Apocalypse: Building And Hoarding My Way Through.
Chapter 44: This Island Is Full Of Danger.

Chapter 44: This Island Is Full Of Danger.

Scarlett’s eyes widened in horror as the group struggled against the tendrils’ grip. The monster’s toxic liquid still lingered in the air, threatening to consume them.

"Ethan, can we burn these off?" Scarlett shouted, her voice strained.

Ethan nodded, focusing his fire element, as did Scarlett. Flames erupted around the tendrils holding their legs, but they refused to yield.

"These aren’t ordinary tendrils," the black man warned in a language only Scarlett and Ethan understood. His eyes locked on the monster’s corpse. "They’re infused with its toxic liquid, and the more we struggle, the tighter they grow and produce harmful poison."

"What is he saying?" Rose asked weakly, slowly losing consciousness. "Am I hearing wrong words since I’m about to die?"

"I feel like I’m dying," Garvin uttered, trying his best to stay conscious, but his body was already betraying him, with blood coming out of his mouth and nose.

"Hey! Don’t close your eyes, Garvin," Scarlett yelled, her face filled with fear and worry. "Open those damn eyes. You can’t die, okay?"

Rose’s face contorted in pain, with blood still spilling out of her mouth as her head hung downward. "We need to get out of here, now!"

The woman with short black hair continued to struggle above, her daggers slicing through the tendrils with precision.

"I don’t believe our powers have any control over this monster," Scarlett yelled as she continued using her fire element in the form of a blade to slice the tendrils.

"Of course, our power can harm it. But we are weak. Extremely weak," Ethan replied as he continued using his fire element to attack the tendrils.

"Let’s combine our powers then," the black man yelled in his language, knowing Scarlett and Ethan understood him. Without wasting much time, Scarlett, Ethan, and the black man directed their powers together at the tendrils, which shrank immediately, dropping them to the ground with a loud thud.

"Damn! I think I broke my neck," Louise said with pain contorted on his face. "You could have used the earth or water thing, Scarlett and Ethan," he added as he coughed out blood.

"Save those talks for later!" Scarlett said as she quickly moved closer to Garvin, who had collapsed. Ethan moved closer to Louise and Rose, and the black man moved closer to the short-haired lady. Together, the group made their way away from the monster’s toxic presence.

"Please stay with me, Garvin," Scarlett said as she continued dragging Garvin by his arm, using her fire and earth elements to bring out the poison from his body despite her weakness.

"We can’t possibly go to the sea; that’s a death sentence," the black man yelled as he carried the black-haired lady on his back. "Follow me!" he declared in his language, moving east, while Ethan and Scarlett quickly followed with the others, knowing now wasn’t the time to ask questions.

While Scarlett was healing Garvin with her elemental powers, Ethan was also doing the same to Louise and Rose, while the black man was doing so to the black-haired lady.

After walking for what seemed like an eternity, the group stumbled upon a big rock, which the black man quickly made his way towards and entered it’s small opening. Scarlett and the rest also followed.

As they entered the cave, the group collapsed onto the cool, damp ground, exhausted. Scarlett cradled Garvin’s head in her lap, her earth element still purging the toxin from his body.

"Thank you," Garvin whispered, his eyes fluttering open. He then vomited a mouthful of black blood.

Scarlett’s relief was palpable as Garvin managed to vomit all the poison from his body. "Don’t talk. Rest."

Ethan tended to Louise and Rose, his fire element warming their chilled bodies, and watched as they both vomited mouthfuls of black blood.

The black man and the short-haired woman, who the black man had managed to heal completely, sat nearby, catching their breath.

"Where are we?" Rose asked, her voice weak as she opened her eyes.

"A cave," the black man replied. "We’ll be safe here for now. We can continue on our journey later."

"What is he saying?" Rose asked, her gaze fixed on Scarlett, waiting for her to interpret, which she did at once.

"How are you able to understand what he is saying? I’ve never heard that kind of language before," Louise inquired, his gaze fixed on Scarlett and Ethan.

"I really don’t know either. Just able to understand," Scarlett replied as she looked around, taking in their surroundings. The cave was spacious, with a natural spring bubbling in the corner.

