All people around Stephanie narrowed their eyes in union at her demand. Obviously they found her unbelievably shameless. "You will still be punished for your crimes but we can ensure that you do not die and get a chance to start over." Lena was still the one who spoke. She noticed that the two men around her were a bit reluctant to directly say their thoughts as they were facing a girl, especially one who used to be a part of them. So she could only sigh in annoyance and speak out herself. Whoever hurts Ash is no friend of hers! Jule on her side nodded in agreement. He didn't have any good or bad feelings towards this woman so he stood on neutral ground. At least until he knows the whole truth. Rhys on the other hand only kept quiet and refrained from commenting.
Stephanie was quiet for a while as she thought of their reply. She already knew that escaping without consequences was wishful thinking. So, in fact it was already great that they indirectly agreed that her life would be spared. "I- I was promised a lot of resources in exchange for completing a few simple tasks. It was the lab who approached me. Specifically, Dr. Hansen. When I heard their requirements, they were all easily accomplishable things so I thought why not." Stephanie finally started revealing. The listening trio didn't have a good expression on their face. "It is so hard for a girl to survive alone these days so I just grabbed the opportunity offered in front of me. You can't judge me for that. You would have done the same thing if you were in my shoes."
"Tell us in detail what he wanted from you." Jule spoke up. He already had a bad feeling as soon as he heard the name of the mastermind behind it all.
"Well... I think it was a day before that boy returned to the Camp. I assume that the scouts must have already informed Dr. Hansen of his return ahead of time. As such he approached me that day and gave me the offer to abduct the little girl." The camp usually had a group of scouts running around a certain perimeter around the camp to inform early on if any threat was approached or if any survivors made it this far. As Stephanie mentioned this, the group realized just how deep the claws of the lab were inserted into the management of the camp. "I am guessing it was because at that time we were very close." Stephanie jokingly winked at Rhys and in the process pulled against the stitches on her face and hissed in pain. Rhys could only frown in displeasure having been dragged into this without his knowledge.
She took a moment to fuss over the pain and then continued, "So, to complete the task, on the day of the campfire I doused the tents with sleeping gas and took ...Emma? away from your site." Seeing the people's eyes narrow at her, she had no choice but to look away in guilt. "Stop glaring at me. It makes me uncomfortable and-"
Before she could complain further she was ruthlessly interrupted by Jule, "Stop your nonsense and just speak about what we want to know."
"... ha" Stephanie sighed in resignation and continued, "As per instruction I dropped the girl off to two men whom the scientist recommended. I believe they are part of that despicable Kobras. The lab uses them regularly from what I gather." Suddenly Stephanie got really angry and started venting, "How dare he try to kill me after I have done all his bidding to the letter. When I get my hands on him he will wish he was never born..." Stephanie cursed for a whole 3 minutes before finally calming down. But who didn't know all this talk was just empty rainbow farts to vent her anger. Would she really dare to march up to the lab and confront the doctor? No one thought so.
She really had narrowly escaped with her life. Those people were really trying to kill her! But seeing that her grievances didn't invoke any pity from the three around her she really felt like crying. She wasn't safe on her own right now. So, she really wanted to grab onto these people's thighs and let them deal with her enemies for her. It would be a long struggle ahead but she was hopeful that one day she would get their forgiveness. After all, her crimes weren't that severe when you looked at it. Right?
"Less acting and more talking." Lena interrupted her pitiful venting display and scolded in a dark voice. She was finding this woman before her utterly shameless and unbearable. Lena just hoped to get everything out of this woman's mouth and take her leave as soon as possible. 'My boy Ash is still waiting for me to go get him! So Hurry up already!!!
"Well there isn't much else, Dr. Hansen just asked me to keep an eye on the boy after that and report back to him every 2 days or so." Stephanie just softly shrugged. "The task got extremely easy when he joint the sniper guard unit on the wall. Since we were both in it, in the same block to boot, keeping tabs on him was a piece of cake. So that was that."
