OBLIVIOUS

Chapter 15

I shouldn't have been surprised when I saw the poison spreading into Baron's body. It was inevitable. It was bound to happen. And it was only a matter of time before it spreads across his body. But still, seeing him unconscious like this was so unlike him because I was already used to him being so strong. And now everything changes.

"Baron! Baron! Wake up! We need to get out of here!" I snapped at him while shaking his head lightly with my arm. "Don't make me carry you! You're a lot bigger than me!"

I was trying to joke around the situation, and thank goodness it worked on him. He slightly opened his eyes with a death glare on me. I pulled him even farther from the quicksand and helped him stood up. His chest was bloodied and dark red liquid shone there and I know why. It was in that spot where that crab's pincers pierced him the most. The pressure from the grip must have crushed his bones.

It was evident that he was already severely injured. His facial expression was monotonous. His breathing was ragged. He needed rest, at the very least. I looked around trying to find a safe spot where I can leave him because it was clear that he can't join me now.

I found a hidden spot in between two giant rocks that sparkled in the dark. There was a space between them where a single person could fit. I immediately moved Baron by half-carrying and half-dragging him towards the spot. He was conscious all the while, and his face told me that he didn't like what was happening. "You don't have to be smug about this," I told him after I put him on the cold floor of the cave. I checked the surroundings and it was fine. Nothing dangerous or suspicious was there.

I ripped the lower part of my soft cotton pants and used it to wrap the wound on his chest like a bandage. He groaned when I tied it tightly, causing me to panic a little. "Are you still okay? I'm going to leave you here, Baron."

He looked at me with protest but did not utter a single word. I know he will be against my plan but the tables have turned now. This time it will be me who'll get to decide for both of us and he can't do anything about it, which made me smile.

"Don't worry, I'll come back here once I manage to abduct one of the White Shadows," I added but it only made him more upset. I could already hear what he's going to say. I bet that he'll be screaming about me to wait for him to regain enough strength. So to appease him, I narrated to him what I was going to do.

I told him that I had no choice now but to risk climbing the walls without a diversion, and that I will just climb faster and try to hide myself as much as I can. I also told him that my plan is to attack a female White Shadow, which he mentioned before. I know I have no chance of tackling a full-grown man so I'll go with a woman. But since the White Shadows are still armed with weapons, I plan on doing an ambush.

"I had thought it out," I said trying to calm him. "And I promise that if something goes wrong I'll discard the plan as soon as possible. I'll come back here no matter what." He nodded at what I explained to which I replied with a thumbs up. I then took the ropes he made from those fish whiskers and tied it on my waist. I was ready to go when he nudged me on my arm, signaling something.

He was pointing at the weapon rod we made from plant stems that he was already using as a weapon to fend off creatures. I was not thinking of bringing it with me but Baron was persistent and so I obliged. When I was ready to go, I nodded at him and gestured that I was going. He smiled and had this look on him that I was sure was telling me that

I should come back and fetch him.

Or else.

I tried to be as brave as I can be, but the reality is that I'm all alone starting now--- with the possibility of Baron and I never meeting again for so many bad reasons that can happen. But I cast it aside because there was no choice but to pick up courage and just do what I had to do.

This cave which was half-buried on newly-earthed ground had a very small and narrow opening for a mouth, so I needed to crawl again just to get out of the cave. The exit brought me into a wild area full of these murderous plants that had snake-like vines so I stopped moving as soon as I got out of the cave's entrance. I was now in the area where these plants thrived greatly. I looked at the distance where the facility's lights were visible, giving me the information on how far I was from it.

I was pretty far from the building alright, but the fact that the electric fence was behind me made me feel grateful. At least I will no longer deal with it. However, these plants proved to be a real challenge, because I know that once I move an inch they will sense it and will try to strangle me again.

My calculation is that if I tried to get up now and run, almost two dozens of strangling vines will attack me. The ratio was considered unfair. I will be dead before I could even move three steps from where I was lying silently.

I had to think of a way. I need to have a diversion, just as what Baron had been planning. And that's when it hit me. The weapon rod!

I only have one chance, so I should not mess this. The moment I will do my strategy will determine my fate starting now. So with the fastest movement that I could muster, I held the weapon rod tightly and throw it swiftly to the farthest plant I could reach with my throw. It landed with a soft thud, and I was right. As soon as the rod flew from my grip it was sensed by the moving vines and all of them attacked it. The plants almost looked like they were grappling themselves as the vines had now 'captured' the weapon rod. I even heard it broke and was probably going to be crushed into small pieces.

But that was my cue so I got up and dashed my way out of the vines' way. As expected, some of them sensed me and tried to reach me. But they were only a few of them so I managed to evade most of the vines, while the others that managed to touch me couldn't get a proper grip on my body because I was slippery from the mud and sand that stuck to my clothes and body. I whooped in celebration and even yelled at them as if they were sentient enough to get that I was teasing them. "Touch me if you can you damn plants!" I roared in laughter while they try their very hard to catch me but to no avail. I was untouchable!

