VOXISTALE: Novel Edition

Chapter 105

They were alone as the trees swallowed them, and they were concealed beneath the double blanket of the cloudy night sky, as well as the canopy of thick leaves and branches overhead. The ground was ripe with fallen leaves, dull oranges and yellows in the darkness, barely noticeable. The air was chilly. Freezing, almost, but Magnum's blood was pumping. She could barely notice it at the moment.

Eventually, they managed to catch up with the rest of the group, who'd all slown to a walk, allowing Magnum to catch her breath while also trying to strain her ears to hear anything. That was basically an impossible task, however, as hundreds of feet rustling through dead leaves was basically like a siren. She had no idea if Sans and Flowey had been successful, or if they'd failed, or if Asgore and Undyne had succeeded and/or failed. The group was still moving further away, so clearly somebody had done something right along the way—or it was just part of her father's plan.

There were plenty of 'ows' that rang out through the long night as people ran into trees or tripped over roots, but their progress never dwindled. It was a little while before the group slowed to a stop, and people began to sit around, speaking in hushed whispers. Magnum moved among them, trying to find somebody she needed to speak with, or at least be assured was still alive. Fortunately, she nearly ran into Frisk. After they both apologized simultaneously, Magnum engaged the conversation.

"Asgore and Undyne?"

"With us. Sans and Flowey, whatever they did, kept the Messiah off our backs." Frisk answered.

"And are they with us?" Magnum asked.

"Not yet," Was Frisk's answer. They were silent for a moment, barely able to see each other in the darkness. "Will they be able to find us here?"

Magnum hesitated, unsure of how to answer that. She knew that the Messiah had a lot at their disposal. It wasn't hard to believe that this group could be pinpointed even now, even though she wanted to convince Frisk, and those around eavesdropping, otherwise.

She went for the honest route. "Definitely. We're sitting ducks. My dad's got drones and all sorts of military-grade tech. We'll need to keep moving just to ensure distance, because the only reason they're not on us now is because this forest is too thick to drive through."

Frisk was silent at this, and Magnum hugged herself, the biting cold now being felt in full. "Then... we'll keep moving."

And so they did. The herd pushed on, tramping through the forest well into daybreak before stopping again. People were growing exhausted, most notably their older members who were beginning to fall behind. They still had a ways to go, and people were beginning to get hungry. This wasn't going to work, surely.

Magnum noticed Mosu had joined them at some point, keeping pace with Gerson as he went. She wished she'd taken the time to get to know him before. He seemed cool. Well, both of them, but Mosu had been at the base for a few years. She'd seen him around before. Truck's massive form could be found trampling through the underbrush, trying to search for berries with Papyrus on someone's orders.

People were freezing, mostly. Some seemed less affected, and some had fur. Magnum leaned against a tree, pursing her lips and trying to calm that gnawing in her gut that refused to go away.

After a breather, they moved on again, but couldn't keep the pace they previously had. People were tired, hungry, and getting cranky. The berries that Truck and Papyrus did manage to find weren't even a fraction of enough to feed everyone. There were simply too many mouths to feed, though Asgore assured that the Kingdom of Hopes would have "something". This, Magnum doubted very much. What did some old ruins have to offer? It was when she voiced this to Frisk that the girl told her that monster food didn't spoil, and could lie safe to eat for thousands of years. That sounded both gross and awesome, in Magnum's opinion.