Chapter 48: Road to the central ring
I stood hesitantly before the iron ladder.
We were now officially into our fourth day of the simulation.
In the end I’d forced down what I could of the ration packs for both lunch and dinner yesterday. I did the same for breakfast this morning.
While they’d all been absolutely terrible, they resulted in me feeling less like a corpse this morning.
Needless to say, I’d also been forced to resort to heat patches last night since we couldn’t make any fires. That wasn’t a bad thing in and of itself, but I ended up applying two yesterday.
The cold had gotten that bad, and it would only continue to get worse given that there was an oncoming blizzard.
I even applied a third one this morning just to better combat it. Running me down to one last patch. Maki and Lily had already begun using them as well.
Though naturally, I’d been turning away as they applied it. They had the courtesy of doing the same for me.
And now here I stood before this questionable ladder, still making it a point to ignore the blinking notification in the corner of my vision.
Maki said a large number of cadets had also died last night. Luckily, I was quick enough to stop her from saying the exact number this time.
I could live without that knowledge.
All I needed to know was that the Predator was likely already in, or would be entering, the outer rings soon.
I shook my head, shaking off the anxious thought before slinging the crossbow across my back. Grabbing both sides of the ladder, I carefully took my first step.
There was a small creak, but it held. I didn’t relax though, taking my second, then my third in the same cautious manner.
Keeping my pace steady, I eventually reached the top of the building, triggering only an occasional shake, creak, or wobble from the battered ladder.
I dropped into a crouch the moment I got there, and for good reason too. On some skyscrapers much deeper into the city, I could see some figures either perched or moving through the air.
While I couldn’t exactly tell what they were through the falling snow, there was only one kind of monster that flew in this simulation. Catching even the slightest bit of their attention would just mean hell for us.
Scanning the roof, I found a section of it had completely collapsed inward. Due to what exactly? I couldn’t tell.
Couldn’t say I was all that curious to find out either.
Instead, I completely avoided that part, slowly moving towards the edge of the building that faced the center ring.
There I perched my crossbow and began scouting.
All in all, the middle ring was smaller in area than the outer ring. It compensated for this with bigger buildings and much larger alleys, if you could even call them that at this point.
They were basically small streets and paths in their own right. While there were certainly a few more like the alley we’d entered through, most of them were concentrated on the outer edges of the ring.
What made it even worse was the fact that these alleys were teeming with monsters. Still, I had a plan for dealing with them too.
Ignoring the monsters, it wasn’t hard to find a path leading towards the half-collapsed skyscraper.
I took a snapshot of the view before marking the path and sending it to Maki. With that done, I slowly went back towards the ladder, still crouching, before heading down as carefully as I’d moved up.
It seemed Maki had already reviewed what I sent her, as the moment I came down, she began questioning me.
"How are you planning on dealing with the monsters here?"
I could only look upwards at the grey skies above and the ever-increasing snow falling out of it. It was faint, but the wind had started picking up speed ever since this morning.
We were in for a blizzard, and in that blizzard lay our salvation.
Aside from the Predator, most monsters tended to hide away during blizzards. In fact, they normally hid well before the blizzard began.
So if we could time our movements just right with the blizzard, the path towards the central ring would be practically clear.
I looked back at Maki.
"There’s going to be another blizzard."
The girl gave me a puzzled look.
"What does that have to do with anything."
I explained my reasoning to her.
Maki fell silent in contemplation. From the sides I could see Lily giving us both an incredulous look. She seemed to want to say something, but in the end she just kept quiet.
Earlier attempts had already shown her the kind of people we were. Her words were useless.
In the end Maki raised her head up before asking.
"How can you be sure that we won’t get trapped in the blizzard? In fact, how do you even know that there’s a blizzard to begin with?"
I shrugged while scratching my scarf.
"I’ve got a good sense for these things. As for getting trapped, you just have to trust me on that."
Her eyes narrowed at me for the umpteenth time this trial.
"We’ve been forced to trust you an awful lot throughout this trial."
I could only let out a wry smile at that.
"And have I failed you yet?"
"Fine..."
Maki grumbled before conceding. She couldn’t argue with results after all.
The girl looked back to the open door of our hideout.
"So now we just wait?"
I nodded.
"Kind of. I’ll have to stay on the rooftop to monitor the monsters. The moment they start hiding is when we make our move."
I nudged my head in the direction of the door.
"The both of you can stay here and wait for my signal."
Maki nodded curtly before shifting her gaze back to me.
"Take care of yourself up there. We need you in top shape for when we start moving. There can’t be a repeat of what happened on the road."
I looked at my hands, carefully clenching them open and closed, before heading towards the ladder again.
"Trust me, I’m well aware of that."
---
I remained steady on my perch, even through the increasing wind and snowfall. The monsters had still yet to move.
Just when I’d started doubting the viability of this plan, I saw it. A long-limbed, quadruped horror picked itself off the floor before heading towards a building to the side. Then another monster did the same, then another.
I wasted no time in heading back to the ladder, sending Maki a message as I did so.
[It’s go time.]
By the time I reached the ground, both Maki and Lily were already out.
Maki glanced anxiously at the sky.
"We’ve got no time to waste, it won’t be long before the blizzard hits."
She shifted her gaze back to us.
"We can go back to using the old formation."
We wasted no time in getting into our positions, Maki taking point, Lily in the middle, and I found myself in the rear once again.
Maki wasted no time in heading down the path. We followed quickly behind her.
---
The tight alleyways gradually opened into streets.
We moved at a measured pace, still mindful of our surroundings, just in case any monster decided to wait a little longer before hiding.
But perhaps, for once, we had bigger worries than monsters. The blizzard hadn’t fully set in, but it had begun rearing its ugly head.
The world grew increasingly white, with objects and buildings blurring into the never-ending background of snowfall.
The wind had ripped my hood off more times than I cared to count. I’d eventually been forced to start holding on to my scarf to keep it from flying off with the wind.
All that was manageable compared to the cold that had begun seeping in through every inch of exposed skin. Hell, it had even begun downright ignoring all my clothing as it seeped away my warmth through them.
What’s worse, with rapidly dropping visibility, it was getting harder and harder to keep track of the path.
Maki took a sharp right. We blindly followed behind.
I flicked on my interface, trying to send a message to Song.
[We’re on our way right now, the blizzard’s burying everything. Give me a sign if you get this message.]
I wasn’t sure if she’d get it, but it was still worth trying.
At this point we completely abandoned any notion of a measured pace and began darting full speed down the path. At least as best we could against the wind still constantly pushing us back.
I tried to stay focused on the silhouette of our destination, even as my face started growing numb. But it kept growing fainter and fainter in the storm, until its silhouette completely blended with the snow.
’Dammit,’
[Maki, can you still navigate the path?]
The girl didn’t answer me, or more likely she couldn’t, as she focused the entirety of her attention on leading us.
Even then, she hesitated more and more at every turn she led us through.
But just when my heart began dropping to the abyss, when I’d begun losing hope in ever making it out of this blizzard, I saw it.
A black geyser of flame originating from where the building’s silhouette had once been.
’Racheal.’
I wasted no time in screaming.
"Follow the black flame!"