By the time Don went to the shed, parked his bike, and walked back with April, it was already well into the afternoon. April and Don did have a bit of a conversation about him living with Rebecca. Still, it was because April was curious. Don had lived with Rebecca at the young age of nine, just before he met April. However, Don seemed to exclude various amounts of information, such as why he went to live with her and what happened during his stay with her. They also encountered oversized insects on their journey, like mosquitos and flies, even roaches and ladybugs. They would move around them if they could help it; if not, they would fight, but only if the bug was hostile. When they arrived back at the blockade, Don's eyes narrowed.
'Something isn't right... It's way too quiet...' Don scouted the area around him. "Re--" April was silenced when Don turned around to place a hand to her mouth. "Something is wrong. It's a bit too quiet." Don spoke in a calm tone of voice. April understood what was happening, although she may have been getting a bit tired of being silenced.
Don stepped back and cupped his hands together while blowing into his hands and making a few movements with his fingers which provided a whistling sound. It was more like a call if anything. After a moment, another call came back to him, and Don gritted his teeth and spoke in a calm tone that was loud enough to where only April would hear him. "Rebecca and Noah are not here. Something happened to them. I need you to be ready for anything."
April was a bit confused, so she asked, "What's going on?" She wasn't oblivious to the situation, so she also spoke in the same manner as Don. "That was the wrong call. Rebecca and I made a little call during my stay with her, which acts as a signal. Mine is, "I am here." Hers is supposed to be the same; however, theirs was "I see you." I do not know how many people there are either."
This was the worst possible outcome. Not only did they not know the number of people, but they did not know who was armed and with what. Neither did Don or April see where those people were either. The lack of information wasn't something Don was too keen on. "Stay behind me and get your bow ready." With those words, April moved behind Don and prepared her bow along with knocking and arrow.
Rising from behind the blockade of vehicles happened to be quite a few people. 'This again...' Don grumbled mentally. He took note of the three, all men, and each was wearing the same work uniform as the other. They looked like they worked at some shopping strip or something. A glint of light caught his eyes, making him shift towards the building in the back. Someone was peaking from around the corner with a rifle. 'A sniper? Where the hell...' Don grumbled mentally once again. His eyes focused on one of the men talking.
"Well, I was wondering who murdered our scouting party. I had my doubts about the other two after all. You, on the other hand, are quite well-armed. You even look like you've seen your fear share of shit. Tell ya what, if you come with us willingly, I'll take you to your friends. We are treating them with quite a bit of hospitality." The man spoke with confidence filled to the brim. Perhaps that was because he had a sniper in the back along with two guys who held assault rifles right beside him.
Don glanced back at April before looking at the small group before him. 'If only I was alone... I could easily cut these worthless pigs down...' Don bit his lower up in frustration. His brow twitched with annoyance. He already knew what the man meant by hospitality. He also learned that this place wouldn't be so nice to them. This wasn't a dream, nor was this some magical world filled with positivity at every corner. This was a grim, cold, and dark world that he was brought to. "If it was just me..." Don muttered his thought through his teeth that bled his lip.
"Well? I'll give you the count of three. I don't have all day after all..." The man rose a hand as if preparing to give a signal. "One..."
"Don, What are we going to do?" April asked as if waiting for any signal.
"Two..."
"Don?" April called out again when she saw how Don was unable to react.
"Thr--"
"Fine!" Don shouted with clenched fists. "Lead me to them." Don added. The man's lips curved into a devious smile. "Glad to hear; however--" Just before the man could finish his sentence, a loud, rapid thumping sound could be heard making its way toward them from the right side. "Umm, Boss... we got a bit of a problem." One of the men with the assault rifle stated while shifting his attention toward the thumping sound. The man kissed his teeth, "Fucking Centipede..." The man muttered. "Retreat for now! We don't want to get caught up in the pathway!" The man gave orders, and the group started to hurry back Downtown.
"Centipede?" April inquired before looking to her right to see an oversized Centipede approaching them. Don saw that they were directly in its path, and judging from its speed and size, they would not be able to move out of the way. So, Don quickly tackled April to the ground and shielded her with his arms and body.
April made a little oomph noise but wasn't harmed since Don used his arm as a pillow for the back of her head. The oversized Centipede rushed past them, the light coming through its many legs. It was like they had ducked underneath a car or watched a train pass from underneath a drawbridge, but it was quite a bit of a tight squeeze.
