"Anything to report?"
[Aside from the sentry turrets being low on ammo, not really much. No signs of any monsters or Ha-eun showing up despite the noise we were making.]
It was strange.
Normally the noise the group was making would've attracted some attention from other monsters aside from the flyers. It was why Dean had people on watch duty while the rest could take a moment to reset.
The carnage was short but draining for Dean and especially Mary since her esper ability was the lowest rank out of the group. With that thought in mind, he looked over at Mary across from him sitting on another bench. She was still sickly pale but there was more energy in her eyes.
Mary noticed Dean was staring at her and pondered out loud.
"Is there....something wrong Dean?"
She took a moment to collect her thoughts so that there wasn't any strange misunderstandings from Dean staring at her. Mary knew as an esper, she was naturally beautiful, but she never paid much attention to the opposite sex due to her dedication as an electrical engineer. So, Mary waited for Dean to reply while silently wondering if Dean was going to say something strange to her.
"5 minutes of rest is over."
His reply was nonchalant as he stood up and stretched a little. Then he walked over towards Mercury and the other two men whom were returning from watch duty. Before he was far enough, Dean turned his head slightly back and spoke again to Mary.
"Are you not getting up? I could ask Bob to carry you while we're moving?"
"Huh? Uhh no no. Give me a sec and I'll join up with you guys"
Dean nodded and continued forward. Though throughout the brief interaction, Kat was silently giggling at Dean nonchalant behavior.
Luckily or unluckily, Mary was right to not say anything strange earlier. She was a little disappointed though it wasn't because of Dean, but it was more on herself for having very few people in her friend group...at least people Mary could talk to and rely on.
The moments when her twin brother would check on her after pulling all-nighters on different projects were mundane, but were cherished memories now. Though Mary was a little happy that Dean was treating her as a normal person and not some tragic victim. With that thought in mind, she got to rejoin the rest of the group.
***
"Hey Dean, is Mary okay? If not then I could carry her while she's resting her legs."
Freddie came up to Dean and immediately barrage him with questions on Mary's condition. Mercury was about to stop Freddie from embarrassing himself even further, but Dean swiftly gave his answer.
"She'll be fine walking. So, let's get ready to move towards Pleasantville. Also make sure to maintain formation and keep vigilant on our surroundings."
Freddie hesitated a little but Mercury placed his hand on his shoulder and shook his head while wearing a slight smug on his face. And so, everyone started double checking their weapons while Bob was checking the turrets along with Kat.
Meanwhile, Freddie breathe a sigh of relief, happy that Mary was doing okay. He was worried about her well-being, but couldn't find the right time to approach her. And after hearing about her brother's fate, Freddie immediately put aside his one-sided crush and simply wanted to ensure Mary was doing okay.
"You good bro?"
"Yeah...yeah...I'm good."
Mercury sighed to Freddie's response as he knew about his crush on Mary since they were best friends, but he couldn't help his friend in that area...because he was also single. He just hope they make it out of here alive and maybe see his best friend get himself a girlfriend.
Though said 'potential' girlfriend showed up and insisted on helping the men with menial tasks before setting off.
.
.
.
The group marched slowly with Mercury in front ready to raise his energy shield up, Freddie was to his left slightly behind while keeping an eye out for surprises. Both Bob and Mary were behind with the sentry turrets, but the turrets were offline to let Mary recover mentally. Dean was in the center of the formation telekinetically carrying half of the javelins while the remaining ones were on the hovercarts with the turrets. Still, he was ready to give out orders and handle anything that came up close from any sides along with Kat keeping watch too. Everyone was quiet but vigilant until-
"RAAARRRGGHHHH"
Everyone heard a slight commotion once they were near the outer rim of Pleasantville, but the sound wasn't coming from the center of the place. Instead it came from far away, in the direction of where the tram station was. In the distance, they notice small groups of fiends, hordes of husks and what seem to be monsters. Though if they looked carefully then they'll notice the monsters were the same as the flyers, docile alien creatures from the outer forests turned feral in the same way as the flyers and fiends.
Freddie turned towards Dean and asked, "I think they're going for survivors. Should we help?"
Before Dean could rely to the question...
"HEHEHEHEHE, LOOK EVERYONE IT'S THE ONES THAT BOSS WAS WARNING US ABOUT. SOMEONE GET HER HERE BEFORE SHE MISSES OUT HAHAHAHA."
...some fiends popped up from the rooftops with crossbows and dart guns, possibly taken from the wildlife control center in Pleasantville.
Quickly, Mercury put up his shield before any projectiles could connect while Freddie quickly readied his bow and fire. His arrows curving downward to hit the fiends that tried to duck to cover.
"Don't activate the turrets yet. And maintain formation, we can't help the people at the tram station, but we can divert some attention on us."
Dean quickly gave out orders as they waited for more enemies to come.
Inwardly, everyone's hearts were racing since fiends were insane people who can analyze and communicate unlike the flyers from earlier. And of course, Ha-eun most likely will show up.
Dean telekinetically placed the floating javelins down to make them seem less threatening while also putting less strain on his mind.