《Fox Girl In An Apocalyptic World》


 Chapter 1: Lieutenant Reia

    <h4>Chapter 1: Lieutenant Reia</h4>


    "Lieutenant Reia pleasee in." An old man in a general outfit sat behind a desk looking rather annoyed.


    A ck-haired fox girl in a white military uniform entered the office. The uniform had purple ents and a badge with the letter A on the chest. Her tail and ears werepletely ck however, her hair waspletely purple underneath. The fox girl had average-sized breasts and a slim figure which was shown through the tight fit uniform.


    The fox girl was 5''7" and her violet eyes shined slightly from the light that came through the massive window behind the old man.


    From the window, a busy city was in view and everyone within it was living out their day to day lives. The city itself looked like any other modern city but robots and many advanced technologies were upying the streets.


    Reia looked at the old man with cold eyes while she approached the desk. Reia stopped a couple of meters away, not taking her eyes off the old man waiting for him to speak.


    "I have to congratte you on yourtest mission, I heard you managed to secure the package. Thanks to your efforts we can move on to phase 2. Go take your squad to a ce to rx, there won''t be any missions for a while." The old man picked up some papers on his desk and turned in his chair.


    "Don''t linger for too long, you know how much I hate being around you. Saying my thanks was already hard enough." The old man waved from behind his chair to tell Reia to leave.


    Reia walked out of the room trying to keep her calm and did not say a word.


    *


    Reia walked down the street where many soldiers of different squads resided. Robots were going up and down the street delivering items and food to each of the apartmentplexes.


    The way of life was very simple as almost everything was automated by robots making most jobs obsolete and the only way to make an easy living was the military. Other jobs that required human emotions and interpretation were always in high demand making the army the only choice for many.


    Although the military was the easy option it was one of the hardest to achieve a high standing in.


    Reia approached what looked like a small mansion which was at the end of the street overlooking all the apartments.


    Reia opened the door and instantly a 5''5" half lynx girl started running at her. The Half lynx wore the same uniform but with orange ents. The lynx was brown-skinned alongside her hair and eyes. Her hair was shoulder length and had orange highlights.


    "Reiaaaaaaa" The half lynx ran straight into Reia and jumped to hug her.


    Reia sighed and quickly stepped to the side letting the half lynx jump through the door falling on her face.


    "Kim, you know I don''t like being touched." Reia shut the front door leaving Kim outside.


    "Oi, don''t leave me outside." Kim got up and quickly opened the door to find that Reia disappeared.


    "Tch, where is Lou? She always hugs me." Kim crossed her arms while she walked back inside and shut the door with her foot. However, behind the door was Reia and without realizing it Kim got poked in the ribs.


    "AHH!" Kim yelped from the sudden poke and jumped away from Reia.


    "If you like Lou so much why don''t you go find her." Reia smirked as Kim''s face waspletely red from screaming.


    "S-she said wait you damn vixen." Kim red at Reia wanting to fight back but knew it will only turn into torture for her.


    "Ah okay~ why not go wait in Lou''s bed then, I will be in my room so don''t need to worry about me hearing anything." Reia then began to walk up the stairs.


    "Hissss~" Kim''s face got even redder and was unable to argue back.


    Reia got to the top of the stairs and entered her room which was in the middle of the hallway.


    The room was rather empty only having a katana and assault rifle hung up on the wall. The assault rifle and sword were both ck being lined with a dark purple. The sword had no hilt and the end of the handle had a few buttons. The assault rifle had the model of an M4A1 fitted with many attachments. The mag however, was not filled with bullets but energy that glowed purple.


    In the corner of the room was a desk that had aputer with multiple screens.


    Reia was about to sit down till she suddenly grabbed her sword off the wall unsheathing it. The dark purple lines began to glow and Reia pointed the sword towards the door.


    "Next time you sneak in Echo I am going to have to start cutting off limbs as an entry price." Reia red at the door until a man appeared out of nowhere with his hands up.


    Echo wore a face mask alongside the white uniform with blue ents which paired with his bright blue eyes. Echo had ck hair and due to it being really short only a little amount of blue could be seen throughout it.


    "Damn I thought this invisibility device would finally deceive you this time." Echo, who was a normal 6''1" human, looked disappointed.


    "You know that I have a keen 6th sense, go try it on Kim." Reia sheathed her sword and ced it back on the wall.


    "Anything works on her, I need someone who tests my devices to the limit. Anyway, back to tinkering." Echo left Reia''s room in a hurry before he lost a limb.


    "What a headache." Reia shook her head as Echo despite being one of the best engineers had a rather erratic personality.


    Reia let out a sigh and went out to the balcony to have a smoke. She then looked out to the backyard where a few gardeners were taking care of the garden.


    ''Those files, do they n to destroy the whole? I know we need more power to increase efficiency but this is too dangerous.'' Reia thought back to the files that contained a blueprint of some kind of generator.


    ''Using a new type of energy we have never tested is only gonna lead to disaster, I need to prepare the team for the worst.'' Reia believed something was going to go wrong as the greed of the higher-ups was out of control.


    *


    The same old man was in an underground base walking past cells containing many restrained mutated beasts.


    "Have we tested all the side effects of being exposed to uthranium?" The old man talked to one of the scientists that were by a cell.


    "Yes, if you are exposed to it for a couple of hours or are in direct contact you will begin to mutate. Also, if you are hit by any of the mutated beasts there is a high chance of turning but this process takes much longer and does not always happen." The scientist gave a report and the man smiled.


    "Good, we will start using the energy from uthranium as soon as possible." The old man rubbed his beard with a smile.


    "Understood." The scientist bowed and walked off.


    *


    The sun was approaching the horizon and Reia had been standing on the balcony agonizing over the contents of the file.


    Her train of thought would be broken however, as someone had buzzed their front gate. Reia checked herputer monitors that had security footage of the outside. A male half panther in a general uniform was outside the mansion and Reia instantly knew it was bad news.


    Grabbing her gun and sword off the wall pushed a button on the weapons making them go invisible. Reia quickly ran to the door and Kim was already waiting.


    "Do you know why he is here?" Kim was peeking through the window eyeing off the half panther with a murderous glint in her eyes.


    "It might have to do with ourtest mission, but prepare for the worst and get everyone ready to move, we may have to go on vacation a little earlier than expected." Reia had a stressed look as it wasmon for generals to visit homes and the next day find the squad missing or dead.


    "But Aoi and Jayde aren''t back yet, we can''t leave them." Kim was concerned for thest 2 members who had not returned home yet.


    "Don''t worry they will be fine, contact them and tell them I said sacred haven." Reia gave Kim orders and she instantly ran off to warn the others and contact the missing 2.


    Reia opened the door and walked calmly to the gate.


    "Ah Lieutenant Reia, I havee here to talk about a few things, may Ie inside?" The panther had a smirk which only pissed Reia off.


    "Do these few things have to do with what''s on those files?" Reia red at the panther ready to kill him at any moment. The panther''s face instantly went from smug to serious and his tone from friendly to cold.


    "Reia, you mustn''t talk about such information in public, I do not want to publicly exile you and your friends." The panther went to reach for his handgun but before he could pull it out, his hand was cut clean off.


    Reia had taken out her sword as she recognized the handgun the panther had.


    "You think you would be able to easily cut off my essence, tch who do you think you are dealing with." Reia, without giving the panther time to respond, decapitated him.

 Chapter 2: Eruption

    <h4>Chapter 2: Eruption</h4>


    "Ara~, killing a general in broad daylight, you must have a death wish." A 5''7" silver-haired she-wolf the same height as Reia walked up to the dead body.


    The she-wolf had gold eyes as well as underneath her hair and her white uniform had bright yellow ents. 2 ck berettas lined with gold were holstered on either side of the she-wolf''s chest.


    "Lou you know how much I have been wanting to murder them and it''s not like we don''t have a way out." Reia watched Lou walk over to the dead half panther picking up the handgun.


    "Yes, yes I know but to think they would already try to silence you." Lou spun the handgun in her hand.


    "As soon as I saw the anti essence gun I knew they were here to kill us." Reia, using her sword, stabs it into the general. Dark purple energy started to flow into the sword and the lines on it began to glow brighter.


    "If they disable how we fuel our weapons we basically be useless so it''s rather effective." Lou pulled out her beretta and threw the anti essence gun in the air shooting it. A gold light came out of the beretta and incinerated the gun to ashes.


    "Well if we didn''t have Echo we wouldn''t be able to extract other people''s essence and store it." Reia pulled out her sword and gestured for Lou to shoot the body.


    "We still have to use our own plus those are illegal devices and modifications." Lou while talking pointed her beretta at the body and fired, burning the body to ashes.


    "That doesn''t matter, it won''t be long till they send more, we need to get out of here." Reia turned and started to walk back inside.


    "Damn, I wanted to hang around and see how many I could kill." Lou put away her beretta that was holstered next to her chest.


    "You will run out of essence before you even kill 1% of their forces, don''t bother." Reia opened the mansion door and walked back inside.


    "Tch, you are no fun." Lou followed Reia back inside.


    "Reia! I told all the staff to leave the building and Echo is preparing the jeep for us to make our way to the haven." Kim came running from under the stairs.


    "What about Jayde and Aoi?"


    "They understood and will be making their way as fast as they can." Kim''s face was full of panic as everything was going so fast.


    "Good, now get as many supplies we can carry and don''t forget your weapons. Lou, I want you just before we leave, to burn this ce down." Reia after giving her orders walked past Kim towards the door that was underneath the stairs.


    "Now that''s some orders I will follow. Kim dear go grab those supplies, I have a show to put on." Lou had a grin and pulled out her berettas.


    Kim nodded and quickly ran upstairs to grab her weapon alongside any supplies.


    *


    In the garage, Echo was on aputer by the car frantically typing.


    "How are preparations?" Reia looked coldly at Echo, wanting a straight answer.


    "We should be ready to go in a few minutes but do we have to go now?" Echo continued to type away while talking.


    "Yes, those files are for a generator for a highly dangerous element and I don''t want to stay to find out. Plus we all have been wanting to leave this shit hole."


    "Just making sure, because we have to go in the next 10 minutes, they already sent their main force towards the mansion." Echo''s face was getting more panicked as a bunch of red dots appeared on theputer.


    "KIM! WE DON''T HAVE TIME, GET HERE NOW!" Reia yelled out as she wanted to leave as soon as possible.


    Kim came rushing in holding a Barrett 50 cal sniper which was almost as tall as her.


    "Jayde and Aoi have their guns so it just leaves supplies but I''m guessing we don''t have time." Kim was out of breath as she ced her sniper in the boot of the jeep.


    "Good, we will have to leave the supplies and take what we already got. The main army is alreadying so hop in." Reia opened the back seat to let Kim inside.


    "What about Lou?" Echo wondered where she was as it seemed they were leaving without her.


    "Do you need to ask, just drive and you will get your answer." Reia hopped in the front passenger seat and Echo rushed to the driver''s seat.


    "Why do I have to drive?" Echoined as he usually was the one to always be driving.


    "Oh, will you shut up,st time you let someone else drive you almost killed them because they touched your electronics. Now stopining and drive you idiot." Reia smacked the back of Echo''s head and he finally started driving.


    Driving out the back of the mansion a window was heard breaking followed by a couple of gunshots. Lou had jumped out the back mansion window shooting and caused an explosion inside the mansion.


    The mansion rose in mes and Lounded on the roof of the jeep. She opened thetch on the roof and sat down in the back seat next to Kim.


    "I said to burn the ce down, not blow it up." Reia held her forehead as she wanted the mansion to burn slowly to not attract too much attention before the army arrived but Lou had done theplete opposite.


    "You never said how, so I went ahead and blew it up, plus even if you told me to I wouldn''t have done it any other way." Lou wrapped her arm around Kim pulling her in. Kim was surprised by the sudden hug but nheless enjoyed the physical affection.


    "Tch I know but I was hoping you would have done it a bit more discreetly." Reia sighed as there was no controlling Lou.


    "Fufu~" Lou chuckled to herself, finding Reia''s reaction amusing.


    They continued to drive down the road going past many more houses. Many drones and helicopters began flying over looking for them but thanks to Echo they were able to be unidentified by their scanners.


    "So far so good we just need to get to the border of the base and we will be in the city where it will be much easier to maneuver." Echo outlined their situation and things were looking good. The only worry was Jayde and Aoi as they had no way to get there fast.


    "Kim, try contacting Jayde and Aoi again." Reia wanted to know how they will be making it out as they were the only 2 yet to return.


    Kim quickly pulled out a phone calling Jayde and put it on speaker.


    "Hello, Kim? If you are wondering if we are getting close to the border, Aoi with her silenced weapon has helped get through undetected and we should be in the main city in about 10 minutes." Jayde spoke through the phone giving them an update.


    "Jayde, tell Aoi to pick up the pace we will be entering the city soon and it would be ideal if we could pick you up before we reach gate 1." Reia hoped they would be able to be picked up but if not they would have to find each other in the city.


    "We can try, but I can''t promise you anything but you will see us if we do make it." Jayde wasn''t hopeful but would try her best.


    "Good, get going, we have no time to waste." Reia gestured at Kim to hang up and they continued to drive towards gate 1.


    *


    They were on the final stretch but sadly Aoi and Jayde were able to be seen and the situation was looking grimmer as the gate seemed to be fully locked down.


    "Echo, do you have a solution?" Reia wondered if Echo had a gadget that would allow them to pass through.


    "Sadly I don''t and it seems they anticipated this as I see many high ranking soldiers." Echo began to sweat as things were starting to go downhill.


    "Finally I can fight, I have been itching to kill someone." Lou was just about to hop out of the car but Reia spoke up.


    ''Don''t you da-" During mid speech an explosion came from the middle of the base at the tower where Reia had the meeting.


    Like a volcano, the ground began to crack and erupt greenva.


    "Shit already, I thought we had a couple of days before something went wrong." Reia suspected with the blueprints to make a generator that uses energy from a newly discovered rock would only cause disaster.


    "Echo drive, we need to get far away." Reia turned back to find Echo panicking as the car was unable to start up again.


    "Damnit, looks like we have to go on foot now."

 Chapter 3: Mutants

    <h4>Chapter 3: Mutants</h4>


    "Shit what the hell is that greenva?" Echo had pulled out a device that was able to scan theva, but nothing wasing up due to something interfering with electronics.


    "It is probably something to do with this new element that was recently discovered and now the military has royally fucked up this time" Reia looked towards the tower that was falling apart.


    Much of the attention was now on the eruption instead of them making it easier to escape.


    "Kim, get your sniper and take out any remaining soldiers at the gate. After that, we will push forward on foot."


    Kim nodded and pulled out her sniper from the boot.


    Kim then got on the roof of the jeep and despite her size was able to lift the sniper with ease. Kim then ced the sniper on the roof andid down aiming down sights.


    "What the fuck is that?" Kim called out as she spotted something odd in the distance.


    "What do you see Kim?" Reia was concerned as they were just too far to clearly see what was at the gate.


    "There is this ck oil looking creature, and it has mangled body partsing out of it. Looks like it is still transforming." Kim was rather disgusted by the site as she saw a half-dog start getting mangled and a ck oil cover its body.


    "Kill it quickly, it must be from the greenva, ECHO! Don''t touch theva!" Reia told Kim to shoot and yelled at Echo who was still around the crack withva in it.


    Echo quickly backed up from the crack in the ground as he heard the conversation and would rather not find out what happens if he touched it.


    Kim lined up the shot and the orange lining that was on her sniper began to glow brightly before firing. The jeep shook and a bunch of dust lifted in the air as the orange bullet travelled through the air, directly into the transforming half dog''s heart. A massive hole in the half dog''s chest was created and he fell to the floor.


    Kim waited a moment before saying it was dead and thankfully it did not rise. However, another issue just urred, more of the soldiers that were at the gate were also touched by theva and the shot had caused the mutated people to start running towards them.


    "Shit they are running this way." Just as Kim was about to look away, she saw the half-dog rise from the floor.


    "How is it alive?" Kim saw the half-dog transform into a ck oil looking creature taking the form of the dog.


    "Kim! What''s going on?!" Reia wanted to know what she was seeing.


    "I thought I killed the half-dog soldier, but it lived and turned into a ck oil looking monster dog." Kim tried her best to describe it as the body had an oil effect but looked more like a fleshy slime.


    "There is also moreing so we should either run or try to kill them, but I have no idea if it''s possible to kill them." Kim was starting to panic, not sure what to do.


    "Sweetie~ shoot the dog onest time and if he doesn''t die then we will have to run but if It does die, we can stay and fight." Lou had spoken up and Kim regained herposure.


    Kim took a deep breath and went to fire another shot at the mutant dog. The dog''s eyes glowed green and the size of the dog wasrger than any normal dog.


    Kim''s gun lit up and another orange bullet fired piercing right through the dog''s body. Green blood sttered all over the ground and a dark green crystal fell to the floor in pieces.


    "It''s dead! I think." Kim wasn''t too sure, but she could not see any movements and the body stayed limp.


    "Good they are kible, what do the other mutants look like?" Reia knew there were too many unknowns about the mutants but seeing as they can be killed, it allowed them to find out valuable information through this encounter.


    Kim looked over to the small horde that was still far from them. When she looked over, she saw that one of the human soldiers was running away. Unable to be faster than the many mutant beasts following the human, it started getting eaten alive till it was dead.


    A panther, lion, wolf and many more mutant beasts gnawed at the human body. Once they were finished, they continued to run toward Reia and her squad. Kim then noticed something strange happen with the human body. After the beasts had killed him, the dead body started to transform into a mutant. Its body was elongated and no longer represented a human, looking more like an alien, unlike the animal forms the half-humans took.


    "We have almost every animal you can think of and don''t get bit or hit because it will cause you to transform!" Kim felt chills as the scene was quite morbid.


    "Lou protect Ki-." Reia was about to tell Lou to protect Kim, but she already started running towards the horde.


    "Echo protect Kim, surely you can use a gun for once and not rely on your drones." Reia turned to Echo who was pulling out a silenced MP5.


    "A shame I can''t use my turrets but don''t worry I will protect her." Echo stood by the jeep.


    "Good." Reia nodded and chased after Lou.


    Many robots were scattered around as most electronics had been disabled leaving them limp on the street. Many of the apartments had also been empty as most soldiers were on duty and it was rare for a lot of people to be home.


    The few people that were home hade out of their apartments because of the eruption but many were unarmed and if they were spotted by the new emerging mutants they would have been killed and turned.


    Lou came face to face with some mutants and pulled out her dual ck berretta''s. Using one of the disabled robots on the road, Lou jumped in the air and fired on the 2 mutants. Her yellow pullets set the mutants aze, but it did not stop them from moving. The bullets pierced through the bodies but even a headshot did not kill them.


    "Tch." Lou clicked her tongue whilending back on the ground and then jumping back.


    Riea had caught up and crouched on the ground and began to fire her assault rifle. The purple lining on Reia''s gun began to glow and a burst of bullets came out. The bullets were like lightning piercing through a mutant lion destroying a green crystal. Lightning lingered around where the bullets hit.


    "Looks like they have a core, and destroying it is the only way to kill them." Seeing as Lou''s bullets were ineffective means the only way to kill them was by destroying the core.


    "Well, that''s easy, just shoot them enough times till you hit the core." Lou aimed her beretta''s and fired on a mutant cat that jumped at them. After a few shots, Lou hit the core and the mutant cat''s body fell to their feet.


    The main horde had almost arrived, and a smile sprung on Lou''s face.


    "Shall we have some fun Reia?"


    "I don''t know how you find this fun but yes I am ready." Reia stood up and the magazine in her gun slightly glowed purple.


    "Make sure to fill your gun back up with your essence." Reia reminded Lou to reload her gun.


    "Oh yeah." Lou looked at the handle and saw a yellow bar that was half full.


    The mutant monsters growled and screeched as they approached.


    Lou ran straight ahead, and Reia ran to the side jumping on a car that was left in the street.


    Lou began to fire into the horde picking off a human and fox mutant. Reia from a distance began firing at the bear mutant, punching many holes in the bear. Reia''s bullets having a lightning effect paralysed the bear.


    Now able to get a clean shot aimed at the middle of the bear destroying the core with one bullet.


    Despite Their efforts there were still about 15-20 mutants left and at their current pace would be overrun.


    ''At this pace we won''t be able to kill them before they get too close, if what Kim said is true then it''s best, we keep our distance as much as possible.'' Reia did not want to end up fighting close range with the mutants as even a scratch could possibly turn them.


    Lou, on the other hand, was getting close and thanks to her fire were able to burn away their bodies making it easier to guess where the core could be.


    Sending a barrage of bullets Lou picked off many mutants causing a small bonfire of dead bodies.


    Lou jumping off a disabled robot againunched herself over the horde raining down bullets on them. The mutants tried to reach out but because of the sudden stop to grab Lou, many of them ran into each other. Lou killed more of the mutants and set fire to the remaining and their bodies began to melt.


    Reia pushed closer to the horde and let her own barrage of bullets onto the horde killing the remaining surviving mutants.


    "Now where is the next horde?" Lou looked around for more but was not able to see any mutants.


    "We have other things to worry about, we need to go back to Echo and Kim." Reia turned around and Lou sighed but still nodded. Both then began to run back to the jeep.

 Chapter 4: Collapse

    <h4>Chapter 4: Copse</h4>


    Kim and Echo watched the other 2 run off to take care of the horde. Kim, watching through her sniper, noticed the core and assumed it was the mutant''s weakness.


    "Hey Echo it looks like when people turn they get a core so make sure to aim for the core to kill them." Kim, still looking down the scope, had not noticed the mutant cheetah silently approaching.


    Echo looked over and noticed the mutant was about to pounce on Kim.


    "Kim!" Echo quickly shouted while shooting at the cheetah to drive it away. The cheetah jumped back and Kim quickly got up pulling out a ck beretta. The beretta was a slightly different model from Lou''s and the handle had a wolf symbol.


    Kim fired at the mutant cheetah, but the mutant was able to keep dodging the bullets.


    Echo took advantage of Kim''s shooting and tried to hit the cheetah''s leg just as itnded from dodging. Echo taking a deep breath became fully focused on the cheetah''s leg, predicting where it willnd next.


    Echo''s gun began to glow blue and as if the bullet did not have any travel time, hit the cheetah''s legs in an instant, giving it no time to react. In a span of under a second Echo shot 4 bullets taking out all 4 legs of the cheetah. Where Echo shot of the cheetah''s legs was a little bit of ice from his bullets.


    Echo lost focus and stumbled holding his head, but thanks to his efforts Kim was able to get the final shot. Kim hit the core which was located in its chest and the ck fleshy slime body began to melt.


    "Thanks Echo, but are you sure you didn''t fry your brain doing that. You should know using essence to enhance our own bodies is highly dangerous." Kim could see Echo struggling to stand and saw him fall to one knee holding his head.


    "It''s okay. I have been testing in small amounts and thought to push myself a little, but in hindsight, I should''ve just used a small amount of essence." Echo regretted his decision but did not want to take any chances with the mutant.


    "As long as you don''t damage yourself permanently, you are the smartest one out of all of us." Kim showed concern as Echo being one of the best engineers means losing him would be a huge loss for the squad.


    "Yeah, yeah, I know but I think there is moreing behind us."


    Kim looked up and saw that there was more rushing over.


    "Make sure if any get close take care of them." Kim quickly turned her sniper around and aimed down sights.


    Seeing a horde that was a bit bigger than what Reia and Lou were fighting decided to use her essence to the fullest.


    "Echo, I''m going full power, so make sure if any survive you finish them off." Kim yelled out and her sniper started to violently glow orange.


    "Yep, as long as they don''te close in the next 30 seconds I will be alright." Echo still feeling the effects of using essence on his body, needed a little more time before he could properly fight.


    "You will be fine, they shouldn''t survive anyway." Kim feeling confident ramped up the amount of essence that was being fueled into the sniper.


    A small orange vortex was forming at the barrel of the gun and small orange bars began to light up on the side of the barrel indicating it was charging up.


    The vortex spun faster with each passing moment and the strain on Kim was getting more intense.


    The final bar lit up and Kim pulled the trigger on her sniper. A massive beam of orange shot out of Kim''s gun turning anything it hit into nothing. The horde that was running at them had disappeared into nothingness leaving no traces, as well as a chunk of the road was missing. The beam continued down the road till it finally fizzled out or hit something as the further it went the less powerful it got.


    Kim however, was sted off the jeep and was sent flying back as the recoil from the st was too much for her to handle. Even the jeep had lifted slightly in the air from the st.


    Although Echo had seen it before he was still blown away by just how much power the st had. The only downside was the sniper would overheat and be unable to be used for a few hours as well as the amount of recoil it had.


    Kim let go of her sniper mid-air and flew through the air.


    Lou, who was running back, did not notice Kim but instinctively caught the flying Kim.


    Reia seeing Kim be caught by Lou continued to rush back making sure Echo was okay


    "Oh my, I didn''t know cuties fell from the sky~." Lou slid back from the force and held Kim in a princess carry.


    "H-hello there Lou." Kim was surprised to see Lou as it was rather convenient she just arrived to catch her.


    "I may have used all my essence and cannot walk. Is it alright if you carry me again?" Kim was not able to move and was stuck in Lou''s arms.


    "Of course I can~." Lou smirked and while carrying Kim went to pick up her sniper.


    The sniper''s barrel waspletely red from the heat and even touching the gun itself burnt a little. but Lou did not care, picking it up with no issue, putting the strap around her shoulder.


    "S-sorry you have to always do this when I use my essence." Kim felt a bit bad forcing Lou to always carry her when she goes full power.


    "For such a cute lynx, you have so much power thanks to your essence''s explosiveness and I love that about you so don''t ever feel sorry idiot." Lou pinched Kim''s side causing her to yelp.


    "Hiisss!" Kim hissed as that was all she could do while Lou was able to do what she wanted.


    "OI! Enough you love birds, we need to get out of here." Reia who was next to Echo making sure no permanent damage was done to him called out to the 2 girls.


    "Tch." Lou clicked her tongue as the situation was indeed not ideal and they had no time to y. Kim had blushed from Reia''sment as although never explicitly said, it was clear they were dating.


    "Each of you takes a bag of supplies as I can''t carry everything and try our best to ration them. Depending on the city''s state there may not be many resources." Reia had gone to the boot of the jeep pulling out backpacks for every one filled with supplies.


    Lou leaned Kim up on the jeep and put on her bag while Kim held onto hers. Echo put his on and went looking in the boot for some of his electronics to take with him. Although they did not work it was still good to take them to see if they would work somewhere else.


    "Alright if we are ready to go let''s make our way to the gate." Reia put on her bag and began to walk down the street to the gate. Lou picked up Kim and Echo yed with small devices trying to see if he could get them to work while walking.


    *


    They had made it to the gate where greenva was oozing out of a crack that had turned the soldiers.


    While they were fighting a lot of the eruption was over and only pools ofva were left making it safer to walk around.


    "Although it looks likeva it does not give off any heat but instead cold." Echo did not get too close but was close enough to be able to feel the heat if it was actuallyva.


    "Coldva? That sounds ridiculous, but I guess when a global crisis could be happening it isn''t too crazy to think something odd to be the cause." Kim responded and although she did not see the files she guessed whatever new element was discovered had caused a chemical reaction.


    "Indeed, we do not know too much about it, and although theva may not be the new element itself, something has caused a reaction making this weird substance." Reia wanted to know more but without turning back and going to the tower she had no hope of finding answers.


    "All we need to do is focus on surviving plus, these new mutants give me something to shoot. It was getting boring killing just people." Lou did not care much about why things were as long as she got to kill.


    "But I still would like to know. Anyway, no use thinking about it now, we have to see if our hideout on the outskirts of the city is still intact." Reia did not want to agonise over it, so she moved on hoping one day she will get answers, but right now it was not her priority.


    Reia then walked up to the gate about to open the small door until an explosion went off behind them.


    The base of the tower had exploded and it began to topple over. The tower almost went into the clouds and was extremely wide meaning the impact would be huge.


    Watching the scene of the tower falling it had taken them a moment to realise that the tower was falling in their direction.


    "Shit! Everyone run, try not to get separated!" Reia yelled out while kicking the gate door open.


    Everyone rushed through in an attempt to get away from the tower''s st zone.

 Chapter 5: Alone

    <h4>Chapter 5: Alone</h4>


    <Aoi and Jayde POV>


    In one of the apartments, a half-cat and tanuki were sitting on the floor seemingly hiding.


    "What the fuck." A half-cat woman was trying to turn on her phone, but the screen kept bugging out and was not able to disy anything.


    The half-cat was Jayde who was rtively short at 5''2 being the smallest in the squad. Jayde had ck hair that went to her shoulders and underneath her hair was vibrant green as well as her eyes. Her ents on her uniform shared the same colour as her eyes and on her back was a green ent p90 smg alongside a silenced USP which was given to her from Aoi


    "It seems like the eruption has caused an EMP effect." Aoi the half tanuki was peeking out the window.


    Aoi a female half tanuki with a height of around 5''9" carried a USP handgun which was silenced. She also carried a silenced MK-14 marksman rifle which was lined with white on her back. She usually had 2 handguns but had given one to Jayde as they were silently making their way past the guards and Jayde''s p90 was not the quietest weapon.


    Aoi had slightly long ck hair with it only going to her neck and underneath it waspletely silver. Aoi''s eyes were silver and her uniform had grey ents. Aoi was observing some of the mutants that were wandering outside the building.


    "AHH, this is annoying, I can''t contact Reia and we are surrounded by a bunch of monsters." Jayde was beginning to panic and threw her phone across the room.


    "Calm down Jayde, we just have to make it to the hideout and seeing that we no longer need to be discreet, pass my pistol back." Aoi held her other hand out and Jayde passed back the USP.


    "I-i know but what if they turned into mutants, what are we going to do." Jayde was thinking of the worst-case scenario.


    "You know how strong they are, if you can survive, they are able to, so stop worrying!" Aoi yelled as right now they needed to focus on getting out alive.


    However, because Aoi yelled, some of the mutants were drawn to them.


    "Shit! Jayde get ready, we identally made too much noise." Aoi got up and went to the door of the apartment they were hiding in.


    Jayde shook her head trying not to think about the squad while getting up from the floor.


    "Let''s go, the quicker we get moving the quicker we can see them." Jayde reassured herself and pulled out her P90.


    Aoi opened the door and quickly rushed out to the street followed by Jayde.


    The mutants came running around the building towards Jayde and Aoi.


    Jayde felt like vomiting at the sight of them as it was a rather disgusting sight to see them.


    "Let''s hope they die." Aoi put away her pistols and pulled out her rifle.


    The Mk-14 began to glow white before firing, but no sound could be heard from the gun. The air around the bullet was non-existent like a small vacuum. Jayde had not realised Aoi had shot until she saw the white glowing bullet go past, piercing right through the mutant''s body.


    Aoi had hit the core and seeing a shattered crystale from the mutant had given them a slight hint on how to kill them.


    "Jayde, they seem to have a core, use your p90 and see if you kill them by just shooting them in the head." Aoi wanted to test if the core was the life force of the mutants.


    Jayde nodded and crouched, aiming down sights.


    Her gun began to glow a bright green before firing a burst of green bullets at the ground.


    The bullets hit the ground and rebounded heading straight for the heads of multiple mutants. The heads of the mutants were blown off but continued to move like nothing ever happened and slowly regenerated the missing part.


    "Looks like we have to aim for the core, so do not assume they are dead unless you see a broken core." Aoi got the confirmation she needed and began to fire into the small horde.


    "Umu" Jayde understood and began to run to the side while shooting at the floor and the horde.


    Their bullets rained down on the horde with Aoi aiming for the core while Jayde whittled down the mutant''s bodies making it easier for Aoi to guess where the core was.


    Many of the mutants fell before getting close to them but due to Jayde''s gun being loud more mutants nearby had been attracted to them.


    "We may need to just run." Jayde was not sure how much more would keeping and rather conserve her essence.


    "Let''s get running, but we ha-" Aoi was interrupted as the explosion at the base of the tower urred.


    The tower began to fall to the left of them but still needed to move as the st of the crash would most likely kill them.


    "Jayde we have to get as far as we can!" Aoi freaked out and started to run down the street.


    Jayde, also realising the gravity of the situation, began to follow Aoi. The mutants continue to charge at them with Jayde blindly shooting behind her hoping to pick a few of them off.


    Jayde wasgging behind Aoi leaving a small gap between them and a mutant tiger from out of nowhere jumped between them.


    "Shit!" Jayde jumped to the side and began to run down an alleyway leaving Aoi.


    Aoi turned, seeing Jayde continue to run to the side, grateful she was safe, but now had a tiger to deal with.


    "I know she didn''t mean to leave me for dead, but damn this isn''t ideal." Aoi kept running but seeing it was a tiger, running away may be the worst decision.


    Pulling out her dual pistols she started firing down on the tiger while moving back, as expected the tiger was able to just move quick enough to dodge her bullets.


    "Tch." Pulling out her rifle quickly fired at the tiger and thanks to it not making a sound messed with the tiger''s timing causing one of its back legs to be blown off.


    Aoi fired again, this time hitting one of its front legs and knew she would be able to run away without getting caught.


    "Nice! Okay, time to sprint." Aoi was walking backwards slowly, so she could aim down properly only stopping for a moment before shooting.


    Aoi wanted to run in the same direction as Jayde but when she looked to the side, more mutants emerged from the side making it impossible to catch up to Jayde for now.


    "Looks like gate 12 it is." Aoi and Jayde were by gate 12 which was to the left of gate 1 making them rtively close to the squad but due to how big the base was it still took a bit of time to get to the next gate.


    Aoi sprinted making her way to the gate at the end of the street and rushed through the door finally escaping from the base.


    *


    Jayde was running down the alley heavily breathing as she was terrified. She briefly stopped to look behind and realised she had left Aoi.


    "Fuck, I left Aoi behind." Jayde began to stress as she was now left alone and she couldn''t run back unless she wanted to face the horde.


    Not sure what to do Jayde kept moving forward getting closer to gate 11 hoping Aoi would have gone the same direction.


    While moving down the alleyway a mutant spider had crawled around the corner.


    "EEEK!!" Jayde screamed as seeing a massive spider terrified her.


    Jayde quickly started to fire her gun at the spider and thanks to her bullets being able to bounce off walls the alley started to fill with bullets.


    The spider had nowhere to go and because with each bounce the bullets went faster, the spider found itself unable to dodge.


    Bullets started hitting the spider destroying its legs and making it fall to the floor. Since the spider wasrger it was stuck on its side making it easier for Jayde to kill.


    Bullets from all directions pierced the spider filling it with holes till eventually the core was destroyed.


    Jayde had closed her eyes while shooting and when she heard the shattering of the core finally opened her eyes.


    The body of the spider was melting into the floor leaving an oily slime behind and Jayde knew she had killed it.


    This would not be the end as more mutants from the horde were now in the alleyway behind her and she needed to keep moving.


    "Why meeee." Jayde already wanted this to end and looked up to the sky.


    Seeing adder that led to the roof, Jayde had found her way out.


    Getting a slight running start Jayde ran up the wall and was just barely able to grab thedder.


    "If I was taller this wouldn''t be a damn issue!" Jayde felt like it was harder than it should be as in reality, thedder wasn''t that high up.


    Jayde climbed onto the roof escaping the alley.

 Chapter 6: Separation [Part 1]

    <h4>Chapter 6: Separation [Part 1]</h4>


    Jayde climbed onto the roof seeing the tower slowly fall to the ground. Because of its size, it took some time before it fully fell but a storm of dust could be seen from the base of the tower.


    ''I need to keep running.'' Jayde turned and hopped over a few roofs before she made her way back down.


    Jayde could feel the rumbling of the building hitting the ground and knew that she did not have much time before she would be blown away.


    She made it to the out wall and was able to see gate 11 ahead but still was unable to see Aoi.


    ''Please be behind the gate.'' Jayde hoped that Aoi had already gone through and she would be on the other side.


    A few mutants had also seen Jayde and began to chase her but she did not care, continuing to sprint for the gate. After a couple of minutes, the tower was on the verge ofnding right next to Jayde and if she wasn''t through the gate she would most likely be killed.


    Jayde made it to the gate and bashed through the door, thennded on her face as she did not expect it to open so easily.


    "Ow!" The tower had toppled over and now a big gust of wind came through and since the tower extended over the wall, debris was sent flying toward the city.


    Jayde, however, found herself getting picked up by the updraft.


    Because the base was on a hill it was higher than the main city, Jayde found herself falling towards the city which was in a panic. Many buildings were falling apart and were on fire from the eruption causing chaos everywhere. Lava had spilled everywhere and the mutants were running rampant through the streets transforming more people.


    Jayde was sent flying off the roadnding on the slope below, beginning to roll down. The slope however, did not go all the way to the ground meaning at the bottom Jayde would be sent flying into a building


    Jayde on the way down hit her head, knocking her out. Once she reached the bottom of the slope wasunched into the air as expected. Luckily, thanks to her speed got high enough in the air tond on the roof of a nearby building, temporarily making her safe from the mutants.


    ***


    Aoi wanted to wait for Jayde but there was no guarantee that she would be able to make it to gate 12 and went for gate 11 instead.


    "Dammit I want to wait but this gate is too close to the tower." Aoi looked up seeing that the edge of the tower was rather close making it extremely dangerous to hang around.


    "Sorry, Jayde but hopefully you made it to gate 11." Aoi started to run down the road which went straight into the city.


    Mutants had started pushing through the gate chasing after Aoi.


    ''I really don''t need this right now.'' Aoi did not have time to deal with the mutants.


    Aoi kept sprinting down the road and because of the downhill she started to find it difficult to control her sprint.


    ''Shit!'' Aoi started to lose bnce and was close to tumbling forward. She tried to slow herself down but each attempt almost resulted in her falling over.


    Aoi was getting close to the bottom but the tower started crashing into the ground. The ground shook and a massive gush of wind headed straight towards Aoi.


    Finding herself getting pushed by the wind made Aoi lose control of her body.


    Aoi was then picked up by the wind,unching her in the air slightly. Aoi rolled on the ground injuring herself but it helped her slow down allowing her to not identally be mashed up on a wall.


    "Ow!" Aoi grabbed her knee in pain and a red patch started to form through her white uniform.


    Debris of the tower came crashing around Aoi with a bit of a metal barnding right next to her. Aoi felt her heart sink but still pushed on, thankful she was still alive.


    Ignoring the pain She got up from the ground and continued to limp as fast as She could.


    Massive chunks of the tower were raining down on the city causing more destruction and killing civilians that were trying to get away from the mutants.


    Aoi approached the bottom seeing many people running for their lives and the sound of explosions and guns could be heard echoing throughout the city.


    Aoi made it to the bottom reaching the security gate praying that no debris would hit her. Walking through the security check gate went towards one of the nearby buildings to hide in.


    However, a massive chunk of the tower smashed into the building in front of her causing it to copse.


    Aoi tried to move out of the way, but being unable to run properly was caught in the rubble.


    "Damn it!" Aoi started getting buried by the rubble until finally getting hit in the head knocking her out.


    ***


    Reia, Echo, Lou and Kim were at the bottom of the road watching the chaos as they saw people run through the streets. Mutants were also popping up as the cracks in the earth extend all through the city.


    "Looks like Aoi and Jayde might be at a different gate." Reia assumed that they would have encountered mutants and had to go elsewhere.


    "Seeing as Jayde would have most likely met up with Aoi, wouldn''t that mean they would be towards gate 2?" Kim, who was still being carried by Lou, spoke up.


    "Aoi usually is in the weapons district so it would make sense." Reia knew Aoi loved to y around with different guns. With the base having different designated areas it made sense for Aoi to be towards gate 2 which was the closest entrance to the weapon district.


    What they didn''t know was Aoi actually went to pick up Jayde who was at a parkour training session making them closer to Gate 11 and 12. The reason for Aoi picking Jayde up was because Jayde had no way home and not wanting to walk called Aoi who was the closest to Jayde.


    "We do not have much time before the tower hits the ground. Let''s start running towards gate 2 then." Deciding to push forward they all started to run towards gate 2. The tower was close to hitting the ground but they were confident they would be fine as they were far from the building itself.


    The ground shook as the tower was hitting the ground and the strong winds could be felt.


    ''If anyone were on those roads they would have been blown off.'' Because of their distance, the winds were not as strong but she could imagine if they were closer to the st they would be sent flying off.


    Pieces of the tower started to rain down on the city and werending in the buildings around them.


    "Keep running and keep an eye out for any flying pieces of the tower." Not wanting to stop they continued to run with Reia getting ahead making sure no mutants jumped onto Lou and Kim.


    Echogged behind Kim and Lou watching their backs, however, he noticed a ratherrge piece of tower flying towards them.


    "WATCH OUT ABOVE!" Echo screamed out and everyone looked up seeing a massive piece of the towering toward them.


    The piece crashed into the building they were next to creating a wall in between Echo and everyone else. It was not impossible to get around but it attracted the mutants'' attention.


    "ECHO!" Kim yelled out as her heart dropped for a moment.


    "I"M OKAY! But the mutants areing." Echo could hear the growls of the mutantsing toward him.


    "Echo, meet up at the safe haven, don''t worry about us and just try to survive." Reia did not want to leave Echo behind but they needed to think about themselves and not waste time on something that could get them killed.


    "Alright, try not to die." Echo started feeling anxious but he knew this was the only efficient choice.


    "Lou, let''s go." Reia continued to run with Lou and Kim leaving Echo behind.


    Echo took a deep breath and ran into the city hoping to run into them again soon.


    **


    "Do we have to leave Echo?" Kim was stressed out as Echo was not the most independent person.


    "He will be fine as long as he doesn''t try to do anything stupid like use essence on himself again." Reia was confident in his abilities but he always tended to do something that if he was alone would get him killed.


    "Reia is right, the idiot will be fine just gotta hope he doesn''t try to do more than he can take." Lou, who had fought with Echo in the past, knew that he would always try something new, but always caused him to be easily defeated afterwards.


    Lou and Reia''s words gave Kim some peace of mind, but it wouldn''tst for long as a loud screech was heard right next to them.


    They all stopped in their tracks from the pain of the screech and covered their ears.


    After the scream, the sound of footsteps and a building falling apart was heard right next to them.


    "What the fuck!" Lou screamed out as the building right next to them began to crumble and a massive mutant came from it.


    The mutant did not take any major traits of an animal but looked like a bigger and fatter version of the human mutant. However, one of its arms was bigger than the other and dragged across the ground.


    "There is no way." Reia was in disbelief as the mutant was the size of the small apartment building it just destroyed.


    "Lou, I don''t think we can kill this one." Reia looked at Lou who was itching to pull out her gun but she had Kim to worry about.


    "As much as I want to try I think I will have toe backter." Lou did not want to admit she couldn''t kill it but right now was not the time.


    The mutant seeing the 3 girls swung down on the ground with its bigger arm causing Lou to jump to the left and Reia to the Right.


    "Lou I will distract it while, if you don''t see me at gate 2 in the next hour make your way to the haven with Kim." Reia was unsure if she would live but if it was just to distract the mutant she believed she could.


    "Don''t die!" Lou understood and started to run away with Kim in hand.


    "Reia, please be safe." Kim yelled out as she felt utterly useless being unable to move or help.


    The mutant seeing them run tried to chase after them, but Reia fired a charge shot of her lightning bullet taking a small chunk out of the mutant.


    Mutant turned aggravated as Reia just harmed it.


    "Hey there, why don''t we y a little game."

 Chapter 7: Separation [Part 2]

    <h4>Chapter 7: Separation [Part 2]</h4>


    Reia despite keeping a cool face was absolutely terrified facing the massive mutant.


    ''This can''t be happening right now.'' Reia was unsure what to do, but at least she was able to grab the attention of the mutant.


    The giant mutant turned, swinging his big arm around while screaming in rage.


    Reia snapped out of it and quickly jumped out of the way. She holstered her gun in the process and unsheathed her sword.


    ''Now let''s hope I can get away.'' Reia still was unsure if she could even escape from the giant but seeing its size, it looked like she could at least outrun it.


    Reia turned to run further into the city, but the fatigue of running and this morning''s mission was catching up to her.


    ''Oh, why now!'' Reia felt her legs ache, although bearable she could not keep running forever.


    The mutant began to move and just like Reia guessed the mutant was a lot slower being unable to catch up to her.


    ''At least I will be able to get away.'' Reia taking advantage of her head start ran into an alleyway and quickly climbed on to the roof.


    This way allowed her to avoid the mutants on the ground but also get away by running down the line of apartment buildings.


    However, as she got to the roof the giant mutant mmed down on the building causing half of it to copse. Reia, just being outside its range, was able to quickly run and jump off the roof to the next one.


    The mutant swept its hand across the bottomyer destroying the building''s foundation and making the entire building copse.


    Reia looked back seeing the mutant had not realised she jumped to the next roof and taking advantage of that continued to run.


    Jumping from roof to roof she had put a considerable amount of distance between her and the mutant.


    The mutant realised Reia had moved and started following Reia destroying every apartmentplex in its way. Reia, after running across many apartments, found herself at the end. She had made it to another main road and the gap was too much for her to jump across meaning she had to jump down.


    Groups of mutants were also roaming the streets and the odd terrified civilian could be seen hiding.


    It was a horrible sight to witness, but Reia could do nothing as she wasn''t willing to risk her life for someone she doesn''t know.


    The mutant was getting closer and not having much time slid down a drainage pipending on the sidewalk. Reia was getting desperate to escape from the mutant and seeing a sign with the words underground car park sparked a bit of hope.


    ''I should be able to hide there and the massive mutant surely can''t get down there.'' Reia hoped it wouldn''t be infested with mutants as it would be a good spot to rest up temporarily.


    Reia ran down the road following the sign hoping she could get into the underground car park before the giant mutant came through. Each step the mutant had taken shook the ground and with each passing moment got louder.


    Reia seeing mutants ahead of her activated her de and the purple lines on it began to glow. A lightning effect also came from the glowing lines and grew more violent as the de glowed brighter.


    The mutants noticed Reia and charged at her. A mutant cat which now looked more like a tiger in size was ahead of the small group of mutants and pounced at Reia.


    Reia slid underneath the mutant cat while raising her sword, cleanly cutting the cat in half and splitting its core. Not stopping there Reia jumped into the air at the other 3 mutants with her sword.


    Reia poured more essence into her sword and stabbed the human mutant in mid-air. The de began to glow brighter till it discharged a massive amount of lightning paralysing the other 2 mutants.


    Pushing down on her de spun in the air cutting the human mutant in half and destroying the core. Reia thennded doing a spin on the ground while cutting the pig and lizard mutant in half horizontally. She managed to destroy their cores as well, finding that striking the middle was a reliable strategy to hit the cores as all of the mutants they had killed had their cores in the middle.


    Reia stayed squatted for a moment before falling to the floor as her legs were beginning to hurt even more.


    ''Shit I really need to hide.'' Reia looked up, finding she was just outside the underground car park.


    ''Just a little bit more.'' Using her Sword as a walking stick got inside the underground car park.


    The giant mutant had smashed through the final building reaching the main road that Reia was on but saw she was nowhere to be seen. Now that it lost Reia, it started to wander down the road dragging its arm destroying anything in its path.


    Reia walked down the ramp leading to the underground car park and thankfully found no mutants hanging around. Reia looked for a small booth away from an entrance to hide in and rest.


    Reia saw that there were not many cars which was a little odd as most cars were eclectic and the emp effect across the entire city should have made them impossible to start. So the number of cars left behind seemed rather low for what there should be in a car park.


    ''Maybe not many people were out, if so, that means there should not be many mutants.'' Reia hoped that was the case but she kept her guard up as anything was possible at this rate.


    Reia walked her way to the corner of the underground car park where a small office was located. Reia also felt the ce tremble from the footsteps of the giant mutants footsteps as it walked past. Reia froze waiting for the mutant to pass before she continued to move.


    ''Please, don''t notice I am here.'' Reia panicked for a moment as she was unsure if the mutant was still after her.


    ''I need to get to gate 2 but I don''t think I can make it there on time to meet up with Lou and Kim.'' Reia almost forgot she had to go to gate 2, but seeing as she could hardly run and the adrenaline was wearing off there was no way she could make it in time.


    ''Looks like I''m going solo for a while.'' Reia''s new goal was to get to the safe haven that Reia and her squad made but without a car, it would take many days to get there.


    ''Only if we couldmunicate, it would make this process so much easier.'' Reia stabbed her sword into the ground harder in frustration.


    ''There is no telling if everyone else is alive and we don''t even know if our safe haven is intact.'' Reia did not like the number of unknown factors there were and the only thing she could do was survive while slowly making her way to the haven.


    The trembles finally had stopped and Reia felt relieved as it was clear that the giant mutant did not know where she was. Knowing the mutant had passed Reia continued to make her way to the small office.


    ''Fuck, I need to sit down my legs are burning like crazy.'' The adrenaline hadpletely worn off and Reia''s leg began to shake.


    ''Why did this have to be the day after I get back from a mission, I was already exhausted before the city went to shit.'' Reia on that same day had onlye back from her final mission hence the meeting with the general since she was the squad leader.


