Lost In The Desert

Tyler looked up. "I hated drawing maps the most. How am I supposed to know which dune is the dune marked on this?" he grumbled. "I will just follow the directions on the map. But the problem is coming back to the original location. The Connector is not allowing me to save the coordinates of this location."

Larson took a close look and found that Tyler's supplies were nowhere close to his. He frowned and moved the map around to see what could be done. "Remember that you need to come to the dune with three contours."

Each contour was marked 100 meters. So this dune was 300 meters above sea level. The other dunes had different contour patterns. This gave Tyler some hope.

"Just in case… Uncle, let me add you as an in-game friend. Then I can locate you if I am lost." He happily hummed as he found the option. But to his shock, this function didn't work!

[You can only add another seeker as your friend if you are Level 4 or above. Please try again when you reach Level 4.]

"What did it say?" Larson asked. He had gauged from the sour expression that Tyler had failed. Tyler told him what the game said.

"You're on your own then. You trapped me here, I hope the desert traps you," Larson said before going his merry way.

He heard the wails of Tyler resonating in the desert. "Uncle! Please don't leave me!" he cried.

Camping was a fun family activity. Until you were living off the grid or camping in extreme conditions. Mountaineers and soldiers had to build a shelter in such conditions all the time. While Larson had never been a soldier, he had lived his life on the edge, from one adrenaline rush to the next. Rock climbing, cliff-jumping, mountaineering, cross-country biking. He had done it all in his lifetime.

The idea of camping on the sand just made him feel itchy. Sure, a short time on the beach was fine. But sleeping with sand, letting it get everywhere: inside the tent, sleeping bag, and clothes? Even the food! That was not his idea of fun.

This condition was super-challenging.

On his way, Larson found a tarp, supplies to make a make-shift tent, and a sleeping bag. The condition of the supplies was not stellar, but it would do for now. He was sure they wouldn't stay in this place for long.

He easily found the landing spot and threw down the heavy supplies. Now, the real issue arose. Camping on the sand was primarily different because the ground was soft. It was difficult to anchor items down with regular pegs.

He pulled out the pegs he had seen and inspected them. They looked rusted but the stakes were not made of metal. It seemed that the dark storm had changed a lot more than he had anticipated. He pointed the Connector at it and received no information.

<Tent Stake | No anomalous characteristics found.>

He sighed and started to build the tent. He was quick paced so he moved into the shelter and waited for Tyler to come back. From the sun in the sky, there were still a couple of hours left before sundown.

Feeling bored, he even made a toilet section at a distance from the tent.

<Task Complete: Find Materials to Make a Shelter>

<Rank: Civilian>

<Experience: 15 | Health: 15>

—

[Congratulations! You have advanced to Level 2!]

Sounds of fireworks appeared and Larson hummed in boredom.

He got bored and looked through Connector, familiarizing himself with the technology. Even though an hour had passed, Tyler didn't come back. They had left at the same time. Larson had retried supplies, made everything, and then waited for a long time but the other didn't come back.

A thought flashed in his mind.

'Did he get lost?' Or worse! 'He encountered a monster and got hurt!'

He was quick to move out of the tent. He had nothing to protect himself with, all the supplies had been to make the shelter. Not even a bag to collect things was left. So, empty-handed, Larson ventured into the vast desert to find his nephew.

He remembered the general direction of the supplies. He must have reached the items at least… where he went after that…

He kept an eye on the map and got to the general area. He was slowly losing hope by the time it was half an hour to sundown. When the sun went down, there was only darkness in the desert. If he didn't find Tyler before then, the kid would be spending the rest of the night in the bitter cold. Or he would bleed to death because the stupid game claimed to be 100% immersive.

"TYLER!"

He kept calling the name again and again.

If there were monsters waiting to eat him lurking in the shadows, his screams were a beacon for them to find him easily. If there were players who heard it, they promptly kept to themselves.

A small cry came from far away. "Uncle! Save me!"

He sounded like an insect, but it could be from hunger or fear. Larson lurched forward, his feet sinking into the soft sand, making it hard for him to move fast.

He found the plump dumpling curled up, plopped on the sand.

He was old and the day's labor had left him struggling for breath. "This is in the opposite direction of the landing area. How did you get here?"

"I saw another player. The guy threatened to rob me so I ran away. And I got lost." He became quiet for a while before explaining more. "Really, I remembered the three rings, but there were quite a few of those around here."

Larson sighed before extending his hand. "This is why I asked you to accompany me on those trips."

"Those were too extreme for me!" Tyler protested.

"And living in a post-apocalyptic game alongside monsters wasn't?"

They trudged in silence back to their landing area. Tyler kept close to him once the sun fully set, shrouding the desert in darkness. The wind sounded demonic and the dunes looked like monsters inching closer to swallow them up. Tyler shuddered at the chill.

Larson navigated them through the darkness and back to the camp. The tent was visible in the moonlight.

"I need to make the tent," Tyler said in a voice akin to the buzzing of a fly.

"It doesn't have a time limit. Sleep tonight. You can make the shelter when the sun comes up." Larson was gruff.

Throughout the night, they kept their ears out for monsters and players. Neither slept on their first night in this strange but fascinating game.