223 Fort Yano (9)

<Author's note: The things (racism, sexism, political views, etc.) depicted or mentioned in this story do not reflect the real world and are purely coincidences. If they do, please keep in mind that they are simply for world-building and are only work of fiction. Thank you for your understanding.>

"Nathan?" a female voice said behind Nathan and Vincent.

Vincent immediately turned around.

Nathan, on the other hand, didn't.

The female voice was a voice that he was very much familiar with.

He took a deep breath.

Inhale.

Exhale.

'Relax...'

He finally turned around.

The soldier was already sitting behind the desk.

Meanwhile, the woman was slowly making her way to Nathan and Vincent.

As Nathan watched her walk towards them, a million memories flashed before his eyes.

He suddenly felt butterflies in his stomach and his knees started to go weak.

'This…!'

He steadied himself and planted his feet on the ground to stop himself from collapsing.

'Why am I feeling this…?'

His legs wanted to run away.

His hands wanted to crush something.

Nathan was confident that he had no romantic interests left for the woman right in front of them.

He doesn't even have any deep-seated hatred for both her and Vincent anymore.

In fact, truth be told, if there was any hate in him about what happened 3 years ago, it was actually towards himself.

As to why, that's a story for another chapter.

Let's just say that he finally understood and accepted why what happened happened.

No matter what he did, considering all the factors, even if the world turned upside down or if hell freezes over, that moment still was bound to happen sooner or later.

It was simply inevitable, one of the absolutes in this world.

However, he will admit that everything that that exeperience had a huge impact on his perception of people and the world.

Nathan looked down.

'Calm yourself down…'

'Calm…'

'Calm…!'

'CALM…!'

'This is normal…'

'I should've expected this…'

'It's been 3 years after all since I've seen her after all…'

'It can't be helped that I would feel something like this...'

'This will eventually pass…'

The woman stopped about 5 feet in front of them.

However, her eyes were solely fixed on Nathan.

"Hi, it's been a while. How are you? I almost didn't recognize you from your height."

Nathan raised his head and looked at her.

'She has shorter hair now…'

'A Karen haircut…'

'She's still slim but has developed some rolls on the side…'

'She also became whiter…'

'I mean, her skin is smoother…'

'She also now has this motherly charm on her…'

His eyes glanced at her hands and saw a diamond ring.

'Well, he did mention that she got married a year after I left…'

'So the baby-killer has become a mother, huh…'

'What a very funny joke...'

His eyes continued sweeping all over her.

'No obvious System items…'

His eyes wandered around his surroundings.

'I'm more or less confident that I haven't been led to a trap…'

'But still, given the history of these two, it's best never to let my guard down…'

"I'll go outside for a minute to get some fresh air," Vincent said and stepped outside of the building.

Nathan looked at him and said, "There's no need."

Vincent stopped.

'It's best that I have him within my sight for now,' Nathan thought and then turned to the woman.

"Hello Karen," he said with a very warm and kind smile plastered on his face. "Yeah, it's been a while. Sorry, but I'm kind of in a hurry so I'd really appreciate it if you can tell me right away regarding the whereabouts of my parents. Thank you."

The woman was staring at Nathan's smiling face.

If there was anyone in the world who knew Nathan the most, it was her.

And right now, despite being years since their break up and they last spoke and seen each other, she still could tell immediately what he was thinking and feeling -- Nathan had that annoyed aura where he was standing in line in front of a cashier and the person in front of him was an old woman taking out coins from her purse one by one to pay to the cashier and it was taking forever.

She glanced at his hair.

Ever since they graduated high school, Nathan began growing his hair.

And even before then, his hairstyle was never a crew cut, just the typical short hair for men that's common in brown-skinned Asian countries.

She wasn't even sure if she has even seen him sporting a crew cut.

She also couldn't help but notice the deathly pale white spots on his face and body, making her think that he developed some skin disease or something.

"I understand. About your parents, I had people look into their whereabouts. Unfortunately, based on our records, they aren't here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I even checked if your father was part of the security forces. As far as I can remember, his rank is patrol officer, right?"

Despite the fact Nazul, Nathan's father, was in the police force for two decades, his rank was only that of a patrol officer. As to why, although his father never told him, based on his observation, it was because his father refused to play the "game."

And that "game" was, of course, corruption.

'So I swallowed my pride for nothing…?' Nathan thought and a whirlpool of negative feelings began to stir inside of him.

"However, I have something else. And depending on how you take it, it could be good or bad news," she said.

"What is it?"

"Your cousin, Aena, is here."