Once it was gone, Don made sure nothing else was around before looking to April. "Are you okay?" Don asked while checking over her. "Y-yeah..." April responded softly. She sat up as Don pushed himself onto his feet. "This world is pretty crazy... huh?" April made a side remark considering all the insects they had encountered. "Not just oversized bugs, but also undead." Don added, and April nodded in agreement.
"Yeah... who do you think created this world? That boy?" As April asked her next question, she saw Don offering to help her, and she accepted his generous offer. "Most likely. Though the replication of our world and this one is eerily similar. Although, some things are different. For example, it looks as if this world has been here for a long time. The ruin and rot are one thing, but even the plantation is overgrown in some areas." Don replied, and once more, April nodded in agreement. "Yeah."
"Well, I know where those people are. They work in a shopping market. They called these people a scouting party, so I am assuming they are together. However, strange is how many civilians have high-grade weapons... two assault rifles a single sniper. Even if this world is a replica..." Don shook his thoughts away and looked toward April.
"I wanted to see if Josh and John were brought here; however, it looks like we are going to need to backtrack. I owe Rebecca for taking care of me for an entire year. So I want to save her." Don said. April gave Don a bit of an 'oh really?' look, considering Don made it seem like she did not want to do the same. "Well, I like Rebecca, so of course we are going to save her. Oh, and Noah too!" April replied with a cheery smile.
With their plans confirmed, they would make their way through Downtown, keeping a low profile the entire way since they did not know they could be lurking around the next corner. Interestingly enough, it appeared relatively empty in the aspect of hostiles—no bugs, undead, or humans in sight. Then again, he figured most humans would take to occupying the buildings for shelter and safety if there were any around.
Perhaps his thoughts were all for not, considering they arrived at the shopping market he was talking about. The parking lot was empty; all the vehicles that may have occupied the parking lot were used as a blockade or to cover up the market walls. A perimeter was also made of the vehicles; there was even walling installed.
The market looked like some outpost. "I see... so Downtown has been occupied..." Don murmured loud enough for April to hear. They had been leaning against a wall, and Don had been peeking out to observe. Don looked to April, "It seems that the market area has been taken over and is being used as an outpost. I would need to get a little closer; however, there were two guards near the walling, three snipers on the roof-top, and a couple guards outside the market doors from what I saw. Everyone is heavily armed, and so I assume there are people on the inside just as heavily armed as well. April I--" Don was hushed. This time it was April's turn to silence Don by placing a finger to his lips.
"I understand. You are worried about me. There is clearly something about you that you have not shared with me. I can see that. So just promise me one thing, okay? Promise me that you will come back to me alive and safe. If you can not make that promise, then I will go with you." April was firm in her statement. It was pretty clear how much she worried about Don and how much she cared about him. April's promise reminded him of a promise he was forced to keep to another person.
'Make sure you come back safe and sound, kid, otherwise there will be hell to pay.'
A woman's voice, seductive yet mature, rang throughout his mind.
Don nodded, "I promise." He replied as if making the same promise to both the voice he recalled and April's promise. Although she did not want to watch him go off into what could be a warzone, April would nod with a smile. "April, make sure you keep watch, and whatever you do, do not approach the walling. I will be back, as promised." Don confirmed with April while removing his traveling bag and setting it against the wall beside her; then, he turned the corner and kept to the ground.
He decided to go with a crawl for his approach since it would be easy to fool the guards considering they seemed relatively relaxed in compose. After all, the guards were just typical civilians. None of them seemed like they were appropriately trained. By the time he reached the walling, he was already in the clear. He pressed his back against the walling and moved towards the wired fence door. This is where the hard part would begin: Infiltration.
'I can't simply walk through the front door...'
Don looked around on the ground for anything he could use to attract attention. Thankfully, there were pebbles near him. He squatted down to pick a few up before tossing them against the walling on the adjacent side of him. He also pulled out his combat knife from his vest and waited silently.
The guards looked at one another, "Well, you go check it out. Probably nothing special anyway." Don could hear a guard's voice, and another's groan followed with the footsteps coming down wooden stairs that began to creak. The footsteps came his way, and when the fence opened and the guard stepped out, Don moved in front of him and covered his mouth with his hand while jamming his combat knife into the back of the guard's neck.
Muffled noise escaped the guard, but it wasn't enough to alert the guard above him. Don slowly lowered the corpse to the ground, and to make sure the guard would not come back as an undead, he would jam the knife into the guard's forehead.
