Chapter 28 - No Man Left Behind

Time Remaining: 16 minutes, 53 seconds

"She's fast!!" Julia can barely even see Claire ahead of them anymore.

All of them tried their best to catch up with her pace, but it was clear that none of them can do so. And the person who managed to greatly decrease their gap by 2.7 kilometers from Claire was Raphael, the second person was Captain Wright with 3.9 kilometers, the third was Julia with 4.2 kilometers, and the last one was Leon with 4.7 kilometers and his gap from Claire is slowly increasing.

Julia glances back at him, troubled that Leon's slowing down. "H-Hey, you gotta keep up!!"

"I'm trying!!"

She slows herself down to reach Leon and take his hand. "W-What's this about!?" He got flustered.

"I'm trying to make you go faster!"

"Eh!? Holding my hand won't get me any faster, and I might slow you down too!"

"If you don't want to slow me down, then go faster asshole! Or else I might just die here with you!..." Leon finds Julia crazy at this very moment, but it significantly helped him force his body to increase his speed.

Julia noticed that he got to improve his speed and felt relieved. "Hah! I wouldn't dare to have a pretty lady die here because of me." Now their gap from Claire goes by 4.1 kilometer.

"...we'll make it! We got to make it!" She's hopeful that everyone will survive and succeed in this mission.

Time Remaining: 13 minutes, 39 seconds

Appointed to lead the way, Claire had to find a high place that'll allow them to be picked up by Captain Zahi. And the highest place she can see here in this power plant is the hyperboloid cooling tower.

Then suddenly, the communication device that Zahi distributed to the whole team that is attached to their masks produced sounds, eventually letting them hear Zahi's voice. "...I.E.A. HAVE SPOTTED THE TEAM! I REPEAT, I.E.A. HAVE SPOTTED TEAM!..."

"Tch, we know!! They're indirectly attacking us already!!" Claire responded, however she's unaware that the device works in one way. The only one who has a device that can send feedback was Captain Wright. "Right. They used small explosive surveillance devices to tail and attack us." He responded.

"...I'm on my way back to pick up the whole team, is the Power Source secured!?"

"Affirmative!"

"Where's the rendezvous?"

By observing Claire's route, Captain Wright figured it would be to one of the hyperboloid cooling towers. "We'll wait for you at the power plant's highest tower!"

"I'll be there by 10 minutes! I.E.A. have also sent fighter jets to chase me down, so everyone!—Don't fucking miss the chance to grab ahold of the rope ladder I'll be sending down later!!" The call cuts there.

Time Remaining: 11 minutes, 58 seconds

After hearing from Captain Zahi, the slowest pair struggles to maintain their speed. "Damn it, already sending fighter jets!? they're fast to chase on us!" Leon said.

"It's because of those small explosive surveillance they set up. They were probably keeping an eye on the Power Source too just in case we return here to retrieve it!" Julia started to feel like she's losing hope. "We need to go faster!!" She feels as if they'll never make it on time with their current speed.

"A-Ahh!!" All of a sudden, Leon fell down. Stopping both of them from their track. "Shit!... Leon, get up! We have to keep moving!!" Julia helped him get up on his feet, only for him to fall down again and coughed up blood.

"F-Fuck... it's getting to me... this is hopeless... for me, atleast. Julia, you have to go on without me."

"What!? Don't give up!! I know we can still escape from here!!"

"H-Haha, you really can't leave me alone huh. Do you a-actually like me?—" Leon vomits blood and it suffocated him as it filled his mask.

"Leon!!" Julia takes off his mask to drain off the blood he vomitted. "I'll carry you, so hold on tight!!" She takes him on her back and sprinted off. Their distance from the others are far too great, but she can tell that they're headed for the cooling tower.

"W-What's this?... J-Julia, everything turned so dark... it's so dark I can't see a thing!... Julia, what's happening!?" Leon have suddenly lost his sight, the contaminated area are now affecting him. "Just!—Just shut up and save your breath! I'll get us back safely!!" Julia assured.

Time Remaining: 9 minutes, 21 seconds

Claire was already making her way up to the top of the tower in the power plant with her shifter rocket. She eventually reached the top with a few more minutes to spare. "Haa, haa... that was exhausting!" While catching her breath, she looks down to see the others.

"They all look like ants from up here... and woah!—" She can also see the herd of explosive surveillance devices running after them. "The I.E.A. can sure make some impressive weapons."

Her eyes then shifts to Raphael who was already climbing his way up the tower. While she stares at him from below, Claire can't help but wonder. "Just what is his relationship with the Claire Duvent from the past?" She feels like this guy will be troublesome in the future, possibly getting in the way of her goals.

Intrusive thoughts started kicking in her head. Perhaps I should get rid of him right now, she thought and shortly dismissed the idea.

And Raphael, who is seeing Claire atop the tower, continues his ascent by relentlessly firing his shifter grappling hook into the tower's wall and climbing up using it as a support. In the midst of ascending to the top, his mind reminisce through the times he spent with Claire from years ago.

'Just think of this as a new beginning and go start anew, shall we?' Her words echoes in his mind. Start all over? The idea didn't appeal to him. He really can't bring himself to forget their past together. Although this person whom he sees from above the tower is Claire, he knows she wasn't the same person he knows anymore.

By the time he reached the top, Claire greets him with a complacent smile. "Hey there, Mr. 2nd place."

Time Remaining: 6 minutes, 8 seconds