"We need to rest here," Ethan said, his eyes meeting Scarlett’s. "Recharge before continuing the journey."

Scarlett nodded. "We can’t stay here long, though. This island is full of danger."

The black man stood, his eyes scanning the cave. "I’m glad you both can understand my language. I’m speaking an African language. I can communicate freely with you without them understanding. It’s because we’re part of the chosen members, hence the system made it possible for us to understand each other. I’m guessing you are all trying to cross the sea, right?"

"And yes, I can speak a little English. Not just fluent in it. I actually spoke my language to you both to see if you were going to understand since you have the system and power, which I recognized, and I’m so happy you’re able to. I believe all chosen member can understand all languages as I met a chosen member who also doesn’t know my language, but we can stil communicate and understand each other, hence the reason why I tested it on you both since you’re part of the chosen members."

"Oh, I see. And yeah, we are trying to cross the sea," Ethan replied. "And you?"

"Yeah, we are also going to cross the sea to meet other survivors we left on the other side of the sea. I’m Larry, by the way. It’s great to meet people with powers like mine finally," the black man introduced with a warm smile, now speaking in English.

"And I’m Maya," the black-haired lady introduced with a warm smile. Although she’s been traveling with Larry, they both only communicated in English.

"Since you’re crossing the sea and we are too, I guess we should just travel together," Larry suggested, still speaking in English. "Once it’s dark, we should be able to cross the seashore safely, as I believe the monsters would have gone to their hiding spaces by then."

"Since you understand English, why didn’t you communicate with it before ?" Louise raised an eyebrow, but the black man just ignored him, which made Louise purse his lips in anger.

"You speak fluently in English. I guess you should continue speaking in it, and if we don’t understand what you’re saying then you speak in your language," Scarlett suggested, while the black man nodded in agreement.

"But is there no other place we can pass rather than the seashore?" Garvin asked, his voice weak as he held his hand on his chest.

"I’m afraid the other place is far more dangerous than the seashore," Larry replied and then turned his attention to Scarlett and Ethan. "Both of you have powers. You aren’t scared to kill monsters, right? Even if your friends are."

"Who said we are? It’s just a simple question we asked," Louise chimed in, slightly annoyed. "What the hell do you mean, even if their friends were scared?"

"It’s okay, Louise," Scarlett said as she forced out a smile, which made Louise stay quiet but still angry.

"I and Maya actually came here to track the Axe squad, but we were unable to catch up with them. We only later found out about the massacre that happened in a church we passed through," Larry said, his expression sad.

Scarlett, Garvin, Rose, and Louise couldn’t hide their expressions, as they were filled with so much sadness and despair.

Noticing the group’s sad expressions, Larry continued. "You also passed through the church? I can’t count how many graves we saw. Victor and his men are really ruthless. More ruthless than even the monsters we’re supposed to kill."

"Did you bury those people, though? Judging from the graves, those people were buried today?" Maya raised an eyebrow, her gaze fixed on Scarlett and Ethan.

"Yeah. The church was our hiding space, but unfortunately, before we got back from the monster hunt, the people had been killed by Victor’s men, while some were captured," Ethan revealed, although tears had formed in his eyes, but he tried to prevent them from rolling down his cheeks.

"You came to track the Axe squad down. Why, though?" Scarlett asked, trying to wave off the discussion as well as trying so hard to control the tears in her eyes as memories of the dead people came flooding to their minds, which she tried so hard to get rid of.

"They keep killing people. We just want to stop him. Stop his madness," Larry replied and heaved a heavy sigh.

"We also want to stop his madness," Ethan chimed in with a determined expression. "That’s why we want to cross the sea as soon as possible."

"Yeah. Since Victor has killed everyone in this area, he wouldn’t be coming back here for the main time, except people huddled here again. He has boys all around this world, killing people as well as capturing monsters. Nowhere is safe in this world," Larry replied as he began pacing back and forth.

"It’s like Victor has a map that tracks everything happening in this world," Larry said, his voice laced with a mix of frustration and awe. "A map he uses to pinpoint survivors’ locations and attack them. But just as Victor has his organization, there’s also someone out there, someone with powers who’s built their own organization. If we can find him, I believe we’ll have a real shot. Most people with powers like ours are probably under his protection."