//------------------------------// // More Objects, More Mystery // Story: In The Forest // by Darkness Moon //------------------------------// The Forest Chapter 7 More Objects, More Mystery They crossed the river and went to the camp, there were not many cannibals and they didn't have many things either, it was another simple camp. Suddenly Sonata found a rare object in a cannibal hut... something she recognized. “Girls? You better see this, ”said Sonata, taking the object. Her friends went to her, and they saw what Sonata had: it was a tennis ball, red with yellow lines, it wasn't just any ball, it was from Onix! "It's Onix's ball," said Sunset, surprised. "How can you be so sure?" Aria asked. "Look! It has my initials,” said Sunset, showing the recorded letters. "Well, it's the same one as Onix's," Adagio said. "That means Onix must be close," said Sunset, taking the ball. "I don't want to bust your bubble, but that could have fallen from the plane, some bags flew out," said Aria. "I know, I know," said Sunset. "But it means maybe, maybe, he was here." "Maybe," said Aria. "Do you want to stay here and look?" she asked. "Let's go explore the caves as we planned, maybe we'll find more clues," said Sunset. "Let's get out of here," Adagio said, walking. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They advanced through the forest for a few more hours, not losing their way with the help of the map and the compass. They recognized some parts of the road, even in the distance they could see the beach that was near their house. "Do we go back home?" Sonata asked. "No, I just want to survey an area near here," said Sunset. Suddenly, they found some cannibal effiges, like those they found in some caves, and interestingly, they found an entrance to a cave. "Well, we should explore," Sunset said, putting away the map. They entered and prepared the lantern and some torches, and instantly saw some corpses hanging on the ceiling, some cannibals, not many, only three, and a rope that faced the surface, but they would not need it now. Later, they found some unfortunate passengers from the plane, many were dead in their seats, and there were suitcases around. There wasn't much to see, just ropes and rags, and another thing they found, was a wooden wall, with some crucifixes. Aria took her ax and broke the wall. They walked a little more, going deeper into the place and trying to find new things. Adagio found another flashlight and it seemed to be the only good thing about the place. Another wooden wall was in their way, and again, they broke through it. There were some human hearts on the floor, a very unpleasant sight to see. After reviewing the new area, their only way was to go down a rope. One after another, they slid down the rope. They found another one, and they went down it as well, when they reached the ground. As they came to the new area, Sunset found a crucifix on the ground, and kept it, maybe it was nothing relevant, but she still wanted to keep it. They continued until they reached a small lake, and on its left, there was equipment for two diving teams. "Well, how convenient," Adagio said. "But there are only two sets, and we are four people," said Sonata. "We can share them," Sunset said, putting away the map. "It's the only option," said Aria, removing the diving equipment from the corpse. Sunset and Aria equipped the diver's equipment, and entered the water, followed by Adagio and Sonata. While they were swimming, they shared the oxygen, they removed the hose from their mouths and shared it so as not to choke and run out of air. When they reached the other side. they came out of the water and found more oxygen tanks, in the distance they could see a strange wall made of metal, they advanced to it and looked at it. "But what is this?" Aria asked. "I don't know, but I don't think the cannibals did this," said Sunset. "They look like the gates of hell," said Aria. "How do we get in?" Adagio asked. “Hey, girls! What is this for?” said Sonata. In front of the door was a strange pressure mechanism. "Maybe if we put something on it, the doors will open," Sunset suggested. They laid some stones, and indeed, the doors opened, as soon as they entered, the doors closed. "I think we can't go back where we came from," said Aria. “We have to find another way out, no worries,” said Sunset. On the other side, there were mummified corpses, praying to a crucifix with some bibles on the ground, and on the other hand, some field houses. They explored and found some useful things, and other important objects, inside a booth Sonata found another part of the map. “Sunset! I found a part of the map,” said Sonata, handing it to her. "Thanks Sonata," Sunset said, smiling. Aria found a couple of magazines, they seemed important, Adagio found a bible. And Sunset found a sketch, picking it up, she examined