Ahh-heeeyaaaaaa, I yawned and stretched as I woke up.
My back hurt a little from the hard ground, but at least I hadn't been woken up prematurely.
"Task."
(Time remaining: 702:52:45 hours)
Jeez, I had slept for ten hours. The sky was still mostly dark, in a state of twilight. I stood up and looked around at all the people not so peacefully sleeping on the cold, hard ground.
With nothing to do, I went to talk to whoever was guarding—it was better to learn more about each other if we were going to be stuck together in this place. There were still some people I've yet to talk to.
I carefully maneuvered around so I wouldn't wake anyone and headed toward the entrance. While walking, I noticed Lucas awake, having a quiet conversation with Julia, Amaya, Zayn, and a few others. He cheerfully waved at me and then went back to talking. I waved back, smiling. Zayn, on the other hand, gave me a look that made me think he wanted to kill me. What an odd guy.
I arrived at the entrance and cracked it open just enough to slip out. If I wanted to meet people and get to know them, the best place to do that—without waking people up and pissing them off—would be to talk to the four guards.
"Hi," I greeted them first as I closed the entrance behind me.
"Oh. It's Axel," said Cynthia, the girl who had screamed at the goblin corpses on our way here.
I had talked to almost everyone yesterday, but I had only talked to two of the people out here: Maks and the person who greeted me, Cynthia.
"What brings you out here, Axel?" Cynthia asked.
"I just wanted to make friends," I responded heartily.
"Hahahaha," one of the men laughed. I smiled and turned my attention toward him, hoping to find a reason as to why my goal was funny. "Your mind is on making friends in this situation? That's commendable. I wish I was as good-natured and optimistic as you."
"What's on your mind?" I retorted.
Had I found another weirdo?
"My mind? My mind is going over how to survive and what I'll need to do to survive, even if that may be leaving some people behind," the man responded with a solemn look on his face.
"It seems we have the same goal in mind," I quipped back.
"Survival?" he asked.
"Yes, I think that's the same with everyone here," I affirmed while looking back at the walls of the camp, as if I could see through them and back at those still sleeping.
He put on a look of disdain that seemed to be aimed at himself.
"I guess you're right, but I am only thinking of my survival and no one else," he said.
"Where'd you get the impression I am thinking of others' survival?" I didn't think that was the presence I exuded; I had done nothing to suggest that. I didn't even think Lucas was focused on helping others survive. The only one here who I could say was truly thinking of others' survival was my savior.
"From what I heard, you sympathized with the goblin children," he explained. "In our uncertain situation, no matter what kind of goblin I face, I don't think I'll have a shred of sympathy for them. Mainly, though, you willingly gave away all of the resources you gathered to strangers, hogging nothing and not claiming any glory."
I figured I should set the record straight with this guy. Doing so had no merit, but I argued nonetheless...
"That's just a roundabout way of saying I'm kind. I'll thank you for the compliment, but I'll correct your false assumption. My priority is my own survival. For that, others' survival is necessary. I think my group members' thoughts align with mine, even Zayn, which is why we were understanding of sharing our findings."
The man looked down, causing his dreads to fall over his face, blocking his eyes. He looked lost in thought for a bit. The other three watched our conversation with some interest.
"Hmmm," the man continued to look at the ground in contemplation before speaking, "I guess you're right. But... would that mean you'll leave people who don't provide use behind? That's what has been weighing on my mind."
"I..." I thought about saying something optimistic like everyone has a use, but I didn't. I tried to give him a confident answer, but my mind drew a blank. "I don't know."
"Sorry for forcing you to think such pessimistic things and you don't even know my name. I'm Cory Higgins. Nice to meet you."
Cory lifted his head and made eye contact with me while holding out his hand.
I took his hand and responded, "It's alright. It must have been weighing heavily on your mind. I'm Axel Hart. Nice to meet you."
If the trend continued, I figure I'd be meeting a lot of weird people here. First the man who overkilled a goblin then somehow swiftly garnered the trust of everyone. Then the man who I couldn't tell if he wanted to kill me or kill me (jokingly). Now, here was a man who instantly tried to probe my psyche upon first meeting, all for his own self-affirmation. But at least Cory had some sense—Zayn was just weird and Lucas was scary.
Deeming that topic over, I looked over at the other three people here to greet them, one of them being the man who had been left behind to watch over my savior.
"I'm Li Jing, nice to meet you."
"I'm Cynthia, though you know that."
"I think you know my name as well, but I'm Maks. I'm still sorry for abandoning the man who saved you."
"Don't worry, you made the right decision." I couldn't deal with wallowing anymore, so I hoped he wouldn't go there.
Maks didn't let the opportunity to have the spotlight go to waste and looked as if he had something important to ask me that he had been holding in for a while.
"So..." Maks's face turned serious, and he looked me dead in the eyes. It seemed like whatever he was about to tell me could shake the foundation of the universe. "Does the girl in your group have a boyfriend?"
We all stood there dazed for a moment, processing what he had just said.
"Hahahhahaha."
Cory fell to the ground, rolling in laughter. Li Jing blushed and covered her face with her hands, starting to laugh as well. Cynthia just smiled.
"Seriously! That's what you said with that look on your face!" I screamed while trying to hold back tears. Would I find no normal people here?
Maks was not disgruntled and pressed on.
"This is a serious matter," Maks said.
The stern look on his face slowly grew more serious.
"How the hell would I know?!" I screeched back in a high-pitched tone.
"Then at least tell me..." Maks spoke slowly.
Oh no. What was he gonna say now?
"What does she like?" he asked confidently.
"How would I know?! I met her less than twenty-four hours ago!" I screamed back.
Cory continued to roll on the ground, laughing. I couldn't help but laugh along with them.
"Gather!" Lucas's scream brought us back to reality, and we all headed inside to see what plan Lucas was cooking.