Angie and Elias worked silently. They tried to minimise any squeaks and cranks. Cold sweat dripped down their faces, necks, and backs. Their hearts pounded from the suspense.
[Leave now.] BaoBao suddenly warned. [They saw me. Three are coming your way.] BaoBao reported as he disappeared from sight.
Angie and Elias were just done. Angie bundled up their loot together as quickly as possible, then stepped out of the control room. The moment they did, familiar noisy heavy breathing and footsteps that made their hearts drop, echoed throughout the area. How close were the Infected to them?
Trusting that BaoBao would not have warned her without giving her enough time to retreat, Angie promptly stashed away the light stick deep into her pocket, which plunged them into darkness. She grabbed Elias’ free hand an
One of the Infected backed out of the tussle and approached their building. Angie and Elias kept their eyes peeled. Was it going to enter? Suddenly, it punched the wall as hard as it could, clearly venting its frustrations. It sat down on the floor heavily, still breathing hard. Gradually, it turned its attention onto the one they had deemed as touch sensitive. It got up again to approach the oblivious one. The aggressor intentionally stood so close to it that it must have blocked whatever the oblivious one was interested in, because it finally looked up, only to have its face grabbed. “Are we about to witness bullying between the Infected?” Angie wondered aloud. “What's with the power dynamics? The ones around the base did not have this much… Personality
"Is it something you can't tell me?" Elias suddenly said. "It's okay if you still don't feel comfortable sharing." He sounded so gentle, genuine, and considerate that it made Angie go soft."You suspected something ever since the rooftop, didn't you?" Angie suddenly changed the topic."How do you know?" Elias' eyes widened in surprise.Angie lightly laughed. "You have been especially considerate and careful with me since then.""Sorry for being so insensitive before...""Hey, you didn't know better."They gave each other a tight-lipped smile, then a short silence followed.Angie's gaze awkwardly trailed off elsewhere. She looked
Elias' slightly ticklish featherlight touch brought Angie out of her dark thoughts. She stared at him curiously while he continued to silently stare at her hand, which had eased up under his touch. "I may not have been there for you last time," Elias suddenly spoke, "but I promise to be here for you from now on." The guilt in his eyes made her sigh and smile helplessly. "Didn't you already promise my mum that? Or was that done with a fickle heart?" Angie teased him. Elias got flustered. "No! No! I meant it then and I mean it now too. I mean, I mean-" Angie's soft laughter cut him off. "I know. I know." She sighed and smiled warmly. "Thank you, Elias." Elias' expression lightened up and he smiled back. "No nee
"Wait, where're we going?" Elias asked upon realising that the direction they were heading in, took them further away from their group, towards the borders of the city.An idea struck him. "There was a change in plans?"Just then, he got tossed off her shoulder. He grunted a little at the unexpected impact and snapped his head towards Angie to check on her.Angie had her hands on her hips as she paced about, panting hard. Large beads of perspiration rolled off her face and dripped onto the ground. Her mask had completely fogged up.Elias' brows soon furrowed just like Angie's. As much as he wanted to help, he felt equally powerless.Meanwhile, all that filled Angie's mind was her irritation with the mask and the state o
Angie panted as she stared, wide-eyed, at her broken skates. Her heart beat wildly in her chest."Oh, thank god." Elias pulled her closer to him for a tighter embrace. "That was too close." His voice quivered as he spoke against the top of her head.A stone, large enough to trip Angie, had rolled into her path. Elias would have been sent tumbling if he had not anticipated her fall.[He reacted fast.] Even BaoBao was awed. A fraction of a second later and BaoBao would have to use the system market to save Angie.Angie squeezed his forearm, and she looked back at the ruins that laid before them. "Thank you." Angie said a little breathlessly. "But we should go now." Angie immediately brought them back to task.Elias moved
The ride became silent. Amelia had nothing to say. Others no longer wanted to associate with her any further either. The atmosphere was already bad enough. Although the ride had not been long, it was long enough for some to fall sick. Darcy, Amelia, and Valerie stayed close to the sides of the vehicle. They held onto their throbbing heads. Their stomachs lurched with each and every bounce. “Mom, you okay?” Elias reached out to her. “I’m fine. Don’t mind me.” His mother weakly reassured him. “I’ll last. If I pass out, it’ll be from this stinking heat.” She smiled. Elias smiled back. He felt sorry for his mother, but there was nothing much he could do at the moment. Meanwhile, Conrad chatted with the others. "H
Jeffery recovered soon and helped to keep an eye out.“Is that what I think it is?” Jeffery asked out of the blue.Everyone squinted and stared hard into the distance, where Jeffery was looking at.Among the waves of water vapour, they could barely make out an outline of what seemed like an oasis."Am I hallucinating now?" Jeffery checked with the others.Everyone else confirmed that they saw the same thing.“Could that just be a mirage?” Conrad questioned."Finally! Yes!” Valerie cheered at the same time.Elias wordlessly looked at Angie.
[Angie!] Angie’s eyelids flew open. Everything around her was dyed a dark orange. [The sun’s setting. If you want light, you better set them up now.] BaoBao warned. /Right. We don’t know how dark the night here is going to be./ The moment Angie got up, Elias woke up from his light nap. “Angie? Is something wrong?” “The sun’s setting. We should get ready.” Elias nodded and left to nudge those who were still asleep. Meanwhile, Miryam whispered to Angie, with a gentle smile on her face, “You slept so soundly. You must really trust the people here.” [Mmhm! The ones she