26 I Should Have Just Let Truck Hit You
The skies had completely darkened, and a dense populace of people could be spotted scampering through the streets.
The shelter had military personnel who usually patrolled to keep the laws of the shelter in place. Laws had been created to protect the shelter dwellers, not from the mutated beasts or extraterrestrial beings outside... but from themselves.
Unfortunately, it was more difficult for military personnel on duty to serve at night than during the day. While it was still relatively safer in the shelter compared to outside, there were still many cases of victims of robbery or assault... and it often happened at night.
"Fuu! Fuu! Huff! Huu! Huu!" A silhouette dashed through a path with a giant figure following after him.
The silhouette headed into a partly crumbled building towards the left after noticing the giant figure gaining on him.
"Oh, come here, pip squeak . I just want to have a little chat," The giant figure's cackle echoed through the walls as he also turned to the left without pausing.
The interior of the structure had cracks plastered across the walls with a fleet of broken stairs towards the far end.
The large figure followed after the silhouette, who seemed to already be climbing the stairways.
Arriving at the bottom, he noticed that the stairways were missing a bunch of stairs. The silhouette up ahead repeatedly jumped to avoid falling off.
The large figure made a low 'hmph' before running up the dysfunctional stairs despite his size.
The stairway was structured in a circular format, so the large figure had to twirl while charging forward.
He was slowly starting to feel tired as he kept chasing the silhouette whose frame grew smaller and smaller in his line of sight.
'These damn stairs... don't let my prey get away from me,' He cursed internally while arriving at a part of the stairway where he needed to jump once more.
Fwwhiii~
The large figure leapt a little past three feet, landing on the edge of where the next fleet of stairs began.
He let out a sigh of relief and was just about to keep running upward when a bunch of web-like cracks spread from underneath his feet.
Krryhhh~ Blam!
That part of the stairway gave in, causing the large figure to fall.
However, before he could completely fall through, his hands managed to grab a part of the stairway up ahead.
Tum! Tum! Tum!
Pieces of debris from the newly crumbled part of the stairway hit the other parts of the stairs below, causing the large figure to look down in horror as a bit of dust got stirred.
Adrenaline fueled his body as he began to pull himself upwards in horror.
Despite his obese stature, he had already managed to pull himself up halfway when he noticed a person standing right before the ledge.
Badump! Badump!
His heart rate instantly jumped as he raised his face to stare at the person standing there like a ghost with folded arms.
The moment their eyes met, a cold air permeated the body of the large figure, causing him to nearly lose his grip.
"Help..." He voiced softly.
"No," the person replied while raising their right foot and swinging it forward.
Bam!
All the obese figure saw was darkness as the boot-covered foot crashed into his face, and he lost his grip. Even before he hit the surface beneath, he had already passed out from the strike.
Bam!
His massive body smashed through a part of the stairs beneath but didn't stop there.
Bam!
It smashed through one more before hitting the floor below and creating a cloud of dust.
The person who had smashed his boot into the face of the large figure stood in place, waiting for the dust to settle. A figure came up behind him and stood by the side with a concerned gaze.
"Dennis, do you think he is okay?" John questioned.
"I'm going down there to make sure he is not," Dennis answered before leaping forward.
Fwwhii~
He crossed over seven feet in a second and charged downstairs at a speed that left John's mouth agape.
'How is he able to move that way?' John wondered as he had never really seen Dennis in action before.
The Modified Combatants were not regular humans even without their UVS equipped. Dennis had just taken longer to reach that level.
John realised something at that moment, "Dennis, how do I get down?" He yelled.
"I'll come back for you," Dennis's voice rang out from beneath.
"Oh, alright," John moved back a bit since he didn't trust the integrity of the stairways.
On the ground floor, Dennis stood before an unconscious and obese body.
His face was smeared with blood, which was oozing out of his nose. His lips were also swollen and purplish. The outline of Dennis's boot was like a tattoo on his face at the moment.
The obese figure suddenly jolted awake to find Dennis staring down at him with an even colder gaze.
"I should have just let the truck hit you," He stated.
"No, please, I apologise... It was a mistake, I won't do it again," The obese man began pleading.
"Yes, you won't do it again," Dennis responded.
The obese man interpreted this as Dennis letting him off.
"Thank you," A smile appeared on the obese man's bloodied face.
"Yes, yes, I'll make sure you are unable to do it again... Elvis Preston," Dennis's face darkened as his lips curved upwards.
"You know who I am? I can sign..." Elvis Preston was about to utter a remark in excitement when he noticed Dennis raise his foot again.
His small eyes widened as Dennis's foot descended upon his left knee.
Crunnchh~
A loud bone-cracking sound rang out as Elvis Preston's left leg twisted in a visibly distorted manner.
"ARGH!" He wailed like a pig being slaughtered as indescribable pain spread across his leg.
"MY LEG! KIARHH! MY LEG! WAAA!" His blood-soaked face was soon mixed with snot and tears as he reached out to grab his thigh while trembling.
"Now, you can't chase anyone... I'll let you have the right, but should a situation like this repeat itself, I promise to make you cripple," Dennis threatened frostily, unbothered by the disheartening tears of the obese man.
He turned around and headed back up.
"Dennis, wasn't that too much?" John had a fearful expression while asking.
"No. The world is no longer like it used to be. We have to change with it, or we will end up as victims like many others," Dennis lectured with a serious tone, causing John to nod silently.
"What happened down there was necessary to keep you protected," He added.
"I don't like it," John voiced with a crestfallen tone.
"You don't have to. Always leave the dirty work to me," Dennis squatted slightly at that moment.
"Now, get on my back."
John did as instructed and got on his back. Dennis lunged forward, crossing the first large six-foot gap on the stairway.
....
....
....
Two days went by in a flash. During the last two days, Dennis had spent time with John, engaging in numerous activities.
They had visited various spots within the shelter together, ranging from betting shops to the fish racing pond to the green noodles stand.
Since the shelter was like a town, it wasn't abnormal to find a few fun areas within. The problem was that not all of the fun areas were exactly meant for youngsters under the age of eighteen.
"Dennis, why is she almost naked?"
"Come on, John. Let's go," Dennis pulled John away from a building that had countless ladies sprawled about. A number of them were barely clad too.
No one needed to tell Dennis before he understood what the place was supposed to be. He felt John was too innocent for all of that and forbade him from ever going to that part of the shelter.
Dennis shook his head in pity as they scurried away. He had noticed girls as young as his current body and felt a great sense of pity for them.
It was difficult to find a source of livelihood that could bring in enough income for one to survive, so Dennis understood why the girls were engaged in that line of work, but he was still very disturbed.
'As a Modified Combatant, I get nearly four thousand a month, a free apartment, and a bunch of foodstuffs...' Dennis knew well that the figure would increase when he became a fully-fledged Modified Combatant who went on missions. It all made him think,
'Couldn't the shelter's government find a way to help the populace more?'
He was aware of the areas within the shelter that served free food, but it was barely enough for survival. The big shots were still robust and hearty.
It looked like the one thing that hadn't changed despite the current state of the world was the privileges enjoyed by people in positions of power. Dennis shook his head once more.
"I will be heading to the lab to run some tests tomorrow," Dennis informed John the moment they arrived back home.
