Chapter 241:Meeting.
The alarm sounded much earlier than either of them wanted. Silver opened his eyes immediately. For a moment, he didn’t remember where he was, then he saw Ravenna beside him.
He turned off the alarm.
Ravenna stirred.
"Already?"
"Yap, it’s five zero one. You’re one minute late."
She groaned.
"For fucks sake, just give me five more minutes."
Silver smiled.
"You agreed to this."
"I know, you don’t have to guikt me about it."
She slowly sat up. Neither of them wasted time. They dressed, checked their equipment, and left the room.
The hotel was unusually quiet, since most of the guests were still sleeping.
They made their way downstairs and stepped into the cool early morning air. The sanctuary looked completely different at this hour.
The streets were almost empty with onlh afew vehicles movinh through the roads. The massive buildings were illuminated by dim security lights.
Silver looked toward the eastern side of the sanctuary. Somewhere beyond that direction was the road toward Death Row Valley.
Ravenna walked beside him.
"You ready?"
Silver nodded.
"As ready as I’ll ever be."
They reached the Association’s eastern gate a little before five. Several vehicles were already waiting. Silver immediately recognized the expedition from the mission description.
There were four vehicles in total. Two were heavily modified trucks, another looked like an armored transport vehicle, and the last was a smaller support vehicle. Several contractors stood nearby.
Silver counted them.
Eight.
Including the two recruits they were expecting, the group would have ten.
A man standing near the largest truck noticed them approaching. He was broad-shouldered and looked to be in his late thirties. His armor was worn but well maintained. A rifle hung across his back.
He looked at Silver and Ravenna.
"You the two recruits?"
Silver nodded.
"Yes."
"Ranks?"
"Two."
The man’s eyebrows lifted slightly.
"Both?"
"Yes."
He studied them for a moment, then he nodded.
"Good enough."
Ravenna glanced at Silver.
The man’s attitude was surprisingly casual.
"I’m Larry," he said.
It was clear he was the leader of the expected.
"Silver."
"Ravenna."
Larry nodded.
"Welcome." He looked toward the others. "This is the full group."
Silver glanced around.
The contractors looked experienced. Most carried proper equipment, one woman had a heavy rifle, and another man carried what looked like a modified spear.
There was also a large man with an axe resting on his shoulder. None of them looked particularly weak.
Larry looked back at Silver.
"Before we leave, I’ll explain a few rules."
Everyone became attentive.
"First, we stay together, second, nobody wanders off alone, and third, if I tell you to retreat, you retreat." His expression hardened. "I don’t care if you see a Tier Four beast with a treasure sitting on its corpse."
Nobody laughed.
Larry continued.
"You follow orders." He pointed toward the road ahead. "Death Row Valley isn’t dangerous because every creature there is powerful." He paused. "It’s dangerous because you don’t always know what you’re walking into."
Silver nodded.
Larry continued.
"The valley has several unstable regions; some areas have caves, dome have sinkholes, some have vegetation dense enough to hide an entire beast, and some areas..." He paused. "...shouldn’t exist where they are."
Ravenna’s expression became serious. Silver didn’t interrupt.
Larry continued.
"The Red Zone boundary isn’t fixed. Beasts cross it, sometimes terrain changes, and sometimes a creature simply decides that the Yellow Zone is a better hunting ground."
He looked at everyone.
"Don’t assume that because we’re technically in the Yellow Zone, we’re safe."
Everyone nodded. Larry checked his watch.
"We leave in five minutes."
The contractors began moving toward their vehicles. Silver and Ravenna headed toward their car. Before Silver opened the door, Ravenna grabbed his sleeve.
He looked at her.
"Stay close."
Silver smiled.
"I will."
She released him. They climbed inside, and Silver started the engine.
The convoy had barely begun moving toward the eastern gate when Silver noticed that the road ahead was beginning to open up.
The early morning traffic inside Delta Two was almost nonexistent compared to the chaos they had seen during the day. Most of the shops were still closed, and only a handful of vehicles were making their way toward the outer sections of the sanctuary.
Silver kept both hands on the steering wheel as he followed the convoy. Ravenna sat beside him, checking the equipment at her feet one final time.
They had already passed through the first inspection point; their weapons had been registered, their mission permits had been checked, and their vehicle had been inspected.
Everything was going smoothly, too smoothly, perhaps.
Silver glanced toward the large gate ahead. Beyond it was the road leading toward the green zones.
"Almost there," Ravenna said.
Silver nodded.
"We should be outside the sanctuary in a few minutes."
Neither of them noticed the figure approaching from behind. At first, the sound was faint, then it became louder.
"SILVER!"
Silver’s hands tightened around the steering wheel. He looked toward Ravenna, and she looked at him.
"Did you hear..."
"SILVER! WAIT!"
Both of them turned around. A figure was sprinting down the road toward them, long orange hair bounc wildly behind him.
His clothes were only partially arranged, as though he had dressed while running. And judging by the speed at which he was approaching, he clearly had no intention of stopping.
Ravenna’s eyes widened,whle Silver’s expression went blank.
"Oh."
Ravenna slowly turned toward him.
"You forgot someone."
Silver stared ahead.
"No."
She looked at him.
"Yes, he’s here alright."
"Shit, we completely forgot about him"
"Silver."
He sighed.
"Antony."
The realization hit both of them at almost exactly the same time. They had completely forgotten that Antony was supposed to be joining them. It wasn’t intentionally, or because they disliked him.
They had simply been so wrapped up in preparing for the expedition, discussing the stone, checking their equipment, and spending time together that the existence of their newest team member had somehow vanished from their minds.
Ravenna covered her face with one hand.