(Quintiles 29, 59 / 3:50PM)

  (Johnny) What do you mean that we’re leaving Lagefor? I was just about to buy a house for me and Ellie!

  (??? on phone) You and that goddamn cat! Can’t you listen boy?! Unless you have a death wish then get the hell out of there!

  A young blonde-haired man spoke through a bck phone pced ft on a magenta-colored table. As he put the phone next to his ear, his eyes sharpened as he looked down at the phone.

  Next to him was a girl three years younger than him, her brown long hair and cat ears perking up as the blonde-haired man continued to stare at the bck phone. With her hands slightly shaking, she pced her furry palms on his shoulders, putting her chest onto his back.

  (Johnny) Then where should we go then?! What pce do you want us now?!

  (??? on the phone) Just get to the ranch at Haxouburg. You can follow that simple rule, right feline fucker?

  Johnny then shook the phone violently, his fists clenching the phone tightly as creaks of the metallic phone started to appear. Elizabeth, the cat-human, started wrapping her arms around Johnny, nudging her head on his back, making a soft purring noise as she closed her eyes.

  Sensing her, Johnny’s hands loosened their grip on the phone. Johnny cleared his throat as his eyes began to water.

  (Johnny) … Yes father…

  As the phone hung up from the other side, Johnny still held the bck phone that was attached to a chord of the mainframe. In an instant, Johnny lifted the phone high and smmed the phone hard onto it, as his arm shook vigorously from the strength used.

  Elizabeth continued to purr and hold onto him. Johnny, who was breathing heavily, continued to stare bnkly at the magenta desk.

  (Elizabeth) Johnny, it’s ok. If we have to go, we have to go.

  (Johnny) Ellie, you know that if we go back to Haxouburg, they aren’t going to treat you that well. You know how the ranchers act to beast humans.

  (Elizabeth) And you know how strong I am, right?

  Letting go of Johnny’s waist, he turned towards them as he felt the comfort of her hands gone. She took a couple of steps back to take a full view of Johnny, her brown eyes gazing at the tall young man in front of her. Csping her hands, she looked up towards his face to see gray eyebags beneath his eyes.

  (Elizabeth) We could work things out together like always, right? We still have a long time left together so all we need to do is listen to your father.

  (Johnny) But that’s the problem Ellie … he tells one thing and asks for another. At this rate, I feel like I could never leave my family.

  Looking down onto the wooden floor, he hid his face so that Elizabeth wouldn’t see his tired face. Putting herself right in front of him, she then extended her arms to reach to his face, csping both hands onto his cheeks.

  She rubbed her thumb back and forth along his cheek, sensing the pale yet tired face he had. Johnny then looked up towards her, the tears from his eyes barely containing themselves, and his cheeks were rubbed with care.

  (Elizabeth) It’s ok…

  She then let go of his face and looked up at him with tears. With a couple of tears rolling down her face, she nudged herself onto Johnny’s muscur yet slim chest.

  (Elizabeth) We’re going to be ok…

  Wrapping his arms around her, Johnny slumped his head onto Elizabeth’s shoulder, letting out one single tear of his right eye. Clutching her tightly, he stared at a map of Haxouburg, the country to the south.

  Seeing the brown map filled with towns and cities, he also noticed a railroad that goes around a loop across the southern country.

  (Johnny) I promise you this … we will have a better future…

  (Johnny’s thoughts) Even if my family drops dead.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Quintiles 29, 59 / 5:56PM)

  (Boris) So you went to go eat after that huh? That expins why you and Loraine took a long time getting here. Are you sure that you weren’t followed the whole time?

  (Jenny) I promise you, I wasn’t. I looked back to make sure that the old man wasn’t following me.

  In the adult lounge, Boris, Jenny, David, Jerry, and Loraine were all standing up in the back of the dimly lit room.

  Boris, whose body began to shake, turned his head towards Loraine, her face slightly sweating from her forehead as her hands began to get cmmy.

  (Boris) Are you alright, Loraine?

