NOVGO.NET Chapter 44 Stranded I
Chapter 44: Chapter 44 Stranded I
Driving out of the Death Zone wasn’t easy. The road ahead was littered with broken vehicles, twisted metal, and chunks of concrete that had been ripped from buildings during the disaster. The uneven ground made driving even more dangerous as the amphibious vehicle constantly jerked over cracked pavement and deep potholes.
Every now and then, large bubbles burst from puddles trapped between the broken roads, making the entire place feel even more unsettling.
But now another problem stood before them.
The massive wall.
"Okay... now how are we supposed to climb over that?" Rowan muttered, staring at the towering barrier. "I seriously thought the sunlight would’ve melted it already."
Luna remained quiet.
Deep down, she knew melting the wall would’ve been the worst possible outcome.
One thing was certain.
The side they had just escaped from was dangerous, crawling with the undead and other terrifying creatures.
But outside those walls...
That place was far worse.
If whatever existed beyond those walls had been allowed inside the Death Zone, she wasn’t even sure any of them would’ve survived.
Lifting her gaze, Luna carefully surveyed the enormous barrier before silently opening her system.
After a brief calculation, a notification appeared.
[That is no problem. The vehicle now possesses the ability to pass through solid walls.]
She frowned.
That sounded ridiculous.
Who in the world gave a vehicle the ability to pass through walls?
Still, there was only one way to find out.
Without touching the steering wheel, the amphibious vehicle slowly moved forward on its own.
She wasn’t driving.
The system had taken complete control.
Meanwhile, Luna focused on the holographic display projected across the windshield. Countless blue lines mapped every inch of the surrounding area, constantly updating as the vehicle advanced.
"Why are we moving that way?" Kai finally spoke after remaining silent for so long. "That’s the wrong direction."
The vehicle continued straight ahead.
Directly toward the wall.
"I know you said we should trust you, but this is getting out of hand." Rowan leaned forward anxiously. "At least explain what you’re doing."
Unlike the others, Luna simply smiled.
Honestly...
If she had been sitting in their position, she probably would’ve thought the driver had gone completely insane too.
Driving directly into a giant wall?
Who would willingly do something so ridiculous?
Unfortunately, this was the world she now lived in.
There was no room for common sense anymore.
Ethan remained unusually calm.
Still chewing on his sandwich, he watched everything unfold with slow, deliberate movements, casually tapping his fingers against his knee as though counting down to something only he understood.
"You."
Rowan suddenly pointed at him.
"Say something. Maybe she’ll actually listen to you."
Ethan blinked before laughing.
"Oh, don’t be ridiculous." He waved dismissively. "She doesn’t even listen to the rest of you. Why would she listen to me? Who do you think I am? A god?"
His laughter echoed throughout the vehicle.
Rowan’s cheeks immediately burned with embarrassment.
That bastard...
He had insulted him so casually that Rowan couldn’t even come up with a comeback.
The worst part was knowing Ethan wasn’t entirely wrong.
"F-Fuck..." Rowan suddenly blurted.
"Would you look at that..."
"It’s actually working!"
Everyone instinctively turned toward the windshield.
The vehicle...
Was passing through the wall.
To anyone watching from the outside, it would’ve looked impossible.
But Luna understood exactly what had happened.
The amphibious vehicle had projected a holographic field onto the wall, temporarily altering whatever strange energy reinforced it. What appeared to be solid concrete flickered like distorted light before becoming intangible.
It wasn’t that the vehicle possessed some magical ability to phase through objects.
Rather...
It temporarily transformed the wall itself.
That alone made this vehicle far more special than she had imagined.
Rowan rubbed his eyes before blinking several times.
Surely he had imagined it.
There was no way...
Absolutely no way...
A vehicle had just driven through a wall.
Then again...
Everything they’d experienced over the past few days had been impossible.
Perhaps this wasn’t even the strangest thing anymore.
Ethan rested his chin on one hand, watching the final section of the wall slide past them until, at last, the vehicle emerged from the opposite side.
Silence filled the cabin.
Then Kai suddenly threw both hands into the air.
"We did it!"
"We’re free!"
"We’re finally safe!"
His excitement quickly faded.
Something felt...
Wrong.
The blazing sunlight that should’ve been roasting everything in sight wasn’t there anymore.
Instead...
The enormous sun hanging above them had become a gigantic crimson sphere suspended in the sky.
Its glow was eerie rather than scorching.
Even stranger...
The ground beneath them wasn’t flooded anymore.
