Panic started to rise in his chest as Emir searched every nook and cranny of the emergency area.

'Where are they?' The thought repeated in his head.

Just as he was about to scream their names, he heard a faint sound coming from one of the corners of the room.

It was a whimper, and it sounded like it was coming from behind a stack of crates.

He rushed over to the crates and moved them aside, revealing a small hiding spot that had been created by the passengers.

And there they were, Laura and Lily, huddled together.

Relief flooded through Emir as he knelt down beside them.

"Hey, it's okay. The monsters are gone now." He said.

They looked up at him, Laura smiling, while tears were falling from Lily's eyes.

Lily suddenly rushed at Emir, hugging him, to what he almost felt like a tackle.

"It's alright, it's alright." He repeated in a whisper, as he held on to her, stroking her head.

Laura kept her gaze locked on him, pride emanating from her eyes.

"You did great, Emir, I'm so proud of you." She said.

To which he replied with a smile and a quick nod.

Looking back at Lily, Emir said, "It's safe now, all the monsters are dead."

He began patting her back and then kissed her forehead.

"I'm here now, and I won't let anything happen to you, alright?"

Lily looked up at him, still trembling.

"Can we leave now? I don't want to stay here anymore."

Emir nodded, "Of course. Let's get out of here."

'I might've been too paranoid, Lyra's organization wouldn't want to lose them.' He thought in relief as he helped them up.

He walked in front of them, leading them out of the emergency area, while making sure to keep an eye out for any other potential dangers.

They made their way through the deserted corridors of the truck, reaching the safety of the control station, where other passengers had gathered.

As they entered the control station, the hunters looked up at them with concern.

Emir noticed the relief on their faces as they saw that all passengers were safe and accounted for.

A middle-aged hunter announced in a gruff voice:

"Alright, now that all the passengers are here, let me explain the situation, we are currently in."

"All monsters in the surrounding perimeter have been dealt with, however, an attack of this size is suspicious and too random, so we believe that this was an instigated attack by either a monster of a higher rank commanding them or a group of rouge hunters influencing them into attacking us."

"All hunter trainees, please step forward. Under the assumption that we would be under constant attack, we need every man and woman to help, so we would have a smoother journey to the academy."

As the hunter finished his speech, all the trainees, including Emir, stepped forward.

They knew that they needed to do their part to help protect the rest of the passengers and ensure they reached the academy safely.

The hunter nodded at them.

"Good. We'll need all the help we can get. We'll be setting up a perimeter around the truck's top deck, and we'll be rotating shifts to ensure that there's always someone on guard. I'll need you all to be ready for anything that might come our way."

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With that, they began to organize themselves, setting up a watch rotation and preparing their weapons.

It was a tense atmosphere, as everyone knew that they were in a dangerous situation.

But they were determined to do whatever it took to get to the academy safely.

Coming up to Emir the hunter said:

"I saw what you did out there, you're good, better than low-rank hunters by a long mile."

Pointing at two hunters in the back, he continued:

"Those guys recommended you to join them, saying that you would be a valuable asset. Go and discuss the rotation you will be part of."

Emir nodded and followed the two hunters to the back of the group.

"Hey friend, great job out there." The female hunter called out to him.

Her short blond hair framed a face that was both delicate and striking, and her piercing blue eyes seemed to light up as she caught his gaze.

But what truly caught his attention was her toned physique, evidence of her dedication and hard work.

Looking at the guy next to her, Emir thought:

'So this is what cyber-enhanced hunters look like, huh.'

He had a striking appearance, the bottom half of his tanned face and neck were replaced by mechanical parts, and his right arm also seemed to be fully robotic. His looks however, are average, with a tanned face with black hair.

'I can safely guess that he was almost mauled to death by some monsters or sprayed down by bullets and had to replace his body parts to survive. But there is one thing that I'm sure of, this man has an interesting story to tell...' He concluded in his mind.

They introduced themselves as Jake and Emma, both experienced hunters who had been on many missions before.

They seemed friendly enough, but their serious demeanor reminded Emir that they were still in a dangerous situation.

