"Any last words?" Ada had faced against men who could make a baby weep and soldiers fold with a stare, and she never hesitated or backed down.
Yet, this time, looking at this guy who was by far one of the most attractive men she had ever met, standing a few inches away and staring down at her, gave her chills from the sheer pressure she was feeling.
Especially since the damn background of his damnable harmless face was the scene of the butchered monster that she believed to be the endgame when she had a sneak peek at the carrier last week.
"It wasn't me," she decided to be honest.
One of the things she noticed is that, this man wasn't really hostile; he didn't seem to like her advances, yeah, but he didn't harm her directly either and seemed to be satisfied every time she spoke the truth instead of her going in circles.
Her hand instinctively touched her neck.
"I didn't know that thing was coming; if I wanted to hurt you or your peop—kukgh," she choked, feeling his fingers tightening around her neck and her feet leaving the ground.
Her first instinct was to fight back, to reach for his blade, or to twist out of his grip and strike where it'd hurt most—his balls, but she forced her body to stay still; it was not yet the right time to reveal her •mastery in combat• card.
"You could never harm them. I'll count to three after my question. You lie–you die, you don't answer it–you die, you try something–you die, clear?"
She nodded her head.
"Why do you have a device that emits chakra?" He eased his grip a little so she could speak.
Ada blinked, genuinely confused. "I don'ch khnow whach u talkhin 'bout—" she slurred due to being strangled.
'She isn't lying,' he tilted his head slightly.
Sasuke released her throat and caught her by the collar, slamming her against the SUV's door before she could even catch her breath. His blade was already hovering near her jugular, making her press her body against the door.
"True." His other hand threw a shuriken, taking down a walker who was trotting closer, then turned to her, noticing how she had already regained her breathing.
"You don't know Chakra. So here's a quick debrief, Mrs. Spy—it's the corrupted energy leaking from the little trinket you shoved down your throat. The same one that called that ugly bastard to us."
Ada felt happy inwardly at picking something worthy from this whole messed-up bullshit, Chakra.
If it is the thing making this man this strong and the reason he was being hunted by them...it all makes sense now.
"Don't tell me, honey, you're jealous?" She moved closer, uncaring about the blade that cut her skin. "I can give you similar treatment, one that no man has ever received. It will be my first, but I'm fairly confident in my abilities to learn." She winked despite feeling the tiny cut on her neck.
Part of her was wishing to see him withdrawing his blade by the sight of seeing it hurt her, and she curled her fist seeing his blank look as he proceeded to press the blade instead, drawing more blood.
"I don't put my dick in crazy."
Ada grinned challenging him. "Shame, that's the only part of you I was hoping wasn't cold."
"Or Maybe you're just not enough to cause any heat. Now, I'm sure you are trained in tanking some kind of tortures and interrogations." Sasuke was done with the cat-and-mouse game; he moved the blade away and grabbed her cheeks, forcing her face closer, and activated his Sharingan.
"But believe me when I say, you don't want to try mine, so last chance, bitch, who made that device for you? Where can I find them? And who the hell are you guys?"
She flinched seeing the unnatural change of his eyes, but her anger and pride overshadowed the fear she felt; she grabbed his wrist for the first time, showing resistance.
Using the door, she brought a foot back and used it to push forward, her knees striking his ribs. She twisted mid-motion slipping from his palm and jumped, executing double kicks toward his jaw.
Just for her ankle to be caught, and the next second the world spun and her body was slammed into the windshield, sliding still beside the severed limb.
Ada winced from the pain in her back letting out a pained moan, she opened her blurry eyes hearing footsteps.
She looked at the asshole who was standing in front of the car looking at her with the same blank face.
"Done?"
Sasuke brushed his jacket that had imprints of her boots cleaning it and asked, seeing her sitting with some difficulty, grabbing at her side.
That move and the force behind it were honestly impressive considering the world he is in now.
"I'm no bitch; don't you dare talk to me like that."
