Seeing Flora Bloom speak with such confidence, the other two women found it anything but laughable. Instead, the radiant light in her eyes compelled them to believe her.
It was the kind of confidence that remained unshaken, regardless of the circumstances. To be honest, it was something neither of them could muster at that moment.
That night, the three women received their dinner from Julie Lane. Each was given a piece of bread, a bar of chocolate, and a bottle of water.
Flora Bloom glanced at the unsealed bottle of water and had no intention of drinking it. Leveraging her control over water as a High-level Water Ability User, she easily detected that it was drugged. The expiration dates on the chocolate and bread packaging were still fresh, however, so she slowly began to eat.
Just as Leigh Atwood and Luna Thorne unscrewed their bottle caps and were about to drink, Flora Bloom called out to them in a calm, quiet voice.
"Don't drink."
Leigh Atwood, at least, listened to Flora Bloom and stopped. But Luna Thorne was choking a bit on her bread, so she paid Flora no mind and continued to tip the bottle toward her mouth.
With a swift motion, Flora Bloom slapped the bottle out of her hand and onto the floor.
Luna Thorne shot Flora Bloom a displeased look, demanding irritably, "What was that for? I was just trying to get a drink of water."
Flora Bloom ignored her resentful tone and said flatly, "The water's drugged. Drink it if you don't believe me."
After they finished their food, the three women, with no intention of showering, got into bed early to sleep.
The night was deep and still, so quiet that Flora Bloom began to think she had been mistaken.
But just then, she heard something fall upstairs, followed by a cacophony of bangs and clatters.
A corner of her mouth lifted into a smirk. 'Looks like they're making their move.'
The sounds from upstairs started as a commotion, then escalated into a clamor. After some indistinct scuffling, it devolved into the kind of noises one would hear in a pornographic movie.
Even though the soundproofing between floors was excellent, Flora Bloom could hear everything with perfect clarity.
It was the first time she'd ever regretted having such good hearing. 'It's absolutely vile.'
Still, it was time to warn Leigh Atwood and Luna Thorne.
A good while passed, and the "performance" upstairs seemed to be going on for one round after another. The noise was so loud that anyone with ears could hear it, making it clear to Leigh Atwood and Luna Thorne what was about to happen. They were now incredibly grateful to have Flora Bloom by their side; otherwise, they would have no idea what to do. Still, the two of them remained rigid with tension, their eyes glued to the door.
"Be ready to act on my signal. Follow my lead." Just as Flora Bloom finished whispering her warning, the electronic lock on their door beeped as it was opened.
They were in. From the sound of it, there were two of them.
Then came the sound of the door closing and locking.
Under the covers, Flora Bloom tightened her grip on her axe, preparing to deliver a fatal blow to the closest person the instant the blanket was thrown back.
The blanket was ripped away. Flora Bloom shot up, axe raised to strike. But the sight of the two people before her made her stop dead in her tracks.
"What are you two doing here?"
The intruders were none other than Ethan Monroe and Neal Wallace.
Recalling the scene of Flora Bloom nearly flying into a violent rage, her face contorted as she was about to hack him to death, Ethan Monroe felt a wave of residual fear. His legs were still trembling.
"Ahem," Ethan cleared his throat. "Didn't you tell us to play it by ear? We joined their group, and they told us to... 'take care of you' tonight. It was supposed to be our initiation."
Flora Bloom shot them both an exasperated look.
"An initiation? Only they would think of something like that."
"Flora Bloom, this gang was probably an undercover triad cell inside the club before the apocalypse. After it started, they killed the owner and turned this place into their base."
Flora Bloom was taken aback by this news. 'If I'm not mistaken, the owner was Oscar Owen's father. If they're the ones who killed his father, he should despise them. So why would he join their group?'
'Or has something happened to Oscar Owen? What is he enduring in silence? To be able to conceal his desire for revenge for his father's murder so completely...' It made Flora Bloom admire him, just a little.
'I just wonder... has his superpower awakened yet?'
"So what's the plan? They have too many people. It'll be too difficult for us to escape," Ethan Monroe said, his face troubled.
"They have more than a dozen men guarding every floor. The top floor is probably their boss's residence, so security should be even tighter. On the other hand, the first floor only has three or four people on watch in shifts, likely to guard against zombie attacks and give a timely warning to everyone upstairs."
