Chapter 48 - Disturbance

When Nathan found those people, they also noticed Nathan.

A man with nose piercing sitting on the grass turns his head to a man leaning on a tree with closed eyes.

"James, is that the new guy you told us about?"

Opening his eyes, James turns to look over.

Squinting his eyes, he unsurely said, "...Uh, that's probably him."

Nathan came over to them and seems to be talking about him.

"Hi, are you guys from the hiker's club?"

He asked even though he is almost certain that they really are based on their outfit and the conversation between the two.

James walked up to him and offered his hands.

"Yes, we're from the hiker's club. My name is James, the leader of the club. I was also the one that you talked to yesterday." He said coolly.

Nathan shook his hand and introduced himself, "Oh, so that's you. I'm Nathan, I'm new to hiking so I hope that you guys can guide me well."

Then the guy with a nose piercing also approached, pointing to himself he introduced, "I'm Kenneth, just call me Ken."

After him, the other members also introduced themselves one by one.

There are 5 boys including Nathan and 6 girls in their group.

Everyone is very easy to get along with and Nathan became comfortable with them right after they introduced themselves.

After getting along for a while, Nathan was puzzled as to why they haven't started the hike yet.

So he turned to James and asked, "Hey, James."

"What?" replied James,

"Are we not leaving yet? Is there still someone we're waiting for?" Asked Nathan curiously.

James nodded, he faintly smiled and said, "Yeah, a friend of mine is also coming, she's new to hiking also so I hope you two can get along as fellow newbies."

Just as he said that, a white car appeared nearby and stopped just beside Nathan's SUV.

"Well, there she is." Said James.

Hearing that, Nathan also looked over curiously.

The car door opened and a girl that Nathan did not expect stepped out of that car!

"Irish!?"

Nathan involuntarily raised his voice by a few decibels from surprise.

Hearing her name being called, Irish turned her eyes in his direction and was surprised as well, "Nathan!?"

James curiously looked at them, he inquisitively asked, "You guys know each other?"

They both nodded their heads.

Ignoring James, Irish approached Nathan,

"Hey, how have you been?" she cheerfully asked.

Nathan showed a polite smile and replied, "Well, my life's been good to be honest. I am able to live more comfortably nowadays. How about you?"

It seems like Irish suddenly became happy with Nathan asking about her life for some reason.

Full of enthusiasm, she said, "My life's been good also! Actually, my 19th birthday is next week and I'm trying out things until my birthday, having fun."

Then she paused, and looked at Nathan, "By the way, are you free on wednesday, next week? I would like to invite you to my birthday. I hope I can see you there."

Irish's eyes expectantly look directly on his eyes.

Nathan remained silent as he thought about it.

Irish did not disturb him and just stood there, waiting for his answer.

Few seconds later, Nathan looked at her again and said, "Well, I don't have anything to do next week so I'll be there."

Irish eyes shone, "Really!? That's good, I'll wait for you there!"

The two talked for a while about some trivial things until James interrupted them.

*Clap clap*

"Everyone, please gather." He said,

After everyone gathered in front of him, he started to speak.

"Since everyone is finally here, we can now proceed with our hike. But before that, let us all pray for our safety."

Saying that, James bowed his head and led the prayer.

Nathan, Irish, Ken and the others also bowed their heads as they hope for a safe hike this time.

"... I hope that you, Our Almighty Father won't let us fall into any danger. Amen."

James finished his prayers and everyone is ready to go!

"Everyone, let's go. Always be wary of your surroundings, no matter how safe you think a place is, you still have to keep some precautions, understood?"

"Yes, leader!"

"We understand!"

"We will be wary, leader!"

…

The club members enthusiastically replied one by one to James.

The way the club members are treating James speaks of the prestige that he has in this hiker's club.

Nathan could understand why after his interaction with him when he first arrived.

James is really a great person.

He has a natural ability to lead people, a born leader!

They walked through the mountain at a moderate pace.

After about half an hour, there is already sweat dripping down the other members' faces.

Except for Nathan, everyone seems to be quite tired already.

Noticing that, James called everyone for a stop.

"Everyone, we will rest here for a few minutes. Drink your water and save your energy before we continue."

Since their location at the moment is quite stable, everyone can take a rest here and relax for a while.

Sighing in relief, everyone one by one took a spot to sit down as they rested.

Beside Nathan, Irish tugged on his clothes, "Come on, let's sit down over there."

She said pointing at a big tree nearby.

"Okay."

The two headed there and took a seat.

"Ah~ I'm so tired." said Irish, then she took out a bottle of water from her backpack and took a drink to relieve her thirst.

Nathan also drank a little bit before he leaned his back on the tree and rested.

Everyone rested in their own way, some were chatting like Ken and James, some just closed their eyes, some also took out snacks like chocolate like Irish, while some took their time to take pictures.

At this moment, while he was resting, Nathan suddenly felt some disturbance from within him.

He snapped his eyes open and checked carefully.