it, a drawing of the mutant Virginia, and it seems to have been drawn with graphite pencil on plain paper. It probably belongs to the Christian missionaries, as it also seems to have been the Latin graphite paper in a similar role, in addition to the white tents and the bibles and crosses, they are commonly associated with the Christian missionaries, and right next to the drawing, there was a rustic ax! It wasn't as good as Aria's, but it would be very useful. "Mine is better," said Aria, with her ax on her shoulder. "Well, what do we do now?" Adagio asked. "I'm hungry," said Sonata. "Let's rest for a while, eat something, and then get out of here," Sunset said. They sat on the floor and made a fire, pulled out some pieces of meat, a fish, and a can of lentils for Sunset. They cooked food, rested for a moment. "And what will we do after leaving this cave?" Aria asked, eating her piece of meat. "Well, we can find another new area to explore, or we can go home," said Sunset. "I want to explore," Aria said, eating. "First let's get out of this cave, okay?" Adagio said. After eating something, and waiting a while before swimming, Aria and Sunset put on the diving equipment, and entered the water followed by Adagio and Sonata. They swam for a very long time before they reached a rope, came out of the water, and climbed the rope. When they reached the top, they set a fire to warm up, then returned to the water. While they swam and shared the oxygen, they reached the end, going up to the outside. They ended up in a lake with several geese around, got out of the water, and walked a little more, noticed that the sun was setting in the distance. "Soon it's going to get dark, we should go home," Adagio said. "Yes, I think it's the best," said Sunset. They continued until they reached a beach, but there were huge containers, curiously, they advanced to investigate them, but there was nothing important in them. They were all empty, they didn't have important things, but they had words written on them. "Sahara?" Sunset said, confused. “Hey! Look at this!” called Aria. Aria was further away, and showed her friends the entrance to another cave. "Here we go again," Adagio said, taking her flashlight. Again, they entered the other cave, prepared torches and lanterns since the cave was very dark. They found some candy bars and bottles of alcohol on the ground. Aria found a briefcase with some papers and a VHS tape. "Is that a cassette?" Sonata asked. "No, it's a videotape, so we can't see what's on it," said Aria. "Let me see it," Sunset asked. Aria handed her the tape. “The arrival of Megan,” she said, reading the writing on the label. "It doesn't help much, I'm sorry Sunset," Adagio said. "Let's move on," said Aria, taking her ax. They continued on a little narrow road until they reached a wider place, on the right there was a rope, but they continued straight until they reached a small path of boards on the ground, and a rope, but just below, there were about three cannibals. Aria prepared some homemade bombs and threw them, it managed to kill two of the cannibals. The last cannibal was completely still, it seemed that he was asleep. They went down in silence, and Sunset took her katana and I finished it off. They walked until they reached a wooden wall, Aria took her ax and broke it. Further on, a path little narrower than the previous one, they reached another rope, in a common grave, and just below, there was a huge mutant with many arms, and some strange small beings around. "Great, now what?" said Aria. "Let's attack from a distance," said Sunset, preparing a molotov. “Once it's burning in flames, we go down, and attack it together.” "And what about those things?" Sonata asked. "It seems they aren't that dangerous, but better help us with them," Sunset said. "Ready?" Once prepared, they threw the molotov and the monster caught fire, Aria jumped down the rope, followed by Sunset, and attacked the mutant with their best weapons. While fighting with the mutant, Adagio and Sonata faced the strange little monsters, the fight only lasted a few minutes. "That was a little difficult," said Sunset, tired. "What are these things?" Sonata asked. "They look like babies," Adagio said. "Mutant babies?" said Aria. "Gross." "Let's continue," Sunset said, lighting a fire. When they illuminated the area, there were a lot of corpses, but they were not cannibals, they were normal people. "I don't like this place," said Sonata. "Me neither, let's take what we can and get out," said Sunset. Besides bodies, there were not many things, almost nothing. Adagio found an ethical science magazine. "Wait, I've seen that thing before," Sunset said looking at the magazine. “There was a drawing of that on the yacht.” “'The obelisk of resurrection. Can this device return the dead?' What does that mean? ”Aria asked, reading. "I