"That's it?" Jule asked, confused.
"Pretty much yeah, soon after the zombie horde attack, they no longer tasked me with anything and my task was officially done." Stephanie stated in a calm voice. "As well as my usefulness it seems" she angrily gritted her teeth.
Lena was also sceptical. "Didn't Ash only submit himself to the lab a lot later, so why not continue tasking her with supervision? Especially since he was kept under lock and key for weeks in our camp. It would have been easier for them to have her as a mole. If they really wanted Ash they wouldn't have suddenly stopped. Right?" Lena mentioning Ash's imprisonment due to being accused of attacking Kyle, made the two others listening uncomfortable. Jule suddenly became annoyed with Rhys again and shot him a glare. Rhys on the other hand got lost in thought as he recalled everything. Lena ignored their animosity and glared at Stephanie instead, "Think hard. Is there anything that you forgot to mention to us?"
Stephanie fell silent for a long moment as she thought. She was about to shake her head and say that that was it, when she remembered the final task that the lab had issued her. 'To push Ash.' Back then she hadn't completed it. So it had slipped her mind.
"Ah... there was one last thing. I have a hunch that Kyle's accident was also masterminded by them."
Rhys suddenly shot up from where he sat and grabbed her shoulders roughly in surprise. "Why do you say that?" He nearly shouted. If the lab was indeed behind this aggression. Then they would pay!
Stephanie slightly hissed in pain as the sudden motions triggered all her bruises and broken bones. "Let go. Let go. Let go. It hurts" She swatted at Rhys's grip with great strength until the man calmed down a bit and released her. Although she wanted to scold him, when Stephanie saw his impatient anger filled eyes, she could only swallow her grievances and tuck under the blanket like a turtle protecting its soft body.
Rhys ignored her pitiful whining and demanded, "Explain at once!"
"... Alright! Alright!" She huffed in annoyance and pain before she opened her mouth to explain. "At that time I was only aware that they had in mind to kill somebody. I didn't know it was Kyle. They had only told me to slightly bump into Ash while he fires so that it appears like his shot misfired. I was already aware of their plan to get their hands on the boy so I just assumed that it was a 'blame' tactic to force Ash into interrogation and punishment. In that way they can sneak him into the lab without appearing suspicious." Stephanie suddenly scoffed. "That was one task that I wasn't able to complete. Yet the bullet still hit the intended target. Ash's actions back then of shooting in a completely different direction instead of trying to save his teammates can be considered as a variable in the lab's calculations. Due to that, the tinkering on the weapon was more obvious. Not to mention that it happened under the watchful eyes of many people including you Rhys and me. If I dare to guess, I wasn't the only one following orders."
Jule listened to her up to here and then stated, "She is right. Someone else must have been tasked to tag Kyle from their end so that the bullet would definitely hit the intended target. That's the only explanation I can think of."
"That means all this time we have been puppeteered to dance to their tune! We have been manipulated from the start." A rising anger filled Rhys. Along with that was an overwhelming sense of guilt. 'It seems like I have wronged the boy in two lifetimes.' Although he hadn't directly caused any harm to Ash, he had turned a blind eye to his suffering. And in his heart had blamed him for Kyle's situation. 'You are suspicious of me' suddenly the words that Ash said to him struck a chord. 'I don't trust you either!'. These words kept echoing in Rhys's ear making him distressed and uncomfortable.
Rhys didn't want to hang around anymore. He was burning with emotion and needed a place to vent. "Have someone to keep an eye on her." He stated as he quickly stood up and strode towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Jule asked curiously.
"Off to pay our friendly neighbours a visit and to confirm what Stephanie said is true." Rhys's voice drifted over before his figure vanished through the door.
"Should we follow him?" Lene asked worriedly. No matter how strong Rhys was, he was just one person. And from the way the man walked away, he was not going over to the Kobras for a chitchat. She could sense that a huge conflict was on the horizon.
