(Quintiles 29, 59 / 6:01PM)

He couldn’t hear.

(Luke’s thoughts) What the … what happened?

Opening his eyes, he witnessed the dense smoke and dust that clogged the entire bar. Seeing that rain and debris were scattered across the now destroyed bar, Luke tried to wake up his arms and hands that were asleep.

Nothing but broken beer and wood amid unconscious bodies, Luke noted some people twitching their arms and legs as they fought against the pain and temptation.

(Luke’s thoughts) E-Everyone … please …

Dust and dirt covered the bodies that lay bare, with many wood chips and glass blanketing them in a tight slumber.

Luke slowly lifted himself off the ground with his arms and hands on the floor, he tried to move his legs and feet that were still asleep. Putting his knees and elbows on the wooden floor, his head continued to look down at the alcohol-ridden floor.

(Luke’s thoughts) Come on, get up!

His ears felt like he was being stabbed. Unable to stand, continuing to remain in that position, he clenched his teeth as he tried to mutter out something from his parched throat.

(Luke) Aah … h-hello … a-a-anyone …?

Turning his head, he saw the rest of his friends' bodies stuck to the dirty, ridden floor. Pushing whatever strength he had, he tried to put his feet flat on the ground, but his legs continued to buckle. He tried to push himself off the ground, but his arms remained in place, his fists enclosed tightly as he inhaled and exhaled rapidly.

(Luke’s thoughts) Get up! Just get up!

Pushing a bit more strength, he tried yet failed as he remained in place.

(Luke’s thoughts) I got to save them! I have to—

That same reverb service bell rang within Luke again, his face widening as his sixth sense begged him to run.

Yet he couldn’t.

With the only thing to do was turn his head to his right, he slowly noticed the putrid smell coming from behind him.

From his peripheral vision, he saw glance of a brightly pale figure with long dark hair, a similar appearance to a certain creature. Turning his head evermore, he then looked at the creature that caused him to flinch.

(Luke’s thoughts) W-what…

The creature … looked like an old teen. In a weird sense, the creature or rather the human—no, the horse-human continued to stare at Luke, his smile reaching the tips of the horse's ears.

Giving off a little chuckle, the teenage boy who looked too much of a zompire looked down where Luke was, his eyes fully enclosed in black.

(???) Why did I always admire you? Come to think of it, you were always weak compared to the others.

Luke frowned. The boy then walked ever closer toward Luke, crouching down as he put his right hand on Luke’s head.

Firmly getting a hold of his hair, their faces were several inches from each other. Luke pulled his face back, as the abhorrent smell came out of the boy’s decaying mouth.

(???) Why are you this rude huh? Don’t tell me you forgot me too. Well? Well?! Do you remember Ryan then!? Do you still remember what you did to him!?

Before Luke could react, the boy, firmly gripping his hair, then used an incredible amount of strength to push his head onto the wooden floorboard. In a loud thump, Luke’s face collided with the wood, causing his nose to bleed and his cheeks and forehead forming immense purple bruises.

Keeping Luke’s head on the floor with his hand, the boy let out a devilish laugh.

(???) Are you going to tell me, huh?! Do you know how long I’ve waited to do—

In slow motion, the boy saw an incoming kick coming at him.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

With enough force, the leg that was drawn landed on his face, his mouth and cheeks being pushed back into his head. Followed after, his head then managed to pull back hard.

His entire body went along with it, sending the boy back flying towards a damaged wooden wall. Since the wood wasn’t strong enough to begin with, as soon as the boy crashed onto the wall, it collapsed onto itself, sending the boy to fly a few more meters outside the bar.

(Luke) Luna…

Turning his head towards her, Luna struggled to catch her breath. Two more men barely stood up, their legs quivering from the lack of stamina as their breaths were rapid too.

(Jack) pants … You alright Miles?

(Miles) Barely … pants … you get the others up, me and Luna would handle him…

Giving him a slight nod, Jack went towards the others who were still unconscious. Even though he ran, his legs shivered as he started to be coated with cold sweat. Glancing at the hole in his pants, he noticed a large scrap near his ankle, barely touching the Achilles heel.

Ignoring the pain, he made his way towards Hope and Benn first, tugging on their shoulders with his hands. As the blood continued to gush out, Jack clenched his teeth hard as his body started to feel slight shivers down his back.

(Miles) Try not to pass out Jack! Get Gwen so she could deal with these easily!

(???) Do you need help?

