The car screeched painfully as it was pushed forward, getting faster and faster by the second. Terrifying booms came from behind them, the vibrations ringing in their ears. Akame's pelt was spiked out with terror, clinging to Brie for protection. Melissa seemed to do the same, wrapping herself around Brie's arm with wide eyes that darted around with an unspoken fear.
Brie refused to look behind her, but she knew exactly what was coming. The monster, the tank. It was storming closer by the second, furious that his prey escaped so easily. Brie craned her head looking for a solution, anything to slow it down, gripping the side of the car as it swerved without slowing.
"Where is Adam and John?" She called out, needing to raise her voice over the thundering roars of chaos. Josiah pointed through the windscreen and Brie saw a car in front, speeding forward just as fast as they were. She saw Adam peering through the back window, scowling with frustration. She sighed, knowing he was losing his temper.
His temper seemed to be getting worse. Actually, Adam as a whole was slowly disappearing. It was like another person was climbing into his mind and whispering nonsense in his ear. The virus was painfully dangerous and Brie felt it was right to prioritise it's demise over her survival.
She came back to reality quickly as she remembered the situation at hand. "A gun. Does anyone have a gun?" She yelled, catching a pistol that Josiah threw back. She opened the window, sticking her head out and held the pistol out to the back.
For the first time, she saw what was chasing them. Her eyes went wide with shock as she took in the sight. The tank was almost double it's size, oozing with blood and his face was scrunched up with fury. It had grown. His hands reached out as he spotted Brie, letting out a wheeze of discomfort as she pointed her gun towards him.
One shot, two shots.
He continued to throw himself forward, ignoring the two holes that bubbled up with a dark liquid. As he opened his mouth to roar out, Brie saw huge fangs, a sharp tongue that could slice them apart by the touch.
"He must have a weak point!" She called, looking back for ideas. Josiah shrugged his shoulders.
"Look at his eye!" Melissa shouted. Surprisingly, she was looking back with a bravery never shown, pointing to the tank's face. As Brie took another look, she realised he was missing an eye. It was squinting, his lack of sight clearly bothering him. His other eye was focused directly on Brie. That one eye was completely void of any emotion except anger. His virus had given him nothing but rage towards the living.
Brie aimed the gun at his face and pulled the trigger, wincing as she remembered her lack of gun training. She knew nothing about shooting, but somehow her shot landed on his only eye and he fell back.
His hands flew to his face with confusion. He stopped running, swinging his head around. Brie imagined he only saw darkness, now blind for the rest of his existence. The car continued to speed away, leaving the tank in the dust and they all fell into a threatening silence.
"Nice one." Josiah finally broke the ice as Brie handed him his gun back.
"Thanks." She nodded, leaning back with a deep sigh. "Good call, Mel. I'm proud of you." Melissa smiled with pride, cuddling Akame.
"I'm so happy I helped." She whispered under the rumble of the engine, melting into Akame's purrs of comfort.
The rest of the ride was mostly silent apart from an occasional beep from the guard's radio.
"I haven't heard much from your uh... body guard." Brie mentioned, glancing at the large man who hadn't budged except to drive the car. He was impressively under control for having just been chased by a huge tank. His driving skills were good.
"I've never heard them talk. They are both mute. I find it interesting." Josiah explained, looking to his body guard with admiration. "He is called Clay, and the other is called Nick."
Brie nodded, smiling to Clay. He tipped his head to the side with shyness, his man bun swaying slightly. "Nice to meet you, man!" She lay back in her seat, knowing a response wouldn't come. Instead, Josiah chuckled and the car tore forward.
Over in the other car, Nick's silence was driving Adam and John crazy.
"Why don't you talk?! I want to know what's going on!" Adam demanded, crossing his arms angrily in the back seat while John rolled his eyes in the front.
"What if he doesn't speak our language? Have some respect." He scolded. "I have an idea."
John reached over to Nick and tapped his radio, looking up to check for permission to take it. There was a short nod from Nick and an annoyed sigh. He snatched the radio and buzzed in.
"Josiah? It's John." He waited a moment before hearing the radio click back to him.
"What do you need?" Josiah responded, the rumble of the car coming through loudly.
"Is everyone okay there? We saw what happened." He turned back to look at Adam, who nodded with satisfaction.
"We're all fine here." Josiah came back quickly. "Another hour to go and we should be there."
The radio crackled then stopped, signalling that he'd finished talking. John put it in the side holder, leaning back and closing his eyes. "In that case, I think I'll sleep for the rest of the drive."
Adam scoffed. "I don't know how you can sleep with those things out there. They creep me out too much to feel at ease." He stared out the window with caution, feeling goose bumps crawl under his skin and force him to shudder. He pulled his knees up to his chin and lay his head down with ease.
"At least try to relax." John sighed and fell silent. The car continued to growl as the sun hit it's highest point, scorching down on them like lasers. Thankfully, the car wasn't heating up too quickly so they could stay cool before the heat hit them hard.