    Everyone else in the squad while Reia had the meeting had gone off to do their own things as they needed time to rx leaving some of them separated.


    ''If I knew we were going to be killed I would have not even bothered to go back to base and go straight back to our safe haven.'' Reia did not expect that the generals were going to kill them so quickly, forcing their n to leave the military to be pushed forward.


    Reia then finally made it to the office and opened the door, but since the blinds were down she was unable to see inside.


    Reia hoped there were no mutants and luckily the room was empty with no traces of any mutants. The room was rather clean and figured nobody was at work today making this ce rather safe.


    ''Looks like I can rest.'' Reia was d to find a little spot to hide out and sort out her thoughts.


    Reia had a lot to think about right now but her body was telling her to rest so she had no choice but to sit down.


    Reia quickly locked the door by putting a chair underneath the handle to give her some security while she rested. Reia then went to the wall and leaned up to it sliding down to the floor.


    As soon as Reia sat down she found her eyes already shutting trying to get her to sleep.


    However, before Reia could get some rest, A male''s voice rang out from the other side of the room.


    "Reia?"

 Chapter 8: Squad 2 leader

    <h4>Chapter 8: Squad 2 leader</h4>


    Reia, hearing the voice, scrambled for her gun before pointing it in the direction it came from.


    "Stay away!" Reia yelled out trying to see who it was, but because she was exhausted her vision became blurry.


    "Woah it''s only me, you wouldn''t shoot a fellow squad leader." The man spoke and as he finished his sentence his voice suddenly could be heard from behind.


    "You need to rest, don''t worry I will protect you." The man spoke right next to Reia''s ear and she tried to move her gun to shoot the man. However, something covered her eyes and a warm sensation washed through her body.


    Reia then passed out not knowing who or what happened to her.


    **


    Reiaid on the floor until she suddenly shot up in a panic, grabbed the gun that was next to her and looked around for the man she heard.


    Seeing that no one was in the room with her she rxed.


    ''Was that just me hallucinating, I did not think I was that exhausted.'' Reia knew she was pushing herself too hard as she has not been able to rest ever since she got back to base.


    ''That doesn''t matter now, I need to get a move on and meet up with the others.'' Reia went to get up from the ground but her legs were still trembling making it impossible to stand properly.


    "Ah shit!" Reia sat back down as it would be suicide to walk out where the mutants were with half working legs.


    ''Is there anything in this room that can help me?'' Reia wanted to make sure that she did not leave anything useful behind after she recovered. Reia then had another look around the room to see if there was anything she could use, but since it was an office there was hardly anything useful.


    Reia, a little unsure what to do to pass the time, decided toy down again, however, the sound of footsteps was heard just outside the door.


    Reia quickly aimed down sights at the door hoping it wasn''t a mutant as the sound of the footsteps sounded human-like. She also noticed her chair lock was gone meaning that it was an actual person.


    The door opened and Reia was about to fire but she noticed it was a half-fox in the same uniform as her.


    The man had bright red eyes alongside a red ent military uniform. He had long brown hair which was tied up with bright red streaks going through the ponytail. Another noticeable feature was that he was about 6''7" tall making him only able to just fit through the door frame. On his back were a pair of ck swords and an m4 carbine each lined with red.


    "Akira?" Reia lowered her gun as she recognized the man in front of her.


    "Oh, you are awake, d you decided not to shoot me." Akira let out an awkwardugh as seeing the gun in Reia''s hand meant he was close to being shot on sight.


    "Well, I''m basically disabled for the time being so I didn''t want to kill a potential helper." Reia was prepared to kill anyone especially if they looked like they were going to take advantage of her.


    ''Wait, doesn''t that mean he was the one to put me to sleep and scared the shit out of me.'' Uponing to this realisation Reia aimed her gun back at Akira.


    "What did you do to me? That warm sensation I felt before passing out seemed like essence" Reia wanted answers as it seemed like Akira used essence to put her to sleep which would have been highly dangerous.


    "No need to threaten me, all I did was put my hand on your forehead, I was about to eat a hot cup of noodles so that''s probably why my hand was warm." Akira slowly inched his way closer to the office desk by the window.


    "Wait really?" Reia felt a little stupid for assuming it was essence but so much had been going on that it was hard to not think the worst.


    "Yes, look." Akira opened a drawer and pulled out a cup of instant noodles.


    "I-" Reia had nothing to say as despite the world falling apart this man was happily eating noodles.


    "Okay, whatever, if I may ask Akira, what happened to your squad." Reia knew that Akira was the leader of squad 2 which was a squad below them and on many asions worked together.


    Reia had also put down her gun, now that she knew she was safe.


    Akira''s face grew dark and filled with anguish at the mention of his squad which told Reia everything.


    "I-i see, you don''t have to talk about it." Reia knew that losing your entire squad was the equivalent of losing family, so she did not want to push the topic.


    "T-thank you." Akira took a deep breath and then bit his lip in an attempt to not cry.


    Giving Akira time to rpose himself, he finally spoke up again.


    "Did your squad make it?" Akira sat on the desk and his rather light tone shifted to a more serious one.


    "As far as I know they are all alive, but I lost contact and got separated from them." Reia exined her situation which was a lot more hopeful than Akira''s.


    "Let''s hope they are alive." Akira leaned back looking through the blinds to check for mutants.


    "Right now it''s my squad''s goal to make it to a haven we built outside the city so that''s where I will be heading. Did you want toe along?" Reia knew that Akira had nowhere to go and although there was some conflict between their squads she wasn''t going to leave him without offering.


    "And to face that crazy bitch Lou? No thanks,st time I saw her she almost strangled me to death because she thought I was hitting on Kim." Akira went back to his lighter tone indicating he was feeling a bit better.


    "Do you really have a choice? Or are you gonna stay here eating noodles till you are murdered by the mutants?" Reia knew it was rather easy to back Akira in a corner and although she couldn''t physically do it at the moment, doing it verbally was just as effective.


    "Tch." Akira turned his head away as despite what he said about Lou he really had no other choice but to join Reia if he had any hope of surviving.


    "Good~, but we need to wait a bit longer as I still can really move my legs." Reia tried to move her legs, but each time ended in them cramping or a burst of pain.


    "How the hell did you end up exhausting yourself so much anyway, are you not meant to be a superhuman." Akira was rather curious about what happened to Reia as she wasn''t in the best condition when she came into the office.


    "I had juste back from a mission before the copse so I didn''t have any time to rest." Reia thought back to the meeting with the general.


    "Hope that bastard is dead." Reia thought out loud.


    "Let me guess the head general of the Alteryx military." Akira was rather familiar with the human general but was still curious if it was him.


    "Yes, we spoke just shortly before the copse, so I can only assume he is the reason why this is all happening. I just hope he dies as a result of his fuckup but I wouldn''t mind killing him myself." Thinking about his death had put a smile on Reia''s face which creeped Akira out a little but also found it reasonable why Reia would want him dead.


    ''Yeah, let''s not piss Reia off.'' Akira was reminded once again who not to piss off.


    "I wish for his death too but it sounds like your hatred is more deeply rooted than mine." Akira had also noticed the look in Reia''s eyes showing pure killing intent.


    "If you knew what he did, death would be an easy way out for him." Reia tightened her hand into a fist drawing a little bit of blood.


    "Anyway, moving on to a lighter topic, What is the n to get us out of here and closer to this haven." Akira did not want to dwell on the general for too long as he noticed the blooding from Reia''s hand.


    "Hmm." Reia quickly calmed down and went back to her neutral and cold look.


    "We need to get supplies for a couple of days before making our way to the haven as by foot it will be at least 2 days."


    "I see, so it could be months till we actually even head there as we also have to fight through hordes of mutants and not to mention the massive ones roaming the city." Akira considered how slow the process would be and if they exhausted themselves too much it could lead to their death.


    "I hate to think it will take that long but yes we may be stuck with each other for a while." Reia wanted to be as quick as possible but they needed to be slow and cautious.


    "Oh no, my worst nightmare, being stuck with you." Akira sarcastically spoke, but Reia decided to pick up her gun again and aim it at Akira.


    "Make another shitty joke and I will shock that humour out of you."

 Chapter 9: Essence

    <h4>Chapter 9: Essence</h4>


    "Okay, okay, chill, I was only kidding." Cold sweat ran down Akira''s face.


    "hehe~ " Reia let out a small giggle as the distressed look on his face was amusing.


    "...." Akira had nothing to say and felt like yelling but he did not want to attract any mutants.


    Reia put down her gun andid back down with her hands behind her head.


    Akira let out a sigh of defeat and prepared a cup of noodles for himself and Reia. Using his own essence the cup was covered in red light. After a brief moment, the light retracted back into his hand and opened the lid to reveal a hot cup of noodles.


    "Here." Akira ced the noodles and a fork next to Riea so she had something to eat.


    "Do you have something other than noodles?" Reia could already see their diets just being noodles for a while before going into their canned foods.


    "I do, but I found this stash so I figured it was better to eat it all before going into the military rations I have." Akira opened his cup of noodles and started eating.


    Reia sat up again, picking up her cup and began to eat as well.


    "So, has your essence finally gained a trait or is it only good for cooking instant noodles?" Reia, using the cup of noodles to hide her grin, asked Akira about his essence.


    "Of course it has, if it wasn''t for our previous leader dying I would have been promoted to your squad but they instead made me the new squad leader." Akira had only recently gotten the position of squad 2 leader.


    "True, but I''m sure you''d rather him dead anyway, I could see the smile on everyone''s face when you got promoted to leader." Reia thought back to the promotion ceremony they had for the top squads and remembered seeing Akira get his badge.


    Akira''s eyes trembled for a moment, but he kept hisposure as remembering the good memories he had with his squad gave him strength.


    "Our previous leader was a piece of shit and I''m d I became leader, but seriously how do you not know what my trait is. We literally went on a missionst month." Akira looked at Reia confused as surely she would have known as although he has only been squad leader for 6 months, they had been working together for a while now.


    "Pffhaha, I know, I was just toying with you but I wouldn''t mind an exnation." Reia did want an exnation as it wasn''t exactly clear like hers or Lou''s.


    "True, it is a bit weird, even I don''t fully understand it." Akira looked at his palm and a red mist with bright red lightning going through it appeared and retracted it before he started exining.


    "I call it corruption and whenever the target gets hit with my bullet it begins to eat their mind slowly, and the more times I shoot them the quicker the effect is. Although that''s how it works with normal people I noticed a strange effect on the mutants." Akira quickly ate a mouthful of noodles before continuing.


    "Whenever I hit a mutant instead of going straight to the brain, it will start consuming the body. Now, this only happens with dead bodies so it means the mutants are "dead" beings." Akira finished off his cup of noodles and threw it in the small trash can in the corner.


    "Interesting, but I wonder why it goes straight to the brain?" Reia found it odd that it would go straight to the brain and not be more like the effect it has on mutants.


    "Makes me think my essence is sentient, but yeah I understand why if it wasn''t really noticeable. I can always use the secondary effect lightning but I did not want to copy you too much." Akira scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed to admit that he did not want to seem like he was copying Reia.


    "Oh, are you a little embarrassed? How cute~, but you don''t need to worry, we are trying to survive so use everything at your disposal. There is no need for you to be shy, so copy me as much as you like." Reia found it adorable but understood as the pressure from the military required uniqueness or the first of its kind as the leaders of the military.


    "Shush, unlike you I have 2 effects." Akira''s face went red from Reia''sment.


    "So what if you have 2 effects I can still beat you in a duel." Reia wished she could get up, but she could only rely on her words.


    "Tch, I would love to duel you but our circumstances don''t allow it." Akira wanted to uphold his pride and duel but survival came first and was willing to set it aside for the time being.


    "Aww that''s too bad." Reia threw her finished cup of noodles at the bin, d that Akira did not take advantage of the fact she couldn''t really move.


    "Yeah well, I''m too busy looking after a certain disabled fox girl."


    "Oi, you''re also a fox."


    "And? Clearly, I''m the better fox here, at least I can move my legs." Akira got up from the desk and began to walk around Reia.


    "Don''t get cocky you giant." Using her fist Reia punched Akira in the side of the thigh hitting a weak point and causing him to fall to the ground on one knee.


    "You bitch!" Akira was going to retaliate but seeing the deathly grin on Reia''s face he did not want to entertain her.


    "Sorry, not sorry." Reia was disappointed that Akira did not try to fight back, but was also d as they really shouldn''t be getting physical.


    "Why did I agree to join you?" Akira grabbed his head, questioning his decisions.


    "Agree? You had no choice." Reia did n to drag Akira with her even if he said no especially after learning more about his essence.


    Akira let out a sigh and sat on the floor next to Reia.


    "Are you sure you want to sit that close, being in arms reach is dangerous." Reia was d she had found her way to pass the time, and wanted to continue to tease Akira.


    "As long as I don''t say anything, you won''t have a good enough reason to harass me."


    "Oi, it isn''t harassment, I call it being teased by your favourite squad leader Reia." Reia then bonked Akira on the head.


    "I should have said nothing." Akira felt like it was going to be a long day, but preferred this over fighting a bunch of mutants.


    Reia not wanting to torture Akira too much wanted to say something to reassure him and to be honest with him.


    "Well, I''m d I was able to find you. I don''t know If I could stay sane with all this pressure aha." Reia had felt a massive weight on her mind and being able to break away from that was a much needed mental break.


    "I''m also d, I lost pretty much everything so thank you for finding me otherwise I might have joined everyone else in my squad." Although the copse has only just started, Akira was already left feeling empty as he already lost the people closest to him.


    "It''s okay, although not officially, you can join my squad and I can promise you that no one will be dying while I am alive." Reia felt her heartache for a moment as she could only imagine how horrible he had been feeling.


    "Whenever you are ready, know that I will be alive and well to listen." Reia tried her best to providefort for Akira as it seemed to be working.


    "T-thank you." Akira tried his best to hold back tears.


    **


    < a Few hourster>


    "Good, my legs are starting to feel better so we should get a move on soon, so make sure you are ready." Reia slightly smiled and Akira nodded.


    Akira got up from the floor so he could check to make sure he had everything and if they needed to, be able to leave right away.


    Reia dragged herself to the wall where her bags were to make sure Akira did not steal any of her things.


    ''Alright, everything is here.''


    "Akira do you have everything?" Reia looked over to Akira who was packing some of the instant noodles that were in the draw.


    "Just about."


    "Okay well if I am able to move properly we will leave right away, the longer we wait, the more chances of someone run-" Just as Reia was speaking a scream was heard.


    "HEELLLLPPP!!!" A woman could be heard screaming followed by the growls and screeches of the mutants.


    "Of course right as I say something." Reia could not believe the timing.


    "Can you move?" Akira, knowing they were most likely going to fight the mutants, needed to know if Reia could move.


    Reia moved her legs slowly, finding that they were no longer hurting. Reia got up from the ground and gave them a quick stretch before picking up her bag and weapons. Reia turned to Akira who was by the window looking through the blinds and asked an important question.


    "Now what should we do, save her or let her die?"

 Chapter 10: Save or run

    <h4>Chapter 10: Save or run</h4>


    "I want to say we save her, but I also don''t want that extra burden of having to look after someone.


    "SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!" The woman screamed while running through the underground parking lot.


    "Tch, she is screaming so it''s only going to attract more mutants." Akira cursed the woman as what she was doing was only going to make it worse.


    "We could save her and then leave her, but I feel like that might be too cruel." Reia realised that saving her and leaving her right after would break her mentally.


    "I couldn''t care less what happens to her, so it is up to you." Akira pulled out his carbine making sure it was fully loaded.


    "Seeing as it''s only 3 or 4 mutants, why don''t you show me the effect your corruption has on them." Reia figured it could be a good opportunity for Akira to show off. This was also a way for Reia to avoid confronting the woman.


    Reia was willing to leave people, but she wasn''t going to make the end of their life miserable and although she can be cold, she wasn''t cruel like Lou or Akira who only value people close to them.


    "Fine by me, but I see you trying to avoid the woman, just remember to not let that kind heart get in the way." Akira knew how Reia was as on many asions during missions she would rather capture the enemy than kill if she could.


    "I know when or when I can''t be nice, I have been in the military much longer than you, should hear the stories I had back then." Reia, being a member of the military for many years, had quite a reputation.


    "Yeah, I know the lonely queen of the battlefield, I heard them all." Akira was aware of the brutal stories of Reia where she massacred squads by herself.


    Akira left the room as he said this since the woman was getting rather close to the office.


    The name had brought back memories for Reia of how she stood alone covered in the enemy''s blood.


    ''Let''s hope I''m never like that again.'' Reia wasn''t proud of the version of herself back then and was d she has changed since then.


    *


    Akira walked out of the office, approaching the small group of mutants.


    The woman that was running wore a white shirt which was covered in dirt and a pair of ck jeans. She had long ck wavy hair and grey eyes. Many cuts and scrapes were along her arm as well as some holes in her clothes.


    The woman saw Akira and a sh of hope appeared in her eyes as seeing a member of the military meant they had a weapon.


    The woman ran towards Akira in hopes that he would protect her from the mutants chasing her.


    Akira took a deep breath before aiming his gun toward the mutants. The woman panicked for a moment as she was directly in front of them and thought he was going to shoot her as well.


    Akira fired a few bullets each, all just barely missing the woman and hitting the mutants behind her. Akira had hit a human and roon mutant in the leg causing them to tumble to the ground. This caused the bear and squirrel mutant behind them to trip over allowing the woman to gain more distance.


    The woman finally reached Akira and she quickly hid behind him.


    "Let go." In a cold voice, Akira told the woman to let go of him. The woman flinched but she let go as she realised that It would hinder him from fighting.


    Akira holstered his gun, then pulled out his dual ck des and the red lines on the swords began to glow red. Just like Reia, his des had a small lightning effect surrounding the de as more essence was poured into them.


    The Mutants were back up already running towards Akira in rage with the roon and human mutant falling behind due to losing a leg. The corruption on their body was a red mist which covered where Akira shot, slowly eating away at their body.


    Due to the mutants also being dead, the pain of your flesh being eaten by the corruption did not bother them and kept moving towards Akira.


    Akira sprinted towards the first 2 mutants and charged one of his swords with lightning.


    The mutant bear leapt at Akira for a bite while using its ws to scratch him. Akira''s sword was now fully red and using it to block the bear''s attack, it ended up biting the de. Akira discharged the lightning causing the bear to fall over paralysed.


    The de light dimmed, and hot steam wasing off the de indicating that it was on a cooldown.


    During the bear''s attack, the squirrel ran around Akira and jumped at him from behind. Without looking, Akira used his second de which was infused with his corruption essence and sliced the squirrel in half. Akira had just missed the core, but that did not matter as the corruption on the squirrel''s body began to consume the core.


    The roon and human mutant caught up, but the corruption had almost reached their body.


    The bear was starting to recover from the paralysis and began to get up from the floor.


    Akira, sheathing his swords, pulled out his carbine and fired into the bear so the corruption could start eating away at its body, since the bear''s body was bigger it would take longer before the corruption was effective.


    Akira switched to lightning then fired at the human mutant and managed to shoot the core with no issues. The roon mutant, however, was able to move better than the human mutant which made it harder to hit.


    Akira began to move back slowly as the roon mutant charged at him. The bear was now up on its feet and the corruption had eaten a portion of its face making it unable to bite anything.


    Wanting to conserve his essence, did not fire at the roon but waited for it to jump at him like the squirrel did.


    The roon jumped at Akira with desperation as its body was now getting consumed by the corruption and knew it was close to the core.


    Akira holds his carbine with one hand and uses his other to pull out one of his swords. Stabbing the roon in the mouth, Akira skewered the roon and pushed the mutant to the ground, killing it.


    Before Akira could pull out his de the bear had jumped at him. The bear''s jaw was swinging as the corruption in its face was close to consuming the jaw. Other parts of the bear had deep holes and as time went on the corruption started consuming more.


    Akira jumped away leaving his de stabbed into the ground with the melting corpse of the roon.


    "Tch, still not dead." Akira was hoping his corruption would have killed the bear by now.


    Aiming down sights Akira using more corruption essence fired more bullets into the bear. This time with more corruption eating the body, meaning it would eat the body at a greater pace.


    The bear tried to move but due to the eating of the corruption, its legs started to fall apart making it disabled. The bear tried to growl doing everything in its power to move, but all it could do was helplessly stare until it died.


    Akira walked past the bear a few metres away just to be safe and pulled out his sword from the ground.


    "That was only 4, if I wasn''t trying to conserve my essence that would have been done much quicker." Akira did not like how long it took to kill 4 of them and since they only have a limited amount of essence, he had to be careful how much was used so he didn''t exhaust himself.


    "Thank you, so much." The woman who had been hiding behind one of the few cars came out and got on her knees bowing.


    Akira looked at the woman coldly, feeling a little bit of remorse for leaving her, but they could not let anyone elsee with them, so she had to be left behind.


    Reia walked out of the office who had been watching from the window.


    Akira turned to walk away, and Reia caught up walking beside him.


    "Wait, please take me with you, are you not meant to be the military that should be helping us." The woman could not believe it as the person that just saved them was walking off.


    "Who do you think caused this? We are all on our own, military or not, we saved you because we did not want you to attract any more mutants. Now run along and find your own way to survive." Akira turned his head looking at the woman directly in the eyes.


    The woman began to cry reaching her hand out but was unable to say anything.


    Reia bit the bottom of her lip as it was difficult morally to leave her, but it would be impossible to protect her and would literally be dead weight.


    Akira and Reia took a fire exit that led to the outside, leaving the woman behind in the underground car park.


    "Please, don''t go."

 Chapter 11: Traversing the city

    <h4>Chapter 11: Traversing the city</h4>


    Leaving the woman behind, her cries slowly got quieter as they walked up the stairs to the surface.


    Luckily electricity still ran through the city as they only required power and the emp effect from the eruption did not hinder the lights. Although certain parts of the city werepletely cked out as they were cut off the grid.


    They reached the top and they no longer could hear the woman''s cries. Akira put his hand on Reia''s shoulder to make sure she was okay.


    "I''m okay, the goodwill in me wants to save her, but the situation doesn''t allow us to." Reia put aside her emotions.


    "It was hard for me to, but I think to avoid a simr situation we should get out of these uniforms since people will start thinking we are a rescue squad." Although Akira did not show it, it was rather difficult to leave the women behind.


    "The city isn''tpletely ruined so we might be able to find a clothes store that is still intact." Reia saw in Akira''s eyes a little bit of remorse, but now wasn''t the time to be worrying about the women as they already made up their minds to leave her.


    "We seem to be close to a market area seeing as there is a carpark, so let''s take a look around for any indications of shops." Akira figured they had to be close to a store, but because they had grown up with a military family, they were not able to freely explore the city properly.


    "Sounds like a n." Reia nodded and they opened the door that led to an alleyway next to the carpark. Having their swords ready for any mutants doing any back-alley deals.


    Upon exiting the alley no mutants were giving out free one-way trips to death.


    The chaos of the city had died down and was much quieter. The asional scream or explosion was heard, but it was not as constant as it was a few hours ago.


    "Looks like we are fine." Akira also looked up to make sure there was nothing upon the walls.


    "Let''s not get seen and find us some new clothes and some extra supplies." Reia wanted to avoid as many mutants as possible as fighting one group may lead to a whole army''s worth of mutants being drawn to them.


    They also don''t know if there are more types of mutants. The massive mutant meant there might be variants that could alert more mutants or a much stronger mutant than they have fought before, and Reia did not want to find out yet.


    Akira nodded and they cautiously made their way to the end of the alley keeping an ear. Thanks to them being foxes their hearing was much better than a human making it easier to recognize sounds.


    Hearing a few growls from mutants around the corner, Akira poked his head to see exactly where they were. The street was filled with at least 100 mutants wandering around which was not ideal. Thankfully there were a lot of cars down the street making it possible to get past only killing a few.


    "Should we try to sneak by, I saw a few shops on the street." Akira leaned back whispering in Reia''s ear.


    "Only if we had Aoi, her bullets make no sound. If we are going to, we have to use our swords but I have no idea how well the mutants hear." Reia was still unsure if they had enhanced hearing or were rtively the same depending on the race.


    "Let''s do a small test, we can move a lot better than them generally and if we need to, getting on a rooftop should reduce their numbers significantly." Akira wanted to give it a shot to test how far they could take it while the mutants are easy to deal with.


    Reia nodded and Akira taking the lead crouched walked out of the alley. Getting behind one of the cares Akira gestured for Reia toe over. Following his steps, they got behind the first car which crashed into a light post on the sidewalk.


    The Mutants that were on the road had not heard them which was a positive sign. Moving to the front of the car there was a gap between the next one which was the troublesome part of doing things quietly.


    There was a tall bin in between the cars but they would be out in the open for a moment. Akira looked over and saw that the mutants were not looking in their direction. Taking the opportunity Akira moved behind the bin. Reia also stayed close by holding onto his shoulder and moving when he did.


    Because there were 2 bins next to each there was a small crack in between them allowing Akira to safely see a portion of the road. Seeing that the mutants had not noticed anything yet gave them some hope and that they only respond to really loud noises.


    Reia also came to the same conclusion and saw a small piece of rubble on the ground. Squeezing Akira''s shoulder, she pointed at the rock and Akira understood what to do. Picking up the rubble which was the size of a baseball prepared to throw it.


    Throwing the piece of rubble behind them and across the street, Akira managed to hit one of the cars making a loud metal sound.


    The mutants turned and began to move towards the car to investigate it. The more primal animals like the bears and dogs went head first while felines were cautious and observed from a distance. Humans varied as some were cautious while others were reckless.


    Waiting for the mutants to move past once it was clear Reia and Akira moved to the next car which was parked on the side. This time there were a few cars lined up parked making them able to travel a bit further.


    However, while moving a jaguar jumped on the car they were next to. Akira and Reia both having their swords out stabbed the jaguar almost hitting each other''s de. They both hit the core with only millimetres between Reia and Akira''s sword.


    Quickly moving as it was unclear how mutants reacted to other mutants being killed they did not want to hang around.


    Just as they feared when the mutant saw the jaguar''s melting body, it instantly started running over to investigate. Akira and Reia had already moved forward but there was no guarantee that it wouldn''te on the sidewalk.


    Wanting to pick up the base so that they wouldn''t be spotted, they kept throwing rocks over the road which turned the heads of mutants allowing them to cross to the next obstacle.


    They also managed to kill a few mutants that wandered onto the sidewalk before they made amotion keeping their presence unknown.


    Akira and Reia finally managed to make it to where there were lines of shops all across the street. Looking for a sign that indicated clothing, they found a shop that was a few buildings down.


    Using their collection of rocks they picked up along the way continued the same process of diverting their attention.


    Once they made it to the store that had the sign saying urban clothes, they looked inside and everything in it was kept intact, the only thing was a lot of the clothes had fallen to the floor.


    Akira made onest check that the mutants were focused on the sounds they made, entering the store through the front.


    This was their biggest mistake as the door had a bell attached to it and it rang upon opening.


    Akira and Reia realised what this meant and not turning to even look they ran into the store looking for a ce to hide. Getting to the back storage rooms they both rushed inside and as they were shutting the door they heard ss shatter indicating the mutants had run over.


    "Of course, the one thing that gets us is a fucking doorbell." In a frustrated but quiet voice, Akirained.


    "We were doing so well." Reia was rather impressed and although it would have been easier to go by roof, it was a good test to see how well the mutants can hear and see.


    "At least it wasn''t the entire street, but if we leave it for too long the clothes could be ruined." Akira did not want clothes that had been touched by the mutants as there were still many unknown possible ways to get infected.


    "Looks like we have to either run out there and kill them or we try to find a new store." Reia did not want to leave as she had a nce at the clothes in the store and they looked like they were meant for outdoors.


    "We are in the back rooms so there might be some storage somewhere, so let''s look for that before deciding any further." The room was rather dark so it was unclear what was in the room.


    Reia pulled out her gun and using essence turned on the shlight on the front of the gun.


    The light lit up the room and when she did a massive mutant bat was hanging upside down asleep.


    Reia freaked out for a moment, but before she could panic fire Akira threw his sword at the bat that he quickly covered in corruption. Reia''s heart had almost jumped out of her chest, but she was able to calm herself down quickly.


    The bat woke up and started to roll around on the floor and screeched out of pain.


    "Shit! I missed the core." Akira knew he missed the core with the initial strike as the bat died only a few secondster of his corruption.


    The screech had got the attention of the mutants in the store and they started to bang on the door.


    "Get ready and try to avoid shooting." Reia let her gun hang from her shoulder so she could quickly switch at a moment''s notice and pulled out her sword again.


    Akira pulled his sword out of the bat and prepared for the mutants that were going to break through the door any moment now.

 Chapter 12: Double shock

    <h4>Chapter 12: Double shock</h4>


    Akira and Reia both fully charged their swords with lightning, ready at any moment to discharge the lightning essence within them to hopefully stun all the mutants.


    "Akira, let''s try to connect our des together." Reia thought if they couldbine their lightning it would create a bigger effect.


    Making a cross with their swords the lightning grew more violent and erratic.


    "As soon as we stab the mutant we need to release it so we don''t get overrun." Akira understood Reia''s intention and if they were able to pull it off, they would be able to kill the mutants without making any noise.


    The metal door was slowlying off its hinges and the metal was getting dented from the constant hits it was taking.


    "Get ready, there will only be one shot at this." Reia knew as soon as the mutants entered the room there would be a grace period before they would be able to attack properly.


    Akira nodded and waited for the door to fall over.


    The door came off its hinges and mmed onto the ground with mutants falling over each other and on the door.


    Reia and Akira dashed forward and pulled back their swords before stabbing into a mutant wolf''s head. Their des crossed over each other, making contact while inside the wolf''s body.


    Both releasing the stored essence in the de, a massive wave of lightning flowed through the 8 to 10 mutants behind the wolf.


    Every mutant was paralysed leaving them all vulnerable.


    Akira and Reia quickly got to work chopping up all the mutant bodies, destroying their cores.


    After killing thest mutant they let out a sigh of relief as it was a close call. Akira and Reia both moved away from the melting bodies before sitting down on the ground out of breath.


    "We have only been outside for 30 minutes or so and I already feel exhausted." Reia felt drained which was most likely due to the joint attack they just did.


    "Who knew it would use so much essence considering we werebining attacks, you would think it''d be less." Akira also felt the same way, as about the same amount of essence was taken out of him.


    "I''m able to fire well over 1000s of bullets with my essence but something about that attack took it out of me." Reia was confused as she had a ratherrge pool of essence and for it to be sucked up in one attack was odd.


    However, this was their first time ever joining attacks together as typically you can''t do a joint attack with a gun.


    "Well, we are the only few people to use swords, so maybe we should do some testingter." Akira wanted to y around with it more and seeing as it took a lot of essence he didn''t want to do it again and be left in battle with no essence.


    "I think so too, but for now let''s get these new clothes and move on." Reia was rather curious about how the joint attacks worked but without someone like Echo, it would be hard to measure.


    "Let''s hurry then, the less time we spend here the quicker we can get moving." Akira wanted to find a safer ce so they could rest and right now the back rooms of a clothes shop was not ideal.


    Reia saw on the wall that there was actually a light switch all along.


    ''Tch, only if I noticed it earlier.'' Reia had been too distracted to notice the light switch before being scared by the massive bat.


    The room lit up and they found that the back room was a lot bigger than they expected with many shelves full of clothes. There were different sections for each piece of the clothing which made it easy to look for what they needed.


    Reia and Akira decide to start at either end and pick out any pieces of clothes they would like.


    After about 20 minutes of looking through each shelf, they were ready to change.


    Akira stared at Reia for a moment as they had nowhere to really change and they wanted to avoid going out to the front of the store, to get to where the change rooms were.


    "What? You better turn around and If I catch you peeking, I am going to have to take your eyes as payment." Reia squinted her eyes at Akira knowing exactly what he was thinking.


    "I wouldn''t dare." Akira turned and made his way to the other side of the room by a disabled robot that looked like it was meant for sorting the clothes in storage.


    Sitting on the floor behind the robot, Akira was tempted to look, but he knew Reia was serious when she would take his eyes.


    Reia then started to get change and to make it worse for Akira she took her military top and threw it to where he was sitting.


    Akira heard itnd right behind him, knowing that Reia was just trying to tempt him. Taking a deep breath he cursed Reia for what she was doing, but he did not break.


    ''Tch.'' Reia wanted to tease Akira more, but he did not budge and without making it more awkward there wasn''t any other way.


    However, Reia against better judgement threw another piece of her military uniform this time hitting Akira in the back of the head. Reia was now only down to her underwear which was dark purple and hoped Akira would not turn around.


    "Can you stop throwing random clothes at me?" Akira, who did not see the clothes that were thrown, assumed Reia was grabbing clothes off the shelves and throwing them at him, to be a tease.


    But when Akira turned he saw Reia half-naked and that the clothes she was throwing were actually her uniform. Quickly turning his head back Akira freaked out not knowing what was going to happen.


    Reia''s face wentpletely red and wanting to get mad at Akira for looking, but she couldn''t as it was her fault.


    ''Damnit, all just to tease him and somehow I end up being the embarrassed one.'' Reia regretted her choice, but at least it was someone she was rtively close with, which gave Reia some peace of mind.


    ''Just get changed and pretend nothing ever happened, at least he looked away straight away and didn''t stare.'' Reia tried to talk to herself to make it less embarrassing for her. After calming down Reia started to get changed into her new clothes.


    *


    "You can turn around now." Reia called out to Akira telling him it was okay to look.


    "Are you sure I am not going to turn around to a sword pointed directly at my eyes?" Akira was rather unsure if it was okay and this was just another trap just to tease him.


    "That was a mistake, you weren''t meant to turn!" Reia''s face went red again as she already was beginning to get over it, but was reminded of it.


    "Well, you did this to yourself." Akira turned, this time seeing a fully clothed Reia and finding it was not a bait to get him to look.


    Reia wore a ck turtleneck top with a ck long sleeve skin tight under top. Reia had a pair of ck and purple gloves alongside a pair of sneakers of the same colour scheme. She also wore a grey jacket with purple ents and the sleeves were rolled up to her forearms.


    Reia had chosen to wear a pair of ck short shorts and ck nylon stockings. Around Reia''s thigh was a ck and purple ent pouch as well as a belt carrying some smaller pouches.


    Akira nodded as Reia looked great, she still had the military vibe but was a lot more casual.


    "At least now we won''t be seen as the heroes when they see our clothes." Reia remembered what the women said and Reia could not me her for thinking that, since the world had quickly turned into a survival of the fittest scenario.


    "Hopefully we don''t encounter that kind of situation again, the military is far from heros and with the kind of people in the military, that women got the best-case scenario." Akira thought back to when he was a part of the lower ranks which were filled with disgusting men and women with no morals.


    "Well at least the cannon fodder are the ones to be killed first, I wouldn''t be surprised if they are all mutants now." Reia, having gone through the same thing as Akira, hoped they were dead as the first rank you get was the ce for people who had nowhere to go in life


    When joining the military there was a month screening process regarding whether you would stay as cannon fodder or be moved to a proper squad. Akira and everyone that got a higher rank all went through this hell.


    Being a part of that level of the military was also seen as an insult among the people of the military and if you never got promoted it would be a stain on your life.


    "It was only for one month but it felt like years as every day there was always something new happening." Akira held his head as just thinking about it was a headache.


    "We all had to do it, just be thankful that they gave special treatment to the people being promoted, so we never had to deal with them." Reia thought back to how there were always guards protecting her and if anyone darede near her without her permission would be shoved away.


    "Enough about the past, I need to get changed." Akira did not want to dwell on it for too long as it was no longer relevant to them.


    Akira took off his top causing Reia to freak out as Akira just started changing in front of her.


    "Wait, wait, wait!"


    "What? It''s not like you will see me naked." Akira had a grin as he was trying to get his revenge for all the teasing he had received from Reia.


    "Ahhh, whatever." Reia clenched her fists and turned away blushing, unable to argue or fight back.


    ''That bastard is going to pay 10 times more for this.''

 Chapter 13: Variants

    <h4>Chapter 13: Variants</h4>


    Akira chuckled at Reia''s reaction, but not wanting to get his ass kicked, did not pursue any further and took this win while he could.


    Reia facing the wall was lightly banging her head up against the wall, trying to think of a way to get back at Akira.


    *


    ''I''m at a loss.'' Reia gave up as she could not think of a way to 1-up Akira without it backfiring.


    ''I don''t want him getting ideas either.'' Reia also did not want Akira to get mixed messages and although she trusted him, she did not want that kind of attachment when anything could happen.


    "Reia, I''m done."


    Reia flinched, waking up from her thoughts and quickly turned around.


    Akira in his new clothes wore a long-sleeved t-shirt with an under top going up to his neck. Red lines went down the arms of the t-shirt and small lines on the neck of the under top. For pants, Akira had chosen a pair of cargo pants that also had a belt of pouches simr to Reia''s but only this time it had red ents. He had also gone for a pair of fingerless gloves and some normal ck sneakers.


    Akira looked at Reia confused as there was a small red mark on her forehead and was wondering what she was doing this whole time.


    "What the hell did you do to your head?" Akira had guessed she was agonising over how to get her revenge.


    "I-i uhhh, nothing." Reia covered her head, internally screaming.


    ''REIAAAAAAAA, why do you do this to yourself?'' Reia''s cold and confident image was crumbling in front of her eyes with each passing moment.


    Akira chuckled to himself as Reia who had always been so unapproachable was being adorable and was a scene that no one thought could be possible.


    ''Who would''ve thought Reia, a person known for being heartless, is just a normal girl.'' Akira knew Reia was far from normal, but to see this side of her was a steep contrast to how she acted in the military.


    "Anyway, we should get a move on, we spent too much time here." Akira shook his head while picking up his bag and weapons.


    "Can I use my sword to cut out the part of the brain where you saw me act like this?" Reia''s persona changed as she turned while pulling out her sword.


    "No, I need that to see more of this cute Reia, plus I don''t think you need to hide it, it''s not like we are a part of the military anymore. You could say we are free." Akira, not batting an eye at Reia''s actions, continued to make sure he had everything.


    "I-i, you bastard!." Reia went red again as now she feltpletely exposed and for someone who had always been keeping up the image of a cold leader for years, found it hard to give it up.


    ''Akira really is in for hell when I can think of something to use against him.'' Reia, not wanting to back down, was determined to get back at him.


    "Quiet, otherwise you will attract the mutants." Akira got worried for a moment and quickly looked to the front of the store. Luckily no mutants had heard them, but it was also a small wake up call to their situation.


    "S-sorry." Reia instantly calmed down and even though they had a rtively easy time, anything could happen and being reckless was just stupid.


    "We are fine, but we can''t y around anymore, we need to find a ce to stay." Akira started to scope out the front of the store to see if it was safe to walk out.


    "Well, what kind of ce should we look for?" Reia had a few ideas, but they needed to actually find the ces.


    "I thought about just an apartment near a ce with a lot of supplies, so that way we might bump into one of your members." This also allowed them to see if there were any groups of survivors in the city.


    "Let''s do that but we have to be careful as other people could have the same idea." Knowing staying near a ce with supplies would be ideal, but that also led to the potential of people fighting for the supplies.


    "There are also the rebel forces, I can see them already being a hassle, so let''s try not to reveal we are military otherwise we will get shot on sight." Akira thought that the rebels, an anti-military group, would take advantage of the situation and rally people together and take over ces with lots of supplies.


    "That will be hard since our guns are custom made for us, just be grateful Echo when making them did not add the logo on the gun so we might be able toe up with an excuse." Reia did not like the odds of blending in as a pair of people with high tier guns screamed military.


    "We will find out when we get there, let''s get moving and this time we will try to go by roof." Not wanting to risk drawing attention to them, they decided to go the safer route. This also allowed them to save more essence and recover the lost essence from the joint attack.


    "Shouldn''t there be a back door?" Reia looked around the storage room looking for another door.


    "Oh right." Akira felt a little stupid for not realising sooner.


    Reia walked to one of the corners of the backroom behind one of the shelves and found that there was a door that led to the back of the building.


    "Looks like I found our way out." Reia opened the door to the alley but when she did was greeted with a mutant lion.


    The mutant Lion growled and because of its size, Reia was not able to see its full body.


    Reia mmed the door shut and started to run away while grabbing Akira by the arm, pulling him along.


    "Wha-." Akira was about to ask what Reia saw but then the lion destroyed the back wall answering his question before he could ask.


    Reia dragged Akira to the front of the store before letting go and stopping.


    "Kill or run?" Reia was fine with either way but preferred to run to save essence.


    "Let''s just run." Akira also thought that it was better to save their essence rather than fight an almost elephant-sized lion.


    The lion smashed through the next wall forcing Reia and Akira to run out of the store.


    Upon running out to the street mutants were already running in their direction. Akira, noticing an alley across the road, grabbed Reia''s hand and ran towards it. The lion was now out on the street and the clothing store they were in started to copse to the ground.


    The lion roared, attracting all the nearby mutants to the street they were on.


    Akira and Reia ran into the alley and climbed up a metal staircase that led to the roof.


    "Why the fuck is that lion so big?" Akira was shocked by the size as all the mutants they saw were only slightly bigger than their respective race.


    "It''s like the massive mutant I ran into before, but this time it''s an animal." Reia got shbacks to the massive human mutant she ran away from.


    Looking over the edge to see what it was doing a smaller lion mutant had run-up to the massive one and started to get absorbed into it.


    "Wait so the massive mutants are just an umtion of the same race?"


    Reia''sment was rather terrifying as there were millions of people in the city meaning the number of massive mutants would berge.


    "We need to go!" Akira, not wanting to hang around to find out, ran along the rooftops followed by Reia.


    After the lion finished absorbing the mutant, it jumped up onto the roof of the building. However, when itnded, the roof of the building caved in on itself causing the lion to fall back down.


    Reia and Akira despite their situation got a little chuckle out of it as it was funny to see the lion struggle to stay on the roof.


    "Akira, try shooting it, so the corruption could start eating its body." Reia figured he may as well let it slowly die while they run away.


    Without saying a word Akira turned around quickly and changed the magnification on his sight and aimed at the lion that was getting up from the ground.


    Firing a burst of bullets Akira hit the lion directly in one of its glowing green eyes. The corruption started to eat away at the lion slowly and with how big its body was, could take hours before it had any effect.


    However, thanks to one of its eyes being shot, it caused the movement of the lion to be a little awkward.


    "Now let''s hope it dies." Akira holstered his gun and caught up to Reia who moved up a little.


    Once again just like Reia, they made it to a street where they could not jump across and were forced to jump down or take a risky jump to the building to their side. The street below had mutants rushing through the streets making their way to where the lion roared. The buildings beside them, although close enough for a jump, were just too far apart for them to do it confidently.


    "Shit, what do we do?" Akira was unsure what to do as the lion mutant was getting closer and they had about 20 seconds before it caught up.


    "Akira, look ahead of us, there is a different kind of mutant on the other side of the road from us." Reia looked across and saw a mutant who had the figure of a normal person, but was covered in the same substance.


    The mutant looked up and saw Reia and Akira standing on top of the roof.


    In only a few seconds the mutant''s legs glowed green as if it was charging up and jumped into the air, appearing right in front of Akira and Reia.

 Chapter 14: Close call

    <h4>Chapter 14: Close call</h4>


    The mutant jumped up in front of Akira and Reia swinging its arms towards them. The hand of the mutant also turned into a glowing bright green de.


    Reia jumped into Akira, getting them both out of the way.


    Reia quickly got up and helped Akira up from the ground.


    "Thanks."


    "No worries, but we need to run, so let''s take our chances and make the jump." Reia saw the mutant fall back down and grab ahold of the ledge.


    The mutant lion was also close, giving them even less time to choose, and ultimately forcing them to go for the jump.


    Akira taking the initiative, sprinted and jumped across the gap first so if Reia needed he would be able to help her up if she didn''t quite make the jump. The gap was about 4 meters making the jump rather difficult, but Akira being tall was able to clear the jump much easier.


    Reia shortly after, followed Akira, jumping across the gap. However, the mutant had pulled itself up and leapt at Reia as she jumped.


    Reia''s heart dropped, seeing the mutant behind her.


    ''Shit I might not make it.'' Reia reached out her hand to Akira as her jump fell a little short.


    Akira grabbed ahold of her hand and Reia''s body mmed into the side of the building. The mutant also followed the same trajectory and as Akira was pulling Reia up the mutant grabbed a hold of her foot.


    "Get your fucking hands off me." Reia used her foot to kick the mutant''s hand and made sure its mouth did not get close to her. Akira using one hand pulled out his sword while giving Reia onest pull to get her up.


    As Reia was being pulled up, Akira swung down at the mutant''s arm, cutting it off. The mutant fell down to the alley and Reia was safe.


    "You okay Reia?" Akira had a worried look and was checking to make sure Reia was not bit or scratched.


    "I''m okay but the dangers are not over." The mutant lion they had been running from, caught up and jumped onto the building they were just on, this time the building not copsing under its feet. The mutant lion''s face, however, was half-eaten by Akira''s corruption and was close to getting its other eye.


    "ROAARRRRR!!!" still being able to roar despite the half-eaten face was just as loud as before attracting even more mutants, creating a sea of mutants below Akira and Reia.


    Akira during the roar quickly pulled out his rifle to fire a few more corruption bullets at the lion, but this time aiming for its legs.


    The bulletsnded piercing through its leg, nting the corruption that slowly started eating away at the mutant lion''s leg.


    The lion became enraged from Akira''s bullets and its chest started to glow a bright green. Akira and Reia took the hint, and not wanting to find out what it was doing, started running.


    The mutant lion after a few more moments spewed out a green me from its mouth setting the surrounding buildings on fire.


    "Since when did dragons in disguise exist?" Reia was shocked to see the lion spew mes and felt like she was in a fantasy novel all of a sudden.


    The mes just missed Akira and Reia, almost burning their tails, but were able to just manage to get far enough away.


    The buildings that were set on fire started to turn into the same substance as the mutant''s body. Akira noticed what the mes were doing and more questions popped into his head.


    ''More and more questions keep popping up, going to need some people to sacrifice so we can find out more.'' Akira thought about the rebel forces who would be good candidates for testing, however, now wasn''t the time to y around with the fire.


    While running they noticed the roofs were a lot closer making it easier to traverse, allowing them to gain distance while the lion was breathing fire.


    The lion eventually stopped spewing fire and ran through the mes with ease, but the corruption on its leg was starting to hinder its movements.


    The lion started to chase Akira and Reia while mutants were starting to make their way on to the roof. Stacking on top of each other and climbing up any stairs that were on the side of the building, mutants started filling the roof.


    Reia pulled out her rifle and shot mutants while running, preventing them from getting up on the roof. Akira also did the same thing and thanks to their lightning bullets, if they did not hit the core the mutants would get paralysed.


    "At this rate, we might be at our end." Reia did not like their odds and was looking for a way to escape the mutants.


    The lion was slowly catching up and if they did not find a way to shake the lion off, they would be its meal.


    Akira while running spotted a few buildings up ahead that had a metal staircase leading to a higher up. There was also a construction site filled with something on the bottom floor, but Akira was unable to see what it was.


    "I have a crazy idea but you need to trust me with your life." Akira was going to take a gamble and hoped his idea was going to work.


    "As long as we live, don''t worry about how crazy it is." Reia did not care what it was, as long as they both got out alive.


    "Alright follow me." Akira picked up the pace going into a full sprint.


    Reia doing the same followed Akira and when they reached the metal stairs thought he was crazy to even climb up them.


    Having no time to waste they climbed up the stairs while the mutant lion tried to use it as adder to climb up. The stairs came off the wall and the lion fell back onto the building causing it to copse and get buried by the rubble. Reia and Akira had just made it to the top, with Reia almost slipping, but Akira was able to catch her and pull her up.


    "Looks like your idea worked. Thought we were going to die while climbing." Reia was not confident they would be able to make it up before the staircase was ripped off the wall.


    The mutants had no way of getting up, making them mindlessly scratch and reach up the wall.


    "My n isn''t over." Akira walked over to the other end of the roof, looking down and saw a building that was under construction. The building itself was an empty husk but there was still a lot of equipment surrounding the building.


    "Are you kidding?" Reia looked down and the drop was at least over 3 to 5 stories.


    "If we are going to escape the lion, what better way to get away than to hide." Akira noticed that mutants are reliant on sight and hearing so with all this chaos making a lot of noise, and sound would not be an issue.


    "I see why you said, do I trust you with my life." Reia grabbed her head, but they were cornered and didn''t have much longer before the mutant lion escaped the rubble of the copsed building.


    "Well, do you?" Akira held out her hand to Reia waiting for her choice.


    ''We should be fine, let''s just hope no bones break.'' Reia was more concerned about the long term effects of the fall rather than if they would live or not.


    "Fine, but if any of us are seriously injured, I''m going to kill you." Reia reluctantly grabbed his hand, but what she did not expect was Akira pulling her in.


    "Sounds like a deal." Akira wrapped his arms around Reia and proceeded to fall off the roof towards the construction site.


    Akira decided to take the brunt of the force by turning his back towards the construction site. Reia, having no real control over their fall, freaked out as she did not want Akira to be taking the full blow.


