The whole crew gathered in the meeting room, Vladimir stands in the middle of the room. He tapped his left foot impatiently on the hard concrete. He crossed his arm, with a displeased expression he started his speech gallantly.
"As you can see, three of our comrades almost fell to their deaths" Vladimir spoke in valor.
Kallen stepped to the front, he asked Vladimir about the cause.
"So who did this sir Vladimir? Is it the new type of drones we encountered the other day?" Kallen asked straight to the point.
Vladimir shook his head, a sigh escaped his mouth.
"No, it was done by humans" Vladimir sighed. "It is none other than that unsettling camp".
When Vladimir spoke about the unsettling camp, the room filled with silence and heavy airs. I barely could breathe leisurely with the tense airs.
"You know them?" I asked the annoyed Vladimir.
"Yes, it's the settlement who captured men for slave laborers and used them as emergency food" Vladimir explained rather leisurely.
I widened my eyes when I heard the word emergency food. Surely, that couldn't be true. Eating human flesh seems pretty barbaric.
"You guys are joking, right?" Aria gulped.
"I don't know, it's just the rumors around that settlement pretty fishy" Kallen rubbed his chin. "And scary".
Joel comes into the meeting room late, sweat rolled from the nape of his neck. He looked toward Vladimir nervously.
"Sorry, I'm late" Joel spoke breathlessly.
Ignoring Joel's late entrance, Vladimir explained about the fishy settlement.
"I already told Tom and Milla to keep their guards up because of that one area, but this ambush is unbecoming" Vladimir rubbed his chin, unsatisfied. "Since when did they get bolder and attack others?".
"You should have said that for yourself, Vladimir," I scowled sarcastically at Vladimir. "Aren't you also a killer? You're no different than others".
The crowds reacted with suspicion and anger toward my remarks. I could see Tristan smirk from a distance, he seems to be satisfied with my sarcasm.
"You killed Nash, so what makes you different from those buffoons?" I circled the tyrant with teasing tiptoed. "I'm sure what they did, mirrored what you did toward Nash".
Vladimir grabbed my throat out of the blue and lifted me upwards, he clenched my thin neck like it was nothing. His grip tightened as I saw the angered expression.
"I am not in a gaming mood, Aria Schneider" Vladimir lifted me with sheer force as the crowds gasped in panic.
"Oh yeah? You're going to kill me? Go ahead" I taunted Vladimir with a smirk. "Just like when you slice Nash's throat, this time you're going to strangle me? Heh, as expected of our tyrant leader".
I spoke breathlessly, it's getting harder to breathe because Vladimir tightened grip on me slowly causing asphyxiation.
"Put Aria down!" Joel pushed Vladimir down with all he got. However, Vladimir's sturdy body didn't budge from Joel's force. Entertained to see how Joel struggled, he let go of my throat and shifted his gaze toward Joel. He kneeled to Joel's eye levels, his smirk widened. My bottom hit the hard concrete.
"Ouch" I winced in pain.
Vladimir stared deep into Joel's aquamarine eyes.
"Your puny push couldn't stop me, if I'm serious your precious Aria will-".
Joel clenched his fist as he heard the next sentences Vladimir uttered, I am too far to hear the rest of the sentences. The IT geek eyes are filled with the flame of fury, Joel walked away from Vladimir, he leaned on the dirty wall behind him as he crossed his arm.
He inhales and exhales as if to calm himself from lashing out. I stood up and fixed my clothes, Vladimir fixed his posture and continued his speech without any disturbance. I leaned next to Joel.
"Not bad" I grinned at Joel who defended me. "You've got guts now, huh?".
Joel looks away, his ears turned red after I showered him with compliments.
"Not really" he stuttered.
The crowds now fixated their eyes on Vladimir, Kallen came to my side and asked worriedly.
"Aria, are you alright?" he asked with a concerned tone.
"Other than my pained butt, I'm completely fine" I flashed Kallen my thumbs up.
Vladimir then attached a giant map on the wall, he attached it with duct tape. He pointed toward the area where we saw the stacks of dead drones.
"This is where they stay, the one who attacks our scavengers might be them" Vladimir pointed that out. "It's an 80% chance that they're the perpetrator". He seems to be confident with his speculation, Kallen told me that they're going to attack a settlement.
However, it's not this settlement it seems. Brave Frontier seems to avoid this one particular settlement because of their antics, then what is the other one?
"Say, we're going to attack a settlement am I right?" I asked straightforwardly.
Kallen shifted his eyes on me in panic, he signaled me to be quiet. However, I did not oblige to Kallen's order. I'm too angry to even care what's Vladimir going to do to me next. He can torture and kick me all he wants in that damned training room, it's fine.
I'll exact my revenge someday.
"It's not this settlement? It's a different one?" I asked innocently toward Vladimir.
Hearing my question, he plastered some photos on the walls with duct tapes. I saw them, my friends in one of those photos.
"It's Narita and Lola" I gulped as I saw a photo of them together, cooking.
The photos look like they were taken quietly without their knowing. Vladimir is targeting my friends? Lola and Narita? Why?
"Their settlements are just small groups, just a bunch of teenagers and kids gathering around making small bonfires," Vladimir explained. "My intel told me that they have gathered plenty of supply that will be useful for us in the future".
"Therefore, we're going to raid them?" Kallen asked bitterly, unsure of his father's decision.
"Atta boy, you catch on quick" Vladimir ruffled Kallen's hair. "Their group only consisted of three to four young adults and teenagers".
However, in one of the photos, I could see that they carried a child. There's a child in Lola and Narita's group, a young girl around Kallen's age.
"I see, so the decision is final?" Kallen asked with a heavy heart.
"Yes, we will raid them after we finish our business with the groups who attacked our scavengers" Vladimir straightened us out. "They're the biggest threats for now".
Crap, I need to warn Narita and Lola about this. They're going to get killed, I'm sure of it. Vladimir is cold-blooded, I'm sure the man allows killing, even to children and teenagers. I looked at Joel whether he reacted toward the photos.
Joel looks down to the floor, hiding his face while clenching his fist. He noticed Narita's and Lola's photos immediately and looks like he's confused as well.
"Joel, what do you think we should do?" I whispered quietly to Joel.
"I don't know" he replied coldly then stormed off outside the room.
I raised my eyebrows toward Joel's reaction, I wonder what happened to him.