"Marcus." Marcus himself cut in. "I'm Marcus Tamil." He repeated, stretching his hand out for a handshake. "And you are?"
I already introduced them. But.. I guess this isn't bad?
Jerry scoffed, stretching his own hand. "Jericho."
They shook.
I breathed out.
That was tough.
Neither of them smiled, though.
Okay, Marcus smiled a little. But not that bright of a smile.
It was expected. The guy was already exhausted.
Jericho turned to face me. "So, mind telling me where you've been all these months?" His voice dropped low. "On the day we discovered that — like the fool you are — you went and sold drugs in Murilan territory, we launched an organized raid in their territory, thinking they might be holding you captive or something."
I blinked, stunned.
They launched a raid to find me?
Me? A lackey?
That's…
Unexpected.
"I was–"
"But we never found your corpse. Even after destroying their headquarters. And none of the guys we.. tortured squealed about where they hid you. So I assumed they'd buried your dead body. All of us believed that. Including the boss. We even.. did a funeral and everything."
"For lil ole me?" I asked with a playful tone.
"I convinced the boss. To do everything." Jericho sighed, "To be honest, the moment Consum reported that you went into Murilan territory to sell, I knew you were dead. They'd warned you countless times."
Consum. Snitch bastard. I told him NOT to snitch.
I shook my head in melancholy.
So Jericho was the one who convinced the boss, huh.
"But to think you're alive." Jerry's blue eyes grew colder. "How did you escape? And where have you been all this time? Why the hell are you this shredded? What have you passed through?"
"Uh…" I stared awkwardly, scratching the back of my head.
What a barrage of questions.
I immediately crouched, raising an arm.
"I hear something," I whispered.
Yup, I heard nothing. This was proving to be a really good strategy to evade uncomfortable conversations.
Both Marcus and Jericho crouched and asked at the same time. "What is it?"
"…"
What do I say n–
The tremors underneath my feet grew stronger.
No, not just stronger. My body began to quiver.
"Wait. I hear it too." Marcus said.
"Yes." Jericho supported, "It sounds like footsteps."
"Giant footsteps," I said.
Shit.
We all quivered as the ground shook, spelling the approach of the Endorath.
It's close.
This bastard's gunshot caused this.
And the gun didn't even kill the Rethons!
"We need to get moving," I said, immediately standing up and fixing my position.
Jericho followed suit, putting his guns in the pocket of his coat. "But to where?"
Both Marcus and I responded, "The subway station."
We all nodded.
"Good plan," Jericho said.
We began to run. But this time, I deliberately slowed my pace, making sure we all ran side-by-side.
While gasping for air as we ran, Marcus asked, "So… you're both gangsters, huh?"
I frowned.
Asking an obvious question. Wasn't that easy to note from the previous conversation?
"Gee-wow. How did you know?" I offered a sarcastic response.
"WERE," Jericho said, breathing evenly as we ran. "We were gangsters. Not anymore."
I furrowed my brows. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, all the gangs in City H were dissolved three months ago." Jerry chuckled. "The government's pathetic effort to improve security."
"Oh."
Is it weird that I'm kind of happy that I 'died' before that happened?
…No. No, it's not weird. You're only human, Dustin.
"It was a large operation. You just had to be there. They captured a large number of criminals, gangsters, and the rest of the city dregs. They could've captured me, too, but the boss gave himself up. To protect the rest of us."
That sounds exactly like something he'll do.
I see why Jericho deeply respects him.
"So that's why you've remained at the headquarters? Because where I found you wasn't far from there." I asked.
"What–? No. I was at home, sleeping peacefully and shit. And the tiny place I called home isn't far from HQ. I heard screams and roars and weird laughter. I came outside to check what was up, and I found monsters, death, end of the world. Apocalypse." Jericho said.
Yeah, no kidding.
"Hell, even my gun couldn't kill any of those monsters. It's like they're immune to the bullets. All I could do was run and stun the smaller ones with the gunshots."
I nodded.
So guns don't work on them, huh.
"You know…" Marcus cut in, "I'm beginning to feel like a third wheel or something, haha."
We both turned to look at Marcus.
You think?
Scraahhh–!!
I flinched, slightly increasing my pace.
What the hell was that?
It sounded like a roar.
Come to think of it…
"The fuck is that?" Jericho yelled.
…I don't feel the trembling anymore. The heavy footsteps have stopped.
We ran far south, speeding through the ruined streets toward the subway station, which was about 5 minutes from here.
Did the Endorath stop chasing?
"Possibly," I whispered.
But that roar sounded way too close. Dangerously so.
Marcus spoke, "I think it–"
A large shadow loomed above us all. It disrupted the ephemeral glow of moonlight that showered on us.
The three of us halted immediately.
I gulped.
It's above us, isn't it?
Simultaneously, we raised our necks, eyes widening as we took in the sight of the black, shapeless, eyeball-riddled thing, hovering above us with its six wings stretched out.
It glided through the air.
"Duz," Marcus called.
"Yeah?" I responded.
"We're gonna die now, aren't we?"
"No," Jerry said. "We're not."
I nodded. "Exactly as he said."
I didn't know what abilities the Endorath had. But from how I'd seen it casually destroy buildings earlier, and from what I'd experienced squaring up against a tier 1 Reaper Grade, I knew that this was an impossible matchup for the current, weaponless me.
This was, in all its unrighteous glory, a Tier 2 Reaper Grade monster.
"Run!!!!" I screamed aloud.