    "You dumbass!" Reia called out just before they hit the roof of the building.


    Akira crashed into the roof falling right through with Reia in his arms. It did not stop there as Akira also hit the second floor and broke through, but because the building was not finished the floor easily caved in due tock of structural support.


    Akira and Reianded in a massive pile of trash bags that were stored in the building cushioning their fall.


    Afternding Akira and Reia rolled out onto the floor with Akira still holding Reia, continuing to keep her safe.


    Once they stopped moving Akira was on his back with Reia on top of him.


    "Fuck, that sure was a fall." Reia got out of Akira''s hold but she noticed something when getting up.


    "Wait Akira? Are you okay?"


    ***


    "They jumped off the roof." A manid on the roof of a building and was looking through a pair of binocrs


    "Did they look like they had weapons?" Another man who was standing next to him spoke up.


    The man standing wore rather casual clothes with a gun on their back as well as many pouches around his body.


    The other wore an old looking military uniform with a coat and looked rather old.


    "They had swords and guns, so they must be rather strong." The manying down pulled away the binocrs revealing a scar across his eye.


    "Alright let''s get some extra hands and once the mutants clear from the area we investigate to see if we can take their equipment." The man walked towards a door that led to a set of stairs going down.

 Chapter 15: Other survivors

    <h4>Chapter 15: Other survivors</h4>


    "Akira!" Reia was kneeling next to Akira who had been knocked out. Reia knowing he isn''t dead was still freaking out as mutants coulde at any moment.


    "We need to hide." Reia could hear the mutants outside frantically running around looking for them.


    Reia got up from the ground and started to look for a ce to hide. Spotting what looked like a small storage room she went to pick Akira up.


    ''Fuck Akira, why do you have to be so heavy.'' Reia struggled to lift Akira and thanks to his height it became harder forcing Reia to drag him.


    Reia reached the storage room and opened the door, without looking Reia stepped into the room. What Reia failed to realise was she had stepped into a hole causing her to fall. Dragging Akira along with her, they both fell down the holending in a stack of cement bags. These stacks were on 4 pallets all put together leaving a small gap between each big stack of cement bags.


    Landing in a basement of some sort, Reia found herself stuck underneath Akira. Reia attempted to push him but found herself stuck in a position that made it harder for her to get Akira off.


    Being unable to push him off, Reia had toy on top of cement bags with Akira passed out on top of her.


    ''Well, at least it''sfortable.'' Reia during the fall had lost grip on Akira causing him to turn over andnd on Reia facing her. This worked out as having Akira''s swords and bag in her face would not have been ideal.


    Reia let out a sigh as she had no idea what to do and cursed herself for not taking up more physical training.


    However, fatigue was also catching up with Reia since she hadn''t been able to properly rest. Being oddlyfortable in the awkward situation Reia could feel herself getting tired.


    ''I can''t sleep yet, we are hardly far from safe.'' Reia did not want to pass out, so she decided to try pushing Akira off her again. Reia then came to realise she was also getting exhausted as realistically it shouldn''t have been too hard to move him to the side, but with each attempt she found herself getting weaker.


    ''Let''s just hope we are safe, I''m slowly sinking in between the gaps of these cement bags so at least I can hide if I need to.'' Reia figured if any mutants were to make their way down she would force herself down the gap.


    Reia stared at the roof, getting lost in thought on how so much has happened in only a day.


    ''Only if we made it to the haven. Then at least we would be able to rx.'' Reia wished that they had more time since the haven was far from the city making it a quiet area.


    ''Everyone should be able to survive and hopefully, they are making their way to the haven.'' Although Reia believed in her squad she still felt uneasy seeing that Akira and her are barely getting by.


    *


    After 10 minutes of waiting, the sounds outside did not die down, but Reia was not worried as none could be heard in the construction site.


    ''Seems like the lion doesn''t know where we are too.'' After the first roar, the lion had not made any more sounds. Reia thought that Akira''s corruption may have killed it or is on the verge of dying.


    Reia''s eyes were starting to get heavy and despite the situation was failing to stay awake.


    ''I¡­ need.. To stay¡­.. Awa-'' Reia wanted to stay awake just in case, but could not fight it anymore and passed out.


    ***


    <few hourster>


    "The mutants have cleared, we can move in." A female tiger in urban clothes was in a nearby building waiting for the mutants to clear from a construction site where 2 highly equipped people fell. The half tiger had orange hair and was sitting by a window where the only light source was.


    The building was rather empty with a set of stairs going below and thanks to the sun getting close to setting making the roompletely dark.


    "Alright, I doubt they are alive, but if they are we will take them in unless they are from the military." The same man with the scar across his eye spoke up and walked in front of the window. The man looked old and had grey throughout his hair, he also had a bushy beard that was also slowly turning grey. His clothes represented that of a general but instead of the white uniform, it was brown with an R symbol on the chest.


    "Are you sure? Just because they are military doesn''t mean they share the same view." The half tiger questioned the man as she did not understand why he would kill them on site.


    "They are brainwashed, especially Reia, one of their best soldiers who would kill at theirmand." The man put his hand up to the scar on his eye as if remembering something.


    "You are not wrong, she is the lonely queen after all." The half tiger sighed and got up, walking towards a set of stairs to let the people below know they are moving.


    *


    A group of 6 people approached the construction site taking out any lingering mutants with ease and not attracting attention. Each member carried a basic rifle with simple attachments and a suppressor to reduce the noise.


    Using hand gestures the group made their way inside with ease and spotted the hole that was in the roof and half-built floor of the second level.


    "Search the trash pile, if their bodies aren''t there, they may be alive so keep on high alert, but do not shoot unless you see a white uniform." The same old man gave out orders and the other 5 started to rummage around looking for the 2 people that fell.


    "Captain, they don''t seem to be here, I think they may have moved somewhere else." A male half-dog spoke, reporting their findings.


    "Search the whole building, they can''t be far." The old man was a little worried about who they were dealing with, but seeing as it was most likely a couple it would not be hard to coax them into joining them.


    They now started searching the ce from top to bottom trying to find signs on where they went.


    "They are nowhere to be found, we are yet to check the basement, so if they are here it is most likely they are hiding in there." A male half squirrel spoke from the second-floor reporting that there was no sign.


    "Alright, we will all enter the basement, prepare for any danger." The old man made his way to a concrete staircase that went upstairs and downstairs.


    Once everyone had arrived they all made their way down the stairs while turning on their shlights.


    Looking into the basement, it was rather empty with the floor being half-filled with concrete.


    A bunch of equipment was left behind as well as a few stacks of bagged concrete.


    However, when they looked at the concrete bags they noticed a pair of fox ears behind them.


    "I believe there is a half fox behind the concrete bags boss." A female half spider that was next to the old man told them what they were seeing.


    "Hey! Come out with your hands up, we do not mean any harm." The old man spoke and the fox ears behind the concrete bags twitched.


    A male fox of about 2 metres tall stood up from behind the concrete bags with his hands up. A lot of dust was on his body and the fresh clothes they got were already dirty.


    The old man examined his clothes and the weapons he had on him. Thanks to him facing away he was able to get a good look at the swords and gun.


    ''I don''t see anything that says he is from the military.'' The old man was looking for the A symbol that was on all military equipment and not one could be seen on him.


    "What do you want?" Akira stared at the old man with a cold gaze while nning on what to do next as having 5 guns pointed at him was not ideal.


    "Seeing as you are alive, we are gathering up survivors and we saw you and your girlfriend fall from the roof. If I''m honest we were hoping to loot your bodies, but since you''re alive we will take you with us." The old man spoke honestly.


    Akira was rather suspicious of the old man and since Reia was asleep he did not want to start a fight.


    The half dog getting the gesture to move up slowly went to Akira to check on the other person that was there. The half dog looked around the cement bags and saw a fox girl who seemed to have passed out.


    The half dog nodded letting them know that there was another person and that there was no danger.


    The old man signalled to lower their weapons and Akira was finally able to rx.


    "Take your girl and follow us." The old man turned to go up the stairs.


    Akira nodded and picked up Reia in a princess carry.


    Akira approached the stairsing next to the orange-haired tiger. The half tiger looked at the woman in Akira''s arms and realised something. With the limited light barelying from the stairs the half tiger was able to just make out Reia''s face.


    "The lonely queen?" She spoke these words to herself, as she still wasn''t sure because of the light, but this had set Akira off. Not taking any chances Akira pulled out one of his swords and instantly killed the woman.


    There was a brief moment of shock before anyone realised what had happened and Akira knew that he didn''t have much time left.

 Chapter 16: The Rebels

    <h4>Chapter 16: The Rebels</h4>


    ''Shit, they know about Reia.'' Akira hearing the words lonely queen from the half tiger meant that they were either from the military or the Rebels. Akira looked at the weapons they were using and with the minimal light, it was hard to tell.


    ''It looks rather primitive and an older model of what the military has. They must be Rebels and if they recognise Reia, we will most likely be killed.'' Reia during her time as the lonely queen killed many Rebels so it''s not a surprise if stories went around.


    Akira letting go of Reia''s legs quickly pulled out his sword and swung down at the half tiger in one motion. Infusing his corruption essence into the sword, Akira cut open the half tiger''s chest, killing her.


    With Reia in one hand and his sword in the other, he did not have many options as there were still 5 members left.


    The members turned around to see what happened, but as they turned, Akira threw one of his swords at the half spider piercing her chest. The sword missed her heart, however the corruption started eating away at her and was in excruciating pain.


    "AHHHHH!" She screamed while grabbing her head in pain wanting whatever was eating away at her to stop.


    Akira pulled out his other sword and members started realising what was going on.


    "Kill them!" The old man gave the order and they started to prepare to shoot Akira. Their guns started to glow grey powering up to shoot.


    "Tch this isn''t good." Akira hoped to kill one more, but they were quick with their response. Thankfully they were on the stairs, so Akira managed to get out of the way before they fired. Getting around the corner, Akira put down Reia who had surprisingly not woken up from the noise.


    ''Looks like I got to protect sleeping beauty, she better repay me for this.''


    Akira pulled out his other sword while the sound of footsteps of going down the stairs was heard.


    ''Let''s see how they handle lightning.'' Akira sprinted around the corner, surprising the Rebels while he charged his other sword with lightning.


    Throwing his sword at the staircase it released an electric shock causing the bodies of the members to seize up and let go of their guns.


    Akira then pulled out his rifle and fired at the 3 members hitting them all with corruption bullets. They all began to scream in pain falling to their knees unable to do anything.


    ''Good thing they haven''t figured out the corruption''s weakness.'' Akira had one fatal weakness when it came to using corruption on people. If the person were to use their own essence or is currently using it, the corruption that would eat away at their brain would be absorbed by the person''s essence instead.


    So it was important for Akira to disarm anyone before he would shoot them otherwise the constant flow of essence would negate the corruption turning them into normal bullets.


    The old man who was further up the stairs was examining Akira''s sword that was in the half spider''s body.


    ''Where have I seen this sword before.'' The old man went to pull out the sword, but upon getting close a mist filled with lightning appeared around the handle.


    ''Mist and lightning, who was the boy that had the 2 essence types.'' The old man pondered on this while the other 3 were trying to take out Akira.


    "Hey there, hope you know it''s not good to touch other people''s belongings without permission." While walking up the steps, Akira picked up his sword that was lodged into the steps and holstered his gun on his back.


    "Heh, now why shouldn''t I take away the belongings of a military dog." The old man finally figured out who the sword belonged to. Akira entered the light where the sunlight was able to reach, revealing his face fully.


    "Akira, the one that identally killed his best friend while in the academy." The old man had a smug face while Akira''s face went dark from thement.


    "How do you know about that?" Akira had his suspicions, but as of right now he couldn''t care less and only wanted to kill the man in front of him.


    "Ha! It''s your old headmaster, don''t think something like that could easily be hidden, if it wasn''t for your family covering it up, I would have kicked you out." The old man had a grin trying to provoke Akira.


    "So you''re the bastard that Reiashed out at before she graduated from military school because you couldn''t control your hands." Akira slowly walked up the steps getting closer to the old man.


    "And I would do it again."


    Thestment made by the old man pushed Akira over the edge, as during his teenage years attending a military school, one of his upperssmen was Reia. The day before Reia''s ss was about to move on to the military the headmaster had tried toy his hands on Reia thinking she would be helpless.


    However, Reia with her sword went to kill the headmaster before he could get close, but only managed to cut his eye leaving a scar. But because she attacked the headmaster, Reia was unable to move straight to the higher ranks, forced to go through the normal process.


    Without saying a word Akira dashed up the stairs closing the gap between him and the old man.


    Akira shed downwards with his sword, but the old man brought his arms in front of his body. 2 gadgets that were under his sleeves glowed a brown before releasing a shield made of essence covered his body.


    Akira collided with the shield and sparks of essence went all over the ce.


    "Tch." Akira clicked his tongue as essence shields are one of the most powerful shields, requiring an immense amount of energy to break. One downside though it required a huge amount of essence to use, but for a veteran, it would be possible for them to hold a shield for hours.


    "Is this all you got Akira?!" The old man did not give up on trying to provoke Akira even further.


    "Is the coward going toe out of his body shield and fight me!" Akira had no way to get around the old man and found it extremely petty that he wouldn''t fight Akira head-on.


    "I don''t need to." Suddenly the shield started to glow sending out an invisible wave.


    Without realising it Akira was sent flying back down the stairs by an invisible force sent out by the shield.


    Crashing into the wall and hitting his head once again, Akira gritted his teeth in pain.


    "How pitiful to be put to the floor so easily." The old man walked down the steps approaching Akira intending to kill him. The old man was now at the bottom of the stairs, about to approach Akira to finish him off.


    "It won''t be that easy." Akira was about to try to get up in onest attempt to kill the old man.


    However, Akira''s head was spinning and was unable to see straight, making his chances of survival extremely low, until suddenly a purple light appeared from behind the old man.


    Reia who had a face full of rage and intent to kill, charged her sword to the max creating a lightning de. The old man turned around and a wave of fear washed through his body as it was the same look Reia had when he received his scar.


    Reia jumped at the old man shing down with her sword as fast as she could.


    The old man however, was able to pull the shield in Infront of him just in time, managing to barely block Reia''s sword.


    However, due to the amount of essence Reia put into her sword the shield started to crack. Bolts of lightning iled around where the sword contacted the shield creating smaller cracks in the shield.


    "Shit." Trying to pull away from Reia to avoid breaking the shield, The old man attempted to walk backwards up the stairs. Reia however, pulled back her de and hit the shield onest time causing it to shatter.


    Reia''s sword continued its trajectory, cutting the old man''s handoff. The old man grunted in pain, throwing down small metal boxes on the stairs while blood poured onto the floor.


    "Die." Reia went to finish off the old man, but suddenly a wall of essence was created at the bottom of the stairs.


    "HAHA, next time you won''t be so lucky." The old man grunted while continuing to walk up the stairs, trying to use this opportunity to escape. The metal boxes the old man ced down where small essence banks when ced together will create a wall that willst for a certain amount of time.


    "BASTARD! GET BACK HERE!" Reia, still having her sword covered in lighting, continued to bash at the wall, but no crack was being made due to most of the essence going into destroying the shield.


    Reia considered going through the hole they fell in, but the drop was too high for Reia to jump up.


    The old man continued to run away while the essence in Reia''s sword drained away with each strike.


    Akira, who recovered from being sted into a wall, came up behind Reia putting his hand on Reia''s shoulder.


    "Reia, it''s toote, we won''t be able to catch him at this rate." Akira could see tears starting to form in Reia''s eyes as she still continued to hit the essence wall.


    "I swear I will hunt that bastard down!" Reia''s list of people to kill grew.


    ''Why didn''t I pull out my rifle.'' Akira cursed himself as he had the perfect opportunity to kill the old man since his back was turned for a moment but he was too disoriented from hitting the wall.


    "Next time I see that old man, he is dead for sure." Reia took onest hit at the wall before falling to her knees out of breath.

 Chapter 17: Lou and Kim

    <h4>Chapter 17: Lou and Kim</h4>


    Reia, still filled with rage, did not want to give up, but she had already used too much of her essence on breaking the old man''s shield.


    "Damnit!" Reia dropped her sword on the ground and hit the essence wall with her fists, frustrated that the old man got away.


    Akira knelt to her side wrapping his arm around her shoulder trying to providefort.


    Reia continued to hit the wall with her fists and gritted her teeth out of anger while tears started to flow from her eyes as she muttered a name.


    "Octavia, I''m sorry."


    Akira did not know who that was as he doesn''t recall an upperssman named Octavia. Although curious he knew it was not the right time to ask and was willing to wait to find out the full story.


    ''There is more to this bastard old man than that encounter with Reia. If just seeing him causes such a strong emotional reaction from her, it might be one of the reasons why she was so heartless after graduation.'' Akira came to his own assumptions, hoping that Reia will exin what truly happened.


    Reia gave up on hitting the essence wall and started to cling to Akira without even realising it, trying to calm herself down.


    Akira patted the back of Reia''s head slowly trying his best to calm Reia down.


    ''I am so d Lou isn''t here to see this.'' Akira knew that if Lou were around, the scene of them hugging would be the product of endless teasing and it would be like he never left the academy.


    Despite the small age gap Akira still knew everyone from Reia''s squad before they entered the military and would always hang around them until they graduated. It was only when they graduated that Akira got to know his future squad that he would be the leader of.


    ''I promise you squad 2, I won''t let this one die on me.'' Akira made a promise to himself, although not the squad leader would still do his best to protect Reia''s squad and continue to be the pir of support.


    ***


    <Lou and Kim''s POV>


    In the penthouse of a hotel, Kim and Lou had taken refuge at the highest point they could find while also still having some luxury.


    "Darrrling~" Lou who had a ss of wine in her hand, went up to Kim who was on the balconyying down with her sniper.


    "W-we just had a session, we need to look for Reia." Kim blushed looking down her scope to avoid eye contact.


    "Fufu~ I know." Lou did not listen and pped Kim in the ass causing her to jolt.


    "Louuuu!!" Kim could notin, but they needed to move as it would only be a matter of time before people tried to make their way to the penthouse.


    "Hehehe~ I''m just teasing you, I know we need to leave." Lou backed away from Kim and leaned over the balcony.


    Both Lou and Kim had changed clothes getting out of their uniforms into more casual clothes.


    Lou wore full ck military pants, a t-shirt, a jacket and a pair of ck ankle boots which contrasted with her silver hair. She also had put bandages around her hand and wrist.


    Just like Reia and Akira, Lou had small pouches around her body holding essentials for quick ess.


    Kim wore a long-sleeve skin-tight cktop that had an orange cor that went around her neck. Over the top was a dark grey tank top that was slightly skin tight and provided a bit of extra warmth. Kim also wore a skirt exposing her legs and although she would rather wear jeans or shorts, Lou wanted quick ess.


    "So I assume no luck in finding anyone from the squad?"


    "Other than the massive mutant lion running along the roof, I was unable to see the people that were running from it." Kim was using her sniper to look through the city in an attempt to find other members of the squad.


    "We could try to make our way and investigate where that lion was, but that is quite far from here." Lou in reality just wanted to fight the mutant lion for herself, since she hasn''t been able to kill anything due to Kim only just recovering from her essence deprivation.


    "It is towards where Reia would have ran, so they could be in that area." Kim was able to see the military base and was able to determine that Reia could have ended up in that general area after distracting the giant mutant.


    "We have nothing better to do and this penthouse no longer has any wine, so no point in staying here." Lou had finished thest ss of wine and threw the ss over the balcony.


    "Should you really be drinking now?" Kim was rather worried for Lou as drinking in an apocalypse did not sound ideal.


    "Of course! I have always had a sk of wine with me on every mission we went on." Lou pulled out a sk from the inside of her jacket which bore the same wolf symbol that was on Kim''s beretta.


    "Wait, you actually did bring wine and Echo wasn''t kidding." Kim had heard from Echo that Lou always was bringing wine on missions and it was the reason why she was so crazy all the time.


    "Who do you think created a little device to make sure when we got scanned that it came up as water?" Lou had a grin as she stared at Kim.


    Kim facepalmed and let out a sigh.


    "Now let''s leave, something tells me we have guests." Lou put away her sk and pulled out her berettas while walking to the entrance of the penthouse.


    Kim, seeing Lou move, got up and put her sniper behind her back and pulled out her own beretta.


    Kim, who was not the best at close rangebat, stayed further back, letting Lou take the lead.


    Lou stood in front of a double door which was the entrance to the penthouse. Hearing whispers behind the door Lou waited a moment to hear what they were saying.


    "There are 2 people in here, if we can recruit them into the rebels th-" Lou had heard enough as hearing the word rebel caused her to kick the door open.


    "What?!" The group of 4 rebels were shocked by the sudden opening of the door with one getting hit right in the nose by the door.


    "Oop sorry, but your Empress Lou here hase to punish you." Lou had a grin seeing the confused and surprised looks of the rebel soldiers. 2 of which were human males and the other 2 being female. They each wore tactical clothes that bore the symbol R showing that they are indeed from the rebels.


    The soldiers were still confused until suddenly Lou shot one of the male rebels straight in the head. The soldiers instantly charged up their guns to fire at Lou, but because of the outdated models, it took time to shoot and Lou was able to take advantage of that.


    Running up to one of the rebels Lou kicked the gun out of his hands and bent backwards aiming her beretta''s at one of the female soldiers. Shooting the female soldier in the heart, her body began to burn from the inside.


    The male soldier tried to grab a hold of Lou''s leg, but Lou did a backwards somersault kicking the man in the jaw and knocking him out. The final female rebel seeing everyone being killed so quickly dropped her gun and raised her hands.


    "Please don''t kill me." The female rebel dropped to her knees shutting her eyes hoping she would be left alive. Lou shot the knockout rebel, turning his body into ash before turning to the female rebel.


    "Ara~ look at this cutie, If you''re willing to belong to me, I might let you tag along." Lou walked up to the female rebel leaning over, putting her beretta under the woman''s chin.


    "I-i, what does that mean?" The woman opened her eyes, seeing a sadistic grin on Lou''s face.


    "It is exactly as it sounds sweetie~" Lou pushed her beretta on her chin further, raising her head.


    "W-what happens if I say no?"


    "This." Lou pulled the trigger shooting a bullet right through her jaw, killing the rebel in an instant.


    "Why do they have to y so hard to get, just say yes and let me have my fun." Lou stood up straight and Kim walked out of the room.


    "Either way you would have killed her." Kim sighed as Lou''s sadistic side always ended up toying with the hearts of the enemy and she couldn''t help feeling bad for the victims.


    "They were rebels and it would only be a matter of time before we would be recognised since we have all made a name for ourselves." Lou knew they could join up with the rebels, but because their squad is so well known it would be hard to go into a camp without being shot on sight.


    "You are not wrong, anyway let''s get going, we need to make our way to where that lion was." Kim shook her and did not want to think about the countless murder they will probably have to go through.


    "Let''s hope that lion is still around, I have been itching to fight a big mutant."

 Chapter 18: Recovery

    <h4>Chapter 18: Recovery</h4>


    Reia had fallen asleep out of exhaustion in Akira''s arms, due to her using all of her essence to create the lightning de, in an attempt to kill the old man.


    Akira knew that it would take Reia at least 6 hours before waking up and recovering from the exhaustion.


    Hoping that the construction site would be safe enough, Akira needed some time to rest himself.


    ''The essence wall should be enough to protect us, but I have no idea how long it willst.'' The essence wall the old man threw down indirectly made it safe for them. However, Akira did not know how long it wouldst as there were varying times, depending on the model and how much was left in the essence batteries.


    ''I should probably move Reia away from the stairs.'' Looking around, Akira looked at the dead bodies lying on the ground and figured it would be better if they moved back to the cement bags.


    Standing up with Reia in his arms, Akira made his way back behind the cement bags, moving away from the dead bodies which were slowly being eaten by the corruption.


    The basement was nowpletely dark from the sun finally setting, relying on the torch on his gun to provide light. Akira''s gun pointed to the roof and it being a strong shlight was able to provide just enough light to see around him.


    Leaning Reia up against the cement bags, Akira then went back to pick up Reia''s sword and her bag which were left by the stairs.


    ''We need to have a base where we can store our things.'' Akira thought how nice it would be to set up shop somewhere so they didn''t need to carry everything.


    ''If only my squad had made it back to base, we could have at least had the chance to grab more supplies.'' Akira before meeting Reia was on his way back to the military base from a mission, so the supplies they had were rather low.


    ''Well let''s hope that everything isn''t ransacked or turned into a rebel camp.'' Akira thought about how the rebels could have already set up a base and it would be logical that it was at a kind of market where there is a bunch of supplies.


    ''It''s only been 1 day, so they wouldn''t have finished preparations, so maybe we can sneak in without any issues.'' Due to everything being in chaos, as long as they avoided higher-ranking rebels who were more likely to know them, they may be able to go in without any issues.


    ''Still too risky, I''m going to have to talk with Reia before we start making ns.'' Akira walked back to Reia cing her sword and bag next to her.


    Akira then sat down next to Reia pulling out a small snack of military rations from his bag.


    ''Horrible as ever, we really need to get some better food than this crap.'' Akira reluctantly ate the rations as he would rather go through them first than the cupped noodles.


    After finishing the rations, he leaned back, closing his eyes hoping to get some sleep while it was quiet and to wait for the night to pass.


    **


    Reia slowly opened her eyes, greeted with a dimly lit basement.


    Trying to move her head, bumped into something when she tried to move. Gaining her bearings she realised that she was leaning on Akira''s shoulder and his head was leaning on hers.


    Freaking out, she slipped away from Akira but because she moved, Akira''s support was now gone, making him fall onto Reia''sp. Landing his head on Reia''s thighs, Akira had trapped her from moving.


    Reia had no idea what to do as she did not want to wake him up, but she also did not want Akira on herp.


    ''Damnit.'' Reia mmed her head back on the cement bags confused and flustered as this was not what she was expecting to wake up to.


    ''I guess it isn''t so bad, after seeing that old piece of shit I don''t know if I would be able to keep my cool.'' Reia could feel the anger build up in her, just by thinking about him, but the current situation had somewhat quelled that urge to go hunting for him.


    ''Here I thought I had good control over myself, it seems like things never change.'' Reia thought back to the past, when she was very emotional and vtile, especially during her years at the academy.


    ''I turned off my emotions for a reason, hoping it would help but it seems like I still need to work on it.'' Reia sighed as while she was in the military she was able to control herself, but something in her had changed making her old selfe back out of its shell.


    ''I don''t know if I should me the copse or this damn vixen in myp.'' Reia looked at Akira as ever since they grouped up she had been more emotional.


    ''It was the same in the academy, every time he was around the smallest thing could make me outraged or flustered.'' Reia, trying to find an outlet to me her emotional state on, also remembered the time they spent at the academy.


    ''No wonder I was always being teased by Lou about Akira.''


    Lou had always been on Reia''s case about Akira as in most of the situations she got into with Akira, Lou would always try to flip it to make it sound like they liked each other.


    ''Tch, that damn she-wolf, of course, the one person I can''t get back at, is the one that teases me.'' Reia had always been unsessful in getting the upper hand on Lou and was stuck in a constant loop of getting teased.


    ''We were at school, not on a dating show.'' Reia always had set her mind on getting into the military and raising the ranks. So with Lou always encouraging something she never had time for, frustrated Reia.


    ''Maybe that''s why.'' Reia kept finding more excuses to me it on Akira, but in the end, there was no way to tell.


    *sigh*


    ''That doesn''t matter anyway.'' Reia shook her head, as there was no point in remembering the past.


    ''I need to wake Akira up, I want to get moving as soon as possible.'' Reia did not want to wake up Akira, but they needed to get moving before any rebels or mutants came by.


    Reia reached for Akira''s ears, and pinched the tip causing him to suddenly jolt up. Because Reia was leaning over him, his head went directly into her chest causing her to push Akira off.


    Akira rolled onto the floor in front of Reia disoriented and extremely confused about what happened.


    "What the fuck?" Akira got up from the ground holding his head trying to get his bearings. Akira looked at where Reia was and saw her turning her head.


    "Oh you are awake, but what the hell happened." Akira was d to see Reia was okay but was confused about what the hell just happened.


    "I-i uhhh¡­. Sorry, I pushed you since you were on myp when I woke up." Reia purposefully avoided telling Akira what really happened just so she didn''t have to deal with the embarrassment.


    "Oh haha, my bad I ended up sleeping right next to you." Akiraughed it off, a little embarrassed, but he understood why Reia would have acted like that, especially the memories that would have just resurfaced recently.


    "But did you have to push me that hard?" Akira stretched his back feeling sore.


    "S-sorry." Reia did not have much to say but was d she avoided an embarrassing crisis.


    "Well seeing as we are awake and it is now morning, we should get out of this construction site." Akira got straight to the point and went to pick up his bag and gun.


    "Oh yes." Reia got up from the ground while picking up her sword and bag.


    Akira then went to the essence wall that had finally diminished, to pick up his sword that was still on the stairs.


    "Before we go, what should we do if we encounter a rebel camp?" Akira wanted to have some sort of n of action before entering. He also had his worries that the old man would be there and if that was the case it would be impossible to sneak in.


    "If the old man is there I am kil-"


    "No! That is too dangerous, we need to survive and regroup first before we try to go on our own personal agendas." Akira expected Reia to say something along those lines and it wasn''t ideal for them especially if it is a small army''s worth of rebels.


    Reia shut her mouth as Akira was right and her emotions were getting the better of her again.


    "I say we find a ce to stay for the time being to make our base and go out to investigate." Akira knew they needed to head to the haven, but it was unlikely that they would be able to get there anytime soon, so a ce to stay would be ideal.


    "Hmm, it would be good to have a ce to go back to that is hidden. We also have at least a week or 2 worth of supplies in our bags, so we have time to find a ce to settle." Reia liked the idea as making it to the haven was getting less usible by the day.


    "Alright, it is decided, let''s find a ce to set up base and then we will go try to find a ce to get supplies." Dering the n Akira and Reia had a new goal.


    "Well let''s get moving." Reia was content with the n and so they got ready to leave.

 Chapter 19: Scouting

    <h4>Chapter 19: Scouting</h4>


    Reia and Akira looted the clothes of the dead soldiers that had been fully consumed by the corruption. The only thing that remained was the blood that came from the wounds leaving a small pool on the ground.


    After going through their belongings, Akira and Reia managed to get a bit more food, giving them a morefortable time frame to find a ce to stay. Amongst the clothes of the half tiger, there was a note with an address on it.


    "Akira, It looks like we have an address to their base." Reia looked at the note and next to the address was the words'' base, so she assumed this was where the rebels were residing.


    [Collins Street - base]


    "Let''s hold onto it, for now, we need a map first otherwise we could be running around forever looking for it. Still keep an eye out though, but let''s focus on finding a ce to stay first." Akira knew what Reia was thinking as it would be the ce where the old man was heading.


    ''tch, at least I know where that bastard is going.'' Reia was a little disappointed that they wouldn''t look for the base, but she was satisfied with knowing where a rebel base was.


    "Did we also want to take their weapons or is that not worth it?" Reia thought if they took their weapons, Echo could make use of the parts of the spare guns.


    "If you want, but we are already carrying a lot, so unless we really need it just leave them." Akira did not mind the idea, but he did not want to add more weight to what they were already carrying.


    "Hmm, they are older models, plus we can alwayse back here if we desperately need to and if someone doesn''te by to loot the construction site." Reia was examining the gun the rebels had, figuring it was probably for the better to leave the guns until they had their own ce to stay.


    "Well try hiding them somewhere then." Akira looked around and seeing that it was rather dark all the time, Reia could probably find a ce to put the guns.


    "Nah I won''t bother, we need to get moving anyway." Throwing the gun on the ground, Reia walked up to the stairs where Akira was sitting.


    "Alright then, let''s get going then, did you want to take the lead this time?" Akira realised he had been taking charge since it felt natural for him to always be the first one to go in.


    "Whatever is fine, I was enjoying not ying squad leader for once." Reia smiled and although she would rather take charge, did not mind following Akira around.


    Akira recoiled back as to him the smile despite how cute Reia looked, was menacing and screamed you do it or I will murder.


    "Y-yep, I will take the lead." Akira quickly got up and turned around to go up the stairs.


    Reia tilted her head confused as to why Akira seemed suddenly afraid.


    ''Is my smile that bad, I wasn''t trying to be scary.'' Reia felt a little self-conscious and held her hand to her mouth.


    ''Surely not, Akira smiles all the time, and it looks great, does this mean my squad members think the same of me.'' Reia spiralled in her thoughts while she followed Akira.


    *


    Akira and Reia made it out onto the street to find that it was cleared of mutants.


    "That''s a surprise you would think there would be some more mutants." Akira thought that while they were asleep mutants would have converged on the street.


    "Well, the mutant lion did cause them to congregate and move as a group, so a bunch of mutants are probably somewhere else." Reia imagined that there was a massive horde somewhere waiting to get aggravated and chase down another victim.


    "I say let''s take advantage of the silence and start looking for a ce to stay for the time being. Ideally, we want something underground or somewhere hidden or hard to get to."


    "This is a military city so there were tunnels and bunkers that were underneath the city before the use of Essence barriers." Reia remembered when looking at blueprints of the city that there were a bunch of underground checkpoints. When she asked about this, she was told that before the application of essence was used as a way to defend the city, bases were built underground to prevent assassinations as well as provide evacuation routes.


    "Oh yeah, those military briefings in case of an attack went through how if the base was under an aerial strike that the underground tunnels were one of the escape routes."


    "They are id locked so we should be able to get in unless they already cklisted us." Reia, having one of the highest positions you could get with hard work, had the authority to enter these ces in case of such emergencies.


    "Alright let''s try to find one of these entrances, but we should be careful since some other people from the military may have taken these spots." Akira who also had ess knew that the other squad leaders would also be able to.


    "Tch, let us hope that squad 5 leader is dead, I hate her guts." Reia''s squad was not the only one with capable members and there were at least 10 squads that held the same rank. This was also one of the reasons why they did not think of this sooner since it was potentially a highly contested ce by other military members.


    "Bleh don''t get me started on her, she tried to hit on me and when she saw one of my squad members get close to me, she snapped." Akira had a disgusted look thinking about squad 5''s leader.


    "Klein is a psycho, if it wasn''t for her unique essence, she would have been kicked out already." Reia remembered hearing how Klein killed one of her own squad members by "ident".


    "Mm indeed, her ability to copy other people''s essence is too valuable for the military." Akira did not like the thought of bumping into them, but they needed to try the bunkers.


    "As much as there is a high chance of encountering them, if we go to the bases, let''s hope we can get Echo to mess with the locks." Reia knew If they could find Echo it would make the base so much safer from unexpected guests.


    "Knowing him he might already be in one." Akira being one of the few males in both their squads felt a connection with Echo.


    "There are so many underground bases and tunnels, it would be a miracle if we could find him." Reia knew in the massive city there were hundreds of backup bunkers and tunnels that spread throughout it.


    "Aha, you are not wrong, but we have wasted too much standing around. Let''s start looking for one of these bunkers." Akira took onest look around to make sure there were not any mutants sneaking upon them.


    "There are more tunnel entrances so it may be a while till we find one of the bunkers."


    "We just have to try them all then." Akira hoped it would not take too long, but from what Reia said, it might take them the whole day to find one that has a functioning lock.


    "Well hurry up and get moving squad leader Akira~." Reia pped Akira''s back forcing him to take the lead.


    Akira let out a sigh and started to walk down the street with Reia walking beside him.


    *


    Akira and Reia explored the streets going past many apartments and convenience stores that were ransacked almostpletely. Due to the copse being recent a lot of the food was still okay to eat, so they were able to have some hot food before it went stale.


    Akira and Reia sat on the edge of a roof, to take a short break and rx before moving.


    "Oh yeah remember that mutant that could jump." Reia while taking a bite of a piece of pie that was still warm and okay to eat.


    "Oh that, it was rather odd, it seems that there are variants of the mutants with enhanced traits like the giants." Akira also had a pie and bit into it.


    "We should probably name them, so I say we call them variants and then based on what they do. So for example the giant variants or the jumpy boy."


    "Jumpy boy? Can''t you think of something else?" Akira was a bit astonished at Reia''s naming sense.


    "But it is a great name, it tells us exactly what the mutant can do." Reia felt that the name waspletely fine.


    "Well, I don''t know about that, how about hunters." Akira randomly threw a name suggestion out and Reia stopped to think about it.


    "I like it." Reia took another bite into her bite enjoying it before they would not be able to eat like this.


    "Eh but isn''t that too vague." Akira thought that hunter would have been too vague for Reia''s liking, so he was rather confused.


    "Whatever, I Like it, so we name it that."


    "O-okay." Akira was notining, but he did not understand what Reia was thinking.


    "Now that we have that sorted, we should get moving again, we have been lucky that no mutants havee around." Reia could hear mutants in the area but was unable to see or exactly hear where they were.


    "Indeed, we need to get a bit more discrete, now that we are out of that area." Akira could tell that the lion''s roar did not reach here as a few mutants have been seen wandering around.


    Getting up from the edge of the roof, Reia finished off her pie and stretched.


    "Ahh~, so far we have only found tunnels, so let''s pick up the pace a bit."


    "Let''s hope the first bunker isn''t infested with military rats." Akira finished off his pie and got up from the edge as well.


    Reia and Akira got ready and were now back to looking for a ce to stay.

 Chapter 20: Bunker

    <h4>Chapter 20: Bunker</h4>


    Getting off the roof of the convenience store they were on, Akira and Reia continued to make their way through the streets looking for a bunker. The area they were in was almost like a shopping district, with a lot of stores for different kinds of aspects of life. Most of the stores seemed to be looted or destroyed, not leaving much to be grabbed.


    "It''s only been a couple of days, and everything seems to have gone to shit." Reia felt like they had been living this for weeks now, but it has only been 2 days since the apocalypse began.


    "It is rather abnormal, but the mutants it produced were rather strong so it''s no surprise that a lot of people have already been wiped out." Akira did not find it strange considering how the infection was caused byva and unless you had a weapon, there was not a high chance of survival against the mutants.


    "Well, everyone tried to run, but got caught or ended up in a group like the rebels. I wouldn''t be surprised if most of the people that did live are currently with the rebels." Reia knew that the military would be in shambles and was most likely still in the base trying to survive, so it was more likely that the rebels took charge and were housing most survivors.


    "I see them setting up new rules with the military gone, but that also depends on the rest of the world. We have no idea if this is an isted incident, or if this had a domino effect on other cities." Due tomunication being down they could not use their phones to check on what is happening around the world, meaning they could possibly be wiped off the map if this is an isted incident.


    "We are one of the biggest powers in the world, so I don''t know if they want to destroy such a valuable city." Reia saw the look on Akira''s face and could tell he was thinking that the cities could potentially nuke the ce.


    "I hope so, but you can''t be too sure." Akira was sceptical, but all they could do was survive and try to live through this.


    "We can''t be heroes and save humanity, we are just military nobodies in the end, but let''s try our best to live. After All, if we can find a nice quiet ce to settle down as the world is burning, I can die happily." Reia did not really care for the world and was rather selfish, wanting to fulfil her own desires than help people.


    "Are you sure? I mean I would rather that, but that seems like not a big enough goal to survive." Akira liked the sound of it as well but could already see motivation waning if that was it.


    "Aha, don''t worry I have my motivations, but you could say that''s what I want in the end, to have me and my squad live far away in peace."


    "Oh? And what are these motivations." Akira was rather curious, but he could already guess it had to do with killing a few people.


    "Well of course I will pay back some people, but I also made a promise to someone which I''m not telling." Reia quickly ran ahead while poking her tongue out at Akira to leave him curious.


    "Oi, you can''t leave me hanging like that." Akira felt cheated and was now dying to know what this promise was.


    "Shhh, otherwise mutants wille here." Reia looked around for a moment as they were being rather loud, but it seemed, they were safe. However, on the roofs of the buildings, watching over Akira and Reia was a mutant that was invisible waiting to strike at any moment. Its body was intangible, and it was impossible to make out what animal or human it was.


    "Oh yes, you''re right, my bad." Akira quickly went back down to a quiet voice, hoping he did not attract unnecessary attention.


    Having a moment of silence, Reia thought back to the promise she made, and her expression changed to a sad and determined look.


    ''Octavia, don''t worry I will fulfil our promise.''


    *


    *sigh*


    "This is another tunnel." Reia climbed out of a manhole with a disappointed look on her face.


    "Onto the next one then." Akira looked up to the sky and saw that it was just afternoon.


    "You know you can still use our phones for the time." Reia pulled out her phone showing that it was 1:30 pm


    "Wait, your phone is working?" Akira was shocked and quickly pulled out his phone to see that the screen was working.


    "Yes, and I think it has something to do with the greenva, so nothing will work when you''re near it." This also gave hints as to why there were little cars in the car park as the cars still worked, but if you went near theva, it would shut them downpletely.


    "Well, that''s handy and since we both have lightning, we are walking chargers." Akira ced his finger on the charging port and using a little bit of essence was able to charge his phone back to full in an instant.


    "Anyway, we need to find this damn bunker." Reia took the lead this time checking every alleyway and putting her hand on anything that could be disguised as an entrance. Although usually, these ces were covered as a sewer entrance or vending machine, they can not be entered until it scans your hand.


    By cing your hand on the entrance, it will scan whether you are authorised and once the check is over, it will unlock. Most of the locks had inbuilt storage of who is allowed and connected to the military base, but with the military base being destroyed the connection is severed making any changes to the system not updated in the locks.


    Underneath these entrances were highly fortified bunkers or tunnels which arguably are one of the safest ces in the city. Thanks to them also running on their own essence generators most of the locks were functioning, but ces that resided near a crack in the ground were unable to be unlocked.


    Reia and Akira had checked many more of these sewer entrances and obscure ces but were only able to find tunnels still.


    "You would think we would have found one already." Reia was getting a little frustrated as they had checked well over a dozen entrances but did not find a single bunker.


    "I''m telling you, the one that we couldn''t open was the bunker." Akira and Reia had bumped into an entrance that wasn''t opening because of theva messing with the electronic lock. Akira thought that it had to be a bunker, but it just had to be near one of the veins that produced greenva.


    "I don''t doubt that, but surely there would be more than one." Reia could not believe that there was only one bunker in the area they were in.


    Walking into an alley, a rather primitive phone box was at the end where a wall blocked off the other side.


    "Let''s see if this phone box is an entrance." Reia walked up to the phone box and pulled on the edge to reveal a hand scanner.


    Most things that were disguised as normal objects would work like normal, so usually, there was a certain scanning pad hidden within the machine.


    This prevented normal people from touching the scanner and sending constant alerts to the bunker or tunnel below.


    "My hopes are not high." Akira expected it to be another tunnel like the others.


    However, the sound of a small rock falling behind them caught Akira''s attention. Although eerie sounds were happening all the time this was odd as the buildings around them were in good condition.


    "Reia, hold on a moment before opening it." Akira stopped Reia just before she was about to put her hand on the scanner.


    "Hmm? What''s wrong?" Reia turned and saw Akira looking at the roof of the buildings.


    "I don''t know if it''s me being paranoid, but I think something is following us." Akira while exining his thoughts, pulled out his swords fuelling them with lightning essence.


    Reia being further back took Akira''s paranoia seriously and knew it would be better to be safe than sorry. Pulling out her rifle, Reia observed the alley waiting for any movements.


    The sound of running was heard above them and whatever was above them jumped over the gap.


    Reia and Akira were confused as they saw bits of rocke off the roof as if something jumped but they were unable to see anything.


    "Shit! it might be invisible, Akira be careful." Reia thinking back to how absurd the mutants could get did not rule out the possibility they could turn invisible.


    Akira looked around trying to spot anything that did not look quite right.


    ''Fuck, don''t tell it has pure invisibility.'' Akira looked around frantically trying to see any hint of what they thought was a mutant.


    The alley was silent, waiting for the mutant to make a move.


    Something shifted behind Akira and taking that as a sign he quickly turned around shing down.


    Akira hit nothing but heard something move to the side, going up against the wall.


    "Reia to your right on the wall, about the size of a tiger." Akira yelled out to Reia, where to shoot and she quickly aimed.


    Firing, the bullet quickly travelled and sessfully hit the invisible mutant. A ssh of green blood went up on the wall and a growl of pain came from the mutant.


    Due to the bullet hitting the mutant, its invisibility also came undone revealing what it is.


    The mutant took the shape of a panther, but unlike the other mutants its legs were glowing a bright green and the tip of the tail was a bright green de.


    "Another variant." Akira quickly hopped back putting distance between him and the panther as fighting at close range was too dangerous.


    "At least it is only one."


    As soon as Reia spoke these words, the sound of growling was heard above them and more of the same kind of panther came out of their invisibility.


    "Fucking hell, no wonder it has been so quiet, we ran right into a horde of variants." Akira had found it odd, they had not encountered any mutants, but seeing the many panthers above answered his question.


    "No holding back, we need to kill them as quickly as possible." Reia''s rifle glowed a bright purple and prepared to fire.


    "We don''t have a choice." Akira quickly put away his swords and then pulled out his rifle which glowed a bright red.


    Akira and Reia readied themselves for the onught, nervous by the amount that surrounded them.

 Chapter 21: Unexpected guest

    <h4>Chapter 21: Unexpected guest</h4>


    Looking around, Akira and Reia were able to count over 20 mutants.


    They did not like their odds but needed to try and if it came to it, they could run into the tunnel or potentially the bunker for safety.


    However, they did not want to risk running into the military as well as leaving a bunch of variant mutants outside.


    Reia started to move closer to Akira, as she did not want to be stuck at a dead end. Making sure her gun was still aimed at the panther that was on the ground, she made her way over.


    As Reia passed the panther going as far left as she could go, a panther from above dropped down toward Reia.


    Quickly looking up Reia fired at the panther that was falling towards her, piercing the core thanks to the favourable angle. The panther that was on the ground however took the opportunity to attack Reia using its tail.


    The tail of the panther was able to extend and went straight for Reia''s head, but was shot down by Akira before it got close to her.


    Reia jumped out of the way avoiding the falling body and positioned herself next to Akira.


    "Are you sure you wanted to move away from the hidden entrance?" Akira did not mind either way, but it was also a potential escape for them.


    "I''d rather run away than have to deal with mutants at our front door all the time."


    "Fair enough, but let''s try to kill as many as we can while we can." Akira aimed his gun at the panther that was patiently waiting to strike and fired a few bullets.


    As expected the panther was able to move out of the way and turned invisible. However, thanks to the wound on its back, Akira was able to still see it. Continuing to fire at the panther, Akira was able to hit it a few times, paralysing it.


    Before Akira could attempt to go for the kill shot, 2 panthers from above turned invisible and jumped at Akira. Both Reia and Akira aimed up, firing in the air in an attempt to hit the panthers. Seeing green blood spout from a panther in mid-air giving them a better indication of where the panthers wereing from.


    Killing another panther, Akira and Reia hopped back to avoid the body, but one panther remained. Hearing itnd behind them, Reia let go of her rifle, quickly grabbing her sword and swung horizontally behind them. Reia was able to strike the panther across its eyes, disabling its vision and forcing the panther to jump backwards.


    Akira also took this opportunity to finish off the panther that was about to recover from the paralysis.


    More and more panthers were getting down from the roof bing invisible, making it impossible to tell where any of them were.


    "I think we are just going to have to let loose." Reia saw no other way other than firing a barrage of bullets in the alleyway.


    However, the panther behind them that lost its vision started to swing around its tail violently, trying to hit anything.


    Akira and Reia were forced to get on the ground to dodge one of the panthers'' tail swings. While on the ground both Reia and Akira fired at the panter, filling it with holes and destroying the core.


    With not much time to react due to the approaching horde of invisible panthers, Reia and Akira considered just running away.


    "Shit we have no idea where they are, only if we had some essence grenades." Reia got up from the ground, now not sure where the invisible panthers could be.


    The sound of moving surrounded Akira and Reia further confusing them making it hard to discern where they were.


    Once Akira got up from the ground he fired his rifle, but his bullet got deflected by something metal.


    "Huh?" Firing a burst of bullets in the same direction, each of the bullets was constantly getting reflected.


    "Well, that''s interesting." Reia noticed that the sound of running was getting closer like they were running in a circle.


    "Akira, try using your corruption and don''t stop firing, I believe they are using their hardened tails to deflect your bullets so there has to be a gap." Reia aimed behind them hoping if she could paralyse one the whole chain would fall apart.


    Akira nodded while switching to his corruption and started to fire a barrage of bullets hoping to get a hit in. The sound of metal constantly being hit echoes in the alleyway, but every few bullets it would get through this invisible wall hitting a panther.


    The corruption also provided a beacon on the panther''s body making it easier to see.


    ''Should have used it earlier.'' Akira was a little frustrated with himself as it would have made it easier for them to see the panthers if he had used his corruption instead.


    Reia on the other hand had not managed to get a bullet through and ultimately gave up not wanting to waste any more essence.


    Reia went to turn to Akira, but as she was turning she saw a panther jump out from the circle going straight for Akira.


    "Akira!" Reia went to go shoot the panther, but because of how close the panthers was, there was almost no time for Reia to react in time.


