Base, camp for new recruits
The fire had finally gone out.
What remained of the embers slowly suffocated in the damp wind that filtered between the trunks.
No one dared to speak. Only the dying crackles and rustling of leaves composed the melody of the night.
Joy squeezed the rope in her hand.
Here we go.
His voice, usually clear, seemed worn, as if eaten away by hours of silence.
Fear nodded, staring into the void around them.
I buckled the carabiner around my waist. The rope stretched in a long line to each member of our small group, a single, thick thread connected to a stake planted near the capsule.
If one of us got lost, we could just shoot.
In theory.
- We're following protocol, Joie continued.
"One step at a time," Fear whispered. "No bright light, no noise."
- What if something follows us? asked disgustedly.
- We pull the rope, I replied.
A nervous laugh escaped Joy.
- Yes, let's go, turn on the cameras.
We sank in.
The mist swallowed us almost immediately.
The air was so thick you could taste it, like cold metal on your tongue. The lamps cast on the ground only thickened the shadows.
Every step made the earth groan. The roots, shiny, seemed to breathe.
Fear walked right in front of me, his breathing short and ragged.
- Tell me what we're supposed to do.
- We're all tied up, we just have to explore for two days, I replied.
- Yeah, there's no rope access.
I didn't answer.
I knew the rope wouldn't help us for very long. Maybe we wouldn't have to go that far. Maybe...
A dull rumble was heard in the distance.
Not an animal. Not a machine.
A steady sound, like an axe beating into the earth.
Joy stopped dead in her tracks.
- Did you hear?
- Yes, replied Fear. What do we do, change direction?
I placed my hand against the ground. The vibration rose to my fingers.
- let's go.
Joy looked around, searching for a landmark.
Nothing but the mist and those twisted trunks.
- We continue... Over there, pointing to one side by chance
- Are you sure?
- Let's go, we'll see later
So we continued.
After a while, the rope became our only certainty.
It sometimes creaked, rubbed against the bark, or stretched a little too much.
Three times I thought she had reached her limit. Once she caught on and almost completely knocked us all off, dragging Joy forward and me backward.
Our voices met in a string of muffled curses.
- What the hell are you doing?! hissed Joy.
- It's the rope! I swear, she pulled me!
- Okay, let's go. Stay focused!
I bent down to help Fear up.
Beneath my fingers, the ground was strangely warm.
I jerked my hand away.
- What's up?
- It's disgusting.
- Stop your bullshit, Joy whispered.
-it's the ground, it's too wet and full of weird stuff
she even didn't dare look at the ground anymore.
Disgusting
A little further on, the rope got tangled around a tree trunk again.
Joy swore and tried to pull her away.
- Hold it, she said.
I pulled gently, trying to free the knot.
The wire slackened for a moment... then suddenly tightened, as if someone on the other end were pulling violently.
- Stop! I shouted.
"It's not me!" replied Fear.
The shock almost made us fall. The rope vibrated, shaken by irregular jolts.
Joy drew her weapon, its beam sweeping through the mist.
Nothing.
Just the forest.
Just black.
Just the mist
The tension suddenly stopped.
More draft, more noise.
Absolute silence.
Fear swallowed.
- Shall we… shall we turn around?
- No, replied Joy. We'll check.
She gestured to move forward slowly.
We climbed the rope up to the last carabiner.
And there we live.
The wire no longer led to our camp.
The rope, gnawed over several meters, ended in a blackened end, burnt clean.
As if he had been cut by one of our weapons.
No one spoke.
What is this nonsense?
I felt panic rise in my throat, that feeling of slow, endless falling.
Joy closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, then whispered:
- We stay together. We'll mark this location. We move, slowly.
But Fear trembled.
- We are cut off from the starting point.
- We're going to find the signal again. There are problems doing that.
- What if…
He didn't finish.
I raised my lamp. A trunk bore an engraved mark: an omega.
the symbol of our team.
They had been here.
Joy approached.
- It's old... or maybe recent. Hard to say.
She placed her hand on the wood.
- It's humid.
Behind us, a crack.
Then another, closer.
Something was moving between the trees.
Fear turned abruptly, his hand trembling on his lamp.
- Show yourself!
Joy made a sharp gesture.
- Turn that off, idiot!
Too late.
A figure slipped between two trunks, tall, thin, almost liquid in the mist.
The beam illuminated him for a moment: shreds of clothing, a face hidden by dirt.
And then she disappeared.
Fear stepped back, stumbling again.
- What was that?!
- Let's move! Joy ordered.
We set off, the rope beating against our legs.
Behind us, footsteps. Creaking.
Not fast, but steady, as if she were walking behind us.
We finally come out into a clearing.
The mist was thinner there.
Stones lined up to form a sort of circle, and in the center, a metal post planted in the ground
Joy rushed there.
- Perfect. We… We'll stay here, it's an open field.
- we should leave, the footsteps are getting closer
Fear sat on the floor, hands over his face.
- I just want to get out of here.
- We'll go out, I said softly.
But when I looked up, I saw something moving in the mist.
That silhouette again. Still at the same distance.
I clenched my fists.
Maybe Asmara was right, we should have followed her.
No, I made the right choice.
And we can do it ourselves so we can keep moving forward.
And we resumed our course
A little later, Joy signaled to stop the march.
- We're camping here. We'll stay in a circle, rope in the center. Let's at least stay connected to each other.
"What's that noise?" Fear asked, his voice trembling.
- The wind, probably. Stop being afraid.
But I knew there was no wind, so let's ignore it.
Only this distant breathing, as if something was waiting for us to close our eyes.
I looked up into the mist, and for the first time, I was sure we weren't the only ones here....
Maybe it was another world.
A complete world.
And we had just crossed its mouth.
Joy placed a beacon, then declared, in an emotionless voice:
- Partial rest. Tomorrow the test begins.
The Forest of Shadows, the Forest of Shadows…