Sasuke blinked, figuring out the reason for her reaction.
"Apologies," he shrugged.
"I'll add a •my• to it next time, so, since you are wasting my time, I'll just—"
"You're not going to like the answer." She spoke, not wanting to test this man further.
"Is that a threat?"
"You think I'm that dumb to threat you?" She jumped from the hood, massaging her neck, and cursed seeing the blood. Her body still hurt from the slam.
Ada gulped seeing his red eyes gazing at her, and clarified.
"Maybe you attracted the wrong kind of attention before the outbreak. I was given orders to act once you landed in the airport, but things changed after the dead started walking.
The ones who contacted me that time did it again 18 days ago—they wanted data and a sample if possible. The device was part of the payment. I was supposed to get close, activate it, and then report the readings before leaving. Nothing personal."
"Names." Sasuke breathed trying to keep his bloodlust in check. Were some random assholes playing the predator with him now?.
"No direct contact. They reached out through brokers. The only lead I had was an encrypted message in the initial outbreak when I abandoned the mission; it was a dead network tied to someone called Hale. The rest of them vanished once I missed my report window."
"Hale." Sasuke searched his memory and nodded, etching the name to his memory.
Ada added seeing him silent. "I know what you're thinking—no point trusting me. But…" She inhaled slowly lowering her voice and revealed her Ace. "If you kill me now, you'll never reach them in time. Promise to keep my life and I'll help you."
"Who? And help me in time for what?"
"To save your friends."
His Sharingan brightened even more, tomoes rotating faster as he closed in on her, and for the first time, Sasuke unleashed his killing intent full force toward a human since he woke up to this world.
Ada nearly passed out as she felt her guts twist unnaturally and her lungs felt empty; she gasped, trying to keep her limbs from shooking uncontrollably.
Her whole body was drenched in cold sweat by the time Sasuke was in front of her, grabbing her hair and forcing her to look up at him.
"Did I damage your brain with that little shove earlier? You know that I will skin you alive if you threaten my people, right? So make yourself clear. What friends? I'll apologize for calling you a bitch, so start talking." He was one hundred percent sure she didn't mean the ones in the prison; Haku's and Vurka's and Koyuki's visions confirmed that.
And that left only two options: Rick's group or...the friends from whatever life he might had in this place before the roof incident.
The latter was much more important for him to know.
The killing intent dissipated naturally by the time his 152 threads were consumed, giving Ada a much-needed clarity again.
She tapped his wrist weakly, still recovering from the shock.
"I can talk, so stop practicing your sadistic plays with me." Sasuke was confused by that but he let her go.
She dropped her butt on the windshield, leaning to rest her weak knees, cursing the moment she accepted this fucking mission. Hale and others were officially fucked now; she can't deal with this freak, but she surely can deliver paybacks to those assholes.
"Two days ago, when I was investigating the surroundings, I picked up a trace. I...went to see the ones behind it, and your name came up in one of their talks—a group led by a man in a sheriff's uniform. Maggie...you know her?"
He nodded, knowing it was the first possibility.
"Yeah, the delicate flower...so they were close to a shelter named the terminus."
"Get to the point."
"Impatient man, aren'–altight" She raised her hands, seeing his unamusing glare. "They should've reached the terminus by yesterday, and they are most likely soon to be on the cutting board."
"Would it hurt if you said the shit in one normal sentence?" Sasuke rubbed his forehead, feeling drained from dealing with such a woman.
"This terminus isn't the sanctuary they think it is; the people there feed on other people who come from the outside."
"Cannibalism?"
"Bingo!"
"Haku" he spoke making Ada glance around, confused.
And seconds later came the soft voice of Haku from their special link.
{Yes, Sasuke-sama.}
[There was an irregularity in my current standing point; it is already dealt with, but send a clone to retrieve the subject.]
