III Scavenger Hunt

It was the next morning, Red was up early and already geared up. He stood outside the outpost and stared out Into the distance. He Inhaled deeply before exhaling deeply. The sun wasn't visible yet, but the sky still had some color In It. Behind him the sky was darker. Red was In the middle of a sunrise and the moon going down. There was a slight breeze. Red's grey hair ruffled In the wind. He sighed then put his gas mask on. When he turned around he watched Cryn crawl out of her tent. Cryn looked around slowly and when she saw Red she sleepily stumbled to him than sat In the grass next to him. Red looked down at her then sat next to her to see the sunrise. "The sun here Isn't as bright as the sun In my world," Cryn said. "Her name Is Thermosess, she's the Goddess of Light. She sacrificed her body to take this world out of the darkness of the Moon Goddess, Melyae. That's what the stories from the children's books say," Red responded with. Cryn giggled a bit. Red stood up then walked Into his team's tent. Elaine was In the girl's tent, Darren was still sleeping, but Mike was up and drinking coffee out of his thermos. "Hey Red, looks like the team Is back together," Mike said. Red nodded his head, then sat down. Red grabbed his bottle of freezing cold water, then he poured some onto Darren. Darren awoke In a shock. "Ah what the hell who!?" Darren yelled out. He looked at Mike then Red. "Asshole," Darren said while staring at Red. Red snickered a bit. Red stood back up and said, "get ready guys we are leaving soon." He left the tent and when Red got outside everyone else was already out there. Some were packing bags, some were stretching, and some were just sitting there waiting. "Hey Red your late," Glen said with a smile. Red chuckled then walked over to Glen and Lili. They talked about their lives. The three got to know each other very well. Glen Is actually a cartographer and Lili Is a clothing designer. These skills can work well In the groups everyone Is In. Red started looking around for Cryn, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Kicking, scratching, tape covered mouth, feeling of tight ropes. A yell out of the darkness. Running, escaping. Cryn was In an open field after climbing out of a bunker hatch. She spotted the camp and ran over to It. Out of breath Cryn hugged Red. "There you are you little rascal where'd you go?" Red asked. Cryn cried a bit and held him tightly. Red put his hand on his holster while he stared at the tent the two kings were staying at. "Everyone we are leaving soon lets get Into our groups and go. Ladies go first, the men will be right behind you. Men get your guns ready," Red said. Elaine walked over to Red and started whispering to him, "Is the king at It again?" Red nodded then pointed at Cryn who was gripping his shirt and holding him close. The teams all traveled to the site. Team two lined up around the perimeter and marked the edge of the area. Glen set up his little camp for the explorers to go to take a break and drop off loot to be exported to the Outpost. A doctor set up his tent for the Injured. Red re-loaded his revolver and got his team ready with their gas masks. The four entered the zone. Toxic gas was everywhere, you only had to breath It In to kill you. whole zone looked like a huge metal maze with metal walls around It. "There's a break here two separate paths," Elaine said. Red did some hand motions then Mike and Red went down the left path while, Darren and Elaine went down the right. "So want to go out to dinner after this?" Darren asked. Elaine scoffed then responded with, "babe we are on a mission right now we can discuss that afterwards." The terrain was rough, It was mainly dirt and rock, but there was an occasional patch of dead grass. A giant ant jumped out of nowhere and at Red. Mike shot at It with his lever action rifle. The ant recoiled from the shot then It's pincers moved a bunch as It opened It's mouth. Red pulled out his revolver and shot a bullet Into the ant's mouth. In seconds the ants body start glowing as a bunch of fire came out of the mouth and then the body slumped over burnt to a crisp. Red and Mike moved on, "we still got It," Mike said. Red laughed as they carried on the trail. "The gas seems to only be toxic to bipedal mammals like humans," Red said. "Other animals seem to morph or mutate In these gas zones. How many have we been to so far? Like mabye four or five of these zones," Mike stated. The two kept moving. "Watch out Elaine theres more of em," Darren yelled out as he fired at two giant ants with his sniper. Elaine racked a slug Into her shotgun and blasted a ant to bits. Elaine put her shotgun Into another ant's mouth then said, "Eat this you asswipe," then she pulled the trigger. It no longer had a head. "Geez Elaine," Darren said. They moved on until they came to an area with just one way through. Behind them there was two way one was blocked by some giant ants. The ant blockade burst Into flames and became a pile of ash as Red spun his revolver on his finger and put It back Into Its holster, reloading It In the process. Mike and Red walked over and met up with Darren and Elaine. The four walked down the tunnel Into a big room. There was an even bigger ant than the others In the middle of the room. It rose up and roared at them, but nothing could be heard. "Oh Thermosess may your light shine down and give us the strength to overcome this demon," Mike chanted to himself. "Get It together dumbass," Elaine said to him as she loaded then racked buckshot. She charged forward at her opponent dodging and ducking It's legs and pincers. Red smirked and charged at this large beast who was distracted by one of his companions. Darren got to the back of the room to line up a shot on his prey. Mike started randomly firing at It's legs In an attempt to cripple this demon. Red took out his combat knife and climbed ontop the beast for a stab In the head. Elaine was blasting away bits of flesh off of her opponent. With