Chapter 77 - The end of a scheme

Before I could answer, the other man dragged his partner and me towards another room, not giving either one of us a chance to speak.

Just as we walked into a room, I heard a familiar voice calling my name.

"Leave him, brothers. He's with us. Leon, good to see you are still alive after that stunt of yours."

Looking at Lee and Zoë who were smiling when they saw me, I could only show them a guilty look. The other two were probably part of another squad that was sent before us inside the city for some reason unknown to me.

"So this is the lad that pulled the gits away? You did a bloody job, lad. Heck, even birdy here almost cried when we didn't find any trace of you. Name's Will, by the way."

"Fuck off mate, I'm not a bird. I was worried about our newest rookie."

"Shut up you two, the hefbis are outside, or at least what's left of them. Sergey filled the whole street with bodies, but that would only bring even more troubles for us."

"Then, sir, shouldn't we leave, now that Leon found us?"

"Well, we can't really, at least not if we don't want to piss off the ones that are onto the food chain in the city."

Does Lee refer to the Orangutans? Or was there another creature even stronger than those primates?

"Sir, do you refer to the orangutans?"

"Well if want, you can call them like that. These oversized primates are the most dangerous thing we encounter since Sam built the order. They aren't hostile to us if we don't treat their young ones or if we don't walk right into their territory. Anyways, let's get going, we have to regroup with the others, before we leave this hellhole."

Sadly, for all of us, the noise had involuntarily invited a few guests over, and as much as I would like to say that these guests were nice ones…the truth is that I can't see the raptors as good company no matter how you try to look at it. Because of them, we won't be able to leave the building, at least not using the front door.

"Bloody hell, these beasts are fast. Lennon, it seems that we will have to blast our way through each building."

"Ain't that loud though?"

"Can't we just use the backdoor?"

Both of them looked at Monroe with a look that said are you dumb. Before both of them exclaimed in synchrony.

"Where's the fun in that, lass?"

"Will, Lennon, we take the backdoor, or do you two want to face a whole pack of raptors alone?"

Both men grunted in response before we all made our way toward the bottom floor where the door was. The only problem that we could encounter may be the hefbis that run away, and since they tend to wait in ambush, Lee would rather triple-check than risk the lives of anyone. Just as Lennon was about to open the door, Lee stopped him.

"Not yet. Let me check the window before we go outside."

He slowly moved the curtain before he pulled a small mirror to look outside the window, not risking getting his headshot by anything. Thankfully, the back alley looked clear, and while his paranoia was making him wonder if it was really a good idea to risk it by going through the backdoor, the alternative wasn't looking any better.

When Lennon got the ok from Lee, he opened the door, and…nothing happened. Seeing that everything was in order and that no hefbis or their human friends were anywhere close, the two rangers quickly walked outside to cover the alley, while I, Monroe, and Lee walked behind them.

Yet for some reason, my senses were screaming that something wasn't right, and from experience, that wasn't a good thing no matter what. The last time I decided to ignore my senses, was when I completely ignored them when I jumped over the river.

We continue to walk a few meters forward before something strange yet familiar happened.

'Going somewhere handsome? That little do I mean to you?'

The same familiar voice of the girl that caught me in the library was not echoing in my head. I quickly looked around to see if she was anywhere close and sadly, she was. At least whatever she uses made me see Zoe and the rangers as her. My legs shook and refused to step forward while the voice in my head was sweetly telling me to wait for her, to forget about everything and accept her. I tried to shake her off, but no matter what I did, she was still there, standing near me, even though I knew that it wasn't exactly her. I could fight, but the risk was too great and I would not be able to discern my allies from her in such a condition anyhow. This was the second time I'd been caught by her and it hurts being so powerless in front of such an enemy that can take over your senses when you don't expect it.

The darkness surrounding me became total and nothing was visible anymore, not even her voice could be heard anymore. A strange sensation arose in me as if my body had disappeared and the only thing that was left was the darkness within me.

Just as I almost accepted my fate, a small light flickered in the darkness, prompting me to regain "my body".

Since this may just be my only way of freeing myself from her grasp, I decide to move forward for a while, but the light didn't get nearer no matter how far I was "walking". The more I walked the heavier the sense of dread was forming in my heart as if this was the path to the afterlife, but in moments of madness I "dashed" forward going through the light, forcing myself into a long-forgotten memory.

<Child Leon POV>

A man dressed as a doctor, alongside my mother was looking at me with a worried expression on their face.

"What are his chances, Mike?"

"He's alive, isn't he?"

"But will he be normal, like the rest of the children?"

"I…he will still be a child, but after he becomes a teenager…his body would change, until he …"

Before the doctor could continue, the guards, who dragged the man out, forcibly opened the door to the room, and my mother fell to the ground by sheer luck, making the whole scene look like the doctor knocked my mother up.

Everything then faded away, bringing me back to reality, only to see something worse than forgotten memories: The girl alongside her people and the hefbis waiting for Zoe and the rangers to succumb to whatever they used on us. My only advantage was that they didn't know I managed to break free from the drugs they used on us, and even with this advantage, I still wasn't sure of saving all of them.

The only chance I have is to use my knife for the only reason I was caught twice off guard and before they could react, I grabbed the knife and threw it. No one could react in time to stop or drag the girl away. One second they were waiting for us to fall into the deeps of insanity and in the next second their leader fell to the ground with a knife in her head.

As soon as they realized that the girl died, the hefbis scattered away in fear, while the six humans that were standing beside the girl didn't know how to react to this sudden turn of events. Before they could do something, I grabbed Zoe's rifle and fired, killing five of them while, one of the older women managed to snap out of her shock, running away right when I opened fire.

I didn't even bother going after her because Sergey and the sniper would take care of her. As if they heard my thoughts, a loud gunshot echoed, signaling the end of that woman.

<Visit my patr3on for more chapters for this novel(at least two chapter ahead - right now there are 20 more chapters than here) >

<Patr3on Link : https://patr3on.com/meatbunkun>