Capítulo 39: Marco's Guilt
John heaved a deep sigh as he closed his eyes. Another intimate meeting with the reaper, something John was growing accustomed to, but his mentor had prepared him for this.
He couldn't help but think that maybe that dumb old man knew about the upcoming invasion. He chuckled at the absurdity of his thoughts and turned his gaze towards the Juggernaut.
He stared in awe at the beast's ugly features, but then remembered the shelter. Maria and the others were in danger. He needed to find out what the hell was going.
He sprinted towards the old textile plant, accustomed to the thick mist that coiled around him. He was worried he would be unable to enter as he remembered the entrance had an electronic lock, but to his surprise, the door was opened.
Traces of blood and carnage laid bare on the walls. He trod with caution further into the bunker and focused his hearing as the sound of his footsteps vanished. He could hear muffled thuds and the clanking of steel in the distance.
His pace quickened and he arrived at the bunker's common room. The imagery was as chaotic as his jumbled thoughts. Razorlins, Goblins and Ratmen fought against the bunker's survivors.
He had no time to think and so he acted. He blasted into a sprint and sliced off a goblin's head, leaving behind a grateful teenage boy who had been struggling against it.
"Get out of here," he ordered and the boy nodded. His gaze darted across the room and spotted Joleen, the nurse who had helped Maria shielding another boy from an incoming attack.
John sprung into action once again and slashed at the Razorlin coming for Joleen. Dark ichor gushed out of the beast's neck and John plunged his dagger deep its skull.
The beast fell still and hit the floor with a resounding thud. Joleen flinched and tightened her embrace on the boy.
"It's fine. You're okay," John said. Joleen turned her gaze up cautiously and met John's gaze with apprehension, but her features relaxed as she recognised him.
"Thank you, John," she said.
"Take cover. We'll talk later," John said and turned back to help against the remaining monsters.
The battle dragged on as the corpses of monsters and survivors piled up. John clicked his tongue as his gaze surveyed the carnage and the last monster fell dead.
Exhaustion seeped through his bones, but he didn't allow himself to rest, not yet. He sauntered towards a secluded corner where Joleen was waiting with a group of children.
"What on Earth happened here?" He inquired.
"I... I don't know," she began, her voice quivering, "we were preparing things for dinner when monsters crashed the kitchen, but that's all I know."
John broke his stoic expression with a click of his tongue. As always, he hated it when answers eluded him.
"Where is Maria?" John asked.
Joleen gasped and her gaze darted frantically across the room as she inspected the corpses.
"She's not amongst the dead," John said.
"Oh," Joleen released a sigh of relief, but then she furrowed her eyebrows. Where was she if she wasn't here?
"Let's go look for her," John said as he turned towards a corridor.
They walked through the long, quiet corridor as John opened door after another, but Maria was nowhere to be seen.
A stray thought hit him. Could it be that she let the monsters in? She didn't strike him as psychopathic as that, but John trusted no one, not even his own assumptions.
He opened the last door, but there was no one there.
"What now?" He asked, turning his gaze towards Joleen.
"There is one more place we can check."
"Lead the way, then," John said as he followed behind Joleen.
She led him towards the other end of the common room and turned left from the kitchen. She opened a door that led to a pitch black room. The air was stale and raunchy. He could swear he smelled urine.
"Sorry, I don't know where the light switch is," Joleen said as she fumbled around, her hands brushing the walls as she looked for the light switch.
As his eyes acclimated to the darkness, John was able to make out two human outlines leaning against a pile of crates. It was Maria and her fiancé, Marco.
John sauntered towards the couple and Marco flinched as he inched closer.
"What the hell are you doing?" John asked.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Marco repeated, as if a curse had struck him.
John theorised he was involved with the invasion of the monsters, but Maria's state puzzled him. She was unconscious, but not asleep. She looked as though she was in a state of coma.
"What did you do?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Marco repeated rhythmically, his gaze locked on Maria's unconscious body, guilt was etched deep on his expression. Something haunted him and John guessed it was his own doing.
John clicked his tongue and turned to look at Joleen. She was staring wide-eyed at the couple, but she regained her composure under John's icy stare.
Rushing to Maria's side, Joleen examined her for any injuries, her eyes shifting from widened surprise to narrowed concentration as she assessed Maria's condition.
"What's wrong with her?" He asked, irritation lacing his tone.
Joleen, her own voice trembling with concern, replied, "I don't know. She seems stable, but I doubt she'll wake up anytime soon."
"Alright, let's take her somewhere else. And call someone to deal with this asshole."
"Okay."
The two carried off Maria to her bed. Joleen stayed with Maria and John walked towards the common room. His irritation was festering stronger within him. He had come here to get answers, but he was getting even more questions.
He arrived at the common room. Everyone's gazes were blank, unable to process the loss of their loved ones and the shock of the attack.
Now was probably not the best time for a meeting, but John's patience was running thin.
"All of you, listen up," John began, his voice booming through the common room.
"I need you to speak. Tell me what you know. We need to figure out how this happened and why."
But no one answered his call.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
Anaesthetic_Dawn
Anaesthetic_Dawn Sorry about this one, guys. I know there's not much action, but there will be a lot of that in the coming chapters!
Capítulo 40: Trouble Coming
The room hung heavy with silence, no one showed a willingness to speak and John's eyebrows furrowed. He took a quick glance at everyone, trying to determine who was more likely to talk when his gaze landed on the teenage boy he had saved earlier.
