The Han River is really slow. It does not move fast at all. The Han River kind of creeps along.
Indifferent.
The water was really dark. It was moving against the broken helicopter. It was carrying oil and ash and pieces of metal away. This was happening like nothing important had been lost in the helicopter. The dark water just kept moving and taking things with it. The helicopter was still. The water was still moving.
Ethan Cross took a breath and the air he breathed in tasted terrible like blood and smoke. The smell of blood and smoke filled his lungs. Ethan Cross could feel it burning his throat. The air was thick, with the smell of blood and smoke.
The Black Hawk was on its side stuck in the mud and reeds. It was half in the water and half out. The front of the plane was smashed in. The cabin was all bent and twisted, like a metal trap. The seats were torn out. The straps were all tangled up like ropes that could catch you. The Black Hawk was really damaged.
Groans were heard inside the room. The sound of groans filled the space inside. It was the groans that people heard inside.
Marcus Hale coughed hard and blood came out on his lips. He tried to break free from the things that were holding him down. "Ethan my chest is hurting " Marcus Hale said.
Ethan said I know. He then told me to stay with him.
Lena Park was lying on the ground close to me she had a bruise, on her temple and it was getting darker. Lena Park was alive. Just barely alive.
Captain Park Joon-Seok was worse.
The officer was lying on the ground near the back of the plane one of his legs was hurt blood was coming out and going in a steady beat through his fingers as he tried to put a special bandage on himself to stop the bleeding but he could not do it. The officer was trying to put a tourniquet on his leg but it was not working. The officer, with his leg all. Bleeding was having a lot of trouble.
"Please do not worry about me " Park said in a voice. "The enemy is getting closer."
Ethan already knew this thing. Ethan was aware of it. The fact is Ethan already knew.
Voices carried from the riverbank.
Human voices.
Fanatical.
Judgment is something that comes when the sun starts to rise in the morning you know, with the dawn. The time of judgment comes with the dawn.
"Cleanse the unworthy!"
Boots were squelching in the mud. There were sets of boots doing this. These boots were closing in fast. The sound of boots squelching in the mud was getting louder because the boots were closing in fast.
Ethans eyes caught something out of the corner of his eye it was, like a flash of movement that made him turn his head to see what Ethan was looking at.
[Vitality: 74%]
[Adrenaline Surge: Active]
[Party Members: Critical (2)]
No time.
He cut himself free then he moved fast. He sliced through Marcuss harness then he did the thing to Lenas. Lena gasped as she woke up and panic set in.
"Listen," Ethan. He put his knife in her hand. She had to help Marcus. Ethan told her not to stand there and do nothing when she saw Marcus she had to help Marcus.
He turned to Captain Park.
The officer looked at him. Pushed a spare magazine into Ethans hand with fingers that were shaking. The officers fingers were really shaking when he gave Ethan the magazine.
Park said that you do not owe us he said this in a voice.
Ethan went ahead. Took the magazine anyway.
I know.
The man got ready fast. He put a carbine over his shoulder and a knife by his side. He also found a grenade, on a soldiers equipment. The man took the grenade. Now he is ready to go. He has his carbine, his knife and his grenade.
The man got out of the wreckage. Went into the reeds. He was really careful when he slipped out of the wreckage and, into the reeds. The wreckage was bad. The man was lucky to get out and into the reeds.
The riverbank was going up gently in front of me. It was hard to see because of all the mist and junk that was scattered around. There were a dozen people standing there. They used to be regular people but now they were different. They had these weird symbols cut into their skin. They were wearing armor over their normal clothes and they had all sorts of different weapons. The riverbank rose gently ahead half-hidden by mist and debris and these people, the civilians, now something else were standing there with runes carved into their skin scavenged armor strapped over their street clothes and weapons that were mismatched but real.
At their center stood a woman with glowing blue sigils crawling up her arms.
Her eyes were fixed on the wreckage. The wreckage really caught her attention. She could not look away, from the wreckage.
"See?" she called out her voice was full of excitement. "The river brings us the people who're not pure the river delivers these impure people to us."
Ethan moved to a place. The thing is Ethan really moved. I am talking about Ethan. He is the one who moved.
Low. Silent.
Twenty meters.
Fifteen.
One of them stopped. "Something is wrong "
Ethan got up. He fired his gun. Ethan was really angry. That is why Ethan fired.
Three-round burst.
The man dropped to the ground before the sound had even finished echoing.
Everything just fell apart. Chaos exploded. It was like the whole world turned down and chaos exploded all around us.
Gunfire cracked loudly. People, around him screamed at the top of their lungs. Someone shouted in his direction trying to get his attention.
Ethan did not stop.
He walked through the reeds taking slow steps but he did not stop moving. A man who could make frost came forward. Raised his hands -
Ethan suddenly shot his legs out from under him. This was a crazy move. Ethan did this for a reason but what that reason was, who knows maybe Ethan just wanted to see what would happen when he shot his legs out from, under him.
