Nightmare Assault

“Alright. Finally, everyone should be here.” The muscular man took the leadership role naturally, “The mission is about to start. Everyone, be ready.”

As if in response to the man, a ray of light came from the distance. As the light approached, it pierced through the darkness. A brand-new luxury bus slowly eased into the station.

“Talk less and observe more. Make sure everything is safe before you do anything. Do not go off on your own.” Before the bus door opened, the muscular man lowered his voice to whisper a few more notes.

The woman with the mole couldn’t stand the man’s attitude, so she chided, “The rewards are proportional to the risks. If you want something, you have to pay something.” At that moment, the bus door opened. A youngster jumped out.

He had a crew cut and wore a blue shirt and bleached jeans. He looked in his early twenties. His mouth moved like he was chewing on gum.

“Sorry for the wait, dear travellers. I was delayed by the weather. I’m so sorry.” The youngster gave everyone a surprise once she spoke. She was a woman. The woman continued her self-introduction, “It is my honour to be the guide of your journey this time. My surname is Zheng. You can call me Xiao Zheng or Guide Zheng.”

“Guide Zheng,” someone responded. No one called her Xiao Zheng.

“Alright. Let’s get in the car.” Guide Zheng said politely, “The weather means that the journey will be slow, so we better keep a close eye on the time.”

Everyone got on the bus in the order of left to right. First, it was the muscular. Then, the woman with the mole, the young government worker, the balding middle-aged man, Jiang Zheng, the fatty and lastly, the innocent girl.

They realised there were other travellers when they got on the bus. A couple sat near the back. The girl was reading a magazine. Her boyfriend leaned against the window to rest as he listened to the music on his headphones.

There was also a middle-aged woman and a boy sitting right behind the driver. They should be mother and son. However, the son appeared to be sick. His eyes wandered aimlessly. When Jiang Cheng walked past him, he noticed the boy’s fingers were bound with bandages.

Guide Zheng advised everyone to find a seat. As the bus door closed, she sat on the right of the driver.

The muscular man sat behind the mother and son. The woman with the mole sat behind Guide Zheng. Jiang Cheng chose to sit two rows behind the couple. Once he sat down, a giant shadow came over, “Brother, let’s sit together!”

Jiang Cheng lifted his head. As he expected, it was the fatty. He answered, “Sure, but I prefer the aisle seat.”

“That’s fine. I can squeeze inside.” Half a minute later, Fatty managed to squeeze into the seat. However, he still took up so much space that Jiang Cheng had to lean out slightly.

The male worker tried to sit with the others a few times, but they all ignored him. In the end, it was the innocent girl who let him sit next to him. The middle-aged man sat in the last row on his own. Jiang Cheng turned back to look at him. He realised the man’s face was extremely dark.

“Brother, can you tell me what’s going on?” Fatty leaned over to whisper, “I was sleeping, and then I was here.”

Jiang Cheng relayed the story he got from the muscular man to Fatty after adding a few more details. Fatty was so scared that he almost cried. “If I die here, my whole family will die in real life?!”

“That’s right.”

“How come you don’t look scared at all?”

Jiang Cheng turned around and replied in a straight tone, “Because I’m an orphan.”

The journey was peaceful, so peaceful that the male government worker thought he could survive this. However, the sudden brake shattered his dream.

The inertia broke the glass window, and the shards flew into the bus. The bus ran into something.

The young man curled up in his seat and couldn’t stop screaming. He didn’t stop until the muscular man dragged him out of the bus and smacked him on his face twice. “If you don’t want to die, shut the fuck up!” He threatened.

The male worker rolled up on the ground. He got up after some time and hid at the back of the team.

The bus had crashed into a tree. The driver came down to check. The rain had caused half of the road to cave in. It caused the bus to slip and steer off the path. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured. At most, there were just cuts from the shards. The bus was stuck, but…

Jiang Cheng looked around. It was no exaggeration to say that they were in the middle of nowhere. There was only a straight path forward that led to the unknown.

The rain had lightened, but it was still raining.

“Travellers, I’m so sorry.” Guide Zheng came over, rubbing her hands. There were bits of blood on her arms. “It looks like the trip today is not going to happen.”

She had already apologised twice in the few hours they had met, but they knew she didn’t mean it. To quote the muscular man, she was only an NPC.

“How about this? I know there’s a bungalow inside the forest. You can go there to seek shelter from the rain while we try to source another vehicle. When we find one, we’ll go get you.” Guide Zheng pointed at a forest not far away. Even Jiang Cheng knew this was not a good choice. However, the muscular man and the others accepted it steadily. They walked towards the forest.

The real mission… had started.

The atmosphere became more serious.

“Wait!” Guide Zheng called after them. She ran back into the bus to grab some umbrellas. “Don’t catch the cold.”

“Thank you.”

The road was so muddy that if they were not careful, they’d slip. The group walked for half an hour before a 3-story bungalow appeared before them. The bungalow was sheltered by layers of foliage. It was very hard to find it in the forest.

“Is this place really habitable?” The innocent girl asked softly.

The bungalow was old. It hadn’t been cleaned in years. Piles of fallen leaves collected around the front door.

“You can stay outside if you want.” The muscular man walked through the rain towards the bungalow. Jiang Cheng looked at the man. His mood seemed to be shifting. Everyone knew that the girl was only complaining for the sake of it. However, Jiang Cheng picked up the scent of fear from the two’s complaints and annoyance.

After the rest followed, Fatty, who shared the umbrella with Jiang Cheng, urged, “What are you waiting for, brother? Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

No one answered the door. The muscular man gave it a soft push, but the thick wooden door eased open a gap easily. The door was not locked. When the front door swung open fully, the group had a clear view of the interior.

The spacious living room looked old, but it didn’t appear to be unusable. A thin layer of dust gathered on the ground and the rectangular dining table.