Another man similar to the horse-human boy came out of the door. He had black dark hair, a pale ghostly face, and all-black eyes that encompassed the entire socket.

He was frail, similar to the horse-human, but with a bunny face. He was also tall, being an inch taller than Jack.

(???) Yes bro, I think these scumbags deserve death for leaving us to die. You remember Luke, right Ryan?

(Ryan?) Yeah, I still remember that ugly face. Can’t believe he was the one that caused my death, yet here I am, fresh as ever.

The almost half-zompire, half-bunny human Ryan came near towards the half-zompire, half-horse human. Placing his hand on the boy, the horse-human then turned his head towards him, his face making a warm smile.

(???) You got that right bro. Sucks that nobody knows who I am now…

(Ryan?) Don’t worry, I’m sure I and you were good friends from what I heard, and now we’re good friends. Don’t worry, Cameron, I got your back.

Both of them readied their stances, their fists not clenched but open.

Luna and Miles took a couple of steps back, getting their stamina ready by controlling the flow of their breathing. Luke, however, still was locked onto the floor as if a magnet was trapping him.

(Luke’s thoughts) Come on, move!

Luke grit his teeth.

(Luke’s thoughts) Stop being useless and move!

(Ryan?) Wanna see what I can do?

Closing his eyes, Ryan steadied his posture, his eyes fully enclosed—

Luna lunged forth from the wooden floorboards, her legs helping her body move towards Ryan who was wide open.

(Luna) Not interested.

With the world in slow motion, Luna’s hands, who wielded two twin-bladed double-edged swords, started to spin in her signature yo-yo move, making the blades seem as if they were helicopter blades.

Reaching close to Ryan, she brought her sword forward, using her right blade to reach for Ryan’s neck. Upon contact with his neck, she used her right arm’s strength to push the sword deeper into it, her eyes not sharpened but more droopy.

(Luna’s thoughts) I don’t know what caused you to be like this, but it’s for the best that I end this quickly…

Slashing his neck—

(Ryan) Hehe…

Her eyes remained wide open as her jaw clenched. As her face remained unbridled with a barrage of hot sweat, Luna took note of the abnormal reality of what was in front of her.

(Luna) W-W-W-What the fuck!

______________________________________________________________________________

(Quintiles 29, 59 / 5:59PM)

(Agent Eren) Why are we still stationed here in Lagefor? Aren’t we supposed to be summoned to El Niabea?

(Agent Ada) We follow Briggs’s orders, and Briggs wants us to remain here.

(Agent Eren) Still, can’t believe he’s not following the higher ups’ orders. I mean, come on. It’s one of the golden rules of the FUC.

(Agent Ada) Heh … they’re too scared to deal with him. The only person he’ll listen to is Spartan Gabriel. Other than that, don’t even bother trying to negotiate with him.

(Agent Eren) Wasn’t planning on it.

Both young agents sat at a table in the nearby lunch room, the cleanliness of the white floors and walls were ever-present.

(Agent Eren) I could get used to this! I never expected the Theologian Military and Museum complex to have so many buildings for military personnel and politicians.

(Agent Ada) It’s one of the biggest in the world, so of course it would be huge.

Both agents had their dinner trays on the metallic table, a part of their trays having a slice of turkey leg and mashed potatoes. Ada tilted her head as she took a bite of her mac and cheese.

(Agent Ada) Why are you eating tempura? This is Lagefor, not Clastine.

(Agent Eren) But I like tempura. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with eating different foods in different cities.

(Agent Ada) sighs … weirdo.

(Agent Eren) Hey! If you’re so umpty about some foreign food, then you should try it then—

The sounds of an alarm screeched in the room, causing the agents to cover their ears and stand up.

(Agent Eren’s thoughts) What’s going on? This never happened before…

(Woman on the speaker) Red alert! Red alert!

Both agents noticed the lights slowly going off, the lunch room starting to dim as they continued to listen to the speaker.

(Agent Eren) What did she just say?

An explosion can be heard from a distance…

(Agent Ada) It can’t be…

(Woman on the speaker) Red alert! Red alert!

Eren grabbed Ada’s hand, his grip firm yet gentle as he tried to make his way out of the lunch room. Looking back, he saw Ada’s face letting out beads of sweat on her right and left temples, her neck showing a shiny color.

(Agent Ada) Wait, where are we going?

(Agent Eren) To do our jobs!

Then the lights flickered out, leaving the lunch room in the pitch of dark…

(Woman on the speaker) Lagefor has been breached!