  Lorraine’s left hand was held by Jenny’s right, remaining silent as she looked down. Seeing this unusual behavior coming from her, both David and Jerry looked at one another.

  Giving each other a nod, David walked towards Loraine, putting his right knee on the ground as he made sure his face was leveled with hers.

  (David) Did you know what the old man looked like? Can you at least describe his appearance?

  Loraine kept her mouth shut, hunching her shoulders. Jenny, her hand being shaken from the tremors of Loraine’s body, held her hand firmly, putting her thumb on her hand.

  Rubbing it back and forth, she looked towards Boris, nudging Loraine to take a couple of steps back as she stepped forward.

  (Jenny) The old man looked to be in his mid-50s, but he looked really strong. He had metal gsses, green eyes, and a weird white robe. And his hair was bright green!

  Boris then put his hand onto his chin, slightly angling his head. Tapping his chin with his pointer finger, his temples started to form sweat as they ran along his chubby cheeks, hitting the dark brown wood.

  Noticing that Boris was thinking into the abyss, the rest of them kept their focus on Boris, with David and Jerry folding their arms and Jenny and Loraine shaking their hands.

  (Boris’s thoughts) Someone told me long ago about it! Who was it?!

  Boris got a bead of sweat onto his eye, causing him to lose focus completely. Clenching his fists, he put his right hand into his pocket to bring out his handkerchief.

  Firmly grasping it, he rubbed his head furiously, especially the area where the bead of sweat hit his eye.

  Until he suddenly stopped.

  (Boris’s thoughts) Wait a minute … handkerchief …

  Boris took a long look at the white handkerchief in his right hand, his hand still firmly shaking at the white rag.

  (Boris’s thoughts) I remembered the man had a handkerchief, but who…

  Putting his left hand onto his left eye, he put an abundance of pressure on it.

  Until it finally hit him.

  (Joseph in Boris’s thoughts) Be careful of him, he may be a germaphobe but he is sure one smart bastard.

  (Boris) Oh shit … oh shit …

  Boris took many steps back until his back hit the dress drawer, his legs buckling fast as his breath started to come in faint pants. His arms tried to hold onto the dresser, but even they failed him, causing him to nd on his bottom.

  (David and Jerry) Boris!

  Both men ran towards Boris, helping him get back on his feet. With their excessive strength, they put both of their arms around Boris, helping him stand up as he couldn’t find strength in his legs.

  (Jerry) What happened? Did you know who it was?

  Boris continued to be covered in a drenched sweat, his breathing extremely irregur as he couldn’t even have the strength to breathe normally. David brought out a little inhaler from his jacket, putting the inhaler into Boris’s mouth. Clicking the button on top, much-needed air went inside Boris’s lungs, letting him breathe in more air into his tiny lungs.

  Pulling the inhaler out, David put his right hand on Boris’s shoulder.

  (David) Hey. Boris. Talk to us, who is he?

  Boris turned his head towards David, his face ghostly pale as his breathing came in slowly.

  (Boris) pants … he’s the weakest of the generals … pants … Joseph … pants … told me all about them…

  (???) Don’t spoil it for them chubby.

  A voice was heard somewhere in the room, or rather…

  It was behind the three men.

  Out of the rge dresser, came a skinny and frail young man, his hair bck as his skin was pale as the snow.

  He had eyes, a nose, and ears, everything that made him human, but…

  (David) Boris get—

  As he rapidly drew near, the three men in slow motion smelled the putrid odor that radiated from the man. At a gnce, David saw bck tar dripping from his eyes, its entire body just emitting an extremely foul odor that can be smelled by a certain creature.

  Which caused David to hesitate at the slightest interval.

  The frail young man in question managed to sneak behind Boris, tightening its feeble arms around Boris’s chubby neck.

  Everybody took a couple of steps back, their eyes gring at the tall man simply holding Boris hostage. David’s forehead had a vein popping out of his neck, his eyes twitching as his hands started to clench.

  (David’s thoughts) I could’ve gotten Boris out, but his odor was just too much…

  The frail man who had bck tar oozing out of his ears looked towards Jerry. Putting his right hand on his cheek, the frail man tilted his head slightly as his eyes remained hungry on Jerry.

