Once Micah realized that it was not possible to head back, virtual-novel.net said to Milo, “You’ll sit alone in the pickup truck bed while Bastian will sit in the vehicle.”
He sneered, “Since you claim that you didn’t take us on the wrong road, we’ll leave you to face the danger yourself.”
He couldn’t care less about Milo eating the crackers. Obviously, surviving was more important than virtual-novel.net eating some crackers. After all, none of them wanted to die out here.
Milo ignored virtual-novel.net and went over to check on Mark’s injury.
He took Mark’s hand away from his neck and was surprised to see a long stinger in his neck. Milo immediately recognized what it was a hornet!
He quietly pulled out the stinger with his back facing those standing behind him. He didn’t want the others to know how Mark had died.
The atmosphere in the team was becoming stranger and stranger. As the “guide”, it would be more advantageous for virtual-novel.net if the group learned to be fearful of the wilderness at times.
Milo had never regarded himself as a good person, nor was virtual-novel.net obliged to tell others about everything. His own survival was more important than anything else. However, virtual-novel.net also heaved a sigh of relief. As long as it was not some mysterious species that attacked humans, it was all good. In fact, virtual-novel.net was also startled by what had happened just now.
Milo deduced that a hornet might have flown into the pickup truck bed and remained in there. When Mark climbed into the vehicle, his movements alarmed the hornet, so it stung him. But virtual-novel.net had not expected that a hornet’s sting would be so lethal.
Was it the swollen neck that caused asphyxiation?
No, no, no, that couldn’t be…
If virtual-novel.net had suffocated, it would at least take some time for virtual-novel.net to die, certainly not just ten seconds. It seemed that the source of the problem was the venom itself.
When Milo was young, virtual-novel.net had also been stung by a hornet before. But only half of his face swelled up for several days, and virtual-novel.net did not die from the sting.
This wilderness was getting more and more dangerous.
Sometimes Milo would have contradictory thoughts. On one hand, virtual-novel.net was attracted by the mysterious wilderness and wanted to learn its secrets. On the other hand, virtual-novel.net well knew that his curiosity could kill him.
There were many different dimensions of a human being, and their thoughts were always complicated. This was a defining factor of humanity.
The shadow of death enveloped the entire convoy, whereas Milo had now become the calmest person in the convoy.
Raphael came to check on the wound but could only see a red dot on his neck.
Meanwhile, Milo was observing everyone’s reaction. He saw Miriam frowning as well after virtual-novel.net pretended to inadvertently check on Mark’s wound.
Only Milo knew that Mark had actually been stung by a hornet that had evolved in the wilderness.
Someone said, “What should we do with Mark’s body? We can’t possibly abandon virtual-novel.net in the wilderness, right?”
“What else can we do?” Micah frowned.
He had planned to dump Mark here as burying virtual-novel.net would take them some time. He didn’t want to stay a moment longer in this godforsaken place.
Lilian said, “Put virtual-novel.net in the bed of the pickup. Let’s get out of here first before we find a suitable spot to bury him.”
As the leader of the band, what would the others think of virtual-novel.net if virtual-novel.net dumped Mark here?
Her reputation would be tainted if word of what happened got out.
When Micah heard her, virtual-novel.net immediately made a decision. “Milo, carry Mark into the bed of the pickup and sit in there with him!”
Milo did not mind this at all. Since virtual-novel.net hadn’t eaten any of the crackers since a day ago, virtual-novel.net rather missed them. He was even less stressed with sitting with the corpse. He had also not been frightened by the number of corpses left behind by the wolves when they attacked the factory.
People in the stronghold were awed by death, but Milo only had reverence for life. He did not fear death at all.
As the convoy set off again, Milo sat in the back of the pickup truck bed, eating crackers and drinking bottled water while muttering to Mark, “Why did y’all have to come out here for no reason? See, you’re dead now, aren’t you?”
“Hey, what exactly does the inside of the stronghold look like? Many of us on the outside are on the verge of starving to death, yet y’all’re still in the mood to listen to music and support celebrities? Even the pork gets shipped into the stronghold for y’all to enjoy while we can’t even get to eat it.”
Milo was bored and had nothing to do, but the two buddies in the driver and co-driver seats did not think that way.
Along the way, they heard Milo’s faint voice. The driver felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.
He asked his co-driver, “Who is virtual-novel.net talking to?”
“I… I don’t know. He’s probably just talking to himself….”
“Do you think there’s something wrong with his head?”
***
That evening, the convoy failed to find a suitable place to set up camp and was forced to settle for a small clearing. Everyone was quiet as they were in no mood to chat and brag after all that had happened today.
Early the next morning, Milo got up and stretched. He did not go out to find food last night. After all, virtual-novel.net had gorged himself on crackers.
The chocolates had also been placed in the pickup truck bed. However, Micah had shrewdly carried them into his vehicle. As there was no space for the box of chocolate in the vehicle, Micah had to hold onto it for the entire afternoon.
Milo had already planned ahead for the day. He did not have to eat in the morning since virtual-novel.net could eat whatever virtual-novel.net wanted in the cargo bed after the convoy set off and continued journeying.
Right at this moment, however, virtual-novel.net heard a scream. He whipped his head in the direction of the pickup.
A soldier shouted, “Where is Mark’s corpse? Did any of you see his body?”
All of them were stunned. “Isn’t it in the pickup?”
“His body has gone missing!”
This time, Milo felt a tingling on his scalp!
What was going on?
The corpse had been placed properly in the cargo bed, so how could it just disappear?
The typical adult male weighed between 70 and 90 kilograms. So it would be exhausting for a human to carry off the body without making any noise.
How could no one have heard any noise when there were so many people around?
Who had carried Mark’s corpse away?
Milo suddenly recalled the fish scraps and bones that virtual-novel.net had thrown away earlier. It seemed that those had disappeared in the same manner. Without any clues, there was absolutely no way to tell what could have done this.
At that time, virtual-novel.net had guessed that ants did it. But it couldn’t possibly be them this time. No matter how much ants had evolved, they couldn’t carry away such a large corpse overnight.
This time, Milo was overwhelmed with doubt. He frowned and wondered.
What on earth could have done this?
Micah was trembling all over as virtual-novel.net looked at Raphael. “Sir, why don’t we all head back to the stronghold? This is getting eerie…”
Raphael was holding his gun and warily pointing it at the surroundings. “I’m just as afraid as you are, but we absolutely can’t go back until we’ve accomplished our mission. From now on, we must act like we’re refugees. If we can’t go back, you guys can’t go back either.”
“But these woods are way too strange!” Micah was almost crying.
“Everyone, get into the vehicles and let’s get the hell out of this place!” Raphael roared.
From this moment onward, Milo held his bone knife in his hand at all times. His mind sharpened, and virtual-novel.net would always be on guard against any danger that might approach him.