Keep Moving

But there was no time to ponder on this uncertainty.

"Keep moving!" Kaiser's face remained unflinching as he yelled out this order and turned to lead the way.

But nobody moved.

Kaiser turned with a furious expression.

"Keep moving!" He shouted again basically glaring at all of the members. They all flinched in response but after a short bout of hesitation, they all started to run.

I could see the facial expressions of all the members as I ran alongside them. There was Seamus, he seemed resolute. There was Hawk, he seemed teary. Pained. The others all held resolute or solemn expressions of their own as they ran without a hint of vigor.

The most impacted was none other than Rohawk. I was surprised he didn't trip up as he ran with his eyes full of tears. Rohawk was a middle-aged man, somehow the sight seemed rather… pitiful.

To see a grown man crying. I suppose I wasn't used to it given the environment I grew up in. Maybe that was what created this great sense of dissonance.

"You fuckers, run faster!" Kaiser was still not pleased, however. He was if anything even angrier.

Rohawk only looked up at Kaiser. He could only look up. his vision blurred by tears, and see the anger on the aged man's face. Kaiser also seemed to be looking at him as they kept on running through the tall grass.

"Kais-" Lytton who saw this was about to butt in but the words were left in his throat.

"I'm sorry" It was because Rohawk had apologized before Lytton had the opportunity to say anything. He swept away the tears and nodded solemnly while picking up the pace.

"It's good you understand! Now be quiet all of you!" Kaiser yelled which I found rather ironic while mustering some more strength and running towards the road.

It was a brief exchange and the impact should have been small but everyone seemed to have regained their energy. Though still holding serious or saddened expressions, all of them seemed to have learned something.

"Huh..." I was rather surprised. I figured that all of these people much older than myself would have experienced many things but they were surprisingly sentimental. It led me to believe that mafias were really just a big family. This one certainly suggested so.

As we continued to run for what felt like an hour, the sight of the snake and the lake was long since gone. There was nothing but grass and the road not too far off to the side.

"Rest up, but don't lower your guard" Kaiser said, and immediately all of the members fell down on their butts.

Even the most talented of athletes wouldn't be able to run for nearly an hour at full speed. We were all at the least altered stage three but that was still pushing the limits of what was capable.

As we waited in silence, not much happened. The cries of the mutant animals started to die down and the sight of the empty desolate road was still empty and desolate.

"Are we really going to Eden?" It was at this time that some of the members started to express their doubts.

Colt, as one of the younger people here, was particularly curious. I didn't know much about his background and history but judging by his reluctance chances were he had a family in Termina.

Kaiser sat on the ground in silence, he was pondering.

"Yes" After some deliberation, this simple yes was his response.

"Bu- But why!?" Colt said in exasperated confusion. I shot him a casual glance.

He clearly didn't think nicely of the place given how worked up he was. Was it possible that my previous judgment was wrong? Something stronger than familial bonds seemed to be keeping him away from the place.

"Should we head back to Termina then?" Kaiser said and asked. I personally couldn't say that was a bad idea.

Termina would surely have laxer security than Eden even if the possible entrances to the underground were more limited.

"Y- Yes…?" Colt blurted out clearly surprised that this question had been asked.

"Really? So we should miss this chance to explore and learn about our position in the hierarchy of life?" Kaiser then went ahead and something strange. Hierarchy of life.

I knew we placed at rock bottom but I supposed to these people that have never experienced modern liberties that might not have sunk in quite yet.

Rather than outright shoot down Kaiser's ridiculous reason, all of the members stole glances at each other. It seemed they were all curious and were gauging the attitudes of the others.

"But… how will we get in there?" Lytton was not resigned, but unfortunately, it seemed destiny had other plans.

BEEP BEEP

The previously desolate zone turned lively as two lights lit up the darkness and approached us. The military vehicle was coming at top speed full of recklessness.

SKREEE

The vehicle came to a sudden stop as what could only be Rook stepped on the breaks. I was not amused.

"Heya Folks, hahaha, need a lift?" Rook said with a stupid grin and his usual unbearable attitude.

"Are we going back to Termina?" Lytton asked hopefully.

"Wait…? You guys weren't headed to Eden?" Rook said taken aback. This made all of us in return be also taken aback.

"How did you know?" Seamus who had been quiet up to this point asked with suspicion.

"Don't sweat the small stuff, are you in or not?" Rook avoided the question and before Seamus could ask again Kaiser spoke up.

"Get in everybody" Kaiser's words caused some shock. But his words were absolute, we all started to enter the vehicle under Rook's cool gaze.

As we all settled into our previous spots, a gap was left.

"Oooh, we are down one huh. No wonder you were all-" Rook stopped. He slowly looked upwards.

"You really don't want to do that" He said looking back at Rohawk and the gun he pointed at him.

Click

"Keep your shitty words to yourself" Rohawk said in a gruff voice unlocking the safety on his weapon.

"Hehehe" Rook only laughed before sending Kaiser a glance. This caused Rohawk to also turn to him.

Kaiser's expression was calm and unconcerned. He hadn't said anything but Rohawk seemed to have understood the message.

"Tsk" Rohawk took back his weapon and sat back down properly, though angrily. The small episode was over.

Nevertheless, it was a fair reminder that Rook was not our friend. In the first place, how did he escape that giant snake? All of the military men should have been sent to deal with the giant snake, right?