Chapter 14 - The Test 4

“Uuuu…. I failed.”

I tried to attach everything together like in my blueprint sketch, but it didn’t work; everything fell apart. 

“What do I do?”

Questioning myself, and thinking super hard, I came upon another idea.  

“Can’t I just use a long branch, instead of an intricate walking stick?”

I was overthinking everything too much. I grabbed my hatchet and began working at a large branch nearby. It was hard to reach, but I had the tree to support me. 

An hour later, I managed to break the branch, with some breaks and lifted myself up with it. Walking was weird since both of my hands were replacing my sprained leg. It sometimes hurts when I put my body weight on the stick, pressing my injured hands against it. Damn gravity!

Anyways, I went forth to search for some more things. Moving right leg first, then stick, then right leg, then stick. It wasn’t the fastest or best way to move, but it was better than crawling on the ground. 

“I need to find water and food.”

I can eat some grass to stave off my hunger, but that’s the last resort. I might have to try eating some bugs, but I can't even look at them, much less eat them. 

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After a lot of walking, I reached another fresh stream, with plenty of water. I immediately quenched my thirst and washed myself a little by splashing some water on dirty areas. It feels so cool, especially since it's midday, and I'm sweating waterfalls. 

My hair is also messed up from rolling down a hill. Even though I never cared about my hair in my past life, I have a strong feeling of wanting it to be clean. I gave my hair a quick wash and continued forth.

"Achoo"

Maybe I splashed in the water for too long. I might get a cold, but the sun should dry me off.

“I should go down the stream, being near a water source may be disadvantageous since I can easily be found, but having water nearby is beneficial. Plus, if I encounter mom, I should have the water slow her advances.”

I took a look at my pocket watch; it was 3:00 pm already. I need to move quickly, or else I’ll fail the test. I took a look into the stream, there weren’t any fish since it’s too shallow, but I might be able to find some if there’s a lake or something upstream. 

{FRRRRRRRRAAAKAKKKKKKKKK}

Some more gunfire, albeit, much louder this time. I didn’t see my mom anywhere, but I ducked in a bush just in case.

Looking through the leaves in the bush, I saw several men in tactical gear, with fully automatic rifles, and machine guns.

Did my mom hire some mercenaries to hunt me down? No, it can’t be it, right?

I tensely waited in the bush, not moving an inch and slowing my breathing. I have a feeling they aren’t related to my mom. They seem to be talking about something, I tried to eavesdrop on their conversation from, but they were pretty far away from me.

“Operation… Kill….. Target….. ASIO…. May….. Altru…..bless…..”

I could only hear a few things, but they seem to be targeting the ASIO. Is this perhaps the IAA? And, where have I heard Altru before? I guess I’ll wait here for now. 

{RAKKA RAKKA RAKKA RAKKA}

Some more, much louder gunshots echoed in the forest. It was from a hill, and one of the presumably IAA guys dropped, with blood flowing into the stream. The other guys quickly took cover behind a tree nearby. There were 2 left, with one dead in the stream. What should I do? Is this a part of the test? 

I wanted to move somewhere else, but I couldn’t since the tactical gear guys were too close. Gunshots were coming from somewhere, but I didn’t know where. 

This is guerilla warfare, but much more terrifying. You don’t even know where your enemies are. Back in my past life, you had detection magic and ranged battles were 150m away from each other at max unless it’s a major battle in the plains. 

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Gunshot exchanges continued for another hour, the IAA tactical gear guys quietly retreated, probably because they ran out of ammo. I managed to escape by crawling in the opposite direction with my handy stick. 

This is crazy. There was terrorism back in the Kingdom, but this is on a whole different scale. At this rate, they could probably take over a small country. I just hope they don’t have any nuclear weapons. 

I could feel my limbs slowly recovering since I was stationary for an hour straight, but I still can’t walk yet. This is going to be a long day.