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
Conrad and Angie dunked as many canteens as they could handle, into the water all at once. Before they could acquire much water, some of the creatures closer to Angie and Conrad returned to secure their spot by the lake. The weaker ones that had been waiting for the chance to sneak in like Angie and Conrad did, coveted the spot too. Conrad pointed at the water, then left to take on the creatures. [Should I help you?] /No, Elias and Valerie likely have their eyes on us. I should be fine./
Things happened just as BaoBao had predicted.Angie shifted her position to monitor the situation, prompting Elias to hold onto Angie's hand again. Angie glanced at Elias, and Elias shook his head resolutely. Elias was afraid of what Angie could be considering.Angie looked at him sadly, then down at the Infected. /If only they would just pass us./Angie only had half of the duration of the boost left. She had no idea how long the battle with the Infected would last. The weapons effective against the Infected were back at the vehicles. Angie would have to make up her mind soon.Just then, the Infected pounded near the base of the tree, hard enough to cause a tremor. The leaves rustled. Angie and Elias grabbed onto the tree for their dear lives, out of reflex. Two punches later, part of the ground caved in, and the creature that resembled a mole po
When Angie opened her eyes again, it was all dark before her. [Angie! You’re finally awake!] /Where am I? How long was I out?/ Angie wondered as she moved her stiff and weak limbs. [You didn’t move an inch from where you collapsed. Elias and Miryam didn’t dare to move you, which was good! If they could diagnose the damage done to your body, your recovery would be regarded as a miracle! You had broken bones, multiple fractures, internal bleeding, and damaged muscles. Now, you even have a blood disorder…] BaoBao rambled on huffily. [And you’ve been out for a month.] /That’s shorter than I thought. With all the injuries you told me about./ [You've got to thank Elias for that. He insisted on using valuable resources on you. And of course Miryam backed him up.] Angie spotted Elias, who was asleep in the corner of the shabby but workable makeshift room. She made her way to Elias as quietly as she could. Blueprints and plans that they had looted from the base were strewn aro
The next morning, Conrad insisted on reassigning the teams. “Angie will be fine with just us two. We can’t have all the strong fighters leave.” Conrad blandly stated the obvious. When Angie’s boys’ sulked and looked unsettled, Conrad raised an eyebrow and commented, “I understand why Miryam and Elias would be concerned. But why are the three of you making such a fuss? Angie is still Angie even if she’s a girl.” Angie froze. /They know?/ [Oh, ya. Of course, they would. They had to treat you immediately and Elias was in no mind to hide your sex from them. Now that I think about it, their faces were priceless. The shock from your physical prowess, then the extent of your wounds, then the reveal of your sex... You were like a jack in the box inside a jack in the box. Actually, besides Miryam and Elias, Conrad also didn’t show any reaction to your sex.] /Conrad?/ [Yeah, he was not that fazed by it. Did he already suspect something?] /If Conrad is as smart as the book made him
Each and every one of those involved in the incident had a scar to remember this day. The one with the most striking and ugly scar, unsurprisingly, belonged to Angie. She had the hardest time recovering from her injuries too, due to an infection. When she was finally well enough to join everyone else for meals, Conrad properly apologised to her and offered to relinquish his leadership to her. “I’m fine staying as the advisor.” Angie politely rejected. BaoBao grumbled incoherently