The Hidden Enemy

Airon, a man with long hair and cold eyes, sat on one of the benches in the church within the secure city of Birmingham. The dim light of the candles illuminated his face as he gazed into emptiness. Around him, the sacred silence of that holy place echoed in his thoughts.

As the shadows moved outside, Airon reflected on the future and the outcome of his choices. He didn't believe in God or the religious teachings imparted in this place. For him, life was an uncertain path governed by human actions, not by unknown interventions of existence.

While the faithful knelt and prayed devoutly, Airon felt disconnected from the scene. He found no solace in the words of the prayers or in the promises of redemption. His cold eyes reflected his own determination, a denial to be swayed by the beliefs of others.

His thoughts wandered into the darkest corners of his mind, questioning the meaning of it all. Could he truly make a change in this world? Was there a purpose beyond what the eyes could see?

In that moment, a gentle breeze caressed his face, carrying the scent of the candles and the subtle murmurs of the prayers. Airon closed his eyes for a brief moment, immersing himself in the stillness of his own introspection.

Within him, a spark of uncertainty and curiosity began to ignite. Although he didn't believe in God, the search for meaning remained latent within him. Perhaps, on his path to the future, he would find answers beyond conventional religious teachings.

"Sir, the mission was a success." Elias, who had until recently been leading Georgia, entered the church and personally informed Airon, his friend and supreme commander of the S.C.T.

"Let's go!"

Airon stood up from the bench and exited the church, with the echo of his own thoughts resonating in his mind. He passed through the doors into the outside world, determined to explore new perspectives and discover his own path to truth.

As he walked through the streets, the wind tousled his long hair, and his cold eyes remained fixed on the horizon. He didn't believe in God, but he knew that the quest for answers and the understanding of his purpose in this vast universe were challenges that would accompany him on his journey into the unknown.

...

Five minutes later, Airon's figure slowly emerged from behind the captain with a black uniform named Cesar. After clearly seeing his appearance, Cesar couldn't help but sigh.

"I really didn't expect your organization to be this big. I underestimated your words."

Ignoring his exclamation, Airon waved his hand, and several people stepped forward to support the two of them, with some armed guards following behind.

Upon entering the deepest room, Cesar saw that all his soldiers were bound in cells like sandbags.

Cesar secretly sighed. He truly didn't expect that the experienced soldiers who could handle all kinds of civilians would be in this state when they went on a mission. And now he was the only one who could get them all out of this situation.

Airon took a few steps forward, grabbed a chair, and flung it. There was some dust in this room, which was being used for the first time, and for his purpose, no one had focused on cleaning this place.

The suffocating dust made Cesar snap back to his senses, and he couldn't help but cough a couple of times before turning his attention to the furniture in the room.

So far, the room was still completely dark, but soon someone lit a candle, and then there was a flickering candle flame, and the dust floating in the room was also illuminated by the candlelight, with countless small particles floating in the air.

"Is this filthy city your base?"

There weren't many people in the room, allowing Cesar to easily see the surrounding furniture even if he was kneeling on the floor. The thick dust where he could see told him that this was an abandoned house for a long time.

"Hehe, it seems you haven't been wasting time... We took over this place a few months ago, it was definitely difficult since there were walkers that couldn't be removed by a helicopter."

"You, who are you?" Cesar maintained a cold and intimidating expression.

"No, no, no..." Waving the index finger of his hand, Airon leaned forward and looked at the man in front of him, and said in a cold and harsh tone, "From the moment you crossed my path, you're already my enemy. I must be the one who gets you to answer the questions. I don't like being lied to, for every lie, I will kill one of your comrades, understood?"

After speaking, regardless of the other party's stunned expression, Airon waved his hand and several soldiers dragged one of the men to Cesar's side.

"No one has to die, but I'm willing to kill them one by one if they don't cooperate with me. If I see that's not enough, I'll do things more terrible than a simple bullet to the forehead of each of your subordinates."

When he heard the first half of the sentence, Cesar felt somewhat relieved, but he was immediately startled by the words that followed. He looked at the man with long and disheveled hair, with some shadows under his eyes, who still looked at him coldly.

"You can lie, and you can use the reasons you've agreed upon in your usual training to lie, but trust my interrogation methods, and in the end, you will obediently explain everything you know. But before that, we'll make one of your soldiers talk."

Not long after, faint cries of pain could be heard coming from the nearby room. Upon hearing the sound, all the soldiers outside thought that their commander must have started.

The screams from the next-door became clearer and clearer, just when he felt like he could hear the beating of his heart, the door behind him opened.

As the door opened, the screams from the next-door became louder, but then the screams were blocked again, and Cesar couldn't help but tremble.

The sound of leather boots hitting the floor came from behind, like the countdown of destiny, approaching Cesar infinitely on the verge of collapse.

Boom!

An object was thrown not far in front of him, he looked around and could vaguely see that it seemed to be a hand through the dim candlelight.

"Ahhhhh!" With a scream, Cesar was so scared that he was about to run, but he felt a force pressing on his shoulders and pushing him back before he could get up.

The voice of the man named Airon from earlier resonated in his ears, "Are you seeing this? That idiot just lied to my face. Do you want the same outcome?"

Cesar's head shook as if he had epilepsy, and he was still struggling to say something.

Apparently satisfied with the effect of this wave of psychological deterrence, Airon smiled and crouched in front of Cesar once again, playing with a bloodied dagger in his hand.

"I will ask you some questions, and you will obediently answer me, or you know what will happen."

A tough look appeared on Cesar's face, but before he could think, he felt his vision darken, and the tip of Airon's dagger was already touching an inch in front of his eyes.

"First question, why did you follow us?"

...

Two days later.

Cesar was sitting in the back of an armored truck, surrounded by several soldiers. They had now returned to the safer territory of the S.C.T.

Cesar and the other soldiers themselves knew very well why they had survived. When Cesar thought about leaving the interrogation room and seeing the corpses of his comrades, he couldn't help but shudder.

As for the man who seemed to be the leader of this organization, during these two days of contact, he knew the other party's name was Airon, and it was said that he was a member of the special forces with strong combat power.

As for the questions the other party asked him, it was also a bit strange. It seemed that they knew his organization very well. After answering many questions, the other party would immediately know if he was lying or not. This made him not dare to lie at all, for fear of being killed.

At all times, his life was in danger, but the other party also asked some strange questions, such as whether the CRM had satellite monitoring equipment.

Engineers who understand this kind of knowledge are not easy to find. The usual task of CRM soldiers is to search for talents from the outside, and only after a strict review can they enter the base for further evaluation.

Since they knew so much, Cesar thought that the power of these people should not be underestimated.

Whatever happens, as long as he can live, it doesn't matter who he works for, right? He just has to be careful not to be discovered by people from the organization. But it was impossible to escape from the CRM, especially when they disappeared in this part of the country.