On the run.

Chimsy used all her remaining strength to get her newfound companions to safety.

She knew she was running on fumes, but she had to get her friends to safety.

She focused all her energy on the ash hawks, willing them to fly faster, to put as much distance between themselves and the sky serpent as possible.

The ash hawks responded, their wings beating fiercely as they soared through the sky.

Chimsy's vision blurred more and her body trembled with exhaustion, but she refused to give up.

She could feel her energy dwindling, almost reduced to nothing.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Chimsy had struggled so much with the energy left in her that it felt as though she was pulling the world all by herself.

She then used the last bit of energy in her to will the ash hawks to land.

The birds touched down gracefully, their wings folding against their sides as they settled onto the ground.

Chimsy let out a sigh of relief, her body sagging against Dae-su's.

She felt her consciousness slipping away, her vision fading to black.

In the great library, her story was paused but she wasn't dead yet, but one could almost think that she was threading on the line between unconsciousness and death.

As her eyes closed, Dae-su wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

She had tried her utmost best and now we were left to tend for ourselves.

Chimsy's succumbing to unconsciousness left us exposed to the elements.

Even she was exposed to the elements.

The moment she lost consciousness the connection between her and the ash hawks was severed and they all fell to the ground completely motionless with no master to command them.

But that wasn't even the problem.

Our troubles were far from over.

The scorching heat of the planet bore down on us, relentless and unforgiving.

The baby and I were exposed, especially due to the fact that we were the most vulnerable to the elements in this desolate planet.

The baby, sensing the extreme heat, began to stir. Its tiny face contorted in discomfort, and a faint cry escaped its lips.

The rocky terrain stretched out before us, barren and unforgiving.

There was nothing to reduce the scorching infernal heat.

Dae-su Han, still holding Chimsy's limp form, suffering for discomfort.

His body organs were slowly beginning to melt, his soul still burning but with a fierce intensity.

He could withstand the heat but something strange was going on in his body.

Something that didn't cause him pain but didn't bring him a pleasant sensation either and couldn't even be ignored.

I was powerless against the elements, against the planet's molten core and broken rock surface.

The heat was suffocating and crushing.

I felt my own strength waning, my body weakening.

I still had much energy left but what help could that even be for me.

How long would we walk before we could find the building that is the gateway out of this hell?

At that moment I started contemplating the real importance of this whole thing?

Was it really worth it to go through all that just to escape a monotonous and boring existence?

The baby's cries grew louder, more insistent.

I knew I had to keep it safe, to protect it from this unforgiving world. But how? I looked around, desperate for a solution, but there was none to be found.

Sweat dripped down my face, stinging my eyes as I gazed out at the endless expanse of rock and sand.

The baby's cries pierced the air, a constant growing reminder of our desperate situation.

We all knew we had to keep moving, but we were all burdened.

Chimsy couldn't move on her own because she was unconscious.

I took a deep breath, trying to think clearly through the haze of heat exhaustion.

The infernal planet was sucking the life out of my body.

I felt my energy waning, my legs trembling beneath me.

Jackson Lee came forward, took Chimsy from Dae-su Han's arms and lifted her into his arms.

"Let's go. " He said.

There was really nothing else left to do. We were lost.

For all we knew we could be going back to the place we started the journey from.

The planet had no special landmark given its nature.

I took a step forward, my bare foot scraping against the rough ground.

I had since discarded the shoe that the great library had given this body when it initially came to Earth.

The soles of my foot were filled with sores.

As we walked, the rocky terrain seemed to stretch on forever.

No oasis in sight, no refuge from the heat.

I felt like we were walking through a furnace, the flames licking at our heels.

The baby's cries grew hoarse, its tiny body trembling with exhaustion.

I stumbled, my foot catching on a hidden rock.

Dae-su caught me, his grip firm as he pulled me upright.

I nodded, grateful for his support.

We couldn't give up, not yet.

We had to keep moving, no matter how impossible it seemed.

I felt like we were walking through a never-ending nightmare, with no escape from the heat.

But I knew we had to keep going.

We had to find a way out of this hellhole, no matter what it took.

As we trudged through the endless expanse of rock and sand, our bodies weakening with the passage of time, we stumbled upon two figures in the distance.

Dae-su Han's eyes squinted, trying to make out any features, but the heat haze distorted his vision.

My whole being was filled with joy instantly.

The two figures had long spotted us before we saw us. Maybe we weren't totally helpless ...

As we drew closer Dae-su Han and Jackson Lee confirmed what they had seen earlier.

They were as ecstatic as I was.

It felt liberating to find other humans except from us in the desolate planet where hopelessness was so quick to find than hopefulness.

The two were survivors, like us, but they seemed different.

They weren't just ordinary people who seemed to wander into us, in this massive planet.

They were a part of a larger group; a vital part at that.

They played the part that two of Chimsy's undead minions had played; scouts.

They made sure their group had no unnecessary encounter with creatures of the desolate planet.

One of them, a woman with short, spiky hair, turned invisible, reappearing a few feet away.

The other, a tall, lanky man, sprinted towards us with incredible speed.

"Who are you?" Jackson Lee asked.

The woman materialized beside us, a hint of a smile on her lips. "We're part of a larger group. We've been on this together since we entered this scenario. You guys aren't the first wanderers we've met since."

The man, whose name was Luis Garcia nodded and said "We're basically scouts."

Dae-su Han stared at them in awe. "How do you...how do you survive the heat? Is it part of your abilities? "

The woman gestured to a symbol on her arm. "We have buffs, given by our group's leader. They protect us from the heat, allow us to move undetected."

"That's incredible. Can you help us?" I said. I knew about them but I had no idea that we would ever bump into them.

The man nodded. "We can take you to our group. We have food, water, shelter. We can help you escape this place."

Jackson Lee's eyes lit up with hope. "Let's do it."