"What in the world is that?"
"Yakov, did you crash on something?" William asked as he turned his body around. When he was questioning Sienna, he didn't pay any attention to the road.
"I'M NOT!" Yakov nearly screamed in reply. They were still within the residential areas because they needed to circle a few times if they wished to get out. The military who came here not long ago made some street unusable.
"Then what…"
Before William could finish his words, he could see smoke from a distance and also faint scream mixed together with the sound of gunshots. Turning his head to the side, he could see the majestic hotel that managed to hold on all this time was crumbling.
It was as if there was an explosion in the middle of the building that set the entire building into pieces.
"What happened?" Yakov asked. He could not turn around because he was still focusing on driving.
"The hotel lost," William replied. He could feel his heart turned cold at this development. Even though he did think of the possibilities that the building could crumble in a few more days because of the lack of ammunition and all, he didn't expect that it would be this fast. Most importantly, how many people would die because of this?
They couldn't see everything clearly because the buildings were blocking any possible route for them to see what happened at a distance away. What they could see was the crumbling building and also the things that were destroyed from a distance away.
In but a few seconds, they knew that the place would turn into nothing but ruins.
"That means the Xermo will come here?" Gloria asked for confirmation. Her small hands gripped the gun tighter.
William nodded. "We need to get out of here as soon as possible."
"I'm already at the fastest speed possible!" Yakov replied with annoyance. He steered the wheel as they entered the next intersection. "Will, there are a few people at the front!"
"What?"
Turning his head to the front, William could see several people came out. They were holding metal stick, guns, and some kinds of other weapons. Upon seeing them, some of them shouted but since their distance was too far, the people inside the camping bus couldn't hear them.
"What are they saying?" Rozan asked.
"I think they want us to stop," William replied.
"Should we…"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The people at the front began to shoot. Yakov's heart grew cold as he saw the bullet hit the rear glass. It had changed to a bulletproof glass by Rozan, but there was still visible crack that they could see because of the damage done.
"This…"
"Run them over," William said ruthlessly. They were already in a hurry, so they didn't have the time to play with these gang members. He didn't like to do this, but he knew that they couldn't possibly stop.
Yakov nodded and replied, "Ok."
This time, there was no playful tone in Yakov's voice. He was completely solemn as he stepped on the pedal even harder. If these people still treasured their lives, they would choose to step away…
"They didn't stop!"
"F%^&*!"
"Get away!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAa!"
The gang members jumped to the side in order to avoid the camping bus. Everything occurred in but a few seconds as the camping bus sped up into a distance and turned around once more in the next intersection.
William raised his hand and patted Yakov's shoulder. "Good job."
"Yeah."
The two of them were soldiers, so they were awfully clear of their responsibilities. They were not used to kill innocent people like this because it was their task to protect others. It would weigh on their conscience, but they knew that it was inevitable.
Rozan looked at the two people in front of him then moved to the back of the camping bus. He climbed to the second bed and looked at the window at the back. The second bed was located right next to the back window. It allowed him to see what was at the back from inside the car.
He could see that from a distance, there was sudden increase in Xermo's number.
"The Xermo are chasing."
"Already?" William was stunned.
"They might be attracted by the sound from this area," Sienna elaborated. When it came to Xermo's behavior, she still knew a bit since she had been investigating their movements for the last few months.
William nodded. "You're familiar with the Xermo."
"Yes."
"How did you manage to travel to a different country when you know so much?"
Sienna paused in her movements. Ah, why did she had to stay with smart people who could think outside the box.
"That's…"
"I think we can talk later," William said and walked to near the window. His eyes narrowed when he noticed the Xermo's speed. They were faster than those that he saw back when he was still in that hotel. "Can Xermo's ability increase?"
"Huh? Yeah, depending on the human, actually…"
"Really…" William's expression turned grave. If there were more powerful Xermo, humanities would surely find it difficult to survive. "Help me kill them."
"Huh?"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Even though they were already starting to kill the Xermo through the windows near them, it was clear that they wouldn't be able to escape easily. After a few days, the Xermo was not only increasing in number but also abilities.
It was making them frustrated.
"Yakov, do you have grenades?"
