William chewed on his food nonchalantly, ignoring the hushed whispers around him while Marianne fared considerably worse, shifting her eyes ever so often at the people around them. The frown on her face grew wider by the second, until she set her utensils down with a loud clang and sighed audibly .

“I don’t like this, William.” She pouted, folding her arms. “Can we go somewhere else? We have no privacy here.”

“We won’t have privacy anywhere else too,” William mumbled between bites. “Calm down, dear. Those are looks of admiration being casted our way.”

“I still don’t like the attention. How can you remain so calm about this?”

“I get this a lot. I used to be a celebrity, remember?”

Marianne rolled her eyes and opened her mouth but a woman interrupted her, approaching them hesitantly. A loud exhale escaped from Marianne’s nostrils as she stared daggers at her, making the poor lady flinch.

“Mi-mister? The others said you wouldn’t mind, but one of our water tanks is malfunctioning and we don’t have enough people to move it. Could you help us?”

“Sure thing. Just give me a minute to finish my meal.” William flashed a professional smile. “I’ll help with the maintenance too.”

“Thank you, sir! You really are an angel sent,” the woman piped, looking considerably brighter. “Oh and regarding this week’s physics lessons-”

“Same time, same place. It’ll be theory, so tell the kids there’s no need to bring tools this week.”

Marianne watched the lady practically bound away before turning back to William. “What’s gotten into you? You’re really been a good samaritan lately. Did something happen?”

“N-no, nothing happened,” William said hurriedly. “I’m getting paid for this, in both coins and freebies. Of course I’d take up the offers. I’m enjoying this, dear.”

“Well, I’m not.” Marianne huffed. “No one ever asks me for help.”

“You could get them to by looking friendlier and smiling more.” William grinned cheekily before immediately holding his tongue at the look on Marianne’s face. A rush of footsteps from behind caught his attention before he could say anything to defend himself.

“I said I’ll be right there- Oh, it’s you.” William’s fake smile slipped off his face quickly at the sight of the settlement leader standing behind him.

“There’s someone you two should see,” Victor said, his voice sounding abnormally dry. “Your friends are in danger.”

----------------------------------------

Why’d it have to be a kid…

William mustered the warmest smile he could at the small figure in the command room, but it quickly slipped away upon seeing the boy. He sat in the middle, an expression of worry and determination etched deeply into his face as he clutched a book in his hand. The boy looked back at the rest of the adults with surprisingly intimidating eyes, almost as if he was a war veteran determined to kill every last enemy in his path. A chill went down William’s spine; he could almost envision this boy growing up to be a terrifying looking man in the future.

“Miss- The Red Clover is in trouble,” the boy started. “And so are Brett and Masako. She gave me the coordinates to this place in case anything happened. We need to save them from Firdaus.”

Damn, this boy is straightforward.

“Can you start from the beginning? Or at least start with some basic information,” William asked. “Like your name for instance.”

“We don’t have time; Firdaus could be torturing Miss Yuxia right now for all we know.” The boy shook his head. “My name is Henrik, and this book has all the information we need-”

Victor snatched the book from Henrik with an unnatural roughness and immediately flipped it open. William raised an eyebrow at his friend’s behaviour, but quickly looked back at Henrik instead. “What were you even doing in Firdaus’ place? And how did he subdue all four of you?”

“We were searching his place for a machine that produces red coloured lightning when we were ambushed. We didn’t know Firdaus has psychic powers and had taken control over all his residents.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Bloody hell…” William muttered. “So that’s how he brainwashes everyone.”

“So there’s where the last source machine is.” Victor tucked the book away with an unnaturally wide grin on his face. “Finally…”

“Victor?”

“William, move!” Marianne pushed William away as a steel table flew towards him. It crashed against the door, breaking it off by its hinges. An array of control panels ripped itself from the ground and tumbled towards her barely a second later, but a strong surge of water redirected them away.

“What’s going on?” she exclaimed. “Why are you suddenly attacking us?”

Victor threw the book back at Henrik, his eyes glowing with an odd mixture of green and red. An uncharacteristic sneer formed on his face as he raised his hand and yanked it down roughly.

A huge chunk of the ceiling ripped itself off as the sound of screaming people poured into the underground command room. Victor flicked his head sideways, pulling another piece of the concrete wall down on Marianne.

William rushed forward, catching the rubble together with Marianne before it crushed her. The couple strained against the weight, looking on helplessly as Victor levitated himself out through the hole in the ceiling.

“Sister!” A rush of footsteps sounded behind them.

William breathed heavily in relief as the three tonne burden was finally lifted with Vivian’s help.

“Marianne, I remember everything!” Vivian shouted. “It was Zacharias. He-”

“Later, Vivian.” William shook the dust off his hands. “We have bigger troubles now. Firdaus somehow managed to take control of Victor’s mind and-”

“NO!” Vivian grabbed him desperately. “Listen to me! My master is Zacharias! It was Zacharias all along! He’s the one who can control mutates; Firdaus can only control humans. They have the same ability because Zacharias is his older brother!”

The silence that followed was almost comical, but a deafening blast interrupted them before they could collectively gasp in surprise. More screams sounded from above, reminding them that this was clearly neither the time nor place for a discussion.

William shot up through the hole in pursuit of his friend, but quickly found it to be a futile effort. His heart sank at the devastation around him. Other than the cracks that spread across the entire dining hall like a web of a giant spider, holes were ripped open in the walls of the upper floor, presumably to serve as both a floating platform and protection for Zacharias. The residents were shouting in confusion and fear, but none of them seemed to be hurt.

At least Zacharias had the heart not to injure innocent people.

The twin sisters and Henrik appeared a short moment later, and William smiled apologetically for forgetting to take the rest of them up with him. The residents swarmed around them, finally noticing the enhanced man who had spent the last few days getting friendly with everyone.

“What happened to our leader?” one of them asked. “Why did he destroy our home?”

“I saw him leave with someone. I think it’s one of the new people. Is he being threatened?”

“Nonsense, there’s no way anyone can threaten someone as powerful as him.”

The murmuring around him intensified and William put up a hand to silence them. The noise took a moment to die down before the residents began burning holes into him with their stares.

He took a deep breath to steady himself. How does Victor make this look so easy?

“I cannot answer your questions for now,” William said. “A war is upon us, and the enemy has already made the first move. I know I have no right to impose on you people, who had no part to play in this. But as a resident, and as a friend, I intend to rescue Victor. You will have to contend with having no leader for the moment, but rest assured that I will be getting him back as soon as possible.”

“What, all by yourself?” a voice called out.

“I’m helping. I owe our leader my life when he rescued me from the zombies.”

“Me too, I wouldn’t be alive without him!”

“Tell us what to do, Mister William. We’ll help as much as we can!”

William stepped back in shock. “A-are you sure about this? This isn’t going to be a walk in the park; some of you may die!”

“This is our home. We’re more than willing to die to protect it.”

The crowd murmured in collective agreement while William took the time to marvel at their loyalty to the settlement. He felt a tug on his arm and found Henrik staring intently at him. It did not take a telepath to figure out what he was about to say.

“Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about Yuxia.” He knelt down and patted his head. “Let’s figure out how to get everyone home, alright?”

He stood up and gave Vivian a serious look.

“Tell me what happened.”