I followed Kendali to where everyone else was gathered.
Only very few people still looked really shaken by the event, everyone else had calmed down now that the threat was gone, just like I had.
I looked to my family, my mum and dad stood near each other, Dahlia stood near the white haired guy, and Theo.... unsurprisingly was still talking with his new friend, this time they were looking and pointing at the corpse with a strange interest.
Beside me Kendali suddenly broke the silence, "Listen everyone. Our aim here is to survive this hell. And to do that we must all work together to..."
"Wasn't it you who caused this mess in the first place" A guy interrupted, it was the guy I was sitting next to in the dining room before.
And with that one sentence people broke into an argument on who was and who was not to blame.
I took a few steps back—there was no need to involve myself. In the midst of the arguement Theo and his friend snuck away towards the corpse.
"Enough all of you" My Dad called out stepping in the middle of the mob, it's the first time I've seen him do anything since we all got to this place.
"This is not a time to blame one another, we should all search for water, food and shelter" He paused for a second before he continued "We don't know how long we would be stuck here, so it's best if we..."
"No! We would all stay put until Ael brings us back" The white haired man said, cutting out my dad in the middle of his sentence.
"And when do you suppose that would be. You want us to stay here till that... Thing decides we've suffered enough?" Dad questioned, pausing to lay emphasis on the word Thing.
"His words were to Survive, not run around like fools. Look around you" He said, gesturing to the ground. "The ground itself is blood. What makes you think you can eat or drink anything from here." The white haired man answered back.
I took another step back, looking around slowly. The man was right I wouldn't dare eat those plants, not even if I was starving to death.
'We were doomed to die.'
"Monsters would kill you if you stay!" My Dad shouted back, he was getting angry and I could tell he was running out of reasonable points to give.
"And you must be so safe wandering about in an unknown forest like headless animals" The man spoke back.
My Dad stepped forward now, his expression was livid, everyone was starting to give them space, except the three women that always stuck to the white haired man.
"Stop!!! This is getting us nowhere" Dahlia said as she stepped out from the crowd, "Anyone who wants to stay, can stay. And those who want to go, can go." She said.
"And where would you be Dahl?" The man asked.
Dad took a big step towards the white haired man upon hearing how he called her, he didn't say a word, but his hands were clenched tightly at his sides.
To the man's credit he didn't even flinch
"Sorry Kaiser, I'll be leaving" Dahlia said.
She didn't sound sorry to me, not even slightly, but the man didn't seem to care, only giving a smile back in response.
In that moment of awkward silence, Theo and the other guy returned, they held a couple of wooden weapons in their hands.
"Weapons." The man said as he walked into the group. "Crafted from the club of the dead cyclops over there" .
"Whether we are staying together or splitting apart we'll need weapons" he said as he and Theo shared the weapons to the group, all the weapons were spears, or more like giant sticks with sharp ends, they all had strange scratches on them.
Dad took one, then stabbed it into the ground.
It tore through the dirt easily.
"You guys made all these....? And so quickly?" He asked playing with the spear in his hands.
Theo passed one more weapon before he replied, "It's rough work, but it does its job well. It's all thanks to Ren and his sword, carving the spears was an easy task."
I looked to the man— Ren as he folded his paper sword, there was no logic to how paper could cut wood, but then I can kill by touch and Giant birds could talk.
"We've both decided to head towards the tower." Theo continued speaking as Ren walked back towards the corpse—probably to get the rest of the club.
Dad nodded.
"Here" Theo said, standing in front of me, he handed me a weapon that was different.
This one was a staff, it still had scratches on it but I could tell even those were different the other scratches.
Before I could thank him, he left, handing on weapons to the next person.
"Then it's settled, those who are going let's leave" Dahlia said, before turning to walk away, leaving Kaiser and his wives behind.
Once Ren joined us after getting the rest of the club, I took a silent count.
Ten of us had decided to leave.
The tower we headed towards stood tall, pointing towards the sun. It was visible even through the canopy of trees.
I took a quick glimpse back at Keiser and his wives.
Keiser sat on the floor, surrounded by his wives.
He remained smiling while his wives sat still and silent— like staues.
'They don't even look like they care about what happens to them' I thought as I walked with the group.
'Was there a reason they trusted him so much? Was he that powerful?'
No matter what it was, I was in the bigger group, and that was always safer.
.......
We walked for an hour atleast.
No shoes.
No food.
No water.
The sun still bore down on us like a punishment.
It burnt, even walking underneath trees didn't help much.
'Maybe staying back would have been the best option.'
I stared ahead at my Dad, he was the only one still walking quickly, even as he carried the club piece over his shoulder. With his spear in his other hand he parted the creepy glowing bushes, leaving an easier path for us.
Though some people have realised they aren't harmful— at least not to the touch. I tried my hardest to avoid them.
Dad walked as though he was just taking a casual stroll and not treading barefooted through sticky red sand.
It's so illogical how the sand remained moist under the scorching sun.
People had long started to grow tired, using their spears as crutches.
'I guess not all of us had an enhanced physique from our powers.'
And yet still we marched.
Surprisingly the fat lady was able to keep up.
But even more surprising was the fact that there was not a single monster in sight.
'Where were they? Hiding?' It's not like I wanted them or anything, just the fact that there was nothing here wad unnerving.
"I think we should rest here" Dahlia spoke, making everyone stop. "We can't keep walking any further"
Dad paused, taking a deep breath "There's nothing here" He said, spreading his arms wide in frustration.
"It's obvious there's nothing here, but we can't keep moving forward any longer" A voice said, one I've never heard speak before. It was the other girl my age.
"We never should have left, there isn't even a monster to kill for food" another said, this one I recognised instantly as the fat lady.
Even now, walking under the sun, stepping in dried blood, 'Was food the only thought on her mind?'.
But she wasn't wrong, most of us hadn't eaten properly since we got here. I couldn't even tell how long it has been since we were summoned here, it could be a couple of hours, or a day or two, there was never any indication of night or day in this foul place.
"You guys rest here then, I'll go ahead" Dad said, turning to leave.
Kendali who had been silent for a very long while finally spoke. "You can't leave."
"You do not give me orders" he snapped back, turning to face her.
"We can only survive if we stay together!" She shouted.
"Now is not the time for that. We can't just sit and wait." He said, his hands were already balled into fists.
"We are not waiting" Mum said, cutting into the argument "This place is peaceful enough and so we would rest, for now".
"Fine" Dad said, easing his fingers slowly.
He settled down, laying his back on a nearby tree.
Mum walked around, taking a look at how everyone was doing.
Theo hurriedly took the club piece back from Dad, then He and Ren continued cutting up the wood.
I watched as they sat on the floor, using the paper sword to effortlessly slice through the wood.
It cut like putting your hand through air, almost like the club wasn't a solid object, But judging by the staff in my hand, It was most definitely solid.
Around me there was nowhere to rest comfortably, either damp or cluttered in glowing shrubs.
Kendali lifted herself to stay in a nearby tree while many others just sat on the ground.
I hesitated, thinking of how the ground was slightly moist and coloured in blood.
Eventually I followed suit, finding a tree with the least number of infected plants to rest my back on while I watched them work.
It seems this was my life now.
Stuck in a bloody jungle, with nothing but trees and the clothes on my back.
Unfortunately for me, my rest didn't last long.
Kendali screamed out to us, as she jumped from the tree she was on.
I didn't hear what she said but the message was clear.
We were being attacked