  (???) Long time no see Jerry. Remember me?

  Jerry quickly pulled out his AR-15 that was tucked nicely inside of his jacket. With his right hand, he handled the pistol grip and pced his left hand on the handguard.

  Pointing the rifle towards the frail man’s head, the man let off an ugly smirk, his teeth yellow and bck as it showcases its abhorrent decay.

  (???) You still don’t remember? That time we saved those kids? When you were still a rookie?

  Jerry’s hands started to shake gently, but he nodded his head away and continued to aim at the man’s head. Noticing that Jerry wasn’t backing down, the man then walked towards Jerry, still having his arms wrapped around Boris’s neck.

  Boris continued to remain silent, as his body was tugged along with him.

  Everyone, including David, had their guns or weapons on standby, holstering them for any given opportunity to strike.

  As the man managed to reach towards Jerry, the man stood up straight and looked slightly down towards Jerry’s face.

  (???) You let me die, did you not?

  (Jerry) No way…

  Jerry let out a loud gasp as he pointed his gun slightly down. His hands started to shake again and he too ka step back.

  (Jerry) Pedro?

  (Pedro) Ah … now you remember…

  The door to the front of the room flew open.

  Flying halfway through the room, the door crash nded onto the furthest couch that Boris usually sat on, the wood being bent in half as it looked like it was kicked by force.

  Everyone turned their eyes towards where the door used to be, their eyes seeing a dark silhouette figure standing menacingly in between the doorframe. Pedro, also seeing the silhouette with its fully bck pupils and eyes, let out a small sigh.

  (Pedro) Late to the party again, Kenichi?

  (David) What did you say?

  (Jenny) w-what…

  The dark silhouette then walked into the room, seeing everyone’s faces turning towards him. The more the silhouette walked closer, the more distinguishable he was.

  (David) What the hell…

  The man wore all-bck clothing, followed by a bck mask that covered his face. His hair was ginger and all over the pce, followed by the man having a normal light-toned complexion. His eyes were blue and bright, with his height roughly the same as Jerry’s, while his body build was much skinnier than other men, almost to Luke’s slim-toned body.

  The ginger-haired man looked towards everyone, his eyes soulless and unwavering.

  David and Jenny continued to stammer, their eyes and hands beginning to twitch as they looked like they saw a ghost.

  (Jenny) K-Ken … Ken…

  (David) How are you still alive…

  Tears rolling down Jenny’s cheeks, shaking the spiked frying pan on her right hand. With her left hand, she gripped her stomach as she continued to hyperventite as the figure continued to stare at them.

  David put his brown cowboy hat down with his right hand, pointing his gun up to not aim at him. His eyes wide and his jaw slightly opening, he started shaking his head as he started to mumble to himself.

  (David’s thoughts) Is this a dream? Or is this our reality?

  Loraine however, sniffed the air coming from him, noticing a vast difference between him and Pedro.

  (Loraine) sniff sniff … he … doesn’t smell…

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Quintiles 29, 59 / 6:01PM)

  He couldn’t hear.

  (Luke’s thoughts) What the … what happened?

  Opening his eyes, he witnessed the dense smoke and dust that clogged the entire bar. Seeing that rain and debris were scattered across the now destroyed bar, Luke tried to wake up his arms and hands that were asleep.

  Nothing but broken beer and wood amid unconscious bodies, Luke noted some people twitching their arms and legs as they fought against the pain and temptation.

  (Luke’s thoughts) E-Everyone … please …

  Dust and dirt covered the bodies that y bare, with many wood chips and gss bnketing them in a tight slumber.

  Luke slowly lifted himself off the ground with his arms and hands on the floor, he tried to move his legs and feet that were still asleep. Putting his knees and elbows on the wooden floor, his head continued to look down at the alcohol-ridden floor.

  (Luke’s thoughts) Come on, get up!

  His ears felt like he was being stabbed. Unable to stand, continuing to remain in that position, he clenched his teeth as he tried to mutter out something from his parched throat.