This was the information Neal Wallace had managed to coax out of a few grunts by pretending to use the restroom right after joining their ranks.
Flora Bloom was powerful, but she couldn't deny what Ethan Monroe said. They were outnumbered and outmatched; now wasn't the time to act.
"Mr. Wallace, did you happen to find out anything about the stables?" The stables and the clubhouse were adjacent. The club catered to its equestrian members, while the stables housed professional racehorses and fine horses boarded by the members.
Flora Bloom asked abruptly. She hadn't forgotten her reason for coming here. Her original plan in compromising to enter this den of thieves was to take advantage of the situation and "liberate" a few things. As for Belle Bloom and her friends falling into the gang's clutches, she couldn't care less.
Neal Wallace was curious why Flora Bloom was asking about the stables, but he answered anyway, "The stables? I don't know much. I'm not that familiar with this place, after all."
'That makes sense,' Flora Bloom thought. It was already beyond her expectations that Neal Wallace had managed to gather so much information in such a short amount of time.
She was very familiar with these stables; she used to help Shelton Underwood feed his horse here all the time. 'To the right of the second-floor elevator, there's a security door. A small door there leads directly to the stables.' With this thought, a plan began to form in Flora Bloom's mind. She sat cross-legged on the bed and beckoned the others to gather around.
"Here's what I'm thinking," she began. "We're on the second floor. You must have seen the security door next to the elevator; it leads to the stables. Next to the stables, there's a parking lot. The owner kept a large van parked there as a spare. It can fit seven or eight people, no problem."
The moment Flora Bloom finished speaking, Ethan Monroe couldn't help but ask, "So you want us to escape through the stables?"
Flora Bloom nodded, then glanced at Leigh Atwood and Luna Thorne to gauge their reactions.
Luna Thorne remained silent, merely nodding in agreement. Leigh Atwood, however, hesitated before speaking up. "Flora Bloom, are we just going to leave like this? Shouldn't we rescue the other students and leave with them?"
Flora Bloom couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. "Teacher Atwood," she said in a low voice, "if you want to save them, you're welcome to stay behind."
Flora Bloom's tone was harsh. She had no patience for Leigh Atwood's bleeding-heart tendencies at a time like this. Luna Thorne, on the other hand, tugged on Leigh Atwood's sleeve and shook her head, signaling for her to drop it.
And so, the group reached a so-called consensus. But plans rarely survive contact with reality. Just then, a knock came at their door, followed by the voices of Blondie and Julie Lane from the hallway.
"Hey, Old Monroe, you guys done in there? I just finished up. Let me have a turn!"
Flora Bloom, Ethan Monroe, and Neal Wallace remained calm. They rose cautiously and moved silently toward the door. One man hid behind the door, the other on the opposite side of the frame, while Flora Bloom prepared to open it.
She glanced back, signaling for Luna Thorne and Leigh Atwood to get back under the covers and pretend to be asleep. Once everyone was in position, she opened the door.
Blondie sauntered in, pulling Julie Lane along with him. He had barely taken a few steps before Neal Wallace, hiding behind the door, slammed it shut and threw the lock.
Before Blondie could react, Ethan Monroe swung the axe, using the back of the axe head to knock him unconscious.
Seeing this, Julie Lane let out a terrified shriek, but Flora Bloom's hand shot out and clamped over her mouth before the sound could escape.
Flora had already observed this woman closely. Though she appeared tidy on the surface, the faint odor clinging to her and the half-hidden marks on her thighs told a story of what she had been through.
Flora Bloom leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "Scream again, and I won't hesitate to kill you."
Recognizing the voice, Julie Lane nodded stiffly. Flora Bloom gradually released her grip. But as Julie Lane's eyes fell on the gleaming axe held near her neck, tears began to stream down her face uncontrollably.
"Tell us what's going on here."
Julie Lane glanced at the people surrounding her and began to speak, her voice trembling.
"The boss here... his name is Seth. He's a notorious triad leader. He... he and his men took this place over. They killed all the men who fought back, and all of us women... we were... we were..."
As she spoke, the memory of those humiliating scenes seemed to overwhelm her, and she finally broke down into sobs.