"I heard something... A rustling noise, although I can't tell what it is... Safety first, right..."
After a few moments of silence, I too heard the rustling UOPETA mentioned, and instantly drew the barrel of the rifle parallel with his, both now pointing towards the source. UOPETA motioned with his hand that he was going to edge forwards, and gave a slow countdown, before breaking off towards the light. I remained where I was, hoping that we were worrying over nothing. It was unlikely that HoN Co. had any established outposts or bases this far out, but then again we couldn't tell. It could be something as innocent as an animal or the wind. Or, it could be a guard, or an Elite soldier... UOPETA had completely disappeared from view by this time, and my attention remained fixated on the entrance. Everyone else was still asleep, and there was no sense in risking making a noise to wake them. Then a figure began to descend the stone slope from the entrance. The glare from the light obscuring the features, all I could make out was the silhouette. Closing my finger over the trigger, I waited with baited breath until I could determine who it was, and whether they were a threat. As the figure drew closer, they began to block out the light behind them, and they slowly came into view. It was only UOPETA, returning from the entrance, his rifle in a relaxed position, a relieved look on his face.
"A pig! It was just a pig... Panic over."
Letting out the held breath, I lowered my rifle and relaxed against the wall. There were likely to be many times like that ahead, especially as we got inside the HQ and made our way through to the structures holding the Ender Eyes. Moving back over to the others, I relit the dying embers before waking the others, hoping that today would be as straight forward as I would like it to be. Either way, it was going to be another long one... In the cold.
Once everyone was up and we had had our fill for breakfast, we packed up, kicked the fire out and set off out of the dugout to the snow land above us. Unlike yesterday, we didn't set off before it was light enough to see by, but it was likely beneficial as it would mean we were all better rested for the day's trek ahead of us. Despite the sun climbing slowly into the Eastern sky, the warmth didn't seem to penetrate as far as we'd hoped. The snow that blanketed the entire area was doing a good job of keeping us cold. Not only that, but an endless mass of white before us was likely to pose little in the way of camouflage or aid in spotting notable terrain areas on the map. THEROS suggested that for this reason, we stay close to the Northern side of the landmass, running close to an open source of water, partially frozen over. The land would curve North anyway, and would help us to get to where we needed to go. At least up until a point where we then needed to find a way across. Much like before, COLUS and UOPETA would break off ahead to scout out the area ahead of us to ensure we didn't run into any secluded areas that might be under HoN Co. control. Each time they would return, giving us the all clear, allowing us to continue at the standard pace, for half an hour or so, before repeating.
"Just out of curiosity... How would we get across to the island if there were no boats to commandeer?"
"Then we'd have to think up another way across. Whether that meant building something to get to the other side, I don't know. Either way, if there's nothing to help us get across, there's nothing to help HoN Co. employees get across easily either."
"True, but HoN Co. are likely to have access to planes and larger boats."
"Well call me a cynic, but I doubt they've made a runway or a dock for that island. It's much too small to support much in the way of air or sea traffic. It's likely out of the way for a reason."
"Somehow I don't think we'll be lucky enough to come across a helicopter to help us get across. Even if we did, no-one can fly one, and we'd be a massive target. There would be no way to get in undetected."
The more I came to think about it, even a boat couldn't go unnoticed if the HQ was meant to be protected to the extent SERVERE suggested it was. Landing on any part of the island would be complicated at best. I just hoped that HoN Co. had a method of getting to and from the island themselves that we could exploit. As we continued through the cold, the sun rose ever higher, making our progress a little difficult. With everything around us being white, it was beginning to get harder to see where we were going in relation to where we should be. Although we couldn't see it on the map, a large hill rose up ahead of us that was much too broad to navigate around. COLUS and UOPETA raced off ahead again to scout out the area, whilst the rest of us slowly climbed the hill. It was easier than expected; the snow was much shallower than the overall coverage suggested, and we made it to the top pretty quickly. From there we were able to see a large way ahead of us, although COLUS and UOPETA were doing a good job of remaining hidden, even from us!
Close to a small pool of water that hadn't fully frozen over, we made a small camp to rest for awhile and have something to eat. We had agreed to only a single stop per day, usually about halfway through. This maximised our progress and efficiency, but it would still take a little longer to get to the Western end of the shore. From there we could only hope to be as lucky to have access to a boat, or some other method of getting across. That's if we got that far. So far so good, though...
Syeonyx signing off
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