Maja stretched out and patted her on the shoulder in aforting gesture. Then they bothy down onto the thick grass to catch
some Z''s.
Restlessly twisting and turning, Maja couldn''t find sleep at first, but she forced herself to close her eyes and drift off.
When daylight broke, they nibbled on some crackers and resumed their trek. Nana surveyed the terrain, her brow furrowed with
concern.
"We''ve onlye across fragments of the research base so far. | bet the mainplex is still out there somewhere, just tossed
around by the quake. If we had a chopper, we could spot that big building in no time. If it had its own earthquake defenses, then
maybe just the outer sections got crushed, and the core might be intact. But chances are, anyone inside got knocked out cold."
Maja was of the same mind, silently praying thatn and the others were in the core, holding onto a sliver of hope for their
survival.
She searched fruitlessly until the afternoon, her stomach growling with hunger. Suddenly, the sound of a helicopter filled the sky,
and her phone rang. It was Beck.
"Maja, where are you?"
Surprised by Beck''s swift arrival, Maja quickly ryed her location. In no time, the helicopter touched down nearby.
She grabbed Nana''s hand and they sprinted towards the helicopter.
Beck climbed out, looking grim. Upon seeing Maja, he gave her a thorough once-over. After confirming she was unharmed, he let
out a sigh of relief.
"You''ve got some nerve, you know that? After you ran off to this godforsaken ce, I''ve been catching hell.”
Not just from Dn, butn had given him an earful too.
"Beck, did youe because you''ve got news?"
"Dn sent me to back you up. The more the merrier, right? This ce caught the big shots’ attention. Bernard from Windhelm
showed up too. Seems he had a deal withn a while back -destroy the base in exchange for taking Patric with him."
So that was the dealn struck to get Patric out of Windhelm. The base was clearly toast, time for Bernard to check on his
investment.
"Dn sending you, does that mean he andn are still alive?"
Beck frowned at Maja''s anxious expression and quickly reassured her.
"Yeah, the explosives inside made the quake worse, triggered andslide. The full picture''s still murky. Hop on the chopper, and
who''s this?"
He nced at Nana.
"My friend."
"Alright then, get on. I''ll have another chopper pick her up. Don''t wander around here. The government''s written off thisnd. We
had to pledge a few hospitals to get clearance for our helicopters.”
Otherwise, they could''ve sparked an international incident.
Maja boarded the helicopter, which circled the area before discovering the core structure of the research base about three miles
away.
This hulky three-story remnant was severely damaged, with numerous researchers sprawled around it.
"We made it; we''re alive, haha, like a dream.”
"Is that the real sky? The sun."
"How did | get here? | feel awful, ugh."
About a dozen survivors were on the ground, all in bad shape.N?velDrama.Org owns all ? content.
As soon as the helicopternded,
Maja scrambled among the people)
but neither nine? Dyan were to be
found. She grabbed one of the more
lucid researchers. Please read the
original content at NovelDrama.Org.
"Have you seen him?" She showed a photo ofn on her phone.
The man''s lips twitched upon seeing the picture, "How could | not? He''s the mouse in our deadly game of cat and mouse."
"What do you mean?"
"We''re all cats, had to eliminate him
to survive. But he''s tgs jd Lol
i e ci yas AREY o is tail, the
Ctor''s strongest weapon, surely to
finish him off." Please read the
original content at NovelDrama.Org.
Though the man could speak, he
made little sense to outsi erg: G41
ly nied the edn he scooped
ram hands trembling
uncontrobly. Please read the
original content at NovelDrama.Org.
"I''ve actually made it out, after all these years. | can''t believe I''m really out."
The others were in no better mental state.