  (Luke) Aah … h-hello … a-a-anyone …?

  Turning his head, he saw the rest of his friends' bodies stuck to the dirty, ridden floor. Pushing whatever strength he had, he tried to put his feet ft on the ground, but his legs continued to buckle. He tried to push himself off the ground, but his arms remained in pce, his fists enclosed tightly as he inhaled and exhaled rapidly.

  (Luke’s thoughts) Get up! Just get up!

  Pushing a bit more strength, he tried yet failed as he remained in pce.

  (Luke’s thoughts) I got to save them! I have to—

  That same reverb service bell rang within Luke again, his face widening as his sixth sense begged him to run.

  Yet he couldn’t.

  With the only thing to do was turn his head to his right, he slowly noticed the putrid smell coming from behind him.

  From his peripheral vision, he saw gnce of a brightly pale figure with long dark hair, a simir appearance to a certain creature. Turning his head evermore, he then looked at the creature that caused him to flinch.

  (Luke’s thoughts) W-what…

  The creature … looked like an old teen. In a weird sense, the creature or rather the human—no, the horse-human continued to stare at Luke, his smile reaching the tips of the horse's ears.

  Giving off a little chuckle, the teenage boy who looked too much of a zompire looked down where Luke was, his eyes fully enclosed in bck.

  (???) Why did I always admire you? Come to think of it, you were always weak compared to the others.

  Luke frowned. The boy then walked ever closer toward Luke, crouching down as he put his right hand on Luke’s head.

  Firmly getting a hold of his hair, their faces were several inches from each other. Luke pulled his face back, as the abhorrent smell came out of the boy’s decaying mouth.

  (???) Why are you this rude huh? Don’t tell me you forgot me too. Well? Well?! Do you remember Ryan then!? Do you still remember what you did to him!?

  Before Luke could react, the boy, firmly gripping his hair, then used an incredible amount of strength to push his head onto the wooden floorboard. In a loud thump, Luke’s face collided with the wood, causing his nose to bleed and his cheeks and forehead forming immense purple bruises.

  Keeping Luke’s head on the floor with his hand, the boy let out a devilish ugh.

  (???) Are you going to tell me, huh?! Do you know how long I’ve waited to do—

  In slow motion, the boy saw an incoming kick coming at him.

  With enough force, the leg that was drawn nded on his face, his mouth and cheeks being pushed back into his head. Followed after, his head then managed to pull back hard.

  His entire body went along with it, sending the boy back flying towards a damaged wooden wall. Since the wood wasn’t strong enough to begin with, as soon as the boy crashed onto the wall, it colpsed onto itself, sending the boy to fly a few more meters outside the bar.

  (Luke) Luna…

  Turning his head towards her, Luna struggled to catch her breath. Two more men barely stood up, their legs quivering from the ck of stamina as their breaths were rapid too.

  (Jack) pants … You alright Miles?

  (Miles) Barely … pants … you get the others up, me and Luna would handle him…

  Giving him a slight nod, Jack went towards the others who were still unconscious. Even though he ran, his legs shivered as he started to be coated with cold sweat. Gncing at the hole in his pants, he noticed a rge scrap near his ankle, barely touching the Achilles heel.

  Ignoring the pain, he made his way towards Hope and Benn first, tugging on their shoulders with his hands. As the blood continued to gush out, Jack clenched his teeth hard as his body started to feel slight shivers down his back.

  (Miles) Try not to pass out Jack! Get Gwen so she could deal with these easily!

  (???) Do you need help?

  Another man simir to the horse-human boy came out of the door. He had bck dark hair, a pale ghostly face, and all-bck eyes that encompassed the entire socket.

  He was frail, simir to the horse-human, but with a bunny face. He was also tall, being an inch taller than Jack.

  (???) Yes bro, I think these scumbags deserve death for leaving us to die. You remember Luke, right Ryan?

  (Ryan?) Yeah, I still remember that ugly face. Can’t believe he was the one that caused my death, yet here I am, fresh as ever.

