Moments earlier...
Ashton found himself racing towards the direction of the explosion. He was doing it out of some noble intention of saving Virgil and his squad or something. He simply wanted to know what was going on there. Also, the three of them could have accidentally stumbled across the fabled breeding ground and if that was the case, then Ashton was not gonna waste his time anymore.
"Well, if nothing else, at least I'll be able to get enough exp to level up. But first... gotta deactivate the genes. I'm pretty sure Seven is also headed in that direction." Ashton mumbled to himself as he jumped over a fallen tree, "And I don't wanna expose my secrets just yet."