A trail of a man being dragged etched over the ground. There was nothing but darkness, yet the person who was dragging seemed to be able to find his way. But he stopped.

“Come out,” said Jason.

He was having a bad night, and he wasn’t in the mood in entertaining any new uninvited guest. Even with any energy point, he was still confident with his strength.

Three people came into sight in every direction from Jason. The light of headlamps brightened the darkness as Jason realized who these people were.

“Oh, it’s you guys,” said Jason. “I’ve been looking for you lots.”

It was a family of three, a grandfather and his two grandchildren. The shortest of them three stared hard at Jason.

“What do you mean? And who is that?” Arrluk asked. The sight of a person being dragged over the ground smelled suspicious. It would be a thing to be reported to the police if it was before the crack happened. Nonetheless, someone who saw such a thing would definitely be apprehensive about it.

“Oh, him? It’s nothing, just an eye for an eye kind of thing,” Jason said.

“He looks like a soldier to me,” said Nuniq as he squatted down near the unconscious Alpha.

“We heard explosions and gunshots, what happened?” Arrluk sought for an explanation. There was nothing normal when it involved bullets and explosion since everyone who had common sense knew that modern ballistic was useless against the UC.

“You shouldn’t worry about that, but there is something else you need to worry about,” said Jason.

“What is it?” Tapeesa couldn’t contain her curiosity.

“Well, let’s talk about that later. I need to get back to my friends,” said Jason.

He walked passed Arrluk with the dragged man following from behind.

“Grandpa, are we following him?” Nuniq asked.

“I think we should, he doesn’t strike me like a person that lie,” said Tapeesa.

“Humph, stop lying Tapeesa. Both me and grandpa know you’ve got a crush him since that stunt he pulled back at the freighter,” said Nuniq.

“No I’m not,” the sister glaring daggers at the brother.

“Enough, both of you,” the grandfather stopped the meaningless argument. Kids will be kids even in a situation like this. “Let’s see what he has to say.”

**

Hakeem was keeping an eye out, and at times he couldn’t help but glance at the unconscious Esther. He was anxious since the loud gunfights and explosion had stopped for a time. He had confidence in his pal, but things could get to worse in unexpected ways, so he hoped his friend made it.

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CRACK!

The sound of a branch being snapped drew his attention. It was close, and loud, Hakeem, who could barely saw a thing in the darkness took the initiative as he swung the spike-mace in his hand.

“Woah,” a familiar voice. “Watch it man, you almost hit me at the head.”

Hakeem recognized the voice.

“Jason, you’re still alive,” said Hakeem.

“Of course I should, you want me dead or something,” said Jason.

Hakeem ignored the sarcastic nature of that comment as he went for a hug. He was glad to see Jason escaped whatever that had happened. Then he saw three silhouettes from Jason’s back.

His lax eyes turned alarmed as he pulled Jason away as he grabbed back the spiked-mace on the ground.

“Enemies!” said Hakeem. The faint moonlight at least allowed him to see a bit in this darkness.

The three who saw Hakeem’s action responded with an act of their own. Both sides prepared to duke it out.

“Calm down,” said Jason as he lowered Hakeem’s mace.

“They’re friendlies,” said Jason.

“Oh,” Hakeem let his guard down, and the trio did the same. As he took a look at these three people, he noticed someone on the ground, lay there unconscious.

“Jason, the hell is this?” he pointed at the unconscious Alpha.

“Look alive, he’s the perp who tried to fucking killed us,” said Jason.

A menacing frown etched on Hakeem’s face. He lay his eyes upon the sight of the man who responsible for that incident. For some reason, a wave of unknown anger raised upon the pit of his stomach as the grip on his mace tightened. He was at the border of lashing out his seething rage, yet his loud heavy breathing calmed his nerves and the devil from within. Hakeem turned to Jason.

“Are you going to kill him?” Hakeem asked.

“Not yet,” said Jason as he threw the unconscious body a few feet away. He knelt beside his unconscious sister and checking her condition.

“What’s wrong with her?” Tapeesa asked. She couldn’t help but notice how tentative Jason was towards the unconscious woman.

“Let’s get back to business, shall we?” Jason said. Standing over the three guests.

“Hi,” said Hakeem with a big smile. He tried his best to diffuse the hostility between them from their previous first encounter.

“I’m Hakeem,” a hand reached to the eldest for a handshake. Yet it was left ignored by Arrluk.

Hakeem felt the awkwardness as he pulled his hand back and rubbed over his pants.

“Hakeem, this is fisherman dude, and the two are his grandchildren,” said Jason.

“It’s Nuniq,” said Nuniq glaring at Jason.

“I’m Tapeesa, and this is my grandfather…”

“Arrluk,” said the grandfather. “Mr.Park, you said there’s something important you need to tell us?”

“It’s the military,” said Jason.

Arrluk narrowed his eyes by the mention of the military.

“They are launching missiles to Oshawa City at 0300,” said Jason.

“But modern weapons are useless,” said Tapeesa.

“It’s not for the orcs. They’re intending to make an artificial earthquake to produce sinkholes acting as a barrier,” said Jason.

“That’s freaking cool,” said Nuniq.

“Is that even possible?” Arrluk asked.

“No, it’s not,” all eyes drawn to the voice from below.

It was Esther, she woke up from her unconscious state.

“Esther,” Hakeem ran towards Esther as she helped her stand.

“Miss, would you tell me why do you think so?” Arrluk asked.

“Enough,” Jason intervened as there was no time for useless chatter. “Hakeem, you go back with Esther. Find a car and go back to the base.”

“But what about you? I’ve already told you, I’m not gonna let out of here alone,” said Hakeem.

“Me too,” said Esther.

“Don’t be stupid, I’m just going to handle this guy and find out what he knows,” said Jason.

“But it’s dangerous man, you can’t live out there, not with those monsters,” said Hakeem.

“It’s fine, I’ve got a few companies around,” said Jason. As he turned over to the silent three.

“You’ve got room for one more in your boat? Oh, make that two.”