How far were they? Did they escape? Ren kept asking himself the same questions, running without a break.
Karma then fell and Rita followed, they were exhausted from the run. Ren thought about running without them but then decided it was still safer to stay together and stopped. They probably escaped the Scorpion anyway right?
They took a break under the setting sun, the sand burning less and less as the light disappeared.
The change between hot and cold was unnaturally fast Ren noticed for the first time, as the new cold air around them cooled their minds.
Then silence was overtaken by grief.
Eric was dead, wasn't he?
Ren had always been somewhat aware of the danger they were in, but the sudden loss of someone he had started to open up to was like a sudden awakening.
They really were risking their lives.
Karma was sitting in silence, looking up at the stars.
He seemed both calm and panicked.
Was he thinking the same as Ren? Probably.
Rita didn't seem as affected, despite being the closest to Eric out of all of them.
Was she hiding her sorrow, or was it because of her sudden change in attitude?
'Is that really Rita?'
The question appeared once more in Ren's mind. He carefully examined her, despite how strangely she acted, she still looked the same.
"So.. he's really gone?" Said Karma, breaking the silence.
Both Ren and Rita stared at him. His question was dumb, they had seen him get skewered by that monster. Yet they understood why he asked. It was still hard to believe.
Ren, especially, never had anyone in his life. The feeling of loss was still alien to him.
No one answered, yet the silence said it all.
"We have to move. We can't just stay here and mourn," Ren stood up. "Those «defiled» won't let us."
Karma was about to protest, but Rita quickly agreed with Ren:
"He's right. We have to move." She struggled as she stood up. "We can express our grief later."
Karma, frustrated, quietly followed as Ren and Rita walked away.
The wind was not as violent as before, allowing them to make decent progress, there was yet no base to be seen.
Were they far? Were there other challenges like the ones before? If so Ren feared it might be the end for them. After just one, the strongest members of their team had died, and they were all injured.
His whole body ached from the fight. He shouldn't even be able to move.
That's when it hit him, how was he moving?
He should be paralyzed, or at least very slow, but he was walking at a rather decent pace.
'Did I get a skill..?' Ren theorized.
He wanted to check right away, but decided it was best to wait until their next break.
Which was not going to be in a long time because suddenly, Rita collapsed.
Ren caught her before she fell on the ground.
"What the-"
"What's going on?!" Karma worriedly asked.
————
Rita was covered in layers of clothes and was being taken care of by Karma.
"I-I'm fine. I just used too much energy during that fight.. I'll be fine after a break." Rita reassured Karma.
"Then rest! You keep saying that but you keep moving and pushing yourself you dumbass!"
Karma was caring for her like a big brother would care for his little sister.
When did they get so close? Ren was curious but didn't ask any questions. He just kept watching.
He didn't know if he should also go check on her or not so he decided to just let Karma take care of it.
'I should probably check my tablet..'
Ren summoned his stone tablet and looked for any change.
[Name: Ren Gray]
[Title:]
[Skill: Instinct Lv 3, Primitive Stab Lv 2, Awkward Lockpicking Lv 1, Gotta Move! (weak) Lv1]
[Level of growth: 0]
[Achievements: 2]
[Gotta Move! (weak): This skill allows the user to (slightly) ignore injuries that would usually reduce mobility.
Rarity: Uncommon]
'So I did get a new skill! A bit worse than what I expected but still very useful.'
Ren quietly got rid of his tablet and lay down, finally letting fatigue catch up to him.
He closed his eyes and fell asleep.
————
"Wake up!" Rita shouted while shaking Ren.
"Ow! OW! I get it let go!" Ren pushed her away, his whole body still in pain. "Damn it…"
He looked around and noticed it was still nighttime.
"What the- the day didn't even come and you wake me up?!"
Rita let out a tired sigh.
"It did. We slept through it."
Ren froze.
"We what?!" He shouted, looking for any predator.
"I woke up during the day, but I didn't have the strength to stay awake so I fell right back asleep." Explained Rita.
"We could have died! Why didn't we die actually?!" Ren said still shocked by their carelessness as his gaze fell on a still sleeping Karma. "Wake up moron!" He screamed in Karma's ears as he shook him awake.
————
After the commotion, Rita explained everything, even though it was quite obvious.
After Ren fell asleep, Karma quickly did the same despite Rita's better judgment. She tried to stay awake, but fell asleep out of exhaustion.
Ren shook his head, knowing he couldn't blame them since he had also fallen asleep.
"It's fine, let's just move… We'll have to keep watch next time though. We won't always get lucky."
"Okay, can you just help me up? My legs are still kind of wobbly…" Rita asked Ren.
"Sure.." Ren said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her up.
Despite their aching body, the group forced themselves to move.
While Ren was still frustrated about the events that had unfolded, something else preoccupied his mind. Food. Eric was carrying most of the food. While they still had a decent amount of water for the three of them, as long as they rationed it, they had almost no food now. They could barely hold on for three days before having to go on without eating, they didn't even know how long they needed to walk before finding the base or if any other trial awaited them before that.
Was this really what would kill them? Starvation?
Ren could not accept it.