When Merlin recovered from his burst of emotions, he had hardened himself to this reality, steeled his resolve, and become a new man, ready to take on the dilapidated world. If the sky fell, he would hold it up. If a tornado came, he would blow it away. And if a zombie monarch came, he would utterly and completely destroy it! With this new resolve, Merlin walked out of his room with large and confident strides.
At was already 4:50 am, and the commotion of the surrounding rushing about to get their gear in order, and packing all the remaining resources, wake up a certain unconscious female officer.
"Mmmm, what is going on?" She said in a lazy voice, when suddenly she remembered it. Her one-chan Alice had called her, and told her to quickly enter a room within the police station and lock the door.
But just as she was about to do that, the door was swiftly opened, slamming against her head, and causing her to loose consciousness. Reaching for her head, she could feel a slight bump being formed on her forehead.
"Ouch"
But then, she suddenly took in her surrounding, realising that this was no longer the police station. Her first thought was that she was brought out of the police station by one of her fellow officers, but seeing so many unfamiliar officers rushing about and completely ignoring her, she realised it must be something else.
Looking around dazedly for a while longer, a voice came from behind her,
"What do you think you are doing lazing around? The boss said the we need to be geared and ready by 0500 hrs! Quickly suit up, wheels move out in 5! Which group are you part of?"
"I-"
"Nevermind. Just get ready and stand in line. I don't have time to waste on a mute like you!"
The one screaming frantically was naturally William, since his group 3 was the last to go to sleep. And the one he was shouting at was Alice's twin sister, Jane Rose.
While in that stunned state of confusion, she was pushed into a pile of police gear. Seeing everyone preparing as if their lives depended on it, she got a bad premonition, and immediately got to gearing up. She even followed everyone as though she was part of the group, and assembled in the lawn.
When everyone was assembled in the lawn by 5 am, Merlin's body suddenly appeared in front of them, standing atop a car. It was almost as though he was already standing there, but the mist around him only now was lifted. Revealing a normal 18 year old kid.
However, when she saw that face, some unpleasant memories began to emerge from Jane's mind.
That was the face of the cursed child, or so they called him in the police station. After a few months of his mother's death, his father also passed away. And when he was taken in by his best friend's parents, there was a break in to that very house. Why is he here? And when did an 18 year old have a boy like that?
Merlin was wearing his favourite matt-black hoodie with jogging pants and black Nike running shoes. He had already evolved into a level 3 human. Wearing protection for ankles like mountain boots would only restrict his own movement. Anything that could break his ankle would simply shatter those boots. So he just wore running shoes for extra grip. And he was also sending a small stream of mana into the soles of his shoes to reduce noise and wear on them.
"Listen up you maggots! We are going to be leaving in exactly 2 minutes. We will be moving north until we reach the 278, and then we will follow the 278 east until we reach the bay bridge. We will be setting up permanent camp there. Is that understood?"
"YES SIR!"
"GOOD. Anyone who gets lost or takes a wrong turn, will follow this route and reach the bridge. Anyone who cannot comply and decided to leave with your vehicles, I will only say this, If you betray me… I will find you and hunt you down. One at a time, after which I will use your heads as bait to lure zombies away from base."
A chill ran down every single person present in the lawn, including Sean, and the Jacksons, towards who the killing intent was not even directed.
"Good, the move your butts!!"
Suddenly, all the pressure exerted on the officers disappeared and they quickly ran towards their allotted cars. Merlin sighed and turned around towards the Jacksons.
"Alright, let's go. We have a long way to go, and time isn't going to stop for us."
With this, Merlin took Jack, the fire-mage, Alex, his parents got into the truck, with Sean's subordinate as the driver, and Sean as the navigator, and they were off.