24 The Road Incident

In his nightmare, the shelter energy field was destroyed, and it got overrun by mutated beasts as well as first-grade Leufons.

The entire shelter was filled with mayhem and destruction. Dennis recalled being on his knees with John's corpse in his grasp. His body was drenched in blood, an overall disheartening sight.

Despite not being the original Dennis, all he felt at the time was regret and sorrow. Dennis could tell that he would feel ten times worse if it happened in reality.

A towering beast was about to rip him to shreds when he woke up.

He stopped running and looked at the dark sky. It was barely noticeable, but he could see the see-through crystalline covering above the shelter.

'It is secure, right?' He stood there for a few seconds before shaking his head.

'Maybe I'm just worrying too much,' Dennis proceeded to resume jogging.

....

"You maggots get to keep the dagger," General Gustav said to the ten MCs who were lining up to leave.

"Thank you, sir!" They chanted in response.

"It has been a crazy two weeks, but I am filled with hope. Hope for the future of humanity, which rests upon the collective shoulders of you Modified Combatants. Do not disappoint me," General Gustav stated once more.

"Sir! Yes, sir!" The MCs saluted while chanting in response.

General Gustav nodded and dismissed them.

Daybreak had arrived, so the two weeks of special training had come to an end, and it was finally time for the MCs to return to the Modified Combatants training facility.

As they filed out, they noticed that three trucks were already on standby, waiting for them.

"The second truck," one of the military personnel around informed them that they would be riding in the middle truck.

It turned out that the trucks behind and ahead of the middle one were to escort them.

Dennis was a bit surprised since it didn't happen on their way there. He understood that the Modified Combatants were seen as very important and indispensable to the shelter which was why the government and military did well to keep them protected but they had only made use of one truck on their way there.

It made him wonder if it was because General Gustav and Lieutenant Colonel Derrick were capable enough to keep them protected by themselves. Since none of the two were heading back with them, it was the most plausible explanation he could come up with.

Zhhrrooouu~

They soon zoomed out of the Bacuda extraterrestrial training centre.

During the ride back, Dennis was silent once more. Unlike the last time, Lara was seated in the same lane, but she couldn't strike up a conversation because Malik was in between them.

Dennis didn't mind since he didn't wish to speak to anyone at the moment. His mind was drifting off into thoughts and plans for the future as he peered into the distance.

'Next, I'd have to challenge the eighth strongest, Eobard... shouldn't be too difficult since he's not that much better than Malik. But I should hold on first, I need to take a leave after we get back to the training facility and check up on John. Afterwards, the scientists will probably expect me to check in as well,' Dennis mapped out the list of things he had to do in his mind.

All of a sudden, his peripheral vision caught wind of an individual who had dashed into the road from the corner of a dirty-looking street.

"STOP!" He yelled while slapping the roof of the truck.

Unfortunately, the driver hadn't noticed the person in time. As Dennis's alarmed voice drifted into his hearing, he also caught sight of the person and immediately tried swerving.

Dennis subconsciously lunged forward, placing his hand on the roofing covering the driver's area of the truck and gliding upwards.

Sweeeii~

He instantly arrived above the truck and leapt towards the right.

The truck had swerved west to avoid hitting the person, but escaping contact was unavoidable because the left side was closing in on the civilians who had their eyes widened in horror.

Fwhii~

The civilian suddenly noticed a figure flying towards him from the top of the truck.

Bam!

Dennis bumped into the civilian, sending both of them flying out of the way.

Screeeeeiii~

The sound of the truck tyres gliding against the rough streets rang out loudly as it reached the other end of the road and slid forward for a bit before coming to an abrupt halt.

At that point, Dennis and the civilian had been rolling across the ground for a few seconds.

The MCs who had reacted to the incident a little later than Dennis, jumped off the truck in worry.

"Dennis!" Lara yelled while charging forward alongside Malik.

Both Dennis and the civilian had stopped rolling across the ground at the moment, but they were sprawled across the place without any signs of movement.

"Hey, man!" Malik shouted as they arrived before his unresponsive body.

A few cuts and bruises had appeared on his face after scrapping his body across the rough road filled with prickly little stones.

Malik reached out and was about to touch him when...

"I'm fine," Dennis suddenly opened his eyes and sat up.

"You had us worried for a bit there," Malik's hand paused in mid-air.

Lara, whose face also displayed hints of worry, suddenly went back to normal as she turned away the moment Dennis stared at her.

"Hmph! I wasn't worried. It would be an embarrassment if you passed out from that," She uttered while folding her hands.

'Uh? You jumped off the truck before I did,' Malik's right eye twitched repeatedly in confusion.

"How is the civilian?" Dennis inquired while getting to his feet.

"Worry about yourself," Lara blurted out.

"I'm fine," Dennis stated once more before turning towards the side.

The civilian was seated a few feet away with a couple of military personnel surrounding him.

It looked like they were harshly berating him.

"Watch where you're going next time, fool!" One of them yelled.

"That's enough," Dennis voiced while approaching.

"No, we were tasked to watch over you lots and this fool jeopardised your safety with his carelessness," The military personnel in charge seemed like he was holding back the urge to hit the obese man before them.

"It is alright. As you can see, I am fine," Dennis spread both his arms with a tone of certainty.

He noticed the strange stares from the military personnel and lowered his arms in puzzlement.

"You're bleeding," one of them pointed at the left side of Dennis's face, right beside his eye.

"Oh..." Dennis proceeded to wipe his face with his sleeve, and a droplet of blood fell to the ground.

Pat!

It rested atop a tiny stone, right before the obese bald man.

"It's just a flesh wound," Dennis stated.

The officers still gave the obese man a mean stare before one of them spoke, "Your life is a hundred times more valuable than his, so please think twice before making such a decision next time."

"Understood," Dennis replied.

The officers started heading back to the trucks while some of the MCs huddled up around Dennis.

Dennis stared at the obese man seated on the ground with a few bruises as well. His clothes were tattered, and he looked very unkempt. His current outlook reminded Dennis of when he and John were homeless.

"Be more careful in the future," He tapped his shoulder twice with a sympathetic look.

"Thank you very much, saviour," The obese man voiced timidly.

"If I still had money, I would have given you some," He added with a pitiful expression.

"There is no need for that," Dennis responded before turning around to head back to the truck as well.

"What a pity," Cory shook his head.

"Hmm?" Although Dennis didn't like Cory, he had noticed the unusual look on everyone else faces as well.

It left him wondering if there was something everyone knew that he didn't.

"Don't you recognise him?" Hulukr questioned with a tone of disbelief.

"Who? The fat dude?" Dennis's tone hinted at his cluelessness, leaving everyone to stare at him weirdly once more.

"That is Elvis Preston," Cory began explaining as soon as the truck started moving once more.

"He used to be a millionaire before the world turned upside down..."

Dennis listened with a look of understanding.

Apparently, Elvis Preston used to own houses and estates in one of the biggest cities in the world. He was also famous for being a model and singer. However, when the world went to shit, he lost everything.

Dennis wasn't very surprised after hearing that. The apocalypse was a topic that had been brought up multiple times even on his earth, and this was precisely one of the things people believed would happen. The rich becoming homeless and displaced.

It was quite ironic...

To think that the closest humanity could get to equality was the world turning to shit...

....

Far behind them, at the location of the incident, the obese man knelt in place with a mischievous grin plastered across his face.

He held onto a tiny stone that had a small droplet of blood on it with an expression of satisfaction.