Manhunt the Evader // Evade Fanfiction

Chapter 13 // Upcoming Expedition

The fire glow brightly in our faces. Its intense heat slowly melts the tiny icicles from my muscles. Bobo cheerfully slurped his cup of noodles, making a soupy mess on the dirt floor. We were outside of Galf's shop, with a barrel being lit on fire. Defect walked out of the glass entrance before setting down his spicy pork noodles, he was ready to have his dinner. Galf dug into his pocket before pulling out a box of cigarettes. He lit one of them up before putting them into his mouth. Both the smoke from the campfire and the cigarette clouded the sky above us.

"I didn't know the Elysium would keep such food in their cafeteria!" Bobo muffled with a mouthful of noodles, "because this is the most delicious food I had ever seen,"

"It's instant, Bobo," I stated before sipping the soup from the cup.

The deliciousness of the chicken flavor flooded my mouth. It was a perfect cold breeze night with a warm fire and delicious noodles. It was like a perfect summer camp. 

"Alright I'm finished," Defect said, wiping his mouth with a tissue.

"YOU'RE FINISHED ALREADY?!" Bobo screamed in shock.

No kidding, Defect only sat there for 30 seconds and then all of the sudden he shoved everything into his mouth, and it's all gone? Even the high heat of the hot water doesn't bother him. I haven't finished my cup of noodles yet. I've got to admit, Defect is a very fast eater, you couldn't even tell whether if it's his regular protocol or he was extremely hungry. 

There was a sudden loud banging sounds of tin pans as Galf sat up from his seat, removing the cigarette from his mouth. Defect and Bobo stopped and redirected their focus on Galf, who possibly have an announcement to say. He opened his mouth.

"Thank you all three for helping me with the shop," He proudly announced, "I couldn't do it without you!"

Bobo cheered as Defect patted himself on the back. I only smiled wide, knowing that I had contributed a lot for Galf for many months. Galf then closed his mouth, swallowing the next words he is going to say. I am assuming he is trying to fish out the ones that seemed to fit in the current situation, avoiding spoiling the nice night vibe.

"So, I am going to ask a very important question," he continued, bringing out his digital clipboard, "I had heard that a new dimension is going to form tomorrow,"

"Oh, so we are going to find another artifact from that dimension?" Defect asked politely.

"This time, there won't be an artifact at that dimension," Galf answered.

"Then what was the point in coming to that area in the first place?" Bobo asked, lifting his head up with bits of instant noodles sticking on his face like leeches.

Galf stood up before showing his clipboard at us. The paper on the clipboard was blank, not even a single scratch on it. I don't understand what message Galf was trying to deliver.

"Galf? That paper is blank," I spoke, placing the finished cup of noodles beside me.

"I know it is," Galf replied, "the point of your next expedition is to navigate around the dimension. This could mean that an artifact pedestal might be lurking deep within the dimension. For many months, I had gathered data from every trip Jard has made. Because this dimension is brand new, I thought it would be helpful if I collect some decent data on this place,"

"What do you want us to do?" Bobo interrupted, "there are going to be a lot of nextbots there! You couldn't just leave Jard there alone!"

"I never said Jard is going to go there alone," Galf answered, looking at Defect, "Defect Rebel, you might as well bring some weapons with you. I heard that the dimension has alien-like creatures crawling in it,"

"You mean the nextbots?" I said, raising my eyebrow.

"No, not the nextbots at all, in fact there are much more dangerous than nextbots," Galf replied, looking deeply into my eyes, "one wrong step and you are dead!"

I blinked, shocked by Galf's description of the new dimension. Would the dimension be as dangerous as the trap rooms? Like would it have traps at every direction I go?

"This dimension is called the Catacombs," Galf continued, "this place is known for the deaths of many survivors in the legends. It is better if all of you go and look out for each other just in case if one of you gets in trouble,"

Defect stares into the sky, admiring the bright stars that shone above him. Bobo was clearly deep into legends like this, his eyes had stars in them, and he was ready to listen every word that Galf was about to say.

"You would all be waking up at 3 am in the morning," Galf said, "the dimension would spawn at that time before communications gets cut off after an hour,"

"Jesus, I might fall into one of those traps without realizing," I sarcastically answered.

"Of course, this trip deserves a well-deserved award. I will give you each $900 if you help me take some data on the trip!" Galf continued.

That amount doesn't seem much to me anymore since I earn much more from just finding and stealing artifacts. However, Bobo's eyes lightened up like the stars above us, he seemed to be very keened to the award. And Defect? He's still staring at the night like he seemed to be chill with the idea into being thrown into a dangerous dimension. Galf claps his hands before finding the words to end his long announcement.

"You all get some good night rest!" Galf said as left the campsite and opened the door to his shop, "remember, we are waking up really early to start your next expedition,"

Galf closed the door behind him. Bobo waved at him in response.

"Good night, Mr. Galf!" he said before looking at me, "I should be going to bed too!"

As Bobo followed Galf back into his shop to get some night rest, Defect continued looking at the stars.

"Defect, don't you want to go to sleep as well?" I asked, worrying that it might rain tonight.

"No worries, I will just sleep outside," he replied, snapping his eyes away from the sky.

"But it's going to be cold outside! Especially with the cold breeze at night. Are you sure just wearing your rebellion uniform would keep you warm for the night?" I added, concerning for Defect's health.

He responded me by lifting a warm cloth sleeping bag, showing it in front of my eyes.

"I have a sleeping bag, I will be fine,"

With that, he walked off. I shrugged, at least he got some warmth for tonight. I made my way to my apartment, knowing that I would be waking up really early; early enough that the Sun itself hasn't awoken from its slumber.