Chapter 21: Exploring the Island

August 8

The group leaves items hidden in a hiding place made next to the dock. After that, they head toward the village on top of the mountain in the center of the island. They walk along a narrow path through the forest. The group gets about half an hour forward, and then three zombies suddenly attack them. The zombies come from the bushes really fast but very quietly, and the group notices them only when they come into view. One of them hits Neiia very well, and Neiia flies into the forest, hitting a tree head-first at high speed. Neiia goes unconscious from the impact. Another zombie hits Jaysek by licking, and after this, Jaysek feels weaker than before.

The third zombie misses Ra. Next, two zombies from behind attack Kieron, but neither hits; one flies into a tree instead. Ra chops one zombie to pieces and then comes to help Kieron. The zombie that ended up in the tree can’t get out anymore, but the other tries to hit Kieron again, but the attack goes past and really far so that the zombie crashes into the same tree that Neiia had hit her head against. The tree falls from the force of the impact. Next, Ra chops this zombie to pieces as well.

Next, Kieron wakes Neiia up, and Jaysek starts giving her first aid. At the same time, Kieron heals Jaysek’s strength reduction. When these are finished, Kieron heals Neiia, and Jaysek also tries to heal her with a ritual but doesn’t succeed. Next, Jaysek tries the ritual again, but it’s interrupted because the group starts to feel strange, and a moment later it starts pouring rain like the flood gates had opened.

The group moves away from the path to the forest side, walking through the trees and continuing upward. Water comes down the path as a flowing stream several feet deep. The rain stops after 10 minutes, but the path remains a stream for some time, though slowly reducing in flow.

The group reaches the village and see the village itself but doesn’t notice anything special. Ra goes to the first house and removes a couple of window shutters with his crowbar, but inside is only junk. The roof of said house has completely collapsed. Neiia looks inside the next house through the doorway, and there’s nothing remarkable there either.

The group continues investigating and notices that there’s some woman in a robe on top of the tower. The group sneaks closer, and after that, someone notices Neiia and shouts, “Who’s there?” Neiia answers, and when the people in the tower notice that these are people, not zombies, they shout, “Come here.” The group goes to get their backpacks when four zombies suddenly attack Kieron. They throw Kieron against the wall, and Kieron falls. Kieron jumps up, and the zombies continue their attacks. The others come to help, and the zombies are chopped down.

The group goes inside the tower and manages to talk with Samaritha, who is there. They hear that blue cats have attacked them, and after that, apparently they do something to those who get killed because they become those zombies. While they’re talking, they hear warning shouts from above. Neiia and Jaysek go upstairs, Kieron and Ra stay downstairs guarding the door.