Everywhere they looked...
The water had disappeared.
The earth was dry and cracked as though it hadn’t seen rain in years.
"How many days were we trapped in there?" Kai asked quietly. "How did this place dry up so much?"
Rowan opened his mouth before pausing.
Now that he thought about it...
He had completely lost track of time.
Inside the Death Zone, day and night had blurred together until they no longer meant anything.
"Three days."
Luna finally answered.
"Tomorrow will make it four since we left the house."
The vehicle came to a complete stop.
Luna stared ahead thoughtfully.
She had two choices.
Drive across the open ground and hope nothing was hiding beneath it.
Or move between the ruined buildings where visibility was poor but there might be more cover.
Neither option was reassuring.
Hope...
Hope was a dangerous thing in this world.
But sometimes it was all anyone had left.
Kai still couldn’t understand what he was seeing.
"None of this makes sense."
He looked around again.
"Isn’t this where those flying monsters came from?"
"There was water everywhere. How did it disappear this quickly?"
He couldn’t fit the pieces together.
No matter how hard he tried.
"Did you forget about the sun?" Rowan answered confidently.
"It must’ve been that scorching sunlight. It probably evaporated everything."
Kai shivered.
Just remembering what that sunlight did to living flesh made his skin crawl.
"Then... doesn’t that mean it’s safe now?" Kai asked hopefully.
"If that’s true, let’s just keep moving."
Luna remained silent.
She wasn’t convinced.
The last time she’d assumed something was safe, the Leviathans had destroyed her vehicle.
It had taken nearly every coin she’d painstakingly earned through the system just to restore it.
She couldn’t afford another mistake.
Not now.
Not when her balance had nearly been emptied.
"Why don’t we test it?" Ethan suggested lazily.
"Let’s head down there and see what welcomes us."
"What’s the worst that could happen?"
Rowan hated admitting it.
But Ethan had a point.
There was no way of knowing unless they checked.
Luna intended to use her system to scan the surrounding area first.
But the instant the vehicle crossed onto the dried earth...
Everything changed.
The holographic screen suddenly flickered.
Its bright blue light distorted violently before filling with static.
The image glitched repeatedly.
Luna’s eyes widened.
For the first time since they’d met her...
Real panic appeared on her face.
Kai immediately noticed.
"Luna..."
"Is everything alright?"
His playful expression vanished as he looked at the floating panel.
Even he could see it.
The screen kept flickering as though it were struggling to stay active.
"Why is it doing that?"
Another question.
One she couldn’t answer.
Because she didn’t know.
She truly had no idea.
The system had never malfunctioned before.
Not once.
So why now?
Why the moment they stepped onto this ground?
Her gaze slowly dropped toward the cracked earth beneath her feet.
The ground...
It had started the instant they touched it.
"I don’t know, Kai..." she admitted quietly.
"I’m seeing it too."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Ethan stood.
"Am I supposed to be seeing this too?"
He pointed ahead.
"Because whatever that thing is in front of you..."
"It’s disappearing."
Luna spun around.
Her heart nearly stopped.
The holographic panel was fading away.
Bit by bit.
Line after line vanished into nothingness.
"No..."
She reached toward it instinctively.
"No... no... no!"
"Don’t go."
"Don’t you dare disappear!"
"I said don’t go!"
The final fragment blinked once...
Then vanished.
At exactly the same moment...
The amphibious vehicle disappeared as well.
Without warning, everyone lost their footing.
They crashed onto the damp ground, groaning as dust scattered into the air.
Slowly, each of them climbed back to their feet.
Oddly enough...
The crimson sun didn’t burn them.
It simply hung silently overhead.
The sudden commotion also woke Adrian.
Blinking several times, he sat up while holding his throbbing forehead.
"What is wrong with all of you?"
His eyes landed on Luna, who had begun pacing back and forth.
"And why is she walking around like that?"
Kai sighed before rubbing his face.
"Take a look around."
"We’re in deep shit."
"And honestly..."
"I don’t think Luna knows what to do anymore."
Ethan immediately scoffed.
"Well..."
"So much for that speech about taking everyone home."
"What happened to that plan?"
Every single head snapped toward him.
He rolled his eyes.
"Alright."
"I’ll stop being an asshole."
A crooked grin still remained on his face.
"Let’s just see how this day plays out."
"Because if you ask me..."
"We’re standing right inside the jaws of death."
"And at any moment..."
"Something might come out of nowhere and snatch every last one of us."