    Akira turned and saw the jaws of the panther right in front of his face. But right before the panther was about to bite down, an essence bullet went straight through the head of the panther turning it into ice.


    The panther stopped in its ce and fell to the ground trying to shake off the ice that covered its head.


    From the entrance of the alley, a person ran in and jumped over the circle of panthers


    "Hey there my love~, long time no see." A woman with very long Fluro green hair,nded in front of Akira while killing the mutant panther with her SMG. The model of the Woman''s gun was an MP7 with glowing light blue ents.


    The woman was about 5''6" and wore a white skirt with a pair of ck stockings. She also wore a white jacket and a ck skin-tight t-shirt underneath.


    Akira instantly knew who it was and he was questioning if the person in front of him was worse or the panthers.


    "Klein." Reia muttered the woman''s name and red at her.


    "Aww~ Don''t give me that look Reia, you should be happy, I''m here to save your asses." Klein had a smug grin while she fired toward the circle of panthers.


    The panthers in the circle started to get frozen by her bullets which acted as a small little ice explosion once they hit their tails. The circle of panthers started to get frozen from Klein''s ice essence forcing them to stop and crash into each other.


    Reia, Akira and Klein tried to kill the panthers as quickly as possible, due to the iling about breaking the ice that hindered their movements.


    Reia picked up her sword that was on the ground, which was left from dropping on the floor and started to destroy the cores of the frozen panthers.


    Akira did the same, pulling out both his swords and coating them in his corruption essence. Making quick work of all the mutants, the majority of the mutants that had attacked them were now dead. Klein''s ice had made this encounter rather trivial, but were nheless grateful to have gotten out of the situation unscathed.


    However, there were still a few that were not affected by the ice and were at the end of the alley. Before any of them could fire or attack the panthers, they climbed up the side of the wall, trying to escape the alley.


    This was rather odd as most of the mutants were mindless but the panthers were showing a lot more intelligence.


    ''So it seems whatever is taking over the bodies is a lot smarter than we initially thought.'' Reia watched the panthers run away in a panic, taking note to not underestimate any of the mutants they encounter in the future.


    "What a shame we could not kill them all." Klein kicked an ice block that hade off one of the mutants and holstered her weapon on her thigh.


    "What are you doing here?" Akira had a monotone voice with a slight bit of annoyance while speaking to Klein.


    "Aha don''t sound so boring baby~ I came to save you of course." Klein walked up to Akira attempting to put her hands around his face.


    "Don''t touch me." Akira swatted Klein''s hands away trying not to entertain her.


    "Tch, you are no fun, You owe me at least a favour for saving you."


    "Well, I don''t do sexual favours so you can keep your hands and body away from me." Akira red at Klein not wanting to deal with her.


    ''This bitch.'' Reia, who was silently watching, wanted to use her sword to cut Klein in half for her behaviour.


    "Oh it''s Reia, I could feel your gaze from here." Klein''s face changed from sweet to cold when she spoke to Reia.


    "Yeah, yeah nice to meet you Klein, but can you step away from Akira." Reia did not like how close Klein was to Akira since they did not have a good past.


    "Oho? What''s this? Want me to step away from your boyfriend?" While Klein spoke she attempted to get closer to Akira, trying to provoke Reia.


    "As I said, don''t. Touch. Me." Akira continued to re at Klein, with this time Klein listening to him.


    "Tch fine, one day you will be mine anyway." Klein walked away from Akira, going back to the entrance of the alley.


    ''Oh, the audacity of this woman.'' Reia was close to killing Klein as the sight of her with Akira pissed her off. Reia had also gone next to Akira, just so Klein would stay away.


    Akira saw that Reia was getting angry and so he put his hand on her shoulder.


    "Calm down Reia, you know she is always like this and I can deal with it so don''t worry." Akira had dealt with Klein a lot in the past so this was not new to him.


    Reia let out a sigh, calming herself down, feeling somewhat reassured by Akira.


    "Tch, the sight of you 2 make me sick." Klein muttered to herself while watching Akira and Reia.


    "Then why don''t you leave." Akira was hoping that Klein would have left already, but she was still hanging around.


    "Because I don''t have my squad so I''m tagging along with you for now." Klein leaned up against the wall and winked at Akira while she said this.

 Chapter 22: Unwanted addition

    <h4>Chapter 22: Unwanted addition</h4>


    ''Ehh? Did your squad end up getting killed? looks like you don''t have your boy toys anymore." Reia had a smug look as she now had something to work with to insult Klein.


    Klein did not move and stayed leaning up against the wall.


    ''Why did I have to bump into Reia, the one person I can''t contest. I should have just left them to die, but Akira was here.'' Klein was internally screaming, as the one person she did not want to see was in front of her, but also the one person she wanted to find was there.


    ''It will take time to get Akira to myself, but unless Reia dies or is separated from Akira I will have no chance.'' Klein started to bite the tip of her finger, trying to ignore what Reia was saying.


    "Oh nothing to say? What a shame, now scurry along and leave Akira alone, he is mine." Reia did not realise it at the moment, but what she said was rather embarrassing, making Akira blush.


    "Reia, that''s enough, I know you hate her, but right now we can''t deny she just helped us and it would be in our best interest to have here with us." Akira held one hand to his face hiding the blush and whispered in Reia''s ear.


    "You done?" Klein let out a sigh, barely being able to control herself from Reia''s insults.


    "Tch, for now but if you try anything, I won''t hesitate to kill you." Reia''s eyes glowed slightly and small lightning bolts appeared in her eyes.


    Klein felt shivers go through her body and knew that Reia was dead serious.


    ''For now don''t try anything Klein.'' Klein had nowhere to go, so all she could do was follow along with Reia and Akira for the time being.


    "Fine." Kleinplied with Reia not having any other choice.


    Reia did not say a word and continued to re at Klein, hoping she would say something snarky.


    Akira shook his head before giving Reia a slight flick to the side of the head.


    "Come on we need to check if it''s a bunker." Wanting to move on, Akira turned around and went up to the phone box at the end of the alley.


    Reia snapped out of her cold look and turned to Akira pouting.


    "Oi what was that for." Reia rubbed the side of her head as the flick was rather hard.


    "No need to kill Klein with your eyes, save that energy for the old man." Although Akira was not a fan of Klein there was no need to be hostile yet.


    Reia sighed, as it was true that there was no reason to be so hostile at Klein for the time being.


    Opening up the phone box Akira put his hand on the scanner and the sound of moving parts echoed in the alley. The phone box started to move and slowly pulled into the wall revealing a stairway.


    "Let''s have a look." Akira walked down the staircase and Reia followed behind him. Klein caught up, but she kept her distance from the two.


    The lights in the roof were turning on as they descended the stairs and after walking for a minute they finally reached the bottom.


    In front of them was a bulkhead door with another scanner on the side. Reia and Akira were starting to get hopeful since this entrance had been different from all others they had seen.


    Akira putting his hand on the scanner, the bulkhead door unlocked allowing itself to be opened. Akira pushed on the bulkhead door with all his strength and it started to open.


    Behind the door looked like amon room, a few couches were on the left side of the room, a dining table and entrances that lead to other rooms. One of these rooms was a kitchen which was in the top right corner and directly to Akira''s right was a small gym space. Across from Akira was a door as well as to the left next to the couches.


    The room itself waspletely grey with hardly any colour, making it rather nd. The only form of colour was the brown wooden doors leading to unknown rooms.


    Akira, Reia and Klein walked into the bunker, examining the room making sure it was indeed the right ce.


    The bulkhead shut behind them and the entrance from the outside began to close, securing them inside the bunker.


    "It would be awkward if the lock would break and we wouldn''t be able to get out." Akira was worried that they could be trapped down here till they starved to death if the lock on the bulkhead would break.


    "Aha, don''t worry there is a manual way to leave, but we can only do it from the inside so once we use it we can''t get back in." Reia knew that the bunkers had a manual exit, but once used would lock up the bunker making it impossible to re-enter from the outside.


    "Well that''s a relief."


    "Now let''s check out the 2 doors, one probably leads to the small dormitory that each bunker has." Reia took the lead and approached the door that was across from them.


    The door led to a hallway with multiple rooms on either side. The first door on the right went directly into the kitchen, while the other 5 doors seemed to lead to individual rooms.


    Checking the rooms on the left, 2 led to a bedroom with a small bathroom while the end room was a closet of some sort for cleaning supplies. The other 2 doors on the right were aundry room and the generator room.


    The bedrooms were rather nd, having the same colour scheme as the rest of the bunker. The rooms themselves were standard including a bed, desk, closet and a door that led to a tiny bathroom. There was also aputer but the chances of them being able to be useful were low unless Echo was here.


    ''Damn it we only have 2 rooms.'' Reia already knew what this meant if they all wanted to sleep on a bed.


    ''Let''s hope that the other door isn''t just a bath.'' Reia noticed that the bedrooms only had a very small bathroom making it likely that the other door led to a shower and bath.


    "Oya~ only 2 bedrooms, Akira if you want you can always sleep with me~." Klein, unable to help herself, already tried to coax Akira.


    Reia turned her head, ring at Klein with the same look as before. Klein instantly shut up and looked away realising that she shouldn''t have said that.


    ''Damn it I need to at least try, but next thing I know, my head will be gone if I flirt with Akira too much.'' Klein desired Akira, but her current roadblock was Reia who was very defensive of him making it harder for Klein to approach.


    "Aha no need to worry, I will just sleep on the couch." Akira awkwardlyughed, finding the situation rather hard to believe.


    ''I never thought I would be fought over like this before.'' Akira was unsure what to think of Reia, but he clearly knew what Klein was after.


    "No!" Both Reia and Klein spoke in unison.


    "Then who am I sleeping with?" Akira knew this question would throw Reia off who had been rather shameless without realising it.


    "Tch." Klein clicked her tongue before walking past them, going into one of the bedrooms.


    "I-.. I don''t know." Reia had no words as she realised what she was implying. She lowered her head as well as her ears embarrassed by what she said.


    *sigh* "Reia, it''s okay I can sleep on the couch, the bed probably isn''t even long enough to fit me." Akira looking at how Reia was acting could not help but pat her head.


    Reia jumped a little from the sudden pat, but she did not stop Akira.


    ''Wow that''s a first, I expected my hand to get chopped off.'' Akira knew how much Reia disliked being touched so he generally avoided it, keeping it only to her shoulder or if they had to be close.


    "F-fine, you do make a point." Reia refused to raise her head as she was blushing from Akira''s pat, wanting him to stop, but at the same time didn''t.


    "Good, now let''s go check out that other room, then we can n out how we are supplying this ce. Although I don''t think we will be here long unless there are more rooms seeing as there are 5 other people in your squad." Akira did not like the fact there were only 2 rooms so far, but it had to do for now. Walking out into the living room, they continued to slowly walk to the other door while talking.


    "Well Lou and Kim would sleep together so long as there are 4 rooms." Reia also took into ount that they could kick Klein out, and if Lou were to see Klein, she would be shot on the spot.


    "Oh yeah that reminds me, Lou doesn''t particrly like Klein does she?" Akira did not know the full story, but knew it mainly had to deal with Lou.


    "Well Klein tried to touch Kim and steal her from Lou and she did not take that lightly."


    "I only remember the day that Lou and Klein were in that fist fight with Lou almost killing Klein before an instructor stopped them." Akira remembered the bloody scene of Lou and Klein fighting behind a school building.


    "Well that''s what happens when you try to steal a girl, it''s no wonder why she only goes for guys now." Reia also witnessed the fight, wishing that Lou was able to finish the job.


    "I don''t know if that''s for better or for worse, but now I have to deal with Klein and it''s rather annoying." Akira did not like Klein, especially since she had tried getting with him after the situation, so he was never interested.


    "I wish I knew why, it honestly pisses me off, especially what she did with herst partner. There was a reason why we stayed clear and Lou almost beat her to death." Reia gritted her teeth thinking about Klein and what she did in the past.


    "Maybe one day, but let''s continue thister, Klein is in the next room." Akira did not want Klein toe bursting out trying to kill them.


    "Alright I will tell you the story another time then, or when we find Lou as she knows it better than I do." Reia was generally a bystander in the situation, so she figured it would be better if Akira was told the full story by Lou who was in the thick of it.


    "I will be waiting, but let''s focus, we have a lot to n out." Akira enjoyed these kinds of talks, but as of right now they had more important things to take care of.

 Chapter 23: The past

    <h4>Chapter 23: The past</h4>


    Reia and Akira opened the door that was beside the couches and was surprised to see more rooms.


    "I was expecting one big bath." Reia didn''t have high hopes for more rooms, but it seemed living space was not going to be an issue.


    Checking each of the rooms 5 out of the 6 were bedrooms with thest room at the end being a bath and a shower.


    "Phew." Although Akira was willing to take the short end of the stick, he was hoping that there would be enough rooms and did not have to be forced to sleep with a psycho or Reia.


    Reia seeing Akira''s expression made her think about what she said earlier, making her shy again.


    ''Damn it Reia, why did you have to say something like that.'' Reia cursed herself for saying such things and was not helping her case of not being his girlfriend.


    "Well let''s take these rooms, the further away from Klein the better." Akira tried to change the subject for Reia''s case as it was clear on her face what she was thinking about.


    "A-ah yes, I will take the first one on the left." Reia quickly turned and entered the bedroom leaving Akira in the hallway.


    *sigh* ''To think this kind of stuff would be happening in an apocalypse of all things.'' Akira shook his head, finding the situation to be unreal.


    ''Ahh don''t worry about it, surely it''s not like that.'' Akira refused to believe Reia had such feelings and so he went into the room across from Reia to take his mind off things.


    *


    ''Tch, I am meant to be this ice-cold queen of the battle and here I am getting embarrassed over a guy.'' Reia had dropped her things beside the desk in the room and jumped onto the bed.


    ''If it wasn''t for Lou and her constant teasing, I wouldn''t even consider such things. That bitch is going to pay¡­. If that''s even possible.'' Reia had been under threat of Lou''s teasing, continuously pairing Akira with her, even while at the academy.


    ''Grrrr, this is frustrating. I know this isn''t a bad thing, but I don''t know if I''m ready for such emotions.'' Reia thought back to her early years in the military before Akira graduated from the academy and where she had be known to be the lonely queen.


    ''Maybe it''s the reason why I am no longer such an emotionless husk.''


    ***


    <6 years ago>


    [Reia Nekane]


    [19 years old]


    ''So these are the new recruits.'' Themander was looking through a clipboard that had the profiles of a bunch of soldiers.


    In a barracks, a line of soldiers stood side by side waiting for orders from themander who was standing in front.


    Themander looked up from the clipboard spotting Reia at the end of the line. Deciding to go up to her first, themander went up to Reia and stood in front of her to try to intimidate her and set an example.


    Reia looked up with her eyes staring directly back at themander''s smug face.


    A few more moments passed, and Reia''s cold gaze pierced through themander, showing small lightning bolts shing through her eyes as if it was a warning to not try anything.


    So before themander could do anything to test her, he felt goosebumps all over his body and was terrified.


    Cold sweat ran down his face as the lightning in her eyes indicated she had specialised essence which was a rather new development.


    Quickly moving away, he did not dare look back at Reia as the mere presence of a specialised soldier was terrifying.


    However, the soldiers around other than Reia''s future squad were confused about why themander did nothing and went away in a cold sweat. Some felt cheated and thought there was something more going on. Without doing anything people were already building animosity towards Reia, creating her icy reputation early.


    Themander then proceeded to test the wills of the soldier and asked a few questions, up until he got up to Lou.


    "What''s up, old man." Lou did not care at all for the little test they give new recruits to see who would stay or go back to the cannon fodder ranks.


    "Lou is it? How about you behave properly before I send you back to the boot lickers of the military." Themander felt a vein pop upon hearing the old man and was not going to take anything from Lou.


    "Oho~ now who says you won''t be the one licking my boots." While Lou spoke, she clicked her fingers and a small essence fire appeared at the tip of her finger.


    Kim who was standing next to Lou could not help but chuckle at herment. Themander couldn''t do anything now as Lou was a specialised essence soldier meaning he had no authority over them. However, he was about to move on to Kim and drill into her forughing, but Lou spoke up again.


    "Don''t you dare touch her, unless you want this ce to explode?" Lou had a smirk knowing full well if Kim were to show off her essence it would cause an explosion.


    "I don''t have control over it quite yet so pleasemander refrain from testing my patience." Kim smiled at themander, although gentle it had a sinister meaning behind it.


    Themander''s heart was beating fast, finding it hard to believe that 3 people had formed a unique essence.


    Themander continued to go down the line of soldiers as usual once again meeting a group of 3 odd people. Echo was ying with the given tablets, almost pulling them apart, with Jayde watching keenly. Aoi was flipping a knife in her hand, almost as if she was showing off, but it was rather the contrary and she was just bored.


    Themander this time didn''t even bother knowing that they were most likely just like the others.


    Themander sighed and continued down the line finishing off the small test.


    "Now, seeing as all of you want to staymitted it''s time for you all to be sent on your first mission, this will be the final trial before you will officially get your ranks and be ced into your squads. Now as you may have seen during that test there are a few of you that have an essence specialty, after this trial you will head somewhere else to get allocated to your own special squad." Themander''s words had sent excitement through many of the soldiers, but also some were a little shocked to hear about the essence specialty and started to get envious of them.


    "Now go rest for 30 minutes and I will call you again before we dispatch." After he finished speaking, he left the room leaving the soldiers to their break.


    **


    "Eh~ what this you get special privileges just because you have a special kind of essence what is this shit." A half dog and a half ant currently had Reia up against a wall just outside the barracks.


    Reia did not say a word and continued to stare nkly at the 2 half animals.


    "No words, you must be too scared to say anything, then I guess that means we can also take care of you." The ant was getting cocky and went to grab Reia.


    "Tch." Reia clicked her tongue before she grabbed the half ants'' arm and hit his elbow, snapping it in half. The half ant screamed in pain as a part of his bone poked through the skin.


    The half dog took a step back and then tried to move away but before he could take another step Reia swept his feet making him fall to the ground. Grabbing a hold of his arm, Reia stood on his shoulder while pulling his arm trying to rip it out of its socket.


    The half dog screamed in pain hoping someone would hear him and stop Reia.


    Reia stomped on the half dog''s should breaking it and ripping the ligaments in his arm. Both the ant and dog were crying in pain on the ground having both their arms disabled.


    "Now be a good little dog and bug and go fuck yourself." Reia then walked over to the ant''s body causing him more pain and went back into the barracks.


    The dog and ant rolled on the ground for a few minutes before finally, medical staff came to take them away.


    *


    "Damn Reia really gave them a lesson didn''t you." Lou was waiting just inside the barracks after witnessing the show Reia just put on.


    "They got what they deserved, they are just lowly pawns, so the military won''t bother to punish us anyway." Reia knew that lower rank violence was never addressed, so many people were killed and the murders were able to get away with it.


    "Maybe I should get a couple of victims to try." Lou, who loved to cause suffering, pondered if she should take a few new recruits to satisfy her urges.


    "Don''t bother, you have to have a reason other than pleasure, you damn she-wolf."


    "Tsk, you are no fun, we could have been a torture duo."


    "Do whatever you want, but I''m not getting your ass out of military jail." Reia rolled her eyes and walked off to go find a ce to sit down for the time being.


    *


    "ALRIGHT! It is time for your first Mission now please follow me and we will get you into groups."

 Chapter 24: First mission

    <h4>Chapter 24: First mission</h4>


    In the back of a military cargo truck, Reia and her future squad sat in the back happily talking away. The few other soldiers that also apanied them sat in silence daring not to speak.


    Reia sitting by the end looked out the back of the truck watching the military base get smaller and smaller. Her expression did not change at all keeping the same cold look no matter what however, a bit of sadness could be seen on her face.


    Aoi sat next to Reia, curious about what she was thinking about.


    "What''s up Reia?" Aoi leaned forward to get a better look at Reia''s face.


    "Nothing, just reminiscing on the past as it''s been so long since we have stepped outside of the military base." Reia looked around seeing everyday civilians looking on with curiosity, some with admiration and others with fear.


    "Ehh, don''t tell me you already miss Akira." Aoi had a smug grin, knowing that it would get a reaction out of Reia.


    Reia faced Aoi with a nk face, knowing exactly what she was trying to do, however, because she mentioned Akira, Reia''s thoughts wandered. Reia furrowed her brows and her mouth started to twitch.


    "You damn tanuki go bother someone else before I throw you out of this truck." Reia kept her voice down but the annoyance in her voice was present.


    "Oops hehe~" Aoi quickly got up from the seat and went over to where Echo and Jayde were.


    ''I swear everywhere I go, Akira is there to haunt me.'' Reia''s face was slightly red, breaking her cold aura. Luckily none of the other soldiers saw as they did not even dare to look at Reia in the first ce.


    Rumours had already spread that she defeated 2 soldiers in a second almost ruining their career in the military. This rumour alone was enough for people to stand clear from Reia as there were already 2 people that were not able to make it to the first mission.


    Reia took a deep breath returning to her cold unapproachable self.


    **


    In a forest, an overgrown entrance to a bunker was hidden away in the depths of the forest. Near the entrance were parked 2 trucks and a line of soldiers all in their white uniforms representing the Alteryx military.


    "So your objective for this mission is to investigate this old bunker that was in the possession of the neighbouring city, but there have been some reports of activity and movement indicating this bunker might be repurposed." Themander walked up and down the line of 23 soldiers exining their mission.


    From the mission exnation alone Reia was able to tell they were already going to get into a fight with a conflicting faction.


    ''They want to test us so no better way than to put us up against actual opponents.'' Reia was not a fan of this method as people had different expertise and so in fighting was always a challenge for the more technical-minded people.


    ''Should make sure Aoi tags along with Echo so at least then he won''t die because he was too distracted.'' Reia, knowing who would have the most trouble, wanted to make sure they were paired up with someone that had more fighting experience.


    "Now I will split you up into 3 groups, and I want at least one of the specialised essence users in each one."


    Reia did not like the sound of it, as Reia much preferred to work alone than have to worry about people she doesn''t care about.


    Themander as he exined the groups put down a metal box on the floor which then projected the screen showcasing who is in each group.


    [Group 1]


    Reia


    [Group 2]


    Lou


    Kim


    Jayde


    [Group 3]


    Aoi


    Echo


    Looking for specific names, Reia was happy to see that she was alone in the group, making it easier for her to ditch the squad and get the mission done quicker.


    However, the faces of the soldiers were mixed, some were happy and had a grin while others were terrified.


    "Now go grab your weapons and then I will exin further what you are doing." Themander briefly dismissed them to prepare their things so they could head straight in.


    *


    Reia went to the side of the truck she was in and opened a sidepartment that held all their weapons. Finding the weapons that were marked as purple, Reia picked up a katana and a rifle.


    Some of the soldiers were confused to see a sword as a weapon since it seemedpletely impractical.


    Reia testing to see if the sword was working and let her essence flow through the de. The katana started to glow purple and a lightning effect appeared around the de.


    The other soldiers swallowed their saliva as getting hit by her de even once would be deadly.


    ''Good, they didn''t tamper with my weapons.'' Reia was examining her sword and rifle looking for changes.


    ''Echo''s gadgets are getting better at tricking the military.'' Reia slightly smiled since Echo''s device masked the modifications Reia got on her weapons that released the essence cap, essentially making the weapons seem less powerful.


    Getting back into line everyone geared up with their own weapon of choice.


    "Now I want group 1 to head in first and be the scout group." Themander did not waste any time and started listing the role of the groups. Group 2 will be the exploration group of the scouted areas and group 3 will bring back any information or items back up to the entrance to report back to me."


    Lou had a disappointed look as she wanted to be the first to charge in and nced at Reia hoping she would switch with her. Reia did not even bother to look at Lou and turned her head a bit further making sure Lou was not in Reia''s peripheral vision.


    "Tch." Lou crossed her arms not having much say, but it wouldn''t stop her from running in any way once they could enter.


    Aoi also shared the same disappointed expression and also considered just running ahead leaving her group behind.


    "Without further ado, I would like Group 1 and 2 to enter the bunker." Themander turned and started to walk towards the entrance of the bunker.


    Groups 1 and 2 followed and for a brief moment stood in front of the bunker they were just about to enter.


    The bunker itself had a massive metal door that was partly open but was overgrown leaving vines to cover the gap in the door. The edges of the doors werepletely covered in nature making them blend in with the surroundings and showing that the bunker was abandoned long ago.


    "So Reia, what are the chances we find some soldiers to kill?" Lou stood beside Reia, hoping to get some action within the bunker.


    "Only one way to find out." Reia walked up to the vines and used her katana to cut them down. Walking inside Reia pulled out her rifle and turned on the shlight underneath the barrel.


    The other soldiers started to walk in, all turning on their shlights and examining the ce.


    Walking into the bunker, they found themselves in a sort of vehicle bay. However, what was surprising was that the bunker did not get affected by the outside and was rtively clean.


    Reia moving to one of the walls found a door leading further into the bunker. Completely ignoring her squad, Reia went ahead annoying her other members but because they wanted to be quiet couldn''t call out to her.


    Reia found herself in a long dark hallway and saw at the end of the hallway was a light.


    Instantly moving as silent as she could, approached the light seeing that it wasing from a room. As Reia got close to the room she heard voicesing from it.


    ''Just as expected.''ing up to the door, Reia peaked into the room.


    "Once we report back, they should send more people to refurbish this ce and get it up and running." A human soldier in a dark blue uniform was standing behind a desk that looked like a map of the bunker. 4 other soldiers of varying races were on the other side of the table all looking at the map.


    The room itself was clean and looked like a sort of nning room with the only furniture being chairs and a massive table in the middle.


    ''Well that was easy, now we know what they n to do.'' Reia had already found the information that themander was looking for.


    Decided that it is probably best to kill the soldiers off seeing as none of them looked like they had any significant rank making their information rather limited.


    However just as Reia was about to take out the soldiers one of her group members came into the hallway calling out for her.


    "Reia!"


    ''What are they stupid, we are trying to be silent here.'' Reia was instantly pissed off by the group member, almost tempted to shoot him alongside the other soldiers.


    "Shit we have been found out, quickly report to the lieutenant." One of the soldiers quickly scrambled for the radio that was on the side of the table.


    Reia, not allowing it to happen, rushed into the room and shot the soldier that reached for the radio. Continuing to get closer to the soldiers, Reia shot another one before she pulled out her sword.


    Charging it with her essence the sword was covered in bolts of lightning shocking the soldiers since it was a specialised soldier.


    The soldiers snapping out of the initial shock pulled out their pistols and went to shoot Reia.


    However, Reia had jumped onto one of the soldiers making him fall onto the table and stabbed right into the soldier''s heart releasing an electric shock from her sword. Small lightning bolts escaped the sword hitting the remaining 2 soldiers around the table forcing them to drop their pistols.


    "Arggghhh!" The soldiers grit their teeth in pain while they fall to their knees recovering from the shock.


    Reia did not waste any time and she pulled out her sword from the soldier''s chest. She got off the table and as shended decapitated one of the soldiers.


    Walking around the table Reia leaned over and picked the soldier by the cor.


    "P-please spare me, I surrender." The soldier pleaded for his life, but Reia could not care one bit and put her de up to his neck.


    As Reia was slicing the neck of the soldier one of her group members walked in.


    "Reia, what''s going on?" A blonde tiger had entered just as Reia sliced open the neck of the soldier and blood spewed all over Reia.


    Reia dropped the soldier and red at the tiger that walked in.


    The tiger felt shivers as the look in Reia''s eyes was filled with rage.


    Reia walked up to the tiger with her sword in hand and grabbed him by the cor. Due to his height Reia was not able to pick him up, but she still pushed the tiger up against the wall.


    "We are on a fucking mission, keep your voice down so we don''t alert the enemy, next time I hear you speak I am cutting that throat of yours." Reia''s eyes shed purple as she put her de up against the tiger''s neck.


    "And If you dare follow me, I won''t hesitate to kill you, now be happy I am sparing you now." Reia slightly pushed her de on his neck causing a small cut and it to slightly bleed.


    The blonde tiger did not say a word and kept his mouth shut. Reia then threw the tiger to the ground and stomped on his stomach winding him. The tiger coughed in pain and held his stomach.


    "Now stay here otherwise next time it won''t be my foot hitting your stomach." Reia sheathed her sword and walked away leaving the tiger alone in the room.


    ''That bitch will get what she deserves once my family hears about this.''

 Chapter 25: On the hunt

    <h4>Chapter 25: On the hunt</h4>


    <Aoi POV>


    Aoi was standing just outside the door waiting for the signal to go in. While waiting Aoi had pulled out a huntsman knife and was flipping it in her hand.


    ''Damn it I want to go in already.'' Aoi was envious of her friends that had already gone in wanting some action for herself.


    ''I would just walk in, but these soldiers seem stingy and would report me to themander as soon as they see me enter.'' Aoi scanned over her group and just by looking at their faces could tell they were uptight.


    "Alright, group 3 you may enter now and collect as much information you can and bring back any pieces that resemble enemy activity.


    "Finally." Aoi rolled her eyes and went straight in.


    Echo, who was not particrly keen on the mission went inside but sat right next to the entrance so if need be, he could leave right away.


    Aoi holstered her huntsman knife on her thigh and pulled out her dual USP pistols that had silencers on them. Turning the shlight on the bottom of them on, Aoi looked for ces to explore to find enemies.


    Spotting a walkway above that had a few entrances, Aoi went up the stairs and entered one of the hallways.


    *


    In an office-like room, a few soldiers were sitting down eating some food and chatting away.


    "Aha, did you see the lieutenant the other day, it looked like he had a rough beating from the higher-ups."


    "You saw that too? I almost feel bad for the bastard, but he deserves it for treating us like shit."


    "Ah shit I need to go to the toilet, I will be back boys." A half pig that sat on a fallen over cab got up and went to leave the room.


    "Don''t get taken away by the demons." A half-horse had a smile as most of the ce was extremely dark and there had been a running joke that demons were hiding in the darkness.


    "Yeah, yeah whatever." The half pigughed it up and went into the hallway.


    A pair of silver eyes appeared behind the half pig just as he turned to the right and before he knew it a hand went around his neck pulling him back.


    "Ah-." Before the big could let out a full scream his voice was cut off freaking out the other soldiers.


    "Hey man, that isn''t funny." A half mantis felt rather uneasy, thinking that it was just a prank and Because the soldiers did not pay attention, they did not see the hand that grabbed the pig.


    "Come on, let''s just check to make sure." The half-horse was getting paranoid and wanted to make sure that it was just a prank.


    Getting up from the circle of fallen cabs and chairs, A half-snake followed by the mantis went up to the hallway with the half horse.


    Just as they approached the door the body of the half pignded in front of them and a ssh of blood went across the floor.


    The soldiers jumped out of fear and quickly moved backwards. The soldiers reached for their weapons, but before they could get them a half tanuki ran into the room.


    Aoi with her silenced pistols killed the half horse and snake straight away but missed the mantis. Their bodies fell to the floor and blood began to ooze out of their heads where the bullet hit.


    The mantis jumped behind the off desk and thest soldier, a half spider, went to take cover behind it as well.


    However, before the half spider could run around the desk Aoi pulled out her knife which was covered in the pig''s man blood, and threw it at the spider. Going straight through the head of the spider made his body fall right next to the mantis. The mantis was terrified for his life and not having a weapon made himpletely useless.


    "Please I surrender, Please just don''t kill me, I will tell you anything." The mantis begged for his life to the half tanuki that was walking up to the desk.


    "Ehh? Are you not just cannon fodder meant to be used to practice my killing skills?" Aoi had a smile while staring at the mantis that was covering his head with his hands.


    "What do you want to know?" The mantis was trembling hoping he would not be shot.


    *sigh* "Have all the soldiers gotten this soft? I swear at the first sight of danger you run away scared." Aoi was a little disappointed that they were unable to put up a fight.


    "We were conscripted, we did not have a choice." The mantis started to cry, wishing that he never was a part of the military.


    "Oh what a shame, but a mission is a mission so I''m sorry, but unless you can tell where more of your buddies are, I might reward you." Aoi''s silver eyes glowed while looking down at the mantis that refused to look Aoi back in the eyes.


    "They are throughout the base cleaning it while we wait for more people to arrive to revive the bunker other than that I don''t know the exact locations of where our superior is."


    "Hmm, I see, well thank you for the information." Aoi pointed her pistol up to the mantis'' head and fired, killing him instantly.


    "Now that I know there are plenty more victims and some info for the mission, let''s go hunting." Aoi holstered her pistols on the side of her legs, then she pulled out the knife from the spider''s head and used his clothes to clean it.


    ***


    <Lou, Kim and Jayde POV>


    Lou, Kim and Jayde had also gone ahead exploring one of the manybyrinth-like hallways in search of enemy soldiers and information.


    "Tch, Why did they even bother to put us in groups with different jobs?" Lou did not like how certain groups were designated roles and would rather have groups explore different parts of the bunker.


    "It was themander''s choice, but it''s not like it is stopping us from going on ahead like we are now." Kim was able to understand that it was a way to kill off some new recruits who would get ahead of themselves, but that wasn''t an issue for them which made this mission rather annoying.


    "I just want to go back already." Jayde was bored out of her mind, wanting to return back to base.


    "Well the quicker we get this done the faster we go home." Kim did not want to hear constantints from Jayde so she tried to motivate her to get the mission done quicker.


    "Mmm you are not wrong, but what are we looking for?" Jayde was still unsure about what the goal of this mission was and didn''t know the purpose of it.


    "We are looking for any information that indicates enemy activity and eliminate any soldiers we may encounter." Kim exined the details, making it a bit clearer for Jayde.


    "Speaking of which girls, we got some activity ahead." Lou, who was in front spotted a light creeping under a door.


    Jayde turned off the light on her P90 and Kim pulled out an SVD ready for battle. Lou with her dual berettas walked up to the door and peeked through the small gap in the middle.


    In the room was a hall that was filled with at least a dozen soldiers doing some exercise routine with one giving orders.


    "We got a lot in this room, Kim I''m going to need you to use your essence to take out most of them to make it easier for me and Jayde to kill." Lou turned and whispered to the girls behind them. Kim nodded and charged up her SVD getting ready to fire.


    "I will open the door slightly so you cany down and get a shot on them and as soon as you fire, Jayde and I will run in and take out as many as we can." Lou exined the n and so Jayde got to the other side of the door ready for the signal.


    Kimid down in front of the door sticking the barrel slightly in the door and looked down the scope. Kim''s SVD being a marksman rifle was able to withstand her essence with the help of Echo''s modifications and was able to cause a lot of damage to herself if she wasn''t careful. Aiming for the middle of the group, Kim''s gun lit up even more with a bright orange before a shot was fired.


    Hitting the person in the middle, a small explosion like a grenade urred in the middle killing about half of the soldiers that were training.


    Jayde and Lou both rushed into the room while the soldiers were still trying to understand what was going on. Because the soldiers were also training they did not have their weapons making them defenceless.


    Jayde being a half-cat was a lot more agile and was able to get close to the soldiers a lot quicker.


    As Jayde ran past the soldiers, she would shoot a burst of bullets into their chests killing them and moving on to the next one.


    Lou did the same, but instead was aiming for the head while also making her way to the one that was in charge.


    The soldier that was leading the exercise was a normal human and did have a weapon on him. Pulling out a pistol, he aimed straight at Lou


    Lou continued to charge straight ahead giving a clear shot for the human. Firing his pistol, the essence bullet went straight for Lou''s head, but before it hit Lou, she moved to the side barely dodging the bullet.


    "Ha so predictable, how about aiming somewhere else." Lou smiled and before the soldier could fire another shot, Lou jumped up in the air and using her feet pushed on the soldier''s chest forcing him to the ground.


    Staying on his chest Lou pointed the gun at the soldier''s head while grinding her heel on his chest. The soldier grunted in pain feeling his chest slowly being crushed.


    "Now fast or the slow way." Lou asked a simple question to the soldier and gave him a few seconds to respond.


    "Huh?" The soldier did not understand what Lou was asking and was in too much pain from Lou''s heel to properly respond.


    "Oop, too slow, the painful way it is." Lou holstered one of her berettas and pulled out a knife.


    Lou stomped on the soldier''s chest onest time before getting off him and kicking away his pistol.


    Lou squatted down next to the soldier''s body and used the knife to stab into his chest. Missing the vital organs on purpose, Lou started to drag the Knife down the body creating a deep cut in his body.


    "Arrggg!!!" The soldier screamed in pain and Lou licked her hips hearing his screams.


    Leaving the soldier to bleed out Lou stood in front of him and stomped down in between the man''s legs. The soldier''s eyes rolled back and felt immense pain wash through his body.


    "Hmm, I don''t think you will need this anymore." Lou was about to use her knife to get rid of the soldier''s manhood but a soldier who managed to stay alive went to tackle Lou.


    However, just as he was about to grab her, Lou, using her beretta shot behind her right in the soldier''s head.


    "Now where was I?"


    <Few minutester>


    "AHHHHH!!!" The man screamed in pain as Lou tortured the soldier until he finally his screams died out indicating he was finally dead.


    Jayde who finished up killing the soldiers could not help but swallow her saliva, a bit terrified of Lou, wondering how Kim is dating such a person.


    Kim, who had been observing from a distance let out a sigh as Lou got carried away again.


    ***


    <Reia POV>


    "Aha look at this bitch who thought they could sneak around alone." A half-wolf looked down at a half fox girl that had a bunch of bruises on her and was handcuffed.


    "To think you would fall for our stupid trap and get yourself knocked out. You''re lucky we are nice and will be bringing you back to base." The half-wolf had a smug face looking at Reia as if he had gotten a new big catch.


    Not saying a word, Reia continued to re at the half-wolf soldier, not letting out a single sound to indicate she was in pain.


    "Tch." Getting annoyed with Reia''sck of response, the half-wolf kicked her in the face hoping to get a reaction.


    Instead, Reia just looked back and spat a bit of blood on the floor.


    "If pain won''t make you talk then I''m sure other methods would." The half-wolf had lust in his eyes causing a slight reaction from Reia.


    "Heh." The wolf boy was about to begin until suddenly the tips of Reia''s hair started to glow purple.


    Lightning surrounded her body and soon almost all her hair had turned into a glowing purple.


    Lightning struck the handcuffs breaking them and she slowly got up from the ground.


    The half-wolf fell back terrified of what he was witnessing. Pulling out his pistol, he quickly shot Reia however the bullets would be stopped by an essence wall and got absorbed by it.


    Reia let out a breath and red at the half-wolf who started to frantically fire while crawling back. More soldiers started toe into the room and were equally terrified of what they saw.


    Reia''s hands and feet were covered in her essence creating animal ws and feet. Reia also gained another tail which was purely made out of essence with lightning surrounding her newly obtained animal parts.


    "Run!" The half-wolf gave the order to run however when they turned Reia already moved behind them blocking their only exit. Her eyes were full of bloodlust and were more beast-like than human.


    "Shit." Unable to do anything the soldiers started to fire at Reia in hope of killing her, but it was futile as the essence bullets would be blocked no matter where they shot.


    Leaping at one of the soldiers, Reia scratched across the human woman''s chest electrifying her. Not stopping there Reia used her feet to kick the woman andunched her into the wall.


    Moving onto the next soldier Reia grabbed the neck of a half bear and lifted him up into the air. Using her ws Reia was able to decapitate the bear while strangling him. Using the head of the bear she threw it at a half-fly soldier knocking him out.


    Using her ws Reia went up to the next soldier, a female bunny girl and stabbed straight through her chest pulling out her heart. Her body fell to the floor and all was left was the half-wolf,


    Crushing the head of the knocked out half fly while she walked, Reia quickly made her over to the half-wolf as Reia''s essence was starting to run out.


    "Please, ple-." The half-wolf was about to beg, but Reia did not have enough time and so just as he did, kicked the half-wolf in the head, but this time his head went flying off his body.


    Reia''s essence waspletely depleted and her body instantly became heavy. Falling to her knees Reia was on the verge of passing out.


    ''I can''t feel anything.'' Reia looked up at the roof thinking she would feel satisfied, but instead, she felt hollow. Her eyes became devoid of any emotions showing the damage she has done to herself. Because she used essence on her own body, her ability to feel emotions disappeared. Although there was a small hint of emotion indicating she might be able to recover, it would take years before she returned to normal.


    Not being able to fight the exhaustion anymore, Reia fell to the floor in the blood of the enemies she just killed.


    ***


    <Back to present>


    "To think my first mission was so violent." Reiaid on the bed remembering her first real mission and was the beginning of her emotionless state.


    *knock* *knock*


    "Reia, we need to go n our next trip outside, we can go to sleepter." Akira knocked on the door letting Reia know he was ready to go n their next move.


    *sigh* "Let''s hope I don''t have to use that form again, I don''t want to lose the ability to feel emotions again." Reia got off the bed and exited her room.

 Chapter 26: Bunker supplies

    <h4>Chapter 26: Bunker supplies</h4>


    Reia before exiting the room grabbed her sword just in case anything escted with Klein.


    ''I don''t think she will do anything stupid, but who knows what that maniptive witch is thinking.'' Reia gripped her sword before walking out to themon room.


    Spotting Akira in the kitchen, Reia walked up to him who was currently investigating a pantry. Standing to the side of Akira she was unable to see into the pantry due to how tall Akira was as well as the door getting in the way.


    "Any luck?" Reia was expecting there to be no reserved food as the bunkers were never meant for long term housing so a fully stocked pantry didn''t seem usible.


    ''Fufu~ we might not need to go out and look for supplies after all." Akira leaned back pulling out canned food, showing the best before date. Reia quickly leaned in and saw that the canned food was rather fresh indicating that the bunker had been supplied recently.


    "Wow, I wasn''t expecting that." Reia was in a little bit of disbelief, but it was nice to know that they won''t starve.


    "Indeed, I have been checking all the best before dates and almost all of it was freshly stocked not too long ago." Akira continued to check various canned foods in the pantry all showing simr results.


    "Although this is quite a lot, it won''tst us forever especially if we have another 5 people moving in." Reia''s point of concern was her other squad members since the food they have will onlyst so long.


    "Good point, it is probably best we still go look for more just to build up a surplus of food." Akira agreed and if it was only the 2 of them, what was in the bunker would have been enough. However, since Reia''s squad members could be out there, the food won''t be enough.


    "We need to find a mall or a ce with a lot of food and to see if the rebels have set up camp, but if not try to loot some of the stores." Reia knew that ces like a mall would be infested with mutants, but it would make it a lot easier to deal with than a rebel camp.


    "For now we will raid the smaller stores as much as we can and eat anything along the way that would expire quickly, just to preserve our longersting food." Due to the copse only being recent, Akira knew most food would still be edible allowing them to go out and eat.


    "So, are we going out or what?" Klein had suddenly spoken up, appearing by the door that led to the hallway.


    "Oh, you''re still here?" Reia sighed and turned her head towards Klein.


    "Tch, I''m trying to not step on toes here so the least you could do is not antagonise me." Klein was getting rather sick of the constant off-handedments from Reia.


    "Heh, it''s not my fault that you permanently bedridden your ex-girlfriend just so she could never leave you, but instead ended up dying." Reia, not listening to what Klein said, continued with the remarks.


    Akira sighed and prepared to step in if things got physical as thest thing he wants to do is clean blood.


    "That is not what happened! That was a lie spread by some stupid bitch who mistook her illness as me disabling her!" Klein started to get emotional and rather angry.


    "Then how do you exin the scars and the fact that she was terrified to even see you. Do you have any idea what you did to her, it was evident just from her reaction alone you had something to do with it." Reia brought up pieces of evidence that left Klein speechless.


    "T-that wasn''t me." Klein clenched her fists drawing blood from her palms.


    "Nothing you say will change my mind especially since you went after Kim and now Akira. You''re lucky to have even stayed in the military in the first ce." Reia put one hand on her sword as a subtle warning to Klein to not try anything.


    "Reia, I think that''s enough, it''s in the past now." Akira felt a little bad for Klein as she had been the target of quite a lot of harassment from other soldiers because of what she supposedly did.


    "Tsk I know, but I''m not willing to trust somebody in an apocalypse who is a snake at heart. It''s a shame she is human as being a snake would have fit her perfectly." Reia took her hand off her sword and checked the time on her phone to see if they had enough time to go out before it got dark.


    "Ha¡­ Haha¡­. Hahahahaha." Klein however, started tough making her sound almost insane.


    *sigh* "What now?" Reia thought she finally got Klein to crack from her facade since she had been known to be two-faced.


    "Of course you listen to Akira, you''re just his little dog and if it wasn''t for him you would have already killed me. Now, why don''t youe at me and finish me off like almost everyone in the world wants." Klein held her face and looking through her fingers red at Reia.


    "Oh? A bit of push back now, I have to say this other face you kept hidden looks rather ugly." Not having much of a choice, Reia gripped her sword again ready to pull it out.


    "Shut up! You know next to nothing, all you are is just a piece of meat for Akira and he doesn''t deserve someone like you." Ice started to form around Klein''s body showing she was using essence on her own body.


    "Tsk, you know nothing of what Akira has done for me. I''m indebted to him forever and shall always value him unlike you, who see your partners as just mere objects to be used." Reia was about to pull out her sword, but Akira had moved before her.


    "No need to fight, I don''t want to make a mess in our new bunker." Akira had dashed to the side of Klein knowing she wouldn''t do anything to hurt him.


    "But that bi-" Before Klein could finish her sentence Akira slightly infused essence in his hand and hit the back of Klein''s neck instantly knocking her out. Klein fell to the floor and the ice that formed started to dissipate.


    "Ow!" Akira shook his hand in pain because he burnt it from using essence on himself.


    "Reia you really have to stop harassing Klein, I know you were trying to get her other self toe out, but at least do it outside." Akira rubbed his hand making sure he did not damage it too much.


    "I understand, but it''s so hard not to, as just seeing her face reminds me of all the things she has done. The only reason she still has a life is because of her ability to copy a person''s essence." Reia looked at the passed out Klein with disgust still undecided if she should get rid of her or not.


    "I don''t think it''s worth getting rid of her, plus as soon as we find Lou, I''m sure she will run away on her own. Not to mention she will be more useful alive than dead so let''s at least put her to use while we can." Akira knew Klein would listen to him so it would be better if they used her than kill her off because of past grudges.


    "You have a point and when you put it like that I can''t really argue." Reia rxed, taking a few deep breaths to calm down.


    "I hate her a lot as well, but you can''t deny she is useful so I would rather take advantage of that than lose an asset. As shitty as it sounds, there are no more rules and anything goes so we can''t expect our enemies to y fair either." Akira spoke the reality of the situation as they could not afford to follow a good moralpass 100% of the time.


    While Akira spoke he had picked up Klein and moved to the small lounge in themon room. Reia followed him out a little bit lost in thought, thinking about what Akira said.


    ''Akira is right, I really need to calm down otherwise it''s going to cost us.'' Reia was realising that her emotions were getting more out of hand and was a lot more impulsive than she used to be.


    ''I wonder if it''s because I only recovered my emotions about a year or 2 ago that my body is not used to being so free.'' Reia''s theory was that since she lost her emotions and had to control them after recovering, being able to freely express them caused her to be a lot more vtile.


    "Anyway with that settled, I have a question for you." Akira put Klein on the couch and turned to Reia who was behind him.


    "Hmm?" Reia broke out of her chain of thoughts curious about what Akira was going to ask.


    "What exactly did I do for you? I don''t know if I just can''t remember or I don''t realise how important it was." Akira rubbed the back of his head, finding the question rather awkward.


    "Uhh, well to you it might not seem important, but it was to me so that''s probably why you don''t remember." Reia tiptoed around the answer as she did not want to say out loud what it was.


    "You are dodging the question again, tell me. What did I do?" Akira had a nk face as he instantly could tell she was avoiding answering.


    "Aha, I just realised we need to get going." Reia started to slowly move towards the exit in an attempt to escape.


    "Oi, stop leaving me in the dark about these things. Does it have something to do with Octavia?" Akira guessed it had to do with Octavia who he had no idea was and knew Reia would go silent when she was involved.


    Reia froze on the spot as Akira guessed exactly what it was and she almost felt obliged to answer him.


    *sigh* "If you really want to know, it was when I asked you to ask your family for information." Reia did not see the harm in letting Akira know what he did as it would not reveal much.


    "Wait, that weird request?" Akira was rather confused as a request like that did not seem meaningful.


    "Like I said it might not mean much to you but thanks to you and your family I was able to get information that has been invaluable so I''m eternally grateful for that." Reia''s face was a little red as it was embarrassing to admit.


    "Oh okay, well I guess you''re wee, didn''t realise that meant so much to you." Akira was unsure how to feel about the whole situation.


    "That is beside the point, we need to get moving." Reia did not want to dwell on the topic for too long as she wasn''t quite ready to tell the full story to Akira.


    "Yes we should, Klein should be out for a few hours so let''s try to return before then." Akira did not bother to question it further as he was just d he found a little bit more information about Octavia.


    "Alright let''s be quick then, as well as grab some dinner while we are out." Reia went up to the bunker door and put her hand on the scanner.


    Reia and Akira quickly grabbed their guns while the entrance opened and when it was fully open they exited the bunker.