"Hey, anything there?" The guard from before asked, but Don did not panic. He just produced a loud enough groan for the guard to hear. "Ah... knew it. This place is fucking boring. Other than the girls the scouts bring in, there is nothing fun. Do we really have to survive an entire year here...?" The guard was beginning to complain. Don took this chance to move the corpse outside the fence entry and against the wall outside before making his way through the gate. Thankfully, the guard outpost provided shielding so none of the snipers could see him or the two at the market's front door.
One was down, but now came the next part. He needed to kill the guard on the outpost station without being seen. Sure he could rush up there and take him out; however, he would be seen. He had no cover in shadow since it was still light provided by the sun, even if it was getting closer to dusk. That was when he heard a THUCK sound followed by a THUD sound. Turning around, he saw April peeking from behind the corner of the building he came from with her bow in hand.
'God damn...' Don could feel his heart starting to race. The fact that she could make a one-shot-one-kill from that distance with a bow was astonishing. A smirk also curved across his lips, but he needed to calm himself. He took a breath to compose himself before turning back toward the entrance. Presently he was using the shadow provided by the outpost to keep himself from being seen.
He couldn't see the snipers, but he could see the two guards' legs at the front of the market. The lot was open with no cover to hide behind, and even if Don wanted to wait for nightfall, it could have been too late. All he could think of was going forward; however, could he manage it? Sure he could draw his guns and take fire, but the snipers would mostly likely gun him down. They had the advantage of their position.
'Thanks to April, I have the advantage if I wanna just charge; however, the snipers are going to be a problem... If there was even a bit of cover, I could easily get to the front door.' Don's inner thoughts started to play out. His frustration was beginning to build up. 'If this wasn't a time-sensitive mission, then I could just wait it out... but...' Don was starting to feel like everything he learned was beginning to go to waste. It was in his frustration that he remembered what Noah had said.
'Wait! Superpowers? A Seed... How would I bring it out? Even if I did bring it out, what kind of power would it be? Would it even help me!?' Don was starting to become annoyed. He was running out of time, and he had no options. Finally, he decided, "Ah, fuck it. Let's just go. To hell with what comes after." Don put the combat knife into his sheath only to remove both S&W's. He flipped off the safety and made a mad dash into the opening.
The two guards at the door were spooked and called out to Don to halt; the snipers looked down at the parking lot to see Don. One looked through their scope only to see a flash of light before the scope broke, and the sniper fell on his back, dead. A second bullet wound could be seen going through his cheek. The other snipers began aiming at Don. Don turned his attention toward the guards aiming their assault rifles and started firing upon him.
'Damn... I wasn't fast enough...' Don gritted his teeth and prepared for the worst; however, at that moment, he could feel his accelerated heartbeat and heart. Not only that, the rush of his blood. He could see the flash of the muzzle from the assault rifles before the sound reached his ears and the bullets made their way to him. He could see each shot leaving behind a propelling effect.
'This is...' Don evaded each bullet, considering it was approaching him at a walking pace. As he strafed to the left, the guards adjusted their rifles, but they could never hit him. When he strafed to the right, they were even more confused by how he managed to move through a barrage of bullets, and when their magazines ran dry, they could not believe their eyes.
"Wha.." Before one of the guards could finish his sentence, Don had already fired off two bullets, one for one guard and the other for the other. Both bullets hit their mark with a shot square in between the eyes. Don shifted his eyes to the snipers who fired upon him with synchronized shots which he dodged.
'This feeling... this power... it's exhilarating!' Don smirked while aiming his pistols at the snipers.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Four shots, two per sniper.
Don holstered one gun with the guards on the outside dead after flicking on the safety and drawing his combat knife. He knew exactly how many bullets he had left in his S&W: 4 rounds. It would be enough for now.
'All that is left is to enter the market, deal with anyone inside and rescue Rebecca and --No--ah...' Don stumbled forward after a moment. It felt like he was about to pass out.
'I am lightheaded.... what the hell...'
Don groaned and shook his head to try and get over the sudden lightheaded feeling. When he accomplished this feat through sheer willpower, it seemed he could no longer hear his heartbeat or blood flow like before. He no longer felt that exhilarating power from earlier either.
'A time limit... or...?'
For now, Don pushed the thoughts aside. He figured he would ask Noah more after he saved them. Don proceeded to the market door.