(Daniel's POV)
We buried them first.
Not deep. We didn't have tools, and the ground beneath the grass was hard-packed and uncooperative, but we covered them enough that we couldn't see their faces anymore.
That felt important at the time.
No one wanted to look at them, but their faces kept lingering in my mind.
The kid—UNKNOWN, according to the screen—lay where the wheat had released him. Naked, pale, eyes half-lidded like he'd simply fallen asleep in the wrong place. His skin had already gone corned white, His body completely still. They had check for a pulse but nothing.
The woman was a tangled mass of flesh. Im not sure any of us were prepared for such a sight. After the first two initial attacks someone had done... something. The plant had spontaneously combusted shrinking up into nothingness with hissing and popping sounds, but it was too late. The two were both dead.
Luckily the plant had either died completely or retreated for now but no one knew what was going on. Being transported here, dying, being attacked, and lastly that blue screen that showed everyone's names and statuses as well as an ability. Everyone's seemed to be different and unique.
We dragged them both closer to the center of the clearing first. No one argued about it even though I really expectedsome resistancefor fear of staying longer in the place they had just been attacked. A few people cried. One woman threw up and couldn't stop shaking after the ordeal.
The field stayed still throughout the process of digging up the shallow graves. The stillness of the eerie field put everyone on edge. Everyone hoped we would be finished quickly so that they could move on.
For hours, nothing happened. Only the sounds of hands clawing through the dirt could be heard. It was slow work. The wind itself had stopped as if it had been masking the sounds of the moving plants before.
The soil beneath the grass was cold and stubborn, packed tight like it hadn't been disturbed in a long time. Some of them used sticks scavenged from the sparse trees at the edge of the field, hands blistering and bleeding as the hours dragged on.
I took my turn digging, then stepped away when my arms started to shake. Someone else took my place without a word.
I checked my screen again while I rested, half-expecting something—anything—to change.
Nothing had.
Name: Daniel Kofman
Age: 24
Status: Active
Stats:
Strength: 4
Durability: 4
Endurance: 5
Agility: 3
Perception: 3
Cognition: 3
Charm: 3
Mana: 6
Ability:
Mind Read
Description: Allows user to read the target's mind.
Target can be changed once every 24 hours.
It told me I was alive. I was obvious active. It made me wonder though if someone could be labeled inactive? That was a thought for another time.
Once the bodies were buried—or as buried as we could manage—we decided to leave the area. No one wanted to stay where the ground itself had turned on us.
You'd have to be insane.
We argued as night fell. Whether to keep walking or stop. What direction to go. How long a person could last without food. Without water. No one had clothes on their backs, much less shelter. Thirst was already setting in, tongues dry and cracked.
I listened. I tried to keep people calm.
Inside, my thoughts kept circling the same questions.
Where are we? Why are we here? How do we get back?
When darkness came, it came fast.
The sky dimmed without stars. Without a moon. Just a flat, oppressive black pressing down on us from every direction. The temperature dropped sharply, cold seeping into skin and bone. Breath fogged in front of faces.
Daniel wondered if any of them would make it back. He supposed it didn't matter right now. They had gotten far enough away from that nightmarish field but they were exhausted scared and had to take turns watching the woods for visitors. There was no telling what might be lurking out there in the darkness.
He tied not to think about it and instead lay his head down on a softer looking root and fell asleep.