Chapter 268:Leaving.
That was the mentality of Death Row Valley. Nobody expected safety but expected danger, and because they expected it, they prepared for it.
After breakfast, Silver and Ravenna returned to their room to collect their belongings.
Their convoy wasn’t leaving immediately.
Larry had told them they would remain at the observation centre until the military confirmed the eastern route was clear.
Silver didn’t mind. He wanted time to understand the valley, learn more about the beast migrations, and, most importantly, time to search for information about the Awakening Stone.
As they walked through the observation centre, Silver noticed something strange. The people here were no longer looking at him and Ravenna with the same curiosity as before.
Yesterday, they had been the obvious weaklings. Two Rank Twos surrounded by Rank Fours.
Today, several contractors greeted them. It was not because their rank had changed, but because they had survived. In places like this, survival seemed to earn its own form of respect.
Ravenna noticed it too.
"They’re treating us differently."
Silver nodded.
"I noticed."
"Does it bother you?"
"No." He smiled. "It’s better than being ignored, we can ask questions without being looked down on or them being condescending. Talking to someone who sees you as less is tge most annoying thing to ever happen to anyone."
They reached the vehicle. The convoy was slowly preparing to depart. Larry stood nearby, speaking with several of the contractors.
He spotted them and walked towards them.
"Morning."
"Morning," Silver replied.
Larry looked toward the vehicle before sighing.
"I’ve discussed something with the other group and they seem to have a bit of a concern."
Silver frowned.
"Is something wrong."
Larry shook his head, then frowned to himself.
"It’s not something bad but the guys think that with the increase in beast activities going deeper with you guys into the..."
"You want us to stay here?" Silver cut him off, his voice dropping.
Larry sighed again.
"That’s basically it. As you know, you guys were just added to fulfill the requirements. You’ll get paid the same amount but you don’t get to go deeper with us. You can just say to the asso..."
"No. If you think we’ll be a liability, well we won’t. We won’t get in your way or anything. It’s completely unfair that you’re icing us out just because of one attack."
"Right, we sighed up knowing where we were going," Ravenna said stepping closer to Silver.
"Yeah, that’s really unfair," Antony said.
Larry looked at the three of them and shook his head.
"I was trying to help you, being considerate. This is for your own good."
"Still no."
"You know what? Fine, we’ll do our own thing and you’ll get rewards according to your contributions. The others are going to be pissed especially when they just gave you a way out with the same benefits. You’ll have to deal with that on your own... We’ll leave later."
Silver smiled to himself.
"How much later?"
"Probably a few hours or even now."
Silver nodded.
"Is the eastern route safe?"
"Safe enough."
Silver raised an eyebrow.
Larry laughed.
"Don’t look at me like that. Nothing in Death Row Valley is completely safe. You guys wanted this, remember."
Ravenna smiled faintly.
"You don’t have to rub it in."
Larry looked toward the valley.
"The route ahead is rough."
"More dangerous?"
"Different." He paused. "You’ll see, just prepare yourselves"
Silver didn’t like the sound of that but he nodded.
"Understood."
Larry walked away. Silver watched him dissolved before a sigh left him.
"Do you think I did the right thing?" He quietly asked Ravenna.
She stared at him for a moment before she stepped infront of him and hugged him. Silver wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Her heat made it easier for him to breathe.
"Do you?"
"Yeah, we came here for a reason."
"What if something happens. I’m pretty sure they’re going to be pissed."
She leaned back and cupped both his cheeks. Silver placed his forehead against hers.
"Nothing is going to happen. We’re doing this for us, there is nothing to regret here."
He closed his eyes for a minute before meeting hers.
"I hope so, I just had this pit in my stomach the moment I said no."
"Don’t worry about it. It’s probably just indigestion. Drink some water, you drank too little today."
Silver nodded but the worry didn’t vanish.
"Okay love birds we get it," Antony’s voice broke their thoughts processes," PDA is okay but you two are about to fuck infront of everyone. Social distancing is advised in this situation"
Ravenna glared at him before stepping back.
"You just have to butt in."
Antony laughed and walked towards their hotel.
"Leave him," Silver quietly said.
The convoy did not leave the observation centre immediately after breakfast. There were still final inspections to complete, weapons had to be checked, vehicles refueled, and the military personnel needed to confirm that the eastern route was clear enough for them to continue.
By the time everything was finally ready, the sun had already climbed high above the mountains, casting long shadows across the rocky terrain surrounding the base. Silver stood beside their vehicle with Ravenna while Antony leaned against the opposite side, looking considerably more relaxed than either of them.
Around them, the eight Rank Four contractors moved between the vehicles, checking equipment and speaking among themselves. Their expressions were mostly neutral, but Silver could tell from their glances that they still weren’t happy about the three of them continuing.
Larry had already spoken to them about it. They had eventually accepted their decision, but the other members of the team clearly hadn’t been as enthusiastic.
Silver didn’t blame them.
From their perspective, they were responsible for protecting themselves while moving through one of the most dangerous valleys in the region.
Adding three Rank Twos to the convoy meant there were more people they might have to worry about during an emergency. Even if Silver knew that he and Ravenna weren’t helpless, he understood why the Rank Fours saw them as weak.
What Silver didn’t appreciate was the way they had started treating them like burdens before anything had actually happened.