"Huh? I did bring them, but what do you want to do with it?"
"Cross River Ver at the front. I'll destroy the bridge with the grenades afterwards." William responded and made his way to get Yakov's bag. It was placed below the sofa to make sure that it would not be found so easily.
Yakov was stunned when he heard what William said. "Are you crazy?"
"It's the only method to shake them off."
"Do you want to kill all of us on the bridge?"
"I'm not!"
"You're crazy!"
"Just do it!"
"I know!"
The two of them kept on going back and forth, but in the end, Yakov still steered the wheel towards River Ver. River Ver was one of the few rivers that was located in this city and only used to deliver the rain water to the sea at the north. There were several bridges that they could cross from this place to the other one, but it wouldn't be easy to destroy the bridge afterwards.
Gritting his teeth, Yakov directed his car to the bridge. "You better be ready for this, Will."
"Heh, I know," William responded. His hand already took the row of grenades and stick his body out of the window at the side. Rozan was at the other side of the car, firing his gun to the Xermo that was chasing after them along with Sienna, who couldn't shoot properly and miss almost all the time.
Gloria was making use of the small window near the back to shoot from that location. She could only shoot one at a time, but thanks to the training she had before, her accuracy was not that bad.
He could see that they were getting closer to the river. His hand gripped the grenades tighter. When they passed by the bridge, he pulled the safety ring and threw it behind the car.
"Get down!"
With that order, both Rozan and Sienna quickly hid while Gloria also tucked in below the blanket. William himself crouched on the floor while Yakov had no other choice but to keep on driving further and further.
BAM!
Loud explosion could be heard from their back. Rocks were falling and metals were forced to snap like a kite. Everything fell to the dark river below it, bringing along some unfortunate Xermo that was passing through.
"Did we manage to shake them off?" Sienna asked as she held onto the box nearby.
William glanced out of the window and noticed that the Xermo didn't manage to pass the bridge. He nodded. "For now."
"For now?"
"If we want to be completely safe, we'll need to get out of this city," William replied. "No, not just the city but also the area that's under lock down by the government."
Rozan sat down and heaved a sigh. He shook his head lightly. "They will not let anyone who come from inside the contaminated area to come out easily. I'm sure that they also know that the mutated virus can create change."
William glanced over at Sienna and sighed. He knew that it was highly possible since there must be a lot of researchers. Besides, Country V was collaborating with other countries prior to the war.
They must have some information exchange with each other.
"Can someone switch with me to drive this camping bus?" Yakov asked in exasperation. He felt that he would be forgotten and left to drive all the time if this continue.
"We'll stop after we can find a safer place," William decided after he looked around. There were less Xermo in this area since they have already passed the densely populated area. When the incident happened, most of the people in this place was visiting the capital city to work.
Unfortunately, that was also brought them to their grave.
But they might be much luckier compared to the people who turned into Xermo since they could die a painless death.
William sighed. "We'll need to clean up this place. Before that, can you explain what you're talking about before, Sienna?"
"Ah, the special abilities?" Sienna asked back. She tried to fix her position and sat down on the sofa once more. "No matter what you're thinking and how long it is, the one with the special ability can always guess what you think about. The researchers tested it a few times and found out that the result is always the same no matter who it is."
William nodded. "For police, this will be a very advantageous ability."
"Yes…"
"I guess it's not all?"
Sienna pursed her lips. "The scientist recorded almost every activities inside his body and found out that when he used his ability, some of his normally used organs will not be working in optimal condition….."
As Sienna explained, William came to understand that it was special ability that didn't come without a price. There was a limit to how much they could do. Just like an athlete could only last for a period of time because his stamina was limited, this special ability was the same.
William tapped the box beside him. "That's to say, the virus only helps to tap into some kind of potential and divert the body's resource so that he or she can use it?"
"If you simplify it, yes, it's like that."
"I never realized that this kind of virus can possibly be made."
Sienna smiled bitterly.
"Also, is there a method to know whether you're that one in a million or not?" Rozan asked, apparently he was also interested in this special ability thing.
"Yes. There's a test to figure out which virus is inside your body and how well your body adapted to it."
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