Jule was silently contemplating something for a while before he slowly nodded. "Let's go!"
"What about me? Someone stay behind and protect me!!!" Stephanie cried out to an empty room.
——————
The tension was high in the air as two groups stood facing each other. Ryse was at the forefront holding a bat in his right hand as he exuded murderous intent. The Kobras stood facing him on the other end. Their leaders were still not showing their faces. Although the enemy outnumbered them by a lot, Rhys also noticed that the majority of those who fell under the Kobra banner had already fled, not wanting to be involved in a fight. So only those few really loyal subordinates remained behind.
As soon as they arrived at their camp, Rhys had demanded their leader to come out so that just the two of them could fight it out instead of implicating its members. After all this highly tense situation had been spread across the whole refugee camp. It was only a matter of time until the soldiers appeared to settle the matter in case it got out of hand.
Yet the other party has yet to show even after 15 minutes of patiently waiting. "Are you bringing him out or not?" Rhys roared one final time but still couldn't find the man that called himself the leader to appear and thus he lost his patience and charged. Everyone behind him followed his lead and raised their fists or weapons as they stormed into the heart of the Kobra camp. All over one could hear the agonizing groans and shouts of being hit and getting beaten up. The no fighting inside the camp rule was thrown out the window. The brawl lasted for a while. Both sides took advances and damages.
Once Rhys finally fought his way into the biggest tent in the camp followed by a bunch of badly bruised members, he found a woman sitting on a chair leisurely flipping through a book. "Are you the leader of this bunch?" Rhys asked with narrowed eyes. He found it annoying that a woman who didn't even dare to face him was the one behind all the tragedies that happened to his team and family lately. Only one armed man stood behind her as a guard with a tense expression on his face.
"Sort of." Amelia replied without change of expression as she softly flipped the page in her book.
"What kind of leader are you to let your people suffer for no reason?" Rhys fumed in anger.
Hearing his comment Amelia finally looked up at the man and scoffed, "The kind that has no strength to fight you head on. The kind whose more than half of the people have vanished before a fight and the other half are too hot-headed to listen to a girl. The kind who is tired of cleaning after someone else's mess." She paused for a second "Plus I knew you had no intention to kill anyone"
Josh, who had been pumped full of adrenaline until now, looked at this woman with fascination from behind Rhys's shoulder. In fact all the people who stormed the tent had weird looks on their faces as they listened to her talking.
"Then where can I find the person that has caused all this mess?" Rhys asked in annoyance, catching the key point in her rambling.
"Oh that would be my brother. He is out on a mission. He had been riling up to fight with you all this time and when the opportunity knocks on the door the dumbass is not even around." Amelia faked a sigh and thought to herself. 'It was indeed the wisest decision on her part to send her stupid brother out on a mission when she approved of Stephanie to be killed. Or he would have never let things settle.' She then looked at the group in front of her and asked with a faint smile "What else can I help you with?"
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Rhys was also at a loss as to what to do. All the gusto from before evaporated when facing this relaxed woman who looked like she didn't care about shit. Yet he still needed answers.
"I have questions that need answers from you since you are part of the 'management'"
"Oh." Amelia stated and turned her eyes back to the book in her hands as if uninterested. This triggered Rhys's temper again and he was about to run up and give her a smack when someone held him back from behind. The highly tense guard behind Amelia had his hands on the gun around his waist as he watched the group vigilantly.
"Boss, just go and wait outside, let me do the talking." Josh said with unhindered enthusiasm in his voice. His eyes seemed to be sparking as he stared at Amelia without blinking. Seeing his state Jule and James looked amused. Looks like their little brother finally started showing proper interest in someone. Yet the person he picked was a bit awkward. Rhys rolled his eyes obviously also noticing this. He grumbled under his breath and then stormed out to wait for news. Either way, interrogation was not his strong suit so it was better to leave it to others.
