19. Escape

Cindy was caught. Her mind was held hostage by some kind of chip that Sandra had planted in her head. Ran felt so helpless. He couldn't do anything to help Cindy. His other three friends had yet to return from their exploration. Ran didn't know if they could make it through the night safely. Ran gritted his teeth furiously.

Ran made a quick decision. He had to get off this ship and would try to help Cindy at any cost. Later. After he ran away.

From the monitor screen, Ran could read what Sandra typed while chatting with Captain Dev. Sandra apparently had not realized that the camera in the corner of the room was still on;

They know too much, Captain. They must be dealt with immediately.

Capture or kill?

Capture is better. They are more useful alive. We need a lot more objects.

Noted. I will send the rest of the Death Squad to get them.

Ran's heart tightened. Sooner or later those crazy researchers would catch him too. He might as well be the object of their experiment. Ran gathered what he could carry on the ship's bridge. He racked his brain, looking for the best way of escape.

Ran estimated the arrival time of the Death Squad to be no more than 20 minutes. He needed to use the time left to escape. Lifeboat? That wasn't possible. They would easily catch up. Swimming? It was a crazy decision too!

Previously they had explored every corner of the cave and couldn't find a way out to the land above it. So going through there would also be futile.

Ran had to make a decision. Dawn was almost breaking. He was sure he would be able to reach the shore on the right side before the first shade of sun . His teammates chose to land on a ramp because they were using a lifeboat. Now Ran chose to go to the nearest steep cliff by swimming!

Ran listened carefully as he prepared to jump off the front deck of the ship. After feeling safe, Ran threw one pack of equipment tied on a lifebuoy first before he finally plunged into the sea. He swam to the right, which had absolutely no shoreline.

Earlier, Ran calculated that the distance from the ship to the cliff on the right was no more than 200 meters. He swam slowly to save energy.

While inside. Sandra was busy examining the wounds on the Angel of Death. It was pretty bad. Cindy struck her hard. Sandra knew Ran was still in this ship and couldn't go anywhere. Soon the Death Squad will arrive to help her capture all of Cindy's teammates.

Tet and his two friends stayed away from the predator river. The horror was still etched on their faces. This forest was ferocious. Even the river could be a great and agile predator.

"We didn't encounter any of these bizarre stuffs during the day, did we guys?" Rabat spoke up. Breaking the silence.

"Yup! It seems all these predatory processes, predatory trees, predatory rivers, only occurred at night. We did cross a small river yesterday and nothing happened," Tet confirmed Rabat's opinion.

"Alright. Fire can only be for animals and trees of prey. But for the river, of course it'll be useless. Then we'll just hang in here. Wait until the sun comes up then we go," Ben concluded.

The others agreed. It was clear how much horror was still on their faces.

Ran had to struggle to have a foothold on the edge of the cliff. The waves in this section were strong enough to throw him against sharp and pointed rocks. Luckily he had excellent swimming skills. Otherwise, his body would have been torn to pieces.

Ran dragged the supplies. It wasn't much, just basic survival gear. He had to climb this cliff after all. It was impossible if he carried a heavy load.

This cliff was quite high. It took skills to climb up to the top. Ran began his arduous journey.

Meanwhile, a reddish hue began to show its form in the sky. Soon the sun would rise. Ran deliberately chose the steepest cliff route, but there were many inlets to make it easier for him to climb while eliminating the possibility of being seen when the light started to appear.

Ran rested for a while halfway through the climb. This was the most difficult climb he had ever done.

A suspicious voice caught Ran's ears. The sound of a helicopter engine roaring! Ran hastily folded his body in a nearby alcove. Maybe Sandra had realized Ran's running away and asked Captain Dev to send a helicopter to track his whereabouts.

The sound of the helicopter approached. Ran was a bit panicked. His leg almost slipped. Luckily he quickly gripped the rock protrusion firmly with his hand. Then quickly fixed his footing in a small, slightly gritty alcove.

Rrrr...rrrr...whaaaack!

Ran's foothold suddenly collapsed! In an instant Ran's body rolled into the hole. Just as the helicopter went over the cliff.

Ran bit his lip hard. It was like entering a slide, but instead of water, it was sand all around. Ran was just trying his best to grab hold of any handle. There was nothing to hold on to. Everything was sand. Ran finally gave up.

Finally Ran landed on a pile of soft sand at the bottom of the slide.

Ran opened his eyes. Feeling and checking for broken bones or injured body parts. Ran breathed a sigh of relief. Only a few scuffs on the knees and elbows. Ran tried to stand up. He was fine. Ran again breathed a sigh of relief. But what is this place?

Ran looked around carefully. This was the bottom of a cave. It's bright enough because there were 2 light sources that fell at the bottom of the cave. One from where he fell, and another weaker light came from another hole on the opposite side of the first hole.

The first hole was no longer possible to climb. Too high. But this second hole looked like it was within his range to climb.

Before Ran started his ascent, there was a loud noise from above. From the hole he fell through earlier. Ran watched with narrowed eyes.

Oh my gosh! From that hole, small birds like bats rushed in.

Strange bats that emitted reddish glow from their eyes!

Ran hastily attempted his second climb. Racing against the arrival of those terrible beasts.

----