11 The Forbidden Zone (3)

"ENEMY ATTACK!"

Daniel was too busy bickering with the system within his mind to even try and notice what was happening outside when a thunderous 'bang' sounded right in front of him, followed by the shout of one of the soldiers echoing through the minds of everyone as Minerva transmitted that soldier's voice to everyone within the convoy.

It was at this moment that Daniel finally realized what was happening, making him almost freeze again in fright when he saw what was in front of him.

As he moved his head towards the middle to take a view of his surroundings through the front windshield, he found a truck currently flipping forwards in mid-air, spinning at a high speed as it crashed against another moving truck currently cruising right behind him. The truck was flipped at a 180-degree angle, the entire vehicle in flames as it landed headfirst against the ceiling of the other moving truck right in front of him.

Within that instant, two military-grade trucks at the vanguard were destroyed, the force of the explosion making the bulletproof window of all the other trucks within the convoy sway. Luckily, they were sturdy enough not to break, allowing them to serve as a shield from the debris that came flying their way because of the prior explosion.

Commander Eric was the first to react when he saw what was happening right in front of him. Since they were the third truck in line, it was likely for the unknown enemy to target them next after seeing the successful destruction of the two trucks in front.

To ensure the safety of the two civilians located on both his sides, he instantly forced Dr. James and Daniel's heads down, forcing their heads to impact against their thighs while shouting, "Protect your heads! Our enemy might take this chance to shoot at us!"

Eric's loud commanding voice instantly shook the two people out of their stupor as they immediately placed their palms on their heads as instructed, allowing the front seats in front of them to be used as shields for their bodies.

"Lieutenant Travis, move over! I'll drive the truck manually from now on!" He issued the second order right afterwards.

Travis instantly made way and shifted over towards the passenger seat on the side as Commander Eric climbed over to take the driver's seat. In fact, the second the explosion happened, Minerva had instantly reacted and activated the manual motor functions of all the vehicles within the convoy. By the time Eric took his seat at the very front, the steering wheel that would usually be hidden under a compartment underneath the windshield had automatically glided forwards. Meanwhile, the brake and pedal rose from the ground as the commander placed his hands on the wheel.

Commander Eric stepped on the pedal the second his butt touched down upon the driver's seat, instantly maneuvering the car around the crash site in front of him as he sped away, not giving their unknown enemy even a single chance to strike.

"Minerva, what happened earlier? How did the enemy strike against our convoy?!" Eric frantically communicated with Minerva inside his mind while concentrating on his drive. Since the black smoke coming out from the crash is impacting the commander's vision, Minerva immediately placed a live satellite image feed of their situation on the side of the windshield in the corner of Eric's eye to give the commander a better look at the situation.

"Are you stating that this was an accident?!" Eric replied with a surprised tone.

<Negative, Truck #1 is equipped with the latest equipment and a routine inspection had taken place the day before, making such an anomaly unlikely to happen.>

"How unlikely?" Eric narrowed his eyes and asked within his mind.

"So, you're basically saying someone made the tank explode! How the heck did a person do that! Did someone tamper with the truck?" Eric asked.

<Negative. Through satellite imaging and security footage, the last time where the fuel tank had contact with a person was 12 days ago.>

"WTF is happening then?!"

Commander Eric thought for a while as he continued to drive the car in a zig-zagging motion at high speeds through the roadway. "Nothing can be gained from this before a thorough investigation. The thing I should be focused on right now is how to get Daniel and Dr. James to safety." He thought to himself.

It was also at this time that the Minerva system finally noticed something after the smoke from the car crash started to clear.

<Warning! Unauthorized personnel detected at Section A-21 of the quarantine zone, 421 and 213 meters apart from the crash site in length and height, respectively. Target is currently running towards the edge of the quarantine zone. According to behavioral patterns, target is likely to be running away from the authorities. Assigning prime suspect status to unknown entity.>

"Can you access the Minerva system within the nanochip of that person?" Eric asked.

<Negative. No nanochip can be detected on the person, making him an unregistered alien within the Federation. Creating alien profile with temporary designation 'John Doe #33322'.>

"Give me an image of that person right now!" Eric shouted. He drove to the side of the road and stopped the car, parking it beside the wall of a skyscraper. At the same time, Eric mentally transmitted orders to get one of the remaining trucks of the convoy to pick Dr. James and Daniel up while he and Lieutenant Travis continue to chase after the unknown person who is the prime suspect of the previous incident.

In less than a minute, a truck had arrived and parked behind Eric's. The commander got off the truck immediately before opening the side door, helping the doctor and Daniel out of the truck.

"Doctor James. Daniel." Eric gestured at the people currently coming out of the truck behind them as he continued, "These people are going to escort you to the temporary laboratory since that's the safest place within the quarantine zone. For your own safety, please obey their instructions from now on."

After saying his piece, Eric turned around and was about to get back on to the truck when Daniel suddenly grabbed his hand from behind. "What about you, Uncle Eric? Where are you going?" He asked in a rather concerned tone.

Seeing a teenager looking out for him, Eric could not help but soften the look in his eyes. He leaned over and slightly ruffled Daniel's hair and stated in a soft tone, "Uncle is going to chase after the bad guys so they wouldn't hurt anyone else. Remember to follow the other soldiers and stay safe until I get back okay?"

Daniel looked as though he wanted to protest to his uncle's decision. However, when he saw the determination within the commander's eyes, he could simply lower his head and say, "Okay. You take care of yourself too."

Eric smiled and gave Daniel's head a final pat before leaving, taking the truck along with him. It was only then that Daniel raised his head again, as his eyes gave a cold glint.

Dr. James remained oblivious of this and simply chuckled as he commented in a nonchalant manner, "Wow! That was the most exciting car trip I've ever had!"

He patted on Daniel's shoulder and continued, "Are you worried for your dear uncle? Don't worry, that veteran war hero doesn't have the word 'death' in his dictionary. You should be worried about your own skin first. Although this is an emergency, I don't know how the government would treat you since you're going to see a lot of confidential stuff later when the both of us enter the laboratory."

As Daniel and the doctor took a seat at the back of their new escort vehicle, Daniel gave a look of curiosity and asked, "Am I going to see the fragments of the meteorite that you were talking about earlier?"

"Well, yeah, obviously!" The doctor rolled his eyes, viewing Daniel as an idiot as he replied, "That's basically all that me and my colleagues have been researching for the past 16 hours or so. The second I woke up, I took the fastest bullet train here just so I could arrive here as quickly as possible."

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