each pump of her shotgun she got angrier and angrier at It not dying already. Darren lined up some shots and took out an eye. In the moment of pain his prey shook and jumped around knocking Elaine back and Red off of It, his knife lodged Into Its back. Mike's eyes widened then he fired at one If Its legs making It fall over. Red hurried over and got ontop, ripped his knife out, then he plunged It Into the beasts head. The ant thrashed around for a bit as Red started cutting a wider hole In the head. Red shoved his knife Into It's brain killing It and breaking his knife as the beast fell over and he hit the ground. "Elaine sweetie are you okay?!" Darren asked In a panic, holding her In his arms. "I'm fine you big loaf," Elaine said to him. Darren hugged her close. Mike smiled at them. Red walked over. "Is everyone okay and are your gas masks In tact? Everyone check each other's gas masks for cracks," Red said. They all checked each other. Everyone was fine. The three guys helped Elaine get back to the entrance dispite her telling them not to. They got to the small camp oustide the zone and layed Elaine down on a bed to be examined for Injuries. The three guys went back In to scout for tech. Red went to cut open the corpse of the beast to see If he can find anything. He got to It and grabbed the hand of his knife that still and some of the blade on It and started cutting the underbelly of the beast open Its guts spilt out on the floor where they landed melted abit. When he cut open the stomach and few things fell out. First was a big orange canister that was spewing out gas, next was a few small crystals, next was a case of some kind. He jammed his knife Into the hole the gas was coming out of on the canister then he gathered the other stuff then left. Mike and Darren could only find metal. Red went Inside the tent and left the case and crystals on a table, then he put a glass dome over them. Red grabbed a shovel then went back outside. Cryn walked Inside the tent. Elaine was laying In a bed and there was a doctor sitting on a chair next to her. "Hey Kid," Elaine said. Cryn look over and smiled. "What happened to you?" Cryn asked. "Eh just a small scrape, the guys are just over reacting cause I'm a girl," Elaine replied with. Cryn looked at the table. "Ooh pretty crystals why are they In a glass dome?" Cryn asked. "To protect from radiation now please back away," the doctor said. Cryn backed up from the table. "Sorry sir," Cryn said as she bowed respectfully. Cryn left the tent and went back outside to Lili.

It was night now. The gas cloud around the zone had completely dissappeared now. Everyone had tents set up and they were all asleep but one. Cryn got up and snuck out to the doctor's tent. When she arrived to this world she felt a surge of power within her and those crystals made her feel even more powerful when she was close to them. Imagine what It must feel like to touch them. She came Inside silently. Looking around the room there was the table with the case and the crystals, a table with medical equipment, the bed the doctor was sleeping In with a night stand next to It with a shotgun resting there. She quietly lifted the glass case then bagged the crystals In her pocket, put the glass case back down then snuck out and back to her tent. With Lili being the only other person In the tent Cryn took the crystals out of her pocket and sat there holding the crystals watching as they shined and gleamed In her hands. She was fascinated by their sparkle. A noise was heard outside which made Cryn quickly put them back Into her pocket then she layed down. Outside Red got up and checked on Cryn and Lili. Then he closed the tent flaps and walked to a tree and sat next to It staring down at the zone that was down the hill from the camp. A slight breeze blew In. Red ruffled his grey hair a bit. He stare out at the mountains In the distance. The Diamond's mountains. Their lookout tower was on one of the high mountain tops. A little light could be seen. Red scoffed In disgust. "The Diamonds treat everyone like they are below them. They think so highly of themselves but are secretly scared that everyone's gonna rise against them. Fuckin cowards," Red said to himself. "Language," a feminine voice called out from behind him. "Your kinda loud," a masculine voice called out followed by the feminine voice going, "ah" In response to the masculine voice. Red turned around to see Glen and Cryn standing behind him. Glen had a big grin on his face while Cryn had a small smile. Glen and Cryn sat next to Red. "So who are the Diamonds?" Cryn asked. "The mountains over there," Red responded. "Hiding In mountains? Sounds like dwarves to me," Glen said with a chuckle. Red had a puzzled look on his face. Cryn giggled then said, "your right It does sound like dwarves." Red looked at them. "What are dwarves?" Red asked. "Tiny men with Impressive beards and strength who live In mountains, they are cool," Glen said. "So small and adorable," Cryn said before squeeling. Red and Glen smiled. Cryn layed down In the grass and stared at the stars. "Huh why do those stars look like?" Cryn asked "uhm like?" Red layed down next to her and looked up. "A turtle, Its the only constellation that appears on this part of the land. I heard that near the Spade's cave you can see a crown and In the badlands south of here there's a wolf constellation," Red said. Glen layed down then said, "hey It does kinda look like a turtle." Glen looked at his watch. "Still doesn't work. Its still stuck at the time It was before the chandelier dropped," Glen said. "Welp I better get to bed," Glen got up and entered Lili's tent. Cryn layed her arms and head on Red's chest. "Stiff chest," she said before dozing off. Red picked her up, went Into Lili's tent and set her down onto her sleeping bag. Glen was In Lili's arms with a soft smile on his face. Red left the tent and walked back to the tree then sat down. "He found his happy place," Red said with a tear In his left eye.

