“Ngghh…”
Masako opened her eyes slowly, her head throbbing badly. She tried to raise her hand to massage her head, only to find out that both her hands and feet were bound to a metallic bed. Masako shook her head to clear it of the dizziness, but only made it worse.
“Where am I… AH!”
She screamed, jerking back as she came face to face with a set of snapping teeth. Masako desperately tried to wriggle her body away from the snarling zombie, but it was to no avail. The only thing stopping it from pouncing on her was a taut metal chain tied around its waist to the wall.
Masako’s eyes drifted to the transmitter attached to the zombie and quickly realised that there was one attached to her as well, along with a multitude of electrical nodes. She struggled again, trying to break the steel cuffs that bound her limbs, but it seemed that even her enhanced strength had its limits.
The terrified girl looked around her desperately for something that might help her escape, but the only furniture around was abandoned computers covered by a thick layer of dust. A figure sat in the middle, typing away on one of them.
“What do you want from me?” Masako yelled aggressively at the Red Clover, trying to mask her fear. He ignored her and continued typing. She opened her mouth to yell again, but a high pitched scream made her flinch.
The zombie beside was writhing and screeching as the transmitter on its body started to light up. It took a moment for Masako to realise that an electric current was passing through her body as well, causing the nodes on her body to flash intermittently.
The screaming stopped and the Red Clover tilted his head in apparent confusion. He knelt down, examining the wires connected to the nodes. Masako’s eyes widened with realisation. He doesn’t know my ability.
A devious smile formed on her lips.
Sparks flew around the computer, making the Red Clover flinch as Masako sent her own surge of electrical current back to him. The nodes around her body blackened as she fried all the electrical components within her reach before she pretended to faint dramatically.
The Red Clover rushed to her ‘limp’ body and pulled off the attachments from her body, dropping them onto the floor. He pressed a button on both beds and the cuffs popped open. The chain retracted, reeling the zombie back to the wall like an anchor. The Red Clover placed two fingers on her neck, feeling for a pulse when Masako’s eyes suddenly flew open.
She generated another electric shock, but the Red Clover let go of her on time. Masako pushed him aside and rolled away from him. She pulled out her knife threateningly.
“Who are you? Why are you doing this?” Masako asked again with a lot more confidence this time.
The Red Clover plucked out a panel in his chest and picked up the transmitter from the floor. He placed it in the empty compartment in his suit like a battery into a remote control. He turned around and breathed heavily, as if to say something-
BAM!
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He twisted his body and flipped sideways as a door suddenly flew in his direction. Masako stepped to the side, narrowly dodging the door. A hulking figure stood at the broken doorway, holding a sword. Masako stared at it fearfully before ducking into a corner.
The Red Clover immediately fired two arrows at a huge figure, but they were sliced cleanly in half with one swift flick of its wrist. The figure dashed forward at an alarming speed despite being clad in thick metallic armour. It swung its sword, slashing the crossbow out of the Red Clover’s hand and shattering his helmet in one strike.
Long white hair draped over the Red Clover’s kneeling body as pieces of metal bounced off the floor.
“Ah, so the infamous Red Clover is merely a girl after all,” a dry voice croaked from behind the figure’s helmet.
The Red Clover gritted her teeth and stared menacingly at the figure, her snowy white skin and reddish eyes adding to the intimidation. “Who are you? How did you find me?”
“I’m not here for you; I’m here to take back what’s mine.” The intruder pointed at a cylindrical panel in her chest. “You forgot to isolate its transmitting signals. Very sloppy.”
“Only the weak need to be cautious.”
Metal clanged as the Red Clover skillfully deflected the incoming sword blow with a dagger. Without missing a beat, the intruder swung his sword at her head again but she ducked low this time, sweeping the figure’s feet. His sword pierced the concrete ground as he fell backwards, trying to regain his balance.
And that was exactly what the Red Clover waited for.
She pushed her leg against the middle of the sword and snapped it in half. The figure grunted as her knee caught the back of his head, kicking him forward. He crashed into the wall and landed in front of the zombie. It pounced on him immediately.
The armoured man struggled against the zombie at first, but quickly managed to overpower it, throwing it to the side. The figure stood up and placed his foot on the zombie struggling on the floor and raised his shortened blade overhead.
“DAD!” A blood curdling scream rang out.
The man turned around as the Red Clover charged towards him. He raised an outstretched palm at her as a loud humming sound filled the room. The Red Clover clutched her head and fell to her knees, her face contorted in pain. The intruder plunged the broken sword into the struggling zombie, silencing the sound of chattering teeth.
An eerie silence filled the air as the figure closed his hand. He picked up a steel table and walked slowly to the paralysed girl curled up on the floor.
“See you in hell.”
And he crashed it down onto her exposed head.
The Red Clover lay motionless onto the floor as blood started pooling near her head. The man walked slowly, savouring his bloody victory. He ripped the panel open from her chest and plucked out the transmitter.
“So Zacharias wasn’t wrong after all; it really was the Red Clover.”
He began walking slowly out of the area but suddenly turned around, staring at a cupboard. “Hmm…? Ah whatever.” the figure mumbled as he turned back and swiftly left the place.
.
.
.
.
A small crash sounded as Masako fell out of the cupboard she was hiding in, her head spinning as conscious thoughts fled from her mind. Her fingers fumbled weakly with a small device and dropped it. Masako crawled painfully on the floor, stretching her hand out but her body went limp before she could reach it. The device beeped softly as its screen lit up.
DISTRESS SIGNAL SENT SUCCESSFULLY.