Hannah quickly carried John outside, placing him far away from the base. She wiped her tears, staring at his unconscious body.
"I feel like I'm abandoning him…"
Emma placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're not, okay? This is what John would've wanted you to do."
Hannah nodded slowly.
Emma turned to the rest of the group. "For now, we continue living as usual and wait for John to recover."
"And what if he doesn't?" Benjamin asked.
Emma sighed. "Then he'll most likely be dead… and he'll put all of our lives at great risk."
The group slowly returned to base, but Hannah remained standing awkwardly, unsure what to do.
"Don't just stand there. Come with us," Alfie Sr. invited.
She looked at the others. They all nodded — except Benjamin.
"Hold it," Benjamin raised his hand. "Why can't you just go back where you came from?"
"I've got nowhere to go, Ben. They'll find me again… and they'll kill me."
Benjamin grinned. "You're more dangerous than John. You get what I mean?"
Hannah exhaled. "I understand if you don't want me here. If you want me to fuck off, I'll fuck off."
Aya nudged Benjamin. "Don't be such a dick," she whispered.
Benjamin scoffed. "Can't you see it, lads? I'm trying to protect you all."
"We get it. But aren't you gonna protect her too?"
The words hit Benjamin harder than expected. He looked at Hannah and saw a reflection of himself as a little boy — weak, scrawny, scared, and completely alone.
He didn't say anything. He simply nodded slowly.
"Thank you… seriously," Hannah said with a small smile.
"Yeah, yeah…"
---
Knox and Nixon were celebrating in Nixon's room.
Knox chugged a bottle of wine. "Holy shit, this is what I've been missing out on?!"
"You've basically missed out on everything sweet, dude!" Nixon laughed.
"We fucking did it! We killed John!" Knox exclaimed.
"Is that so?"
Sovereign's calm voice instantly silenced them as he walked into the room unannounced.
They immediately set their glasses down and straightened up.
"Why'd you stop?" Sovereign smiled faintly. "If you really killed John, then you should definitely celebrate."
"So… did you really kill him?"
Nixon nodded. "Yeah, we did."
"And how did you do it?"
"I'd rather not tell you."
Sovereign exhaled. "Because you used something you weren't supposed to? I really don't care what you used. All that matters is that John is dead."
"So tell me… what did you use?"
Knox clenched his jaw. "The Harrow Core."
Sovereign clapped slowly. "Of course. And what makes you so certain that 20,000 roentgens was enough to kill him?"
"Sir, it's—"
"I know how many roentgens it is," Sovereign cut Nixon off. "But you didn't see him die, did you? So until I'm sure he's dead, you two are still on my kill list. Understand?"
"You're so much stronger than him. Why don't you just kill him and make it easier for all of us?"
"The Natural Order, Nixon. I follow the natural order of things. I could crush your head or rip your brother apart right now… but I won't. Because that's not how this works."
They stayed silent.
---
The moon set and the sun rose.
Benjamin was already awake, sipping his coffee like usual.
Hannah sat down next to him. "You're up early."
"I always am, mate."
"What happened yesterday?" she asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean… first you were dead set on rejecting me. Then you suddenly froze… and now I'm here."
Benjamin shrugged. "Whether you're here or not, we're still in deep shit. We've been targets for the rich cunts ever since you and John showed up."
"Ouch." Hannah hissed. "You really don't hold back, do you?"
She turned to face him. "So you basically protected me?"
Benjamin scoffed. "Nah, mate. I figured we'd have a lower chance of survival if you weren't here."
Hannah didn't understand.
Benjamin looked at her. "We need you to protect us."
That one hurt more. Hannah nodded slowly. "Yeah… that one hurt even more."
Benjamin shrugged. "Better to be honest, eh?"
---
"Hey, shitbirds." Emma surprised them.
Hannah was startled, Benjamin just continued to sip on his coffee.
"Did you check up on John?" Hannah asked.
"I'd be dead if I did."
Emma looked into her eyes, she could tell that Hannah was holding back tears.
"Let it out, Hannah. It's okay to worry about John, we all do."
She broke down in tears, Emma hugged her.
Benjamin didn't know what to do, so he just walked off and found a new spot.
Benjamin looked at Hannah crying and felt a strange heartache in his chest.
He decided to check up on John himself.
But to his shock, he found John standing up. Looking completely fine.
"Oi!" He kept a safe distance from him. "You doing alright, mate?"
John slowly turned around. "Benjamin? W-Where the hell am I? What happened?" He panted.
"I'll explain later. Come with me, lad." He sighed, "There's someone who you really need to see."
---
Later that morning, the Maggots woke up and were chilling as usual — until they were shocked to see John walk through the door with Benjamin behind him.
"John…?" Hannah slowly walked toward him.
"No!" Emma shouted. "Not now! He's still heavily radiated. It's not safe yet. Benjamin, get away from him!"
They all backed off.
John looked around, confused. "What do you mean?"
"He looks completely fine," Aya said.
"Yeah, that's how radiation poisoning works," Emma replied. "It's not over yet. Not even close. John, for our safety… please leave."
John nodded weakly. "So that's what they did to me… I understand. I'll leave."
"Wait!" Hannah turned to Emma. "Are you sure? He looks fine!"
"If you want to live, listen to me."
John gave one last look before turning and leaving.
Only then did Emma breathe a sigh of relief.
"Ben, did you make any physical contact with him?" Emma asked.
Benjamin shook his head. "No."
"Good. Then we should all be fine."
---
It was nighttime.
John was alone in the tunnels, sweating profusely. Vomit stained his clothes. He panted rapidly, clutching his head.
"Fuuuck…"
The pain grew worse by the second.
He started screaming.
His chest began glowing bright red. John screamed even louder as the light intensified, illuminating the entire tunnel.
Then a massive beam exploded from his chest, destroying everything around him in a violent blast.
The explosion echoed through the sewers.
Everyone heard it — including the Maggots.
John collapsed unconscious.