Chapter 48.3

Silence had descended between the two who were completely unaware of their onlooker; Emily wasn't sure of what to say as John finished his smoke. Once he finished, he turned to stare at Emily, his brown eyes appeared almost black in the darkness. "You're probably asking yourself why am I telling you this. It's so you know that he isn't the only one who went to hell and back."

John, who was leaning on the tree, stood up slowly before staring straight at Emily's eyes.

"And here you are, wanting to give a . . . proposition, was it? I hope you know what you're doing."

"I don't," Emily replied. "But I know what I want."

"Alright," John shrugged. "Let's hear what you've got on your mind."

"I'm a support class Esper with healing abilities," Emily said. "I'll be in your employ, healing your people, and you pay me."

The fuck is this? A job resume? John thought with incredulous amusement.

"In desperate need of money, eh? For your addiction?"

Emily narrowed her eyes and John shrugged again as he spoke. "I might have had you checked. Didn't want to walk in empty-handed, that's just poor business manners."

"If you did that then you'd know that I also need money for my family," Emily finally said. "And frankly, why I need the money, isn't your concern."

"Fair enough," John answered. Tossing the cigarette butt aside, he raised a hand towards Emily. "You've got a deal."

Emily hesitated for a second before shaking his hand and John smiled before looking past her head. His thin lips turned into a frown when he noticed a few vehicles parking near the entrance of the orphanage before turning their lights off.

Strange time to drive through here, he thought. Not to mention one of thems a van.

John seemed to realize something and his eyes widened before he grasped Emily's arm and pulled her towards the orphanage.

"Did Jason say anything before he left?" John asked Emily urgently and she shook her head after contemplating for a second.

"No," she replied. "Only to call him if anything happens."

"Shit."

That means he knew something would happen, thought John grimly as he turned his head to watch the gate carefully. Hell, and I had to go and get mixed up in it.

He turned back to Emily and pushed her to the entrance of the orphanage.

"Get the kids up and sneak out through the back entrance," he snarled when he saw her protesting.

"But -"

"Shut up and do it, we don't have time!" John interrupted before abruptly turning to the gate. "They're coming."

Emily sensed that he was serious and quickly ran back into the orphanage as John pulled a gun he had holstered in the back of his pants. He quickly took a silencer out from his jacket and assembled it into his gun while crouching behind a hedge. He didn't have time to observe a proper cover, and he was planning to jump on the enemy so he didn't mind the lack of defence.

From the entrance of the gate, six masked men, armed with various firearms, slowly moved towards the orphanage. John breathed slowly and counted the footsteps that were approaching him. After psyching himself, he launched himself out of the hedge and pistol-whipped the closest enemy. He then used him as a shield while shooting two of the assailant's compatriots with his gun. Unfortunately, the assailants were wearing bulletproof vests and the bullets John shot only stunned them: John was no expert marksman and he aimed at the chest which was a larger target than the head.

Shit! John thought as he noticed the two only crumbling to the ground with a groan. A third gunman raised his shotgun and fired at John who ducked behind the assailant whom he was holding. The blast of the shotgun's pellet sent him flying backwards while the assailant who received the brunt of the shot had his head burst like a watermelon.

John grunted as he hit the ground and he struggled to get up as the gunman smirked and pumped his shotgun again. Before he could aim at John, however, a small item like a pebble hit his foot.

"Heh," John gave a small laugh as he showed a pin to the gunman who looked down in bemusement.

The gunman's eyes widened as he realized that it was a grenade; before he was sent flying, John had taken a grenade from the assailant he was using as a shield and tossed it to the gunman after releasing the pin. Before the latter could react, the grenade exploded and shredded him along with his two companions with shrapnel, killing or wounding them severely. John, in the meantime, used this opportunity to escape to the back of the orphanage.

I've done enough. Besides, it isn't worth risking my life for this, John thought as he retreated while clutching his bleeding arm: a pellet from the shotgun had grazed his arm leading him to try and gauze it with his hand.