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Chapter 22: A Song Of Ice I
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"Huh?" Silver couldn't help but raise a brow on the way as he observe the intruders carefully, kind of an acquaintance although that acquaintance didn't seem to be having a good time, being treated like a slave.
The intruders were hiding inside a faraway building that was largely crumbled, but enough of it was still standing to act as a hiding place.
"What do you see??" The group consisted of five individuals, and the burly man who just spoke seemed to be the leader.
"Give me another minute!" The man who replied was crouched on the ground, his hand resting on it with his eyes closed, seemingly trying to see something.
The remaining three individuals were the truly strange ones as two of them were cautiously watching over the last individual, holding chains in their hands.
Those chains were connected to the last individual's ankles and wrists... Indeed, the last individual was the slave Silver spoke of, or rather, the acquaintance, chained with cuffs.
It was a lady that seemed to be in her twenties, yet strangely, her hair was white, having an icy color to it, and even her skin and eyes had the same characteristics although... Her eyes were dead.
She seemed rather absent-minded, not resisting or trying to resist in the least, almost like a doll adorned in tattered clothes that didn't do much to hide the whip marks on her skin.
"Someone's here?" The man on the ground suddenly murmured with confusion before his eyes quickly widened, "Someone is coming directly towards us!!"
"Whaa??? Who? How?" The group leader asked aloud.
"Don't know! M-maybe they coming from the Zombie colony??" The tracker of the group replied, obviously having some sort of ability that can detect stuff, "W-what should we do?"
"This... Lord Carvel only asked us to look for the source of gunfire," The leader murmured with trembling lips, his fear of whoever is Lord Carvel obvious for all to see, "We don't have to risk our lives."
"Should we use her now?" Another of the two individuals said, pointing to the slave who didn't at all react to their words, her eyes still dead.
"Y-yeah," The leader nodded.
"Why are we scared? It's just one person?" Another questioned with confusion, feeling like what they should fear isn't what's outside but what's with them right now, the slave.
"It's exactly because it's just one person that we should be afraid!" The tracker loudly responded, "Only dangerous awakeners would near the colony like that, and..." The tracker's words suddenly came to a halt.
"What? What happened?" The leader asked.
"He's here," The tracker said before adding, "He knows exactly where we're at, the exact floor, everything... He might be a tracker or a scout like me."
"Or there are more people with him, nearby?" The leader somewhat doubted that. Whatever it is they were dealing with, surely they wouldn't send someone weak to make contact with them.
Footsteps, soon they sounded in their clears, the clear sound of footsteps amidst the rubbles, footsteps that speak of no hesitation or fear as Silver finally appeared before their eyes.
"You! Who..." The leader's words came to a halt as he finally laid eyes on Silver, noticing that the latter was adorned in a hazmat suit, "A-are you with the military?"
The leader's voice reeked with apprehension as if the sound of the military being there was no good news for him.
Silver kept that in mind before turning his attention to the slave, and without replying to the others, he made his way directly towards her much to the group's bafflement.
They were so perplexed, in fact, that they allowed him to walk up to the girl, and gently lift her chin up to look directly into her dead eyes, "We meet again... It seems that Doomsday wasn't kind to you."
'Meet again?' Those words seemed to have awakened the girl as she looked at him... But he was a stranger in her eyes, especially with the Hazmat suit hiding most of his face... His voice though, it was familiar.
"Ice, huh?" Silver traced his finger on her face, feeling the freezing coldness from her, 'Did her ability experience some kind of mutation?'
Since his awakening, Silver found that his memory has reached a whole new level as forgetting something was difficult for him, so he remembers her clearly.
On the first day of Doomsday, when he visited New York amidst the fog, he found her, hiding in one of the stores with a few others.
It was then that he offered her to join him upon seeing her ability through his domain... She didn't respond then nor did she even open the door for him, all out of caution.
So Silver simply left after leaving behind one of his contact numbers by the door... Someone with the ability to control Ice wasn't a necessity, 'I stand corrected.' He mused as observed her mutation.
The girl, on the other hand, only looked at him for a few seconds before going back to her dead self, against zoning out.
"You! What are you doing?!" The leader finally got his bearing back as he said, although still apprehensive.
"Hm?" Silver turned his attention to the guy, glancing at him before saying, "I'll be taking her with me."
Without them realizing it, the chains holding her down were already gone, allowing Silver to easily carry her in his arms before walking away.
Speaking of which, she was way too skinny, weighing nothing. The torture she must've gone through to turn her into a dead-moving doll.
'So broken,' Silver mused before smiling, 'Speaking of which, I always liked fixing broken things... Always interesting.'
"Hol'up!!!!" the leader finally reacted, utterly confused on how someone can be so ridiculous as to walk directly into their midst and take something that's theirs with so much confidence.
"Put her down!!!" He growled as his body bulked up, growing fur, turning into something akin to a werewolf, "Do it!"
And that's when the remaining two individuals took action, showing why they were the ones watching over the girl.
One of them opened their mouth, releasing something akin to a soundwave. The other focused his eyes on Silver, only for time to stop.
'Hypnosis, huh?' Silver mused in his mind, his steps never stopping as that sliver second that time stopped in his senses was enough for the Silver Effect to take action, putting the two to eternal sleep.
The only ones remaining were the tracker and the leader, both frozen in their place in fear, a chill going down their spine at the sound of the falling bodies of their companions.
They absolutely have no idea what the fuck just happened, but they realized that the monster standing before them was way out of their league.
'There must be a lot of survivors still in the city,' Silver wasn't too surprised, 'Meaning a lot of strong awakeners... The hunt has begun, I guess?'
Silver's actions today have consequences, ones which he expects. Umbrella has no shortage of resources but it might soon, and he knows that the city must have an abundance of resources, enough for the umbrella he imagines, resources that were without a doubt acquired by those who survived within.
That and Silver is seeking more interesting awakeners. Only by observing a wider variety of them can he truly understand them because for once, the Ice girl's mutation was a surprise to him.