352 Are You Ready?

Tizzie, also woke up shortly after, much to the joy of all the children, in particular Boss. He had rushed to her bedside the moment he received news and hugged her with tears in his eyes. 

The City, as they had come to call it, was not a safe location to stay in for the long run. It was best for them to be on the move, especially in fear of what could attack them at any time. 

The reptilian creature's attack was a reminder that they were not safe. The betrayal of the other survivors was yet another reminder that they had to survive on their own. 

With the letter given to them by the Origami Dolls, they began on their journey. You might wonder, why would they believe the letter so blindly? Could the letter be leading them to their doom?

But it held a glimmer of hope. A glimmer of hope that could bring them closer to getting out beyond the walls. When Vy realised that they were still not free, she was a little surprised.

Putting the pieces together, she had come to terms with it. It was not the time to give up. It was time to work harder as they came one step closer to getting out. As they prepared to leave, Vy looked out from the building they were in. 

She had climbed all the way to the top to get a bird's eye view of the surrounding area. Using the high vantage point, she was able to figure out the direction they needed to take. 

Vy turned back to look at the wall behind them. She could see a tall tree peeking out. 

"That must be the tree that stands in the centre of the Jungle," she muttered to herself. 

Days ago, they were still stuck in there. Now, they were out of it, but their situation was not any better. 

"Vy, are you ready to go?" A voice asked from behind. 

It was Sorren, who had come to check on her. 

"Yup, ready. But…" she trailed off as she walked up to the edge of the building. 

This was Vy's first time up here in the day, so she had not noticed the makeshift bridges that linked some of the buildings together. Upon closer inspection, she realised that they were in good condition. 

"I never noticed these were here before," Sorren commented. 

She took a step forward and tested the sturdiness of it. Sorren was about to warn her to be careful but Vy seemed alright. When she felt that it was sturdy enough, she walked freely on the bridge from one end to the other. 

"It seems pretty solid," she said as she walked back to the starting point. 

"With this, we could travel safely without being on the ground."

"You're right, and we would have a clear idea of where we're going. After all, we would pretty much have a bird's eye view of where we're heading towards," Vy added. 

All of them packed up their things to go and headed upwards towards the top floor of the building. However, just as they were reaching the top, El and Sorren heard voices. 

They signalled everyone to remain silent. Vy realised she now had heightened hearing. She could hear the conversation going on beyond the door. Unknown to her, she had a pair of fur-covered ears appear at the top of her head, tilted to the direction of the sound. 

When she picked up on what they were saying, she knew they had to head back down. 

"I can't hear clearly what they are saying," El whispered. 

"They are going to ambush us. We need to go back down," Vy instructed them. 

Everyone began to descend down. Vy looked back at the closed door. She clenched her fist as she looked back down at everyone who was making the descent. If they wanted to sneak away successfully, they needed a way to slow their pursuers down. 

Looking all around, there was nothing that she could use to barricade the door. Just then, Vy felt an increasingly intense heat emanating from her palm. When she lifted her hand, she realised her hand was covered in flames. 

Vy quietly went back up the steps. She crouched next to the door and held the flame near to the doorknob. The flame was so hot, that the metal doorknob began to melt almost instantly. 

-If only I could also cool it down, so that they won't get suspicious if they touch the doorknob immediately.- 

As soon as she was thinking of that, Vy could feel another element coursing through her body. She was able to channel it into her hands, replacing the fire that was once there. Bringing it close to the doorknob again, she was able to cool it down immediately. 

-That should do the trick.- 

With that done, she quickly rejoined the rest as they descended down the stairs swiftly. Just as they were about to take one step out into the open, Boss stopped all of them. 

"What's wrong?" Maribelle asked anxiously. 

"If they are up top, they would be able to see us if they looked down, right?" Boss voiced out his concerns. 

They had not considered that. 

"We will just have to take out chances. We know the direction we're going to go. Let's make a dash for it, until we're in the clear."

The day before, they had already gone through their planned out route carefully. Everyone memorises it. In case they were separated for any reason, they could meet at a specific spot for a set period of time. 

If no one turns up, they are to proceed on the journey to the destination and wait there. 

"Everyone is clear on what to do if we get split up?" El asked. 

Everyone nodded. 

"Alright then, let's go!" Vy declared. 

They split up into three smaller groups and travelled together as one unit. Knowing that they could be spied on at any point in time, caution was key. They were not taking any chances, especially when they were still at a disadvantage. 

Vy quickly realised that it was not just her hearing that had been heightened, her other senses were stronger than they had been. This proved advantageous as they navigated through the unknown landscape, towards their destination.