"At the moment the shot rang out, all of the people in the Fireflies group were caught off guard by the group in front of them, which made it difficult for them to react in time. Looking at the barrels of the guns, these people realized that there was such a large gap in firepower between the two sides. An invisible pressure made them dare not move. Their subconscious minds told them that whoever dared to raise a weapon now would die before they could do anything.
"Joel, go and bring Ellie from the enemies as soon as possible."
"Ellie, come quickly!"
While Airon handed his weapons to Glenn and whispered some orders, he saw that the Fireflies were still holding onto Ellie and said in a warning tone, "Manny, right? If I were one of your subordinates, I would move. This is the best option we have, of course, I wouldn't mind treating them the way Frank was treated."
When everyone heard these words, they obviously hesitated. And taking advantage of this opportunity, Joel immediately went to Ellie and they hugged each other tightly.
"You have all your orders, we'll see you in a few hours!"
Seeing that all the hostages were back, everyone immediately felt much more relieved, but as a little girl ran alongside a plain-looking man, he took her by the hand and dragged her back.
The girl who was about to run next to Airon suddenly felt that finding her mother would be much more complicated than she had initially thought. This scene in front of her made her feel a little lost. Her mother was just a few meters away from her, but now someone was pointing a gun at her.
"Daughter!"
"Mama, don't come here, you can leave this place now as I hope everyone can escape."
Airon also took a few steps forward and grabbed the arm of the helpless mother who wanted to go to her daughter, but she was just an older woman, how could she escape Airon's grip with so little strength as he quickly dragged her back?
"Let go of me! Let me go!"
"Stop causing trouble!"
A loud shout scared the girl's mother and even briefly took everyone out of their natural expressions.
"T-dog, don't let her cause any more trouble, do you understand?"
T-dog nodded and held the mother who still wanted to go to her daughter. This situation right now was in favor of Airon, who had been thinking about many possibilities to win the battle and this time everything was handed to him on a silver platter.
Seeing that this type of action had an effect on the mysterious people in front of him, Manny smiled abnormally with fear in his eyes. "You shouldn't blame us, you're pointing a gun at us, so I think you understand that we need insurance to get out of this place."
Seeing their actions, everyone understood and it was no different from what someone from Airon's group would do.
"Don't get too close, or I can't guarantee the safety of this girl!"
As they said this, they aimed their guns at the girl's head, and if the situation became even more tense, no one would hesitate to take her life.
"How about this? Let me exchange places with her, that's much more attractive."
"What?" Manny asked with a confused look. What leader openly offers themselves to their enemies like this? No, something must be happening that he wasn't aware of.
But before Manny could think any further, Airon said, "You attacked our people first, we defend ourselves and got information out of Frank in the process. I can't say it was done in a good way, but now I'm intrigued to meet the leader of the Fireflies."
"You're crazy..."
Joel was also very surprised by Airon's conviction and how far he was willing to go to save a life. At first, he thought Airon was a reckless man, but now he seems completely wrong.
Not only is Airon willing to always be ahead, but at this point, everyone around him seems to trust the words of their leader. Joel had never seen a leader like this since the beginning of the end of the world, so he was very surprised.
"I was in Texas when I visited the base or what was left of it, so I'm interested in someone who leads the powerful Fireflies, who are willing to fight against the CRM, the system."
Airon's eyes were fascinated by what will happen next, but one thing was certain, he was closer to winning and of course, to the much dreamed-about cure thanks to that girl named Ellie.
Manny, on the other hand, was caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, he didn't know if it was really a good idea to bring someone like Airon to the Fireflies' base, and on the other hand, he wasn't sure if wasting this opportunity was good.
Airon, who saw Manny's doubts, approached disarmingly and said, "Believe me, just like you, I don't want to spill any more blood today, so I hope you'll be understanding."
"You're a complete idiot, don't you know what's waiting for you once you get to our base? What you did to Frank, nobody will forget, so that's your decision." Manny nodded, and Airon approached slowly with a big smile on his face.
At this point in his life, Airon didn't mind losing, but he minded losing to those who only seek to do harm in this world. And certainly not his life, he knew that as the leader of a powerful organization, feeling fear was something he had never felt and never will in the future.
But just as Airon was about to get into the van with Manny, a figure stepped forward and shouted, "Airon, I'm going too."
"Joel!" Ellie stepped forward and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? We're leaving this place, you barely know them."
Airon was surprised by Joel's words, he remembered this old man from somewhere, but he didn't know exactly where, so when he learned that he was volunteering to accompany him, he advised, "I can't guarantee your safety if you expose yourself like this, you know that?"
Joel just said, "I don't need anyone to protect me."
Airon nodded and said, "I believe that."
After Airon was handcuffed, the girl was released, and together with Joel, they headed towards the Fireflies' base. But not before looking at Glenn and silently nodding about what was about to happen.
Glenn looked at everyone and shouted, "Let's go, we have to be ready for when our people arrive in this city!"
"Yes!"