Celia stood tall with a small grin on her face, she was standing next to Nick in formation. Her long blonde hair was felt flowing over her shoulders, while her blue eyes were focused on the man in front of her.
Nick was curious what she was so happy about. She never seemed to display this sort of look when he was around her before. He started to wonder if something changed in the time he was not home.
He thought to ask her, but it wasn’t the time.
The reason being was the man in front of them. He was an older man, Nick assumed by the wrinkles on his face he was in his mid forties to early fifties. This man with strands of grey hair sticking out of his black hair was their squad leader.
Nick had to give him the respect that matched his rank. Even if he did not have a choice in the matter.
“Listen up, we are squad two, meaning we are one of the squads going out further than the rest. Although it should still be relatively safe, I need you all to be vigilant as anything can happen. I would have you introduce yourselves, but time is of the essence so i’ll learn them on the way to our destination. Our goal is simple, we are heading towards Grandview Heights to search and rescue any citizens. The district is fairly large, so we’ll need to cover the area multiple times. I can’t trust any of you to go out on your own, thus we will move as one large unit. If you meet any sort of demonic beast, don’t try to confront it on your own. I can’t have you getting injured, as you’ll be the ones walking away with a slap on the wrist. While I’ll be getting hammered by the higher ups.”
The man started explaining where they were going, and the reason why.
Nick listened to him closely, but felt had to disagree with the man. Moving on a large group wasn’t the right move if they wanted to cover a large amount of ground. They should split their group up into smaller sections, then have them search the area. They’d cover more ground faster that way.
If they followed his plan, they’d cover the area but at a slower pace. During that time anything could happen to the other civilians.
“I feel that your plan has a flaw.”
Just as Nick was about to speak up, Rachel took the first step. Nick had to hold himself back and let her take the lead for now.
The man looked irritated as he looked at Rachel.
“Yeah, covering a large amount of group with a large group would cost up time and people could be injured. I know, but i’m responsible for you and your actions. You’ll follow my command, and you’ll follow it exactly as I say. Do you understand Ms. Foster?”
The man seemed to know who Rachel was, but even then it was like he did not care about her background. He was in charge here, and he was not going to budge an inch.
Nick looked out the corner of his eye and saw Rachel bit her lip.
Yet, she did not speak out again.
The man looked over all the people in formation.
“If there are no more questions or issues with my plan, then we will now leave. Follow me!”
The man said as he started walking towards the exit.
His pace was not fast, but it couldn’t be considered slow either.
“Don’t you think he’s walking like he doesn’t care?”
Celia who was following behind Nick asked.
Her words caused Nick to nod his head.
“What do you expect? He’s forced to do something he doesn’t want to do, it’s only natural he’ll be complaining and doing things at a slower pace than usual. If this was someone else, they’d have a more solid plan.”
Nick said in a voice that was low enough for Celia to hear him.
“Why are you speaking so low? If he doesn’t care about the people out there that could be injured, why should we care if he hears us talk about him? At the end of the day when all of this is done and everyone looks back, they’ll remember him for his cowardice. All those lives he could have saved, he might not have killed them with his own hands, but there will still be blood on his hands.”
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Celia spoke up, her words were loud enough that others could hear her.
No one said anything due to them all feeling the same way. Even if they did not want to be here, they still had a duty to uphold.
Celia’s words must have stuck a nerve in the man, because his pace picked up for the better.
Celia seeing the man put some pep in his step grinned.
“All part of your plan?”
Nick asked her.
“I wouldn’t say that now. I just spoke my mind, figured that's the best way to get things across.”
Nick did not say anything, he seemed to be thinking about something.
“Anyways, I saw your match earlier. I have to say, you’re still as I remember you to be.”
Nick glanced at her with confusion in his eyes.
“Remember?”
Celia seemed to understand her slip of words.
“Yes, from when we first met at your house. You had this air around you, I couldn’t see it with my eyes like others do, but I could feel it in a different manner.”
Nick turned away from her and looked straight again.
“I see…”
“You have this light around you, it’s quite dazzling if you know what I mean. Makes others feel safe when they feel it.”
Celia added in.
It wasn’t that Nick was not paying her any attention, he was just trying to figure something out on his own. Her words entered his ears, but they weren’t really processing the way they normally would.
His mind was focused on two things, saving the people that needed to be saved and the other one was on understanding his duel with Rachel.
He couldn’t believe he lost, even after all those years of training.
Looking back on it, he could tell that their power levels were around the same, but she was still stronger. He wondered what caused her strength to overpower his at the end.
☆☆☆☆☆
As Nick’s squad made it to Grandview Heights, the first thing he noticed was the wreckage. Buildings were destroyed, debris was everywhere. There were even bodies on the ground, casualties from the destruction.
Nick gritted his teeth.
“Hel...Help Me!”
A voice called out ever so weakly.
All of Nick’s group looked in the direction they heard the voice. They spotted a woman whose legs were trapped under an upside down car. Inside the car Nick spotted a man whose body was hanging lifelessly.
The squad leader analyzed the situation.
“Leave her, she’ll die soon. We should continue forward and look for any survivors.”
“You mean to leave her?”
Nick asked the man.
His tone said all that needed to be said, he was clearly upset with the man's decision.
“Of course, why spend time saving someone who will die? We waste time here, and we are wasting time that could be used to search for others.”
The man didn’t mind Nick’s tone and responded back nonchalantly.
Nick gritted his teeth and held back his anger. He couldn’t believe the words coming out of the mans mouth. Nick wasn’t the only one as others showed a look of disgust.
“Charles, if you would.”
Charles nodded his head and moved quickly towards the car that was crushing the woman’s legs. He easily moved the car, allowing the woman to be free.
However, there was a problem. The woman was stabbed deeply on her lower half, it must have severed her artery. The car was putting pressure on her lower body, but once Charles removed the car the pressure was released.
Sad to say, blood started squirting out from her leg.
Before anyone could react, the woman died. She was already bleeding out slowly, but once the pressure was released the last bit of life she had remaining was gone just like that.
“I told you she’d die soon. You should have left her alone, she’d be able to live for at least ten to twenty more minutes.”
The squad leader spoke up.
“How’d you know that?”
One of the females in the group spoke up.
The man pointed towards his eyes.
“It’s my ability. It allows me to see the lifeforce of others, as well as any weak point in their body. Her lifeforce was almost gone, therefore it was easy for me to tell she would die soon.
Now that you know that, we won’t have any more problems proceeding forward will we?”
This time when he spoke, he looked directly at Nick.
Nick did not have to like the man nor the way he handled things, but there was nothing he could do. If the man told them his ability before hand, things might have been different.
However, seeing is believing. If they only heard about his ability no one would believe him. Afterall, the type of ability he spoke of was vastly different than that of others.
Nick started to wonder if this man already foresaw events like this happening, and prepared accordingly. He knew someone would question his plan and have an answered already prepared to quell others doubts about his authority.
He withheld his ability so when others questioned his judgement about saving civilians life, they would act against him, but at the end they’d realize he was right.
A man like this, was scary.
If all this was true, Nick feared this man could be worse than Klyde.
It was a power many envied.