Turning back, Cheyenne miraculously found herself not as scared as she had been just now.
This time she at least stole three glances…
When she got back, she could brag to Kate, saying she had also seen “ghosts.”
Kelvin noticed her reaction, making him laugh and cry.
“You’re really something, scared and yet wanting to see, seeing and then getting scared again and yet wanting to see…”
He was clearly teasing himself for being cowardly, Cheyenne secretly punched him.
“Humph, as long as you know. What’s the point of saying it out loud?”
Several minutes later, they finally returned to where they had started.
By now, the sun was completely up, the mist had cleared, and before them lay a lush forest.
The advantage was that the air was much fresher, and she no longer had to hold her breath so uncomfortably.
“Huh, where are Old Bray and Mike? How come there’s no sign of them?”
She looked around for a week and didn’t see the two of them, hands on hips in anger.
“Weren’t they supposed to wait for us here? Could they have gone somewhere else to play?”
The forest here was so vast that it was a bit difficult to find someone.
The three of them shouted in place for a long time, and after searching separately for a while, they found no trace of anyone.
“Could it be that they couldn’t wait for us and went back first?”
Kelvin speculated.
“Maybe Mike might have gone back by himself, but Old Bray is a man of his word.”
Although she had only met Old Bray for a few days, Cheyenne’s intuition told her he was not the kind of person to leave without saying goodbye.
On this point, Cheyenne and Iker shared the same view.
Just as they were anxious about the whereabouts of Old Bray and Mike, Cheyenne found two rows of footprints on the hillside to the left.
“Look, there are footprints here, one big and one small… they should be Old Bray and Mike’s.”
She could find footprints thanks to the relatively humid air in the forest, so the soil was soft and easy to leave footprints in.
“Let’s follow the footprints and see.”
As Iker spoke, the three of them immediately walked towards the woods along the footprints.
After a while, their footsteps suddenly stopped.
“These footprints have suddenly become chaotic, I can’t tell if they’re Old Bray and Mike’s.”
If they were, then what were they doing running around in place?
Iker, a former scout, crouched down and measured several of the more obvious footprints with his palm.
“No, these footprints are not from one person. Apart from Old Bray and Mike, there are at least ten other people.”
“And judging from the length of the feet, they should all be men, and they are not short… at least one meter eighty.”
They had basically seen all the residents living in the village, who were a group of old people in poor health. It was impossible for them to have such heavy footprints.
Thinking of this, Cheyenne suddenly widened her eyes and said in astonishment:
“This means that there is another group of people in the forest, maybe they are the ones who took Old Bray and Mike away.”
Iker nodded, his face serious as he continued:
“With so many footprints, they couldn’t have just disappeared into thin air. Let’s look around and see if there are any tunnels or the like.”
“Okay.”
They used sticks to search carefully around, but they didn’t find any tunnel entrances.
“What’s going on? Could it really be a supernatural occurrence?”
Kelvin stared at the chaotic footprints in front of him, suddenly remembering a possibility.
“Is it possible that they left from the sky?”
Since there were no tunnels on the ground, and people couldn’t just disappear into thin air, the idea of ghosts was even more imaginary.
That left only this possibility.
Iker suddenly had a realization.
Since there were so many secrets on this island, it wouldn’t be difficult for a mysterious organization to be hidden here.
They could kill so many people without a sound, which meant they were not simple characters.
To monitor such a large island, it was most convenient to fly over it in a helicopter.
Perhaps they found the trail of Old Bray and Mike and took them away.
“What do we do now?” Cheyenne asked with concern.
“They are in the light now, while the enemy lurks in the dark, unaware of each other’s strength.
They don’t even know how many there are or what their combat capabilities are.
Finding people won’t be easy,” she said. “Let’s go back first and wait for them to come to us. If they’ve caught Old Bray, they’ll surely interrogate him about any accomplices. We won’t need to go looking for them; they’ll come searching for us,” she reasoned. “For now, it’s our best option. Let’s go back, regroup with Paisley and the others, and figure out our next move from there.”
“Okay,” Iker replied with a worried expression, pondering whether to seek outside assistance. He was concerned that contacting their allies too soon might alert the enemy prematurely, which could be detrimental.
Returning the way they came, when the three returned to the village, they were greatly surprised by what they saw.
Fires had nearly burned out, and over twenty boats that had been anchored on the water were all destroyed, sinking into the sea. Sheets, cups, forks, and other everyday items floated on the water, creating a mess. There was no sign of people anywhere.
“Paisley, Baylee! What happened here?” Cheyenne exclaimed, searching frantically around, calling out Baylee’s name, but to no avail.
A burnt smell lingered in the air, and Kelvin detected a hint of gasoline among it. “Someone must have intentionally set the fire,” he remarked.
Iker found Octavio’s knife on the shore. “It seems Octavio has also been unfortunate enough to be captured. Otherwise, how could he have let go of the knife he used to defend himself?” he speculated.
Just as the three were filled with worry, a small fishing boat slowly emerged from the reeds.
“Cheyenne…” At first, Cheyenne thought she misheard, but she listened carefully again.
“Up north!” Everyone looked up and indeed saw Leandro sitting at the bow of the boat, with Paisley and Araceli injured behind him. In the middle was Baylee, who was hunched over like a frightened little sparrow, not daring to lift her head.
“Thank goodness you’re all alive. You scared me,” Cheyenne said, rushing over to the shore to help Paisley ashore.
“Araceli, what happened?” Iker asked directly.
Araceli hung her head in guilt. “I’m sorry, Mr. Todd. I couldn’t protect them. As soon as you left, a group of people in green uniforms arrived here.”
“They set fire to the village, and not only that… Baylee’s grandfather also died. As for Octavio, he got separated from us,” she explained, unsure of Octavio’s fate.
Upon hearing about Baylee’s grandfather’s death, Iker instinctively looked at Baylee. He opened his mouth but ultimately didn’t say anything. For the little girl, no amount of words could ease her grief at this moment.
And then there was Mike… Would he blame him if he found out his grandfather had died?