THE DARKEST HOPE

Chapter 36 Sharing Memories

Chapter 36

Sharing Memories

The initial wide snowy plain outside of the City walls turned into a thick forest just within a couple of hours. Gladly, there was a cleared opening along where the snowy road was supposed to be, wide enough for the heavy machine to squeeze through. Thus it continued with ease along its winter journey. Tae and Jungkook were traveling in silence, every one of them engulfed by his own thoughts. There wasn't much to be said anyway over the loud growl of the engine.

Taehyung just kept on driving the tank further, his eyes locked at the road ahead or glancing occasionally towards the map monitor. The hours kept rolling away in a monotonous dull manner and finally Tae pulled the vehicle to a stop.

"We have to pour in more fuel." He said and put the engine out.

"How much fuel do we have?" Jungkook was already impatiently opening the lid of the tank. That much time into a narrow place had started to get on his nerves. "How much longer to the next town?"

"We have enough to reach there and back, but that's it. That machine burns fuel like crazy. It is a good choice for short distances considering safety and all but it is a nuisance otherwise."

"Maybe we should have taken the car instead." Jungkook leaped down on the snowy ground.

"A car in this snow? We wouldn't have gotten five meters outside the gates." Tae followed him and stretched his stiffened limbs. He looked around.

The day had gotten grayer and colder. The mousy clouded sky hovered gloomily over their heads. Occasional snowflakes rolled down to the ground like dust. The trees around them were tall and close to each other. The eye could hardly see much further between the knitted branches and heavy trunks. No matter how hard one gazed into the forest, there was only darkness to be seen.

"No vampires so far..." Jungkook said. "Maybe the rumors were false after all..."

"Let us get to the next town as we planned, then we will be certain. Plus I doubt that we will see any vampires during the day."

"Yeah, probably..." Jungkook murmured as if only to himself. "It depends how hungry they are though. I've heard that hunger can drive them out in the daylight."

Tae lifted his gaze at the sky with worry.

"It is getting dark soon, we should figure out where to spend the night. My idea is to shove the tank at the side of the road, cover it with branches and stay inside. It is not the most comfortable of all places but is relatively safe. Bulletproof construction, locked from the inside, we have food and water. Nothing to worry about."

"Expect if somebody wants to use the toilet." Jungkook suggested. Stay in the tank all night. Probably not the best of places but...

Jungkook opened his mouth in protest but then closed it back. He had at least five valid objections to the idea of sleeping inside the vehicle tonight. And none of them concerned the comfort of the stay. He was more than certain that no matter how many branches they pile up over the tank, it would still be visible to whoever passed by. The idea of staying inside the metal container, no way out, no place to escape was making his guts twitch with worry. Sure there wasn't a living soul visible around but who knew what kind of beasts roamed the forest at night.

On the other hand it did seemed like a good idea to stop their journey during the night. They needed rest and on to of that the machine was so loud that he was certain it would draw the attention of every creature around. And he sure didn't want vampires crawling over the tank or hanging down from it or...