World Of Karik: A Game Of Villains 12 The Red Dawn

"To be honest, I got lucky," I sighed with fake modesty. "We ran into their watch, there was a fight…"

I noticed that everyone was listening to my simple story with their mouths open. Was it really that interesting? Why were they surprised, though? I left as a level 5 and returned a couple of hours later as a level 10. Inspired by the reaction of the whole company of newcomers, I continued describing my adventure with Igor with enthusiasm. I told them about the armed fighters who ransacked the camp—the girls absorbed my every word, and the guys were looking at me with envy and mistrust at the same time. The ex-cop was looking at me especially skeptically, but even he knew that I was not lying or exaggerating—after all, he was there when those militants attacked us.

I told them everything except the torture. If Baldy thought it proper, he would tell them himself. I just explained that Igor and I managed to capture one of the scouts and interrogate him. Where did he go? He fell off a cliff trying to escape. Technically, I wasn't lying; I was leaving out some of the details. Apparently, the unknown world system that awarded our achievements considered this to be a very modest contribution to my deception. It gave me only a couple of dozen points for it.

Once I was done with the story, I thought that I had done the right thing. "Lying" about a solo sortie was one thing; "lying" about a joint campaign was a whole different one. I haven't said a thing about Baldy and his tortures. I didn't think that to be a problem; he would admit to everything himself, if he wanted so. I spoke rather modestly about myself, claiming that my fast development was just pure luck. Okay, I admit; I embellished the part with the skeleton a bit. I added a couple of juicy details and solemnly presented my new war scythe as a proof of victory.

"That's a good thing," the cop said approvingly. "Looks much better than the one Redhead made for you."

"Vasily, what a crackerjack you are!" Fox extolled. There was something I didn't like about her voice; something inexorably familiar and suspicious.

"Good for you, Vasily," Olga decided to contribute to the conversation as well. "You'll go places."

The last bit confused me a little. She said it as if she knew something. Have I become paranoid?

"All right," the Major said, "since we have to stay here until the strangers leave, I'm going to bed."

n.o.body objected. Lera and Olga whispered something to each other, apologized and left, leaving me alone with the cop.

"Vasily, wait." Judging by the tone that brooked no argument, the guy wanted to have a serious talk. And here I thought I would be able to sneak away and mind my own business. I could have gone to the swamp and looked for hiding spots or new artifacts. I could have even leveled-up. However, it would be hard to explain new levels. So, going treasure hunting would be a pretty good idea.

Semyon walked to the water, motioning me to follow him.

"Shall we sit down?" he asked and flopped down on the ground without waiting for my reaction. "I like watching the water."

"Me, too." Not really, according to the slightly increased deception experience bar.

I sat down on the soft gra.s.s next to the ex-cop. The air grew cool, the shadows lengthened, and the tops of the trees turned crimson. Dusk was looming over the base.

"Look, what do you think this all is about?" Semyon broke the silence.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"What's happening to us," my companion said. "We are here for a reason. Yes, we pa.s.sed the test and all that stuff," seeing my desire to say something, Semyon hurried to cut me off. "But who started all this? And why?"

Looking at the cop attentively, I remained silent. He suddenly decided to open up. I won't miss the chance. I shrugged. I didn't know.

"Look," Semyon continued. "There are eleven of us here. The guys said that there were other squads. We just met one, which proves them right. And I remember Petrovich said something about some Olesya."

Olesya... the girl who, according to Baldy, is alive and still belongs to our group. d.a.m.n, this place is complicated. And all those Reapers with their followers roaming around…

"I mean," Semyon continued. "As it turns out, there's a lot of people here; dozens of them at least."

"Yep," I nodded.

"The question is—why?" Semyon turned and looked me straight in the eyes.

"I don't know," I had no choice but to shrug again.

"h.e.l.l," Semyon muttered. "This isn't what I expected…"

He paused. What, exactly, were you expecting? I thought warily. What was he thinking about? What was he expecting when he got out of the flooded café, ditching all of the visitors together with his own girlfriend? Well, maybe not personally, but indirectly, he was still responsible for the deaths of those who hadn't pa.s.sed the test. Did he think he was going to Valhalla or something?

The twilight deepened, the water reflected the blood-red glow of the setting sun. I looked at my hands—they were reddish, too.

"Hey, guys!" A voice came from behind us. I thought it was Alexander. Right.

Semyon turned around sharply, making me wonder why his appearance frightened him so much.

"Time for bed," Alex ordered. "Only the old ones are on guard today."

Semyon and I got up, dusted ourselves off and moved silently toward the cave. The Major was already deeply asleep. He'd snore from time to time. The ex-cop silently got undressed and laid down, covering himself with some kind of sackcloth. As for me, I couldn't fall asleep. I was thinking about all of the today's events... It had been a long day. An unknown squad attack, the Reapers, the cop's startling revelation... Stuff about Baldy and his skills. Why was he hiding his real name and, more importantly, how was he doing it?

I suddenly realized that my adventure in this world wasn't all that pleasant anymore. A few hours ago, I liked everything that was happening here. A game with stats, skills and experience, but real. You could resurrect after death. Skeletons Warriors, the Boa Constrictor, the Cadaver—it was all admirable and exciting. Who did I use to be? A loader with no purpose in life. This strange world gave me an opportunity to become someone much cooler. But what should I do next? Level-up and collect loot for the rest of my life? I'll admit, it seemed like a good alternative to my old life. That is, until the moment we got attacked by another squad.

