Kai was at a loss for words. He could tell the lingering pain from Zeff's fight was not leaving anytime soon. It was always the case when his other side slipped up–sometimes intentional and others, accidental. He had a rough idea for the switch between them when it happens but the case becomes complicated when Zeff spawns out randomly.
Now that he lost the core–the source of their strength, Kai had no idea how Zeff would react when he came out. He could only hope it's not another murder spree with monsters.
Currently, Kai was walking with a group of people inside the large tunnel. The structure appeared as a semicircular subway one sees for trains–but bigger. Through onward, he was held back by the wanderers and soldiers–like other civilians who lost their home. The whole area was illuminated by white overhead lights.
'As any standard bunker, this one can hold all of us without being cramped,' he thought.
For a tunnel it was at least 25 feet large on all sides, covered in mixed concrete and steel iron. The lights made walking to the other side easier, though they did not know what awaited them.
Crimson ordered the wanderers to stick close to each other and keep an eye on civilians while he focused on Bucky, the leading lieutenant who knew this place.
Kai knew Crimson and his personality. There was no way he was playing truce a card because it's more effective than threatening to help them. From the looks of things, the army–even in their broken state–will be hard to deal with.
If a fight ensues between them, a lot of people will die again and even crimson might suffer losses, Kai thought, considering what he had seen in Area six.
'Wait, area six!?'
He looked around. The tunnel led another turn to the right. The tunnel did not split off from the moment they began to walk. There was no alternative way, it has been a single direction and turnarounds. 'This path… It's leaning more and more downwards. Don't tell me—'
He suspected correctly. These people had no idea where this tunnel ends. They were all being led by the lieutenant. Only he knew where he was taking them. After going through Area six and fighting the commander, he was perfectly able to grasp their strength.
'These guys are no pushovers." Kai had to learn that the hard way. If Daksha wouldn't help him, he might've been dead in Leo's hand, forever buried in the armoury.
'Why didn't I think of this before, Dammit.'
There was no way the military would just obey a bunch of criminals just because they have some hostages. They're not that soft. They made difficult choices when even the world leaders failed. However, because of that humanity is still alive in this messed up world.
If the bunker in area four, a civilian space, leads to an emergency exit. Then it's obvious the research facility in area six must also have one. It wouldn't be an exaggeration if these two connect somewhere along the line.
'This guy must be planning to regroup with them,' he thought. If that was the case, there is no telling what might happen next.
It might appear the army has been defeated now, Crimson having all his members still alive and Bucky all but almost losing his troops. Not to mention he did so without commander Leo.
However, that's because they weren't fighting at their full strength. Their true power lies in area six, where their elite troops were being trained and weapons that could kill a monster were being held.
They might be in disarray because of the stuff he did, but in no way it made them weakened. Only Zeff can handle that because he's an anomaly.
Will the army fight? Putting all these people in danger. Maybe, because they were all collateral as long as the research and weapons in the armory were safeguarded. Another base might not accept refugees without returns.
'This is bad,' he thought.
Kai looked for Bucky in the front, he was accompanied by the red haired prig beside him. He slowly walked past others, inching closer to the front.
But someone noticed and stopped him.
"Hey, what are you doing? Get back."
Koul warned Kai when he saw him acting weirder than others. Maybe it was his gut feeling, but he found the man suspicious. He was right. A civilian cutting line, not scared like others, not to mention he had this serious look when he was looking at the Crimson when he saw.
'Definitely suspicious,' he thought.
"You looking for a fight, twit?" Koul glared, holding his knife under the robe. He was still angered that some unknown girl beat him in the infirmary, not to mention feeling humiliated afterwards when he could not say it to Crimson without lying about what really happened.
Another wanderer who came with them, Ember saw Koul picking a fight and came to stop
"Wht are doing, man?" he said. "Everyone is too on edge right now. We don't know what happens next. Don't cause trouble for the captain."
"No," he replied. "I'm just checking. Something about this is fishy."
"Alright. Get back for now. We don't have the luxury to poke around other people. You can kill them later."
Kai could not believe they just said that right in front of him. 'These brats, does being awakened made them more arrogant.
If they were met under any other circumstances than he was currently in, he would've made sure to smash their teeth in before he lost. But alas, that day is still far away.
He smiled and walked backwards before things escalated. Koul seemed to calm down after that exchange–returning to his position.
For now, Kai focused on the lieutenant while laying low. There were no anomalies found so far, putting him at ease.
But he had a bad feeling, nonetheless. For some reason, he can't shake the feeling that he was not safe yet–or these people. Something was coming, and he was not prepared for it—a realisation that made him more anxious.
***
William held his daughter in his arms–walking through the unrest crowd, he calmed his wife who, unlike them, was hiding her freight. He knows all this is too much for her, so much so that even he, an ex-military, was finding it hard to keep it together.
How long will this continue? Where will they go after this? Can another military base accept them all as refugees?
'To put more distress on our shoulders, we don't know what happened with Jake,' he thought.
He can't bear the thought of losing another one of his children. No matter the situation, it was his responsibility as a father and a husband. To him, family comes before all else.
'Did I make the right choice?' a thought came over as he glanced toward the black haired girl he saved.
The girl named Valer would be the same age as his second son if he was alive. He did not know what she was. An awakened? A human? In this world where normal is constantly challenged he can never trust what he sees.
He protected her out of kindness and it was the right thing to do. But after seeing everything that followed, he had to question if he made it better–or worse. Did she have ulterior motives?
"I know what you're thinking," the girl said without looking back. It was surprising because she barely did that when it was necessary. William assumed she was the quiet type who speaks more through actions.
"... do you?"
There was pain in his voice, almost hiding his feelings.
"You feel guilty for leaving those who were behind," she said, glancing back.
William widened his eyes, surprised. Was he always that predictable?
"I've seen that look—almost too much for comfort," she continued. "You think you made the right choice but you're never sure."
"W-What should i do?"
She scoffed when he asked that. "Look around." she said, "it's obvious."
The crowd was moving forward. They didn't know what lay ahead of them or where they came from. They had no choice but to move forward, unknown of their future.
William understood what she meant. He gave a silent nod and moved forward. Even without knowing who Valer is, he can't deny they were alive because of her. No matter what happens he will never forget that.
***
It was not until later that another disaster struck the group. What Kai feared the most in that moment came to pass.
"We're here." Bucky said, coming to a stop in the middle of the tunnel. The overhead lights did not glow from this point and everyone came to a standstill.
"What are you talking about?" Crimson sounded irritated. He was no expert in military constructs but he knew the tunnel did not end here.
There was only darkness from here and they still needed to walk a long way from here before they reached an exit.
'What is he scheming,' he thought, narrowing his eyes into a glare.
Bucky smiled. "I got where you wanted us," he said, calmly. "Isn't that right?"
Crimson knew he was planning something but he was confident in his abilities to crush whatever came his way and retrain the man. After all, he suffered no losses in his team so far. It was a fact that awakened outclassed the army in every way. What was there to fear from a normal man?
Or so he thought. Until that moment, when Bucky smiled, he firmly believed that.
However, a cold shiver ran down his spine when Bucky turned around and looked in the face.
Behind him was darkness.
"I admit, you are a formidable foe, criminal."
On his signal every able soldier picked up his gun and pointed to the nearest wanderer.
"But I'm ending things here."
A small red light flashes inside the darkness behind him. In silence, a bullet cut through the air, passing from behind Bucky and reaching the head of the target.
A small hole appeared in the forehead, blood spilling to the floor.
Before anyone heard a sound. A body fell to the ground in a loud thud, dusting the surroundings.
Bang!
=====