Chapter 114:Herded.
Chapter 114: 114:Herded.
The scream echoed through the streets before abruptly dying away. For several long seconds, nobody moved.
The contractors scattered around the residential district instinctively looked toward the direction it had come from. Some tightened their grip on their weapons while others climbed onto abandoned vehicles trying to see over the rooftops.
An unsettling silence returned almost immediately. Brian was the first to break it.
"Jonah."
He immediately looked over.
"Take three people and secure the intersection behind us."
Jonah nodded without hesitation.
"You heard him, come on."
Three members of the convoy peeled away from the group, moving with disciplined urgency. Their weapons remained lowered, but every pair of eyes constantly swept the streets and windows.
The tension in the air could be cut with a knife.
Brian turned to Claire.
"You stay with the civilians."
She frowned.
"You think it’s another beast?"
"I don’t know and I don’t like not knowing."
Claire’s cheerful expression faded.
"...Neither do I."
Silver remained motionless. His eyes never left the flowers growing beside the pavement. Every few seconds another breeze passed through the street. Every time it did, the blossoms gently released another cloud of almost invisible particles.
Without Spatial Sense, he wouldn’t have noticed but now, he couldn’t stop noticing.
"They’re still releasing it..."
Ravenna quietly stepped beside him.
"Silver."
He didn’t answer.
"The concentration keeps increasing."
She looked at the flowers.
"They don’t look dangerous."
"They aren’t." He corrected himself almost immediately. "...At least not by themselves."
He crouched beside one of the tiny white flowers. It looked harmless; five delicate petals and a thin green stem. Nothing about it suggested danger, yet somehow, this insignificant little plant had filled an entire town with airborne spores.
Silver reached toward it before stopping.
"No."
Ravenna noticed.
"Something wrong with them again."
"I don’t know what touching it might do."
Around them, the contractors began murmuring among themselves.
"What was that scream?"
"Maybe someone found a beast."
"I didn’t hear gunfire."
"It could’ve been an accident."
"Should we go check?"
The uncertainty spread far faster than panic. People weren’t afraid yet, just curious. To most contractors, danger tends to hold the biggest opportunities.
Brian frowned.
"Nobody moves alone. If you investigate, take at least four people. We don’t even know what the fuck we’re supposed to fight"
Several nearby contractors nodded in agreement. Even groups that didn’t belong to Brian’s convoy instinctively began sticking closer together.
An Association officer jogged into the street moments later, his breathing uneven.
"Everyone stay calm."
That sentence alone made several people uneasy.
"What happened?"
"We’re confirming the situation. Remain where you are until further notice."
Brian stepped forward.
"Was it a beast?"
The officer hesitated.
"We’re not sure."
Silver noticed the uncertainty in his eyes. Whatever was happening, the Association didn’t understand it either. The officer hurried away toward another intersection.
Claire folded her arms.
"I hate vague answers."
Jonah returned from the rear intersection.
"Nothing behind us. There are no movement or beasts. It really is true, every beast left the area."
Silver quietly spoke.
"...That’s what worries me."
Everyone looked at him.
"Too quiet."
He looked toward the empty streets.
"A town this size should still have scavengers. Even with apex predators around, scavengers will be seen but it seems they also left with the other normal beasts or they’re all dead," he exhaled shakily," whatever this plant is, it might have been here far longer than anyone noticed. That was why the town suddenly became famous... we’re probably being herded. With all the prey gone, we’re the next best thing."
Brian slowly nodded.
"...You’re right."
Until Silver mentioned it, none of them had consciously noticed.
A contractor from another convoy suddenly walked over. He was a middle-aged man with a shotgun slung across his shoulder.
"You were the one talking about pollen."
Silver nodded cautiously.
"My daughter has asthma, so I made my team wear masks. I wanted to thank you." The man shrugged. "Better to look stupid than dead."
Several others nearby overheard the conversation. Within minutes, more masks appeared. Not everyone chose to wear the masks some still believe it was all stupid.
But it was enough, almost a third of the contractors in the area, Silver felt a small sense of relief. If he was right, every mask mattered.
Ravenna quietly leaned closer.
"You saved people."
"We don’t know that yet."
"You still warned them."
Silver sighed.
"I just hope I’m wrong."
She smiled faintly behind her mask.
"I don’t."
He looked at her in surprise.
"If you’re wrong, we wasted five minutes putting on masks but if you’re right..."
She didn’t finish the sentence. Silver activated Spatial Sense again. This time only for a brief moment.
[Spatial Sense Lv2]
The familiar pressure settled behind his eyes. Immediately, the glowing spores appeared once more. They were still drifting and spreading. He forced himself to ignore them and looked downward instead.
The underground roots, were slowly moving, like muscles contracting beneath the ground. His expression changed.
"They’re growing."
Ravenna looked to the ground immediately following his gaze.
"What?"
"The roots, they weren’t this thick a few minutes ago."
He deactivated the skill before the mental exhaustion could worsen. A dull ache settled behind his temples. His Mental Resistance had improved considerably, even so, repeated use of Spatial Sense against something covering an entire town was pushing him toward his limit.
Claire watched him rub his forehead.
"Headache?"
"A little."
"You should rest."
Silver smiled weakly.
"I wish."
Another breeze swept through the neighborhood. This time, Silver noticed something different. The spores weren’t drifting aimlessly anymore. They all slightly leaned toward the center of town as though drawn by an invisible current.
He frowned.
"...They’re moving somewhere."
Ravenna followed his gaze.
"The wind?"
"No, it isn’t matching the wind."
His pulse quickened. The realization settled heavily in his chest. If the spores had a destination, then something was attracting them.
A commotion suddenly erupted at the far end of the street. Everyone instinctively turned. A young contractor stumbled out of a nearby house, uninjured. He looked simply confused.
His teammates rushed toward him.
"What happened?"
The young man blinked several times.
"I... I forgot."
"What?"
"We were searching..." He rubbed his forehead. "...I can’t remember why we went inside."
His companions exchanged uneasy looks.
"You’re exhausted. Sit down."
Silver watched quietly. The young contractor’s eyes wandered toward the flowers lining the sidewalk. For several long seconds, he simply stared at them, almost mesmerized, then he blinked.
"I’m fine."
His teammates helped him sit anyway.
Brian lowered his voice.
"...Memory problems."
Silver nodded.
"It could be unrelated,"
"I hope it is."
Neither of them believed it.
More Association personnel began appearing throughout the district. Unlike earlier, they no longer looked relaxed. Messengers hurried between streets carrying handwritten reports. Portable radios crackled continuously.
Silver caught fragments as one officer passed nearby.
"...similar symptoms..."
"...west sector..."
"...keep civilians together..."
"...waiting for medical..."
"...ten simultaneous attacks..."
The words disappeared before he could hear more. The atmosphere of opportunity that had filled Detroin only an hour earlier had quietly vanished. The town now felt as though it was collectively holding its breath.
Silver looked toward the distant skyline. Beyond rows of abandoned buildings, he could make out the tops of enormous trees rising above the southern district.
The old botanical gardens.
Without knowing why, for only a heartbeat, his instincts lingered there. Then...
[Spatial Sense Lv2 Activated]
Silver froze. Far beneath the streets, countless reddish glowing roots were slowly converging towards the botanical gardens.
His breathing caught.
"...Found you."
Before he could say another word a deep vibration rolled beneath the pavement. It wasn’t enough to knock anyone down but every contractor instinctively looked at the ground.
Then, the white flowers all around the street... turned toward the contractors.
Silver’s blood ran cold.