“Claudia, I never thought I’d see you here,” Emily muttered, glaring at her. “Especially teaming up with those people...” She pointed at Reginald, writhing on the floor.

“As it stands, they’re better people than you’ll ever be!” Claudia retorted, unfazed by her sister’s remark.

“Excuse me?” Emily scoffed. “Unbelievable, you’re just like our father.”

“Is that supposed to intimidate me? He was right to be cautious of—”

“I don’t want to hear any more from you! None of you understand!”

Emily charged after her with the bionic arm and readied a punch. Claudia blocked each one with the suitcase as she tried to stand her ground. However, the case got many dents the more it fought off the attacks.

Reginald got up from the knockdown, having recovered from the attack. Noticing Claudia struggling with her sister, he hurried back into the action. He took out his spear and pole-vaulted towards the two, preparing a kick. Reginald hit Emily in the stomach, catching her off guard and knocking her into the fountain. Sparks shot around the building as the ceiling looked to collapse in on itself. Reginald cracked his knuckles and turned to Claudia as she sighed and relaxed her muscles.

“Claudia, you need to get Richard out of here, it’s too dangerous here!”

“Will you be ok fending her off by yourself?”

“Yeah, I can handle it. I’ve seen through her patterns and pinpointed her weaknesses.”

“But, she’s not—”

“Just go already, hurry!”

Claudia nodded. She ran over to help Richard get up from the ground.

“Come on, we need to get going.” Claudia insisted.

“But what about Reginald?” Richard asked, his voice hoarse and his body trembling. “We can’t just leave without him!”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“We don’t have much of a choice!”

Claudia pushed Richard off, ran to the edge, and jumped out of the building, following him from down below. Richard looked up as an explosion occurred from one room prior, leading him to scream his brother’s name as they descended. Claudia reached into her pockets and pulled out a grappling hook. She aimed it at the nearest building and fired off a shot.

The hook hit the rim of the roof as they came to a complete stop. Claudia grabbed hold of Richard before he fell all the way down as they both moved closer to the walls. Once Richard had calmed down, Claudia ushered him to climb to the top alongside her. They stuck together until getting to the roof of the building.

Claudia examined the area and tried to find the nearest and safest route towards the hospital. Considering the many buildings, places eaten or burnt to a crisp, she figured that it’d be tough to get there normally. She snapped her fingers; Charlie used to tell her a shortcut about the city back when she was new at her job. It was time to finally bring that knowledge to use, for everyone’s sake.

Richard followed her to an underground sewer system from a map. She memorized it from the back of her head at that point and found it hard to forget the details. They traversed the tunnels in store, the stench flared up both of their nostrils, as the two trudged through the murky, thick waters. At least the insects from before hadn’t come this way. Once they reached the ladder with the exit, the two checked to make sure the coast was clear before making a beeline toward the hospital.

Some of the workers inside the hospital boarded the doors and windows up. Claudia tried to help, while Richard stood there and watched. He looked at his hands and slumped his shoulders.

Once things had calmed down, and the workers hurried to check on the other patients, Claudia and Richard walked upstairs and headed to where their group waited for them.

“It’s terrifying, isn’t it?” Claudia brought up, noticing Richard feeling under the weather. “But, just know that—”

“Do you also work with an association involving fighting?” Richard interrupted, without looking to face her.

She paused and blinked at him, almost like he asked her a strange question. “Um, why do you ask?”

Richard stopped in place and buried his face with his hands and groaned. “I don’t know who to trust anymore! I mean, I thought I knew Emily well...”

Claudia stopped and turned to face him. “I’m so sorry about...”

“Who else could end up betraying me in the long run?”

“Calm down, I know it must be hard for you.” Claudia walked over and extended her arm to reach him. “While I don’t know what your relationship with her is, I’m sure that—” Richard backed away, clutching his shirt.

He paused; the look of hurt on her face made him gaze at the floor, softening his face. “I’m sorry. I...” He shook his head. “I need to use the restroom, go ahead without me.” He walked away from her and went in the opposite direction, leaving her alone, with no idea how to react.