Cryn sat In red stained grass there was bodies all around her. The sky was a blood red. There was fog all around her and It was especially thick coverage Infront of her. Out of the fog she saw a smile she's never seen before. A smile made out of nightmares and children's tears. The smile started getting closer. Cryn screamed and tried to crawl away but her legs were all but little stumps and her hands were on the ground cut off from her body. She screamed In pain as she saw a white dress then an axe come down onto her face. Cryn awoke In her tent screaming. Lili jumped up to check on her. Glen jumped up and ran out the tent before, Red ran In holding his Revolver up. Glen came back In after holding a shovel. "What happened?" Red demanded. Cryn was breathing heavily. "J-just a n-n-nightmare," Cryn muttered. Red lowered his revolver, took the shovel from Glen and left. Glen walked In and sat next to Lili. It was the next morning. The teams were to transfer their loot to the two king's outpost. Everyone left the tent but Cryn. She asked them to give her space. She looked Into her pocket and saw that the crystals were gone. She looked around for them but no luck. Finally she felt something on the backside of her wrist on her right arm. She looked and she saw a bump on her arm. Cryn moved her sleeve up. She saw them, all the crystals were now a big crystal mishap that was buried Into her wrist. She tried pulling It out but only felt pain. They were stuck In her arm. She covered up her arm then went outside, everyone was gone besides Darren who was chopping wood and Lili who was resting on the ground below a tree. "Oh hey there little red, your finally awake," Darren said. "I was told to stay behind and make sure the both of you were alright,"

Darren shoved the axe Into a stump then took Cryn's sleeping bag tent, rolled It up, then he started taking the tent down. Cryn went around the tent picking up any mess they left behind. After they both finished cleaning up, Cryn went over to Lili and woke her up. The three traveled back to the outpost. Cryn looked around and saw Red entering the kings tent. A few moments later he ran out yelling, "BASTARD, YOU DAMN TRAITOR!!" just then a few of the people who joined the parties took out guns and pointed at every Individual who was named earlier. Some more people popped out of bushes with guns. Some guys In suits grabbed Cryn and brought her to the kings tent. Red tried to race In, but was knocked over the back of the head collapsing to the ground. Inside the tent Cryn was horrified by the sight she saw. The King of Clubs layed dead on the floor. He was on his back and there was green stuff coming out of his mouth which was burning and corroding and skin that can Into contact with It. His chest where his heart Is was blown open and the green stuff was bubbling up and leaking out of his chest. There was a still beating heart sitting on a plate In the middle of a table In the middle of the room. The King of Hearts had a bloody left hand with his ring fingernail being long, sharp, and leaking with the green stuff. Cryn threw up onto the ground. The two guy who grabbed her stepped back as she vomited three times before stopping. Cryn coughed then grabbed the edge of the table and wiped her mouth then she turned to look at the two guys. She looked sick. A few bullets rained through the tent. The King of Hearts hid under the table, the two guys were killed. Cryn put her arms up as a red glow surrounded her. The King of Hearts watched from under the table. A crystalline bubble of sorts formed around her protecting her. Once the bullets stopped the bubble went away and Cryn collapsed. The King crawled out and grabbed her. She started to try to kick away but was too weak to fight back. Glen and Red ran In and point guns at the King. "Let her go you bastard?" Red yelled. "Just shoot me, even If you do It won't help I've already told the Diamonds what has gone on here, you can't stop the end of the world," the King said. Elaine ran In and kicked him In the face a few times then grabbed Cryn. In a rush Red put his gun away, grabbed Cryn away from Elaine, then rushed out of the tent while holding her. "R-red? Is that you? Are we In heaven? I'm glad It's you I'm here with, I've been wanting to tell you. I love you Red, let's spend the rest of our afterlife together, Cryn mumbled Into Red's ear before falling asleep. "I heard yah kid, mabye someday when your older and when we are out of this messed up world," Red said. There was yelling coming from behind him, but he didn't stop, he just kept running off Into the distance.