The width and height of the inner belly of the Gate shrank and expanded in this uneven-ass manner, making the terrain hell to scale — especially for vehicles. Heavy metal ramps lay ahead of us, probably set there to help trucks climb and descend this rough-as-shit terrain.
Ahead, two black cargo trucks without tarps were parked on the right-hand side of the cave.
The Team Leader told all of us to hop in the back. He stood there until everyone settled, then walked off to the front of the truck I was in. He got into the passenger seat, and almost immediately, the engines of both trucks roared to life. They revved a bit, then rolled forward — taking us deeper into the Gate.
Didn't take long before we pulled up to a small camp. Didn't see any soldiers around, just Viper Guards doing all sorts of shit. Sometimes you see them in Gates, sometimes you don't.
The truck rolled into the camp and stopped.
The Team Leader got out, walked to the back of the trucks that were now parked beside each other.
"Get down and… follow me," he said. Didn't even wait for us to fully get off before he started walking away.
We rushed to catch up with the stupid cunt. When I finally caught up, I glanced around, trying to locate the source of that awful stench that hit us the moment we entered camp.
My brain already clocked it — dead flesh.
I quickly noticed blood and chunks of meat scattered everywhere. Most of it didn't look like it came from human bodies, but it still reeked like it.
Then we started hearing loud screams and painful-ass grunts from a section a bit outside the main camp.
There it was — a big-ass open tent where some Guards were being tended to by medics and Evolves with healing powers.
Seeing all that shit brought back that creeping fear, always worming around at the back of my mind. Like, if real-deal Guards are getting bodied like this... how fucked am I?
I forced my head to face forward, fighting my mind to kill that fear and steel myself for whatever's coming.
We passed through the right wing of the camp. A couple minutes later, we ended up at the edge of a cliff.
Our Team Leader halted, walked closer to the edge.
He lowered his face, then slowly lifted it back to normal — eyes staring off into the wind. Looked like he was seeing something far, or maybe just zoned out.
Then he snapped out of it and told us to continue.
We followed a narrow pathway down the cliff, and the closer we got, I started seeing a bunch of Guards below — maybe a hundred or a little less.
Some were gripping heavy machine guns mounted on armored vehicles, others were just sitting on the ground checking their rifles, and a few were walking around like they were on patrol.
Every single one of their weapons had glowing white markings around the muzzles and bodies — even the big-ass machine guns.
I figured those were the Guards the Team Leader was eyeing earlier.
When we reached them, the Team Leader told us to wait. Again. That shit was getting fuckin' annoying.
Then he walked up to one Guard in particular. The dude was huge but chubby as hell. Just looked fat to me.
They started talking — mouths moving like a couple of crickets on fire. But looking closer, I could tell the other guy was probably his superior. Our Leader was acting all bitchy while the big dude wasn't having any of it.
Something felt off the moment I saw that disappointed, pissed-off look on his face...
Then I started catching whispers from the other Guards. The rest weren't even trying to hide their disapproval — all of them were throwing glances our way.
Daigo, who stood beside me, leaned in and muttered, "Seems them fuckers were expectin' bigger guns."
"Yeah," I whispered back.
I knew something was off, but didn't think of that. Leave it to Daigo to read the fuckin' room.
After a while, the Team Leader came back to us.
"Let's go to the front."
And just like that, we followed — heading east.
For a second, I was wondering why the fuck we were moving out and leaving those guys behind. Who the hell's supposed to be watching our backs? According to the 'plan' that pussy-ass Leader preached earlier...
Then I heard his boss yelling. Turned to look back — Guards were suddenly scrambling. Some got in their vehicles and started rolling after us. Others carried crates — probably ammo — and tried to catch up.
They all lined up behind us in neat-ass columns, marching like it was a damn parade.
We kept walking, descending onto lower ground, and reached a field littered with fragments — bones, weapons, armor, blood, flesh. Shit was scattered everywhere.
Soon as the scene hit us, everyone in my group pulled out their weapons. Some dived into their bags like me, others grabbed from stash points while walking.
Then I heard a muffled yell from afar. Didn't catch what it was, but right after that, I realized I couldn't hear the company behind us marching anymore.
I turned to see why the hell they stopped.
Saw their boss standing at the front of them — none of them moved an inch.
Others from my group started noticing too. We all looked around, trying to figure out why they'd just stop like that.
Some of our guys started murmuring — tired of the halts and walking in fuckin' circles.
The Team Leader just said, "They're where they need to be. We need to be at our own position."
Then the bastard just kept marching forward, didn't even bother telling us to follow.