It had been at least an hour since they first saw the Temple. However, during that entire hour, its small, black, and distant stature never changed at all.
"It's like we're some hamsters on a damn wheel," Adam thought, swearing in his mind as he continued to trudge forward.
Looking behind him, he saw that it was now Henry's turn to carry Varek. The third strongest member of their team, reduced to nothing more than a carrier of dead weight.
At first, Adam had thought that bastard Red Hair had been faking his condition. With his strength, an hour should've been more than enough to heal. Adam's suspicions were quickly quelled, though—even after threatening to cut him, the bastard Red Hair still hadn't moved at all.
This led him to their current predicament and compromise. Not knowing how long it would take to reach the Temple, or if they would face some Kaiju in this otherwise barren and lifeless wasteland, Adam had decreed that they would take turns carrying Varek.
Unfortunately, after Henry's turn, it would be Adam's. He was very much not looking forward to carrying the red-haired bastard.
Especially since this stupid fucking tower wasn't coming any closer. Right now, the party's fatigue wasn't too bad. However, looking back again, Adam could already see signs of declining morale.
Natalie and Marc kept glancing at each other, a worried expression in their eyes. Evan was looking directly at Red Hair, but his face was anything but pleasant.
His desire for them to just drop Varek and leave him behind was beyond evident. Even though he wasn't looking forward to carrying him, Adam knew that would be a fatal mistake.
The bastard was a psycho, but he was also strong. Whether he killed Kaiju for pleasure or to protect didn't matter at all. All that mattered was that he could and would kill.
That was a trait the team desperately needed. Although he had gotten quite a bit stronger, Adam knew he couldn't just solo this Temple.
'If we ever reach it,' Adam thought before cursing that horrible idea. Of course, they would reach it.
Of course, they would escape this barren, lifeless, and pure white desert.
...
Two hours passed. The Temple still hadn't budged.
...
Four hours passed. The sun had set. Under the Moon's brilliant and luminescent glow, the Temple still hadn't budged.
...
Natalie fell, completely exhausted. Cursing, Adam turned around and picked her up in a single, fluid motion. Five more hours had passed, and yet the Temple hadn't budged.
Turning to the rest, he asked a simple question:
"How many of you can continue walking?"
If another person said they couldn't, he knew they would have to rest for the night—or leave that person behind. Only one of those was an option.
Nobody would continue to follow him if they knew they would be left behind at a moment's notice. Acting cutthroat would do nothing but nourish this dry desert with blood.
Luckily, Evan and Henry nodded that they could continue. Even after the men had taken turns carrying the dead weight known as Varek, since Natalie was far too weak to help.
Staring ahead and gritting his teeth, Adam stepped forward.
...
Evan had walked until his legs were ground to dust. It wasn't fatigue or giving up that caused him to stop.
His joints simply no longer existed.
Screaming as he fell, Evan collided face-first into the malevolent desert. Coarse sand caught in between the crusts of his burning skin, threatening to peel it off completely.
Blood soaked from his now open skin, coagulating only as it mixed with the sand covering him. Then it sizzled from the desert heat.
Adam had already run next to him, flinging Natalie off of his back as he knelt beside the dying kid. His lips were parched, his skin had been peeling for at least an hour now.
Yet Evan had followed Adam all the same. Natalie could barely even breathe, and yet she had followed him.
Because they had to reach the Temple. The Temple that wouldn't budge. The Temple that was an unattainable Oasis.
Looking at Evan again, Adam quickly realized that there was nothing he could do to help him. Nothing.
The best he could do was to carry him as well.
Hoisting Natalie on his right shoulder, Adam stumbled for a second before regaining his balance. Then he lowered his body to pick up Evan.
With a single smooth motion, he hoisted Evan on his left shoulder.
This momentary pause had given Henry enough time to catch up. Because he had to carry Varek for almost two hours straight, he was far slower than Adam and even Evan. However, he had the constitution of an ox.
Speaking no words, the two shared a nod and continued marching on.
Soon, the Temple would budge.
It had to.
...
After some hours, Henry collapsed, throwing a somehow still unconscious Varek to the side.
Worse than that, his entire body shook as foam poured out of his mouth.
In a panic, Adam dropped his own baggage to the ground as he sprinted toward Henry. Although he had never been officially trained in any type of medical setting, Adam had picked up a thing or two during the apocalypse. Hopefully, the same stuff he learned bandaging wounds would apply to treating a seizure.
The first thing he did was move Henry onto his side, hoping it would regulate his breathing and keep him from choking. After a few torturous moments, a small breath of relief left Adam's lips.
Although Henry was far from fine, that foam was receding. His breathing slowed, and it seemed he would be fine.
However...
Adam was alone.
Looking around the vast expanse of white, he could no longer even see the Temple. It hadn't budged. It never budged.
It simply disappeared, leaving the dead to die.
"What the fuck? WHAT THE FUCK!!" Adam cried in disbelief.
How long had they walked, hoping to find that Temple? Hours? Days?
And yet it didn't matter. That endless struggle didn't matter. Because, at the end of struggle, only death remained.
Natalie was nothing more than a pale ghost, her skin clinging desperately to her bone. Evan... if Adam didn't already know he was Evan, that shriveled husk of blood and peeling skin would've been unrecognizable.
And on his lap was Henry, someone who traveled a far greater distance than anyone besides Adam despite carrying a heavier load. Here he was, dying.
An endless struggle that ended in death for everyone.
'Everyone but me,' Adam thought. Somehow, this thought echoed across the entire desert, replaying over and over in his mind.
"Everyone but me."
"Everyone but me."
"Everyone but me."
The Endless White repeated Adam's success, mocking him.
...
Adam had walked for some time. He didn't know how much, but he did know it was quite a significant length of time. Months, years, eternities... what difference did it make?
All that mattered was that he still carried on. He still carried on because that's all he could do. There was nothing left behind him.
Even his teammates, who he had dragged as far as he could, were nothing more than dust now.
Yet he continued. Even as his body and soul groaned in agony, he continued.
He continued because he was going to reach the Temple. He was going to reap its rewards.
He was going to stop the apocalypse and save his family and Faye.
No matter if his bones were ground to dust. No matter if his dust scattered in the wind.
No matter what happened, he was not going to budge. Not until the Temple did.
So, even as that tiny Oasis known as the Temple loomed in the distance—not growing any bigger since the first day he set out to reach it—he continued walking.
...
[Host has successfully completed the first trial]
[The First Temple of Ereshida is moved by your resolve]