However, the base was currently protecting us because none of us had reached level 20 yet. But it would have to happen sooner or later, and then we would have to change our strategy and decide what to do with the detachment. There was a way out of this world. And even though no one knew where it was, everyone was looking for it; by destroying each other, as it turned out.

I tossed and turned, unable to get rid of the pesky thoughts, and tried to get some sleep. Once I got tired enough to fall into a relatively healthy sleep, some kind of a safety system went off in my mind and I finally disconnected from reality. I dreamed about the enemy scout Baldy and I had caught. He suffered, screamed and begged for mercy, and I beat him enthusiastically with my scythe, the one I got after the battle with the skeleton. Baldy stood aside and watched the scene, chuckling.

"Is this better?" I asked rapaciously, ripping the prisoner's belly open.

"Great!" Igor nodded approvingly.

"The dawn is coming!" bleated the wounded prisoner.

"What's he babbling about, Vasily?" Baldy asked lazily.

"I don't give a d.a.m.n!" I said and swung the scythe again.

"The dawn is coming!" repeated the prisoner, much louder this time.

"What?" Baldy asked, turning his ear to the prisoner, cupping it with his palm as if to hear better.

"The dawn is coming!" screamed Bondarenko. I suddenly remembered his name.

I looked into the prisoner's eyes and shuddered. What I saw was so terrible that I woke up.

"Vasily, are you insane?" the Major muttered irritably.

I must have screamed when I woke up, because he held a whole tirade about people who made it difficult for others to sleep with their screams. After delivering his pa.s.sionate speech about me, the Major fell asleep again. Unfortunately, he snored. The cop slept like a log, caring neither about snoring nor about my unexpected cry.

I covered my head with the blanket. Unlike Semyon I found it difficult to sleep in the same room with the snorers. In my past life, I used to share train cars during long distance travels with such fellow travelers. I guess I have never been able to sleep properly on the journey, someone always snored with varying levels of volume. It was incredibly hot under the blanket, but at least it was quiet, so I fell asleep pretty soon. This time I dreamed of Olga, who tried to seduce me in the most ba.n.a.l way. Of course, once we got to the best part, someone shouted: "Wake up!"

I sprang up and stared into the dark doorway of our cave. Suren stood there, laughing and looking at us getting up.

"Five minutes to pack," he said. "Breakfast at the cave entrance."

The cop jumped up, fresh as a daisy. The Major took his time getting up, as if he had a terrible hangover. As for me, I had this strange hum in my ear. Must be because of insomnia... We were all soon out of the cave and squinting at the sunlight. The old-timers were already waiting for us. The air carried the scent of food. It occurred to me that I hadn't eaten last night; first due to Fox's interrogation and due to the cop's sudden sentimentality. Speak of the devil, I thought. Fox came out of the cave looking sleepy and miserable. She was followed by the relatively cheerful businesswoman.

Dmitri brought out a huge, steaming cauldron and poured some grayish porridge into the bowls. For a few minutes everyone ate in silence, occasionally looking at each other's reddish faces. The rays of the dawning sun breaking through the trees painted everything around copper-red. I looked up. Red clouds stood frozen in the pink sky.

"The red dawn," Suren broke the silence. "Kind of early."

And then it dawned on me: Baldy said that newcomers arrived in the evening of the day that began with a red dawn. Was someone really going to join us? Suren said it was early. Maybe it was just a coincidence.

"There's an armed group nearby," Petrovich said.

"What do you suggest?" Alexander turned to him.

"We have a whole bunch of newbies!" the Lancer snapped. "How are we going to feed them? Are we an almshouse or what?"

"Valentin Petrovich, what was that?" rang out a soft voice. I didn't realize that it was Baldy. Hearing a relatively polite question from him was rather unexpected. I got used to him not filtering his words. Just like everyone else, I guessed.

"Valentin Petrovich," being silent for a while, Andrei finally said. "If there is an opportunity to expand the squad, we shouldn't neglect it. Are you suggesting we leave people in the shadow world?"

The newcomers put aside their bowls and listened to the conversation, trying their best to understand at least something. Right. Baldy told me about the red dawn when we were making our way to the strangers. The others didn't know about it.

"What are you talking about?" Olga dared to ask the question first. "Are there more newbies? Like us?"

"They aren't yet, Olga," Baldy replied. "They should arrive tonight."

"So?" Fox joined in on the conversation. "You are going to leave them?"

"No, of course not!" said Andrei. He sounded unconvincing. "Just… The strangers are probably still near the base. Not to mention that a campfire can be built only in a certain place, which is, unfortunately, too close to the enemy squad."

That was strange... If there was just one place, and if that place was the one where we had appeared, it wasn't that close to the strangers. I understood that even with my pathetic orientation skills. And that meant that the old-timers understood that, too. Why was the leader deliberately trying to confuse the newcomers?

"The right thing to do would be to go and get them," Suren said. "But still, it's necessary that we a.n.a.lyze the risks."

Olga and Fox looked at the leader's a.s.sistant—the first with a grin, the second with hatred. Something was definitely coming.