Section 49: Conspiracy of Truth

-Aria POV-

Tristan and I managed to sneak in, we ended up in front of an old medium-sized shack. Surprisingly, the premise is clear from the guard's eyes. It seems like there's some ruckus on the other side, their eyes are no longer on us. This is a good chance for us to come out from our hiding place behind the bushes.

"Alright, this is our chance to sneak in the shack" Tristan signaled me. "We should stop hiding and sneak in".

I nodded to his suggestion, we make our way toward the shack next to us. When I was about to open the door, it's tightly locked with a white padlock. I sighed and leaned on the door with a heavy sigh.

"It's locked," Tristan added.

"No shit, I can see that" I groaned to Tristan's remarks.

Tristan ignored my sarcasm and proceeded to inspect the padlock with his keen eyes. He rummaged his jean pocket and found a pin inside. Tristan smirked in satisfaction as he tinkered the padlock with the pins he had in his jeans pocket.

"Oh, you can break in the padlock?" I asked Tristan.

"Yes, I broke into my younger sister's room once," he grinned.

"Uhh, why would you do that?" I thought to myself silently.

No matter, his personal life is none of my business. He tinkered with the padlock with his skilled hand, I waited for him to finish his business.

"That's it! I'm done with the lockpicking! Let's get in" Tristan tug my skirt.

"Alright, let's go" I nodded.

We got in swiftly, unnoticed by the enemies. Inside the shacks are a bunch of crafted weapons that I have never seen before. It looks like this shack is their weapon supplies, it's not as abundant as the Brave settlement weapon's room. Still, it's deadly to have these weapons left unattended.

"Why is it so quiet? Did we run into a trap or something?" I spoke nervously.

"I don't know, I had a bad feeling actually" Tristan sighed.

"Like what?".

"One of us got captured?" Tristan added nonchalantly.

"Hey! Don't say that! What if it happens!?" I growled.

"Fine then, I won't say anything" Tristan scowled.

The camp is quite different from what I expected, I thought there would be lots of scary children loitering around. Children carrying human meat or the sound of rattling bones, just like in horror movies. However, the camp looks quite fine and normal despite the rumors about this settlement being unsettling.

"By the way, this is out of topic" Tristan spoke out of nowhere as he checked the stack of weapons. "So you guys are officially a couple now? Ender and you".

My face reddened like a tomato instantaneously. How come Tristan could assume that way?

"Don't play dumb, I know that you guys sneaked out that night" Tristan grinned shabbily.

Tristan caught us red-handed, this is shameful indeed.

"You know?" I asked the teenage boy.

"Of course! And also Ender has this glittery gleam after you guys sneaked out! It's like all of a sudden he shines so brightly!" Tristan chuckled.

"You don't say" I sighed.

"Well, he certainly looks happy," Tristan smiled. "But what about the other guy?".

"What another guy?" I inquired about him.

"It's Joel, duh!" Tristan spoke mockingly. "Come on now, don't you realize he treasured you more than friends? I mean look at the way he protected you from those bastards who were about to hit you!".

"What are you talking about? We lived together and we depend on each other" I laughed. "But I have to admit that he's good husband material though".

"How so?" Tristan's eyes glimmered in excitement when I mentioned him being husband material.

"He cooked my favorite food? And he tried to balance my nutrients, just like an older brother" I added nonchalantly.

"Huh!? That's code pink! He likes you!" Tristan facepalmed himself. "He's attentive to your needs! It's code pink".

"What the heck is code pink?" I scowled at his comments.

"It means he likes you" Tristan whistled. "Subconsciously, it looks like he doesn't know his feelings as well".

"Uhh, what-".

Before we could continue our conversation, we heard loud cries in front of our shacks. It seems like there's a commotion on the other side. I exchanged glances with Tristan, signaling him to peek at the front door. Tristan opened the door slowly, leaving the gaps ajar. As soon as he peered outside, he gasped in surprise.

"What? What happened?" I asked Tristan.

"They caught Kallen and Joel," he panicked.

"They what?" I sighed. "How come? Well, that doesn't matter for now".

"We need to rescue them," Tristan stuttered nervously. "But what if they're gonna eat us? Are we going to be their emergency food?".

"Shush, don't trust whatever Vladimir said, I smell conspiracy" I rubbed my chin. "But that conspiracy theory comes later, all that matters is to retrieve our comrades from the enemy hands".

Tristan nodded in agreement. We waited for them to pass by the weapon shacks, as soon as the crowds died down, we sneaked quietly from the shack. It seems like most of their crews focused on Kallen and Joel captures. We can explore their base freely now since their attention diverted elsewhere.

"But still I can't risk them falling on the enemy hand" I exhaled. "I need to save them".

That's what I thought inside my head, saving Kallen and Joel. While we're at it, we also need to investigate this base for more info. Vladimir's information contradicts what we have seen so far. He depicted this base as a cruel man-eater base. From what I've seen, they look alright and not that cruel as what he depicted.

Unless they're wolves hiding in sheep's skin, unexpected and dangerous.

"Alright, let's find some information about this base" I ordered Tristan. "While devising a plan to save our clumsy comrades".

"Clumsy comrades?" Tristan chuckled.

Tristan goes to the other vacant building, while I try to sneak inside the warehouse up ahead. I peered inside the warehouse through the window. Several children and one young adult are hiding. Their expression filled with anxiety and fear, why though? Did something happen?

It looks like they don't have any weapons in their hands, I prepare my knife just in case they find me. I put on the hoodie robe and opened the warehouse slowly. The children hide behind the young adult's back, as if afraid of something.

"Who are you!?" the female young adult yelled at my sorry figure.

There's no blind spot in this warehouse I suppose, they found me right on bat. Fortunately, there's a little girl behind me, it seems like she entered the warehouse at the wrong moment. She immediately realized a stranger's presence next to her. The twin-tailed girl looked at me in horror. I could use this situation to escape unscathed.

I pulled the girl forcefully toward me, I pulled my knife.

"Let me go, or she'll die by my hand" I aimed the knife at the little girl's neck.

The children gasped in unison when she saw the knife on the little girl's throat.

"Don't make a sound" I dragged the little girl away with me for life insurance. Although, it's not like I will kill this little girl cold-blooded. I walked toward the auspicious cabinet inside the warehouse. I opened the cabinet while holding the little girl close to me.

The young adult and the children watched me in suspicion, of course, they're wary of a stranger's presence inside their camp. I rummaged through the cabinet for information impatiently as I tried to read the stack of papers as quickly as possible.

That's when a certain paper fell on the floor, the name PROJECT ALPHA OMEGA immediately attracted my attention.

"Project Alpha? Omega?" I observed the piece of paper on the floor curiously.