Zac was bubbling with rage, he felt like cursing out the woman, but he knew that even with his new-found abilities, he was absolutely no match for her. The way she had easily dispatched the Lava Lion made that completely clear.
'F***. I was celebrating for nothing, I'm still weak, these m*******f******* are pushing around the person who came here to rescue me and I can't do s***!' Zac felt his eyes welling up with tears of frustration, but he ignored them and turned around, walking toward where Mary and Winston were hidden.
Halfway through the battle with the Lava Lion, the two of them had withdrawn even further into the hollow they were hiding in, and it seemed they still hadn't realized that it was dead.
"Hey, you two! Come on out, please, explain to this woman that-" Zac called out to the pair of them, both of whom were squished up in the hollow.
"Stop. I'll be asking them the questions, thanks." The woman cut Zac off, and stalked past him.
Zac was fuming, he wanted to slap the back of her head as she walked past, and yell at her, but all he could do was stand there and suppress his rage.
"Are you alright, Sir, Madam?" The woman asked the two survivors, as she helped Mary stand up, since it was difficult for her since she was clutching her child tightly to her chest.
Winston and Mary looked around in confusion, taking in the beheaded Lava Lion, the two individuals in black body armor, and Frederick on his knees.
"Now, what are your names?" The woman asked, her voice now soft, and sickeningly sweet.
"Mary." Mary whispered, ehr voice barely audible as she looked all around wide eyed.
"I'm Winston. Now why do you have that kind gentleman at the point of a sword!" Winston protested, and tried walking past the women, toward Fredrick, but the woman stopped him with an outstretched arm and a shake of her head.
"Sir, that man is a criminal, he has violated the laws that keep us all safe in these troubling times. Please, for your own well being, sir, remain right here and try to answer my questions. Understood?" The woman steered Winston back to stand next to Mary, and continued in her sickly sweet tone.
'What the f***? What is this bulls***! Without Fredrick, both of them would be dead, what always that keep us all safe?' Zac couldn't believe the hypocrisy coming from the woman's mouth.
Both Mary and Winston meekly nodded, and waited for the woman to continue speaking.
"Alright, first things first, this man here, is he an accomplice of that criminal over there?" The woman pointed at Zac and then over to Fredrick.
"N-, no." Mary stammered out, while Winston shook his head.
"He was with him when I came across them, but I'm sure he's another survivor." Winston said, not making eye contact with Zac, and looking down at his feet.
"Alright, now, both of you. I want to make this extremely clear, capturing all of this man's accomplices is extremely necessary for us to keep everyone safe. Alright?" The woman's tone became firmer, and rested a hand each on Mary and WInston's shoulders.
"But, b-, they helped us. We would have died without them." Mary mumbled, tears running down her face as she tried to hold back sobs.
"ma'am , I'm sure they were all convincing, these criminals, they always work they same way. They'll 'save' you, likely from a threat they caused, and then, once they have your trust, they'll sell you off." The woman's tone was serious, and she nodded knowingly as she spoke.
"Really?" Mary mumbled, her eyes wide as she looked from the woman to Fredrick.
"Ma'am, look here, you can trust me, this is my First Line Responder License from the ITC. We need all the information we can get to the bottom of this, if they were truly here to rescue you, they'll be free to go. Don't worry." The woman pulled a square of leather from the utility belt on her waist, and flipped it open, which revealed a piece of plastic with some writing and a photo on it, as well as the logo of the ITC.
"Oh, ok. I'm sorry, I didn't know." Mary's voice was shaky, and she stared at the license, her eyes flicking between it and the woman.
"Well. Actually, there were a few others. Just before, there was a large, muscular man, and a man with wings and feathers." Mary started to speak, her voice rising in volume as she gained confidence. Now that she had seen the logo of the ITC, nothing would convince her otherwise.
'Noooo! What the f***, Mary? This is how you repay Fredrick and the others? By selling them out, how gullible can you be! Of course, they'd say that, and then they're going to pretend to investigate and find Fredrick guilty, this s*** always goes the same way.' Zac was screaming internally, and he wanted to yell for Mary to shut up, but he knew that he'd likely find himself on the wrong end of the woman's sword if he did so.
"And there was another one, a woman, she was helping some other survivors, somewhere else. I think there was someone else with her, they communicated with walkie talkies." Mary continued, clutching her baby to her chest.
"Will you get us out of here?" Mary asked, as she looked around, wondering where the two of them had arrived from. The helicopter that had dropped them down had long since moved on, and there was no sign of any vehicle in the clearing.
"Don't you worry, ma'am. A carrier will come by soon enough and pick you up. Now, Mr Winston, can you confirm what Mary has told me so far?" The woman turned to Winston, who had been silent the whole time.
Zac tried to make eye contact with WInston, but the old man kept his eyes down.
'Come on, come on, look at me!' Zac knew he could gesture to Winston to keep his mouth shut, he just had to make eye contact with him.