The boy spotted John and looked at him, his eyes burning with anticipation. Approaching Brian, John sought to encourage him. "What's your name?" he asked in a calm, reassuring tone.
"Brian," the boy replied, his voice subdued by the tension in the room.
"Brian, do you have any idea how this happened?"
"No..." the boy admitted, his gaze sorrowful. "We were all playing near the kitchen when we heard the screams and then we ran to hide."
"Do you remember seeing anything strange before or after the attack?"
Brian's gaze turned to the ceiling in a contemplative state.
"Tell me, even if you think it's irrelevant," John said.
"Um, well..." Brian began, "I heard someone talking on the phone."
John's eyes narrowed. On the phone? There was no way communications were still working. Even if the backup generators were still operational, they were likely unmanned. How long could they possibly last? John was no expert, but he guessed
But as usual, he didn't linger on this thought and urged Brian to continue.
"We were playing near the kitchen and someone was talking on the phone near that door," Brian said, pointing to the room where John had found Maria and Marco.
Could it have been Marco? But what was his motive? He was scared, so scared that he had pissed himself, but was that because of the monsters? And why was Maria in that state? But no use in overthinking, he needed more answers before he could figure out what's happening.
"Where are all the others?" John asked. He noticed there were significantly fewer people in the shelter, even if you counted the dead. Plus, Octavia, August, Mika and Edward weren't here.
"I'm not sure, but they left for a mission. I think..." Brian said, scratching his chin.
"I see. Thank you, Brian. You can go, now."
Brian nodded and John reclined his back on a wooden chair. He had enough pieces of the puzzle to form a working theory. Whatever happened was clearly premeditated. It was too convenient that the strongest had left the same time the attack happened and Marco had something to do with it.
Going by his pathetic state, he must have been coerced into it. Either that or he cut a bad deal and things escalated into this. Could the strange mist outside tie into this somehow? Whatever the case, it was likely that someone had used Maria against Marco in some way. His fear, Maria's state and the absent of most fighters, it all pieced together in John's mind.
John had decided to wait for the rest of the survivors to come back. In the meantime, he had to fix this place. At the very least, the exit should be sealed.
As John moved around the shelter, making sure everything was in place, hours passed quickly and a large group of survivors entered the bunker. A cacophony of gasps could be heard as the survivors noticed the state of the bunker.
John sat quietly, waiting for the shock to pass when Octavia spotted him. She noticed him and rushed to him. Her clothes were tattered and slicked in blood. August, Edward and Mika trailed behind her.
"John! What's going on here" Octavia asked, darting her gaze around the tattered bunker.
John provided a thorough explanation, and the group listened attentively. He presented his reasoning and theories, with everyone in agreement except for Mika.
"Do you really think he would lock himself inside with the monsters?" Mika countered, scepticism lacing her words.
"It sounds unlikely, but we don't have the full picture, and all clues point to him," John replied, maintaining his stoic expression.
Mika clicked her tongue, turning her gaze away from John.
"He's currently in a state of shock, but we need answers. We need to interrogate him," John explained with determination.
"I'll do it," Mika said, a sly grin playing on her lips. John arched an eyebrow, but time was a luxury they couldn't afford to squander.
"Alright, come on. I'll take you to him."
Mika grinned and treaded gleefully alongside John. He couldn't help but wonder if there was a touch of sadistic pleasure added to her recipe. He thought back to Edward's submissive attitude and something clicked in his mind, but it made him cringe inwardly. He put the thought forever out of his mind as they arrived at a worn wooden door.
"Here," he said, "go nuts."
"Don't mind if I do," Mika replied with a joyful tone, a hint of mischief in her eyes.
John, preferring not to know the details of the interrogation, turned his attention to his other pressing concern: Maria. He needed her to awaken, and if his theory was correct, Edward might hold the key. He escorted Edward to Maria's room and instructed him to examine her.
"I'm not a doctor, you know..." Edward stated meekly, heaving a deep sigh.
"Just check, it might be tech from your friends," John urged.
Edward's eyes widened in understanding, and he retrieved a metallic cube similar to the one had shown John. From it, several alien tools materialised out of thin air.
'It looks like my inventory,' John thought as he watched Edward prodding and scanning Maria with multiple alien tools.
Edward's brows furrowed as he analysed the readings from the devices. "This is... incredible," he mumbled, more to himself than to John.
"What did you find?" John asked, his patience wearing thin.
Edward didn't respond immediately, engrossed in his task. He continued to scan Maria, occasionally adjusting the settings on the alien devices. John watched intently, his anxiety mounting.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Edward turned to John with a mix of amazement and concern in his eyes. "John, the technology within her is unlike anything I've seen before. It's highly advanced, far beyond anything our people or the Luminars have ever developed. It's as if it's from a completely different civilization."
John's heart raced. "Can you wake her up? Figure out what's going on?"
Edward nodded, his expression serious. "I'll try, but it might be risky. This technology is so foreign, I can't guarantee the outcome. There's a chance I could trigger something unintended."
John clenched his fists. "We don't have a choice. We need answers, and we need them now."
Edward nodded once more and began to work with Maria's unconscious form, interfacing with the mysterious alien technology. As he delved deeper into the process, a sense of unease settled over the room, as if they were about to unravel secrets that were never meant to be revealed.
Loud banging erupted on the bunker's entrance, reverberating through the halls. Octavia came sprinting to find John. "Someone's at the main door trying to get in!"
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES
Anaesthetic_Dawn
Anaesthetic_Dawn
Sorry about one chapter a day, but been pretty busy these past few days. We'll see how I'm doing tomorrow!
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