Water Source Route

After delivering his message, Ishizaki retreated behind the woods, keeping his steps along the outer edge of the new base without fully turning his back on them.

Sudo took a step forward.

"Stop."

"Sudo."

Horikita was faster than him.

Sudo's foot stopped where it was, but the veins on the back of his hand remained taut.

Ishizaki did not turn around. He merely raised a hand and waved it behind him, as if deliberately letting everyone see the sliver of his back he had left exposed.

Gu Heng was the first to look back at his terminal.

"Count the water."

Yukimura had already spread out the supply list.

"We're down one round of supplies. The water we have will last until this afternoon at most."

Ike Kanji's expression changed at once.

"This afternoon? It's only morning!"

"You can talk less and reduce consumption." Yukimura did not even look up.

"Is there any scientific basis for that?"

"There's an emotional basis."

Ike Kanji choked on his words.

Hirata did not laugh.

He was dividing up the people who had just returned: those carrying loads sat down first, those who had walked slowly tended to their feet and shoulders, and those still in stable condition went to check the paths around the outside of the base.

Someone nearby had already unscrewed a water bottle, but upon hearing the words "this afternoon," they pressed the cap back on.

At that moment, new area notifications appeared on all their terminals at once.

Water source status updated.

Nearby temporary water source: confirmed.

Distant stable water source: confirmed.

Each class, choose your own course of action.

The nearby source was close to the new base and quick to reach and return from, but its route lay right along the direction Class C had appeared from earlier.

The distant source was more reliable, but they would have to circle around the woods behind them. Once they returned, they would likely run straight into the next round of adjustments that afternoon.

The two paths before them were like two lists of costs deliberately handed over by the school: one traded risk for speed, while the other traded stamina for stability.

"The close one's a problem, and the far one's a problem too." Ike Kanji looked down at the map, his voice dry. "So they're just making us choose how we want to suffer?"

"You finally understand." Yukimura said.

Gu Heng did not interrupt. He simply enlarged the map and studied the nearby point first, then the distant one.

The difficult part was not the locations.

It was who to send.

Horikita spoke first.

"I'll lead a group to the distant source."

Gu Heng looked up.

"Why?"

"The route to the distant source is long. Someone needs to keep the pace steady, or the people in the back will get left behind halfway through." Horikita glanced at the group. "And I'm not suited to going to the nearby source."

Ike Kanji froze for a moment.

"Why not?"

Gu Heng picked up where she left off.

"Ishizaki already saw her standing here. If she goes to the nearby source, it's the same as telling Class C that Class D's visible leader is stationed on the resource route."

Hirata said quietly, "Then they'll come after us even harder."

"Right." Horikita looked at Gu Heng. "The nearby source needs speed, but it also needs someone who can withstand provocation."

Sudo had been scowling all along, but at that, he abruptly raised his head.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"Because you didn't chase after Ishizaki just now," Horikita said flatly.

Sudo tightened the strap of his backpack.

"I'll go to the nearby source."

Ike Kanji's eyes widened.

"You're going? They just said Class C might be there!"

"Then I need to go even more."

"Isn't that just because you want to fight?"

"I'm going to get water, not fight."

Hirata immediately turned to Gu Heng.

"Sudo can go, but he can't take only people who are likely to clash with them."

"Ike goes too," Horikita said.

Ike Kanji took half a step back.

"Why me again?"

"Because you're scared," Gu Heng said.

"People who are scared keep looking for danger and escape routes. You remind him."

Ike Kanji pointed at himself, his whole body going stiff.

"I'm supposed to remind Sudo? Would he listen?"

Sudo gave him a cold look.

"If you quit talking nonsense, I'll listen."

Ike Kanji had an expression that said, See?, but he did not actually argue back.

Gu Heng then looked at Ayanokoji.

"You're going to the nearby source too."

Ayanokoji looked up.

"Me?"

"You're not there to get water. Watch the route. If you really run into someone, you decide first whether we should detour."

Ayanokoji looked at him for two seconds before standing.

"I'll go."

Gu Heng nodded.

"Nearby source: Sudo, Ike, Ayanokoji, plus two boys with steady stamina."

Hirata added, "Steady stamina, not short tempers."