    Upon walking out they were met with a few mutants who had seemingly wandered over.


    "Looks like we get a bit of a warm-up." Akira wasn''t too thrilled, but at least it wasn''t people.


    "I needed to let off a little steam so hopefully these mutants can satisfy my anger." Reia pulled out her sword ready to start killing.

 Chapter 27: Rebel base?

    <h4>Chapter 27: Rebel base?</h4>


    Reia dashed forward to the mutants with her sword and without infusing it with her essence, shed down at the mutant with all her strength. Reia cut the wolf mutant in half destroying the core instantly but she had also hit the ground making her sword get stuck.


    Akira had also dashed alongside Reia, using both his swords he aimed for the 2 other wolf mutants. Akira however infused his swords with essence unlike Reia and went to strike both of them at the same time.


    Sliding on his feet Akira spun in a circle, slicing the mutant wolves in half, not giving them a chance to attack.


    Akira put his swords away and turned to Reia who was struggling to pull her sword out from the ground.


    "Were you that angry?" Akira was struggling to keep hisughter in as Reia was pulling with all her might, but her sword had gone deep into the concrete.


    "Yes. I. Was. Now help me before my sword gets stuck in you." Reia was getting even more annoyed and wanted to cut down more mutants.


    Akira made his way to Reia''s side and grabbed a different part of the handle and helped pull the de out. However, they had used too much strength causing them to both fallback. Without even thinking Akira quickly pulled Reia in and braced her fall.


    "Ow!" Akira hit his head on the concrete while making sure Reia was not hurt.


    Reia''s sword had flung back,nding behind them on its side and not inside the ground.


    ''Why do I always hit my head? I know I''m tall but it seems to be hitting my head on everything other than door frames.'' Akira felt slightly lightheaded from the fall and could not believe the number of times he was hitting his head that wasn''t something high.


    "Damnit Akira you don''t need to protect me, I can brace my own fall." Reia sat up while on top of Akira and looked down at him.


    "Sorry, it was just instinct, now can you get off, it''s rather¡­. Ufortable." Akira did not know how to put it any other way and just hoped Reia got the message.


    ''Ehh? What do yo-... Oh." Reia was confused at first but then she realised what kind of position they were in.


    "Shit sorry." Reia quickly got off Akira embarrassed as it seemed like the world was teasing her.


    ''I swear, whoever is putting me in these situations, I''m going to murder them.'' Reia cursed whatever being that was creating these scenarios as her heart could not take it.


    Akira sat up feeling a slight headache and d Reia was quick to realise before it got more embarrassing for him.


    "We take 2 steps out of the bunker and we are already failing as squad leaders. I can''t imagine what our squad would say." Akira knew that if any of their squad members managed to see them they would be constantly teased.


    "Aha, yeahhh, I''d rather not think about it, let''s just get going." Reia quickly picked up her sword while trying to forget what happened.


    Akira shook his head while getting up from the ground and dusting himself off from the fall.


    "Let''s hope we don''t get lost, although this street is rather unique as this is a walking-only street, it would help to have some sort ofndmark." Reia walked out to the street looking around for any mutants and things that can be used as andmark.


    "We could always use the military base as a reference point." Akira looked towards the massive base which was on an elevated surface making it rather easy to spot wherever you are in the city.


    "It could be, but it will be hard to tell." Reia looked at the base and examined the fallen down tower that just peeked over the military base wall.


    "How about we get on the roof of a building and see which gate we are near." Akira figured a higher angle would help them see a bit better where they were in rtion to the base.


    "Sure."


    Akira then took the lead looking for a way to get up on one of the many roofs. The street they were on, allowed for many alleys to get to the back of stores since the street mainly consisted of general things for everyday life. However, because of the copse, many of the stores had been ruined due to mutants and copsed because of the earthquake.


    Coming up to a store that had fallen in on itself, it looked possible to climb up to the neighbouring roof.


    "No jumping off roofs this time." Reia was already getting shbacks to the fall they had in an attempt to get away from the giant lion.


    "Aha no, I''m honestly surprised I didn''t hurt myself badly." Akira had felt extremely sore after the fall but thankfully wasn''t enough to hinder his movements.


    "Body of steel over here, but the fall wasn''t too high plus we got a softnding so it would have been the initial hit through the roof." Reia was rather impressed, but she could think of the much worse conditions they have been in.


    "The roof wasn''t even that hard, it was only the framework with a thin sheet from what I could feel, but that floor, pretty sure that''s what knocked me out." Akira remembers everything going ck just before they hit the ground.


    "Well you''re okay and that''s all that matters." Reia smiled slightly which was a rare sight.


    ''That smile, I want to protect it.'' Akira''s thoughts wandered for a moment and found it weird that he was at his lowest not too long ago, but now he has found a new purpose so quickly.


    "What are you looking at?" Reia reached up and pulled on Akira''s cheek as he had been staring at her for a little too long.


    "Ow! Sorry I was just lost in thought, let''s hurry, we need to explore more." Akira quickly realised that they had spent way too much time messing around and they really needed to start moving.


    Climbing onto a roof near the end of their street, they looked out towards the military base, Spotting the gate number.


    "We seem to be close to gate 2 which means we might find Lou and Kim nearby." Reia remembered the meeting she nned with Lou.


    "Indeed, you passed out in that small office after losing that massive mutant so meeting would have been rather difficult." Akira remembered when Reia entered the monitoring office in the underground carpark.


    "Well at least we know we are close to gate 2. Let''s hope we can rely on guesswork to get back, but we won''t be going too far so it shouldn''t be an issue." Reia was rather confident they could find their way back, but figured since they were not going far, getting back would not be too much of an issue.


    "If that''s the case, let''s start heading in a direction." Akira scanned the surroundings with his rifle scope and changed the magnification looking for any points of interest.


    Akira looked towards gate 3 and spotted what looked like the roof of a mall that had a few ced spotlights on it.


    "Reia I think we might have a rebel camp over in the direction of gate 3." Akira wasn''t even sure if it was rebel activity, but it was safe to assume it was.


    "Hmm, okay, let''s go scope it out and then return before it gets dark." Reia was rather curious and was a good lead to start with.


    Now having a direction in mind Akira and Reia started to make their way towards what could potentially be a rebel base.


    *


    Going through the streets of the city, silently killing any mutants along the way. Akira and Reia found themselves getting closer to their target location. They had also picked up some food along the way to make sure their journey was not pointless.


    Once they got close to the suspected rebel base, Akira and Reia were unable to see any activity but assumed most people were inside to not draw attention.


    Sitting in a small store across from the mall Akira and Reia were eating a few snacks while they decided on what to do


    "Did we want to push our luck and go inside?" Akira wanted to find out more as the more information they had the better.


    "Let''s snoop around, but if we at all think it is too dangerous we leave." Reia felt the same, but she wasn''t going to risk their lives for no reason until she found more people from her squad.


    "First, let''s try to see if it is a rebel camp or a survivor camp. It would not surprise me if people started getting their hands on weapons from dead soldiers and started their own little groups." Akira expected in the near future to find normal people with weapons to some degree.


    "Sounds like a n." Reia hopped off the counter of the store and walked towards the window to examine the mall.


    "Only if we had Aoi, she would have been able to sneak through with no problem." Reia was wishing that she had her squad as each of her members excelled in different things and a stealth mission would have been perfect for Aoi.


    "Not much we can do, so let''s make do with the skills we have." Akira had thought the same but with his own squad, however, there wasn''t much they could do.


    "You''re right, let''s get this over with, we only have an hour or 2 before we should return."


    Akira agreed and so they both went ahead and exited the store to investigate the mall.

 Chapter 28: Investigation

    <h4>Chapter 28: Investigation</h4>


    Just out on the outskirts of the carpark which was in front of the mall, Akira and Reia were behind a bush surveying the area.


    "I don''t see any mutants or people." Akira was looking for any signs of life but found everything was quiet.


    "Well if there aren''t any mutants that could mean a group of people have cleared the area." Reia was willing to believe that theck of mutants meant that there was some activity.


    "This is a mall as well you would think there would be hundreds of mutants, so I would say it''s safe to assume that it is a rebel camp we are dealing with." Akira did not like the sound of it, but to take out such a massive group of mutants, you would need a lot of firepower or people.


    "Can you spot any of that weird slime from the mutants?" Reia was sitting on the ground unable to see in the carpark.


    "There are too many cars to see anything in the car park." Akira despite being tall was unable to see over the cars which filled the car park.


    "I guess our only choice is to get closer." Reia did not want to get too close, as anyone could be watching from a distance and easily kill them.


    "Let''s cut through the carpark." Akira did not see any harm in cutting through as they could use the cars within the carpark as cover.


    "Alright, let''s go." Reia didn''t mind the idea.


    Reia took the lead and found a break in the bushes where it revealed a fence. Jumping over the fence, Reia and Akira started to weave through the cars getting closer to the mall while keeping an eye out for any evidence of mutants or people.


    They got halfway through the carpark when they finally found something. A pool of the mutant''s remains was in the middle of the road showing a shattered core amongst the slime.


    "Looks like there are people." Reia wanted to turn back now as the corpse of the dead mutant waspelling evidence, but it was still unclear if the mall itself had been taken over.


    "Do you want to continue?" Akira was fine either way, but he too wanted to investigate a little more.


    "Let''s get to the entrance and see what it''s like before we back away." Reia thought that if the mall was taken over, entrances to the inside would be barricaded.


    Akira nodded and pulled out his rifle ready for any conflict. Reia did the same and they continued their way through the carpark.


    The cars were getting denser, making the cover plentiful giving them a sense of security.


    Approaching near the entrance with multiple spinning doors and arge ss wall above it. A sign atop the mall read Coshan Mall and some lights that were pointed on the letters were flickering.


    Reia peaked over the hood of a car and spotted that the entrance had indeed been barricaded by furniture and wood. There also looked like a pulley system for a gate meaning that a base had been established.


    "Looks like we are correct, but it doesn''t look like anyone is on guard or if so they are hidden somewhere." Reia whispered to Akira about the situation and now they knew that the mall is a no go ce for resources.


    "Alright let''s head ba-" Just as Akira was going to suggest they head back, a spotlight shone on them from the roof.


    Suddenly people appeared from the entrance and at a nce they did not look like rebel soldiers.


    "Who are you?!" A woman from the entrance spoke up, sounding curious, but also authoritative.


    "We are just survivors scoping the area out, we were just about to leave." Reia spoke the truth to not start any needless conflict.


    "Hmmm, names?" Probing for answers Reia started to panic as her name was rather famous making it difficult to answer.


    "My name is Akene and she is Reika." Akira on the spot gave them fake names saving Reia from fumbling with her words.


    The woman turned around whispering to another survivor before turning back.


    "Alright Akene and Reika, you are going to have toe with me." Upon her saying this the gate started to open allowing them to enter the mall through the spinning doors.


    "Can''t we just go on our own path?" Reia was not fond of the idea of going straight into the base as they will pretty much be prisoners.


    "I appreciate your skepticism, but you don''t really have a choice." The woman crossed her arms and Reia spotted a few shes up on the roof indicating they had snipers.


    "Shit Akene looks like we have to go in, let''s hope it is an individual group and not the rebels." Reia was feeling very uneasy, but a bit of hope held out as they were not recognised by their looks.


    "I will do the talking from now on, Reika just stay close." Akira stood up while holstering his rifle.


    "If it makes you morefortable we won''t take away your weapons unless you try anything." The woman now had a softer tone as it looked like they were going toply.


    Reia and Akira both walked out to just the front of the mall and stopped for a moment.


    "Don''t be shy, just wanted to have a little chat where it is more private before I let you go." The woman had a smirk as she looked down on Reia and Akira.


    *sigh* "Fine." Akira was already sick of this and wanted to make a break for it, but with the number of unknowns around them, it could spell disaster.


    Reia and Akira walked into the mall with the gate shutting behind them. The woman jumped down from a tform that looked over the gate right in front of Akira and Reia. The woman had long red hair and was a little bit taller than Reia. She wore techwear clothes from head to toe only showing her amber eyes.


    "My name is Raphel, one of the leaders of this survivor group." the woman introduced herself and she held out her hand.


    "Nice to meet you." Akira glimpsed at her hand and saw nothing suspicious and returned the handshake.


    ''Tsk, I should chop her hand off.'' Reia did not like Raphel one bit, but she couldn''t deny there wasn''t much to hate about her yet.


    So far things were going smoothly and no blood was going to be shed.


    "Now I won''t bring you in much further as I know how much you probably don''t want to be in this situation, but would you like to join the rebels?" Raphel smiled, hoping to recruit the 2 lone survivors that wandered into their base.


    Reia was about to get defensive, but Akira was able to say something before she did anything rash.


    "Aha it''s a tempting offer, but I think I prefer the small group way of surviving, but by all means, we can coborate or help out." Akira did not want to seem like they had any animosity towards the rebels in hopes of potentially getting an easy way into their camps in the future.


    "Hmm that''s a shame, I guess I won''t keep you locked up and let you on your merry way." Raphel looked disappointed, but she seemed to respect their decision.


    The gate behind Akira and Reia opened, allowing them to leave the mall. Akira grabbed Reia''s hand and quickly left the mall before they got stuck again. However, as they left Raphel smiled before turning and leaving.


    "Something doesn''t seem right." Akira felt uneasy as it seemed too easy and that there was something more to it than just being recruited.


    "They are rebels, I think we should start running." Reia was looking around seeing that the snipers on the roof were still looking at them.


    "Alright, just before we enter the carpark area, we will sprint our way through." Akira wanted to leave as soon as possible, but he did not want to arouse suspicion before they could get cover.


    As they got closer to the carpark Reia looked back at the snipers and noticed the re from the lense was no longer there.


    "Akira, the target isn''t us, it''s the cars." Reia whispered to Akira as they were just about to cross the road, but Reia was able to notice that they were aiming at something else.


    "They must have rigged them to explode once shot." Akira had not stopped moving, but they needed to find a way before getting too close.


    "How about we just run to the side and try to find an opening with fewer cars." Akira was struggling for ideas and they only had 5 seconds at least before they reached the car.


    "Fuck it." Reia took the initiative and started to sprint to the left. Akira followed hoping that they would not be shot right away. Like they had expected a few of the snipers shot instinctively because of the movement and the cars started to explode.


    ''They must be inexperienced.'' This was key information as it goes to show the rebels were arming ordinary people with weapons already. Akira noticed this detail as well and so he pulled out his rifle and blindly fired at the roof.


    This caused some of the normal people to stop firing and take cover in fear of being shot.


    "Reia now!" With some of the snipers now not looking, traversing the carpark without blowing up won''t be an issue.


    Some of the snipers that didn''t take cover aimed to shoot Reia and Akira themselves, but like real bullets, they had to ount for bullet drop since their essence wasn''t as powerful causing them to miss a lot of their shots.


    Running into the carpark Akira and Reia split off dividing the attention from the snipers. Moving quickly while staying low enough, they were able to lose sight of the snipers and get further and further away.


    *


    "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN''T KILLED THEM." Raphel was screaming from within the mall infuriated.


    "They are one of the most dangerous people to live and you are just letting them get away!" Raphel threw a wooden chair she was next to out of frustration.


    "Well, you could have killed them when you were talking to them." One of the people spoke up against her since she had the perfect opportunity to kill them.


    "Shut up bitch." Pulling out what looked like a flintlock pistol shot the man that spoke up against her.


    Everyone in the room straightened up and did not let out a single word in fear of getting shot as well.


    "You don''t understand the thrill of killing someone, seeing them being blown up would have been a firework show, don''t you understand?" A crazed look was stered on Raphel''s face and nobody had the guts to respond.


    "Good~. NOW GO BACK OUT THERE AND KILL THEM." Raphel smashed her hand on a table breaking it in half.


    The rebel members all quickly rushed out of the room while Raphel took a seat and bit the tip of her finger.


    ''Damn it, why do we have to take in so many ipetent fools that can''t even hold a gun properly.'' Raphel tapped her foot regretting not taking advantage of the situation, but her desire to cause mayhem got the better of her.


    "Tsk now the mutants wille because of the explosions." Raphel was now remembering the consequences of such an extravagant n.


    "Mdy, Edina would like to see you." A half fox woman with the same kind of hair as Reia, with a purple underneath and ck hair slowly walked up to Raphel.


    The woman wore apletely ck turtleneck jacket and pants with purple ents. She also had the aura of a killer, however, Raphelpletely ignored this.


    "Don''t tell me Wha-" Raphel got up to hit the woman, but before she could finish her sentence she was already on the ground.


    "Any attempts in violence will result in exile or death so watch yourself." The woman had purple lightning around her body as she stood over Raphel threatening to break her arm.

 Chapter 29: Narrow escape

    <h4>Chapter 29: Narrow escape</h4>


    Rushing past the cars, Akira and Reia were almost back where they started, hoping that meant escape. The amateur snipers kept shooting and often missed making it rather easy for an escape.


    "To think they would use people that hardly know how to shoot a gun." Akira found it rather odd to use untrained people as they could have been easily killed at any moment.


    Akira spoke to himself while moving behind another car to make sure he stayed as low as possible. What he did not notice was that Reia was also there behind the car.


    "Shh!" Reia heard Akira so she quickly put her hand over his mouth and pulled him to the ground.


    Akira got a small fright, but he did not make a sound and froze in position. Shortly after the sound of running was heard looking for them.


    "Get your gun ready, they were a bit more prepared than untrained soldiers." Reia whispered as quietly as she could in Akira''s ear. Reia also was able to tell by the rustling of the gear that the rebels were more likely to be trained than amateurs.


    Reia took her hand off Akira and pulled out her rifle making sure it was ready to fire.


    Akira did the same and made sure he made as little noise as possible to not attract attention.


    Stuck near the end of the carpark, Reia and Akira were in a favourable position as they were out of sight of the snipers. It also meant that they would be able to run away if they could avoid the rebels, but it sounded like some were getting closer to the position.


    Reia gestured to Akira that once they get close one of them will get up and kill the closet soldier while the other one moves. Then they would switch and so the other person would provide cover fire while the other moved.


    However, Akira remembered that the cars were rigged with explosives and quickly gestured to Reia.


    "They don''t have that many resources to use, now let''s hurry before the mutants overrun the carpark." Reia gave up on using gestures since they were running out of time and needed to move.


    Akira nodded and decided to be the first to stand up.


    Akira pre-aimed and quickly peeked over the car spotting the rebel soldier that was looking between the cars. Firing at the soldier without him noticing, Akira was able tond a lightning bullet killing him instantly.


    However, the gunshot attracted more soldiers to their location. Reia then began to move and got behind the next car and quickly took aim. Akira then also moved and seeing that the soldiers were further away decided to go a little further.


    ''Looks like I overestimated their ability.'' Reia expected them to be a bit more efficient with their response.


    Changing the magnification on the scope she had, Reia took a few shots at the soldiers. managing to kill a couple more. Reia then ran after Akira who had gone further back, getting close to the shop they were in.


    Akira also had gotten closer to the edge if they needed to take a different route and after stopping behind a car heard something in the distance. Screeches and growls of mutants were hearding through the streets meaning that the mutants will shortly arrive.


    Akira took aim and made sure Reia was safe, while quickly looking around to see where specifically the mutants wereing from. Reia caught up and also noticed the noisesing from around them.


    "Shit, okay we need to hide and get away from here as quick as we can." Reia disregarded their n as it would be useless if the mutantse.


    "Let''s hide in the closest building and try to make our way out while they are distracted." Akira saw a few stores that surrounded the area that they could hide in, but now it was a matter of not getting lost.


    "Alright let''s go." Reia was more concerned for their safety and wasn''t worried as with a bit of time they would be able to make their way back.


    Jumping over the side fence Akira and Reia made a break for it towards some of the side shops. Some of the soldiers that were chasing them started to open fire trying to get a hit in before they got away.


    "Shit." A bullet skimmed Akira''s arm and a lot of pain flowed through his arm feeling a searing sensation in the wound.


    "I forgot how much it hurts being hit with essence." Akira held his arm while running trying to ignore the burning feeling in his arm.


    "Akira!" Reia who got further ahead opened the door to what looked like a hardware shop. Rushing into the store bullets continued to spray down on the building breaking the ss door and some of the items inside.


    Akira and Reia had jumped behind a counter which was across from the door and protected them from any bullets that got through the door.


    "Akira are you okay?" Reia, seeing he was hurt, quickly checked his arm to see how bad it was.


    "I''m fine, just some essence burn." Akira wasn''t bothered by it too much, but the pain made things rather ufortable.


    "Tsk, still need to cover it." Reia would not tolerate Akira just dealing with it so she pulled out some bandages and wrapped Akira''s arm.


    The rain of bullets from the outside had calmed down, but the growls of the mutants hadn''t and were only getting louder.


    "It seems like a horde." Akira did not like their odds, but hopefully, they would be able to sneak their way out.


    "Yes, and we need to return before Klein wakes up because I don''t trust that witch for a second." Reia did not want to leave Klein in the base for too long and would rather get back sooner thanter.


    "It is getting dark so let''s hope that includes reduced visibility for the mutants, but something tells me that isn''t the case." Akira was trying to think of ways to get back the safest and waiting for nighttime sounded like a good idea, but only if it impaired the mutant''s vision.


    "We don''t have much of a choice and I think those soldiers came to give us a bit ofpany." Reia looked over the counter and saw out the door a few soldiers approaching.


    "Tch, don''t they have other priorities?" Akira thought they would be distracted by the oing horde of mutants.


    "I think they knew who we were despite our best attempts at hiding our names." Reia had a suspicion that Raphel was ying with them and actually knew who they were, but wanted to take advantage of the situation.


    "She did look a bit crazy, but let''s be d she was stupid enough to let us out of that building." Akira was still hung up on the fact that they were using regr people to fire weapons.


    "They probably were all Raphel could use, but let''s not worry about it, we have some people to entertain." Reia aimed her rifle at the door, waiting for the rebel soldiers to make their move.


    Akira crawled to the end of the counter and looked around the side to get a different angle on the door.


    However, before the rebels coulde through the door, the wall behind Reia and Akira began to crack.


    "Huh?" Reia turned around to look and as she did the wall suddenly burst open.


    A silver-haired she-wolf went flying through the wall alongside a giant mutant tiger that tried to bite the she-wolf.


    Reia jumped out of the way avoiding the bricks that came from the wall andnded next to Akira.


    Quickly looking at the front of the store Reia recognised the person that hade bursting in fighting a giant tiger.


    "Lou?"


    ***


    Deep in the mall, there was a breakroom and the Vixen pulled Raphel along and entered the room.


    "I brought her Edina." The ck-haired vixen threw Raphel to the ground in front of a woman who was sitting down on a sofa.


    Edina wore a white shirt and ck jeans as if she was on holiday. The shirt was half done up and she had half a ss of wine in her hand twirling it around.


    "Raphel." Edina spoke, sounding disappointed.


    "Yes." Raphael was now kneeling and was staring at the ground as if she royally fucked up.


    "I told you, to kill on sight, not try to lead them into a trap. As I have heard from some of the veterans of the rebels they are the best soldiers the military has to offer. Don''t you think your little game of using our soldiers in training to get "experience" and blowing up the car traps at the front was a good one? Now we have a fucking horde to deal with and the two people that abandoned me are going to get away." Edina began to rant and her voice was getting louder and louder.


    "I-"


    "Who said you can speak!" Edina sat up and was gripping her wine ss tightly.


    ''How the hell did this bitch get to such a higher position than me in only a couple of days?'' Raphael was cursing Edina to herself as she had been with the rebels for much longer than Edina yet she was already amander within it.


    "I see that resentment in your eyes, sorry that I overtook you, but frankly the rebels saw my capabilities unlike you who seems to have a thing for FUCKING UP!" Edina shattered the ss in her hand and Raphel flinched.


    *sigh* "Please take her away agent O and send a request to the other leaders to have her punished¡­ severely." Edina smiled while she cleaned the ss off her hand watching Raphel''s expression change from hatred to shock.


    "Wait no, you can''t do that you bitch." Raphel panicked and tried to get up, but the ck-haired vixen restrained her before she could move.


    Raphel tried to get out of the vixen''s hold, but it was futile as she overpowered her.


    "Nowe with me quietly or I will have to take drastic measures to force you." Agent O was getting annoyed and without waiting for a response covered her hand in lightning.


    Raphel instantly stopped moving to stop resisting, but it seemed that Agent O made her decision. Hitting the back of Raphel''s neck, Agent O knocked her out and put Raphel over their shoulder.


    "So annoying." Agent O mumbled and exited the room while carrying Raphel.


    "Now to deal with the oing horde, hopefully, that old bastard mobilised our trained soldiers and is getting ready." Edina stood up and stretched out her body.


    Edina held out her hand and a red-like essence that resembled blood swirled around. Edina then tightened her fists and blood seeped through because of the cuts from the ss.


    ''Time to earn my position. I''m sure those bastards that took me in, will be using this as a way to test me on how I deal with the situation.'' Edina shortly after being found in the carpark was allowed to prove herself and managed to get a minor leadership role.


    With this role, Edina had been tasked with operating one of the many bases the rebel which had created a way to prove herself even further and to develop the skills she newly obtained.


    ''Heh, thanks to those two I was able to get my own essence and join the rebels, however.''


    "I swear I will kill those two damn foxes that left me in that underground carpark." Edina had not forgotten what they said to her and deeply hated them for abandoning her.

 Chapter 30: Klein鈥檚 view

    <h4>Chapter 30: Klein¡¯s view</h4>


    <Klein''s POV back in the bunker>


    "You bitch!" Shooting up from the couch Klein looked around for Reia as she was just about to attack her.


    "Huh?" Klein was confused as to why she was on the couch alone. Pondering on it for a moment everything came back to her.


    "Oh that''s right, they left to go look for supplies." Klein cracked her neck, as it felt incredibly sore.


    "What the hell did Akira do to my neck?" Klein did not feelfortable no matter how she moved her neck, constantly feeling a stinging pain.


    Getting up from the couch Klein was a bit lost on what to do as she was now left alone.


    ''Do I stay or leave?'' Klein was conflicted as she did not want to be alone, but being around Reia all the time infuriated her.


    ''But Akira is here and if I leave I may never find him again, however, there is also that bitch Lou from Reia''s squad.'' Klein paced around the room conflicted and tried to distract herself from the pain in her neck.


    ''Tsk what a predicament to be in.'' Klein hated the fact that Akira teamed up with Reia making it almost impossible for her to approach, especially with both Lou and Reia.


    ''Maybe I should just try to stalk them, but that''s such a boring life and knowing Echo with his stupid robots could probably find me.'' Klein started to bite her thumb as almost all the things she coulde up with would be countered in some way.


    ''Right now my best bet is to just follow them for now and hopefully, I can snatch Akira when he is alone outside.'' Klein considered kidnapping Akira and thanks to her having an ice essence currently copied, she could restrain him.


    ''I will only have one shot as I am almost out of ice essence and going to need to absorb someone else''s soon.'' Klein''s essence, although believed to be just copying, is the absorption of essence. When she touches a person she sends her essence through their body and her essence then stores the other person''s essence which then allows her to use it.


    Klein had a n and now needed a way to survive as she won''t be able to take the food from the bunker and if she was going to stalk needed a way to keep track.


    ''They should be staying here for a while so I should set up in a nearby building, but not too close otherwise they will just find me if they scout the buildings.'' Klein wanted to follow them around just in case, but it would be impossible to keep track and it would be much easier on her if she hid close to their base.


    Making up her mind, Klein quickly went to her room and grabbed her bag. Running to the kitchen Klein filled her bag with some of the food, she then rushed to the bunker door.


    Opening it up Klein hastily made her way out, but she still made sure that it shut behind her as although she despised Reia, Klein did not want to ruin her rtionship with Akira further.


    ''Why do I always do these nice things? It is only a matter of time till shees out.'' Klein looked at her hand just before she exited the alley as she was reminded of the reason why she was so attracted to Akira.


    ''Tsk, why now.'' Klein hated that she had to hide and the resurfacing of the memory made it harder for her to leave.


    ***


    <Back in the Academy>


    ''Shit I''m about to switch.'' Klein was currently in a library as it was her get-away from people.


    Holding her hand tightly Klein discreetly left the library in search of a ce to hide.


    Rushing through the hallways of the academy, Klein decided to go around the back just in case she couldn''t find a ce in time.


    Running around the corner she had identally bumped into someone breaking her concentration and causing her to fall to the ground.


    ''Fuck I don''t have enough time.'' Klein needed to focus on suppressing whatever was happening, but now she was unable to hold it.


    "Woah Klein, you okay?" Akira, who Klein just bumped into, was a little surprised to see Klein so suddenly.


    Akira went down to her side and went to help her off the ground, but something about the usual Klein changed.


    "Klein?" Although Akira genuinely did not like Klein for what she had, he wasn''t going to treat her badly if she was in trouble.


    However, what Akira didn''t expect was Klein''s eyes to shift to red and suddenly attack him.


    Klein went into a frenzy and went to grab Akira by the head.


    Akira though was able to quickly jump back before she reached him.


    "What the fuck?" Akira was confused by what he was seeing as it was clearly someone other than Klein.


    ''Did she use essence on her own body?'' Akira first thought Klein had gone too far with using it on herself and had caused herself to go mad.


    ''No it was like she transformed, is this a race-specific thing then.'' Akira was busy trying to make sense of the situation, but he could no longer dwell on it as Klein leapt at him.


    Akira did not want to hurt Klein just in case it was a temporary problem, so he opted for restraining her.


    Grabbing Klein by the arms Akira was able to throw her to the ground and restrain her arms. Using a little bit of his essence he was able to get her to stop iling about because of the burning pain from the essence.


    However, the essence had a different effect on Klein who had suddenly returned back to normal and felt a soothing sensation from Akira.


    "Huh?" Confused about how she got on the ground, once she realised that Akira was on top of her she had put the pieces together.


    ''Wait Akira was able to stop my transformation and ease the urge.'' Klein was so confused about how it was possible, but she was on the brink of passing out making it hard to think.


    "This¡­ feeling." Saying a couple of words out loud Klein shortly passed out after.


    Akira seeing that she was no longer fighting back and had passed out, he stood up.


    "Jeez, what was that?" Akira knew that she was crazy, but suddenly seeing this side of her he questioned what really happened in the past.


    ''Was this why that girl was afraid of her.'' Akira wasn''t sure as this was the first time seeing it and nor did he really care.


    ''Hmm I should call the medic staff to pick her up, it''s not worth associating with her, especially since my mother said to stay clear after the incident.'' Akira came from a family that ran the intelligence of the military so whenever it was stated to not go near someone it was for a good reason.


    ***


    "Maybe I should juste clean." Klein was deeply ashamed of this other self and although she had learnt how to control and use it, it brought Klein great shame as it was a reminder of her past.


    "Ahhhh! I don''t know what to do." Klein grabbed her head as she was beginning to spiral.


    "No stop, just go and hide and wait for the right moment." Klein tried to cut off her thoughts andmit to her decision.


    Running away from the bunker Klein left to go find a ce to stay for the time being.


    ***


    <Reia POV>


    "Lou?" Reia wasn''t sure if the person in front of her was Lou but also couldn''t think of any other crazy person to fight a giant tiger solo.


    The giant tiger stood in between Reia and Lou ready to pounce again.


    "Do I hear who I think it is?" Lou, who had blooding down her face and was currently trying to catch her breath, thought she heard Reia call her name.


    "Yes! Lou, it''s me Reia." Reia couldn''t believe the situation but also wasn''t surprised.


    "Haha, what a way to bump into each other, now time to take down this big motherfucker." Lou recharged her beretta''s with her essence and got ready to wrestle with the tiger.


    "Wait! Dodge! There are rebels behind you!" Reia saw the soldiers were about to shoot Lou, but thanks to Reia, Lou was able to get out of the way.


    The rain of bullets then instead hit the tiger which was waiting for Lou''s next move.


    The tiger got enraged by the soldiers and shifted its attention to them. Jumping forward it smash through the front of the store and the soldiers began to run away for their lives.


    "Louuuu are you okay!?" Kim had suddenly appeared by the hole Lou came in from and spotted Reia instead.


    "Reia!" Kim was shocked and she quickly jumped down from the hole next to Reia and quickly ran up to her.


    "Have you seen Lou?" Kim gave Reia a hug and this time she returned it and did not dodge Kim likest time.


    "Always Lou in that head of yours, yes she is right over there." Reia pointed to the front of the store where Lou sat up against the wall taking a moment to recover while the tiger dealt with the soldiers.


    "Phew, she has been fighting that tiger for almost an hour now and she refuses to let me help." Kim let go of Reia and quickly ran to Lou while exining what was happening.


    "How typical." Akira spoke up, spooking Kim who did not realise he was there.


    "Akira?" Kim quickly turned and saw Akiraying on the floor watching the fight outside.


    "Yes it''s me, long time no see Kim." Akira did not avert his gaze as he was going to shoot at the tiger if it came close to him otherwise he was going to let it go, in hopes it will ravage the rebel camp.


    "Heh, even in an apocalypse you still can''t be separated from your future husband, Reia." Lou got up from the ground with the help of Kim.


    "Oh for fuck sake."


    "Tsk, no wonder you weren''t at gate 2, too busy ying." Lou had a smirk as despite the situation they were in she had to take a few jabs at Reia.


    "Go back and fight that tiger, you psycho." Reia was already regretting this, as it was exactly what she was expecting.


    Akira was trying his best to ignore what Lou was saying, but he couldn''t help but blush.


    "Oh, I will, make sure you don''t interrupt me." Lou stretched out her body and prepared herself for another round with the tiger.


    "Wait Lou, but you need to rest." Kim was extremely worried as she had been non-stop fighting with the tiger and her physical state wasn''t the best.


    "I don''t need rest, as long as I have essence I can move, plus I know where the core is so it won''t take me too long." Lou brushed off Kim and went up to the now copsed storefront.


    *sigh* "Don''t die you bitch." Reia was not surprised by Lou and only hoped she woulde out alive.


    "Of course not, who do you think I am." Lou smiled and she started to dash towards the giant tiger that was devouring thest of the soldiers.


    Everyone collectively sighed and each got their weapons out, ready to help if anything happened or to provide cover.

 Chapter 31: Lou and Kim鈥檚 journey

    <h4>Chapter 31: Lou and Kim¡¯s journey</h4>


    <Lou and Kim POV just after separating from Reia>


    "Dammit we have to go back Lou, we can''t just leave Reia." Kim, who is in Lou''s arms, wanted to go back and help fight the giant.


    "Sorry Kim, but it''s one of those things where we have to run, plus Reia is perfectly capable, we just have to focus on surviving and getting to gate 2." Lou was sprinting as fast as she could believing that Reia will be okay.


    ''Please be safe, Reia.'' Kim was unable to do anything and was stuck in Lou''s arms and so all she could do was hope.


    Running further down the street, Lou and Kim witnessed a lot of dead bodies crushed from all the rubble and decided to still hide in their apartments rather than run. Death was amon scene for the two, but Kim was still saddened by the sight, seeing innocents getting killed.


    Lou on the other hand did not care and had no sympathy for anyone that would have died.


    After a few more minutes the road to gate 2 was finally in sight, however, there was a group of mutants guarding the road.


    Lou looked around to find a spot to put Kim down so she could deal with the mutants. Deciding that the roof was her best option, Lou turned off onto a road just before the mutants and tried to find a way on top of one of the apartments.


    Screams and chaos echoed throughout the city making it rather easy to make noise without a mutant noticing them.


    While running up the stairs in an apartmentplex cries wereing from some of the rooms.


    "Tch, if they don''t shut up they are only just going to get themselves killed." Although Lou was right, for them to actually take action was beyond realistic.


    "Lou, they are not as crazy as you are, cut them some ck." Kim wasn''t surprised by the state of the people as not everyone is a trained psycho like Lou.


    "Well, not my fault that they will get themselves killed."


    *sigh* "Why do I even bother to reason?" Although Kim did agree with Lou, Kim had always tried to make Lou more considerate.


    "If things continue like they are now, there will no longer be any rules and it''s now the survival of the fittest, so if they are just going to mope in a corner then they won''t survive." Lou swung around the wall up thest flight of stairs to the roof.


    "Geh, why do you also have such sound reasons for your ruthlessness." Although Kim agreed and was not really arguing, it was still hard to find a way to oppose her.


    "Fufu~ I always do and you love that~." Lou stopped behind an air vent and leaned Kim up against it.


    "Y-you''re not wrong." Kim couldn''t deny that she was rather attracted to Lou''s cold side.


    "Anyway, I am going to go down and take out the mutants on the road, if anything happens scream out my name." Lou looked over the edge of the roof and saw the horde of at least 40 to 60 mutants that upied the road.


    "Alright be careful, I assume a lot of those mutants were people trying to get to the military base for salvation, but little did they know that it is also in chaos." Kim looked at the military base and could see all the gunfire shooting over the wall as soldiers desperately fought their way out.


    "Well half the military is ipetent fools that think they have a chance, so it''s no surprise that the military base will be destroyed especially when most special squads are out on missions this time of year." Lou expected that the military base would be devoid of life and the squads that had some worth woulde back to a ruined city.


    "Well our squad, 2, 5, 7, 9, 13, 15 and 20 should have been back at the base today, but that is only our sector of squads, no idea about the other ones." Kim recalled looking at the military board on her phone and saw which squads were returning or had returned.


    "I don''t see 13, 15 or 20 being alive since they are not the strongest squads unlike the first 10." Lou was half hoping that more squads would be back in the city as it would mean more opportunities for conflict.


    "Who knows, but that isn''t our problem. Now go have your fun, I can still use my beretta if I get attacked." Kim, although low on essence, was still able to use her beretta if she needed it.


    "Looks like I will need to pull out my extra pistols." Lou quickly went back to Kim who was holding Lou''s bag and opened it up.


    "Wait, you''re going to use that new style?" Kim saw Lou adjusting the small contraption on her shoes that allowed her to slot pistols on the back of the heel.


    "Echo didn''t design them to never be used." Lou lifted her heel and attached the pistols to the lock.


    "Hope this will be a good test since you haven''t had the chance to use it against real opponents." Kim had witnessed Lou practising a new kind of closebat fighting style with guns on her heels.


    Lou kissed her beretta''s before jumping into the horde and turned to Kim onest time.


    "Watch me give these bastards the kiss of death." Lou then vaulted over the edge and began to climb down the side of the building.


    Kim blushed slightly as despite being left alone she still felt reassured and that she will be safe no matter what.


    Lou was fast approaching the massive horde and once she was low enough jumped off the wall.


    Lou spun in the air while firing, setting aze a bunch of the mutants and killing a few off.nding on top of a rhino, Lou then shoved her heel into the head of the rhino while also firing the gun on her heel. Setting the rhino''s insides on fire Lou jumped off the mutant''s body.


    Lou continued firing wherever trying to kill as many as she could. Lou thennded in an opening and a group of feline mutants took the opportunity to pounce on Lou.


    Lou rushed forward at one of therge mutant cats and shot directly through its skull. A panther, however, went to bite into Lou''s side, but she leant backwards into a handstand and as her feet went past the panther''s head she fired.


    Getting back on her feet to face the lion, she quickly pointed her beretta''s behind her and shot a lizard that was about to sneak attack her.


    The Lion growled and more mutants started to get closer making it harder to make a move.


    "Tch." Lou had lost her momentum, making it harder to continue the flow of killing.


    A few smaller mutants had circled Lou and went to attack her simultaneously, but as expected Lou crossed her arms firing at both the mutant squirrels that pounced at her.


    ''I have only killed about a third of the mutants, but with how they are grouping up I don''t know if I can kill them as quickly as I like.'' Lou was unsure how to approach the group of mutants that were ready to attack at any moment.


    "Fuck it." Without thinking about it, Lou dashed forward towards the lion and the lion went to grab her with its ws. Quickly stopping her movement Lou raised her leg high up and smashed down with her heel into the oing tiger while also firing into the skull of the lion. Thanks to her fire burning the insides of the mutants the core would soon be destroyed by her mes.


    A few more mutants went to attack Lou with either a bite, grab or a scratch as the mutants were rather primal and had no abilities to use.


    Lou this time made sure she was a bit more precise with her aim as having to reload with the number of mutants around her spelt trouble. Hitting the cores of some of the oing mutants Lou noticed that the mutants had surrounded her in a circle.


    Smiling, Lou quickly got on her hands and started to spin while doing the splits upside down. Firing the berettas on her heel she was able to set fire to most of the mutants, but with the shot''s not being as urate, they had not died from the fire.


    Making some of the mutants enraged, they all started to charge at Lou at the same time.


    Jumping forward onto a bear mutant that had not been affected by the mes. Lou used that mutant as a springboard and also shot it in the head with her heel.


    The mutant bear allowed Lou to jump over the circle of mutants and thanks to their enraged state was easily able to make them attack each other.


    The mutants tried to turn around and pounce at Lou one more time, but Lou was already raining down bullets whittling down the horde.


    Most of the mutants were now set on fire and the mes made quick work of their bodies, burning the core and legs making most of the mutants disabled.


    "Phew." Lou blew the tip of her berettas to rid of the smoke that came out of them and walked down the street making sure there were not any stragglers.


    "Is this one alive?" Lou stepped on a mutant insect and shot into the skull with her heel to make sure it was dead. Just as she expected the insect started to squirm as it was slowly being burnt alive.


    Lou smiled and decided to fire a few more times into its body making sure it suffered more.


    "They sure have beautiful reactions despite not being a person."


    Continuing to make her way down the street, she found that there were no mutants left and the only remaining ones were on the verge of death from Lou''s me.


    ''Now let''s get back to Kim.'' Lou looked up at the roof where Kim was and saw her peeking over the ledge.


    Kim had been looking in awe as the fighting style was rather elegant and made for some cool ways of killing.


    However, just as Lou was about to climb, a hand suddenly grabbed Kim from behind pulling her away.


    ''Shit." Lou freaked out and instantly went into a sprint and quickly ran up the wall grabbing a window cill.


    Lou quickly scaled up the building and as she got to the top of the building there was a group of military members holding Kim seemingly hostage.


    "Heh to think we would run into psycho Lou and her little toy." A half dog held Kim''s beretta up to her head while she spoke to Lou.


    Other military soldiers of varying races pointed their weapons at Lou, waiting for her to make a move.


    "Ha, and what do you n to do?" Lou lowered her face, hiding her golden eyes.


    "Of course take you with us. This world no longer has rules and we can do whatever we want, no longer will we be cannon fodder for the damn military." The half dog revealed that they were in the lowest rank.


    "So the bottom of the barrel huh? That makes things easier." Lou was about to make a move but the half-dog pushed the barrel into Kim''s head forcing Lou to stop.


    "Don''t move otherwise she goes." The half dog smiled feeling like he had full control of the situation.

 Chapter 32: Underestimated

    <h4>Chapter 32: Underestimated</h4>


    ''Fuck, what do I do.'' Lou was darting her eyes around looking at each of the military members.


    Despite them being cannon fodder, they were still trained soldiers making the situation a lot more dangerous.


    Kim was pulling on the half dog''s arm that wrapped around her neck making sure she could breathe. This scene alone was aggravating Lou by the second and was close to snapping no matter the consequences.


    "Hahaha, Look at you unable to do anything, how does it feel to be so helpless?" The half dog was getting more cocky thinking that Lou was unable to do anything. What he failed to realise was that Kim was highly trained and only saw her as some sort of toy for Lou.


    "Get. Your. Fucking. Hands. OFF ME!!" Kim then bit down on the half-dog''s arm, ripping a chunk out of it. The half-dog let out a scream and let go of Kim to stop the bleeding on his arm.


    Kim then spun around and elbowed the half-dog in the face knocking him out instantly.


    Lou smiled, proud of what Kim had done and capitalised on the switch of attention. Aiming at 2 of the 5 other soldiers, Lou took them out with ease setting them aze. Their screams echoed and Lou got chills from hearing them scream and went to target the remaining soldiers.


    However, Kim was already taking care of them as her fit of rage had not stopped with the half-dog.


    Kim picked up her beretta from the half-dog and jumped over an air vent while shooting a soldier, killing them instantly.


    The other 2 soldiers now grasping the situation aimed their weapons at Kim and fired. However, Kim was already close enough to one of the soldiers. Redirecting the weapon Kim avoided the bullets and pulled the soldier to her side to use him as a meat shield.


    Getting killed by his own teammate Kim aimed over the dead soldier''s body and killed thest soldier. The soldier''s head waspletely blown off by Kim since she used her essence to create an explosive bullet. Throwing the body she had to the floor and shooting it in the head for extra measure, Kim had sessfully killed the 3 soldiers on her own.


    Lou was impressed, so she could not help herself but walk up to Kim and pull her in for a kiss.


    Kim instantly snapped out of it and had no idea how to react, but to ept the kiss.


    "What a wonderful show you put on~." Lou pulled away and looked deeply into Kim''s eyes.


    "Aha, I just couldn''t take that man''s grubby hands anymore and I couldn''t stand his attitude." Kim was blushing like crazy and felt joy from getting praised by Lou.


    "Well speaking of such a man I think you have some unfinished business." Lou looked behind her at the knocked-out half-dog that was yet to be killed.


    "Tch, Yes I do." Kim looked at the passed-out half-dog in disgust.


    Walking over to his body, Kim wanted to pay back for the treatment the half-dog had given her.


    Stomping down on the half-dog''s chest, it instantly woke him up from his unconscious state.


    *cough* *cough* "You damn piece of shit cat." Even though the half-dog was in thepromised position, he still had the guts to throw insults.


    "Shut up dog, how about we put that military leash back on you." Kim stomped down on the half-dog''s chest again breaking his ribs in the process.


    "Go to hell!" The half-dog groaned in pain and tried to get out from under her foot, but any movement caused the broken ribs to poke his lungs.


    "We''re already in it, now say goodbye to your miserable life." Kim lifted her leg for onest stomp, this time going for the head. Smashing down on the half-dogs skull, Kim crushed his head killing him in an instant.


    Kim took a deep breath and found herself tumbling back as she had not recovered fully and the adrenaline had been keeping her going.


    Lou caught Kim and embraced her as Lou was proud of the disy Kim just showed.


    "Good girl~ now leave it to me, so you can rest." Lou gave a quick kiss to Kim on her forehead and started to pat her head.


    "Ha, I must say that was quite fun." Kim rather enjoyed the killing and understood why Lou loved it so much.


    "Fufu~ it seems like I am infecting you by the day." Lou smirked as the many years they had been together Kim was slowly being more influenced by Lou more and more.


    "I was infected the day we met and despite being together for so long I''m still a blushing mess." Kim covered her face as she was thinking back and had gotten embarrassed.


    "It''s what makes you cute so no need to change~." Lou then swept Kim''s feet into a princess carry and went over to where their bags were.


    "Anyway, we should move before a mutantes up and attacks us." Lou put Kim''s sniper on her back and got Kim to carry her bag in herp while Lou put on hers.


    "I don''t think I will be able to fight again for a bit, I already feel the exhaustion kicking in." Kim found herself getting tired and her consciousness started to sway.


    "If you need to sleep, do it now." Lou was not going to leave Kim''s side this time allowing Kim to safely take a nap.


    "If that''s the case, don''t mind if I do." Kim snuggled into Lou and quickly fell asleep in her arms.


    Lou scanned the area looking for any other ces to go wait for Reia since the time to meet up was fast approaching.


    ''I wouldn''t be surprised if she isn''t able to make it.'' Lou was able to see on Reia''s face that she was exhausted and was pushing her limits.


    ''I will wait a bit longer, but if I don''t see or hear her I am going to have to leave right away.'' Lou believed Reia would be okay but did not see her being able to make it to gate 2.


    Deciding to go further down the apartments, Lou figured she could use Kim''s sniper to look down at gate 2 to see if there was any activity while she waited.


    Running atop the roofs of the apartments Lou Jumped over any gaps in the building and eventually found a spot that provided cover. Around them were air vents and an entrance that went inside the building. Laying Kim down on her back lightly, Lou made sure there wasn''t anywhere Kim could easily be grabbed.


    Lou thenid down herself with Kim''s sniper and looked down the scope watching the road leading up to gate 2.


    ''Now let''s see if Reia will show up.'' Lou had made sure she wasn''t going over the edge too much with the barrel to not identally grab any survivors'' attention while she patiently waited.


    *


    The awaited time had passed and no sign of Reia was in sight. Lou had ended up almost dozing off as it was insanely boring watching the same ce and was even tempted to wake Kim up to pass some time.


    ''Just as expected, but oh well at least I can say I waited.'' Lou stood up and prepared to move again. This time Lou had taken off the pistols that were on her heels as they were rather awkward to walk with.


    Picking up Kim from off the ground, Lou had identally woke Kim up from her nap.


    "L-Lou?" Kim was in a bit of a daze and clearly needed more rest.


    "Yes it''s me darling~ we are moving now since Reia did not show up so you can go back to sleep." Lou wanted Kim to get enough rest as the quicker she recovered the easier for them to traverse the city.


    "Hmm okay~." Kim without thinking pulled Lou in for a quick kiss before getting herselffortable again in Lou''s arms and falling asleep.