"Aena?"

"Yes."

Nathan knitted his brows and said, "What's the bad news?"

"The bad news is that she's involved with some shady characters."

"Shady characters?" he said and raised an eyebrow.

"She's with this group led by a man named Tyler. And this guy named Tyler, according to reports, ever since he came here, he's been related to 5 murders, 3 of which has been confirmed."

"And so?" he said and looked in confusion.

Karen was surprised by Nathan's reply and reaction. Although it was obvious on his face that he was confused, there wasn't even a hint of worry on it.

"Nathan, you may not know this, but here in the camp, although it's forbidden to commit murder, outside, the rules are in the gray," Vincent butted in. "If you killed a high-ranking official or VIP, you will immediately be punished -- and let's just say they won't banish you from here."

Karen nodded and said, "What Vincent said is true. But if it's not an important person, then the authorities running this camp could care less."

"Like I told you earlier, the concept of human rights is slowly disappearing," said Vincent.

"And in the case of Tyler, not only is he related to 5 murders, but he also has a powerful backer in this camp. His godfather is one of the mayors stationed here," said Karen.

Nathan's lips slowly curled up into a smile. "So let me get this straight: My parents aren't here and the only relative I have here is Aena?"

"According to the records we have, yes. However, although her parents and her brother aren't here, it's unknown if she has any relatives with her here apart from you. Nevertheless, you can count on our data because everyone who enters here is immediately processed. But please be careful of this man named Tyler and his group. Because of the zombie apocalypse and the System, many people have started becoming desensitized from hurting others just to get the upper hand to the point where extreme violence and murder is starting to become normal to them," said Karen.

Hearing her last sentence, the fact that it came from her, Nathan wanted to roll his eyes so hard but he didn't.

He just stared at Karen and studied her face.

'Is she lying…?'

'Can I trust her…?'

"Nathan, if you're worried, I can accompany you to see Aena," said Vincent. "Even if this Tyler and his group are backed by a mayor, I doubt they would dare to touch a person from the military, let alone an officer. Fort Yano is originally a military establishment after all."

Karen nodded and said, "What Vincent is true. In fact, well, this isn't a secret since it's already quite obvious. Anyone staying here could immediately tell that the government, military and religious groups are in a power struggle. And at the moment, the military has the upper hand. As for the weakest, although the religious groups appear to be the weakest because they're divided by their difference of beliefs, if they decided to set aside their differences and band together, it's the government that will become the weakest."

Nathan's eyes bounced between Karen and Vincent.

'These two…'

'Well, what does it matter if these two liars are lying or not…?'

'Assuming that only Aena is here, then there's really no point in playing nice…'

'However, there's still the issue of the Chosen Ones here…'

'The fact that there are at least three Chosen Ones here according to what I've gathered and I don't know any of their powers are already enough reasons to be cautious…'

"Do any of you know anything about the Prophets here, like their powers?"

Karen and Vincent's eyes immediately widened, including the soldier who was sitting behind the desk.

"Don't say those things, especially here in Block A!" Karen said in a low whisper before looking around.

The soldier behind the desk looked away, pretending that he didn't hear anything.

The air around them became awkward.

Nathan scratched his nose.

'Well… That was… Well, whatever. Looks like I still have to play nice...'

"I want to see Aena now. Where is she?"

"She's at Block B in Building #2."

"I see. Thanks," he said before turning around and walking away.

"I'll see you around. Say hi to uncle Kristoff, aunt Krishna, sis Kara, Ben and baby Kristine for me," Vincent said to Karen with a smile before leaving as well.

"Okay," Karen and smiled.

When Nathan was already outside the entrance, he stopped and looked at Karen who was standing in the lobby.

She was looking at him as well.

Neither of them said anything, only casting each other a silent look.

He scoffed inside his head.

'Success is the best revenge my ass…'

Vincent arrived beside him and said, "What's wrong?"

He glanced at Vincent.

And as for hurting these two, his pride won't allow it.

In his mind, if he hurts them, wouldn't that mean that he hasn't gotten over them, especially Karen, after all these years?

But of course, just because he won't hurt them, that doesn't he was going to help them either.

In addition to that, if they deliberately hurt him or get in his way, he would have no qualms about hurting or even killing them.

'This…'

He clenched his fists and then unclenched them.

"I don't need you anymore. You can leave now."

"What are you talking about? The fact that that guy named Tyler killed 5 people already speaks volumes of how dangerous he is. I'm coming with you."

Nathan scoffed and resumed walking.

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Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading!

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