Behind schedule
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Tias POV
Once we were done eating Scott shooed us off to find the hut we wanted to sleep in saying he would clean up the dishes.
I set off towards the first hut I saw and the furthest hut from the fire. It brought a slight chill being so far away, but there were no people.
Opening the door I was surprised at how much actually fit inside of the small hut. Two hammocks hung in a V shape almost meeting at the back of the hut, a small circular table sat in the middle with two cushions on the floor that seemed to serve as chairs There was a small chest only about two feet long, and a foot wide on either side of the door. A hook sat on the wall above.
Deciding to sleep on the left side I hooked my backpack on the small curved stick that poked out of the wall and slipped my jacket off hanging it on the hook as well. Wandering over to the hammock I paused for a second as I was unsure of how exactly I was supposed to get into the hammock.
My thinking was cut short by a knock on the door. Confused since I had seen the rest of the group walk the other way, I opened the door.
"Hi?"
Still confused I greeted Mae wondering why she wasn't in a hut getting ready for bed.
"The rest of the huts are full, is this one?"
"Oh; nope come on in before you get cold" I ushered her inside and she put her bag and coat down the same as I.
I walked over to the hammock and carefully climbed in. Despite the struggle, eventually, I somehow managed to not only enter the hammock but also climb under the blankets that were resting in the hammock.
Eventually, the gentle swaying of the hammock and the distant crackle of the fire lulled us to sleep.
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Tias POV
"MORNIN SUNSHINES"
The loud yell along with the bang that rang through the room caused me to jolt upwards. Unfortunately, I didn't stop and I continued over until my hammock deposited me on the floor in a blob of blankets.
I sighed trying to sink further into the pile of blankets that was now on the floor.
"Ah ah a none of that get up, it's gonna snow so we've got to move early"
My pile of blankets was shuffled around so my head was poking out like a swaddled baby.
"Come on, we've only got about an hour before it starts snowing."
I heard a groan on the other side of the room and I peeled my eyes open to see Scott holding Mae up as she attempted to remove herself from the hammock.
"Good everyone's awake breakfast will be on the go, we are still only in a place the sentinels don't search at night so we gotta move before dawn"
The sun isn't even up at least it was up before we left yesterday
"This place is hidden but not enough up up up"
With the rude awakening, Scott left as fast as he had come with the door clicking shut behind him. Grumbling, I stood up shuttering at the loss of warmth, and trudged over to my backpack. Grabbing out a change of clothes and the holster for my knife (the knife which I was never actually given) I quickly changed. After trying unsuccessfully to shove my shoes on without tying them I gave in and untied them before shoving them on. I grabbed my coat and put it on before hauling my backpack onto my back and exiting the hut. Mae mumbled a goodbye as I left the sound muffled by the sweatshirt she was pulling over her head.
Once I was outside I was greeted with a cold breeze. It seemed like I had only been in the hut for a few minutes. Outside was still dark and there was still smoke rising from the fire pit however there was no fire. There was almost no visibility, the deck looked much less welcoming in the dark. The warm light of the fire was replaced with an inky black that seemed to consume everything in its path. The beautiful glowing flowers were closed and the moonlight dappled some of the upper leaves unable to reach fully into the base.
I started shuffling forward trying not to trip over anything in the dark. I heard Mae exit the hut and shuffle up behind me doing the same to avoid face-planting in the dark.
Eventually, we made it to the fire pit where everyone else was arriving as well. There were still some coals smoldering in the fire pit which provided some kind of warmth and light but it would be futile in much else.
The group was soon huddled by the fire pit hoping the coals would magically start to provide more warmth. That unfortunately didn't happen.
Scott appeared out of the darkness and beckoned us toward him, keeping silent out of what seemed like a habit. He led us up to the far side of the structure where a hut hugged one of the main support trees that came through the deck. Instead of entering he walked around the back and revealed a staircase that looped up around the tree.
Of course, there is no freaking railing what is it with these people not everyone has the balance of a god
I heard a sigh of defeat behind me and Scott seemed to chuckle.
"Why am I always in front?"
Scott turned and started up the stairs and we followed.
Periodically he would stop and open one of the glowing flowers, delicately pulling back the petals to reveal a much duller glow than normal.
"It's morning, I watched them close this morning so they are sleeping right now that's why they are so dull"
Scott's words would have shattered the calm atmosphere if they had been much louder but somehow his words blended into the sounds of the forest, seeming to flitter away on the wind as we continued the climb.
