Chapter 10

The sun rises over the horizon for another day. I've calmed down a bit since last night, though if the guys are disrespectful enough to me, then I will kill them on the spot. The cat licks herself clean as I step out of the bedroom. None of the other guys seem to be awake at the moment, they must've passed out at some point last night while I was busy resting my eyes. So I guess that it will be just me today, which I assume can be good since I won't have to worry about them messing with me or trying to steal from me. I place a raw fish next to the cat and continue on my way out of the door. The monsters seemed to have all burned up under the sun far faster than ever before. Which is especially good since I won't have to worry about getting jumped by one out of nowhere.

The doors squeak as I open them, a calming breeze flows through my hair, dismissing any sort of nerves that I may have had just a minute before. Today is the day that I will check out the other side of Bryan's castle. I remember seeing some more double doors on two other sides of his wall. One set is between his farm and paddock, and the other is around a left corner, completely past his farm. Today, I've decided to adventure the one straight ahead, between his farm and paddock. I'm already well aware that there's a few large mountains past that way, so I'm sure that there must be some beautiful views and scenery somewhere around there.

The horses neigh and eat the hay inside of their stables as I sprint past them, their coats appear freshly brushed and recently washed. It's strange really, they're always clean but I never see any of the guys looking after them. Maybe I should take one of them with me, it'll help make things go much faster. Although, it can also be dangerous, for instance, what if I fall into a ravine that came out of nowhere. What if I have to cross a river or a lake, that'll be way too much of a hassle to drag them along behind me. It's not like I can ride them through the water either, especially since these horses don't look trained for that kind of stuff.

I continue onwards towards Bryan castle, watching as it rises higher in the sky as I grow nearer. The large cobblestone design towers over me like a golem engulfing an ant in its shadows. The berry bushes appear sharper than ever, corpses of zombies and wild animals stay stuck in its thorns. Blood drips down the fresh berries, soaking both the grass and the sweet fruits alike. A door to his wall is missing, though there seems to be no sign of where it could've possibly gone.

I step through and make my way up his staircase. I forgot to bring some food so I'll take some from him instead. Preferably some meat and maybe go through and take some of his crops too. I should also make a few loaves of bread as well, they do tend to be very filling.

The wolf joyfully runs up to me the second that I get through the door. I toss the little fur ball a small drumstick since that's the last bit of meat that I have. He gracefully catches the drumstick and chomps completely through the bone. The crunching, sniffing, and heavy breathing continues as I make my way over to Bryan's chests. There's quite a bit of new and useful supplies that I can use for this adventure, especially since I'm not entirely sure as to how long I'll be gone. Though, I'm probably not going to go too far out, after all, I didn't bring a bed with me and the ground is way too cold and hard to sleep on. Not to mention how dangerous it is to stay out at night, let alone sleep out in the open.

I finish raiding his chests, only taking five loaves of bread, a steak, three pork chops, two whole chickens, and some baked potatoes. Next I'll just grab some carrots and beetroots out of Bryan's farm, replanting the seeds, of course, I'm not a monster. As I go to exit the castle, I tear a chunk of pork chop off of the rest of the meat and toss it towards the wolf. He happily catches it, wagging his tail cheerfully as I leave the building and continue on towards the farm.

Clouds start to form overhead, though it doesn't appear that it will rain until either tonight or tomorrow. So I should be good for the time being. Though I absolutely hate being out during the rain, mainly because the sun isn't out to kill the horrifying monsters of the night. Even some of the steps on the staircase start to form moisture as I run down them, my shoes occasionally losing grip but promptly getting back on track before I manage to lose my balance and completely crack my skull open.

The grass even seems quite damp as well, it's far more difficult to tread through it despite it all being cut so short. The flowers seem to be healthier than before as well, even a few new daisies are growing through the ground. The animals in the paddocks bump into each other, watching me as I sprint by. The crops in the field blow in the slowly increasing breeze, relaxing amongst themselves in their own world of nature. Little bugs crawl and float about the potatoes, living their life with no worries in the world. The fence to Bryan's farm is loose, but just good enough to keep the larger pests out and away from the crops.

I carefully step through the vegetables, making sure not to destroy any of the crops or the foundation. Everything looks fully grown and ready for harvest, perfect. The carrots are large and girthy as I struggle to pull them out of the soil, these will certainly be helpful for my adventure. Maybe I should've brought a bed with me, after all, I do still have a chance to turn around and get one.