    Lou chuckled slightly at Kim''s spur of assertiveness and found it rather adorable.


    Lou once again looked around for a ce to go and spotted arge building that looked like a hotel. Lou decided to make her way over in hopes it was a quiet ce for Kim to sleep.


    The chaos had not died down yet and many distant explosions and gunfire echoed throughout the entire city, surprising Lou that Kim was able to sleep through it.


    Wanting to take things a bit slower for Kim, Lou casually walked on the roofs towards the hotel and only ran if she needed to jump a gap.


    While walking along the roof of various buildings Lou witnessed many survivors that were still around running for their lives or being killed by mutants. This allowed Lou to see somewhat up close how the mutants were able to turn people.


    ''It seems that whatever the body is made out of is what is turning people.'' Lou noticed that after every wound from the mutant there was a residue left behind that was the same as the mutant''s body.


    ''So direct contact with an opening in the body will turn someone, I guess the next question is are you able to touch it and still be okay.'' Lou wanted to find out more about the mutants, but she was not willing to use herself as a test subject to find out.


    ''No matter, if we can find Echo, he can most likely analyze the mutants.'' Lou did not want to bother to find out the science behind the mutants and was going to leave that to Echo.


    Ignoring the screams that came from the streets below Lou continued to make her way to the hotel.


    *


    "Oi you silver-haired she-wolf,e help us!" A survivor from the street below was currently fending off mutants with a metal bat and a few other survivors.


    Lou did not even look at the man and continued to walk across the roof.


    This pissed off the man as it could be clearly seen she had weapons, but she did not even bat an eye.


    "Fucking bitch!" The man yelled out while hitting a mutant in the skull knocking it back. The other survivors hearing how the interaction was going also became rather angry at Lou who was not helping.


    "Why thank you~." Lou, hearing the man clearly, decided to pull out her beretta and shot at the man''s leg.


    "Arggghhh!" The man screamed in pain and the mutant he was fending off pounced on top of the man biting his neck.


    The others he was with tried to get the mutant off him, but it was toote.


    "You monster!" Collectively the group of at least 8 survivors yelled at Lou for getting the man killed.


    "You have a keen eye, too many people think I''m a pretty angel." Lou, who had put Kim down to shoot the man, picked her back up and continued walking.


    The survivor group was infuriated, but they could not argue and had to focus on killing the mutants in front of them.


    "Next time treat me with respect like I''m an empress or even Lucifer herself before you go asking for help." Lou left, leaving the survivors to fend for themselves despite their angry cries for help.


    *


    "Jeez Lou, didn''t have to shoot the man." Kim had been awake for the encounter and felt pity for the innocent survivors.


    "Although I wasn''t offended by what he said, I didn''t want to waste my time on them." Lou did it purely for entertainment and wasn''t bothered to help them as even if she helped, they would have either died or joined the rebels.


    "Oh well, not like we know or care for them, it''s not our duty to protect anymore." The reality of the situation was bing more clear to Kim, that she did not need to uphold any more values of the military.


    "Good~, but can you walk now? We are at what I believe is a hotel." Lou stopped at the edge of the roof and looked across the street where the entrance to the hotel was.


    "I can try." Kim wasn''t able to gauge well how she was feeling so it was only a matter of testing out her legs.


    Lou slowly put Kim on her feet and was able to move around freely again.


    "As long as I don''t use any essence I should be fine." Kim was confident she would be okay as long as she did not get into a fight.


    "Sweet, let''s get ourselves a penthouse to stay in." Lou smiled hoping for a bit of room raiding while exploring the hotel.


    "Of course we are going for the most expensive room." Kim wasn''t surprised and assuming it was at the top, would provide a great vantage point.


    "Of course now let''s get going." Lou gestured with her head to a set of metal stairs and so Kim and Lou made their way to raid the hotel.

 Chapter 33: Raiding the hotel

    <h4>Chapter 33: Raiding the hotel</h4>


    Entering the lobby of the hotel, it was evident people had run away in a hurry as their belongings were scattered on the floor.


    "Kim, you are to stay behind me at all times and follow my orders no matter what." Lou suspected there to be mutants and she needed Kim to always be in arms reach.


    Kim nodded and positioned herself behind Lou and took out her beretta that had limited ammo. Although Kim did not want to use any more essence since she had been constantly running low, she still had what was stored in the gun giving her some defence.


    Walking through what looked like an average hotel, Lou and Kim listened out for any mutants. However, the outside was still a mess which made it hard to distinguish what was happening inside.


    ''Hopefully, once we are deep in the hotel it gets quieter.'' Lou wanted to yell at the noise outside to shut up, but for now, they had to deal with the noise.


    Entering a hallway that had a few elevators, Lou went up to test if any of them worked.


    "Even if they work, shouldn''t we take the stairs to be safe?" Kim did not want to get stuck in the elevator and was still under the assumption that everything electronic was disabled.


    "Don''t care, if it can get us there quicker I will take the risk." Lou did not want to waste a perfectly good opportunity to go straight to the top floor.


    "I doubt it will even wo-." Before Kim could finish her sentence a ding sound went off and the elevator opened up.


    However, a mutant was inside the elevator and jumped out as soon as the door opened. Lou without a second thought punched the human mutant in the face pushing it back into the elevator. Lou then proceeded to unload a bunch of bullets into the mutant until it was dead.


    "We must be in a horror movie." Lou had been surprisingly scared by the sudden mutant and instinctively killed it.


    "Let''s be a bit more careful." Kim held her hand to her chest as her heart dropped for a moment seeing the mutant so suddenly.


    Getting into the elevator, the melted corpse of the mutant slowly turned to ash by Lou''s me till there was nothing left. Lou pressed the button to the highest floor and the elevator began to move.


    "Still have no idea how this elevator is working." Kim was still amazed that there was still power running through the ce.


    "If I remember correctly it was that weird greenva that caused the electronic devices to not work." Lou thought back to when Echo examined the greenva and it seemed that the effect got stronger the closer you got.


    "Pull out your phone Kim." Lou figured that if there was power here, then their phones would be working again.


    Kim reached into her bag, pulling out an orange phone and turned it on. To her surprise, it turned on and was fully functional, but there was no reception or inte.


    "Despite it working it''s kind of useless without any service." Kim was a bit disappointed since the idea of contacting each other was crushed in mere seconds.


    "We will need to find Echo, he can probably set up a way so we can use our phones, just need to find him." Lou Believed that Echo being the tech guru he was, would be able to set up his ownwork.


    "I am worried for him since he is by himself." Kim couldn''t help but stress a little as Echo had not been much of a fighter making him rather vulnerable.


    "He doesn''t like showing his face or name so if he needed to he could easily blend into a survivor group, so I wouldn''t panic until we found his dead corpse or him as a mutant." Lou chuckled a little as she fully trusted everyone in the squad and if they died, she would personally kill them again.


    "If I were to be worried about someone, it would be Jayde, she is rather¡­ emotional." Lou did not know how to put it into words, but she knew Jayde was easily overwhelmed.


    "Aha, Yeah, but you know it works in her favour." Kim couldn''t agree more as there were many times that Jayde freaked out or panicked and ended up killing everyone in a room.


    "If it wasn''t for essence being able to ricochet, I don''t think she would''ve been able to get through a lot of the missions." Lou let out a sigh as all though Jayde was the least experienced, when it mattered Jayde did perfectly fine on the battlefield.


    "At least she is a good fighter and her talent for parkour helped a lot, but yeah it''s hard to argue when she has trouble controlling herself at times." Kim awkwardlyughed and hoped that Jayde did not get herself in trouble because of her rather erratic personality.


    *BANG*


    Suddenly the elevator had stopped near the top floor and the sound of grinding metal echoed around them.


    "I knew it!" Kim''s fears of getting stuck were bing a reality and if they were to fall it would be a long way down.


    "Tch." Lou quickly went up to the elevator door and tried to force it open with her hands.


    The elevator jolted like things werending on top of it and the first thought that went through Kim''s mind was mutants were falling into the elevator shaft.


    "Shit we might have mutants." Kim was beginning to panic as she had no clue on what she could do to help.


    "Kim just make sure that they do not get in the elevator." Lou was slowly opening up the door which took all of Lou''s strength to do.


    Kim nodded and with her beretta started looking at the roof of the elevator looking for any mutants breaking through.


    More mutants had fallen onto the elevator pushing them further down. The elevator had also gotten close to max weight capacity and the stress on the wires was getting greater.


    Lou was now able to slide her body into the door and push with her feet making it easier to open.


    Due to the number of mutants that had fallen on the elevator a clear dent was made and the emergency was on the verge of breaking.


    "Kim!" Lou called out her name as the gap was now big enough that Kim would be able to crawl through.


    Kim quickly dived under Lou and as she did this, the emergency exit burst open with a bunch of mutants. The mutants in a frenzy went to instantly go attack Lou, but she was able to quickly slip out and the door shut in the faces of the mutants.


    Lounded on top of Kim and found themselves in a rather peculiar position.


    "Well, I like this very much." Lou had identally pinned Kim down to the ground and enjoyed the embarrassing face Kim had.


    Despite the situation, there was a lot of tension between the two as they had not been able to do anything for a few weeks.


    Kim stayed silent and turned her head trying to avoid eye contact with Lou.


    Lou then grabbed Kim''s chin forcing her to look Lou in the eyes. However, the elevator behind them could no longer take the weight of the mutants and so the wire finally snapped causing it to fall back down to the bottom floor.


    A loud crash echoed throughout the entire building and then was followed by the growling of mutants.


    "Tsk." Lou got off Kim as mutants were going to be running rampant ruining their moment.


    Kim got up from the groundpletely red, a little disappointed as she was hoping on the inside things did continue.


    Looking around the hallway they jumped into, many of the rooms had their doors wide open with the floor being littered with luggage.


    "Careful any of the rooms could have mutants in them." Lou was unable to hear any growls on their floor, but assuming everyone left in a panic she thought it was unlikely that there were going to be mutants around every corner.


    Kim shook her head to rid of the embarrassment and focused back on surviving.


    Making their way through the hallway, they looked into each room checking for any mutants.


    Getting near the end of the hallway, Lou was about to check one of the rooms, until suddenly from behind the door, a person came out swinging a baseball bat. Lou leaned back dodging the bat and Kim who was further back aimed her beretta at the man who had tried to attack them.


    "Don''t move!" Kim was ready to fire at any moment and with the man losing his opportunity had no choice, but to let go of his bat and raise his hands.


    Lou had flipped back on her hands. Getting annoyed by the fact she was attacked, Lou walked up to the man and punched him in the face.


    "Batsard!" Lou then proceeded to dig her heel into the side of the man''s head.


    "Arrggghhh!" The man groaned in pain, unable to speak for himself.


    "This is what you get bastard, instead of being polite and revealing yourself you just had to attack us huh?" Lou put more force into her heel and the sound of cracking echoed in the hallway.


    "Next time don''t fucking attack me." Stomping down on the man''s head Lou had identally killed him.


    "Oops."


    *Sigh* "Why am I not surprised?" Kim facepalmed as there was no real need to kill him.


    "Oh well, his fault for attacking us, if he had juste out nicely I would have let him off." Lou shrugged and kicked the body to the side.


    "At this rate, you''re gonna be known for anger issues rather than being a psycho."


    ''Aha~, well that''s what you are for, to relieve myself." Lou quickly turned to Kim and Lou brushed her hand on Kim''s cheek.


    Kim felt shivers and was back to blushing as she knew exactly what Lou implied.


    "Pfftthaha cute~." Lou then walked off and continued checking the rooms.


    Kim was frustrated as she felt like she was being teased on purpose at this point. Kim pouted and followed Lou in hopes that she would repay for all the teasing she had done.


    *


    Making it to the fire exit stairs, they were able to climb their way to the top where the desired room was. Exiting the stairway they were greeted with a rather luxurious hallway with only one entrance at the end.


    "Here we are." Lou smirked as it seemed the ce was rather untouched.


    "I wonder where the mutants wereing from then?" Kim knew they wereing from above, but they did not know which floor it would have been.


    "That isn''t our problem, if anything they can be guard dogs." Lou saw no point in worrying about it as they were rather safe unless the building copsed.


    Walking up to the double door that led to the penthouse, Lou was ready for any dangers that may be behind the door. Opening up the doors Lou found that the ce was empty.


    "Oh I was expecting some special mutant, but I guess the room wasn''t booked or the person wasn''t here." Lou was disappointed that there weren''t any mutants to fight but was d as there was something else she wanted to do.


    Entering the room Lou and Kim gotfortable putting down their weapons.


    Kim was by a wall making sure she had everything until suddenly Lou pushed her up against the wall.


    "Hope you''re ready." Lou grabbed a hold of Kim''s chin.


    "Heh, we better not get interrupted~." Kim had been eagerly waiting as the tension had not gone away.


    Without saying any words Lou pulled Kim in for a kiss while lifting her up from the wall and moving her onto the bed.


    "Let''s begin."

 Chapter 34: [Bonus Chapter] - Lou and Kim鈥檚 night (R18)

    <h4>Chapter 34: [Bonus Chapter] - Lou and Kim¡¯s night (R18)</h4>


    [A/N: If you do not like yuri please skip this chapter, this chapter is not important to the story so you are not missing out on anything.]


    [Warning: Sadism, pet y and general BDSM themes so continue at your own discretion]


    Louid Kim on the bed while holding the passionate kiss. Kim was a little shocked at first by the sudden assault but quickly got into it as this wasn''t the first time this had happened.


    Both of them started taking off their military uniform, ridding themselves of the identity they had.


    Once they werepletely naked Lou did not waste any time and grabbed Kim by the hair. Lou threw Kim to the ground and despite the rough treatment, she was enjoying every moment of it.


    Kimid on the ground and Lou stepped on Kim''s face.


    "Lick it." Two words came out of Lou''s mouth in a cold tone and without any questions, Kim began to lick Lou''s feet.


    After a minute of licking, Kim was starting to run out of breath as she did not dare stop unless Lou told her to.


    "Good girl~ you can stop." Satisfied with Kim''s obedience Lou took her foot off Kim''s face.


    "Get up." Lou ordered Kim and she instantly got on all fours looking up at Lou.


    Lou smirked and leaned over, grabbing ahold of Kim''s chin. Looking deep into her eyes Lou gave Kim one more kiss.


    "Now meow for me~." Lou backed away from Kim and sat at the edge of the bed waiting for her.


    "Nyaaa~." Lifting one arm up Kim posed as a cat fully immersing herself in her race as a lynx.


    Kim''s small tail was wagging back and forth, indicating that she was thoroughly enjoying it.


    "Good Kitty~, nowe satisfy your Mistress~." Lou opened her legs gesturing at Kim toe over.


    Kim crawled her way over and once her head was between Lou''s legs, Lou grabbed a hold of Kim''s ears forcing her into Lou''s pussy.


    Kim moaned and proceeded to lick Lou''s pussy to the best of her ability.


    5 minutes went by and Lou was close to cumming and to reward Kim for her efforts, Lou was going to cum into Kim''s mouth.


    "Don''t miss a drop~." Lou pushed on Kim''s head even harder, leaving no room to breathe.


    "Ahh~." letting out a satisfied moan Lou cummed into Kim''s mouth and without wasting anything she made sure she got every drop into her mouth.


    "Fufu~ good kitty, now it''s your turn." Lou stood up while also pulling on Kim forcing her to stand up as well.


    Lou then proceeded to pin Kim to the bed and Lou using one of her hands slowly went down Kim''s body till it reached her pussy.


    Lou inserted her fingers quickly and hard causing Kim to let out a loud moan from the unexpected roughness.


    "NYAHHH~." Kim already felt like cumming and was trying her best to not climax yet.


    Lou on the other hand started to bite Kim''s neck drawing a little bit of blood.


    Licking the blood off Kim while still fingering her, Lou increased her pace making it harder for Kim.


    However, Lou suddenly stopped and Kim looked at Lou wondering why she had suddenly stopped.


    "D-don''t¡­ stop M-mistress." Kim had been out of breath making it harder to speak.


    "Don''t tell me what to do!" Lou then pped Kim in the face causing her to moan.


    "If you want me to finish, beg for it." Lou red at Kim coldly and she felt shivers go through her body seeing the re.


    "Oh, please Mistress ravage me like I am your personal toy, the only thing that matters is you~." Kim put her hands on top of her chest and opened her legs even wider inviting Lou.


    Lou smirked and hearing a perfect response turned Kim on her stomach.


    "Ara~ such a good little kitten, let me finish you off for being such an obedient pet." Lou bit down on Kim''s ass while also teasing her pussy.


    Lou then got Kim to go on all fours while on the bed and Lou was directly behind her.


    "It''s a shame we don''t have any toys, so my tongue will have to do." Lou was annoyed that there was nothing to use, but they had to make do with what they could.


    Lou using her tongue then began to eat out Kim''s pussy.


    "Oh fuck." Kim was struggling to keep together and her hips started to move with Lou''s tongue trying to get as much out of it as she could. Lou all of a sudden pped Kim''s ass as hard as she could.


    "AHHH~." Kim gripped the streets and pressed her head up against the bed trying not to climax.


    However, Kim was no longer able to hold it in any longer and so she came into Lou''s mouth.


    Lou did not let a single drop out and instead of pulling away kept going.


    "LOU~!." Kim screamed out Lou''s name as she was not prepared for the second round. Kim had also started feeling like she wasn''t in her body anymore and only desired more pleasure.


    "Harder~ treat me like a little slut of yours." Kim was unable to think of anything else but speak what she desired.


    However, Lou had stopped again, but before Kim could speak, she found herself on her back again. Lou then leaned in and kissed Kim while Lou inserted her fingers again into Kim''s pussy.


    Lou pulled away from the kiss and started sucking on Kim''s nipple and used her other hand to y with the other nipple.


    "KYAA~~!!" Kim was assaulted by different waves of pleasure and without realizing cummed a few more times.


    Kim was noticing she was losing her mind and all her mind could think about was Lou.


    Lou did not care what the state of Kim was and kept pleasuring her till Lou was satisfied.


    Lou then moved her head up to Kim''s shoulder and Lou bit down as hard as she could.


    "AHH~." Kim felt an intoxicating pain that had caused her to cum again.


    Lou then drank Kim''s blood enjoying the taste.


    "Mmm tastes as sweet as ever~." Lou licked her lips, getting the excess blood off.


    Wanting to end things soon as Kim was nearing the end of her endurance Lou got on top of Kim almost sitting on her face.


    Without saying a word Kim began to eat out Lou while she did the same.


    However, Kim had a harder time trying to pleasure Lou since Kim was exhausted from all the orgasming. Still trying her best Kim kept pace, but she already felt cumming again.


    However, Lou had been extremely turned on by Kim''s actions before and was close to orgasming herself.


    Both of them were getting more and more intense, until they both finally orgasmed at the same time. Kim was unable to keep going and so her face waspletely covered in Lou''s cum.


    Lou on the other hand still wanted to taste as much as she could and so she licked up as much of Kim''s cum as she could.


    Lou, knowing that Kim could no longer go anymore, got off her. Lou then proceeded to get Kim under the covers not caring if they were clean or not. Lou also slid into the covers and wrapped her hand around Kim. Laying back Lou got herselffortable and felt herself starting to drift asleep.


    "M-mistress I a-am forever y-yours." Kim who snuggled into Lou looked up to meet her eyes.


    "You didn''t have a choice anyway, you will always forever be mine if you liked it or not." Lou raised her head and to seal what Kim said, Lou kissed her.

 Chapter 35: Essence variants

    <h4>Chapter 35: Essence variants</h4>


    The next morning hade with the sun shining through a massive window that looked out to the city. Lou and Kim had gotten changed into their techwear-like clothes that were left behind by whoever stayed in the penthouse.


    Kim wore a long-sleeve skin-tight cktop with an orange cor around her neck. Over the top was a dark grey tank top that was slightly skin tight and provided a bit of extra warmth. Kim also wore a skirt exposing her brown legs and although not her favourite choice of clothes Lou requested she wore a skirt.


    Lou wore a pair of fully ck military pants, a t-shirt, a jacket and a pair of ck ankle boots which all contrasted with her silver hair. She also had put bandages around her hands and wrists.


    After spotting a giant lion in the distance they intended to investigate in that direction, however, a group of rebel scouts came knocking on their door and Lou was able to take care of them.


    Making their way back to the entrance pools of mutant slime covered the area insinuating the rebels had killed some of the mutants beforeing up.


    "Seems like they know what they are doing." Lou was surprised at how efficiently the rebels were already adjusting.


    ''Did they have any involvement in the copse of the military or were there forces already hiding in the city waiting for a moment to strike.'' Lou would have expected them to take much longer to prepare, but it seemed like they were ready before it actually happened.


    ''I don''t need to worry about it now, I need to regroup with Reia and the others.'' Lou, although excited by the idea of taking on an army of rebels, she had to focus on looking for Reia.


    "We should have brought one of the bodies with us to see if it is able to turn people who are already dead." Kim guessed it would work but so far they had only seen people get infected when they were alive or were just killed by a mutant.


    "I wouldn''t stress too much, I''m sure once we get Echo back he will do all the testing plus I would rather not identally create a new variant of the mutant." Lou knew it wasn''t her expertise, so she didn''t worry about testing and preferred to let someone else do the work.


    "I guess so, but we shouldn''t waste too much time, before we know it, that lion will be long gone." Kim wasn''t too keen on the idea of fighting the lion, but knowing Lou it would be impossible for Kim to change her mind.


    "Yes let''s not waste anymo-." Lou was about to move until she suddenly felt a chill to her right and instantly shot in that direction.


    Lou saw bloode out of something invisible and then a panther appeared out of nowhere. It was a spectre variant and it was just about to pounce until Lou shot, setting its body on fire. However, something was different about the mutant. Instead of the usual green glow, this one had an ice-blue glow.


    The fire on its body had been extinguished as the panter used ice on its own body.


    "Oho~ don''t tell me these mutants can use essence." Lou smiled as things got a whole lot more interesting.


    "If that''s the case, it must have been a panther with an ice affinity." Kim had moved back holding her beretta making sure she was not in the way of Lou.


    The panther growled and quickly went back invisible.


    Lou focused on her hearing as the panther was not able to fully negate the sound it made while moving.


    The panther had seemingly jumped and was approaching Lou''s side. Instantly reacting Lou had fired a few shots but missed.


    Suddenly a blue glow appeared even higher from where Lou shot and the panther was about to grab Lou.


    Lou pushed off her feet backwards dodging the w attack that almost clipped her ears. The panthernded on the ground and a bunch of ice spikes came from the ground. Lou was unable to dodge the spikes causing her to get stabbed in the shoulder and get a few cuts on her arm.


    "This stupid fucking cat." Lou, despite the immense amount of pain in her shoulder, still aimed her gun at the panther and shot as much as she could. Kim, who was behind the panther fired a few shots of her own, managing to get rid of one of its legs.


    The panther tried to move out of the way, but thanks to Kim removing one of its legs, the panther was unable to escape from Lou''s barrage of bullets.


    The panther was killed with ease, but Lou still had a bit of ice stuck in her shoulder.


    "Great, my jacket is already ruined." Lou grabbed the ice in her shoulder and shattered it to pieces by crushing it. Blood came out, but that did not bother Lou at all except Kim.


    "Lou! Are you okay?!" Kim came running up with a bandage in hand and went to cover up the wound.


    "Yes I''m fine, it''s just a small wound." Lou did not feel much pain, but she still let Kim patch her up so Kim''s mind would be at ease.


    "A small wound in an apocalypse where people turn into mutants by contact, I wouldn''t be calling a HOLE in your shoulder a small wound." Kim was panicking as they did not know if an attack like that from a mutant would also cause infection.


    "As I said I am fine, it was just essence so I doubt I will be a big bad wolf." Lou flicked Kim''s head who had just finished bandaging Lou''s shoulder.


    "Hiss~." Kim did not have any more words and so she red at Lou.


    "Anyway, thank you Kim." Lou scanned the lobby to look for a simr jacket and to her luck there was. Lou picked up the jacket, but a sharp pain appeared on where her shoulder was.


    "Damn." Lou put on the jacket and grabbed her shoulder which had a lingering pain.


    "What did I tell you? Take it easy otherwise you will get yourself killed." Kim knew exactly what was wrong and could not help but stare at Lou unimpressed.


    "Hai~ I know, I will be careful." Lou, unable to fight her current circumstances, had no choice, but to listen to Kim''s advice.


    "You know I have been through worse right?" Lou who had been on the brink of death many times could not help but think of her shoulder wound as something small.


    "You are still a person who can die in one bullet and just because you visited death''s door more times than I can count, doesn''t mean you should be cocky." Kim pouted as there had been many times where she thought Lou was going to die, but never did.


    Without saying any words Lou grabbed Kim by the cor and pulled her in for a kiss. After holding the kiss for a few seconds Lou then hugged Kim to provide a bit offort.


    "Again, don''t worry, you are the reason why I will never die." Lou fully understood Kim''s feelings so all she could do is hug Kim to show sincerity.


    "I-i¡­" Kim was at a loss for words and even began to cry a little as Lou''s words really touched her.


    "Now let''s get out of this ce. Like I was about to say, let''s not waste anymore time." Lou released Kim from the hug and faced the exit. Kim wiped away the tears and the immense amount of stress that had been building for thest day or so was gone.


    *


    Walking out of the hotel, they spotted a street that led in the general direction of where they saw the lion.


    Walking along the street they had noticed that there were a lot of dead mutants on the ground.


    "We might be walking towards a rebel base." Lou was not sure if it was the rebels she killed or someone else.


    "Makes our life easier, but I will say it is safe to assume that we are following the trail of those rebels." Kim wasn''t too worried as it was not likely that the rebels were holding up in apartments or office buildings.


    Walking further down the street, a few survivors had poked their heads out the window to see who was outside.


    "Seems like they were smart enough to not run away as it would have been pointless." Lou looked at a few of the survivors which had fear in their eyes.


    "With the mutants pretty much appearing from everywhere it would be almost impossible to leave especially since the military didn''t even seem ready for it." Kim thought about how there were massive cracks in the ground which most likely appeared throughout the entire city making the infection spread everywhere.


    "It''s a shame that they won''t be able to survive like this unless they join up with a group." Lou thought of the rebels and potentially other groups of people that might get their hands on weaponry.


    "Hey! Are you the rebels that wereing to bring us to the camp?" A woman from an office building shouted at Lou and Kim.


    "No, so shut up and leave us be." Lou did not want to bother them and continued to walk. Kim kept her head low as she found it rather embarrassing.


    "Tch, probably dead by now, let''s head to the mall ourselves, we know our way around the city." The woman from the window turned around to speak to more people that were in the building and a particr detail caught Lou''s ear.


    ''So one of their bases is at a mall.'' Lou smirked as this would be where she could get some action with more of the rebels.


    "Lou I know what you are thinking and no we are not running head first into their base." Kim shook her head as the murderous glint in Lou''s eyes would appear every time she thought of killing.


    "Tsk, you are no fun."


    "Sorry, but you literally just said to me you won''t die."


    "Fair, fair, can''t argue with that."


    The two continued to bicker while walking, leaving the small survival group that seemingly formed.


    *


    After reaching the end of the road that cut off into 2 different roads Lou and Kim decided to have a small break to eat.


    "Good thing we were able to pick up some food from the hotel." Kim looked at their food supplies which only had military rations.


    "Anything over the rations." Lou despised the rations and would often bring food to missions that were not allowed just to avoid eating them.


    "It can''tst forever though, just imagine in 6 months all the food goes off." Kim was dreading this day, but they needed to ept it so they wouldn''tinter.


    "Geh don''t talk about it and let us enjoy some meat while it is still okay to eat." Lou took a massive bite out of some cooked meat she had found in a store.


    "Mhm." Kim nodded while also taking a bite out of a piece of cooked meat.


    *


    After finishing their meals they began to walk towards the right as it made them get closer to the military base which had a higher chance of finding squad members, assuming they did not travel far.


    Approaching a cross-section Lou noticed a slight tremble in the ground. Not saying anything Lou grabbed Kim by the hand and dragged her into a nearby building. Entering the front door of an apartment building Lou looked out a window to see what was making the trembles.


    Shortly after a massive tiger mutant appeared in the middle of the road. Lou''s eyes were filled with excitement, but before she could move Kim stopped her.


    "No." Kim whispered into Lou''s ear and thankfully she backed off.


    "Let''s follow it." Lou had an idea and if it worked would hopefully be able to start a fight with a bang.


    Kim sighed as she didn''t really have a choice this time, but she was d that Lou did not rush in without a n.


    Going up the stairs they managed to get up to the roof without the mutant noticing them. Seeing that it was heading for a certain location, Lou and Kim followed the tiger along the roof.


    "Now let''s see where this big boy is heading." Lou smiled, still itching to go in and fight the tiger.

 Chapter 36: Mutant nest

    <h4>Chapter 36: Mutant nest</h4>


    Lou and Kim followed the giant mutant tiger making sure they kept out of sight and made as little sound as they could. Thanks to there being a lot of ambient sound being caused by the tiger, it was easy for Lou and Kim to talk without drawing attention.


    "I wonder where it is going?" Kim was intrigued by the tiger''s action as it seemed that they had a sense of direction which before did not seem like the case.


    "I think whatever transformed them into mutants has some sort of agenda and it wouldn''t surprise me that it was to take over the." Lou assumed the most likely answer and that was to take over.


    "We will just have to find out and who knows where this giant tiger will lead us." Kim was having a few doubts that the tiger was just wandering, but the way it was moving looked like it was heading to a specific ce.


    *


    20 minutes had gone by and the tiger finally stopped moving. Lou and Kim were getting rather bored and on multiple asions almost jumped in to attack, but were stopped by Kim.


    "Finally." Lou let out a sigh as something interesting was finally happening.


    The tiger looked around for a moment and turned onto a road that had caved in leading somewhere underground.


    "Hmm we should be very careful." Lou did not like the look of the cave that had been formed, but it also spelt danger which is also what she wanted.


    "I will get an angle on the cave while you go inside, so if you start getting attacked please make sure you are by the exit." Kim knew Lou was going to go in either way so she was going to y her role in supporting Lou while she fought.


    Lou nodded and seeing that the tiger was now not in sight she put the pistols on her heel and gave her bag to Kim. Lou then climbed down the side of the building to chase after the tiger and investigate where the cave went.


    Kim went ahead and looked for something she could sit on top of, safe from mutants while also seeing the cave.


    Spotting a billboard that was advertising the military Kim started to make her way over.


    ''It is a little further back from the cave, but it''s rather high up so it shouldn''t be a problem.'' Kim was worried she would not have a good angle, but since the billboard was on a rather high building she did not think it would be an issue.


    Crossing the road Kim found a metaldder that went up the side.


    ''Why did Lou have to give me her bag? It makes it super hard to climb.'' Kim was carrying two bags and her barret which made it awkward to climb.


    Slowly making her way up to the side of the building Kim reached some metal stairs and managed to get to the roof. Checking for any mutants hanging around the roof, Kim was d to see there was no one.


    Going underneath the billboard Kim found thedder to go up. Climbing once again Kim got onto the tform in front of the billboard. Putting down her and Lou''s things Kim started to set up her spot to help Lou if there was any conflict in the cave.


    Resting her sniper on top of the railing Kim adjusted the magnification and got a clear look at the cave. Kim spotted Lou waving at her from the ground acknowledging her position.


    ''At least she waited for me to be ready before entering, now let''s see if I can spot anything.'' Kim looked into the cave to see if she could spot the tiger mutant or anything abnormal. Kim''s vantage point turned out to be the best spot as she got to look directly into it and had nothing obstructing her view.


    "What is that?" Kim had spotted a green glow in the middle of the cave and almost looked like it was pulsating.


    "Shit I can''t contact Lou!" Kim was going to warn Lou, but they had nomunication devices on them.


    ''I am just going to have to cover, Lou isn''t stupid enough to just ru-.'' Kim was hoping Lou would not just run in, but as she thought this saw her sprinting into the cave.


    ''This woman!'' Kim tightly gripped her sniper, but there wasn''t much she could do.


    *


    <Lou POV>


    ''Alright now that I know where Kim is, let''s explore this cave.'' Lou began to run straight into the cave.


    Spotting a glowing core Lou already had a target in sight and ran towards it. However, what Lou didn''t expect was the ground waspletely covered in slime.


    "Ew." Stopping in her tracks Lou lifted her foot and stood back.


    ''Great, now I''m covered in mutant slime.'' Lou had panicked for a moment as the thought of turning crossed her mind. A few seconds went by and Lou did not feel anything and so she assumed it was okay to touch.


    ''Well, it''s good to know we can touch the slime without worry.'' Lou proceeded to step into the slime-like substance and was d that it was only a thinyer and did not go too deep.


    ''I better make sure the slime doesn''t get on my shoulder.'' Lou remembered her shoulder being injured and knew if it touched the slime she would turn.


    ''If it is covered I should be fine, but I shouldn''t try anything spectacr while in here.'' Lou thought about how she wouldn''t be able to flip around like she usually does due to the floor being covered in a residue.


    Continuing to get closer to the core, Lou was looking around for the tiger but was unable to see where it could have gone.


    Getting rtively close to the core Lou felt something inside her resonate.


    ''Huh?'' Lou was very confused as it was clear this was something to do with the mutants, but she felt the essence inside her react strongly to it.


    Lou shook her head for a moment as she was getting distracted by the core and needed to look for a tiger.


    ''I will worry about the coreter, I need to make sure I don''t get bit in the back by a mutant.'' Lou focused back on her original objective not worrying about the core for now.


    ''It''s so dark I don''t know if there are branching caves.'' Lou went to turn on her shlight until suddenly Kim fired a shot right next to Lou.


    Quickly turning around a mutant that was silently moving out of the slime was dead.


    "Theye out of the ground?" Lou looked around her feet with her shlight and just as she turned to her right a mutant wasing out of the slime.


    ''Fuck this must a nest of some sorts.'' Lou quickly fired at the mutant, setting it on fire and destroying the core. The fire provided a bit more light revealing the area and for the first time, Lou thought she really fucked up.


    Looking up at the roof, hundreds of mutants wereing out of the thinyer of slime across the room. Their green eyes shone and not wanting to stay any longer Lou ran for the exit.


    ''Last thing I want is to get stuck, especially with a giant mutant.'' Lou knew her limits and fighting off a mutant horde with a massive one was beyond that.


    Mutants of varying races came falling from the roofnding all around Lou. Some had also starteding out of the ground and attempted to grab Lou by the ankles.


    Lou was constantly shooting around her hitting any fallen mutants or ones appearing from the ground.


    Using her heel pistols she was also able to shoot anything that attempted to grab her by the legs.


    ''Almost there.'' Getting closer to the exit Lou pushed on her feet harder and harder trying to get out before she got overwhelmed.


    Kim had also started firing mini-explosions into the cave, shaving off a good number of mutants around Lou. However, this attracted more mutants from within the cave increasing their number.


    Lou jumped out of the cave and ran up the slope that led into the cave without turning back till she was at the top.


    Kim had kept firing, but with Lou out of the cave, Kim used more powerful explosive bullets to cover more area. The mutants were building up more and more with no end in sight and despite Kim''s mass killing, it seemed to not even put a dent into the number of mutants.


    Lou was unsure if there would be an end, but still wanting her fight, she aimed her berettas and began firing a barrage of bullets. This created a massive fire within the horde which had fully lit the cave. Lou''s heart dropped for a moment as there were multiple sets of eyes of varying colours.


    Lou was instantly able to tell they were essence variants, but this was not what had made her so worried. They were giant mutants that had the capabilities of essence which was a terrifying thought. However, what she noticed was they did not move and stayed in the darkness of the branching caves within the nest, not revealing what kind of animal they were.


    ''I think it wants me to leave.'' Lou was extremely conflicted, as she wanted to stay and fight, but she knew this was a battle she couldn''t win and not winning equalled losing which is something Lou couldn''t ept.


    "Tch, I will have toe back hereter." Lou decided to retreat for now as it was too dangerous to handle for now.


    Running along the side of the street, Lou was making her way to where Kim was, who had stopped shooting at the mutants. Also to their surprise, the mutants that wereing out of the nest did not go any further than the slime which was confusing but was grateful nheless that they didn''t need to fight off a massive horde.


    ''I need to get stronger, but how the hell do we improve our essence?'' Lou had wondered this question for a while as there hadn''t been any way to improve someone''s essence other than increasing its capacity through repeated use.


    ''That core looked and felt special, even my essence seemed to have a positive reaction.'' Lou was rather perplexed by the phenomenon and was tempted to go back in to find out.


    ''We need to get the squad together again so we can take on these nests as the answer to getting stronger may be within those nests.'' Lou did not want to jump to conclusions, but how she felt around that green core supported that it was a good thing for them.


    *


    Climbing up the building that Kim was on, Lou had managed to sessfully escape and was able to avoid a bunch of roaming mutants that were attracted to Kim''''s gunfire.


    "I''m d you decided to run away, after seeing that core I was going to contact you but realized we don''t have any form ofmunication." Kim expressed how relieved she was, but all Lou could do was chuckle.


    "Pfftthaha, well I''m sure it wouldn''t have worked even if we did, we were at their nest and I can only assume that emp effect would ruin any radio line we would have." Although there was no Lava, Lou assumed that whatever that slime was had the same effect seeing as the mutants originated from it.


    "We don''t know that for sure." Kim pouted as there was always still the possibility of it working.


    "True, true, but I have to say it looks like we are going to have to camp out tonight and wait for that tiger toe out." Lou still wanted her fight with the tiger and figured they could wait for it toe out.


    "You still want to kill it?" Kim was baffled as it was clear the tiger was long gone.


    "Of course, if it doesn''te out in the next 24 hours we will move on." Lou knew they couldn''t stay for too long, but she wanted to try waiting.


    "Fine." Kim let out a sigh as although she would prefer to get going, there was no rush and in their current position they were rather safe.


    "Heh, now let us enjoy this view we get from this billboard." Lou sat down leaning up against the billboard.


    "Are you sure you can wait?" Kim could not see Lou waiting for so long.


    "I can just go down and kill some stray mutants, it isn''t a big deal." Lou shrugged as it wasn''t hard toe by mutants especially if they were by the nest.


    Kim facepalmed as she didn''t even know why she asked.

 Chapter 37: Tiger hunt

    <h4>Chapter 37: Tiger hunt</h4>


    It was now the next day and no tiger was in sight. Kim had fallen asleep on Lou''s shoulder while she was smoking.


    ''Looks like I will have to move on.'' Lou was disappointed that she had lost her target, but there wasn''t much she could do and if anything she just had to go find another one.


    ''Once Kim wakes up we will start moving.'' Lou looked at Kim''s peaceful sleeping face and Lou couldn''t help herself and gave her a kiss on the forehead.


    The sun was getting close to being in their face, so it would not be long until Kim woke due to the sunlight.


    *


    Another hour had passed and Lou was about to take off her pistol on her heels until she spotted movement at the cave.


    "Oh?" Lou stood up and grabbed Kim''s sniper, using the scope to get a better look at the entrance. Fortunately it was the tiger and the excitement Lou lost hade flowing back.


    "Kim!" Lou lightly shook Kim to get her to wake up. Kim slowly opened her eyes and looked around to get her bearings.


    "What''s up Lou?" Kim stood up and stretched herself out like a cat.


    "The tiger has arrived." Lou smiled while looking back down the scope.


    "Damn." Kim was hoping that it would not havee back, but it seemed that the world wanted their fight to happen.


    "We have no time, let''s get a move on before we lose it." Lou already grabbed her things and was approaching thedder down.


    Kim sighed, picking up her things as well, and followed Lou down thedder.


    "Heh." Lou looked up having a perfect view and all Kim could do was blush since she knew exactly what she was doing.


    Continuing to make their way down the building Lou and Kim made it onto the road. Spotting the tiger taking a turn on their left Lou and Kim began to follow it once again.


    "Alright Kim, I will fight this one alone, I do not want you interfering no matter what." Lou did not want to draw attention due to Kim''s sniper being rather loud.


    "But."


    "Ah, no buts on this one. I will call your name or back off if I can''t handle it, so trust me like always." Lou put her finger over Kim''s mouth before she could finish her sentence. Kim bit her lip as it was extremely dangerous to fight alone.


    "Alright let''s be quick now and make sure you are always a safe distance away." Lou gave another kiss on Kim''s forehead before running off to chase the tiger.


    ''This damn idiot, she is too smooth.'' Kim was once again at Lou''s mercy and no matter what Kim did, Lou always found a way to turn it around.


    Kim quickly ran to follow Lou and once again was left to carry all their things.


    *


    <Lou POV>


    Catching up with the tiger Lou climbed onto one of the side buildings so she could jump onto the tiger.


    Looking over the edge the tiger seemed to be wandering around with no objective making it easier to catch up to it. The tiger would often look around sniffing out buildings for any survivors.


    Lou stretched out her legs before jumping off the 5 story building which the mutant was about half the size of.


    "Alright let''s y." Lou smiled and pushed herself off the roof directly in the direction of the tiger. Aiming her feet for its head, the tiger was distracted looking into a building to notice her.


    Lou''s feet went straight into the skull of the tiger and she fired from her heel pistols. The tiger flung its head back and Lou wasunched off. The tigers head and insides were lit on fire but were quickly extinguished due to the slime suffocating the mes.


    Lounded on the back of the tiger and not stopping her assault began to run up its back while firing all four of her pistols. Holes were created through the body of the tiger leaving seering marks in the body. This time Lou did not use her usual me bullets that would set a mutant on fire, but an extremely hot bullet that would essentially melt through the body.


    However this took a lot more essence as the damage it caused was a lot more significant. The tiger getting agitated swung its body into the building, but Lou managed to jump off before it hit the wall.


    The building it threw itself into was destroyed and almost crushed the tiger along with it


    Lou elegantlynded on the ground and reloaded her berettas.


    "ROARRRRR!" The tiger shook off the rubble on its body and roared loudly to show its anger.


    "Tsk." Lou did not like this as it would attract a bunch of mutants to their location.


    "KIMMM! Keep the mutants off me while I take on the big guy." Lou screamed out Kim''s name and yelled what she wanted Kim to do.


    The tiger growled at Lou and pounced at her with its ws intending to grab her. Lou got on top of a car and jumped off it to dodge the tiger''s ws. While in the air she shot directly into the face of the mutant hitting one of its eyes. The tiger crushed the car with its paw and because its eye was shot out, the tiger slid across the road towards a building.


    Lou had barely jumped high enough to get on top of the mutant and be able to jump away from it before it crashed into the building behind her.


    The tiger got up from the ground and getting a bit desperate to kill Lou, it dragged its face across the ground with its mouth open.


    Lou fired into its mouth as it approached while running back to avoid the bite. The fire was able to melt its mouth from biting her and she managed to get out of the way.


    ''This is looking good so far.'' Lou wiped the sweat off her forehead and was d that the giant mutant hadn''t been a hassle so far.


    ''I have to say I really have to push myself in dodging these big attacks.'' Lou found herself having to put all her effort in moving when dodging as the range of the attacks is muchrger.


    ''I think I will go for a run.'' Lou wanted to use the building to her advantage and run along the rooftops making it harder for the tiger to approach.


    *BOOM*


    Kim had fired a shot off in the distance seemingly at a horde of mutants that were approaching the area.


    Lou looked in the direction of where Kim''s bulletnded and noticed almost a wave of mutants approaching.


    ''Shit looks like I have to go to the roof anyway.'' Lou did not like the amount that was approaching and would rather be on the roof than deal with the oing horde.


    The tiger shook its head getting rid of the fire in its mouth and Lou noticed a detail about the mutant.


    ''Did it get smaller?'' The tiger that had taken quite a bit of damage seemingly had shrunk in size.


    ''Oh I see it must be because I burnt away its body, so It''s shrinking topensate for the damage.'' She figured that this was the case, but it also meant the tiger would be getting faster.


    ''No time to think I need to get up on the roof.'' Lou turned to an alley and entered it.


    Spotting a metaldder that led to a staircase Lou got to climbing. However the giant tiger chased her, but thanks to it not quite being small enough its head got stuck in between the buildings.


    "Haha!" Lou couldn''t helpughing as the tiger vigorously shook its head trying to squeeze through the gap.


    Lou managed to get up onto the roof and was about to begin running until the tiger managed to jump right in front of her.


    "Oh fuck off, your meant to be stuck." Lou thought she would have had more time to get a head start, but the tiger had already got out of the alley and jumped on the roof.


    The tiger''s eye glowed brightly and was getting more aggravated.


    "Ohe on don''t look at me like that, I was just ying with you, no need to look so angry." Lou smirked and even though the mutant most likely couldn''t understand her, it was still fun to tease the mutant.


    The tiger finally made a move, but this time it was insanely fast and Lou had no time to react.


    The tiger got behind her and as she turned the tiger backhand swiped Louunching her across the roof.


    "GAH!" Lou crashed into an air conditioning unit and coughed up a bunch of blood.


    "Bloody hell, didn''t know it had fucking super speed." Lou pulled herself out of the metal and felt the injury on her shoulder was in pain again.


    Lou checked her body for any scratches or marks that could have infected her but was d to see nothing of the sorts.


    ''Good thing it used the back of its paw instead of scratching me.'' Lou cracked her back and looked back at the tiger that was approaching her again.


    ''Looks like I will have to run and try to use the environment to my advantage.'' Lou couldn''t stand still as it looked like something that the tiger could not constantly use so by moving it would create less of a chance of it using its hyper speed again.


    Turning to run, she fired backwards as well as in the air to signify where she was.


    ''Let''s hope Kim saw that.'' Lou wasn''t sure if Kim was able to see where she was but hoped her makeshift bullet res were enough.


    The tiger dodged Lou''s bullets and began to chase after her, destroying anything that was on the roof.


    Lou looked ahead and was d to see a consistent strip of buildings meaning she had plenty of time to take out the tiger while she ran.


    ''Now let''s see how long this tiger canst.'' Lou nned to whittle down the tiger as she ran until it could barely fight anymore.


    *


    <Kim POV>


    ''Okay Lou looks like she is on the roof, I should try to catch up before I get left behind.'' Kim saw the yellow essence bullets fly into the sky and interpreted it as a signal on where Lou was since Kim lost sight of her.


    ''Good thing we are on the same strip of buildings, because that horde ising in fast.'' Kim looked over the edge of the building and spotted the horde rushing down the street.


    Kim picked up her things and began to run towards where Lou was in hopes that she was okay and wasn''t severely injured.

 Chapter 38: Grand entry

    <h4>Chapter 38: Grand entry</h4>


    Lou had continued to run down the strip of buildings while shooting at the mutant tiger behind her. So far she had been sessful in dodging any attacks the tiger would do by taking cover behind roof entrances and things like AC units.


    The mutant had used its hyper-speed a few times, but Lou was much more prepared for it and was able to avoid itpletely.


    One thing she had also noticed was that explosions were happening in the distance which she knew weren''t Kim''s.


    ''Who the hell would be setting off explosions now?'' Lou thought it was crazy as you would only attract a horde to you or even more mutants.


    ''No matter, if I can get this tiger to be distracted I might be able to finish it off for good.'' Lou considered using some human bait as it would allow for her to aim for the core which she was pretty confident in hitting.


    ''It is still rather big, but the core would have to be right at its chest.'' Lou had shot through most of the tiger''s body, but the part she hit the least was its chest.


    Getting close to a building that was much taller than the rest she needed to find a way to get around it or kill the tiger before then.


    ''I don''t see me being able to kill it and it is going to be able to use its hyper-speed soon.'' Lou did not like the timing so her best option was to find a way to redirect the tiger''s attention or be able to avoid the attack.


    ''There isn''t much on the roof, so this is going to hurt.'' Lou couldn''t see anything she could use to block the tiger''s attack and the wall was getting closer.


    ''I can try to dodge, but without something between me and the tiger, I am going to get hit either way.'' Lou didn''t know if she could take another attack and if she was bitten by the tiger it would be the end of her.


    ''All or nothing.'' Lou decided to push her essence to her limits fueling her berettas with searing hot bullets. The handles became hot, burning her hands in the process.


    Lou''s hand shook from the pain as she tried to keep a tight grip on her berettas. Running onto thest building Lou spun on her feet to face the tiger.


    The tiger stopped running and slowly walked towards her with its mouth oozing with slime.


    "I won''t go down that easily." Lou aimed her berettas and the bandages on her hand had turned ck due to the pistols burning them.


    The tiger was just about to use its hyperspeed, but Lou wanted to make sure she hit it before it approached. Firing a few bullets due to their distance the tiger was unable to dodge them.


    Lou''s bullets burst into mes and a small fire trail was left behind them in the air. Hitting the shoulders of the tiger, the bullets went straight through its body leaving a hole where you can see out the other end. mes quickly erupted around the body as the heat alone was enough to cause fires.


    The tiger quickly shrunk to snuff out any of the mes that were burning its insides. The tiger was now at least 3 metres tall which was a lot smallerpared to when it was 6 to 8 metres.


    The tiger, not having much time as mes were on its back, used its hyperspeed which had extinguished the mes due to moving so fast. Appearing in front of Lou the tiger wanted her to be unable to move so it used both its paws to smash Lou into the wall.


