Ashrik yanked the cloth from Captain Gao's mouth. Crimson blood had dyed the fabric. One of the older man's front teeth jiggled as it loosened.
Ashrik lowered his voice, devoid of emotion, "I doubt you know what the relic is truly for. Did your deputy commander promise you wealth and power? Enough for you to kill your former comrade's daughter?"
Thoroughly pale out of fright, Captain Gao struggled to speak. "He—he said it's for our own good... T-the relic will kill all zombies... a-and restore the world. We're just exchanging her life for— Umph!"
Ashrik hastily grabbed Captain Gao's face; his jaw bones cracked under the high pressure. Despite the violent act, the former's expression was unreadable, neither angry nor calm.
Just still, as still as the sky before storms came raging.
"You wanted to exchange her life to save billions of others," he murmured. "You didn't even know that the old man had fooled you."
"ARGHH—!"
Captain Gao's scream pierced the air.
Without a warning, Ashrik drove the dagger straight into Captain Gao's abdomen. He purposely avoided the latter's heart, intending to let him suffer slowly.
Then…
A sharp crack resonated in the air. Captain Gao's ability core broke, as Lucille's did a few hours ago.
"Arghhhhhh!"
Captain Gao hollered, convulsing as his power faded and the pain from the stab flared all over his body. Beside him, Ian trembled more violently; tears and snot dirtied his face.
Ashrik drove a kick to Captain Gao's knee. The massive force sent the middle-aged man tumbling with the chair. For certain, his kneecap broke.
"P-please! Have mercy! I didn't mean to..." Captain Gao gasped for breath.
"This is just the beginning. I haven't collected all the debts you owe her," Ashrik spoke monotously before looking at Isaac and Felix. "Keep this old man for now. Discard the others."
Isaac grinned. "Give me the blade. I haven't tried it."
"Me too!" Felix raised one hand.
Ashrik threw the dagger at Isaac. As he turned around, he silently left the basement. He needed to rearrange their original plan for the next mission.
They were supposed to infiltrate Blackstone Fortress tomorrow, Lucille's survival base. This mission was relatively simpler than their usual ones.
Their goal was to gather intel related to Deputy Commander Jia, the one who tasked the mission to Captain Gao. He most likely had a link with Genesis.
This was just the first stage, so they wouldn't needlessly alert the enemy.
When Ashrik finally returned to his cottage, he saw a clean-looking Lucille lying on his bed. It seemed like Hazel had also changed the bedsheet. The latter had left a note on the bedside table.
[Gonna help Sister Gina to cook. The pretty sister is fine now!]
Gina, or Regina Gu, was the second eldest in the group, an esper who specialized in forming defense barriers. Like Isaac, she stayed here instead of joining them at the cave earlier.
Ashrik shifted his gaze back to Lucille. Her face was still pale, but he knew she was out of grave danger. The only issue was mending her broken core.
How hard would it be for her?
Ashrik exhaled a sigh of regret. As he leaned down, he slowly reached out a hand. But the sight of his hand dirtied with mud and blood made him quickly retract it.
After over four years, he had never foresaw their next meeting would be like this.
Gone was the cheerful young lady, but that was what the end of the world did to humanity.
**********
[The next day]
Hurt!
It hurts so much!
Lucille's lashes trembled; the flaring dull ache in her body finally stirred her up. With difficulty, she opened her eyes slowly, her vision blurred.
"...ngh!"
The sharp and numbing pain tore into her foggy mind. Sweat beaded her forehead as she struggled to breathe. She instinctively felt the piercing ache crawling from her broken core.
"...where... am I?" she whispered, voice hoarse.
Lucille realized she lay on a clean, simple bed in a room she didn't recognize. Her chest tightened when a surge of memories crashed into her like a wave.
The sting of the dagger, Captain Gao's cold eyes, the truth behind her father's death, the metallic taste of blood in her throat as her strength drained away...
Why was she here, still alive, instead of being left dead in the cave?
And...
Lucille gasped, recalling the vague features of the man who ordered her not to die. Unable to stay still, she forced herself upright and left the bed.
"Ah—!"
The simple action of standing on the floor forced a cry out of her mouth. She gritted her teeth hard, trying to endure the relentless pain.
As she stepped shakily, Lucille moved toward the closed door. She breathed fast and shallow, each movement pulling at her fragile body.
"...no!"
Her knees buckled when she had just opened the door. Another cry tore from her lips, but she didn't fall. Strong arms caught her waist, holding her steady.
Startled, Lucille lifted her head. Her eyes widened in shock before a faint sense of familiarity rushed in.
Truly, the man was him — Ashrik Zhai.
"Are you alright?"
His voice was calm, but something restrained lurked beneath his dark gaze.
Lucille parted her lips, still in disbelief. "...Brother Ash."
"En. It's me, Lucy."
As if the surprise of meeting him again had faded her dull ache into oblivion, she was drawn by his deep, dark gaze. Her lips parted and closed a few times, finding it hard to speak.
Before her was a familiar pair of eyes, so hauntingly familiar they occasionally graced her dreams.
Whenever her hopes burned low like a weak, flickering candle exposed to the wind, she saw him in her dreams.
What she dreamed of was constructed from the fragments of her memories before the apocalypse ruined the world. Even amid the chaos, he remained a part of her.
And now, facing him in reality, she was surprised to see something vastly different from what she remembered years ago.
A cold frost, edged with warning, had replaced the usual tenderness in those eyes.