It was too dark to see much further than a couple of feet in front of you: the leaves definitely didn't help either.
Eventually, we made it to our destination, the tree had thinned significantly compared to the bottom but it was still in no way dangerously thin. There was a small platform with a braided cord securely looped around a set of pegs that wrapped around the tree with dozens of overly complicated knots that were just as beautiful as they were sturdy. The cord was 6 other 3 stranded cords braided together which made it look more like an art project than anything else. In the moonlight, you could see the cords were many different blues and purples which yet again made the cord look just as pretty as it looked sturdy.
A knock sounded from somewhere next to me and Scott rounded the tree and pulled open a door that I didn't know was there. Amelia popped out and handed each one of us a harness.
"Hope nobody is scared of heights because this is way worse than the bases"
Scott chuckled and shook his head at Amelia's comment and started explaining how the harnesses worked and what to expect.
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"So we're gonna hook this on the rope, jump off, and hope we don't fall to our death"
"Kailey as Scott has said the 20 other times you asked this question this is completely safe and they have done it may many times"
Mae dragged her hand down her face exasperated. Kailey had been hooked to the cord first apparently not understanding what was happening and so when she was told to jump she froze and then proceeded to stall. We've been trying to convince her for 10 minutes we even had Taylor go and she's still standing here. Scott and Amelia were off to the side and Amelia was clearly not happy.
"She's gonna get us behind schedule"
"Give her time she'll do it"
"She has asked the same question 22 times"
"So we're gonna hook this on the rope, jump off, and hope we don't fall to our death"
"23"
"Fine you can talk to her but don't be mean"
Scott crossed his arms as the two walked over to Kailey. Amelia gently shuffled Mae out of the way and took her plaque behind Kailey.
"Hold your breath"
Kailey took a deep breath and held it. There were about thirty seconds before Amelia suddenly pushed Kailey off the platform. Kailey disappeared into the black with only a sharp gasp probably from lack of air.
"I did not give you permission to do that Amelia"
"Never told me I couldn't, you just told me to not be mean"
Scott sighed in defeat and hooked Sebastian to the rope as Amelia walked off to put her harness on, she was the only person without one.
When I looked back to where Sebastian Was standing he was gone and so was Mae so it was my turn.
The second I looked over the edge after Scott hooked my harness to the cord I instantly knew why Kailey didn't want to jump. Even if I was jumping into the inky black abyss that would be better than being able to faintly see the outline of the trees from the sun that was stretching its arms from below the horizon.
"Don't make me push you too"
"Nope I got it"
I held my breath just like Kailey was instructed and jumped gasping as I whizzed down into the leaves.
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The ride wasn't long but it definitely lasted longer than expected.
I whizzed through trees, the occasional leaf smacking me in the face with the spite of an angry moose. It was mostly dark, but the early rays of the sun started stretching across the sky reaching from behind the horizon and dappling the top layers of the trees. The ride only lasted about 4 minutes But the sun took advantage of that poked its head over the horizon and bathed the world in gold.
As I neared the end I could see all my friends standing on a platform much like the one at the other base. But this time there were two cords mine and another going off in another direction.
"Don't forget your break!"
I had almost forgotten what Scott had said
"Use your break when you can see the end or you're gonna get a face full of tree and that's not fun. Trust me, I've done it a few times. It's honestly a wonder I haven't broken my nose."
Quickly locating the break, which was a red cord dangling off the mechanism that attached us to the cord.
Then I pulled it and I slowed down but not quite enough. I hit the tree, not my face or anything just my legs but it still scared the crap outta me.
I used the pegs in the tree that the cord was tied around to hoist myself up and unclip myself from the cord.
The group chuckled at my clumsy landing but assured me that Mae was worse because she couldn't grab her break so she hit the tree at almost full speed. A chuckle went around the group as I pulled some leaf bits outta my hair. The surrounding area was beautiful and there was a large cliff that was accentuated by the large tree we were standing on. I was thankful that this platform had railings unlike the other one, yet disturbed that there was no way to get down. However, even if we did get down the tree we are on sitlts right on the edge of the cliff and i can't even see how far down it goes because of the mist.
It was only a couple seconds from my landing before the whizing sound of another person coming down the cord filled the air. Scott could be seen in the distance he was holding the breakdown already and came to a calm controlled stop about a foot from the tree, calmly unhooked himself, and moved out of the way. I nearly jumped out of my skin when Amelia hit the tree at full speed. She was like some kind of cat sideways on the tree and it didn't seem like she used her break at all.
