is this somehow related to Mrs. Miratya's death? Her body decay was also accelerated, he thought as he tried to make guesses.
"Good thing we didn't consider crossing the lake," Sophia said. Her tone was sarcastic; however, there wasn't any trace of surprise or shock. Silas, however, being bad at catching such details, had completely missed it.
The group kept moving forward. The next part of their journey was the impossible climb. They had arrived in front of what seemed like a four-story building; the massive hill in front of them was made completely out of broken rocks and large boulders.
Such irregular elevations weren't uncommon—they had come across multiple ones. These hills were formed because meteorite impacts displaced the soil to the sides. When multiple impacts overlapped, such impact hills were created. They had avoided these by going around. But this time, they had to climb up.
"I can climb," Harrison said.
No, you can't. I once thought the same when I was young. Climbing such an elevation is not possible without training.
"My hobby is rock climbing," he added.
"We can't let you go first. What if the rocks collapse?" Yerah said.
"They won't. I trust my instincts," Harrison said confidently.
"We don't have a choice. Let him go first. However, what will you do about your mask?" Sophia said.
That was a problem. The little boy, Harrison, had been holding his mask in place, which meant he couldn't climb freely.
"It will take me five minutes. I will tie the mask on my back and wear it as soon as I reach the top. Watch me and replicate the moves slowly," Harrison said boldly.
Five minutes? That should be a pro climber's pace, and that too on such an impact hill which could collapse at any moment? ... Now that I think about it, he did feel agile back when I was with the elderly people. It almost felt like he didn't need my help climbing out of those craters.
Harrison tied his mask on his back and was ready to climb. Not only did he have to climb swiftly while keeping track of potential loose rocks, but he also had to maintain his breath—this required excellent stamina. Luckily, Harrison had trained in controlling his breathing.
Harrison planted his feet on a jagged rock, testing its weight, then swung his hand to grab a higher boulder. With a quick pull, he hoisted himself up, landing on a small ledge. He skipped a loose stone to the left, jumped to a protruding rock, and balanced carefully before reaching for the next hold. Each move was precise, calculated, as if he was reading the hill itself.
Step by step, he ascended, sliding a hand over sharp edges, kicking off small stones that tumbled down. He lunged to a higher point, clinging with his fingers, then swung his legs to reach a sturdier rock. Finally, with a powerful push, he leapt onto the topmost ledge and pulled himself up, he quickly put on the mask and glanced back at the others.
How are we supposed to replicate that?
While Silas was still lost in thought, Yerah had already started climbing. She seemed adept at things like this, moving with ease and without much difficulty. In no time, she reached the top, standing beside Harrison who waved, while the mother-son pair prepared to follow them up.
Silas and Sophia struggled with every step, their hands slipping on loose rocks and feet sliding on sharp edges. At one point, Silas lost his grip and barely managed to catch a protruding stone, his heart racing, while Sophia tumbled back a little before regaining her balance. They pushed through the fear and exhaustion, carefully testing each hold and planning every move. After a long twenty-five minutes, slowly and painfully, they climbed, and finally, panting and scratched, they reached the top, joining Harrison and Yerah.
For a regular person with no climbing training whatsoever, this was an impressive feat—having scaled over a forty-meter-tall elevation without ropes. Perhaps it was the body struggling to survive, the adrenaline pumping through their nerves, that had carried them through. But all they could do after conquering the hill was move forward without stopping.
The rest of their way was much easier. They only had to watch their steps on the irregular ground, and since they were walking close to the edge, they had to stay alert for a potential landslide.
After a few minutes, they arrived at the bank of a small stream, carrying the same black sludge-like goo that floated on the lake. There were many such streams flowing into the lake, a result of impacts. The nearby river had broken into multiple smaller streams, letting the water flood a massive impact crater, creating that gigantic lake.
They had little trouble crossing the stream. After a while, they had to descend the elevation. This was much easier compared to climbing, and as they walked further, glowing lights became visible far away in the smog.
They had finally reached their destination—the survivor camp.