As we walk, with Theo still dramatically kicking and waving his arms while occasionally making sound effects, I can start to see the veil. Just like before, everything looks the same on the other side while we’re on this one.
“What’s that weird thing?” Ravi asks, reaching out his fingers to gingerly touch it. It ripples like water before his hand passes through.
“It’s the divide between two different sections,” I say. “But we can’t see the other side from here.”
“What do you mean?” Cassidy asks, confused. “I can see it, though.”
“You’ll see once we cross,” I explain. “But let me go through first and make sure it’s safe, okay?”
I quickly step through the odd veil and blink a few times. The sky here is cloudy, but not stormy. In fact, it looks as though it just finished raining, the fresh scent still hanging in the air. The streets are wet, containers filled with water. I don’t know what happened here, but just like before, there are no bodies.
“Hello?” I holler, checking a few of the houses. The first door I try is locked. The next house is empty, with everything inside completely soaked. My voice echoes as I shout and I get no reply.
I return to the kids and Ren with a nod.
“It looks okay,” I relay. “Just a lot of water. Okay, everyone’s holding the rope? Theo, focus. Come on, let’s go.”
We cross the barrier, some of the kids giggling at the weird sensation. Cassidy brushes herself afterwards and Benny spits, like he got something in his mouth.
“The grocery mart isn’t far,” Ren encourages them. “Let’s see who sees the sign first!”
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As Ren and the kids talk, I keep alert, my head swiveling back and forth as we pass each building. Despite my vigilance, everything remains quiet and we quickly reach the small building in no time.
“I should check first again,” I tell Ren, handing him my end of the rope.
“Wait,” he stops me, quickly giving me some words of encouragement. I’m wrapped in light and my buffs reset.
“Okay, now you can go,” Ren says, stepping back. I turn and head inside the building, my senses hyper aware. I figured we might not be the only ones to come here, but my assumption had been wrong. The grocery mart was as empty as the rest of the street. The inside was soaking wet too, only making me more curious about what the challenge had been. The gumball machine was a sluggish gumball soup and the drink coolers had lost power from shorting out. Lots of the foods and items were ruined from the water, but some of the packaged goods could be salvaged if we needed them.
Hopefully, we wouldn’t be stuck in this mess that long.
I checked all around, the back rooms, the bathrooms, anywhere that wasn’t locked. After being absolutely sure that there wasn’t anyone else in the building, I returned outside and ushered them in.
“I doubt the phone works,” I told Ren as the kids ran through the aisles, eyeing the things on the shelves. “It looks like this place was flooded.”
“Might as well try while we’re here,” Ren replied, heading around the counter to check. I watched the kids, laughing as Theo not so sneakily pulled a soggy candy bar off the shelf and stuck it in his pocket. Ren shook his head after a minute, confirming her guess.
“Yeah, it’s fried,” he said glumly. “I tried my phone on the way here, but still nothing.”
As though his words had triggered it, both of our phones dinged simultaneously.
“Oh no,” I breathed, pulling out my phone to look at the message, my chest tightening with apprehension. I read the words with baited breath.
Congratulations on Completing the Tutorial!
Welcome to Level One of The End of Earth!
If you haven’t unlocked your skill yet, now is the perfect time! Choose which zone you will participate in before the challenge begins!
Rewards will be given to successful parties able to complete their challenge.
Punishments will be doled out according to each zone.
Remember, Warriors! Only the strongest survive!
Good Luck!
Time before Level One Begins: 29 minutes 44 seconds
I finish reading the timer before straightening, reading it quickly once more to make sure I didn’t miss anything.
“How do we know what zone we’re in?” I ask out loud, a bit frustrated. A pop up appeared in my vision, much to my surprise.
Zone 273
Next challenge in this zone: Collectibles