"I'm a rank 24 hunter, Jake's rank is 26, and we've been working as hunters for some time, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask us, no charge." She said with a wink.

"Information for free? Why are you being so generous?" Emir asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"She likes you, kid-"

Cutting Jake off, Emir said, "Name's Emir."

He continued, "Feisty one, aren't you? Anyway, Emir, Em is a bit of a pedo, so don't—"

"Fuck you, Jake." Punching Jake in the guts, Emma said with a growl.

"Stop cutting me off dammit!" Jake shouted, his voice seething with anger.

"Alright, stop fucking around and answer my question." Emir's said his voice plain.

Composing herself, Emma replied with a pleading tone:

"Seriously, Emir, I ain't a pedo alright?"

Seeing that Emir was blankly staring at her, she hurriedly said:

"Look man, you just saved our asses back there, killing that D-rank monster, our information devices picked it up a little too late, if you didn't intervene, one of us would have definitely gotten injured, so consider this as thanks."

Nodding, Emir said, "Good that you realized."

Looking back at each other, both hunters started laughing uncontrollably.

"The more we talk, the more I like you." She said in between laughs.

"Alright, Emma, enough games, let's get to business." Jake said seriously.

Discussing the watch rotation, they decided that they would switch out every nine hours with a different team, and they would iron out the details later in a few with the other teams.

After everyone confirmed the plan, Emir said:

"Alright, see you guys in a bit, I'll look over my family for a little while."

Seeing them nod, he started to walk back towards Laura and Lily, as they were still in the control room.

"I'll be a part of a team of two hunters, we will be on the lookout constantly till we reach the academy, obviously, we will switch out with other teams, so we will have enough time to rest well, so I will get enough sleep, don't worry."

Laura and Lily looked relieved to hear that Emir will be with a team of experienced hunters, but he still sensed their worry.

"Emir, please be careful I know that you have to go through this sooner or later, but I still worry for you, so don't be too reckless, okay?" Laura said almost pleadingly.

Repeatedly nodding, Lily collaborated:

"Be careful, brother, you don't want to see me crying now, do you?"

"Wow, it's the first time I've ever been threatened by someone's tears." He said in between laughs.

Being glared at by a pouting Lily, Emir stopped laughing and replied in a defeated tone:

"I promise okay, I promise to be careful, so don't worry about me too much, or you might start growing white hair."

"Trust, I won't do anything reckless, unless necessary, of course." He assured them with a smile.

Laura hugged him tightly.

"Just come back safe, okay?"

Emir hugged her back and then turned to Lily, who was looking up at him with her big, innocent eyes.

"I promise." Emir said again, ruffling her hair.

With that, he left the control room and made his way to where Jake and Emma were waiting for him.

When he reached the hunters, they were already finalizing the details of the watch rotation with the other teams.

Jake was explaining the different positions that they needed to cover, and Emma was jotting down notes using a terminal on her augmented suit.

"Alright, Emir, you'll be on the east side for the first shift with Jake," Emma said as she sent the information to Emir's terminal.

"We've marked down the areas that you need to cover, but be on the lookout for anything unusual."

Nodding his head, he looked over the details.

The perimeter was large, and it would require all of them to be vigilant.

He could feel the weight of responsibility on his shoulders, knowing that he couldn't afford to let his guard down.

A hunter came from behind and handed Emir a rifle.

"Here, use this, the recoil on this weapon is similar to the one you used before, the same company manufactured those weapons, it's called the 'Neuroburst X1', the most popular rifle for hunter trainees, it's easy to use since even the weakest augmented suits could handle the recoil, and you can keep the knife we gave you, take it as a tip for helping yesterday."

"Thanks." Emir simply said with a nod.

'A cutting-edge rifle, that uses some sort of neural technology to enhance accuracy and precision, not bad.'

Strapping on his newly acquired weapon, he dismissed his thoughts and turned to face Emma.

"Ready to go?" She tapped him on his right shoulder, her other hand holding a weapon.

"Let's go." He replied.