He hadn't closed his eyes the entire night, and after the others woke up, he didn't leave the second floor, where he had hidden himself in a corner. His sudden change in attitude worried Rita and Eric, who each tried to talk to him and were met with the same silence.
Ren didn't bother. One look was enough for him to refuse to start a conversation.
"Nope…"
He understood how Karma might be feeling, and why, but he still considered him dead weight, even though it had been less than a day since he'd started acting like this.
A bit of time passed, and they ate their very small rations, all except Karma, who refused to come down from upstairs.
"We need to gain as much information as we can," Rita said to Eric, then turned her tired eyes on Ren.
"What do you think we should do?" Eric asked.
"I say we make two groups: one to look around the base, and the other to study the monster."
Ren looked at her for a moment.
"You realize Karma is probably not going to participate, right?"
She thought it over, then sighed.
"True…"
Eric spoke up.
"We could have two of us look around the base, since it's so big, and one study the… thing outside."
Rita and Ren both agreed, but that left the question of who would study the monstrosity.
"I'll do it. I'll watch that thing."
Ren, still distrustful of the others, quickly took the role.
"Are you sure?" Eric asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I am."
They didn't try to talk him out of it. Everyone was terrified of the beast, and the fact that someone had volunteered was a relief.
Once the others left, Ren started looking for the best observation post. After searching for a while, he concluded that the second floor was his best option.
It was some sort of living area, one big room with no dividing walls. It was in fairly good condition, meaning it could probably survive a few hits before breaking, and since it was on the second floor, the red worm couldn't reach him even if it noticed him. More importantly, it had windows on every side with unobstructed views, perfect for observing.
There was only one problem: Karma. The second floor was where he was hiding, and Ren, being the distrustful type, really didn't want to share a room with an emotionally unstable Karma.
'Such a pain…'
In the end, he decided to go anyway, though not without the screwdriver he'd picked up while looking for a suitable room, just in case.
"Coming in…" Ren said as he entered.
The second floor was even dirtier than the first, with spiderwebs everywhere and dust rising in clouds as he walked. Karma sat in a corner, knees pulled to his chest. He glanced up at Ren, then quickly looked away. Ren didn't mind. He paid him little attention and got straight to work. Ignoring the smell of rusty metal and the old furniture strewn around, he went from window to window, searching for the creature.
Nothing.
Nothing but sand and the hot wind burning his face.
He checked again. And again. His stomach tightened a little more each time.
Then he saw it.
A bump in the sand. It didn't look natural. He focused on it for a long while until he got his confirmation: a sliver of blood-red, stone-like tail sticking out.
It was here, or at least one of its kind was.
"…"
Ren's legs felt weak. He was scared. He had thought he could handle this, but he still remembered, vividly, being chased by it.
'Snap out of it, you idiot…!'
He pulled himself together and tried to work out why the creature was hiding in the sand. He couldn't. He waited for any movement, but nothing happened, so he ran through the possibilities. Was it trying to trap them? No. It was too far from the entrance, which any creature smart enough to set a trap would have realized. Was it still resting after last night's chase? Unlikely. It was clearly far stronger than any of them, so if they had recovered, it had probably recovered much faster, if it even got tired in the first place. Was it dead? No. The bump rose and fell with its breathing.
He stood there, searching for anything that might explain the beast's behavior, but all he saw was the vast, endless golden sea of the desert. He considered throwing a rock, but quickly decided against it. Angering the creature further wasn't worth the risk.
'Why is it doing this? I can't study it like thi-'
Ren kept staring, thinking, trying to piece things together, until a voice behind him broke the silence.
"…You think we're gonna survive?"
Ren turned toward the trembling voice. Karma wasn't looking at him. He stared at the floor, fingers digging into his knees.
"No," Ren answered. "I don't think we're going to survive."
Karma's breath hitched. That wasn't the answer he'd wanted.
"Then why the hell are you still doing all this?!" Karma's voice cracked. "Why pretend any of it matters? We don't have weapons, we don't have food, we don't even have a plan! And none of you are scared—"
"We are scared, you idiot!" Ren snapped, louder than he'd meant to. "You're not special. Fear doesn't force you to curl up and quit. It can drag out the worst in you, yeah, but it can also make you think sharper and move faster. And you chose the former!"
Karma's expression twisted: anger, humiliation, something in between.
"Shut up," he whispered. "You don't know anything about me."
"No," Ren shot back. "But I know giving up is the stupidest thing you can do right now."
Karma broke, lunging into a string of insults that didn't land, then stormed off toward the stairs.
"Just die out there!" he shouted from below. "Burn in the damn desert!"
Ren froze.
'Burn in the… desert.'
Something clicked. His eyes widened.
"Wait… that's it."
Everything fell into place. That was why the creature was hiding in the sand: it was protecting itself from the sun. It also explained why they hadn't been attacked when they first set out during the day, yet were preyed upon the moment night fell.
The sun was beginning to set, and it was time to meet the others on the first floor.
"I'm here."
Rita looked up at Ren as he came down.
"We were waiting for you," she said, holding a bag.
"I'm guessing those are your findings?" he said, eyeing the bag.
She flashed a quick, proud smile, then cleared her throat before regaining a somewhat blank expression.
"Umm… yes! They are."
She quickly emptied the bag onto one of the remaining tables: a compass, a handful of torches with three batteries, a slightly rusted kitchen knife, and, most importantly, a map of the surroundings with all the nearby bases marked on it.
Ren's eyes widened.
"A map? Seriously? That's amazing!"
Eric smiled at him.
"We were just as surprised when we found it."
It was wonderful news, but two big problems remained. They had no way of knowing which bases were abandoned and which were still active, and the creature outside was still preventing them from moving, not to mention whatever other threats the desert held.
"I only managed to find out one thing about that worm, but I think it's important."
Rita raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"I believe it's only active at night. It sleeps through the day, hiding from the sun."
The group looked surprised.
That meant two things: they could only study it at night, and it was probably weakened during the day.
Karma, who had been quiet, finally spoke up.
"Shouldn't we just move during the day, then?"
Rita shook her head. "We can't. The heat would eventually kill us."
Eric started nervously tapping on the table. "Can't we just wait for it to go away…?"
Karma looked at him. "But we don't know if it'll ever leave… or if we have the supplies to outlast it and the desert…"
So they sat in silence, until Ren spoke. It was only a few words, but it was enough to make everyone's eyes widen.
"We're gonna have to kill it."
Rita jumped out of her seat.
"Are you mad?! You want us to fight that thing??"
Ren looked back at her. "I don't like it either, but it's our only option."
Karma was trembling. "BUT—BUT—"
The whole group was reluctant to fight the intimidating beast, but in the end they agreed. They would spend the next few days studying it and drawing up a plan before hunting it down.