Rowan didn't have any medical knowledge, but he didn't want to just stand there and watch. He grabbed the hand holding the scalpel, and the force woke Carla. Her defenses shot through the roof when someone suddenly tried to take the blade away from her.
"If you can't cut her, I'll do it." Rowan barked even if he was probably the most inexperienced when it came to doing that with live humans—more so with a child.
"Are you crazy? Get out of my way!" Carla screamed at Rowan's face, and the man only stepped back. She looked at her daughter again, and she proceeded just like what she was trained to do.
Rowan only walked back to where Arrow waited for him. She just chuckled. "You're ballsy. If we're lucky, she will only stab you for doing that. 'If you can't cut her, I'll do it?' Why would you go through that for a stranger?"
The man didn't glance at Arrow anymore. However, he still whispered in response, "I was a stranger to Duke back then, and he still went through the trouble of saving me. I need to pay it back to another stranger… or else I won't feel like it was right for him to save me…"
Arrow glanced at the other person before she hummed. "Duke will surely laugh it off, but then again, if he can have an assistant, it will be best. After all, he did not retire from this for no reason. If someone can 'cut a person he couldn't,' then I will be very happy for him."
"…but I'm not a doctor…" Rowan turned to face her, an elusive frown on his brows. "I just know how to move a brush and make things look pretty."
"Yeah, but you can butcher pigs. I think everyone has to start from somewhere." Arrow only smirked and took pride in being the cocky one. She didn't even care about how much Rowan frowned at her.
Still, Carla walked to them. She had taken off her surgical gloves by then. "Uhm… I think I owe you an apology for screaming in your face. Thank you for whatever you did…"
Rowan smiled at the doctor before looking in the direction of the girl who seemed to be doing better than earlier. He then faced her again. "At another time, can I come back here? I heard how Duke needs his own people to help him. Can you teach me a few things?"
Carla hummed before looking around. She then pulled on a corner of her lips. "Actually, if you don't mind helping out today, can I borrow you from Duke? This is not a legal hospital so we screw licenses in this part. I can make do with someone who wants to learn."
"That's not necessary." Duke's voice came from a side, and the three of them caught sight of him crossing his arms on his chest. "I'll just do it. These people are not guinea pigs you can experiment on. They're actual human beings from a different group. If you want to cause trouble for Pareidolia, I'll teach you safer ways."
"Oh, but he can watch, right?" Carla only laughed and gestured for them to follow her. "I seem to find a free pass ticket to make Duke work. Come, come…"
"You're paying for Rowan's time, though." Duke chuckled as he willingly shoehorned himself into a situation he didn't like. "His paintings go for a million a piece. Can you afford it?"
Carla glanced at Rowan behind them, but she hid her shudder. "Nah, I'm pretty sure Sir Wellington will let me slide if it's just one day. What do you think, Arrow?"
The short lady, who was the person who encouraged Rowan to help out, only flashed a grin. "Daddy can just bill Duke for all of it!"
…
Present time…
The path they took was long and winding. It also demanded for them to crouch and get over and under a few big pipes. Because of this, Rowan shouldn't be caught sleeping and was left to look around. He could only imagine that this was a basement of some sort. Then again, he could also feel everyone reacting to the tremors overhead. They were still in danger.
Arrow then gave them a signal to stop. They all ducked down along with her to hide, seeing how people walked in from where they were headed. The men had tactical gear on, along with some powerful guns. One of them readied his gun and activated his flashlight to shine on the path toward them.
"I heard things scuttling…" He then moved a few steps closer, the captives trembling as they kept their noises to themselves. The armed man stopped and looked down at the path. His flashlight seemed to have shown him something. "Why is there a footprint over here?"
Swoosh! The other mercenary jumped at the armed man, and Arrow shot the rest with her metal bolts. Her crossbow was designed to be contained in that one guard on her left forearm. She then got up and ushered the captives to continue.
With a smile, she cheered softly. "We're almost there! We just needed to—!"
Bang! She felt how something shot her from the side. Her body fell to the side in response, making the other mercenary ready for another attack. However, a flash bang was thrown in their spot.
The explosion blinded and deafened everyone, making them susceptible to the assault of the men who came from the corner. Everyone was grabbed and slammed to the ground, the women screaming in pain. A commander even entered the small room after the short commotion.
"You think you can escape me? Who the hell do you think you are?" He went straight to Rowan, who Scott covered with his body. He kicked Scott to the side and grabbed Rowan by the neck. "How laughable. You're too cocky for your own good."
"Says a dead man…" Rowan grabbed the man's wrist to keep his weight from breaking his neck. "Let's see which one of us would live another day…"
Before the man could say something again, there was another gunshot. A hole appeared in the man's left eye, the bullet passing through his skull, brain, and eye. He instantly died, and Rowan fell along with the body. When the rest of the men turned to look for the culprit, arrows flew to their faces and through their brains as well. Like flies, they fell down one by one.
The captives looked over and saw Arrow getting to her feet, holding onto her side. She had a very annoyed look on her face. She said, "Ouw."
"Nah, you're fat enough to catch every bullet." A somewhat childish voice of a teenager scoffed at the side. He flipped his assault rifle to his shoulder, the gun aiming at the ceiling. "Shucks, it's good I went to find you guys. How lame of you to get caught, stupid rider."
"It's nice to see you, too, Trig." Rowan rolled his eyes.