8 – New Life

Bonnie's machine gun fire continued to echo while Ciara's sword grew brighter.

And those monsters are getting closer.

"Cira!!!" Bonnie is getting desperate.

Finally, the super soldier swung her sword three times to form a triangular pattern. Pieces of root fell off, and she kicked the part she had slashed at until it came loose.

"Come on!" She shouted while passing through the hole with me.

"We don't have much time, Bonnie!" I added.

The armored girl backed away while continuing to shoot, then jumped into the hole just as the roots regenerated.

"F*ck!" She cursed because the bag on her back was entangled by the roots. Her body was quickly sucked backward.

"Save her, Ciara!" I gave the order. "If Bonnie gets tangled up, freeing her will be hard!"

Ciara chopped up the roots, but her sword wasn't glowing anymore. So the weapon can only be a sharp metal plate. Those roots could easily grow again.

And Bonnie's body sucked deeper and deeper.

"Slash the bag!" I exclaimed.

The super soldier woman made the bag split open, and the contents scattered. Bonnie fell forward.

The roots then closed the hole in the gate.

"Ah…." Bonnie turned around, looking at the various types of food, broken water bottles, and other necessities strewn across the floor. Most of those things were destroyed by Ciara's sword.

"Sorry." I approached the armored girl. "We have no other choice."

"It's okay." Bonnie picks up a food container that is cut in half. The paste that was in it fell out. "You guys just want to help me. I'm the one who should be thanking you. Besides, there's still some left…. Well, I really want to eat this pasta...."

"Guys…." Ciara hissed. "This…."

Bonnie and I looked up at the steep path leading out, immediately seeing a series of many roots. However, there was something different in those things.

Many egg-like things the size of human bodies were stuck to those roots. Their shells were white and slightly transparent, so I could see the silhouettes of the embryos inside.

The silhouettes give a disgusting and creepy impression.

"My friends and I passed the other way a few days ago." Bonnie's voice started to shake. "So we didn't find any of this back then. The part we went to wasn't as bad as this."

"Are you able to use your sword again, Ciara?" I asked.

The super soldier shakes her head. "Unfortunately, this weapon and my outfit must be charged first to function properly again. But, basically, we just have to wait."

"Just wait?" Bonnie chimed in. "You don't need to connect it to a power source or use sunlight?"

"Nope." Ciara shrugged. "This is new technology. I don't know how it works, though."

I did see an empty bar on Ciara's sword, boost devices, and outfit starting to fill up, albeit very slowly.

"We have to get out of here fast." I continued. "Before we met the monster guarding these eggs. You guys are too tired to fight, right?"

"At least let me sort this out first." Bonnie collects scattered items. "I don't want to lose any more pasta."

***

We managed to escape that military base without significant hindrance, apart from hiding from a mantis monster for a few moments. Right now, we're in an abandoned building, lighting a bonfire and warming ready-to-eat food.

"You really aren't cold, even when you're just wearing that, huh?" Bonnie, just back from relief herself, commented. "It's quite cold, you know?"

It should be summer now, but the emergence of the roots of evil is disrupting the earth's climate.

"As I said, it can withstand cold air to a certain temperature," Ciara responded. "So… Hey, why are you going to wear that E.E.S again? I'm already there. I can stand on guard. My sword, energy shield, and boost devices are pretty much filled up. You can take a break from wearing that armor."

Yes, the bars on those three objects have indeed started to fill up, even though they are still half full.

Bonnie froze for a moment, then headed for the bonfire. "Well, that's true. I'm tired of being at E.E.S for days."

"Here, please eat." Smiling, Ciara gave the tiny girl a food container filled with freshly warmed spaghetti.

"Thanks... Why only one?" Bonnie looked at the food in red sauce. "Ah, you want us to save on food…."

"No, not at all." Ciara interrupted. "My metabolism is very efficient, so I only need to eat once a day."

"That's so convenient." Bonnie used a plastic fork to eat her food, then spoke to me with a full mouth. "So, what should we do after this, Axel? I already consider you a leader and not just a companion drone."

I was a little surprised by her words, but it seems that it can't be helped. I was the one who made the decisions that got us out of that terrible place.

"Well…." I thought for a moment. "We should find a place with few roots, or even none at all. The fewer roots there are, the less likely monsters will appear."

"Do you know that place, Axel?" Bonnie chewed again.

"I have no data regarding the map of this place." I sighed. One of the main features of the Axiom project is the auto-generated map. So, players will always get a different map in every gameplay. "But I'm sure we can find one. Then, we can join another colony or make our own home."

"Ah, I can't wait for that." Ciara's lips curved into a warm smile. "I will continue to follow you, master Axel."

I'm just copying a pattern that Project Axiom players usually do, so it's nothing special. But with my knowledge, I want to keep these two girls alive.

We haven't been together long, but I already feel close to them. Maybe this happened because I had real interaction with them after years of confining myself in that cramped room.

Does this mean that my life in this place is better than my previous life?