Evo informed the people inside that he was coming in. He heard discussions then those people agreed on the condition that he comes alone with no weapons. He agreed.
Evo stored his gun on his dimensional storage then went inside while raising his hand where people can see it. A heavily-built person stood on the side, calmly holding a lamp to his sides. In front of him were an old man sitting on a swivel chair and a gorgeous woman standing beside him. The old man told him to sit down. The man with the lamp watched him fiercely until he sat in front of the table.
"Are you bit? Are you still human?" the old man asked nervously.
Evo chuckled. "Is that the reason why you fired at us?"
The old man furrowed his brows, then replied angrily, "You're the one who started it! We're just hiding here, and you people suddenly started talking crazy!"
"That's right!" the woman on the side added.
After thinking about it, it was really Jun's fault. If he didn't start acting like that, they could have a proper conversation and wouldn't be shot at.
Of course, Evo wouldn't admit to that. He ignored what they said and changed the flow of conversation.
"We clearly said that we're looking for something. You could've just let us in and searched the room."
The old man's face twitched. "Do you even know who you're talking to? I'm Mayor Yobet!"
Evo became baffled after hearing the other person introduce himself. Looking at the face and the body was enough to verify if what the other person said was true. Evo didn't really pay attention earlier, but now that it was out in the open, he couldn't bring himself to talk anymore. When he was about to answer, an angry voice came from behind him.
A set of skinny hands slammed on the table. "I don't care who you are! But I need you to tell me where the armory is!"
"This b*tch dares to! Neil! Teach this brat lesson!"
The mayor then turned his head just in time to see Neil kneeling on the floor with his hands on the back of his head. A fierce-looking man was pointing a gun to his head.
"Look at me!" the petite girl shouted to his face. "Where is the station's armory?"
The mayor was shocked and cowered back while biting his lips, with the intention of not spilling anything. His secretary had other things in mind, though. She sarcastically said, "Are you idiots? Why are you looking for the armory up here? It's obviously beside the locker room downstairs. Don't you guys have common sense? If the armory's here, we wouldn't have stayed here, hiding."
The mayor quickly turned his head, dumbfounded at the woman beside her.
Marianne politely thanked her then left with Jun and Evo.
***
Adrian was leaning on the wall.
Five meters in front of him was the Hunter infected suspiciously sniffing the air. They're both on the right side of the canteen while the regular infected's where being fought by the group on the left side.
The Hunter was about to charge to the group earlier, but suddenly stopped then started looking around.
Adrian was in stealth 10 meters away, waiting for his chance all this time. He thought that the waiting game had finally ended and was about to attack when the Hunter halted its advance.
Afterward, the Hunter raised its head and sniffed the air, then turned to his direction. Though it appeared that it couldn't see him, the infected knew that there was someone there.
The Hunter shrieked. Saliva and pieces of flesh appeared on its sharp teeth. Its sharp claws dug down a few centimeters on the floor as it lowered its body like a prowling tiger.
Adrian controlled his breathing, breathing slower and noiseless. When the Hunter was less than three meters, he held his breath completely.
"Ahhhh!"
Bernard suddenly shouted from the left side, seemingly trying to raise morale as the number of infected increased. Edward was busy making blocking five infected by himself while the others deal with the rest of the infected. If it weren't for the energy covering his body, he would have been bitten to death already.
"I'm running out of energy!"
Edward shouted as five infected continued on trying to bite him on his arms and face. Sheila was occupied, and most of the members were dealing with infected themselves.
The Hunter turned to Edward's then started running!
Adrian was surprised but hurriedly ran after it.
Luckily, the infected have to slow down due to the tables blocking the path. When it jumped up to the table, Adrian stabbed it in the back. He felt some resistance from the skin, but he still managed to make a deep stab. He then hurriedly sliced down, making a huge diagonal line starting from the backs upper right onto the lower left side. Dark red blood flowed out like a damn, while the Hunter wailed loudly. It turned around and fell down the table. Even as it wiggled on the floor, it kept on shrieking loudly at Adrian. It finally stabled its footing then glared at him.
The Hunter pounced on him. Its sharpened teeth due to evolution appeared bigger the closer the Hunter was to him. He stepped back and hit another table.
Knowing that everyone's hand is currently tied, and there's no way that he could escape, he readied himself to die, but he would at least try to bring this d*mn infected with him.
He planned to sacrifice his left arm as he stabs it on the head. He raised his right hand, holding the knife in reverse to his side.
He calmly waited for the infected to reach him.
As he watched the Hunter in mid-air, time seemed to slow down.
Questions that he hadn't consciously thought of before arose in his mind.
Why? Why did I try to do this alone? Was it really because of the group's safety, or was it because I wanted to prove myself? That I'm also someone strong and reliable.
Why do I need to prove myself?
To whom?
Am I actually jealous of him?
Do I want to become like him?
Adrian's mind was clouded, and he can't think straight.
The Hunter was already in front of him, and he didn't even raise his left hand that he was supposed to sacrifice to block the incoming Hunter.
When the Hunter was about to bite him in the face, a circular yellow barrier appeared in front of him. The Hunter crashed face-first into the barrier.
On his peripheral vision, he saw Edward, with raised arms pointing at him, fall backward unconscious with several infected on top of him.
Time seemed to turn to its original flow while annoying ringing filled his ears.
Before the Hunter could reach the ground, a knife was already lodged in its head. It couldn't even shriek as it fell motionless on the floor.
"Edward!" Adrian hurriedly pulled the knife back as he ran back to the group as fast as he can. When he reached Edward, he hurriedly stabs the nearest infected in the head. He then pulled it to the side.
Sheila noticed his actions but remained quiet. Most of the infected in the area were already dealt with. The few remaining ones have been disabled and were being used by the support group as training subjects, on where to hit to slow them down or how to kill them efficiently.
When Adrian approached the last infected, he noticed that something was wrong. The infected wasn't moving. It wasn't even biting the defenseless Edward. He then pulled the last infected off Edward without killing it. He crouched down and turned it around, only to see a hole at the side of its head.
"They're already dead."
Adrian turned around. He saw Sheila standing behind him.
"I already killed them earlier, but I haven't had the time to help him push them off. There were still other infected at that time." Sheila warmly smiled. "Well, it's nice to know that you're still human."
Sheila wasn't someone bright, but she has common sense. On Paterno's resort, she had to do necessary check-ups on both of them.
After listening to their story, she noticed that something was wrong and thought that Adrian must have forced Paterno to kill his wife. Although Adrian is usually cold and doesn't like to talk much, she still felt that he was someone good.
Seeing how he acted right now was enough for her to prove that he can be trusted. Sheila patted his shoulder, then said, "I know you willingly followed him, but that doesn't change the fact that we're all members of his team. So let's work as a proper team, okay?"
Watching her innocent smile, Adrian could only lower his head.
"So there are still good people left in this world..." he muttered to himself.