Ren stood a few steps back from the black wall of the dome as the timer reached zero, bracing himself for the worst. Luckily, nothing happened.
The dome simply dissolved into thin air.
As it vanished, Ren saw other domes disappearing all around him, at least thirty, each one having held someone trapped inside. Some people collapsed in fear. Others rushed to strangers, grabbing sleeves and demanding explanations no one seemed to have.
'Loud…' Ren winced as the chaos swelled into a dull roar.
Ignoring the panicked chatter, he turned his attention to their surroundings, and what he saw made his stomach drop.
They were gathered in a lush patch of greenery, with trees, plants and a pool of clear water, completely isolated in the middle of a vast, endless desert. Fruit hung from branches and bushes, and wooden crates were scattered around as if someone had deliberately prepared the place.
It looked like a haven. But Ren knew better.
"This is bad... Really bad..!"
They were stranded in the middle of nowhere with no sign of rescue. No matter how peaceful this place looked, the food would eventually run out, and staying here wouldn't magically bring them home.
"What kind of scenario is this..." Ren muttered under his breath.
While scanning the area, he noticed a girl in light purple clothing with snow-white hair staring at a stone tablet identical to his. That made him summon his own at once.
"Ha-ha..."
The tablet now displayed the same information as before, plus new glowing words:
[Brave the desert and find one of the occupied safe bases scattered across certain oases. Those who succeed will be granted the knowledge to continue.]
Ren stopped breathing for a moment.
'This is suicide...!' He almost screamed it out loud.
He was expected to walk into that endless desert, basically blind, and hope to stumble upon some unknown base just to earn information that might not even help them? It sounded insane.
But staying here and dying slowly wasn't an option either.
"What do I do..." he whispered.
Even in the shade of the palm trees, the heat was starting to get to his head, which was far from ideal. Meanwhile, the others finally noticed the message on their own tablets and began planning how to survive and reach those bases. Small groups started to form, and once most of them had taken shape, Ren decided to act.
His plan was simple: get into a group with capable people, so that reaching one of those bases was all but guaranteed. He approached a group of strong, smart-looking people who, for some reason, even had weapons.
"Hey friends! You all look like a tough bunch, huh?"
The members of the group looked at him and shot back immediately:
"Go bother someone else, kid."
"What the- Wait, wait, wait! You didn't even let me speak!"
"We already know what you're going to ask. There's no way we'd take a child like you with us." They barely even looked at him anymore. "No offense, but you'd just be dead weight."
Ren shot them a resentful stare, frustrated but also somewhat understanding. In their place, he would probably have done the same.
"None taken.." He tried to smile, but all he managed was a grimace imitating one.
He walked away from the humiliating defeat and tried other groups, each of which shot him down one after the other. Eventually every group was fully formed, leaving only four people behind: Ren himself; the girl in purple from earlier; a rather big man with ginger hair, a dirty shirt and a creepy face; and a frail, handsome man with ocean blue hair.
When he saw the remaining three, Ren cursed his luck under his breath.
'Great. Maybe going alone isn't so bad after all…' He frowned.
The girl stood with her back against a tree, trying to look cool. The big man, in a stained white shirt and black pants, had a suspicious, perverted gaze. The last one was more preoccupied with how his reflection looked than with his own survival, almost as if he were denying the whole situation.
"What did I even expect.. of course I'm stuck with the weird NPCs..."
Ren sighed, just as the girl in purple started moving toward him. He instinctively took a step back as she got close.
"You. What's your name?" she demanded.
"Um.. don't you know it's rude to ask for someone's name without giving yours?"
She flinched.
"True. My name is Rita. I was a college student before ending up here."
"And what do you want..?" Ren said, avoiding giving his name.
"What do you mean? I obviously want to talk about what we're going to do now."
She said it in an almost mocking tone, or at least it sounded mocking to Ren.
"Excuse you? Last time I checked, I never said I'd team up with you-"
He shot back with as much venom as he could, but to no avail. She simply didn't listen.
"You looked like the only normal, or at least sane, one among us other than me, so I thought I should discuss things with you."
Realizing there was no use arguing with this girl, Ren sighed and gave in, answering her question while still keeping his name to himself. He had no idea whether he could trust any of them, and in a lot of the stories he'd read, names were much more than simple ways of calling someone. If there was one thing Ren knew, it was that humans, if they even were humans, will often betray each other to save themselves in settings like this.
"I was planning to rest up here for a few days and gather as many supplies as I could comfortably carry and easily ration.."
Rita nodded in agreement.
"I thought of something like that too. I'll go warn the others."
She left right away. Ren sighed again, contemplating his situation and almost laughing at his chances of survival.
Rita easily convinced the big guy to join them. After she left, he gave Ren a gross smile, though she didn't seem bothered by how creepy he was.
'Ugh..' Ren thought, smiling back.
Next she went to the other man, who was still admiring his reflection in the water and arranging his hair. Their conversation was short, but he didn't seem opposed to working together and staying at the Oasis a little longer. This time, Rita seemed rather annoyed afterward.
Two days passed before they finally decided to move. By then they were completely alone in the oasis, since everyone else had already left with their groups.
They spent those two days gathering as much water as they could in containers Ren had found in the bags he'd stolen from careless people, along with all sorts of durable foods and fruits.
During the first day, Ren took the time to observe the people he was bound to work with for the time being.
The big guy, Eric, was strong, very strong. He did most of the heavy lifting when it came to gathering resources or anything physical. Despite that, and his extremely creepy expressions, he also seemed to have a rather gentle side: he refused to kill the bugs that bothered him, and he would stop to observe the tiniest flowers that somehow managed to bloom in this arid environment.
The handsome man, Karma, didn't help gather anything. He kept gazing at his reflection or combing his silky smooth hair. Sometimes he could be seen glancing around nervously or pinching himself, as if he thought he were half asleep.
Finally, Rita seemed like a rather calm and collected person, despite having moments of doubt as she spoke about their future plans, not always entirely believing her own words.
The second day was mostly spent resting. The group stayed as distant as possible, avoiding interaction as much as they could. It was clear that no one trusted anyone else yet, which was fair. Ren occasionally caught Karma boasting about how beautiful and handsome he was, which was met with either silence or disapproving looks.
Once everyone was finally ready, they looked back at the Oasis one last time, then walked away from it toward where they thought was North.