While he waited outside, Rhys noticed that even after this huge commotion, not many soldiers came over to stop them. In-fact, looking around now, except for the few who were permanently posted in some places, Rhys could hardly spot another soldier. 'What are they up to?' He wondered as his eyes fell onto the large building at the centre of the camp which was the nest for the scientists. The military was stationed in the smaller building right outside the lab, separated by a few inches of dirt road. Yet both buildings seemed ominously silent at the moment as if it was waiting for something to happen.
After what seemed like forever, Josh and his brothers walked out of the tent and Amelia followed behind them as if to stretch her legs after being lazy for too long.
James and his brothers walked up to Rhys and started narrating their discovery. From Amelia they found out that the lab used Kobras for all sorts of odd jobs regularly. This was also the reason why they grew in numbers so quickly. Although a disadvantage of this growth was the lack of loyalty and the difficulty in controlling the people. A lot of them took up weird or unwanted jobs without even notifying anyone.
Amelia also confirmed how Dr. Hansen had in fact tasked them with tagging Kyle with a homing device so that whatever was connected to it would definitely find its target. Hearing James confirm his guess, Rhys felt so much anger and guilt that he found it difficult to breathe. She also explained that the reason was that Kyle had discovered something in the lab that the scientists wanted to be hidden.
Amelia had recounted how Dr. Hansen had tasked some of their newer members to harbour Emma until they dealt with Ash as well as several other dodgy tasks they had taken on.
Listening to James's encounter, Rhys wondered why she was being so cooperative in divulging this information. As he voiced his concern about the authenticity of this data, Amelia walked to him and said, "Indeed I do have a request. I sense that things are going to turn chaotic soon. I am planning to disband the Kobras. We all just did things to ensure our survival. As such I hope that we can put aside our conflict from now on and actually help each other out in the future." She made this decision after thinking hard for a long time. Unlike her muscle headed brother, Amelia could sense the dangerous undercurrents flowing throughout the camp. After all she had been silently privy to information that others were not.
The alarm bells already rang in her head the day the first person went missing from the camp. It had been someone insignificant, someone without family or friends, someone whom no one would miss even if he vanished one day. With each additional task they took up, Amelia became more and more certain that the so-called refugee camp was a ticking time bomb. Yet there were very few who listened to her words. or it was more correct to say, they were just unwilling to believe her words. After all, the camp had four walls protecting them from the dangers of the outside world. No one wanted to risk venturing out into the unknown on a mere hunch that she had. As such more and more people started calling her delusional and crazy.
When the intelligent zombie arrived at the camp, Amelia was certain that it wouldn't be long before all hell broke loose. As such she had been silently making preparations. but in order to reduce the chances of dying once they left the four walls, Amelia was determined to pull Rhys's team to her side.
"My brother is almost dead because of your actions and you want me to put aside my conflict? You wish!" Rhys growled in anger "When my brother wakes up is the day I will be willing to consider your apology. And the day Ash and Emma forgives you is the day you will be completely off the hook"
For the first time Amelia had a difficult look on her face. Indeed the debt they owed them was great. Amelia had thought not fighting back and letting her side take a beating should have dampened Rhys's anger a bit, after all she was well aware that aside from her brother no one really stood a chance against that man. That was also the reason Amelia made sure that her brother was not in the vicinity when the fight broke out. She had hoped that bowing her head in surrender might sway the man in front of her yet such a small slap on the wrist would not fix Rhys's anger and hatred towards them.
As she chewed Rhys's words in her head, suddenly knowing light flittered through her eyes "It seems like our information on your and Ash Kage's relationship was wrong. You... You actually care about him a lot! Am I right?" Amelia herself was surprised by her findings. "You might not believe me but I am really good at gathering information. Your relationship with that boy was one thing that always confused me the most." Kyle was a mistake that they could not fix no matter how much they tried, on the other hand Ash Kage was their ticket to redemption.
