Wisteria

Chapter 4: The Wild

With shaking bodies and anxious minds, Icarus and Caesar were able to guide them to the end of the city where out in front of them lay a vast jungle with trees bigger than the buildings. Without another word they advanced into the forest, planning on going to the next Generation themselves. Caesar was using a special device called a digital world map which he had obtained from his geography class and they were using it to get there. The map was projected from a small disk called a Digi-Map. All you had to do was press the little screen and the map would pop up along with the current location of the device itself. This made it easier to tell where they were going and how long it would take for them to get to the next Generation.

Now midday, the group was walking through the tall thick trees that blocked out lots of the sun due to the branches entangling to create a green canopy above their heads. Any light that did manage to shine through the less crowded areas of the trees made the floor of the jungle appear more green than it already was. Every now and then, an insectoid would buzz by and away. Still walking in the steady silence, a small creak was heard as leaves fluttered down from above, landing softly on the ground. This caused them to look up for the source of the noise and falling of leaves.

"Maybe it was the wind..?" Chai suggested with a shaky voice.

"I don't hear or feel any wind." Icarus stated as he carefully examined the leafy foliage above.

"These trees are kinda thick bro- ow!" Caesar rubbed his arm where he had been punched by Icarus for his smart remark.

"Shhh." North carefully searched through the trees before spotting something zip into a tree. "Uh guys.. we should probably get moving."

"Eh? What's wrong?"

A flash of green went by and hit the ground not too far from them, instantly exploding into tangled vines. They didn't waste anytime in running deeper into the jungle. As they ran, falling leaves seemed to chase after them, more flashes of green and exploding vines coming at them too.

"What is that?!"

"Only a Wolvine is capable of this!"

"Don't they travel in packs?!" That made their hearts sink simultaneously. Without any more words they pushed themselves to run, soon breaking out of the jungle and into a plain field. The beast that had been chasing them stopped right at the edge of the trees, its beady yellow eyes stared at them before turning and disappearing into the trees again. Once it was gone they all fell over wheezing.

"That.. was only one. Now imagine there being more."

"No. Shut it Caesar." Icarus stood up and inhaled deeply before exhaling. "Okay guys. We can still do this." He pulled out the map and pressed the screen. The screen projected the map for a moment before beginning to glitch. "Huh?"

"What's wrong with it?" Caesar was now up and next to his brother.

"I don't know. It's not working." He turned it off and on again, receiving the same result. "Dang it!" He went to throw the Digi-Map but Caesar quickly snatched it from him.

"Calm down! The compass still works. All we have to do it go south." Caesar pointed south. "Past Mount Yanko and through Marrow Valley. That's all we have to do."

Icarus nodded and calmed down. Meanwhile North was looking at a small cut on her leg that she had received from a bush she had run through. She dug through her backpack for the small first aid kit she had gotten back at the mall. Opening it, she cleaned the cut and place a Band-Aid over it.

"Marrow Valley..? Isn't that place cursed?" Chai put her water bottle back.

North looked up at her with a small snicker. "You really believe that?"

"Of course I do! It's true, right?! I mean, we were literally attacked by Terrors and monsters who were supposedly extinct!"

Icarus overheard her and joined them, Caesar following. "You're right We were told that those things were extinct. And the sky wasn't even a real sky. What if.. everything we learned about our world was a lie?"

"I told you. That Scarlet is a fraud! I didn't trust her for a minute when she told us to go to city hall because it was safe!" Caesar huffed angrily.

"It's a good thing you didn't," North rubbed her hands together with a sigh. "Chai and I couldn't even get close because people were already running away from city hall due to it already being under attack."

"So she set her own people up?"

"Sounds like it."

"Okay okay," Caesar intervened. "Let's get moving. It'll be night before we know it. And I'm sure we don't want to meet any of the nocturnal locals." With a nod, the rest of the group agreed and were soon on their way.