Shadow Slave

In the end, they stayed in the derelict bunker for three days. The vehicles of the convoy had turned out to be in a worse state than Sunny had thought, so it took a lot of work for Kim and Samara to get them in shape with Quentin's help. The patchwork repairs they implemented were not pretty, but at least the transports were not going to fall apart on the road, stranding dozens of refugees and bringing the convoy to a halting stop.

In the freezing cold of the polar night, stopping meant death. That was without even considering the swarms of Nightmare Creatures prowling in the dark... the world itself was more than happy to kill them.

Throughout these few days, Sunny continued to monitor the surroundings and diligently updating his map. The four shadows spent a lot of time either climbing mountains or hiding on their icy summits. He knew for a fact that shadows did not experience getting cold... and yet, Sunny could not shake the feeling that the gazes they threw at him from time to time were less friendly than usual.

'Tough... do as you're told and don't complain, bastards.'

He was not a very friendly person himself.

The days spent in the bunker were strangely uneventful. There were no large hordes of Nightmare Creatures in close proximity to it, yet, and whatever small swarms passed by were not strong enough to pose a serious threat. If they did attack, the abominations would have a hard time assaulting the underground complex - its defensive capabilities, which Sunny and his cohort had braved themselves while clearing out the snake monsters, were now on their side.

No one would find it easy to get to the civilians.

...Unless they were capable of borrowing through the ground, of course, like the monstrous lieutenant of the stone hive that had almost buried Sunny in solid stone. If they were, the bunker would become nothing short of a free buffet for such a Nightmare Creature.

After thinking about that, Sunny ordered Luster to remain in the Rhino and monitor the seismic sensors like his life depended on it.

But no dangerous abomination appeared.

When Sunny was free, he silently patrolled the bunker, studying the refugees. These people seemed strange to him. After losing their homes, loved ones, and having the promised salvation be ripped out from their hands - twice - he would have expected many to break. And some did... but very few.

For most, life simply went on. Especially the children. The last thing Sunny had expected to hear in the gloomy corridors of the abandoned bunker was the sound of laughter, but nevertheless, there it was. Kids were playing around, watched over by the elderly. They ran around, made friends, and invented various games to chase away the boredom.

One even had the gall to slam directly into him while chasing after their playmates. The boy let out a startled yelp, then looked up with wide eyes and mumbled:

"Uh... sorry, Uncle Awakened..."

With that, he rubbed his forehead and dashed away, giggling.

Sunny blinked a couple of times.

'...Uncle? Uncle?! The... the nerve!'

Who was he calling an uncle?!

...Kids were doing fine, but even the adults, pressed down by the burden of knowledge, showed pale smiles from time to time.

They were warm, had both water and food, as well as a temporary, but safe shelter. That was all it took for the human spirit to hold on, it seemed.

Maybe Sunny himself had something to do with their mood, as well. The refugees decided to trust in the competence of the Master who had taken charge of their survival. They surrendered their fates into his hands, and, unburdened, found enough strength to believe in the future, even if only a little.

'Strange. So strange. I would never entrust my life to anyone...'

At the end of the third day, Sunny gave the command to start preparing for an immediate departure. That decision was met with a lot of turmoil, both from the civilians and the soldiers. Even his own men spoke up.

"Sir... if I may."

Samara gestured to the ramshackle vehicles, slight concern apparent on her usually nonchalant face.

"We have done a lot, but I am not sure how well our repairs will hold. If you give us two more days... maybe even one... we'll accomplish much more."

Beth and Sergeant Gere were similarly in favor of postponing the departure by a few days.

"The people are just starting to come to their senses. A few more days of rest will do wonders for both their mood and their health. We have a lot of old people here, you know? They require care..."

But Sunny was adamant. He simply shook his head.

"You don't get it. We must leave now. There is a huge horde of Nightmare Creatures moving in from the east, and another one coming down from the north. If we go now, we'll have a chance of slipping past them before they arrive. If not, we'll simply drown in abominations. Do you actually think that they won't find us underground, or that seven and a half Awakened can stop them? Wake the hell up and start loading people into the transports. That's an order."

No one could challenge his authority, and no one had any reason to. While hard to accept, his words were true... which was to be expected, considering that Sunny could not lie. He would have loved to lie and manipulate these people, but sadly, he could only manipulate them by telling the truth.

Weirdly enough, he was starting to earn a reputation of a rough, but fair leader as a result.

Who could be more dependable than the Devil, after all?

After three days of rest for some, and back-breaking work to prepare the convoy for the journey ahead for others, the small fleet of vehicles finally left the hangar of the old bunker.

The blizzard had yet to come back, so their position was instantly revealed to everyone who would bother to look. Cutting the darkness with beams of bright light and tearing the silence apart with the rumbling growls of powerful engines, the convoy moved north.

Their long journev had begun.

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