Chapter 267:Breakfast.
By the time the sun began to sink behind the mountains, the observation centre had almost completely recovered from the morning’s attack. The damaged section of the outer wall was still being repaired, and several vehicles had been moved into the maintenance area, but the frantic atmosphere that had accompanied the beast tide was gone.
Contractors had returned to their usual routines, soldiers had resumed their patrols, and the dining hall had become noisy again with conversations about missions, food, equipment, and the day’s unexpected excitement.
For Silver, however, the day still felt strangely unreal.
He sat across from Ravenna at one of the tables, slowly eating dinner while listening to the conversations around them. Antony sat beside him, talking about the Rank Five beast for what felt like the hundredth time.
"I still think that thing was too big," Antony said.
Silver glanced at him.
"That’s your conclusion?"
"Yes."
"You’ve spent the entire day talking about it."
"Exactly. And after all that thinking, I’ve concluded that it was too big. Simple and clear, I don’t think there is anything you two don’t understand."
Ravenna laughed.
Silver shook his head.
"You have a remarkable ability to waste time."
"Thank you."
"That wasn’t a compliment."
"I accepted it as one."
Ravenna smiled and continued eating.
The conversation eventually shifted toward the beast tide. Silver listened carefully as several experienced contractors discussed what had happened.
"It wasn’t a full tide," an older contractor said.
"No. Maybe a few hundred."
"More like three hundred."
"Four at most."
Another contractor shook his head.
"Still enough to cause problems if we weren’t prepared."
Silver looked at Ravenna.
The discussion confirmed what Larry had told them, that this wasn’t unusual. Small beast tides occurred periodically in Death Row Valley.
One contractor lowered his voice.
"The Teir Five was the problem."
"Definitely."
"Wasn’t supposed to come this far east."
"Apparently it wasn’t alone."
Silver’s attention sharpened.
"What do you mean?" He asked, turning to the men.
The contractor looked toward him.
"You haven’t heard?"
Silver shook his head.
The man gestured toward the valley.
"Three Teir Five beasts have been spotted moving toward the eastern territories over the last month."
Ravenna frowned.
"Three?"
"Confirmed sightings."
Another contractor joined the conversation.
"Four if you count the one killed here."
The table became quieter. Silver stared at them.
"That’s unusual?"
The older contractor laughed without humor.
"Very."
"How often does this happen?"
"Normally?" He thought about it. "Maybe once every few months."
"And recently?"
The man shrugged.
"Hard to say."
Another contractor answered instead.
"It’s too often."
Silver’s eyes narrowed.
"Why do you think that’s happening?"
"Nobody knows."
The contractor took a drink.
"Some say food, others say territory. Some think something deeper in the Red Zone is pushing them out."
Silver remained silent.
That last possibility bothered him. Something pushing Rank Five beasts out of their territory would have to be terrifying, but nobody seemed to have evidence.
Eventually, the conversation moved on.
Silver didn’t.
He kept thinking about it.
After dinner, he and Ravenna returned to their room. The moment the door closed, Ravenna looked at him.
"You’re still thinking about what they said."
Silver nodded.
"Three Teir Five beasts moving east seems to be a sort of precedent for a disaster."
"Maybe it’s nothing."
"Maybe." He sat down. "But I’d rather know."
Ravenna smiled.
"That’s why you were always so troublesome."
Silver looked at her.
"Always?"
She laughed.
"You know what I mean. Seriously, you’re too paranoid. Maybe the beasts had a fight and decided to move, it might really be nothing... I’m not dismissing your concerns but you’ve got to also look at the positive side of things. Not everything has some profound reason for happening."
Silver smiled but didn’t agree with her. For a while, neither spoke. The events of the day had exhausted them both.
Ravenna eventually sat beside him and rested her head against his shoulder. She took his hand into hers and started to play with his fingers.
"At least we didn’t have to fight."
Silver looked at her.
"That’s probably the first time you’ve ever said that."
She smiled.
"After watching that thing?" She shook her head. "No thank you. I’m happy to be the spectator."
Silver laughed quietly.
"I agree."
The room became silent, everything felt peaceful.
Silver eventually stood.
"We should sleep."
Ravenna nodded.
"Tomorrow will probably be busy."
"We’re still going deeper, and with all this. The danger has just increased."
"Yes."
Silver looked toward the window. Death Row Valley stretched beyond the observation centre. He just hoped that they had time and nothing bad would happen to them. He didn’t want to see any deaths if he could help it.
They eventually went to sleep. For once, Silver didn’t wake during the night. His exhaustion finally caught up with him, and the sound of distant beasts didn’t disturb him.
.
.
.
Morning arrived quietly with bright and warm sunlight penetratng into their room.
Silver opened his eyes. For a few seconds, he remained still, then he remembered yesterday. He slowly sat up.
Ravenna was still asleep.
Silver smiled.
He got dressed quietly and walked toward the window. The observation centre looked completely different in the morning.
If someone had arrived without knowing what had happened the previous day, they might never have guessed that a Rank Five beast had nearly broken through the defenses.
Workers were repairing the walls, contractors were eating breakfast, vehicles were being inspected, soldiers stood on the watchtowers,and someone was even laughing near the eastern gate.
Silver stared for a while.
It was almost absurd. Yesterday had been one of the most terrifying battles he’d ever witnessed. Today, everyone was acting like it had been another day at work.
Ravenna eventually woke and looked toward him.
"Morning."
"Morning."
She stretched.
"Anything happen?"
"No."
She smiled.
"Good, atleast today is normal."
They prepared themselves and went downstairs. The dining hall was already busy. Antony was already there. He was sitting at a table with several contractors and somehow seemed to have already made friends with them.
The moment he spotted Silver, he raised a hand.
"Silver!"
Silver sighed.
Ravenna laughed.
"Morning, Antony."
"Morning!"
They joined him. Antony immediately began talking.
"You know what I heard?"
Silver sat down.
"What?"
"The beast’s core is enormous."
Silver looked at him.
"Of course it is."
"No, I mean enormous. You don’t get it."
Ravenna shook her head.
"How enormous?"
Antony spread his hands.
"Apparently this big."
Silver looked at the distance between his hands.
"That’s not very useful."
"I didn’t measure it."
"Then why are you telling us?"
"Because it’s interesting, this guys were the ones to showed me the measurements. Right guys?"
The group nodded before they continued to eat .
Silver laughed, it looked almost absurd. Antony was probably being lied to.
Breakfast continued normally.
Around them, people discussed the day’s plans. Several contractors were preparing to leave. Others were waiting for missions. A group of researchers arrived to examine some of the materials recovered from the beast. Nobody seemed particularly worried about another attack.
Silver found that interesting.
"Do they really expect another beast tide?"
Ravenna asked.
A contractor nearby answered.
"Not today."
"How do you know?"
"We don’t." He smiled. "We’re just prepared if it happens."
Silver nodded.