    Lou was pushed back at a great speed alongside the tiger and the wall behind them caved in. Entering a hardware store Lou was able to push away from the tiger andnded in the middle of the store.


    However, Lou almost copsed as the blow from hitting the wall almost knocked her unconscious. Blood flowed from her head, over her face and her hands were almost too damaged to hold her berettas.


    Quickly unloading them and putting in normal fire bullets Lou was able to hold them, but because her hands had turned numb it was awkward to hold.


    The tiger hadnded in front of her ready to attack again until she heard a voicee from behind it.


    "Lou?"


    Lou was shocked for a moment as it sounded exactly like Reia and thought she was hallucinating.


    "Do I hear who I think it is?" Lou had to be sure so she responded to confirm she wasn''t hearing things.


    "Yes! Lou, it''s me Reia."


    "Haha, what a way to bump into each other, now time to take down this big motherfucker." Lou now knowing she found Reia needed to finish this fight as it would be rather embarrassing if she was unable to kill it.


    "Wait! Dodge! There are rebels behind you!" Reia called out to warn Lou as she had identally arrived when Reia was fighting off some rebels.


    Dodging out of the way Lou rolled onto the floor into a wall. Not moving from where she ended up, Lou sat up against it to get a small breather.


    The rain of bullets then hit the tiger who was about to attack Lou again but got interrupted by the rebels.


    The tiger got enraged by the soldiers and shifted its attention to them as they did quite a lot of damage.


    Jumping forward it smashed through the front of the store and the soldiers realised they fucked up, so they began to run away for their lives.


    "Louuuu are you okay!?" Kim appeared from the hole calling out Lou''s name.


    "Reia!" Kim who was looking for Lou was even more shocked to see Reia as it was not something she expected.


    "Have you seen Lou?" Kim jumped down from the hole and hugged Reia.


    "Always Lou in that head of yours, yes she is right over there." Reia pointed to the front of the store where Lou sat up against the wall.


    "Phew, she has been fighting that tiger for almost an hour now and she refuses to let me help." Kim let go of Reia and quickly ran to Lou while exining what was happening.


    "How typical." Akira spoke up, spooking Kim who did not realise he was there.


    "Akira?" Kim quickly turned and saw Akiraying on the floor watching the fight outside.


    "Yes it''s me, long time no see Kim." Akira stayed focused on the tiger that hade barging in and was going to use his corruption if the tiger approached the store.


    "Heh, even in an apocalypse you still can''t be separated from your future husband, Reia~." Lou got up from the ground with the help of Kim.


    "Oh for fuck sake."


    "Tsk, no wonder you weren''t at gate 2, too busy ying." Lou had a smirk as despite the situation they were in she had to take a few jabs at Reia.


    "Go back and fight that tiger, you psycho." Reia''s face was filled with regret and Lou could not help but chuckle a little.


    Akira on the other hand was trying his best to ignore what Lou was saying, but he couldn''t help but blush.


    "Oh, I will, make sure you don''t interrupt me." Lou stretched out her body and prepared herself for another round with the tiger.


    "Wait Lou, but you need to rest." Kim was extremely worried as she had been non-stop fighting with the tiger and her physical state wasn''t the best.


    "I don''t need rest, as long as I have essence I can move, plus I know where the core is so it won''t take me too long." Lou brushed off Kim and went up to the now copsed storefront.


    *sigh* "Don''t die you bitch." Reia was not surprised by Lou and only hoped she woulde out alive.


    "Of course not, who do you think I am." Although Lou was in a rather rough condition she wasn''t going to drag the fight on any longer.


    Hearing them all sign in resignation Lou took that as the signal to go.


    The tiger had rushed into the carpark destroying many of the cars as well as killing the soldiers it was after. The rebels it had killed were now turning into mutants, but as Lou ran up to the tiger she shot them dead before they could even rise.


    "Just you and me."


    Lou jumped on one of the cars and shot a barrage of bullets at the tiger''s head trying to disable its visionpletely. The tiger went to swipe at the car Lou was on, but she jumped off it and used the opening the tiger created for itself to fire more bullets into its body. Landing on the side of the tiger, she slid underneath the tiger, forcing it to shrink in size even more.


    ''I need to finish this, my essence is getting dangerously low.'' Lou was feeling her essence was running dry and would need to kill the tiger now.


    The tiger swung its body around trying to get rid of the mes that were slowly enveloping its body.


    Managing to get rid of the mes on its body it tried dragging its face on the ground to remove the fire from its eyes. However, the damage was already done and the tiger was nowpletely blind.


    The tiger wanted to use its hyper-speed, but since it was unable to see it had made it impossible for it to know where it would end up.


    "Stand still!" The tiger''s size was now only 2 metres tall making it much easier to deal with as it was now a slightly oversized cat.


    Using her feet, she kicked the tiger in the face forcing it to the ground. The tiger swung its arms and legs around, but Lou shot them off, disabling it. It was able to shrink its size even more, but now it was reaching a point where it would be a normal-sized mutant.


    Lou approached the tiger and stomped on its head and fired her heel berettas until its head waspletely gone. Desperately trying to get its limbs back, the tiger got smaller and smaller.


    Lou at this point was bullying the tiger and kicked it across the ground while putting more holes in it purposefully avoiding the core.


    "Now squirm for your life~." Lou was enjoying seeing the desperate attempt of the tiger trying to live and kill Lou.


    Now almost being reduced to the size of arge dog, Lou decided to finally finish the fight.


    "Hope you had fun~." Stomping down onest time Lou crushed the core with her boot and had ended the fight. To her surprise, the core was extremely small, about the size of a tennis ball.


    ''Do they have their own energy reserves?'' Lou thought back to the nest and wondered if that was a ce for the mutants to recharge.


    ''That could exin why my essence reacted to it since these cores might be made out of crystallized essence.'' It was a shot in the dark, but the ice essence panther she fought also supported this theory as the core might be the conduit for it to use essence.


    ''I should head back, if there were rebels here that might mean we are right by their base.'' Lou looked around and noticed the mall.


    ''Yep, that must be it.'' She knew it was the base as she remembered the women from the office building talking about a mall.


    Quickly running back to the hardware store, Kim had instantly run-up to her in a hug.


    "Oh thank hell you are okay!" Kim did trust Lou, but couldn''t help being stressed out by the whole situation especially since Lou was in terrible condition.


    "Haha." *cough, cough* The adrenaline Lou was running on was disappearing and she could not help falling into Kim.


    "Tsk I knew you would be injured." Kim expected this to happen as Lou had been thrown through a wall and was surprised she didn''t break any bones.


    "I''m fine, but I''m definitely going to need toy down." Lou used Kim as support while she walked over to the counter where Reia and Akira were.


    "Please tell me you have a ce where I cany down?" Lou hoped Reia had established a base of some sort.


    "That''s the first thing you have to say?" Reia, still annoyed by herments about Akira, wanted to tease Lou back.


    "Yep now take me there." Lou despite her condition would not let Reia get the advantage over her.


    *Sigh* "Unfortunately we do, so let''s get moving before the rebels get here." Reia wanted to leave as soon as possible before they were killed.


    "Don''t forget the horde." Akira had gotten up from the ground and the sound of the approaching horde was getting louder.


    "We will go up the hole, now let''s get out of here." Reia knew Lou was in no condition to fight so the quicker they left the better and so they began to look for things to build a makeshiftdder to the hole.

 Chapter 39: Teasing hell

    <h4>Chapter 39: Teasing hell</h4>


    Reia and her squad had managed to get away from the rebel base and avoid the oing horde that arrived.


    Akira and Reia had taken the lead, making their way back to the bunker. Walking along the roof that Lou was chased on they continued their way using the military base as a reference point.


    Lou had one of her arms wrapped around Kim using her as support while walking.


    "What about Klein?" Whispering to each other, Akira and Reia were a little bit further ahead of Lou who was too busy being scolded by Kim about her injuries.


    "We just have to wait and see." Reia did not have much hope for her, but seeing as Lou was barely able to fight anymore, they might be able to let Klein go.


    "She might be awake by now, so let''s hope she decided to leave the bunker." Akira expected Klein to leave if she woke, but there was still a chance that her obsession with him might make her stay.


    "That would be the best-case scenario for her, but I still think we should have finished her." Reia wanted to just kill her, but since Akira made a valid point about how useful she could be, it was hard to argue.


    "I know, but again I don''t think we should kill potential allies since it seems like I can keep a literal leash on Klein and we wouldn''t need to worry about her." Akira considered manipting Klein''s feelings to benefit them, but the thought did note with a good feeling.


    "Oi, you love birds, stop whispering to each other!" Lou, who had enough of Kim''s lecturing, yelled out so she could escape it.


    Reia turned her head looking Lou dead in the eyes, wanting nothing more than for her to shut up.


    "I''m not finished." Kim wasn''t done with her lecture and was about to begin talking again.


    "Oh dear I understand, there is no need to keep talking~." Lou used her free hand to grab Kim''s chin and looked her in the eyes. Kim blushed and lowered her head trying to hide her face.


    "Blehhh." Reia pretended to vomit as the disy of affection was something she didn''t miss.


    "Don''t bleh me, I would have shot you already with you and Akira''s lovey-dovey attitude towards each other." Lou smirked as she saw Reia''s face instantly turn red.


    "It''s not like that!" Reia turned her head back and covered her face with her hands.


    Akira had stayed silent, averting his gaze to not draw any attention to himself.


    "See he isn''t even denying it~." Lou did not let Akira go unnoticed as it was clear he was trying to avoid the conversation.


    Akira facepalmed as he couldn''t exactly deny it, so he chose to stay silent. Reia however picked up on this and looked at him.


    "Wait, Akira do you actually?" Reia had convinced herself that it wasn''t the case, but Lou''s teasing had seemingly brought out some information she didn''t think would be true.


    Akira refused to look at Reia and continued to walk without saying a word, but his slight blushing was enough for Reia to jump to a conclusion.


    "No way." Reia felt confused, unsure how to react as the overwhelming amount of emotions she was feeling was foreign to her.


    "Fufu~ I bet those feelings you are feeling right now are love~." Lou did not let up and she knew Reiacked emotional maturity so she wasn''t surprised if Reia was a bit confused.


    Reia was trying to process what she was feeling and Lou''s words had made her question what she was actually feeling.


    ''Is Lou right?'' Reia had stopped walking and squatted down to the floor holding her face.


    "Jeez, can you just stop Lou, this isn''t the time or ce." Akira finally spoke up as they were getting close to the bunker and would need to get down from the buildings.


    "Aw~ why should I? I don''t want your sweet moment to end."


    "We need to get back to the bunker and can''t you tell Reia is struggling here." Akira went to Reia''s side and tapped her shoulder.


    "EEEK!" Reia jumped up identally headbutting Akira in the chin, making him stumble back.


    "Ow!" Reia grabbed the top of her head and squatted back down.


    "HAHAHAHA!" Lou broke out into augh almost falling to the ground.


    "Pfft." Kim had tried to keep herughter in but found it extremely difficult and in the end, startedughing alongside Lou.


    "Shut up both of you!" Akira rubbed his chin, which was in a lot of pain.


    "Reia you okay?" Akira this time made sure he was a safe distance away.


    "Yes." Reia spoke in a quiet voice and the headbutt had seemingly brought her back from her embarrassed state.


    "Oh... I can''t¡­.. *cough, cough*. My ribs hurt damn it." Lou hadughed so hard, that she felt her ribs ache in pain because of the bruises.


    "Tch, let''s get down." Akira wanted to just throw Lou off the building, but despite the constant teasing, he didn''t mind it since she wasn''t entirely wrong.


    Approaching the side of the building, they found an entrance to the inside and walked down the stairs that went to the ground floor.


    Lou was still chuckling to herself with Kim making sure she did not let Lou fall down the stairs while Reia and Akira walked in silence.


    ''I wish Lou would shut up sometimes, but seriously how could she even tell. Here I thought I was doing well at hiding it especially since we started working together with our squads.'' Akira indeed had feelings for Reia ever since the academy, but because of Reia''s family, he had never been able to go a step further.


    ''If it wasn''t for her damn overprotective father and mother I might be able to, but any attempts in approaching her would result in being beaten half to death by her personal guard.'' Akira had an advantage as he hade from a high-standing family as well. This allowed him to be friends with Reia, but he had seen time and time again guys that tried to get close ending up in the hospital the day after.


    ''Well that isn''t a concern so maybe I should be a bit more pushy.'' Akira wanted to go at his own pace and was aware of Reia''s condition of having her emotions cut off so he was rather hesitant in being forward.


    ''This isn''t the right time, we have to survive before anything so unless Reia wants to I should just continue to be a bystander and help out when I can.'' Akira had convinced himself that there was no need to worry about a rtionship and would rather wait for Reia''s emotions to be fully recovered.


    ''Geh there is still Lou who won''t let up the teasing, but I guess I will have to deal with it as ites.'' Knowing that Lou will not let the subject go, hoped that she wouldn''t take it too far.


    ''I might have to talk to Lou, but even that I don''t want to do that.'' Akira felt shivers as admitting it will potentially add more fuel to the fire, but he knew that it was probably a good idea.


    Akira shook his head as he didn''t want to agonise over it any longer. Reia on the other hand had a million thoughts going through her head.


    ''AHHHHHHHHH what do I dooooo.'' Reia, often known for her rather cold and unapproachable side was now reduced to a blushing mess simr to Kim.


    ''I always had a hunch, but Akira always seemed so reserved and now that he doesn''t even deny the fact he has feelings, doesn''t that mean he does.'' Reia was stuck in a dilemma as Akira did not say anything making it hard to determine if he does or not.


    ''Tsk, this damn Lou, I am so d no one else can witness this side of me.'' Reia had always needed to act a certain way, especially in front of her parents and the generals of the military so the image she had built for herself was rather cold.


    ''I need to get a definite answer out of Akira, but how the hell am I going to do that.'' Reia had taken a few nces at Akira while walking down the stairs and every time she did she felt her heart swirl with emotions.


    ''Nope, I can''t do it now.'' Reia had felt a subtle fear almost choking her when she went to speak.


    ''I need to concentrate. Just don''t think about it, I''m sure Akira was just trying to avoid giving into Lou''s teasing but instead backfired.'' Reia tried rationalising her feelings, but nothing was seemingly working.


    ''Damn it!''


    *


    Exiting the building they continued to make their way closer to the bunker. Cutting through a few alleyways Reia had recognised some of the buildings speeding up their pace.


    "So what is exactly this base you have established?" Kim was rather curious as they ended up in some sort of shopping district and was rather curious what sort of ce they got.


    "Oh we managed to find a functioning military bunker and it has enough room for everyone, so we are using that as our base until we find everyone and start expanding to above ground." Reia had a general idea of what she wanted to do and eventually once everyone was found, they would make a base above the bunker.


    Reia had not forgotten about the haven, but at this point, she did not know if it was a good idea to try to survive in the wilderness with little to no way to produce food.


    "I see, so it looks like we are staying in the city." Lou had simr thoughts as it would be better to stay in the city for the time being.


    "I n for us to go to the haven, but it''s a long trip and without knowing what''s going on with the rest of the world we could be walking either to safety or to a ce that is worse off than us." Reia wanted information, but it was impossible to obtain, making it hard tomit to something that may turn out to be their death.


    "We should be quick though to find Aoi or Echo as I can see them being able to make it to the haven." Kim didn''t say Jayde as she doubted Jayde would be able to make it on her own.


    "They are most likely having their own troubles right now so I don''t think we should rush too much." Reia assumed that no one was having an easy time so it was safe to think that they would be stuck in the city for a while.


    "We are here." Akira turned into an alley and approached the bunker entrance. Putting his hand on the scanner the bunker began to open.


    ''Let''s hope Klein isn''t here.'' Akira was a bit worried for her safety, but whatever would happen he would just have to ept.


    "Ooo nice~." Lou was rather impressed as the bunker was in a nice location hidden away from any prying eyes.


    Walking down the stairs to the bunker, Akira had sped up a little bit to see if Klein was still in the bunker, but upon entering saw that she was no longer on the couch.


    ''That''s a plus, but she might be in her room.'' Akira was d they dodged a crisis, but it still had not been fully averted.


    "What a cosy ce you got here, are you and Reia sleeping in the same room?" Lou had reached the bottom of the stairs with Kim still being used as support.


    "No!" Both Reia and Akira yelled at the same time.


    "Haha, I''m only joking, show me to my room." Lou wanted toy down as her legs were extremely sore from walking.


    ''I should probably get them on the other side of the bunker as I don''t want to hear them during the night.'' Reia had heard the many times while in the mansion the yells of Kim and knew that wouldn''t stop despite the situation.


    "This way." Reia decided to go towards where Klein''s room was and Akira panicked for a moment.


    Although there were 2 bedrooms on this end of the bunker, they weren''t exactly the most soundproof.


    Reia opened the door and went into the spare room that was next to Klein''s.


    "Howe not the room next to this one?" Kim was unsure why Reia had given them a middle room and not the end or beginning one.


    "Oh that''s because the other rooms in the hallway are not bedrooms and the only other one is the one next to you, but I rather not hear Lou''s name being screamed out in the middle of the night." Reia hade up with an excuse on the spot which was partly true.


    Kim had blushed as she didn''t realise that she could be heard when they were in their squad''s mansion.


    "Anyway, we will prepare some food, you two can rest."


    "Heh thank you, now can youy me down on the bed Kim?" Lou''s entire body was sore and was craving a ce toy down on. Kim nodded, getting Lou on the bed while Akira and Reia exited the room.


    Akira''s first thoughts were to check Klein''s room and upon opening the door saw that she was nowhere in sight.


    "Phew seems like no one is getting choked to death." taking a sigh of relief Akira looked at Reia who all of a sudden started blushing.


    ''This is going to be hard.''

 Chapter 40: Reia鈥檚 existential crisis

    <h4>Chapter 40: Reia¡¯s existential crisis</h4>


    Akira was at a loss for words as it was clear Reia had not stopped thinking about what Lou said before.


    ''Think of something to say, quick.'' Akira needed to do something to distract Reia as he didn''t want to force her into thinking she has to ept the feelings she is having.


    "Uhhh, so what are we cooking up?" Akira''s voice was a little strained as he wasn''t even sure if it would work, but it had seemingly got Reia to snap out of her thoughts.


    "O-oh yes, food." Reia quickly turned and went into the kitchen to prepare some food for Lou and Kim. Akira followed behind and started opening some of the cabs to see if there were any utensils and tes.


    The kitchen was surprisingly stocked up with everything, there were cups, tes, bowls and even a microwave that was fully functioning. Opening up a bottom cab it turned out to be a fridge filled with water and next to it a freezer that had some meat in it.


    "Looks like we should try going on a shopping trip and try to fill this up as much as we can." Akira knew how important this was as it would allow them to have proper meals and be able to store things properly without the risk of food poisoning.


    Reia who wasn''t paying attention while watching the canned food she was cooking spin in the microwave.


    ''Do I have feelings?'' Reia could not stop hearing Lou''s words echo in her mind and although she hadn''t been bothered by her teasing before, this time it had really struck her.


    ''That feeling when I look at him, is that love like she said?'' More questions ran through her mind until the microwave dinged at her. Pulling out the bowl, she had put another one in and started cooking the next one while she went and delivered the first one.


    Entering Lou''s room, she saw Kim sitting in a chair while Louy down on the bed.


    "Here is some food." Reia passed it to Kim and Lou tried to get up from the bed, but was too sore to lift herself.


    Kim quickly ced the food on the bedside table and helped Lou sit up.


    "Geh I hate how useless I feel." Lou grabbed the food feeling a bit of shame as her current state was a hit to her pride needing so much help to function.


    "Want me to feed you?" Kim pulled out the cute cat eyes as she really wanted to do what other couples did in shows she has seen. Lou''s hand shook for a moment, but looking at Kim she couldn''t say no.


    "F-fine." Lou reluctantly passed the bowl to Kim and she instantly started scooping up some of the food in the bowl.


    "Hehe~" Kim approached with the spoon and Lou closed her eyes while opening her mouth. What she expected to be food was instead a kiss from Kim. Pulling away Kim had a cheeky grin and Lou couldn''t help but smirk.


    "Sneaky little one you are, now give me my food before I start going crazy." Lou was extremely hungry and despite enjoying Kim''s little sneaky kiss, she still was craving food.


    ''I wonder if me and Akira would do something like that?'' Reia who had watched the entire scene would usually be grossed out by it, but instead had caused her mind to wonder.


    ''What the fuck am I thinking.'' Reia broke out into a blush and this did not get unnoticed by Lou.


    "Eh? Still thinking about him? You know I''m teasing you most of the time right and if you do have feelings you should just date him." Lou was not aware of the kind of internal turmoil Reia was going through so she saw the situation as rather ck and white.


    "It''s not that, it''s just I don''t understand." Reia not having anyone else to talk to about this decided she may as welle clean.


    "Hmm well it is true you only became softer recently and even after you recovered you were still rather emotionless unless we went on missions with Akira." Kim recalled when Reia first recovered and how much of a mess she was to feel so many things.


    "Every time it''s Akira that seems to bring these certain emotions, but I don''t know how I should interpret them." Reia had even felt this while at the academy, but what stopped her was the constant watch of her parents when it came to her personal connections with any male.


    "It is a lot simpler than you think, but seeing as you are rather confused, I think it''s best you try to figure this out on your own. We can give advice, but it''s up to you to decide what those feelings mean to you." Lou had gotten rather serious and despite her usual bitchy attitude she genuinely wanted to help Reia.


    "Indeed, I think it''s important youe to your own conclusion and when you''re ready talk about it with Akira. I am sure he is waiting for you since he has been by your side without saying a word for so long." Kim had put in her own opinion and being rather close to Akira herself she knew that he had been holding back for Reia''s sake due to her emotions.


    ''That stubborn guy even after talking about it way back in the academy with me still hasn''t said anything.'' Kim had hung out with Akira on many asions as they enjoyed the same interest causing them to be good friends rather quickly. One day while hanging out he hade clean to her about how he felt about Reia.


    "I-i, thank you." Reia felt a bit more confident in herself, but she still needed a lot of time to think on top of the mess they were in above ground.


    A ding echoed out which meant Kim''s food was ready, but as Reia was about to leave Akira hade into the room with the food.


    "What girl talk is going on here?" Akira spoke with a rather sarcastic tone while he put the bowl of food on the table next to Kim.


    "Pffhaha, you wish to get in on what we talk about? Are you sure you won''t regret it~?" Lou looked at Akira who was now slowly backing away.


    "Yeah, I think I''ll pass." Akira didn''t like the look in her eyes so he quickly escaped the room to go cook for Reia and himself.


    "Fufu~ now is there anything else Reia?" Lou scarring away Akira, she was willing to hear any more of Reia''s concerns.


    "I think that''s all and thank you for your help. Also once you are recovered we will head back out." Reia had calmed down and although they didn''t have a n, they needed to keep exploring the city to look for more members of the squad.


    "Alright, enjoy your dinner date~." Lou and Kim waved to Reia who upon hearing Lou''s words ran out trying to pretend she didn''t hear anything.


    ''Just right as I calmed down.'' Reia shut the door behind her and shook her head vigorously.


    "Still teasing you?" Akira had just exited the kitchen and spotted Reia just exiting Lou''s room.


    "I-I uhhh, y-yeah." Reia wasn''t sure what to say but hoped her response was good enough.


    "I see well, let''s eat and get some sleep." Akira looked at his phone with the time saying 8:26.


    "Y-yep." Reia nodded and followed Akira out to the table which was in themon area.


    Akira quickly went into the kitchen and brought out some food to the table. Sitting down they began to eat with Reia keepingplete silence unsure if she should say anything. Akira would be the first to break the silence between them.


    "So do you have any ns for tomorrow or is it going to be a rather rxed day?"


    "Depending on how Lou is feeling we might just head out and try to stock up as much as we can. If we can fill the fridge and freezer with things, we can enjoy a bit of luxury food while we still can." Thanks to the conversation change Reia was able to speak normally and distract herself.


    "Did we want to bring Kim along or would it be better if she stayed?" Akira thought the bunker to be pretty safe, but seeing as every military member had ess it might not be a good idea.


    "I think we leave her here with Lou, we won''t be too far so if anything happens we should be back pretty quickly." Reia remembered some of the stores they walked past so it would not take them long to return.


    "Sounds like a n." Akira was okay with the idea and with everything sorted they finished eating.


    Cleaning up after themselves they each went to their rooms to rest up for the night ready for tomorrow.


    ***


    <Klein POV>


    "Shit! Lou is there." Klein had kicked a wall putting a hole in it.


    "Good thing I left, otherwise I would have been dead, but seriously out of all the things that could have happened while they were out, LOU had to be found." Kicking the wall again she let out her frustration as now it would be impossible to approach now.


    "Tsk it looked like she was hurt so let''s hope I can catch Akira alone so I can drag him with me." Klein''s only hope was to use thest of the ice essence she had to capture Akira and take him for herself.


    Taking a seat right at a window she got a perfect few of the alleyway where the bunker was waiting patiently for Akira to leave.


    ***


    <Next morning>


    "BITCHES!" Lou hade out of the bedroom walking around as if nothing had ever happened. Kim had followed her out, rubbing her eyes while still half asleep.


    Lou''s shouting had caused Reia and Akira to wake up, with Reiaing out first with a rather annoyed look.


    "Can you not yell?" Reia was enjoying her sleep and not having to wake up so early.


    "How the hell are you even able to walk around?" Akira had poked his head from behind Reia wondering how Lou was able to move around.


    "Because I am just that good, no need to question it." Lou had sat on the couch and leaned back with her hands behind her head.


    However, Kim poked Lou in the arm right where a bruise was.


    "Ow! Kim, don''t blow my facade." Lou had red at Kim as although Lou could move she was still injured from the fight.


    "Sorry, but I am not letting you outside with those injuries."


    "Tsk, I only listen since you are right, I shouldn''t be going out at the moment." Lou under any other circumstances would have gone out, but since the risk was very high in going outside she was willing to wait until she was back to being 100% recovered.


    Reia had face palmed as it was very typical of Lou as it was not the first time she had run back into battle after sustaining a bunch of injuries.


    Kim sat next to Lou while Reia and Akira were about to head to the kitchen for breakfast until Lou suddenly started sniffing the air.


    *sniff* "I smell the scent of a slut." Lou had noticed the smell of someone she knew all too well.


    "Tell me by chance did you let a subus stay in the bunker?" Lou looked at Reia and Akira with a rather serious look.


    *sigh* "Yes, Klein was here." Akira was the one to speak up since he was the one that protected her from being killed and saw no point in hiding it since Lou already knew who it was.


    "Wow, I''m surprised you didn''t kill her Reia, now tell me why didn''t you." Lou red at Reia as Klein was number one on Lou''s list of people to kill.


    "Akira stopped me since she could be useful because of her ability to copy essence." Reia averted her eyes as Lou was right that she would have killed Klein if it wasn''t for Akira.


    "There is a reason why I call her a subus, did you want me to exin it to you Akira?" Lou understood now why Klein wasn''t killed and figured Akira didn''t know how Klein''s essence actually worked. She had also considered yelling at them for letting Klein live, but seeing as Akira was naive to the facts and Reia listened to him, Lou would hope after exining, he won''t make the same mistake.


    "Sure, you know the most about the situation so I wouldn''t mind an exnation." Akira was going to use this as a way to see if he would have any sympathy left for Klein as he still didn''t see her as the devil everyone made her out to be.


    "Alrighte sit down, I will exin it to you."

 Chapter 41: Klein鈥檚 true side

    <h4>Chapter 41: Klein¡¯s true side</h4>


    Akira had taken a seat across from Lou while Reia went ahead to cook for everyone.


    "So tell me, how do you think she copies essence?" Lou wanted to see how much Akira actually knew as it would cut time on exining.


    "I only know through contact she is able to mimic someone''s essence and use it as her own."


    "You are halfway there, so Klein doesn''t copy it; she absorbs it through her essence. What the issue is, is how she went about doing it which is why I want to kill her." Lou tightened her fists, but because her arms were still in pain she quickly stopped.


    "No, don''t tell me." Akira had already guessed what Klein had done as the name subus alone was a dead giveaway.


    "Yep, she tried with Kim when I wasn''t around as she wanted Kim''s essence, but that isn''t all." Lou''s golden eyes shone with a bit of fire as the mere thought of the situation infuriated her. Kim had also snuggled closer to Lou as it was a day she would rather forget, but was unable to.


    "There were many cases of males being drained on the battlefield and basically being killed because all their essence was taken away from them." Essence was a core energy for people to live and even if you didn''t use it, you still had some, so if it waspletely gone your body would begin to malfunction.


    "Now of course when we run out of essence we truly don''t and our bodies stop us from using it all, but Klein is able to draw out the essence that keeps us alive. So by the literal sense of the word, she is a subus and there is a reason why her squad always has new members." Lou''s blood boiled as Kim was close to falling prey to Klein. Although she wouldn''t have been killed if Lou hadn''te back, Kim would have been traumatised for the rest of her life.


    Akira looked at the ground in silence digesting the information and with now getting the full picture it was clear what Klein''s intentions were.


    "So basically you think of her obsession as something to do with my essence and she would want to keep me around just for her needs." Akira knew there was something with his essence that intrigued Klein so much but never knew why.


    "Indeed your essence is a unique case, but there is still something about Klein which I doubt you have seen." Lou, who had witnessed the other side of Klein first-hand had figured out what it was through her own investigating.


    "You may think she is human, but in reality, she is some variant of a vampire and to be more specific it''s like she has split personalities." Having witnessed this when she saw Klein attacking Kim back in the academy, Lou had wanted to figure out what kind of beast she was.


    "Wait, I saw this when I bumped into her one day and she seemingly became a different person until I used my essence on her." Akira recalled the day when Klein was frantically running but suddenly turned into a beast. At the time he assumed Klein was some sort of special race, but due to his parents saying to stay clear he brushed it off.


    "Hmm, so you saw it. Although I call it a vampire I don''t know the true name of it, but Klein seems to switch between the two when her desires re-up." Lou assumed that instead of blood it was essence so she branded Klein as a pseudo vampire.


    "Then so by giving her my essence it calmed her down?" Akira assumed that because he fed the beast it returned Klein back to normal.


    "That might be the case, but usually when she transforms she needs a lot of essence so maybe the reason why she is so adamant about being with you is that it calms her urges the best." Lou had no idea how it fully worked, only knowing that until it had taken some essence Klein would stay in that form.


    "Tch to think I would just be used as some sort of soothing toy." Akira had felt quite disgusted and now understood why Lou and Reia have such animosity toward her.


    "d to see you joined the anti-Klein club, but if you see her again do us all a favour and kill or even better, bring her to me~." Lou shivered at the thought of being able to finally kill Klein.


    "I will see if I can bring her to you, plus she seems to listen to me so I can probably trick her." Akira did not like the thought of potentially using his body to trick Klein, but if it was for getting a satisfying kill then he would do it.


    "I know what you''re thinking and no you won''t." Reia hade out with a few tes filled with eggs and bacon, a rather typical breakfast.


    "Ooo getting jealous are we?" Lou chuckled at Reia''s reaction as now it was bing clear to her how she felt but was just too afraid to admit it.


    Reia red at Lou without saying anything and proceeded to sit down to eat her breakfast.


    "Sheesh, the room feels so cold now. Anyway, seeing as she ran away if she decides to stick around she knows what will happen if I bump into her." Lou picked up her portion of breakfast.


    "You''re right, well thanks for telling me and sorry Kim, it looks like it brought up some memories." Akira saw Kim tremble a little and couldn''t help feeling bad for bringing it up.


    "It''s okay, Lou saved me so there isn''t anything to worry about." Despite it being a terrible situation it was also the moment Kim would devote herself even more to Lou as it showed the lengths she would go for her.


    "I''d search every part of the world for you, but before I make this too cheesy we should eat before Reia''s re shoots icicles." Lou could feel Reia''s gaze and couldn''t help but chuckle as she was sure Reia would be doing the same thing soon.


    "Moving on, what''s the n for today." Lou wasn''t keen on standing still and even if she can''t go out she would like to still do something.


    "Me and Reia will be heading out to stock the fridge and freezer with as much food as we can."


    "Oh I see, a good idea seeing as a lot of things wouldn''t have gone off yet so I guess dying the problem of food forter will be good." Kim knew sooner orter that food would get scarce so if they had some way to store food it would give them more time to hopefully start cultivating some food.


    "Hopefully it canst us for a while, so we will try to somewhat ration it and make sure we don''t overeat." Although everyone was used to having food rationed, they still needed to eat proper meals and Reia didn''t want to take away having a nice mealpletely.


    "If we can get more freezers into the bunker and a guy named Echo we might be able to modify this bunker." Lou didn''t want to give up her meat so if they managed to store more, then at least they could have a sizable stock.


    "I have no idea when we will find Echo and if anything it could take months so don''t get your hopes up." There was no real estimation and Reia did not want anyone having false hope.


    "Some of the butcher ces should have preserved meat, but we would need to be quick to get there and that''s if they are not already raided." Akira thought how ces still had some power so if they found a ce with arge freezer then they could find themselves a nice stockpile of frozen goods.


    "Yes! Then you should hit up some restaurants then." Kim''s eyes shone with excitement as it seemed like the n wasing together.


    "Alright looks like we have a few spots to check, we should get going soon then as we never know when someone else coulde by and snatch it." Reia was finished with her food and wanting to get out as soon as they could, she took everyone''s finished tes.


    "You two will stay here, we won''t be out for long so don''t go having any sessions." Reia looked at Lou who had a smirk.


    "It''s a shame I''m too hurt to do so, but I think you forget that I would do it anyway even if you were here." Lou wrapped her hand around Kim''s waist and pulled her in closer.


    *Sigh* "Why do I bother?" Reia walked off with the dishes and Akira got up shaking his head.


    "Fufu~ I can''t wait to hear you shouting for peace and quiet."


    "Oh shut up." Reia was not looking forward to it and hoped that she would not be able to hear anything from her room.


    "Mmm music to my ears~."


    *


    Reia and Akira had gotten their gear and emptied their bags so they could carry more. Now standing by the entrance they were just about to leave before Lou called out.


    "Don''t forget the wine~."


    "Get it yourself!" Although Reia wouldn''t mind some herself, it was not a priority.


    "Tsk." Lou turned her head and went back to patting Kim who had taken refuge on herp.


    "Ready?" Akira put his hand on the scanner opening up the bunker.


    "Hopefully." Reia after a good night''s sleep was able to reign back her emotions and act normal again around Akira. However, she still felt a swirl of emotions and her heart rate increased when she looked at Akira.


    ''At least I don''t look like a mess.'' Reia took a deep breath and tried to focus on the mission they set themselves out to do.


    Walking out of the bunker, the street they were on waspletely silent. There was still the asional distant scream as well as gunshots but nothing close that would concern them.


    Making sure the bunker closed behind them Reia and Akira were now ready to get going.


    "We should get the cold stuffst and if need be, drop some food off here and go back out if we don''t think it is enough." Akira considered making multiple trips as their bags were not the biggest and realistic they had the whole day to do it.


    "We will have to see along the way, but if need be we can stay out longer." Reia preferred not to be out for too long as she did not want to draw attention and have their location discovered.


    "Alright let''s get going then." Fueling his rifle with essence they began to walk out of the alley making sure to be as quiet as possible.


    ***


    <Klein POV>


    ''YES! They are leaving and Lou isn''t there.'' Klein was ecstatic as she didn''t need to wait long for Akira toe out.


    ''Now I could enter the bunker, but I''m sure Lou would be able to tell it''s me before I even walk down the stairs.'' Klein considered trying to kill Lou herself, but even if she was injured, Lou would still put up a fight.


    ''Yeah, let''s not bother, if Reia and Akira could separate then that would be perfect.'' Klein had started packing some things and went to get on the roof of the building so she could tail them.


    Now having the opportunity presented to her she wasn''t going to let it down and she had to do it perfectly since she only has one shot at this.


    ''I lose thisst bit of essence, I lose him.''

 Chapter 42: Catching a fox

    <h4>Chapter 42: Catching a fox</h4>


    <Lou POV>


    "Do you think they are far enough away?" Lou had been at the entrance to the bunker waiting for Reia and Akira to be far enough away.


    "You shouldn''t be going out anyway, but if you really want to then I won''t stop you and it''s not like I can in the first ce." Kim was peeking over the couch with her ears twitching, looking at Lou who was hardly able to contain herself. Even with her ratherid-back attitude while they were still in the bunker Lou was on the verge of snapping.


    "Alright fine I am going now before I destroy this ce." Lou had barely controlled herself while telling the story and the only thing that stopped her was Kim snuggling up to her and the fact the bunker was their base.


    *Sigh* "Make sure to be aware of your surroundings." Kim''s ears dropped down as she preferred if Lou didn''t leave at all, but Lou couldn''t be stopped at this point.


    Exiting the bunker Lou had rushed out to the street looking for something to destroy nearby. Walking down the street Lou had picked up a thin metal bar that hade from a copsed building.


    ''I swear if I see that bitch or even catch her scent again, I won''t stop hunting her until she is dead under my boot.'' Walking up to a clothes shop that had a ss front, Lou had swung the metal bar into shattering it. Not stopping there she proceeded to smash every window and car she bumped into causing a bunch of noise.


    Using her fists to punch some widows Lou had caused more cuts on her hands and arms, but this did not matter to her. Smashing anything and everything Lou had caused havoc in some stores, destroying anything she could.


    This, of course, attracted some mutants to her location and while she was destroying something in a general appliances store they hade inside wanting to kill Lou.


    "Now is not the time, so you can FUCK OFF!" Lou, seeing the mutants ran up to them and using the metal bar, stabbed it right into the mouth of the mutant deer piercing its core. The human mutant that apanied it went to grab Lou so it could bite her but was instead met with a kick being pushed into the wall.


    Lou pulled out the metal bar from the deer and ran up to the human mutant while it was stunned by her kick. Going right through the chest of the mutant, Lou had sessfully killed it with no issues.


    Leaving the metal bar in the mutant that had also pierced the wall behind it Lou stood back and took a deep breath.


    "Fuck that felt good." Flicking her silver hair Lou had calmed herself down and was ready to head back to the bunker.


    "Why the fuck did I punch the ss, that bloody hurt." Coming back to her senses Lou had felt the pain she had caused herself.


    ''Oh well, I''m still waiting for my shoulder to heal, a few cuts won''t matter.'' Lou had to wait for the small hole caused by the ice panther to heal before she was back to being 100% so a few small cuts would not hinder her recovery.


    Lou walked back to the bunker feeling refreshed and a little sore after swinging around a weapon.


    ***


    <Akira POV>


    Reia and Akira were exploring the streets going into varying stores and grabbing food that wouldn''t expire quickly. They had also taken note of any ces that had working freezers and refrigerators as they could potentially be taken back for themselves.


    Finding a few stores lined up next to each other, they decided to split up to be more efficient. However, they had encountered a few mutants, but were easily dealt with and did not pose a threat.


    Akira had found himself in a restaurant across the street from Reia checking out if the walk-in freezer had any food in it.


    Going to the back of the kitchen, Akira approached where they stored food and to his surprise, it looked untouched and working.


    ''Seems like the area we are in isn''t a hotspot so most things are working.'' He had noticed that certain dead spots acted like hot spots for mutants. By using their phones they were also able to tell if there was any interference in the area suggesting if things worked or not.


    ''Assuming that most of the poption is mutants now and what is left are the few citizens and special groups like the rebels, then stores should be fairly unraided.'' Akira''s concern was running out of supplies, but seeing as the millions of people that would have died in thest few days then most stores should be stocked still.


    ''I can''t forget the few powerful families that are associated with the military that will likely try to take in as many people and then try to rise to power once this mutant thing is resolved.'' Akira thought of Reia and his families who were of their own affiliation but coborated with the military. There were also separate branches of families that did not work with the military and acted as their own unit.


    ''This isn''t the time to be thinking about the politics of the city. Let''s just hope we don''t run into any of the leaders.'' Akira had been staring at the freezer lost in thought thinking about future risks that they may face.


    Opening up the freezer he felt a gush of cold air st him and was greeted with a bunch of meat.


    "Nice." Akira now had a location that they would need to quicklye back to as there was a lot of varying meat that wouldst them a while. Closing it back up Akira went to leave the store until the sound of some kitchenware crashed onto the floor.


    "Hmm?" His first thoughts were a mutant, but if that was the case it would have been a lot louder and wouldn''t have been just the one sound. He did consider a variant, but he was more leaning towards a person.


    "Who goes there? If you reveal yourself I will let you go. Just want to know if it''s a person or not." Akira wasn''t going to be cruel especially if it was someone who is barely surviving.


    After being met with silence, he aimed his rifle and slowly walked around the table to see who was behind it.


    Quickly going around the corner of the table, Klein had been on the other side and jumped at him. Hesitating to shoot for a moment it had cost him as Klein pushed him up against the wall.


    ''Shit I should have just shot.'' Akira had little to no sympathy left for Klein, but something had caused him to not shoot right away upon seeing her.


    "Ha got you." Klein held her gun to Akira''s head while she used her other hand to pin him to the wall.


    "You won''t hurt me." Akira red at Klein knowing full well she wouldn''t dare shoot. Attempting to push back and overpower her, Klein had hit Akira in the head with her gun trying to knock him out.


    Unsessful in knocking him out, she tried hitting again, but Akira was able to grab her gun and throw it away. Kneeing Klein in the stomach she fell to the ground and Akira picked up his rifle that was on the ground.


    "You damn bitch, what made you think you could do anything." Blood came from Akira''s head and over his face. pushing his gun up against her head, he was tempted to fire, but considered dragging her back for Lou to deal with her.


    "Heh, don''t think you''re safe." Klein had started to use thest bit of ice and grabbed onto Akira''s ankles. However, Klein found it took a lot more essence to create the ice, but she still tried to make it as strong as she could.


    Akira felt a searing pain in his ankles causing his muscles to lock up and let go of his rifle again. Ice started to cover his legs, trapping him in ce.


    Klein though was not left untouched as using the essence through her hands, caused damage making them frozen. Getting up from the ground Klein kicked away his gun and warmed up her hands with a nearby stove so she could move them.


    "Don''t think you will get away with this." Akira was taking a few deep breaths to recover from the ice burns.


    "Doesn''t matter, as long as you belong to me nothing will matter." Klein was close to being able to move her hands again as the ice that covered her hand was melting.


    "REIAAAA!" Screaming out her name Klein freaked out and quickly turned to Akira. However, when she turned a sword was pointed at her face.


    "How stupid can you be." Akira was rather dumbfounded by Klein''s stupidity as although he couldn''t move he still had his voice and swords. Klein started to sweat a bit as it was most likely Reia was about to arrive and Akira still had weapons on him.


    ''Damn it I was too tunnel-visioned on trapping him.'' Klein was too infatuated and not wanting to fully disable him had blinded her from the consequences.


    "I guess instead of actually learning how to disarm someone you were too busy in the bedroom." Akira wasn''t too surprised by Klein''sck of military procedure as she was most likely too busy feeding her urges.


    Klein gritted her teeth as she could tell Lou must have told Akira about what she had done to people.


    "You only know half the story, that wasn''t me that did it, it was the other me that I have been suppressing for years." Klein did not have much time and so she decided to try to exin her situation.


    "Oh so the essence vampire where you literally drain people of their life, yeah I''m not buying it." Akira wasn''t interested as no matter what the case was she still killed innocent people.


    "I-i." Klein was at a loss for words as she didn''t expect Akira to know.


    "Akira!" Reia had run into the restaurant calling out his name.


    "Right over here in the kitchen, we have a little subus here." Akira looked Klein dead in the eyes telling her to not move.


    Fear had taken over Klein and spotting what looked like an exit tried to run to it. Akira though did not allow this to happen and infusing his sword with lighting threw it at Klein stabbing her in the leg. Paralysing her, Klein fell to the floor unable to move and Reia entered the kitchen.


    "Where is she?" Reia''s face looked furious upon hearing what Akira said and wanted to hunt her down. Smashing the ice that was at his feet with his second sword he released himself.


    "Calm down, we will bring her back to Lou so both of you can have your fair share of fun." Akira walked over to where Klein was face-first on the floor.


    Reia followed Akira and seeing Klein on the floor was close to just shooting her.


    "Now that we have this poor excuse of a military soldier that could hardly disarm someone I say we head back with our find." Akira pulled out the sword from her leg and Klein groaned in pain.


    Reia, wanting to make sure she was awake, grabbed her by the hair and looked at her in the eyes.


    "I hope you are ready for what''s toe." Reia didn''t care if Klein was hurt or ufortable and seeing her face in pain was quite a satisfying sight to Reia. Klein in an act of defiance spat in Reia''s face, but all that got her was getting her head smashed into the ground.


    "Fucking bitch." Breaking Klein''s nose, Reia stood up leaving her on the floor.


    "She doesn''t have any more copied essence left?" Reia was wondering if she still had any ice left as it was thest one she absorbed.


    "I think she used thest of it on me. She probably didn''t realise how little she had left as ice is a very costly essence to form ice strong enough to restrain someone." Akira was d that Klein didn''t have more, otherwise, he could have beenpletely trapped in ice, but her naivety had saved him.


    "Good, now let''s take her back." Reia grabbed Klein''s hair again and started to drag her across the ground.


    "I''m sure Lou will be happy to finish off what was started." Akira looked at Klein disgusted and although she seemed to try to change, her tendencies still existed.


    ''Such a shame that she was hardly able to put up a fight against me.'' Akira knew he had the advantage and her downside was being too obsessed over him, making it something he could exploit.


    "No Idea why she would think I would just walk hand in hand with her." Akira still bugged by the fact that Klein seemingly convinced herself that he would just oblige ande along peacefully.


    "B-because I thought you were special." Klein had spoken up and it was clear in her voice she had started crying.


    "Shut up, if you didn''t treat people like an energy pack then maybe you wouldn''t be in this position." Reia didn''t want to hear Klein talk so she tugged on her hair to get her to be quiet.


    "You can only me yourself and don''t think this world is aligned by fate. Because nothing will go your way if you pray to the stars." Akira picked up his rifle and Klein''s gun while exining to her why the dumb beliefs she had will note true.


    Klein gritted her teeth as everything had fallen apart and when she thought she could get Akira, it had only blown up in her face.


    Leaving the restaurant, they had cut their trip off early as they had more urgent matters to deal with.

 Chapter 43: Payment and truth

    <h4>Chapter 43: Payment and truth</h4>


    Dragging her body down the street they had reached the alleyway back to the bunker and Akira went to grab Lou.


    Reia threw Klein out in the middle of the alley watching over her to make sure she didn''t run away.


    "Why?" Reia wanted to know why she was so infatuated with Akira.


    "You wouldn''t understand." Kleinid on the floor not moving as she saw the end of her life approaching.


    "I don''t care, tell me." Not caring for how crazy it may be, all she wanted to know was what drove her to do such things.


    "Heh, well as you know since I absorb essence one day I got a taste of Akira an-" Before Klein could finish Reia had kicked Klein as her thoughts instantly went to her subus methods.


    *cough* *cough* "Not like that you dumb vixen, he had used his essence to restrain me when I attacked him and ever since then the other me has wanted nothing more than to have more." Klein was up against the wall from Reia''s kick and felt one of her ribs crack.


    "Still doesn''t exin why YOU went for him." Reia understood why this beast side of her would want Akira again due to his unique type of essence, but it still didn''t answer why Klein was so obsessed.


    "Because he was the first person to ever be able to suppress my urges without having to trade my body and take all of someone''s essence." Klein teared up a bit as although she did those terrible things, she felt like she had no choice.


    "This still doesn''t excuse what you did and let alone you still have to absorb it to copy it." Reia felt the smallest shred of sympathy as it seemed as if it was her only way of not going crazy, but she felt like there were much better ways to go about it.


    "When I start, I can''t stop. No matter what I do, once I get a taste, it is over for whoever I was with." Klein clenched her fists as there were many times she had tried stopping but in the end, she finished them off as it was addicting.


    "Tch, so you really deserve no sympathy." Reia felt disgusted in herself as it seemed Klein was a subus to the core.


    "I LOVED HIM! You can''tprehend the pain and anguish I went through, without being by his side and having him suppress this side, I can''t live without HIM!" Klein had seemingly snapped which proved she had been living in her own fantasy the entire time.


    "You think you love him, let alone even have a chance. you can''t even treat him like a person, you see him as some sort of drug to suppress your addiction, how can you even call that love!" Reia was getting aggravated and was close to killing her.


    "Ha¡­ Haha¡­ Hahaha, you will see, only time will tell and you will see how my love prevails." Klein had a crazed look in her eyes and had turned into some sort of beast-like look.


    "What makes you think that after your death you will still be able to be by his side. Love to break it to you, but there is no afterlife." Reia was already getting sick of Klein and wanted her gone already.


    "There are more of me and they know about Akira, so just be aware it isn''t the end and they wille looking for him." Klein smiled as although she was most likely going to die, her family, which shared the same traits, knew of Klein''s discovery about Akira''s essence. They had not approached at the time as Klein had taken im of him, but her death meant that Akira was free to be taken by any of the other family members.