She reached out and unhooked her harness from the cord and moved to jump down but stopped. She pulled one foot off the tree and unhooked some of the straps, pulling off her boot before jumping down and landing on one foot. The boot on the tree looked to have metal on the sole.
"This cliff is the reason the sentinels stop exploration here, at least on-foot exploration. Drone exploration continues about the length of this next zipline and then the signal gets scrambled"
Scott explained as he hooked Kailey up to the next zipline. Kailey went to jump again but paused.
"Do not make me push you i won't let Amelia do it again but i will push you, she's right if we fall too far behind schedule our ride will leave, and we'll have to walk"
"I know, I know"
Amelia ripped her boot off the tree and strapped it back on. The metal teeth on the bottom glinting as she did.
Kailey took a deep breath and jumped, zipping down the cord. And the process continued with Taylor, Sebastian, Mae, and me. This time the ride was longer and it was probably longer due to the height of the tree and the cliff combined.
We landed on top of yet another platform suspended above the ground high in a tree. Once everyone arrived Scott and Amelia directed us to the door on the tree, opened a trap door on the floor and we climbed down. Patches of glowing moss and tiny flowers quietly lit the tree spread across the inside like a galaxy.
The climb wasn't very long and soon we were back on the outside of the tree walking down a set of stairs that spiraled down the tree. To my surprise there was no tree house and the stairs eventually stopped and ended with footholds carved into the tree to help us climb to the ground.
Being on the ground felt amazing, it had only been around ten maybe fifteen minutes of zip lining and climbing down the trees but it felt like we had been climbing for days. (on a technicality we had) The sun had risen above the horizon and now danced across the ground fiddling with the mist that still dappled the forest floor.
"Letts get going we've got two hours before our rides leave"
Amelia not so subtlety started shoving people in the direction of travel.
In this part of the forest, the trees were less dense however there were just as many bushes, rocks, boulders, grasses, and flower patches to make up for the trees. This part of the forest wasn't patrolled by the sentinels so none of the undergrowth had been mowed down.
At some point during our walk, I realized Amelia kept disappearing periodically but she would always come back.
Animals were also starting to appear small birds and hopping creatures that moved too fast to see skittered across the ground scampering here and there.
We crossed a small stream and followed another to a little cove in the hollow of a tree, small fish with frilly fins swam in the crystal water. We used the water to fill our water bottles and kept walking.
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Eventually, Scott put his hand up signaling us to stop. There was a large bush that could be mistaken for a poorly pruned tree blocking our way.
Behind the bush was a boulder that was probably as big as the entirety of district 9 not counting the massive underground tunnel system.
Scott pushed his way into the bush and a flock of birds all different bright blues and greens seemed to launch out of the bush, flying in every direction before grouping back together and hovering over the group in a large flock.
"Uh what is happening?" Mae gaped up at the birds as they hovered overhead.
A shrill whistle cut through the air and the birds flew into the bush disappearing from view.
"That did not help"
All of us were now standing awkwardly in front of this bush just staring at the leaves.
"Oh wow, hey geniuses walk through the bush we called off the birds"
"But there's a rock there?"
Kailey's statement sounded more like a question than a statement. I don't blame her though nothing is quite as it seems out here. An exasperated sigh came from the other side of the bush before a hand abruptly popped through the bush. Making everyone jump back. The hand was upright with the fingers and thumb pressed together to make a mouth.
"Come with me"
The hand moved as the voice spoke and then opened in a 'take my hand' gesture. Everyone glanced at each other trying to process what just happened. Eventually, the hand made a hurry-up gesture. So Mae stepped forward awkwardly standing in front of the hand and reaching forward.
Apparently, the hand was tired of waiting because the second Mae reached forward the hand lurched forward and yanked Mae into the bush with a yelp that echoed strangely. A second later the hand popped back out again and grabbed the next closest person Sebastian and pulled him into the bush as well. Kailey and I were standing too far back to reach so the hand just popped out of the bush and sat there waiting for us.
"I'm not gonna kill you they're fine"
"Yeah don't worry about us were fine"
I grabbed Kailey's arm before grabbing the hand. I was pulled forward with such force I think I flew for a second. The leaves and branches raked across my face leaving steaming skin behind. I peeled my eyes open when I came to a stop and looked around.
It was beautiful.