(Understood. Any more directives?}
[Yeah, run a full scan on the corpse, check for trackers, embedded triggers, anything synthetic. Check the surroundings and see it's source, Once you're sure it's safe, store it and move it to the secret laboratory in the base. Have Jenner take it apart to study it; I'll be late returning. So tell others, another thing...up the security to level black until I'm back.]
{Copy, will be done in ten}
He turned to Ada.
"You'll guide me to Terminus; let's have the rest of the talk on the way."
"I'll drive," she shrugged and faked a pout seeing him ignoring her.
"Fine, you drive." They boarded the SUV after Sasuke tossed the severed arm beside the corpse.
"You will leave it there?"
"Someone will retrieve it."
The black SUV drove northward, passing the broken signs on the streets and out of the abandoned town.
It started raining not long after, Sasuke stretched a hand to the backseat and tossed her a backpack.
"Meds are in there; treat yourself."
"It would feel romantic if it wasn't you who caused them in the first place." Ada snatched it, removed the shirt she was wearing with deliberate slowness, and twisted seductively revealing a black tactical corset beneath that looked half armor, half lingerie.
She moved her fingers across the fabric as if dusting herself off, a taunt in every motion of her.
Only this time, it was to annoy him; if the asshole wouldn't take the bait and appreciate what she gave him, then she'd make damn sure he remembered refusing it.
Ada spoke seeing him take a turn, briefly glancing at a burned gas station with scorched skeletons around it.
"The road splits after Macon." She pointed ahead and smirked inwardly, seeing his eye stop at her cleavage for a brief moment.
"We follow the rail tracks past Griffin, then west. Terminus isn't marked on any map, but its banners start showing up once you're within five miles." She wore her shirt back and turned to him as he spoke.
"So Mrs. Bait,"
"Can't you pick something more cute?" She sighed, seeing him ignoring her.
"It was just a job to me; I got payment in advance, supplies. Safe houses... They told me to get close to you and activate it. Then my job will be done."
A light chuckle escaped his lips, and she frowned seeing him looking at her a second time as if confirming something.
"I know that look; I'm not stupid."
"At least you are good at guessing my thoughts, so you put a random piece in your throat?"
Ada took a deep exhale from the sheer frustration she was feeling.
"That tracker—its pieces were sent in parts so I could test it and make sure it wasn't going to fry me. I assembled it myself. I wired it. But I didn't know it would call that thing."
"Exactly, who are they anyway? The employee?"
She leaned on the window watching the passing roads and answered him, feeling thirsty.
"A company. Government Agents if I have to guess. I never met the main man. I handled logistics and field assembly. They paid me well back then, because I was the best in the field. That's all."
======
Sup guys, Hope you are doing well.
I'm here to clarify some things I know many would find...bothering.
First, if you are an Ada fan... I'm not hating or targeting her; this is how I built my MC, and I'm following through.
If you are a woman (I don't know if there's any female reading this FF, but I think Earl is), Anyway... I'm not targeting her because she is a female too; just remember what Sasuke did to the men that crossed him.
His merciless reactions were due to obvious factors I'll clarify here in case someone doesn't understand his excessive actions:
1st thing: chakra is supposedly a secret to shinobi (him) here, and seeing it in the hand of an outsider flipped his switch.
2nd: he believed the monster would've caused a wreck in the prison if he came for him while he was there, which Katniss, Ciri, Sophia, and others are at, and yeah, he is quite protective of them.
Third, well, Ada being Ada, she likes going in circles trying to fish for as much info as she can, especially with her catching onto the chakra thing. And Sasuke isn't the type to play along. (MC, as for the real Sasuke? He act both ways sometimes.).
Well, that's all...every time a new character is introduced, I give them two or three chapters of screen time solely for them, to show who they are, their traits and all, so we'll be back to the overall business soon.
For those who felt the FF has gone downhill after the addition of RE factors, I can only say that's how it is.
There are many pure TWD FFs with no mutation. It's hard for me to give an OP MC and make it interesting at the same time while he is living with a bunch of normal people.
[Like usual, this note isn't included for word count; the chapter is 2150 words.]