The man fell down screaming loud because his power was broken into tiny pieces that could not hurt anyone. His power was completely gone it just turned into vapor. The man was still screaming.
Something was pulling at the center of Ethans being. It was, like a tug that was grabbing at Ethans core. This tug was really getting to Ethans core.
[Partial Absorption]
The man just ignored the thing that was happening. He did not pay any attention to it all. The thing was still there. He ignored it.
The leader turned to face him. Blue energy was coming out fast like whips cracking through the air. This energy was burning everything it touched the air and the ground. The leader was using this energy to scorch the earth.
She yelled at him. You are taking something that does not belong to you from the flow she said. You are messing up the system the woman told him. The flow is very important. You are stealing from the flow. The system is also very important. You are defiling the system.
Ethan rolled behind an old car door that was all rusted. Then this huge amount of energy came through it. The metal started to glow red. Ethan felt a lot of pain across his arm. The car door did not stop the energy from hurting him. Ethan was hurting really bad from the energy that hit his arm when it tore through the car door.
The man came out from where he was hiding. Then he threw the grenade.
The blast hit the brute when it was running towards something. This blast was so strong that it tore the brutes muscles and sent it falling into the water. The brute was really big and strong. The blast was even stronger. It fell into the water with a lot of force. The blast really hurt the brute.
The cult fell apart.
Some people ran away.
Other people rushed the man anyway.
Someone attacked with a metal rod. The metal rod was a piece of rebar. The person lunged at them with the rebar.
Ethan stepped inside the strike. He cut the man open from his throat all the way down to his sternum. Ethan did this in a violent way to the man. The strike that Ethan stepped inside of was probably very bad, for the man. Ethan and the man were clearly. Ethan got the upper hand when he stepped inside the strike and hurt the man.
The blue light came pouring into the man. It was a lot of light. The blue light just kept coming into him.
This time the man did not resist.
The leader screamed loud and then he charged forward. The leader was very angry. The leader just ran at them.
Ethan met the woman head on. He looked straight at her. The woman was standing in front of Ethan.
Her barrier went up. It did not work very well at this distance so it failed.
The people collided in the mud. The mud was really messy. The people got all dirty when they collided in the mud.
Energy burned into his wrist because one whip was wrapped tight around it. The whip was wrapped tight around his wrist that he could feel the energy burning into his skin.
The man took the knife. He pushed it up under the womans chin.
Her body started shaking hard. Her body was moving over the place and she could not control it. Her body was doing this because something was very wrong.
The blue light suddenly broke loose. Came at Ethan really fast filling him up with a warmth that felt like it was deep, in his bones. The blue light was everywhere. It was so hot that Ethan could feel it all the way inside him.
The man stumbled,. He managed to stay on his feet. He staggered,. The man stayed standing.
The light went away. The woman was just another dead body. She was a woman who had died, like the other dead people. The woman was not special anymore she was a corpse, a dead woman.
It got really quiet. Silence fell. The silence was pretty loud.
The remaining cultists ran away, into the trees. The cultists were really scared. They fled into the trees.
Ethan was standing there. He was breathing really hard. There was blood dripping from Ethans knuckles.
The sound of gunfire stopped behind him.
Marcus and Lena pulled Captain Park out of the wreckage. They really had to drag Captain Park to get him out of the wreckage. Marcus and Lena were trying to help Captain Park because he was stuck in the wreckage.
Park said "you did not have to come in a really weak voice.
Ethan took a cloth. Wiped his blade clean. He made sure the blade was really clean. The blade was very important, to Ethan.
I will never leave the people who're important, to me. I will always stand by the people I care about that is what I do. The people who are mine I will never abandon them.
The people bound their wounds. Gave each other the weapons they needed. They stood together by the river. The sun finally came out. Burned through the mist.
Marcus was the one who spoke up first and broke the silence.
"So… what now?"
Ethan looked south toward the ruined spine of the city. He was staring at the city that was totally destroyed. The city looked really bad. Ethan saw the ruined buildings and streets of the city. The city was a mess.
The man said we are going to move. We will do this on our terms.
The man extended his hand. He was holding out his hand to someone. The bloodied hand was extended by the man.
Marcus took hold of it away he did not wait or think about it. Marcus just clasped it.
Lena followed her friend to see where she was going. She was very curious, about what Lena was doing. Lena followed because she wanted to know what was happening.
A simple thing.
A brutal promise.
No orders.
No chains.
Just survival—together.
The river kept going taking the people with it as the people who were still alive walked into the broken morning. The river just kept flowing carrying the dead away and the living people stepped into this morning the river still flowing.
There is something there beyond all the damage and destruction and the big players are starting to pay attention to the ruins. The forces that really matter are taking notice of what's happening beyond the ruins.
The hunt had entered a new phase.