(BL) Hunting The Field Guide
Chapter 479: Plants can’t use guns

Chapter 479: Plants can’t use guns

Kellen wasn’t getting tired exactly, more like he was getting weary.

The marks? They were getting further and further apart. Kellen had to begin to rely on his ability to read paths and patterns to get to the next marker. It was alarming, but as they were entering into the 5th? 6th day since the normal group had been sucked into the gate?

It was a damn miracle they were still marking their path. Someone had to be remaining somewhat sane, but Kellen wasn’t actually sure if that was the case. He was just...hoping.

He hadn’t found another body or another grave for a while, and that was also concerning. He hoped that meant that everyone else was fine, but given that the group had split, he couldn’t say for sure.

He’d also thought about something while he’d had the time to after he’d encountered the most recent monster. How was it able to mimic a human like that? Who had it run into? When? Was it from the most recent group that had been sucked into the gate? Or had it learned what a human was from the first group that had stepped into the gate?

Kellen wondered if he would ever know. He wanted to ask the group that was in here, but at this rate, it felt like they would never cross paths.

It was a sick feeling in his gut. He was meant to find her, protect her, but if he never ran into her while on his way to the core? What could he do? Everyone was relying on him.

This was one of the reasons he was glad he had left Rhys outside.

He could feel it more now. The poison was entering into his body. Every once in a while he’d had to tighten his grip on his knife in his hand, his fingers growing lax. It was a small thing, but a telling thing.

Kellen had strong grips, and never let things go. The poison was relaxing his muscles. Making him...starting to become useless. Now it made sense why the Esper had been lying down in some foliage near the entrance into the gate.

He’d lost the ability to move his body.

Kellen was pretty sure that there were too many poisons in the air to pinpoint which one did that, but he was sure he was affected by more than one. The hallucinations, the way his muscles were relaxing and there was probably something else he wasn’t aware of because his perception was dulling slightly.

It was getting dangerous to be in here longer, even with his better suit and mask.

He wondered how Carlos had made his suit, and at the same time, worried the man would drain himself dry of blood if he had used his own to make them. Sakura was going to have to keep an eye on the other man. He was sure Isabella was doing that.

Kellen chuckled, and then snapped to attention. That wasn’t like him. Not in such a tense situation. He wouldn’t be laughing like this.

Another symptom. Another worry.

Kellen heard the vines creeping around him in the forest and he wanted to scream.

Should he just light the motherfucker on fire? If the Boss monster was also a plant, that might be an effective way to deal with the gate entirely.

It wasn’t off the table. It was honestly the only way to deal with the boss monster right now. The only option on the table in Kellen’s mind was fire. That, and running like he was a track star. He wasn’t, but he was fast.

Kellen suddenly felt like someone or something was watching him, and he wondered how he’d missed it as he ducked. A warning shooting down his spine that if he didn’t, he’d be dead.

A gun went off. It wasn’t Kellen’s gun. Hope bloomed in his chest for a quick second before he crushed it to the ground. He could not get hopeful. If they were too far gone, he would have to knock them out to get the new mask on them, and even then, it could not work.

Kellen stayed near to the ground, careful where he put his hands as he tried to peer in the direction that the bullet had come from. It was heavily forested, like most of the newer region he’d moved into. He was sure that the density had to do with the fact that he was getting closer to the core.

That meant that whoever had shot at him had good cover, but that also meant that he did too. There were a few ways this could go. They fire another shot, hoping to hit Kellen, or he fires a shot.

That was not something Kellen was going to do. He had no intention of firing his gun towards humans, because how the hell was a plant going to pull a trigger? He knew they were smart, but they weren’t that fucking smart.

Not yet, at least.

He could call out to them. See if they replied. Given the horrendous screams he’d heard from that awful mimicking creature, that was likely to have poor results.

He didn’t think exposing himself was going to be a smart plan either. They would probably just shoot at him again.