don't know, but it seems important," said Sunset. "It will be better to keep it, just in case." They examined the area further, and Sonata found a kind of card in the hand of a corpse on the ground. “Sunset! I found something else,” said Sonata, showing the card. "An access card?" Adagio asked. "Why would you need that?" said Aria. “It has the same writing as in the containers: Sahara,” said Sunset, examining the card. “It seems that this peninsula hides many secrets. You definitely have to save this.” Suddenly, she remembered something. "Wait a minute, Aria! Do you remember the yacht? Where was that strange door?" "What are you talking about?" Adagio asked, confused. "It's true! On the yacht we found an electronic door or something," Aria said, remembering. "It could only be opened with an advisory card." "And what could that help us with?" Sonata asked. "We'll know when we get out of here," Sunset said, saving the card. Later, Sunset found a video camera. "Okay, this gets more and more interesting," said Sunset. She remembered that they had found a videotape at the beginning of the cave, took the tape from her backpack, and sat on a rock, her friends next to her. "Ready?" Sunset asked. Her friends nodded; Sunset turned on the camera, and placed the tape. The quality was not very good, but enough to see. In the video, the sound of the rotors of a helicopter was heard, indicating that a person traveled in one to the peninsula. The image showed a snowy mountain area, with a huge construction area. The image changed, and a girl with an oxygen respirator appeared, looking and pointing at the mountains. The little girl seemed excited to get to that place, and it was over. "That's it," Sunset said, turning off the camera. "Who is that girl?" Sonata asked. "I don't know, but she seemed very sick," Adagio said. "Wait... is there a snowy area in this place?!" said Aria, surprised. "So it seems," said Sunset. “This cave has information about the peninsula, let's continue exploring.” And so they did. They faced some cannibals, the occasional mutant, and those strange babies too. In some areas, used the diving equipment and continued a long way, until they reached a new area. On a rock, there were two heads of some beheaded men, a drawing of a scale, and in the mouth of one of the heads, there was another tape. Aria took it, and gave it to Sunset. "We better get out of the cave, and go home," said Sunset. "Yes, it must be at night outside," Adagio said. They kept walking to find a way out, there were many papers around the place, they found a rope, and they climbed. They had to climb at least two more ropes to reach the surface, indeed, it was almost night outside, and it was very dark, they were in the middle of the forest, next to a large lake. "Let's go home," said Sunset. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Guided by the compass and the map, they reached their house, luckily, they did not run into any cannibals or mutants on their way, they entered, and secured everything. "Can we see that tape?" said Aria. "First let's eat something, then let's take a bath, and in the end we'll see the second tape," Adagio said. “I like the idea, could you cook Sonata?” asked Sunset. "Always!" Sonata said happily. "I'll go take a bath," Adagio said. "Ari, can you help me cook?" Sonata asked. "As you wish," said Aria, heading to stand with Sonata. While they were going to do that, Sunset entered the shelter, and left all the things they had found. Later, after a relaxing bath, everyone was eating inside the shelter, by the fireplace, when they finished, Sunset brought the camera. "Very well, the second tape says: Lunch with Megan," reading the label on the tape. "The same girl we saw before?" Sonata asked. "Yes, that girl seems to be important," said Sunset, placing the tape. When he turned on the camera, this tape showed a cafeteria, and there were some men around, some did not want to be filmed by the camera. And there were two men next to the little girl. She was in a wheelchair, but she smiled and greeted the person who recorded her. And the tape finished. "That's it, again," said Sunset, turning off the camera. “But, was that filmed on this peninsula? And where is that construction?” asked Adagio. "It's most likely in that snowy area, and it must be far away for us," said Sunset. "We should go, I mean, you want to know more about this peninsula, or whatever," said Aria. "Yes, it's true," said Sunset. “But there are other more important things, we must find Onix, and get out of this place." "That's true," said Sonata. "As you wish, I will go to sleep," Aria said, getting up, and walking to her room, followed by Sonata. Adagio and Sunset did the same, before turning off the lights, Sunset looked at the camera for the last time, before leaving it, each went to sleep, after the long day they had.