Sudo glanced at him, but did not respond in the end.

Gu Heng marked out the team for the distant source.

"Horikita leads the distant group. Hirata and Yukimura go with you, along with those who walk slowly but can still move."

Hirata's hand paused over the record board.

"I'm going to the distant source too?"

"The distant route needs you to keep the team stable," Gu Heng said. "The base needs to be split up and left staffed."

Only then did he look at the people remaining in the base.

"Kushida stays for communication. Only collect willingness, no registration."

"Sakura stays on the status line. Only assess movement limitations, don't write down personal reasons."

Sakura had been lowering her head to adjust her shoelaces. At his words, her fingers tightened, but she quickly nodded.

Kushida answered as well.

"Okay."

Gu Heng himself did not move.

He sent both routes to each group's terminals and remained at the entrance of the base as overall coordinator.

"The nearby group returns within twenty minutes. The distant group returns within forty-five. If you exceed the limit, forget the water and return to base first."

Hearing that, Ike Kanji's voice trembled.

"Forget the water?"

"People cost more than water," Gu Heng said.

After those words fell, no one spoke again.

It was not because anyone had been persuaded.

It was because no one had a cheaper answer to offer.

Besides, this was the first time since Class D entered the second stage that they were truly placing one task on two separate lines at once. If either line broke, then no matter how steady the other was, both would be dragged back to square one.

The team split up quickly.

Horikita led the distant-source group around the rear side of the new base, her steps steady. Hirata kept to the middle, while Yukimura followed behind recording time and estimated consumption. The entire line remained unbroken.

The nearby group was the complete opposite.

The moment the five of them reached the fork in the road, Sudo wanted to cut straight through, but Ike Kanji grabbed him.

"Check the retreat route first."

He pointed to a narrower grassy path beside them.

"We can loop back from there."

Ayanokoji tapped the edge of it with the toe of his shoe.

"It'll work."

Sudo frowned, but still memorized the route.

The path to the nearby source was narrower than it appeared on the map.

Damp mud lay ahead, while the grass on their right bore traces of having been trampled and broken.

Just as Sudo was about to take the most direct route, Ayanokoji spoke.

"Left."

"The water's on the right."

"The footprints are on the right too."

Ike Kanji immediately leaned over for a look, and his voice dropped at once.

"They're real. And there's more than one person."

Sudo stared at the patch of trampled grass for two seconds. In the end, he gritted his teeth and changed his order.

"Go left."

The two boys following them did not say a word. They only clutched their empty water bags tighter. By now, even the people who usually loved to stir things up could see that this trip was not about showing off. It was a gamble on whether Class D could bring back water today.

Gu Heng stood at the entrance of the new base and watched the two teams disappear in separate directions.

On the terminal, the distant group's location slowed every so often, while the nearby group pushed forward along the direction where Class C had appeared.

Kushida came to stand beside him, a faint curve held at the corner of her lips.

"Are you worried about Sudo?"

"Not just him."

"Then you're even more worried about him."

Gu Heng did not respond to the joke. He only held the edge of the terminal as he watched the location markers.

Kushida paused for two seconds, then withdrew the rest of what she had meant to say.

"I'll go check Sakura's feet."

"Just her feet."

"Mm."

After she left, the entrance to the base fell quiet for a brief moment.

The distant group sent an update first.

Speed stable.

The rear section will rest twice.

The nearby group, however, had yet to reply.

Gu Heng's thumb paused between the two location markers before settling on the nearby group and not moving again. The distant route feared slowness most, but the nearby route feared people.

In the seventh minute, Sudo finally sent a message.

Water source spotted.

The next message appeared right after it.

People spotted too.

Gu Heng's fingertips pressed down on the screen.

The next second, the nearby group's communication channel connected.

The sounds of wind, water, and shoes crushing wet mud came through together.

Then came Ishizaki Daichi's smiling voice.

"Yo."

"Isn't this the big guy from Class D who almost chased after us?"

Sudo's breathing noticeably grew heavier.

Ishizaki laughed more openly, deliberately lowering his voice as if moving closer.

"Ryuuen really was right."

"Even when you just want a drink of water, you have to send the guy most likely to blow up to protect it?"