So, it was probably going to be the second option, and a lot of hope. It was the safest one. He wasn’t guaranteed to get a bullet in his arm or head. He just had to trust that his students, if it was them, would wait to hear him out at least. Unless he had been the one plaguing them. If that was the case? Well, that was that then.

"This is Field Guide Kellen Woods. Who goes there?" Kellen shouted. His voice slightly muffled from the mask covering his face. It was actually a little startling to hear his own voice after being quiet for so long. He had barely spoken to himself out loud out of habit, and caution.

It almost felt wrong to be speaking so loudly.

Silence followed his words. A long, pregnant pause. Kellen licked his lips, a nervous twitch. Something Kellen rarely did. He blamed the poison in his system.

Kellen counted to 60, waited some more, and then spoke again.

"This is Field Guide Kellen Woods. Who goes there?" He demanded, his voice holding authority, command. He heard a shaky sound in the distance. It sounded like someone had been holding their breath further away. Kellen didn’t get his hopes up. More silence, and Kellen spoke up for the third time. "For the third time, this is Field Guide Kellen Woods. Who goes there?" Kellen shouted and then he heard the sound again.

Someone was crying.

Kellen fought the urge to move towards the sound. It could be a trap. He had to be careful, especially right now. He was poisoned, even if it was at a smaller dose then the others. He could be hallucinating. He needed to wait instead of wandering into a trap. Even if they had fired a gun.

Kellen felt like his mind was playing tricks on him. No wonder they had split up.

"G-Guide Woods? Is that really you?" It was such a tentative call that if Kellen hadn’t been straining his ears to hear a response, he might have not heard it. Kellen’s gut twisted.

"State your name." Kellen ordered. He needed to know who they were. He needed them to say it. It was one of the things that Kellen always did. Not because of the poison. But because there were monsters far more terrifying than most people knew. Kellen had read about them, and had even encountered one once.

This was an unknown gate. He didn’t know what the monsters here could accomplish. He was being cautious for a reason.

"G-Guide Bree Matheson. B Class Guide of the Saturn Guild. I-Is that you, Guide Woods?" Kellen let out a shaky breath of his own.

"Are you still holding the gun, Bree?" Kellen asked from where he was crouched on the forest ground. It was daytime, this was a dangerous position, but he could stay like this for a little bit longer. Even as he heard the vines around them.

"I-I am." She confirmed.

"Good. I’m going to move towards your voice. Don’t drop your gun, but move your finger away from the trigger so you don’t accidentally shoot me." Kellen told her. He heard her gulp in air.

"O-Okay." She said. She was also nervous. Kellen understood. He was nervous too.

Kellen slowly began to crawl across the forest floor, making as little noise as he could. When he got close enough, he slowly raised up above the cover, scanning the area with his eyes. He couldn’t see her right away, everything was a multitude of colours, but when he did, he thought his heart was going to collapse.

Bree looked downright fucking awful. She wasn’t dead, at least not yet, but she had been drained of almost all of her Guiding abilities. She was thin, a stick, and Kellen’s heart ached in his chest.

She wasn’t alone either, but he was more worried about the sunken look of her face, her eyes. They were bloodshot, and she looked horrible. Kellen’s mind started working, his years of experience stepping in as he took in the surroundings, realising this was a relatively safe location, and the sun was going to go down soon.

"How long have you been here, Bree?" Kellen asked softly, and watched as Bree’s eyes scanned him, her gaze desperate, before she answered.

"This is where we decided to rest. Guide Woods, this is-she’d injured." Bree whispered, her eyes filling with tears and Kellen felt his body stiffen.

"We can worry about that after, Bree. We need to get some food into you first, and we need to fit you with one of the new masks I have. It helps." Kellen told her and she nodded. She let him approach more, the gun still in her hand but like Kellen had asked, she had her finger off of the trigger.

Kellen was ignoring who was with Bree at the moment. Not because he wasn’t worried about everyone, but because they were covered with Bree’s jacket and Kellen couldn’t make out who it was. Bree was his first concern, and then he could worry about the next person.

5 people found, 7 to go.