Nightmare Mythos

Chapter 56: Stranded Men

"..."

"..."

The two could only stare silently at each other for a brief moment. Quentin started to doubt himself if he had taken his words too far and could only stay timid as Cesar remained staring at him in the eyes.

As it continued, the surroundings around Cesar started to be dangerous threatening that Quentin started to shiver in his place, not wanting to take a single movement that might endanger his life.

Only then does he start avoiding Cesar's eyes, becoming afraid of him.

"Pft! Hahaha!"

Cesar chuckled as he shook his head, not containing the force of laughter kept inside his mouth before closing his distance on Quentin and giving him a tight hug.

Cesar closed his lips at Quentin's ear and whispered evenly, "That's taking too far, knowing how sensitive it is even for me. But I'll let it slide because we're short on time."

He paused, "Setting that aside, I'm glad to see you,"

Not knowing how to react to that kind of response, Quentin could only let out an awkward laugh while receiving Cesar's hug with a bit of distaste.

He was glad to meet him as well, whether that was true or not didn't matter.

Grip!

The hug took a bit longer than usual, and Quentin started to force himself out of Cesar's clutch. However, without getting him out of his grasp, he started to get too uncomfortable.

With a pained groan, Quentin begged, "Uhm, Cesar. Can you release me?"

The man from earlier with a long tattoo on his arm up to the side of his cheek, stared at Cesar for a second before letting out a cheeky smile.

"Hey, I'm just kidding kiddo,"

The man then introduced, "Sparrow, my name is Squad Leader Jeremiah. I'm designated at the south side of the city before being weirdly transferred to this... hallway. Honestly, I've heard about you from Quentin. He was the only one who told me that you realize something was wrong, but we're far too late to take action,"

Cesar couldn't help but glance at Quentin, who gave him a light shrug before Jeremiah continued introducing the other three.

"You see that large man? That guy is a healer support and a squad leader as well. Well, everyone here is a squad leader but anyway. He's Amar."

Jeremiah pointed his finger before shifting it slightly to the side, "Right now, Amar is supporting that shorty who is maintaining this tent but don't be deceived by its appearance since he explained that his power is related to that. His name is Erin."

Lastly, Jeremiah shifted his finger at the woman lying unconsciously on the floor. She was breathing which is apparent as her chest goes up and down. With a slightly sad expression, he informed Cesar who the woman was.

"She's Leah. A Squad Leader as well and the one who informed us that there's a Nightmare forward at the candelabra. She's also the first to come to this place, stopping me, the second one, to continue walking forward. She's a brave fellow I'm telling you,"

Cesar solemnly observed the woman and couldn't help but ask, "What happened?"

Jeremiah sighed, "Actually, with our food running out of supplies, she had no choice but to search for them. The thing she was avoiding, the delicacies on the table, was the first thing that came to her mind. I was with her at that time, with a rope in my hand ready to pull her anytime."

He paused, "But before even closing to this food, she weirdly stood at her place before falling down with a slight seizure. I had no choice but to pull the rope but everything. It has been a week since this happened,"

'What?'

Cesar didn't let that single detail slide from his head after Jeremiah told the story of Leah losing consciousness after trying to grab a ration from the delicacies.

"It has been a week?"