  The almost half-zompire, half-bunny human Ryan came near towards the half-zompire, half-horse human. Pcing his hand on the boy, the horse-human then turned his head towards him, his face making a warm smile.

  (???) You got that right bro. Sucks that nobody knows who I am now…

  (Ryan?) Don’t worry, I’m sure I and you were good friends from what I heard, and now we’re good friends. Don’t worry, Cameron, I got your back.

  Both of them readied their stances, their fists not clenched but open.

  Luna and Miles took a couple of steps back, getting their stamina ready by controlling the flow of their breathing. Luke, however, still was locked onto the floor as if a magnet was trapping him.

  (Luke’s thoughts) Come on, move!

  Luke grit his teeth.

  (Luke’s thoughts) Stop being useless and move!

  (Ryan?) Wanna see what I can do?

  Closing his eyes, Ryan steadied his posture, his eyes fully enclosed—

  Luna lunged forth from the wooden floorboards, her legs helping her body move towards Ryan who was wide open.

  (Luna) Not interested.

  With the world in slow motion, Luna’s hands, who wielded two twin-bded double-edged swords, started to spin in her signature yo-yo move, making the bdes seem as if they were helicopter bdes.

  Reaching close to Ryan, she brought her sword forward, using her right bde to reach for Ryan’s neck. Upon contact with his neck, she used her right arm’s strength to push the sword deeper into it, her eyes not sharpened but more droopy.

  (Luna’s thoughts) I don’t know what caused you to be like this, but it’s for the best that I end this quickly…

  Sshing his neck—

  (Ryan) Hehe…

  Her eyes remained wide open as her jaw clenched. As her face remained unbridled with a barrage of hot sweat, Luna took note of the abnormal reality of what was in front of her.

  (Luna) W-W-W-What the fuck!

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Quintiles 29, 59 / 5:59PM)

  (Agent Eren) Why are we still stationed here in Lagefor? Aren’t we supposed to be summoned to El Niabea?

  (Agent Ada) We follow Briggs’s orders, and Briggs wants us to remain here.

  (Agent Eren) Still, can’t believe he’s not following the higher ups’ orders. I mean, come on. It’s one of the golden rules of the FUC.

  (Agent Ada) Heh … they’re too scared to deal with him. The only person he’ll listen to is Spartan Gabriel. Other than that, don’t even bother trying to negotiate with him.

  (Agent Eren) Wasn’t pnning on it.

  Both young agents sat at a table in the nearby lunch room, the cleanliness of the white floors and walls were ever-present.

  (Agent Eren) I could get used to this! I never expected the Theologian Military and Museum complex to have so many buildings for military personnel and politicians.

  (Agent Ada) It’s one of the biggest in the world, so of course it would be huge.

  Both agents had their dinner trays on the metallic table, a part of their trays having a slice of turkey leg and mashed potatoes. Ada tilted her head as she took a bite of her mac and cheese.

  (Agent Ada) Why are you eating tempura? This is Lagefor, not Cstine.

  (Agent Eren) But I like tempura. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with eating different foods in different cities.

  (Agent Ada) sighs … weirdo.

  (Agent Eren) Hey! If you’re so umpty about some foreign food, then you should try it then—

  The sounds of an arm screeched in the room, causing the agents to cover their ears and stand up.

  (Agent Eren’s thoughts) What’s going on? This never happened before…

  (Woman on the speaker) Red alert! Red alert!

  Both agents noticed the lights slowly going off, the lunch room starting to dim as they continued to listen to the speaker.

  (Agent Eren) What did she just say?

  An explosion can be heard from a distance…

  (Agent Ada) It can’t be…

  (Woman on the speaker) Red alert! Red alert!

  Eren grabbed Ada’s hand, his grip firm yet gentle as he tried to make his way out of the lunch room. Looking back, he saw Ada’s face letting out beads of sweat on her right and left temples, her neck showing a shiny color.

  (Agent Ada) Wait, where are we going?

  (Agent Eren) To do our jobs!

  Then the lights flickered out, leaving the lunch room in the pitch of dark…

  (Woman on the speaker) Lagefor has been breached!