Chapter 6: Out in the world

"F**k!"

Seeing Paul's miserable state, Wade cursed under his breath. However, he couldn't afford to worry about anyone else at that moment.

As the strong woman punched Paul, sending him flying, Wade leapt into action. He jumped onto her back and tried to choke her by wrapping his arms around her neck.

Despite Wade's chokehold, the strong woman was unaffected. It was Wade's wriggling that annoyed her.

She forcefully broke Wade's grip, easily breaking his supposedly unbreakable chokehold.

Wade was shocked but still quipped, "For a lady, you're way too strong. I pity your husband; he's probably never going to turn over in bed again. Hope he enjoys everything about you, I mean in all aspects of lif--"

Before Wade could finish, the strong woman bent down and slammed Wade into the ground with a bone-crunching knee to his back!

The sound of breaking bones was clearly audible, and Wade was left in an unknown number of states of disability.

In no time, the strong woman had dealt with both of them.

She was obviously irritated by Wade's words. Casually picking up a steel bar from the ground, she mercilessly stabbed it into Wade's back. The bar penetrated through him, pinning Wade to the ground and rendering him completely helpless.

"Gina, calm down. There's no need to argue with a dead man," Francis said, smiling as he patted Gina on the shoulder. "How did the task go?"

Gina replied coldly, "All the materials in the institute have been destroyed without a trace, and the surviving subjects have been transferred to other branches."

"Very good, we should leave."

Ignoring Paul and Wade, Francis turned and left with Gina. Only corpses and debris remained at the scene.

…

Not long after they left, Wade, lying on the ground, suddenly moved. He lifted his head with difficulty and looked at Paul's position.

After getting along for a while, Paul had become a friend Wade recognized. Seeing Paul die in front of him made Wade recall some very bad memories.

"Sorry, I couldn't show you the most beautiful woman in the world... Oh, madfak!"

Wade's taunting tone turned into a terrified yelp when he saw Paul's tattered body stand up again.

"What's going on, did I stumble into Resident Evil?"

"Calm down, I can't die, and neither can you," Paul said, dragging his still-repairing body over and yanking the steel bar from Wade's back.

As the steel bar was removed, Wade watched his chest wound heal rapidly. "Oh my god, I'm infected! I'm gonna turn into a zombie! Wait, can I eat human flesh? No, I prefer chicken tacos!"

"Stop yelling, we need to get out of here before this place collapses!" Paul grabbed the still-babbling Wade and ran.

The fire had reached its peak, with thick smoke obscuring vision and almost no clear exit.

"You came in from outside, you should know the way out. Which way now?" Paul asked.

Wade thought for a moment and then pointed in a direction uncertainly. It was a sea of flames, but that didn't stop Paul and Wade.

Without hesitation, Paul grabbed Wade and dashed into the fire.

…

A few minutes later, two figures, covered in black soot, emerged from an abandoned factory building in a remote suburb.

Before the institute collapsed, Paul and Wade had finally escaped the flames.

"Finally free!" Looking at the burning factory building, Paul felt a surge of mixed emotions.

After two long months, he had finally escaped that dark, oppressive space!

But...

What do I do next?

Paul felt a bit lost. Since traveling through time, he had been stuck in the research institute. Now, out in the world, he realized it was completely unfamiliar. He had no place here; to this world, he was a stranger.

Paul let out a long breath and turned to Wade, who was also deep in thought.

"Wade, what's next?"

"As I said before, I need to get Vanessa back!"

"So... are you going to look for her naked?"

Having just escaped the flames, their bodies had suffered various degrees of burns. Paul, still wearing parts of his uniform, at least had some fabric covering him.

But Wade was completely naked.

Looking down, Paul saw a sight that left him bemused.

Roast chicken...