Chapter 44: storm 2
The first thing that crossed my mind after the red lightning struck the bus was that we would be wiped out in the very next moment, and that its frame would be reduced to fragments scattered in every direction. But what happened was completely different.
Suddenly, I felt the bus plummet violently before crashing into the ground with tremendous force.
My head struck the floor of the bus, and pain exploded in my skull for a moment until my vision blurred and my thoughts went haywire.
It took me a while to regain a sense of my body, which felt stiff, as if it no longer belonged to me.
Amidst the dizziness, I began to hear faint sounds around me.
I turned towards the source and saw Liana groaning in agony as she clutched her head with both hands, whilst Leo was helping Serene to her feet.
It was clear she had suffered a serious injury; the pain was etched all over her pale face.
’It seems one of us hasn’t died.’
I tried to get up. I couldn’t stay lying there in that awkward position, but standing up wasn’t easy. It took several seconds before I was finally able to stand on my feet again.
I moved my limbs slowly to shake off the stiffness that had taken hold of them, then let out a long sigh as I tried to take in what had happened.
Was what I’d heard earlier real?
Or had fear made me imagine it?
I had to know the truth.
If we had truly arrived in the Land of the Lost, I had to see it with my own eyes.
I took a few steps towards one of the windows. Surprisingly, it hadn’t shattered yet. In fact, the whole bus seemed rather strange.
I rested my hand on the window and looked out, but I couldn’t help but frown.
All I could see was pitch blackness, broken only by flashes of red lightning striking high in the sky, illuminating the scene for brief moments before the darkness swallowed it up again.
Yet despite that, I could see nothing outside but darkness.
I swallowed silently, then looked away from the window. I had a strange feeling that staring out there any longer might bring about something bad.
I sat down on one of the benches, as I finally began to come to terms with a possibility I didn’t want to believe.
It was actually possible that we were in the Land of the Lost.
Just thinking about it was enough to stir fear within me.
This time, I had nothing.
Unlike in the arena, where I’d at least had some information, and the system had still been working to give me some assistance. But now...
I was facing the complete unknown.
And I had nothing to go on... no information, no clues, and even the system seemed to have been infected by some virus and had crashed. Literally, I was completely defenceless.
I was defenceless in every sense of the word.
To be honest, I felt as though I were standing naked in the middle of a raging storm.
All I know about the Land of the Lost is its name, and that once you get lost there, it’s almost impossible to return.
"Tsk..."
I clicked my tongue in exasperation. To be honest, I was furious.
I’d been a fool.
I should have insisted more on getting the author to tell me something about the Land of the Lost.
Yes, I never expected to find myself inside the game, but couldn’t he at least have given me some basic information about it?
As it stands, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do.
I sighed once, then again.
I looked at the others and found each of them sitting in silence, staring at one another.
I did the same, and we stayed like that for a few minutes, before Serene spoke in a low voice:
"Wh... what do we do now?"
Although none of us knew the answer, we couldn’t just stay moping like this all the time.
That wouldn’t do us any good.
Leo lowered his head slightly and said:
"First... we need to figure out where we are."
Liana smiled wryly.
"Well, don’t we already know the answer?"
Leo shook his head.
"Yes, I heard what he said too, but that doesn’t mean we have to believe everything or stay here forever.
What if he’s lying to us? I mean, we might not even be in the Land of the Lost. Honestly, I can’t believe it.
It’s one of the most mysterious places in the world, so why would it suddenly appear just as we were on our way to the Malanif Mountains?
That doesn’t make any sense at all."
Liana snorted contemptuously and said:
"So what’s your explanation for it?"
Liu shrugged slightly and said:
"Actually, I don’t know. That storm might really be the entrance to the Land of the Lost, but that doesn’t mean there’s no way out, does it?"
I listened to their conversation in silence, but at that moment I heard a sound coming from outside the bus, from the direction of the metal structure.
Click...
Click...
Click...
The sound was somewhat like rain hitting metal, but just hearing it sent a cold shiver down my spine.
Serene frowned and said:
"Did you hear that?"
Liana replied quickly:
"Of course we did. It sounds like it’s just rain."
To be honest, I was surprised by the speed of her reply; it was as if she was trying to convince herself more than us.
I continued to listen to the sound, which was gradually growing louder.
Then, my face twisted slightly as my ears picked up another sound mixed in with the rain.
A different sound.
I concentrated harder.
A crackle...
A crackle...
A footstep...
A crackle...
A footstep...
And at that moment, the blood froze in my veins.
I felt a wave of intense fear wash over me, so I instinctively turned towards the bus door and said:
"Someone’s coming."