Nah, I'm sure that everything will be fine. After all, the chances of me coming by a village at a few points are pretty high. So I could just sleep there for the night then continue on my way. As long as I don't encounter only undead villages then I should be safe. Fuck, I sure fucking hope that I don't encounter any undead villages, them bitches could be scary-especially if you let your guard down. Those zombies will come up out of nowhere, even the daytime can just barely keep you safe.

I finish collecting and replanting all of the vegetables that I took and exit the farm, jumping completely over the low gate. The animals in the paddock push and shove each other, staring at me with ravenous faces as I waltz by them and towards one of the iron doors. Once I get far enough away from all of them, they finally disperse and go back to whatever they were doing before. The doors open wide once I step on the little squares, opening up a whole new world for me to adventure and raid. Maybe I could even build an entire city just to prove East Nation's superiority. We could have an entire fair and theme park with roller coasters while they'll be stuck on the outside, weeping to themselves, and wishing that they could live a life like us.

Finally, I step past the doors, continuing up over a hill and through a vast number of trees that together form a forest. It's not a very dense forest, but just enough to provide some cover from the direct sunlight and help keep you hidden to an extent. The land is beautiful and the grass is surprisingly short and easy to move through. There are some patches that are larger than others, but the majority of it is short and some are even covered in flowers. A variety of colours cover the forest floor as I sprint through it all, doing my best to ignore my allergies coming from all of the plants. My eyes water and vision dims as I rush past a few daisies, a heavy sneeze welling up inside of me.

I stop just in time as a large bee drifts past me, it's even more gigantic up close. I wouldn't be surprised if its eyes were even bigger than mine too. It lands inside of its nest that's just barely larger than it. I continue forward, still in amazement from that glorious experience. A stone mountain quickly finds its way into my vision, taunting me to climb to its summit. Actually, it will be a good idea for me to climb up it since it'll help me get a good look over the horizon and admire the view.

The air grows thinner as I climb higher, the rocks and boulders cut at my skin, allowing a slim stream of blood to exit my palms and stain the land below me. The red helps me leave my mark on the land, just in a more badass way than a wolf. I want a pet wolf. I made sure to bring some bones with me just in case if I do encounter a wolf that I might be able to tame. I'll finally be able to have a hunting buddy if I do.

My arms tense and my muscles become sore as I push myself up to the mountain top. A flattish, stone land covers my vision of the horizon. Sheep and llamas move in their own herds, the babies staying close to their mothers and not even acknowledging me as they eat at the rare little patches of grass that can be found up here. A booming waterfall slowly makes its way into my ears as I continue to run forward, towards what appears to be a cliff.

As I reach the edge and look over the horizon, the water continues to flow, rumbling annoyingly. There's another forest straight ahead, and the left and right of the lands are both separated by rivers that appear to go down pretty low due to erosion. Although, something catches my eye in the middle of the field. It's a horse, but completely unlike the ones I've ever seen before. It's probably just my eyes messing with me since it's in the distance, but it appears that the horse has no fur or skin. It's bright red and all I can see are its muscles, like the rest of it has been completely torn off due to radiation or some shit.

My curiosity leads me over to the waterfall, and I promptly leap off the edge. My hair flies wildly in the wind as I descend, my eyepatch holding on tightly. I manage to land inside of the water without hitting the ground, and I slowly swim my way to the safety of dry land. The air is chilling, making my entire body shiver as I pull myself out of the water. My breathing is jagged and heart racing as I lay on my back, thinking about how close I was to falling to my death. It would've been a nightmare to have to run the entire way here again, especially the climbing portion of it all.

My stomach rumbles harshly as I sit myself back up, pulling a steak and a chicken out of my pocket and gnawing on them. Just with all of that work alone I've already exhausted my entire system, hell I can barely even run.

With one last, thick swallow, I finish eating and my stomach promptly concludes its rumbles of greed and starvation. With a painful push back up to my feet, I wince as my blood continues to mix with the dirt and grime all around me. My legs wobble as the gravel under me slowly moves down the hill. My clothes turn freezing cold, despite the boiling hot sun beaming down above me. As I reach the top, I immediately catch sight of the horse and all it of skin-lacking glory. My legs begin to sprint and all of the thoughts of pain in my mind completely fade.

I stop right in front of it. It doesn't run or even become startled by my sudden presence and high levels of energy. It's true, my eyes really weren't messing with me. This horse really does lack skin and even fur. Its muscles are buff, and even appear impenetrable. It sniffs and attempts to eat at my hair like its hay, seeming joyous that there's another being around. I pull a carrot out of my bag and feed it to the magnificent creature, then soon continue on my way. Pondering about what other eccentric happenings will occur to me this adventure.