When I got out of that part of the wide expanse of field inside the grounds of the facility, I pause to breathe and rethink my plan. I also untied the rope from my waist and prepared it. There was a curved metal attached at its tip that will serve as the branch that will attach and place the rope on a surface where it can get a hold on so that I can climb the wall with ease. Baron had already explained this to me but as I was stressed about him getting hurt, I had to repeat everything just so I can calm myself again.

When I finally felt confident again, I started walking into the field. Surprisingly there was no obstacle that I had to face, which was a first time, until I reached the building itself. I avoided the front, skimming past through it by hiding in the gloom and moving in the shadows. I reached the wall and fear crept back into me when I looked up and saw for myself how high it was again.

"This is crazy," I muttered to myself, because I already knew what falling to the ground feels like, thanks to Baron and now I'm here risking to experience it again. But I have to man up. I have to get in. I don't need fear right now.

I then searched for a nice spot to throw the rope, and make sure that it'll land on my target---which was a window pane that has railings on it. It took me three turns to get it right, and I was already climbing the wall when I heard Vista's voice again.

It was a good thing I was holding on tight, because her voice surprised the hell out of me again. This time she was sobbing. Vista sounded like she was in pain.

It made me climb faster. Her crying continued, which alarmed me because she sounded so near. I don't know what was going on. In the first place, where is she? Why does she sound like she's near me every time I can hear her? Do the White Shadows amplified her voice to the whole area? Or is this Vista's own doing? Is she somewhere where she had a device that can magnify her voice all over the place so that someone could hear her? Was this her way of asking us for help? Was she locked up somewhere? I had so many questions, and the answers are held by those White Shadows that I have to get by hook or by crook.

I think I was already halfway to my target window when I heard the familiar buzzing sound that Baron and I heard when we were just about to cross the fence. I was high enough for me to feel nauseous when I looked down again. Gripping the rope tightly, I did my very best to stay calm and composed, despite knowing what the buzzing sound would mean. It means danger, in the form of those damn robotic insectoid creatures.

I upped my pace again and tried to get into the window quickly, but the humming mechanical insects already surrounded me. One of them was trying to attach to my arm again, but we were already prepared for this possibility. My arms were already covered in a thick hand-made armor in the shape of a bracelet that was made from the scales of the whiskered fish that Baron had been catching on that stream. He sewed the iron-like scales into a cloth that he said he got from a White Shadow's closet which he infiltrated. It was cool-looking and this warrior armor appearance that I did not expect, aside from Baron's ingenuity.

At first, his idea was ridiculous in my opinion because the scales of the fish did not look like it was thick enough to protect my arms from the sharp insect-legs of those tracking, flying robots but when Baron finished making it and tried it on, not even a sharper tool made from diamond-hard stones could pierce it. It was also comfortable to wear so it wasn't a big issue for me.

And now it was shielding my arms from the tracking robots. One of them tried its hardest to sink its legs into my flesh but the scales were magnificent enough for its purpose. They just bounce off while I climb. Then I remembered the conversation I had when Baron showed the arm-protectors he just made from the scales.

"This is a very good idea, but also eccentric too," I confessed. "Now I know why you were in the stream for hours every day."

"We need to think ahead that much if we want to have a fighting chance against our enemies."

"I agree," I replied, "though I still have doubts about the White Shadows being our enemies."

"Why?"

I shrugged. "I don't know exactly why, but I just feel like they may have appeared to us as our captors, but they could also be our saviours. We never really got a full story from them, right? So I just find it sad that these things are actually happening."

"Well, it is their fault that they hid everything from us. They should have expected us to react this way if they thought of hiding the essential information to us."

"You're right about that," I said. "Going back to these things you made, I just thought about something."

"What is it again?"

"If we wear these arm-shields, I know that our arms will be protected but what if they chose to attach themselves in another part of our body, say, for instance our necks? Or our shoulders?"

I saw Baron smirked at what I said and that convinced me that he already thought of this. "I don't think that those damn critters will act like that if they can't attach themselves to our wrists or arms."

"Really? How are you so sure about that?"

"It's because they are not made to think that way, Axis. They are robots. They are just machines. They act just like how the Mediborgs and the Slackers act. They don't have intuition or intelligence to decide on their own. If they are programmed to attach to any of our body parts, they should have attached to any spot on our bodies, but they didn't. If you noticed what happened when that one attached to your arm, the rest left us instead of them attaching too to the rest of your body."

"And that means?"

"That means they are only programmed to attach to your arm. I'll bet my life on that, and trust me, I'm right."

Which he was. Because even though my neck and my shoulders were exposed to these flying robots, they never attacked me there. They are only attempting to attack me on my arms. Using this as an advantage, I climbed faster and faster.

Then I finally reached the window where I was about to get in. It was a room and there was a person there, standing behind the window talking to someone. It was a woman, and I heard her say my name.