Alexus patiently waited, going through Timothy's numerous tests in mind. Crystal had come over to assist as she was curious about both Timothy's and Alexus' anomaly.
Suddenly, Alexus noticed a handful of people moving around differently, causing the others to notice.
Both Crystal and Timothy stopped, curious about what was happening. They placed their work down, watching.
"What do you think is going on?" Timothy asked, wondering.
"I'm not sure." Crystal replied, "Something's not right."
"Yea, I noticed it too," Alexus replied. He slowly stood up. "I think we should check it out. Maybe Marcus knows something that we don't know."
"He should." Crystal stated she started to put away her devices.
A few more people started to run, this time towards the group's center. Causing even more alarm.
Alexus instinctively knew that something was definitely not right. "Grab your things; something is definitely not right."
Quickly, with light steps, he power walked, following the crowd of people in one direction. Finally, they all gathered around one of the buses that they came on.
"What's going on?" One of the Ouroborous asked, looking over and figuring out what was going on.
"I don't know; I followed because some of you guys were running here." Then, another spoke; they were gathered together shoulder to shoulder.
"I thought something bad was happening."
"Possibly, I heard from someone that demons are coming."
"Again?! We barely had any rest."
"You think they would ever stop?"
"Never."
Alexus pushed his way through, getting past the crowds and straight towards Marcus.
Marcus sat down on the opened back door with his arm crossed to his chest. He had the handheld walkie-talkie in his lap, staring at it with such intensity, Alexus wondered what was going on.
"Marcus?" Alexus asked, coming over.
Marcus raised his finger, touching his lips.
"Big Tiger 11, we have a problem." The radio spoke out loud.
Everyone went silent, trying to hear every word that would come out from the radio.
"Big Tiger 11. We have a problem."
Marcus reached over, taking the handheld walkie-talkie. "Go ahead, this is Big Tiger 11."
"A deadly sin is approaching towards your vicinity."
A sharp inhale of breath could be heard through the crowd. Even Marcus, who was usually the one who was the calmest, cursed under his breath.
"How soon?"
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"Six hours."
"Any other thing that we need to know?"
"A wave of demon army is following behind."
Everyone groaned; they knew how dangerous this was. To face up against another Deadly sin was suicide, especially with their firepower. They were all bound to be squashed. And killed.
"What else?" Marcas asked.
"It's Gluttony."
"That bastard?"
"Yea."
"No one else?"
"No other deadly sins are moving from their spot. Gluttony's the closest one and has been moving fast."
"Damn." Marcus cursed.
"What else?"
"The demon army must be slain, or it would overrun Seventh Sanctum."
"That's not going to happen on my watch."
"God speed. I hope you are right."
"We'll make it happen." Marcus put down the radio and looked out into the crowd. Who was staring at him, hoping for an answer. He took a moment, straightening himself up.
Alexus and the others wondered what he was going to say.
"I'm going to cut to the core." Marcus spoke, "right now, we aren't looking the best. WE have injured, half of us are wiped out, and the remaining are exhausted."
Everyone shook their heads, agreeing with what Marcus had said.
"But, you have to know that if we fail, our family back at Seventh Sanctum will die."
Marcus' words were like a sledgehammer to the majority of the people. They had someone they loved in the seventh sanctum that they wished to protect. Nobody wanted to lose the precious ones that they held dearly.
"What do you have in mind?" One of the female Ouroborous spoke up. "We are limited with what we can do; this would be a suicide mission."
"Yes, but would you want your loved ones to die, knowing that you ran away instead of protecting them?" Marcus' words were like a knife. "I know some of you guys don't have a family, but you have friends that you want to keep safe or others fighting here with you now as they are the rare few keeping you tethered to life. Fight for this. Fight for the future. Fight for hope for tomorrow."
Marcus' words were like a fire that brought warmth through the crowd. Even Alexus couldn't help but have tingles in his heart and mind. There were people that he wanted to protect in the short amount of time that he had been an Ouroborous. His gaze trailed to the left, noticing Crystal by his side.
Crystal was in deep thought, her eyebrows furrowed. Her right hand was on her chin, contemplating what Marcus had stated.
Alexus couldn't tear his eyes away from her. All the times they had gone through and the interactions he wished to continue to have with her. He didn't even get to tell her that he liked her! He sighed at his stupidity that he had kept it in so long. It was like an annoying itch in his throat that he wanted to blurt out, but he didn't. Waiting for the moment, he felt like he should.
Sometimes, he sighed to himself. Finally, he made up his decision. When this fight against the deadly sin was over, he would confess.
As stupid as that thought was, he wanted it. Right now, he doesn't want to distract Crystal's thoughts or feelings when they have something to deal with. He knew that it was an excuse, but he couldn't right now. He didn't feel ready.
"Alexus?" Crystal looked over, wondering why he was staring at her intently.
"Yea?" Alexus snapped out of his stupor.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing; I had a lot on my mind."
"Same." Crystal's shoulder slightly folded forward. "Six hours is not enough time."
"I agree, but we gotta make the most out of it."
"Yea. I might have something that we can use for this to slow down the army."
"That would be a great help."
"I hope so, too." Crystal bobbed her head.
Marcus' voice continued to speak. "In the next two hours, I need everyone to get ready. After that, we'll be moving to a different location to get better ground."
Garret, who was listening to this situation, spoke, "where do you have in mind?"
"We're going inside the city."
"What?!" You want to go inside where there are even more demons?"
"Yes."
"You're out of your mind?!"
"I am."
"At this rate, you're asking us to waste our energy and kill Gluttony and his hordes."
"No, I did not say that."
"But, that's what you are implying," Gerald spoke up; he walked up in front of the crowd. "This plan is foolish. It will all get us killed and our families. This isn't the way."
The crowd jostled, agreeing with Gerald.
"If we go this route, you'll not only take out what's left but give us no hope to continue fighting."
"Then what do you have in mind?" Marcus asked. "Do you have anything in mind that would cut down our forces? If we go into the city, set up traps, and even go out and hunt for the demons to give us a fighting chance by using the capture capsules, we'll all evolve. This is the best way."
"As usual, you do it when we are all wounded or dead."
"My way has a better chance of survival."
"No, your way always ends up with people dying."
"The strong survive. We need to evolve to get back out alive to constantly have a way out of these tough situations. If we stay stagnant, we'll all die."
"Once again, your way will lead to more death," Gerald stated. "My people will not stand by this."
"Your people?" Marcus growled. "Your people do nothing but want to sit back and collect the reward that the others have gained. Run away from fights and find the easiest solutions that need more repair later down the road than bring benefits. The last time you went this route was three months ago, four times. Each time, worse the next."
"No, it's suicide. WE can find better prey without going into the depths of the city. Whose with me?" Gerald called out. "The people who want to go into the city, take a step to your right. Stand to the left if you want to go with me; who knows a safer way."
The group of people started to divide amongst themselves.
Jones, Crystal, Timothy, and Alexus were the first group of people to stand next to Marcus. On the other hand, three-fourths of the people went to Garret, while the last-fourth went with Marcus.
Satisfied with the majority vote, Gerald waved his hand before him. "My way is better after all."
"Your way will kill us all."
"Bite me. We shall see."