"What nonsense are you spouting now." Rhys hissed as his mouth pressed into a straight line. Although his words were saying one thing, his heart rate picked up pace and his eyes became dodgy. Seeing his state Amelia smirked in satisfaction. Her hunch was right after all.
Rhys's mind was already churning as soon as Ash was mentioned,
"How about this then, I have information that would interest you. In exchange for it you will forget the past grudge."
Rhys's face was expressionless as he looked away, not paying her any more attention. But Jule on his side couldn't help but roll his eyes as he took the imitation to answer in his stead "It will depend on the value of the information and its authenticity."
Amelia's eyes shifted in between the two men to see if Jule's words held any weight. Although Rhys snapped his eyes at Jule in annoyance he didn't refute him. As such his words should be valid.
"The reason that Kyle was targeted has very likely to do with the fact that the lab still kept zombies secretly inside the camp. After all, our group has gone through a lot of trouble to capture a few live zombies for Dr. Hansen after Kyle demanded the one that he caught be killed off." Amelia stated.
Although Rhys narrowed his eyes he had already assumed as much. So he didn't seem surprised by the information. Yet that didn't completely explain Kyle being targeted.
Amelia then went on to explain what Kyle's mission entailed back then. At the mention of an intelligent zombie, Rhys's eyes widened in shock. He immediately understood what Amelia was trying to imply and why she was adamant at getting him to forget old grudges. Zombies themself were difficult opponents while being brain dead with their ability not to feel pain or die easily. Just imagining something being able to control and coordinate their irregular and slow movements was sending warning bells in his head!!! 'This is bad! This nuclear bomb was right under their feet.'
Jule and his brothers glanced at the walls that were protecting them from the outside world. But at that moment instead of feeling secure, they felt like pigs in the slaughterhouse. Cold sweat drenched their brows as they thought of the worst possibility. "How many zombies did you capture for them?" James asked restlessly.
"It's not easy catching those alive so we only captured two." Amelia stated.
"If you count like that, there should be only three zombies in the camp, no? Two that they captured and the one that Kyle brought back?" Josh asked, a bit confused. "That shouldn't pose too much of a danger to such a large group of survivors right? So if they do somehow escape I will just kill them all!" Josh stated with arrogance in his voice trying to show off in front of the girl he has taken an interest in.
But Amelia looked at him as if he was dumb. "Do you know how many people have been missing since you and I joined this camp?" She didn't give Josh a chance to answer and continued instead, "Around 20-30 people. Some went missing during missions, some curiously vanished from inside the camp while others never got to be part of us to start with."
"What do you mean by that?" Josh retorted in confusion.
"We have escorted several groups of survivors back to the camp before, yet not many of them have appeared in public afterwards. Why do you think that is?"
"It can't be that they have all been taken without their consent?!" Josh exclaimed in surprise.
"How certain are you about this?" Rhys finally asked, no longer being able to watch Josh make a fool out of himself with his unthought out questions and remarks.
Amelia's eyes flickered away from the silly man who was still trying to process the information she gave and looked at Rhys, "A few months ago, I was at the lab and I heard several animal-like growls coming from one of the locked rooms. It didn't sound as if there were only 2." She paused for a second and then continued "If it was just two then, like his man said, it wouldn't pose too much of an issue but if there are more.... And they are controlled, then it certainly would be something we can't handle alone. Of course I don't want to be pessimistic and jump the gun. All this worrying could be for nothing and no disaster would actually happen. But it is never a bad idea to be prepared."
She looked at the thoughtful men in front of her and knew that her words had swayed them a bit. "Most of us from the Kobras arrived at the refugee camp not too long after it was declared a safe zone. We didn't suffer much outside. But you travelled a while before you got here. You have more experience and survival skills than we do and we would need it if what we fear does happen."
Rhys was silent for a while. He still was angry at this lot for putting his brother in a coma ... and for all the misunderstandings that had happened between Ash and him. But he knew he couldn't hold every single person in the Kobra responsible. It should be the leaders who take the fall for their subordinates' mistakes. Or if they didn't have the ability to control their underlings then they shouldn't call themselves leaders.
