Time went by as we stayed in their cabin for a couple more night before departing once again, making sure to leave little traces of our presence behind with the exception of the fox girl. She didn't bark nor yap at all while we were there, all she did was crawl into a fetal position by a corner. Vincent didn't want her to try anything so he tasked grizzly to take care of her. She trembled every time he was near her which did help keep the fox in check. Everyone knew why the she was acting that way with the exception of Mira who would casually brush down her fur just to appease her boredom.

When we departed, we tied the fox up, hoping that she would starve to death before anyone could discover her but i guess she manage to escape in the end. Anyway, we continued to travel deeper into the Valley, resting during the day while moving at the dead of night. I held the responsibility of carrying Mira on my back the majority of time which wasn't really a problem due to her being light as a feather. She playfully patted on my head while humming a tune, looking up towards the sky. “Why do you always look up Mira?" I asked her while transversing through some tall grass. She stopped humming and giggled at my question. “I'm stargazing silly Dex!" This was a surprised for me. “But Mira, i thought that you were unable to see!" She giggled again while reaching down to compress my cheeks together with her tiny hands.

“Of course I can't see Dex! I'm just practicing for when i'm able to see the stars again. Big bro promised that once he rules the world, he'll get my eyes all fixed up so he can show me the constellations." She chirped happily, resuming to pat my head. “Mom and dad were both astronauts back then and they would always tell me what it was like up there. I want to be just like them when i grow up!" Mira was in love with astronomy, naturally getting that passion from her parents. That was what she desired most in life and i couldn't help but smile. “Just pictured it dex! Spaceships as big as cities, undiscovered worlds within our reach! I can't wait to see that." I never seen her so excited from a simple subject.

Everyone believed that Vincent will make all their dreams come true if he somehow takes over this planet, no wonder they follow him without question. “I'm sure his majesty will get you all patched up in no time once we find the Nursery and turn things back to normal. Heck, first drinks are on me once you are a astronaut!" I shouted which caused a uproar of 'here here's' from everyone else. Mira squeaked from the sudden noise and laughed, thanking me for the offer.

It wasn't long until Vincent held up his fist, indicating for us to halt. “There's a campsite up ahead and It looks like someone is occupying it." Mira climbed down from my back and scurried to a nearby tree to hide while the rest of us slowly pushed forward. Upon closer observation, five figures were sitting around the fire. They were humans and from the looks of it, they were the same age as us! “Your Majesty, I thinks it's best that we avoid these guys and go arou-." Before I could finish my sentence, he was already walking towards the camp. “Hello comrades! What brings all the way out here?"

The sudden outburst caused the small group to jolt up and focused all of their attention at Vincent.  “take another step and I'll blow your brains out bro." One of the kids commanded, pointing an actual light machine gun at Vincent's face. He didn't even flinch at all, just smiled the entire time which made me worry even more. “Calm down, we all come from the same team yes? You won't shoot your own kind now would you?" They looked at each other for a moment and lowered their weapons. “I guess we are still brothers at arms in the end."

All six boys were apart of the same squad during the final hours of alpha, playing the role of mechanized Infantry which was basically troops with APC support. They told us that when the prime ministers voice echoed through all military channels, they felt something bad was about to happen so they bolted without anyone noticing. After escaping, keeping all of the gear just in case. “There's a rural neighborhood not far from here. We are gonna raid one and take all the goodies inside." The leader told Vincent, taking a bite out of his candy bar. “ we already scouted the surrounding area of a suitable house for a few days and concluded that a decently sized family lives inside, with a large female wolf and fox with a small litter of mix breed pups."

“so you are just go in guns blazing hmm?" Vincent spat, looking disappointed at their plan. The leader didn't seem amused by his attitude but decided to let it go. “The bitch may be a problem due to her size but the three of us can easily take her down without wasting ammo while two can deal with the fox. As for the their pups, they shouldn't pose much of a threat." He said with a voice full of confidence. “You caught us at a good time too, we were getting ready to go tonight! You noobs can come with us and see how it's done."

Vincent surprisingly agreed with him even though he was getting nothing out of it. I wanted to protest but his mind was already made up. After a hour had passed, the five boys got up and walked towards their destination with our group following close behind. “Alright, we're almost there. You know the plan, go in from the back yard, sneak upstairs and take them by surprise. Ace, you collect our prize. The rest of you Just don't get in our way. Maybe you could learn a thing or two from us."

Sure enough, we all made it to the place. It was a two story house with a in ground pool built in, along with a huge outdoor playset not far from it. While we stopped along the treeline, the six man squad pressed forward to the back door, making as little noise as possible. We couldn't see any lights turned on this time so the family was most likely asleep. “Something doesn't feel right about this." Vincent mumbled softly as the raiders lined up against the door, giving each other thumbs up and fist bumps while the leader pulled something out from his pocket proceeded to mess with door knob.

It took him a few minutes to finished when he looked at each of his comrades, using his hand to countdown. Once he reached zero, he forced open the door and was met by a ear piercing Screech that could heard from our position. It was an active alarm system and it startled the boys until the leader yelled for them to push forward. They all rushed in, disappearing into the dark void. Lights followed by movement could be seen upstairs. A mixture of  human and beastmen screams, then muffled gunshots. “What's going on in there?" One of the guys in our group whispered as the gunshots continued along with the human screams.

Seconds passed as three  boys who went In staggered out, all of them covered in blood. It was one heck of a sight, their bodies were deeply mauled beyond repair and yet they are still moving. One of the boys suddenly fell to the ground mid step and ceased all further movement . The remaining two were half way from the treeline when a large wolf ran out with a assault rifle in paw, firing rounds towards the remaining members. She successfully manage to hit a kid in the back, causing him to howl in agony before collapsing onto the ground. The last of the squad was able to make it to us, dropping onto my arms. “S-she….she.. Had guns and….over p-powered us. They're all dead!"

He said in between gasp, trying his hardest not to cry in front of us but the tears said otherwise. The wolf continued to unload her weapon off in our general direction while roaring in a fit of rage. I instinctively yanked the injured boy behind a tree as more rounds headed my way, the soft thuds of metal hitting wood was all too common for me. “fall back everyone! We can't help them now." Vincent ordered. We did as were told and quickly ran deeper in the woods.

We weren't exactly in a safe spot, running only a couple meters from the house to where Mira was hiding. The boy I was dragging felt stiff, I gently laid him against a rock to check his pulse but found out that he had already died from the blood lost. With nothing else to do, i closed his eyes and dug around his pockets to find some form of identification but found none. “We can't stay here, i'm sure more will come. Mira, where are you? We gotta leave now!' Vincent called out her name.

Rustling from a nearby bush drew all of our attention to Mira who was seen crawling out with blank expression on her face. “Big...brother? I… don't feel so good." She sputtered out, blood slowly poured out from her mouth.