CH 008: Superpowers?

The two masked men have been taken into one of the few empty rooms that was used as storage before the apocalypse started. It was now currently used as a place of interrogation purposely because of the two masked men.

The leader of the base, Anthony, had decided to interrogate them himself, since they refused to reveal any information on who their leader was. Gunther, Chris, Simbi and a few other core members were also present in the room. They were allowed to witness the interrogation, since they were the executive members of the base.

The men were tied to chairs with their backs facing each other, and their masks had been removed to reveal their young faces, which seemed to contradict their claims of being 22 and 23 years old.

"I'm pretty sure you kids are nothing less than 16. And you might think because of that, I'm going to spare you. Far from it, I'll make sure to reveal whoever you're working for, with whatever means possible."

"What are your names?" Anthony asked, his voice laced with irritation and annoyance. His usual calm demeanor was replaced by a visible annoyance.

The room fell silent, the only sound being heard was the heavy breathing of the captives, who refused to utter a single word in response.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to take all of this a step further," Anthony said, his voice firm and unyielding, as he sat down in a chair opposite the two captives. Two burly men then entered the room, positioning themselves in front of the captives.

With a swift motion, they loosened the ropes binding the men's hands, and then unleashed a flurry of blows and kicks, targeting their faces and stomachs. The beating was relentless, and soon one of the captives cracked under the pressure, pleading for mercy as he begged them to spare his life.

"So, are you ready to talk?" Anthony asked.

The boy, his face now battered and bruised, with blood dripping down his broken nose, eagerly surrendered. "Alright, I'll tell you everything!" he exclaimed. "But you have to promise to spare me and my brother."

"Deal." Anthony gestured to the men, who quickly retied them back to the chairs. The room fell silent, with all eyes fixed on the boy, waiting for him to reveal the information they sought.

The air was thick with anticipation, as the boy struggled to catch his breath, his eyes darting nervously around the room.

"My name is Fred." He started. "My younger brother and I were just trying to survive, scavenging the streets when the apocalypse hit. We were nearly killed by those...things, until a group of people showed up out of nowhere, saving us from the beasts. They displayed things we never believe was possible in this world - things that exists only in stories."

"What are those things?" Gunther asked, listening patiently to the boy's tale.

"Superpowers," Fred replied, his eyes wide with wonder. "They could control the wind, conjure fire from their hands, and do all sorts of incredible things."

The room erupted into laughter at this, the absurdity of the story had struck a chord in everyone present. Even Gunther had cracked a smile, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Sir, I think this kid is just trying to deceive us with his bullshit story." one of the members sneered. "We should just get rid of him, he's a waste of time who's only spouting nonsense."

"I'm telling you, it's true!" Fred shouted. "They could do things that is impossible to explain. They saved us from those monsters, and then took us in, teaching us how to survive in this new world."

"Will you shut your mouth…" One of the members was about to slap him on the face until Anthony lifted his gaze to look at the member, causing him to withdraw.

His gaze then fell back on Fred, his expression thoughtful. "Continue," he said, his voice firm but measured. "I want to hear more about those...superpowers."

The room fell silent once again, with all eyes on Fred, who swallowed hard before speaking up.

"After being saved by those guys, we were taken to their leader who offered us food and shelter just as long as we perform some tasks for him." Fred revealed.

Anthony's eyes narrowed, his mind racing with possibilities. "Those tasks, is it by stealing mother crystals from people?" He asked.

Fred hesitated, glancing nervously around the room before responding. "Not just stealing mother crystals from people...we were also told to gather intel on the bases and hideouts of other survivors, and report back to them."

"And how many have you found so far?" Anthony pressed on, his eyes boring into Fred's.

Fred shook his head, a mixture of fear and defiance in his eyes. "Nothing yet, we only just started our task today. We were led by Ryan, he was among the leaders. But you guys killed him," He said.

A sneer curved on his lips as he continued, "Leader Tyler will be so mad when he finds out what you've done. You should be glad he doesn't know where your base is, or you're all fucked!"

The group burst out laughing at Fred's bold claim, their chuckles echoing off the walls. To them, his words were nothing more than the ramblings of a foolish boy, clinging to a fantastical tale.

Superpowers in this world? It sounded like something straight out of a novel, a far-fetched fantasy with no place in their harsh reality.

But amidst the ridicule, one person stood out; Anthony. His expression remained thoughtful, his eyes narrowing as he considered Fred's words.

Unlike the others, he didn't dismiss the possibility of such thing happening. Not after what has been occurring for the past few weeks;

The mother crystals and items they receive from breaking it, in fact seemed like a fantasy to him. But he knew none of them would believe it until they see it with their very own eyes.

Suddenly the room had went silent again as Anthony continued his interrogation.

"So, this Tyler guy, what's he like?" He asked. "Does he also have this superpowers like you mentioned."

As the boy remembered the leader, a certain reaction occurred inside him causing him to stutter a little bit before replying. This action hadn't gone unnoticed by Anthony who just kept mute and watched.

"The leader…" He said, "He's different from the rest. His powers are something I've never seen or heard before. He's basically a demon."

"Alright, I think we've had enough of these kids. We should just lock them up, maybe after a couple of hours, they'll come back to their senses." Gunther uttered to which everyone had nodded in agreement to.

Anthony also felt like he had heard enough. He signaled to his men, who had immediately gotten into action as the two captives were promptly tied up and taken into a prison-like room.

The door was locked behind them, and the group had started making their way back to the main hall, their footsteps echoing down the corridor.

As they walked back to the main hall, they had passed by a certain place which had been used as a training area, where members of their group regularly honed their skills with weapons and practiced hand-to-hand combat.

In the center of the rectangular ring, two fighters faced off, their eyes locked in a fierce stare, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

Simbi wasn't even paying attention as she assumed it was just another routine sparring session between the members of the base. But as she saw everyone halting in their steps to watch the match, she wondered what had caught their attention so much to have had them hooked.

As Simbi tilted her head to get a better view, her eyes widened in shock, her gaze were fixed on the two fighters facing off in the ring. Dave and Ajax, their faces set in determined expressions, as they were about to clash in a fierce battle.

Simbi's instincts screamed at her to intervene, to pull Dave out of harm's way, but before she could move, Chris's firm hand grasped her arm, holding her back.

"Wait," he whispered, his eyes gleaming with curiosity. "Let's see what the new guy is capable of. We saw him fight before, who knows, we might also make him an executive member."

…