Thinking about Ash. Rhys suddenly panicked, 'I need to get that boy out of that hell hole at once.' The words that Ash said in the clinic still rang in his ears. 'It's true that I was suspicious of you and that I trusted only my narrow minded belief.' Two out of those four visions he had, had already come true, yet the scenario and situation was completely different. So what is to say the other two won't be the same. 'Ash no matter what I will stick to your side going forward. So, you have to come with me when I come to get you. Even if you don't I will drag you out of that place if that's what it takes.'
Seeing that the group before him were waiting for his response while he was lost in thought, Rhys quickly refocused on the topic before him and said to Amelia "You say this now, but you yourself have said that your people don't listen to you and your brother..." Rhys gritted his teeth at the thought of the man who has caused him trouble after trouble, "he will have to pay for what he has done. I am not going to forgive him! There is nothing more for me to say. But disbanding your ridiculously named group would be a good idea. It would save me another trip." Rhys scoffed and then stood up to leave.
Amelia didn't know what to say so she could only try to repeat her promise that she will convince her brother no matter what. She sighed and went to talk to her people in order to at least keep part of her word.
Soon aside from a few members who refused to leave everyone else had been informed of their disbandment. Although they all were confused they left without too many complaints after all, they didn't feel much loyalty to the group. It was only because of the benefits that they stuck around. As such, knowing the nature of these people Amelia was certain that it was very likely that groups of different sizes would soon spring up all over the place.
After she was done with all these miscellaneous tasks Amelia remembered something and started running to catch up with Rhys and his team who were already some distance away, "Wait! Aren't you planning to try to get back that miracle boy?" Rhys, who was planning to ignore her and keep walking suddenly stopped in his tracks. "I have a way to get you into the lab unnoticed. After you get the guy maybe we can just destroy the zombies along the way so that the threat would be removed! This should benefit us both so you don't have a reason to refuse."
Jule was faster to respond than Rhys "You really have a way into the lab?"
Amelia nodded with conviction, "Yes. As you already know, we have a lot of dealings with the scientists, so of course there is a way to get in. So what do you say?" If the threat was nibbed off in the root, then they wouldn't have to beg Rhys's team to help them out in case they needed to flee one day.
Everyone looked at Rhys, he bit his lips in contemplation and then said in a low voice. "He doesn't wish to be rescued. Ash made it perfectly clear last time."
"Wait, I just remembered something!" Amelia shouted out in fear that they wouldn't cooperate. Although the number of people in Kobra were larger than in Kyle's group, not many of them would be willing to risk life and limb in order to infiltrate the lab. Rhys and his party on the other hand had someone inside it that they wanted to bring out so their motivation levels were higher. "He might not have long to live!"
"What?!" Several people exclaimed as all pairs of eyes turned to her in union. Rhys's face was so dark that she thought he was about to kill someone. He strode towards her at a slow and dangerous pace and grabbed her by the collar. "What did you just say?" Rhys hissed at her his eyes narrowing in anger.
"Several weeks ago, we were asked to find a certain device. From what I know it is used to probe the mind - cause hallucinations or something. I have read that it turns whoever uses it into an idiot. And in extreme cases the user dies." Amelia quickly narrated as she struggled against the tight grasp around her collar. Seeing her have a hard time, that silly man, Josh, rushed over and tried to loosen Rhys's hands but with little effect.
"I was confused as to why they wanted something like the - that so we asked them and they answered it was for a very special person." She gasped a little as Rhys's hands kept tightening and his aura became more and more dangerous. "I- I don't know anyone more special than that boy... please you are choking m-me!" Rhys's hands loosened at that moment and Amelia fell into Josh's hands while gasping for air.
Rhys's eyes fell on her without emotion, "You better have a plan to enter that lab. Make preparations, and come to our tents in 2 hours. We are going to tear that godforsaken building down."