    "Tell me more." Reia was intrigued as it seemed like this wouldn''t be the end of these essence-sucking beasts. It also involved Akira meaning they will have to deal with more powerful versions of Klein which was not a good thought seeing that they can use other people''s essence.


    "Ha, of course, they are one of the top families in the city, so be careful when you roam the streets you may bump into them hehe~." Klein seemed to be spiralling even further as she began tough at anything.


    "WHERE IS THIS BITCH!" Lou hade out of the bunker upon hearing the news and seeing her in the flesh had set her off even more. Kim hade out and was hiding behind Akira, peaking around his arm. Although she wanted revenge for what happened to her, she was still afraid of Klein and did not want to approach her.


    Reia had stood back as she had gotten most of the information she wanted from Klein.


    ''In the end, she was just crazy, no wonder she was stuck in her own delusions and thought Akira wouldn''t fight back.'' Reia being exined what happened on the way back couldn''t believe her stupidity, but seeing how delusional she was it made sense why her approach was so dumb.


    Going back to Akira''s side, Reia wanted to participate in whatever Lou was going to do, but she was satisfied with what she had already done and didn''t want to get in the way of Lou.


    "You okay?" Akira saw Reia''s frustrated and annoyed face knowing whatever they talked about was not good.


    "There is a lot to talk about, but let''s wait until Lou is finished." nning to fill everyone in, she wanted to enjoy the show that was going to happen in front of them. Also without realising it Reia had leaned her head on Akira''s shoulder lost in thought.


    "Heh." Kim who was still hiding behind Akira saw this and couldn''t help but chuckle at the scene. Akira sighed as he didn''t know what to do other than stand there and wait.


    *


    [Warning: Very violent/gory so proceed with caution]


    Lou had walked up to Klein who was on the floor and picked her up by the cor.


    "Look at what we have here~." Lou''s eyes were glowing brightly and the golden under hair had a slight fire effect.


    "Hey there sweetie~, let me have a taste of your fire." Klein was mentally unstable and seeing her death so near was willing to say or do anything to piss Lou off.


    Without saying a word Lou covered her hand in fire and punched Klein in the face while letting go to make her fall to the floor.


    "Argh!" Klein groaned in pain and while she was on the floor Lou stomped onto her ribs.


    "Dare to even say my name and you will pay the price." Lou red at Klein who was squirming in pain as Lou pushed harder on her ribs.


    "Ha... Haha¡­ sure thing ice princess." Klein saying all the right words to piss off Lou, she had only made the situation worse.


    This time covering her feet in fire without caring for the consequences started to repeatedly stomp into her ribs and stomach.


    Burning her clothes and skin Klein began to scream in pain. Lou then started driving her heel into Klein''s chest. Tears were falling from Klein''s face as she tried to withstand the pain, but found herself losing consciousness.


    "Oh no don''t go passing out now, you need to feel everything~" Lou took her foot off Klein and picked her up once again, this time Lou had a knife to facilitate her fire. Coating it ayer of fire, Lou brought the de close to Klein''s face, skimming it.


    "I would love to drink your tears of agony, but I don''t want to drink something that had been used like an old rag." Lou used the knife to dry up all the tears and her eyes forcing them to shut.


    "No screams? Let me fix that." cing the de on Klein''s cheek she began to burn her face.


    "AHHHHH!"


    "Keep your head still bitch." Grabbing Klein by the neck, Lou would tighten her grip every time Klein moved.


    Having finished marking her face with severe burns, Lou pushed her back down to the ground having hery on her stomach.


    "Look at this beautiful canvas." Lou ran the de down Klein''s clothes exposing her back. Lou had also cut Klein''s hair removing almost all of its length. Sitting on top of Klein, Lou had begun to cut things into her back with the fire still on the de. Klein tried to move but would be met with a punch on the kidney or her head getting smashed into the ground.


    "Oi, Reia stop hugging your boyfriend and hold down this subus." Lou was sick of getting interrupted so she called for some extra hands.


    Reia quickly backed away from Akira as she realised she was leaning on him and was nowpletely red.


    ''Sorry." Reia apologised and quickly ran over to Lou to help


    "Huh? Reia is his girlfriend." Klein hearing this couldn''t believe it and her mind was further descending into insanity.


    "Oho, they are all over each other, I even heard themst night. Now just imagine the noises I heard. "Oh Reia, you''re so hot." It was unbelievably noisy." Although Lou waspletely lying she knew how much Akira meant to Klein, knowing it would break her.


    Klein bit her lip causing it to bleed and started to scream as the thoughts invaded her mind.


    "ARGHHHHHH!"


    "HAHAHAHAHA! YES! Scream for me." Lou Loved the reaction and wanted more so she continued to cut long streaks along her back creating permanent marks.


    Reia shook her head and blushed even more and wanted to smack Lou, but knew it was intentional so she yed along.


    "Hold her arms so they are not iling about." Lou ordered Reia on what to do, letting Lou have free range to do whatever she wanted.


    "YOU DAMN VIXEN SLUT¡­.. YOU DARE TOU-." Klein had lost it and was now screaming for her life trying to hurl any insults, but before she could finish, Reia shoved her face into the ground.


    "He belongs to me, so shut up you worthless piece of human existence." Reia, still red in the face, held the cold look and all Klein could do was re out the corner of her eye at Reia.


    "Good one~." Lou was just about done with her back and was going to move on to something else. Stabbing into a non-lethal part of the back, Klein''s body was starting to spasm from pain since she could no longer move due to being restrained.


    "You can move now, Reia." Lou was now done with burning the entirety of Klein''s back and was ready to move on.


    Reia got up and stepped back to give Lou space.


    Getting up from the ground while pulling Klein by the hair, forcing her to stand up. Her face waspletely exhausted and covered in blood, which Lou considered a piece of art.


    "Now let''s finish that fight we had all these years ago." Lou let go of Klein who could barely stand and put away the knife. Readying herself for a fist fight, Klein had no choice, but to fight back.


    "You damn¡­ She-wolf." Klein was swaying, almost losing bnce from the constant wave of pain she was feeling.


    Lou''s hair got an almost fiery look, her tail and ears were tipped with mes showcasing her excitement and rage.


    "Here Ie~!" Lou opened up with a fire punch to the stomach making Klein fall on her back and scream in pain. All the cuts and burns Lou gave were not only done for fun but to cause even more pain as shended on the ground.


    Getting on top of her instantly Lou started to furiously punch Klein in the face and chest crushing every bone she could.


    "This. Is. For. Kim. And. All. The. People. You. Have. FUCKED WITH!" Saying a word after each punch, Klein was on the verge of death as she felt her entire body burn with pain and start to lose control over her body.


    Her eyes were blurry and all she could see was Lou''s smile and fiery eyes staring at her, while she was continuously beaten. Fire was slowly engulfing her body and Klein was getting numb to the feeling of pain despite burning alive. Lou seeing Klein was about to die decided to finish her off for good.


    Raising both hands together Lou smashed down onest time onto Klein''s skull dealing the final blow and killing Klein.


    Feeling a weight lift off her chest Lou felt invigorated as she looked at the bloody burning mess she had made.


    "Finally, she''s dead." Lou took a few deep breaths as she sat on Klein''s dead body and blood, basking in the satisfaction of ridding someone she hated to her core.

 Chapter 44: Plans to poke the nest

    <h4>Chapter 44: ns to poke the nest</h4>


    Kim saw the final blow and felt the bit of trauma she had vanished, giving her the courage toe out of hiding. Akira and Reia both let out a sigh of relief as it was one less current problem.


    Kim walked to Lou''s side looking at the corpse of Klein. Getting up from Klein''s body Lou pulled out her beretta and faced Kim.


    "Let''s get rid of her together." Needing to burn the body, Lou offered for them to both fire the beretta together. Kim nodded her head and so they moved further back while holding the pistol together with both fingers on the trigger.


    "Ready?"


    "Mhm."


    Aiming the beretta at Klein''s body, they fired together setting it aze. Kim had started to cry and instantly grabbed onto Lou finally feeling free of the trauma she had received. Holstering her beretta Lou embraced Kim while patting her head, letting her cry it out.


    "Damn never knew they could be so sweet." Akira''s image of Lou was rather skewed, thinking she was some sort of beast that is incapable of being romantic, but that seemed to be the opposite.


    "Aha well Kim is her weakness, but also her strength so be careful how you poke the beast." Reia, being friends with Lou for years, knew a lot of sides of her, even some she wished she never found out.


    "I''m just d we are on her side." Akira watching what Lou did to Klein, sent shivers making him slightly terrified of her.


    However, while they were hugging, Lou had copsed as she had not recovered at all and it took almost all her energy to finish Klein.


    "Damn it." Kim knew exactly why Lou had suddenly passed out and would have stopped her froming out if it wasn''t for Klein being at their front door. Reia and Akira ran over and got Lou off Kim as she was mentally exhausted and was unable to move Lou on her own.


    "Let''s head back inside, once Lou wakes up we will have a meeting of what we have discovered so far." Reia taking charge helped Akira carry Lou back inside.


    Letting the body burn outside, they locked themselves into the bunker, giving themselves some time to think.


    ***


    Lou had not woken up for a few hours and so Akira and Reia spent that time continuing their supply gathering mission. Now knowing where some locations were, they had made rather quick trips back and forth with their bags as well as some loose bags they found in the stores.


    They had fully stocked the pantry as well as the fridge and freezer with varying products which allowed them to have proper meals.


    Kim was in her room with Lou on the bed still passed out from exhaustion waiting for her to wake up.


    ***


    A few days had passed and Lou had finally opened her eyes after being in a sma. Although she was asleep they were able to still give her soft foods as expiration dates on a lot of foods were yet to pass.


    Lou raised from the bed rubbing her eyes, still feeling extremely sleepy.


    "I don''t think I have ever slept that well in my life." letting out a yawn while she stretched herself out, she had finally awoken from her sma.


    "Lou!" Kim, who was sitting next to Lou, jumped at her to hug her.


    "Jeez, no need to be so excited I was only sleeping." Lou waspletely unaware and thought it had only been at least a day.


    "It''s almost been 4 days." Kim pouted while holding Lou tighter as she had been rather stressed out throughout thest couple of days.


    "O-oh, I see." Lou was a bit shocked to hear how long she was out and was a little mad at herself.


    ''Tsk, why was I sleeping when I could''ve been out killing mutants or rebels.''


    Reia hearing Kim''s shout had walked into the room to check what was going on and saw Lou awake.


    "Oh good you are awake, hurry and get out of bed, we have a lot of things to discuss." Reia, knowing Lou would want to get right into action quickly told her their next steps, which got Lou out of bed.


    "Come on Kim, we can hug moreter if you''re that upset." Kim had not let go of Lou and refused to budge.


    "Hmph."


    *Sigh*


    Giving up, Lou had picked Kim up from the ground, putting her over Lou''s shoulder and began to walk out of the room.


    "Wha- this isn''t fair, AHH!" Kim was not prepared to be lifted, let alone over Lou''s shoulder and could not help but feel incredibly unsafe.


    "Quiet you." Lou smacked Kim''s ass to get her to stop moving and yelling.


    "AHH~!" Kim had let out a moan, but she had instantly shut her mouth as she didn''t want Reia or Akira to hear.


    Going out to themon room Akira and Reia were sitting at the table with some food out, waiting for them toe out.


    Akira had turned his head to avoid looking up Kim''s skirt since Reia red at him once she realised the position Kim was in. Lou put Kim down, who waspletely red in the face and quickly sat down while looking at the table to avoid their gazes. Lou pulled out the chair while grabbing her food and put her feet up on the table as she sat down.


    "Now, what is it that you wanted to discuss?" Lou was rather keen as she was full of energy and was ready to go. Although her wounds were not fully healed, they equated to just small scratches and were in the final stages of healing.


    "I guess I will start." Reia stopped ring at Akira and began to exin what she heard from Klein.


    *


    "So, one of the top families is actually a big family of essence-sucking subuses?" Lou was already smiling as it seemed like she would be able to hunt down Klein''s entire bloodline.


    "It seems so and they are after Akira as it seems like his essence can suppress what we call their vampire form." Reia was unsure what to call it but said vampire as judging from the physical description after transforming it resembled a vampire more than a beautiful subus.


    "Well make sure you''re tied to his hip Reia." Lou did not want the responsibility of protecting anyone other than Kim so she instantly assigned that to her.


    "I wasn''t going to ask you anyway." Reia shook her head as she knew it was Lou trying to open up an opportunity to tease her.


    "What should we do then?" Kim had calmed down and was no longer a blushing mess¡­ for now.


    "Not much other than just be careful if you meet anyone else with bright vibrant hair." Akira assumed that they all had simr hair, so it was best to stay clear of any that did.


    "With that said, is there anything you two found out while on your little honeymoon alone." Reia did not expect much other than fighting a bunch of mutants and sessions they may have had.


    "We actually did and it may have something to do with our essence." Lou thought back to the nest and now had the opportunity to exin her findings.


    *


    Giving a short brief of what she saw and found with the core that resided in the middle, everyone was quite intrigued by it.


    "So the core you found resonated with your essence and it looked like the core of a mutant?" Reia was confirming information as that core in the nest may be some sort of power source or something that can upgrade their essence.


    "Mhm." Lou nodded and although she had no clue what it could mean, it was still worth investigating.


    "I say we head to the nest and try to extract the core. As you said it took a while before the mutants came out so we should use that window to pull it out." Reia wanted this core and if they were able to get it out of the nest, then they would be able to experiment with it and see why it resonates with essence.


    "Are you sure? There seem to be mutants that can use essence and I don''t think they will let us just walk out of the nest with the core." Akira was rather concerned with the idea as it seemed to be something rather important to the mutants.


    "With the four of us it should not be a problem as long as it isn''t too overwhelming, but we shouldn''t be in there any longer than 5 minutes." Reia understood Akira''s worries, but she wasn''t going to sit around and do nothing when something could possibly make them stronger.


    "Even if this core makes us stronger, what if only one of us could use it and how would it even make us stronger in the first ce?" Kim was rather sceptical of the core as it could just be crystallised essence and is something the mutants congregate around.


    "Better than not getting an upgrade, but I assume the reason it resonates is that it wants to absorb whatever is inside it." Reia was taking a shot in the dark, but seeing as it was a positive feeling it wasn''t out of the realms of possibility.


    "Are we forgetting it has something to do with mutants? What if we just turn into one of them?" Kim thought about it rather logically and was trying to point out the ws in the ideas.


    "We only know of theva and tar or slime-like substance that makes up the bodies of the mutants can infect, so I doubt something made of pure essence will cause us to turn." Akira interjected as unless it was a special kind of essence, then it was near impossible for it to turn someone.


    "Well there must be a reason why the mutants are attracted to such a thing, so the essence must be special to them." Lou realised that if it would have turned her, then the mutants would have done nothing, but it seemed like they were protecting it.


    "Hmm, good point, if the mutants are not willing to let us touch it then it''s safe to assume it won''t turn us upon touch." Reia was forming the n in her head and if things y out as Lou described, then they may have a good chance of getting out without even being stopped by mutants.


    "Well, I have nothing more to argue with." Kim had no other issues about it and was happy to go along with whatever n.


    "As long as I get to kill shit I''m okay." Lou had exined her piece and was letting Reia do the thinking.


    "If we are all good then we can get ready to head out in the next few days." Reia wanted to give time for everyone to fully get ready and wanted to make sure Lou had no cuts where she could get infected.


    "Tsk I know what you will say." Lou saw the look on Reia''s face and knew it was something to do with the cuts around her body.


    "Good, is there anything else?"


    "How about we go out today, all of us, to see if there are any points of interest?" Akira proposed a little expedition as he could tell Lou was itching to go out and thought it wouldn''t hurt to do a bit of exploring.


    "I don''t see why not, we have been cooped up in the bunker for a few days now." Reia didn''t mind the idea and would like to go out herself.


    "Heh, I like the sound of this." Lou was getting rather excited and couldn''t wait to get moving again.


    "I swear if you hurt yourself again." Kim was more concerned about Lou causing more injuries as it would only dy their ns further.


    "Sheesh, don''t worry." Lou was well aware and wouldn''t ruin the opportunity to set an entire nest on fire.


    "Well if everyone is all good to go, then let''s get moving."

 Chapter 45: Brat

    <h4>Chapter 45: Brat</h4>


    Walking along the streets, exploring further away from the military base, Reia and her squad were looking for any points of interest.


    Along the street were a lot of copsed buildings, suggesting giant mutants had run through chasing people who attempted to escape.


    "We should head back soon." Reia was getting rather bored and there had been no sign of rebels or any important families.


    "We are in an area where there are hardly any buildings still standing, so I doubt we will find anything more." They had reached near the outskirts of the city through a couple of hours of walking, and Akira didn''t see the point in exploring more unless they wanted to see what outside the city was like.


    "At least we know that things will be more central, but this is only a small part of the city as there are still hundreds of kilometres left to see." Kim, who had a better grasp on the size of the city, saw this as just a tiny part, so the conditions of where they are can''t apply everywhere else.


    "Oh well, let''s get back to the bunker." Reia figured they may as well head back as there was no point in going further unless they had a reason.


    *


    They went to go back the way they came, but then suddenly someone had fallen over and yelled out.


    "Ow!" The voice was that of a young girl who was amongst the copsed building following Reia and her squad. The young girl was about 5''2" and wore a light pink dress that went down to her knees alongside a purple jacket that was the same length. She also had light brown hair, with brown eyes.


    Her clothes were rather ruined and cuts could be seen along her body. Lou, knowing what the girl was most likely going to ask, went up to her and picked the girl up by grabbing the back of her clothes.


    "If you are going to ask for help, we won''t give it, so you either run along or try to fight the mutants on your own." Although cruel, she knew it was better if the girl went to the rebels or survival group as they were only a small group.


    "Tch, shut up you hot she-wolf, I wasn''t going to ask. Just nned to steal directly from your base." The girl pouted and red at Lou who now had a grin at herment.


    "Ara~ quite the tongue on this one, I like you." Lou was already getting fond of the girl and almost wanted to keep her.


    "Huh? Are you stupid? I know I called you hot, but are you going to ignore thest part of my sentence?" The girl was rather baffled at Lou''s response.


    "Oh, good luck getting in and out of a bunker that requires your handprint~." Lou had disregarded it as it was impossible unless you were military.


    "Damn." The girl turned her head a bit disappointed that the first group of people she found had an actual base.


    "Come on Lou stop teasing the girl and let''s get going." Reia wanted to move on as leaving someone who only looked 13 was not a good feeling.


    "I kinda like her, can we keep her Kim?" Lou ignored Reia and didn''t even consult her about keeping the girl.


    "Wait you want to adopt her?" Kim blushed a little at the implication as it meant being a mother.


    "I mean sure why not, I like her attitude." Lou looked at the girl who was in disbelief.


    "Unhand me at once you hot bitch, I don''t want to be adopted by someone crazy like you." The girl swung her arms wanting to escape as she might be dragged along with having to y pretend daughter.


    "We don''t really have the room and do you seriously want that responsibility at a time like this?" Akira shook his head while facepalming as it''s like Lou found a new toy to y with.


    "I''m sure it won''t be a problem, plus I won''t ask you to look after her, I just want her since I see some potential." Lou felt a bit proud as she saw the inner bitch in the girl and wanted to cultivate that.


    "We did not juste out on this exploration trip just to adopt a child." Reia couldn''t believe what she was hearing, but they did have Klein''s weapon so maybe it wasn''t a bad idea to train the girl to eventually join them.


    ''But why wouldn''t we just pick someone who is older?'' Reia liked the idea of getting someone to be able to use Klein''s weapon but to pick a child seemedpletely impractical.


    "So, what''s your name?" Lou looked at the girl who was trying her best to hit Lou to let her go.


    "It''s Kadi!"Grabbing the gun out of Lou''s holster she pointed it at Lou.


    "Ooh Feisty,e on, I dare you to shoot." Putting her face up to the gun, Kadi''s hand shook as she had the perfect opportunity to fire. Kim, who was in her own little fantasy of having a child with Lou. Was waving her head back and forth with her hands on her cheeks, until she realised Lou had a gun pointed at her head.


    "Wait what?!" Kim freaked for a moment, but before she could do anything Kadi had pressed the trigger. However, the gun was empty and fired nothing.


    Lou grabbed the end of the gun, taking it from Kadi''s shaking hands.


    "You got some guts for what? A thirteen-year-old?" Lou was rather impressed by Kadi and was only getting more convinced to take her along.


    "I-I, yes." Kadi spoke in a low voice and despite her defiant attitude she actually wanted to be taken along.


    "So Kadi, how abouting with us?" Lou put down Kadi who was no longer iling her limbs around.


    "We haven''t agreed to anything!" Reia was getting rather annoyed but was also impressed that Kadi was able to pull the trigger especially since she was so young.


    "Oh shut it, I will take full responsibility alongside Kim." Lou wasn''t going to listen to Reia or Akira and was going to do what she wanted.


    Kim, who had a small panic attack about the situation, had caught her breath and walked beside Lou.


    "It''s okay we can protect you and if you''re up to we can raise you, so it''s up to you." Kim with a much more gentle approach reached out her hand to Kadi. She was also taking being Kadi''s mother a lot more serious, even though Lou didn''t see it that way at all, and it was just Kim ying out her fantasies.


    ''Not like she has a choice.'' Lou either way was going to take her even if she didn''t want to, but at that point, it would be kidnapping and Reia would most likely jump in to stop her.


    Kadi pouted and looked like she was on the verge of crying, and although she wanted to be independent, it was undeniable she was weak. So by being presented with the opportunity to get stronger it was hard to say no.


    Without saying a word she ran into Kim, hugging her and started to cry. Kadi was also a little shorter than Kim so her head was right on her chest.


    "Tch, I see she has already chosen a favourite." Lou''s eyebrows twitched and her voice was rather strained like she was holding back.


    Still having the energy, Kadi turned her head and poked her tongue out at Lou. Clenching her fists, Lou was rather annoyed, but she also loved how annoying Kadi was.


    "There is a way you have to treat a child." Kim looked at Lou while patting Kadi''s head like she had trained to be a mother beforehand.


    "Hello!? Are you going to ignore our input or what?" Reia still wanted an answer and although she now saw the use in Kadi, it wasn''t easy to just suddenly ept her into the bunker.


    "What?" Lou with a nk face responded to Reia as she couldn''t care less about her input, but still may as well let her say her piece.


    "I get that she has good potential, but are you even up to being a parent?" Reia who at this point gave up on stopping Lou wanted to point out the clear ws in taking Kadi in.


    "I''m sure it isn''t that hard, people be parents all the time, plus we skipped the horrible few years where you have to watch her every hour of the day." Lou shrugged as Kadi seemed to already be a teenager making it much easier to look after her.


    "That''s not her point." Akira felt a headacheing as it was clear Lou was going to struggle greatly.


    ''Kim, I hope you can get through this.'' Akira knew that Kim would be taking most of the responsibility and although it helped Kadi was older, she still needed somewhat of a parent figure.


    *Sigh* "Whatever, it''s your fault if anything happens and she is to stay in the bunker if we go out on long expeditions like this one." Reia didn''t want to argue and as long as it didn''t bother her, she was okay with Kadiing with them.


    "Heh, that''s fine." Lou intended to train the hell out of Kadi and seeing as they have an extra weapon, it was a perfect opportunity to create her own little devil.


    Kadi who was still in Kim''s arms kinda admired Lou, although she hadn''t quite realised it, she was already attaching herself to them.


    Reia and Akira walked off, heading back to the bunker by themselves not wanting to deal with Kadi anymore.


    "Alright, let''s get you some new clothes." Kim looked at the state of Kadi and it was not the best. Nodding her head she let go of Kim and held her hand instead.


    Lou was a little unsure how to act and the words of Reia echoed in her head.


    ''This won''t be easy.''


    **


    Lou and Kim took a detour on the way back to the bunker to get Kadi some more clothes to rece the torn and dirty ones she had. Lou was able to pick up a few things from Kim on how to act, but she found it to be rather awkward.


    "How do I look? Pretty right?" Kadi hade out of the change rooms in the clothes store they found. Doing a small twirl she showed off the clothes she had chosen.


    Wearing a skirt that went to her knees and had light purple colour along the bottom. She paired it with a ck jacket and light purple shirt underneath. She had also opted for thigh-high socks that had a purple lining. It was also clear she had tried tobine both Kim and Lou''s outfits with her own colour scheme.


    "Pffthahaha, adorable." Kim couldn''t help but chuckle at Kadi, as she didn''t have the slightest idea why Kim wears a skirt in the first ce.


    "Looking good, make sure to take a few extra pairs." Lou liked the look and herpliment had caused Kadi to blush and look away.


    "Hmph, of course I look good."


    "Alright, let''s get going once you are ready." Kim knew they shouldn''t get too distracted as she rather not deal with mutants while they were with Kadi.


    "Mhm." Kadi went over and grabbed a bag and started to fill it with some extra clothes for herself.


    *


    Walking out of the store they had walked for another hour and no longer could see Reia or Akira.


    "They really did leave us behind." Kim was a little bit worried, but they knew where they were going so it wasn''t too much of a problem.


    "Better for us, we can do what we want without Reia shouting at us." Lou wasn''t worried at all and as long as they didn''t run into any survivor groups or rebels it didn''t concern her.


    "True." Kim knew it was just Reia trying to make sure they were safe as possible, especially since Lou wasn''t fully recovered.


    "Now for a tough question Kadi, you don''t have to answer, but what happened to your family." A thought crossed Lou''s mind and wondered if they had just stolen someone''s daughter who still had alive parents or family.


    "O-oh, they d-died to weird monsters." Kadi''s voice trembled as she spoke since she had witnessed them be killed right in front of her.


    "If I-I''m honest, I didn''t like them all too much, but it still hurt to see them go." Kadi, who didn''t have a great rtionship with her parents at the time, was still traumatised by seeing them killed.


    "Hmm I won''t pry, but know we won''t die that easily." Kim who was able to sympathise with having trauma tried tofort Kadi.


    However, as they were walking mutants had run out onto the street in front of them. Kadi freaked out and quickly hid behind Kim as it reminded her of her parents, and it didn''t help that she was just thinking about them.


    "What great timing." Kim could feel Kadi shake from fear and knew this was going to be a problem.


    "Kadi, watch and learn." Lou now having the chance to show off only knew one way to ovee the trauma. It was to beat it in a battle so she hoped that Kadi would build up the courage to fight in the future.


    ''Let''s hope once she picks up a gun she can fire and not freeze up like this when facing mutants or even people.'' Lou pulled out her berettas and seeing Kadi tremble told her everything about the problems she has.

 Chapter 46: Kim鈥檚 fantasy

    <h4>Chapter 46: Kim¡¯s fantasy</h4>


    As per usual, Lou was able to take out the mutants without an issue. Stomping down on thest core, she flicked her hair and turned to Kim and Kadi.


    "Wow." Kadi was amazed by Lou and had felt a bit of courage build up inside her.


    "So how was that?" Lou smiled at Kadi who had a face filled with amazement.


    "I-it was cool." Shaking her head, Kadi turned her head away while admitting how she felt.


    "A, no need to be embarrassed, after all, I will be teaching you how to fight." Lou walked up to Kadi poking her cheek. Kadi kept her mouth shut while trying to dodge Lou''s finger trying to escape the embarrassment.


    "Hehe~, already acting like a family." Kim, who was still swept up in her family fantasy chuckled at the scene.


    "I''m not calling her mum."


    "We''re not actually adopting her."


    Both of them spoke at the same time while looking at Kim as it was clear she had taken the adoption way too seriously. Thements had also woken Kim up from her fantasy and became a blushing mess for taking the whole thing too seriously.


    "Oi, that stings." Lou looked at kadi since she realised what Kadi said and although she wasn''t going to really adopt her, hearing those words still hurt. Kadi in response poked her tongue out and turned around crossing her arms.


    "You damn brat." Lou grabbed the top of Kadi''s head, which had scared her enough to retract her statements.


    "Ahhh! I''m sorry, I-I-It just doesn''t feel right yet." Kadi had suddenly be bashful which was rather adorable to Lou. Kim had also heard the words yet and her fantasy for a family was relit.


    ''Maybe not now, but perhaps soon.'' Kim was determined to see this through and hopefully be able to get Kadi to be their adoptive daughter.


    "Ara~ I see, also Kim I can see what you''re thinking and stop that before you get ahead of yourself." Lou let go of Kadi and was able to tell from Kim''s face exactly what she was thinking.


    "I-I umm, okay." Kim lowered her head since she had been shut down and felt a little disheartened.


    Lou let out a sigh as she felt the situation suddenly get moreplicated.


    "Let''s just get back to the bunker." Lou shook her head, hoping things will go back to normal and so she started walking off towards the bunker. Kim followed behind Lou feeling a little saddened, but knew she was being overdramatic for no reason.


    Kadi had realised they were moving and quickly caught up to them while also grabbing Kim''s hand. This lifted Kim''s mood and despite not adopting Kadi, it was still a nice feeling.


    ***


    Making it back to the bunker, They could tell Akira and Reia were back as it sounded like they were in the kitchen.


    "Better not be having a spicy time in the kitchen!"


    "Shut up Lou!" Reia called out from the kitchen, knowing exactly what Lou meant.


    "Wait so those two are not dating?" Kadi thought the two other people were a couple judging from how they acted.


    "Fufu~ not yet." Lou whispered to Kadi and also realised she could use Kadi''s innocence to tease Reia.


    "Not another one." Akira heard Kadi''sment as he came out to themon area while shaking his head.


    "Oho I see, one is too scared to confess and the other just hasn''t realised it." Kadi had hit the mark surprisingly well with her guess and had hit Akira right in the heart, making him stumble.


    "You don''t have to say it out loud." Akira''s mouth twitched from thement as Kadi was just a more vocal Lou.


    Reia who was in the kitchen heard as well, but she continued what she was doing while blushing like crazy.


    "Why not? Shouldn''t you just be honest?" Kadi tried to mimic Lou''s confidence and was trying to be rather imposing.


    "It''s a lot moreplicated than that and if you are finished now, why don''t youe eat before we chuck out your portion." Akira wanted to move on from the topic before it got too awkward.


    Lou wasughing and had almost fallen to the floor as she couldn''t believe how preceptive Kadi was. Kim didn''t want tough, but at the same time Kadi wasn''t wrong and what she said was what Kim has been saying to Akira for the past few years.


    "Hmph." Getting threatened with her food being thrown away had caused her to shut up.


    "Good, nowe and eat." Akira sighed while dishing out the food.


    "Pffftthahaha¡­ Okay... I''m good. After you eat, get settled into your own room and tomorrow we will begin your training." Lou now having something to pre-upy herself hoped the next few days will go by quickly.


    Kadi nodded her head and the excitement was already building as watching Lou''s disy of killing the mutants was something she now aspired to do herself.


    ''If I can just be like Lou then I will be able to survive on my own.'' Driven by the will to be independent and wanting to look graceful while surviving she was going to put her full effort into the training ahead.


    ***


    <The next day>


    "If you can''t even survive running for 30 seconds there is no way you will be able to do any acrobatics!" Lou and Kadi were outside doing some training while Kim watched on the sidelines.


    Kadi was currently doingps on the street building up her stamina and was already finding it difficult.


    "You may be young, but it''s never too early to build up a good foundation!" Lou was taking it rather seriously and she knew Kadi would not be able to meet the military standard, but hoped she would still be better than most.


    Kadi was d that she had picked out more moveable clothes as she felt sweaty and her rather prideful self when it came to looks, would despise the situation if she was in better clothes.


    Some mutants had been drawn to Lou''s voice but they were dealt with by Kim or Lou and it provided good trauma training as Kadi was getting less scared with each encounter.


    Once they had returned to in front of the alley, Lou opted to do a bit of essence training in an attempt to draw it out and develop her own unique kind of essence.


    "Alright we will now try exercising your essence, luckily there has been great progress in awakening people so it should not be too hard for you, as long as you put your mind to it." A few years ago there had only been a select few that were able to have a unique essence, but with more research, they were able to triple the amount of people awakening. The research had also found it was a trigger, so a person had to reach a certain threshold with their essence in order to gain a trait. However for a person to get a specific trait, was something research was yet to answer and so people were stuck with whatever they got.


    "So¡­ Anyone¡­ Can get¡­. Special bullets like you?" Kadi was out of breath from the run and despite it being the most she has ever run, this did not deter her.


    "Yep, although some people are just unable to do it or can learn in only a few weeks, it''s just a matter ofmitment and patience." Although Lou did not know much about how to cultivate essence as it came naturally to her, she was going to let Kim take over.


    "Hmm I see, thank you sensei- I mean Lou." Kadi who felt exhausted let her rather nerdy nature out.


    "Oh? Sensei? I don''t mind the sound of that." Lou smiled as it seemed like Kadi was beginning to warm up to her since there were fewer snarky remarks.


    "I-it was just a mistake!" Kadi felt extremely embarrassed as it broke the cool persona she was going for.


    ''Damn it, I was hoping I could keep in character.'' Kadi was actually a rather innocent and kind person, but she liked to act out her favourite characters in her own time. And with the apocalypse in full swing, she saw it as an opportunity to change who she was into one of her all-time favourite characters.


    "Fufu~ call me whatever, as long as it''s not something rude." Lou did not mind at all and found Kadi''s embarrassment rather adorable.


    Kadi did not say a word as it was better to not speak at all to avoid any more slips of the tongue.


    "I will take that as a yes. Kim!" Lou called out and Kim quickly came over as it was now her turn to teach the essence exercises.


    "You know you should do them as well?" Kim, who knew Lou did as little as possible and rather trained her essence through fighting, figured she should try to learn as well.


    "Tsk, I don''t need it when I can just go fight a horde of mutants instead." Lou did not believe it was helpful to her and she waspletely content with how her essence was.


    *Sigh* "Whatever." Kim wasn''t going to bother as there was no sure way to improve. However, fighting was one of them, so it was hard to argue against Lou.


    "Anyway, Kadi, first we need you to try to feel your essence as it will be the first step to being able to fuel it into things like guns. Generally, people do this naturally, but it takes a bit more to be able to have no dy in fueling our guns while firing." Kim went on to exin a bit more about how essence worked and thanks to being in the military they had the most updated information.


    Kadi was listening attentively and after Kim had finished, her imagination wandered to what kind of essence she could have.


    "Now before you get too excited, you may be able to use essence, but having a special attribute is not something thates quickly. You may be able to fire a gun, but it doesn''t mean you will be able to shoot fire like Lou." Kim knew many people aspired to obtain a special essence, but it still required effort and a bit of luck in your genes.


    "Speaking of special essence, there was a reason why families formed as they had specialised in a certain element, so people born from these families were guaranteed a trait. This does not mean you don''t have one, but it goes to show that your genes may be the reason why." Kim wanted to paste a realistic picture for Kadi as it might be because of her genes that she is only able to go so far.


    "I understand." Kadi understood and took it as a warning to not get frustrated if she doesn''t make any progress at all.


    "Okay with that said, let''s begin." Kim realised that she was beginning to ramble and actually hadn''t done anything yet.


    Sitting down on the ground Kim gestured to Kadi to follow her movements.


    "Now I want you to take slow deep breaths and try to feel the energy. It will take a while, but you will know when you do." Kim watched over Kadi who closed her eyes and began to concentrate, trying to do what Kim said.


    <10 minutester>


    Kadi still had her eyes shut and Kim was rather impressed with her determination, especially at her age.


    However, suddenly she opened her eyes looking a bit shocked.


    "I felt it!" Kadi had felt a warm energy inside her and found it quiteforting.


    "That was quicker than expected." Kim was surprised as it wasn''t often people were able to touch into their essence early unless they trained.


    Kadi looked at Kim with anticipation as she was unsure what it meant to be able to feel it so early.


    "The next step is to try to control that energy and move it through your body, if you can do that you''re already a step closer to being able to wield a weapon of your own." Kim could see the excitement in Kadi''s eyes and she couldn''t help but share the same excitement.


    Kadi, feeling more motivated than ever, went back to trying so she could try the next step.


    Kim had gotten up and gone to Lou, who was out on the street smoking a cigarette.


    "How is she going?" Lou did not want to disturb them and from the sounds of things it had been going well.


    "You were not wrong that she has potential, but it will still be a while until she can actually fight." Although Kadi made great progress in using essence, it didn''t mean she could fight.


    "Well that''s one less thing to worry about, but hopefully I can train her to at least defend herself." Lou didn''t care how long it took and was happy that Kadi hadn''t disappointed her so far.


    "I still want to adopt her." Kim had the opportunity to ask why, so she wanted to at least get a reason.


    "I don''t want that sort of attachment." Lou did not want Kadi to have a strong attachment just in case something went wrong.


    "Still, you know I wanted to start our own family, so I don''t see why not." Kim pouted and although she knew it was most likely better to not form that rtionship, it also should be a good motivator to not allow that to happen.


    "Give me time to think, plus it''s too early for that kind of thing." Under other circumstances, Lou would have said yes, but now it was too risky, especially for Kadi''s wellbeing.


    "Fine." Kim gave up and was going to wait before doing anything.

 Chapter 47: Preparing to attack the nest

    <h4>Chapter 47: Preparing to attack the nest</h4>


    Kadi had kept trying to move her essence around her body but would keep breaking concentration with each attempt. She had found herself getting quite mentally exhausted and even started sweating again.


    "I think we leave it for today, you have already done so much." Kim thought they may as well stop for the day as Kadi had already made leaps in improving her essence.


    "I can keep going." Kadi didn''t want to give up as she felt close to being able to flow the essence through her entire body.


    "Overworking is a no-go, you are still young so you need rest. You can practice all day tomorrow if you like, but don''t push yourself as the essence can also cause you harm if you let it get out of control." Having not gone over the risks of essence, Kim realised she would need to exin how it can damage her body, but due to her progressing so fast it was hard to keep up.


    "F-fine." Kadi, being unable to resist Kim''s motherly attitude decided to stop for the day.


    "Good." Kim smiled and patted Kadi on the head, causing her to look away while blushing.


    "Done? She still has at least a hundredps to do." Lou smirked as she saw the look of dread appear on Kadi''s face.


    "Pffhahaha, I''m kidding, go on and rest, you have done amazing." Lou wasn''t going to be too cruel yet as Kadi was only at the start of her training.


    "Hmph." Kadi returned to being a brat, so she could hide her excitement from receiving apliment from Lou.


    "Tch, I''ll make sure I train that brat out of you." Lou clenched her fists, wanting Kadi to at least show a little bit of appreciation.


    Kadi, not wanting her training to not get harder, quickly dropped the act and turned to Lou.


    "T-thank you." Poking her fingers together, she spoke quietly and hid her face to hide the blush.


    "Good~." Lou was happy and so she walked up to the bunker entrance opening it.


    ***


    <2 dayster>


    Kadi had progressed with her training but was still stuck on moving her essence around her body. Lou had also fully recovered in that time and was now preparing to attack the nest.


    "Okay with no injuries on us, we should be safe to go invade the nest and try to steal the core." Reia was standing at the head of the table with everyone else sitting down. Kadi was on the couchzing around as she had been let off training for the day.


    "So what''s the n?" Lou, who had been rather out of the loop since she didn''t want to bother with nning, wondered what Reia hade up with.


    "Like you didst time, Kim will be up on that billboard providing any cover fire while we enter. For us three, I will try to extract the core while Akira and you will be protecting me."


    "As long as I''m killing, fine by me." Although Lou seemed rather rouge she would follow her mission perfectly as it became her personal goal and will do anything to aplish it.


    "For when we are leaving, we will try to run away and if they decide to chase us, we will use the buildings to our advantage. If they stay in the nest which is highly unlikely then we will be free. My only concern is the giant mutants that can use essence." Reia recalled the detail Lou brought up and that was the fact the variants were able to use essence.


    "I would prefer we don''t fight them as it sounds like a disaster waiting to be unleashed." Akira hated the sound of it as he assumed the range of the essence scales with size making their destructive capabilities 10x more.


    "That''s why I suggest if we can''t get the core within the first 10 minutes we leave as I do not want to anger the giant mutants." Reia also took note of how they watched instead of fighting, so it was a good chance that if they just dropped everything and left, they would be okay.


    "It will be a shame if we don''t get the core, but Reia make sure you don''t ovemit." Kim red at Reia as she knew how Reia would push that little further even though she shouldn''t as it could cost her life.


    "I-I okay." Reia felt called out and didn''t know how to respond as it brought back memories of when she had almost got herself killed.


    "Well if we are ready to go, then we should head off." Akira stood up as they had seemingly discussed everything.


    "Mhm, let''s go." Reia nodded and they all got up from their seats. But before they left Kim had quickly gone to Kadi to tell her goodbye.


    "We will be off now and should be back by the end of the day, so if you want, you can continue to train your essence. If you don''t have any questions, make sure to eat and we will see youter~." Kim patted Kadi who had her head leaning over the arm of the couch.


    "Byeee." Swinging her legs, Kadi had felt extremely worried as she didn''t want to be left alone again.


    ''No, just believe they will be okay, plus I need to be strong on my own.'' Talking to herself Kadi tried to swat away her fears.


    Kim smiled and walked away exiting the bunker with everyone else.


    **


    Walking along the road towards the nest, Kim had split off to the billboard and got into position.


    Lou had taken the lead and Reia was trying to see if they could use the environment to their advantage.


    ''It''s rather t and the only thing that is useful are the buildings.'' Reia was a little disappointed and although the cars on the road were useful for the smaller mutants, if it turned out to be a massive horde, then it would be useless.


    ''Might have to find a way to quickly get onto the roof as it should eliminate most of the threat except for any flying mutants and the giants that can destroy the buildings.'' Expecting them to be chased, it was going to be hard to get away especially with the core being rtively big ording to Lou.


    "We''re here." Lou had stopped in front of the copsed road that led into the nest, giving Reia and Akira a proper look.


    "Hmm I see the core, it shouldn''t be too much of a hassle, although Akira you may need to carry it instead." Reia wasn''t confident in carrying it after seeing the size of the core.


    "We will see when we get there." Akira was fine with whatever, but he preferred to protect Reia.


    "Also you said the entire thing is covered in slime?" Reia saw that it was pitch ck and even though light should be revealing the cave it looked as if it wasplete darkness.


    "It is indeed, it did not hinder my movements too much, but mutants can emerge from it so be extremely careful." While exining, Lou had attached her other 2 berettas to her heels.


    "Tch, that''s going to be a big problem since my hands will be full." Reia had brought a bag, but it was too small and would need to carry it by hand.


    "It''s about the size of a beach ball, so it doesn''t help that it''s just too big to be stored, but small enough to be held." Akira considered just taking over the carry role as it would be easier.


    "No matter, there is no turning back now and if worsees to worst I absorb it right away if my theory is correct." Reia considered drawing the essence in the core, but that''s if her theory was correct.


    "Let''s not risk that, as it may knock you out." Akira did not like the sound of it, as there were still too many unknowns.


    "Mmm, I agree with Akira, we have no idea what will happen." Even though Lou had resonated with the core, it still could have side effects.


    "Fine I won''t, plus it should be a two-second job to cut off the slime that is suspending it in the air." Reia could not argue against their points and quickly moved on.


    "We touch that core and we activate the horde, so we better rush this." Lou knew the mutants waited to attack her until she was close so it will be no surprise if they touched the core and the entire nest would go crazy.


    "Hopefully Kim will be able to keep the entrance clear and your fire should be effective in clearing them." Reia''s n hinged on their essence so if one thing did not work, it would fall apart.


    "If we see those essence mutants, hopefully, my corruption can kill them quickly or at least disable them." Akira was the secret weapon as it did not matter where he shot as long as hended a bullet, they would slowly die.


    "Indeed." Reia got stuck in thought reviewing the n in her head before speaking up again.


    "Alright, let''s not stand around anymore, it''s time to raid the nest." Reia pulling out her rifle filled it with essence and so did everyone else. Raising one of her hands into the sky she clicked her fingers as a signal and they began to sprint into the nest.

 Chapter 48: Extracting the core

    <h4>Chapter 48: Extracting the core</h4>


    Sprinting down the copsed street, Reia, Akira and Lou entered the nest going straight for the core. As expected no mutants had appeared and so far it was rather quiet.


    As they got closer to the middle, they started to hear signs of mutants. Coming out of the ceiling and ground mutants were reaching out while also growling.


    "They seem to be more aware of what we are after." Lou pointed out they hade out a lot quicker suggesting that the mutants knew what their goal was.


    "I should be able to get the core out without any issues, so let''s hope there aren''t too many." Reia, getting a better look at how the core was suspended in the air, saw a bunch of tendrils attached to it.


    Now only a few metres away from the core, Akira and Lou started firing at the emerging mutants. Akira used his corruption since he noticed that it would also consume the slime on the ground and ceiling, so he let out a barrage of bullets trying to cover more area.


    Lou had used her most mmable bullets to make sure everything was burning and creating a wall of fire to prevent more mutants from approaching. She had also used her heel pistols to get rid of the slime on the ground, setting it on fire to create a clear path for them.


    Now being right next to the core, Reia pulled out her sword and infused it with her essence. Making sure her lightingpletely covered her de, she then shed at the slime holding the core. In two quick shes, she had sessfully detached the core from the slime and was able to pick it up.


    "Let''s get out of here." Reia picked up the core and instantly felt a rather soothing feeling and her essence wanted to absorb what was inside the core.


    ''Damn Lou wasn''t wrong, it''s so tempting to just do it.'' Shaking her head Reia needed to focus on leaving and so they all began to run out.


    "ROARRR!!!!" A deafening roar echoed in the nest and everyone''s hearts sank as they guessed it was the giant mutants. Chills ran through their body as they continued to run, not wanting to turn around.


    "We may have to drop the core." Akira did not want them to lose their life over something trivial.


    "We are so close." Reia didn''t want to give up as they were so close to the exit and thanks to Akira and Lou''s constant fire, they were able to keep the path clear.


    Kim who had been charging up a rather powerful shot finally fired into the back of the nest. This caused the entire underground to shake and had also caused some of the branching caves to copse. She then prepared for another charged-up shot to either destroy more caves or hit one of the essence giants.


    Reia, Akira and Lou were on the verge of exiting the nest, but then suddenly a bunch of slime-like hands hade out from the depths of the nest, grabbing Reia by the ankles. Reia''s eyes widened as she saw herself fall and turned to see a bunch of mutants that had extended their limbs.


    ''Shit another variant.'' Reia assumed it was a variant that could extend its body.


    Akira freaked out seeing Reia suddenly get grabbed, so he turned around pulling out his swords. Dashing to Reia he slid across the ground while shing at the arms that were pulling Reia away.


    "Just drop the core!" Akira did not like where this was going and just wanted them to leave as soon as possible. Ignoring Akira''s words, she stood up and continued to run. Akira shook his head and followed behind her. Lou had stopped just outside the entranceying fire on the mutants that were now dashing at them.


    However, just before Akira or Reia could exit the nest, a wall of slime suddenly rose at the entrance, trapping them inside.


    "AKIRA! RE-." Lou''s voice was cut off as they werepletely sealed in.


    "Shit!" Akira was now in full panic mode as they were now stuck with the mutants. He tried quickly pulling out his swords and using his corruption, shing at them, but it was useless as the wall constantly regenerated.


    "We can''t get out." Akira turned to Reia while switching weapons and turned to see the slowly approaching mutants.


    "Tch." Reia did not like to think it was her fault for not listening to Akira earlier, but it seemed likely that it trapped them in since the core was about to exit the nest.


    Akira had started firing, making sure he applied corruption to every mutant, giving them a bit more time.


    "You need to throw the core away." Akira saw no other way and was beginning to get frustrated with Reia.


    Reia stood in silence trying to think of a way to get out with the core, but she had kept running into walls and the only way was to abandon it.


    Akira trying to cover fire was beginning to feel the drain on his essence and it won''t be long until he will be unable to hold the mutants off.


    "Fuck it!" Reia raised the core into the sky and mmed it into the ground. However, It did not break, but what she intended to do was something she was explicitly warned not to do.


    "Reia what the fuck are you doing, don''t you dare try to absorb it." Akira had a feeling and seeing what Reia was doing, he didn''t like where this was going.


    "I''m sorry Akira, but I don''t think there is any way of getting out even if I throw the core away." Reia started to tear up as she was unable to see any other way and there would be no reason for the mutants to let them go since they are now trapped.


    Akira bit his lips as Reia was most likely right, their only choice was to use the core and see what happens.


    "One more thing¡­." Reia got Akira''s attention and as he looked over she mouthed a few words. Widening his eyes as he realised what she said, he quickly tried to stop Reia. However, he was toote since Reia started to absorb the core.


    A bright green light blinded Akira and the mutants causing them to all recoil from the light. As the light shone brightly, the caved-in entrances suddenly burst open and giant mutants of varying colours appeared.


    "Reia NO!" Akira covered his eyes while getting closer to try to see what was happening to her. The light had dimmed slightly and Akira was able to see what was happening.


    Reia''s arms had been covered in the mutant slime, but they had a purple circuit pattern along where the slime was. Her eyes had also turned ck only showing her purple irises. Akira noticed that a second tail was created out of the same slime sharing the same purple circuit pattern.


    Akira assumed Reia was turning into a mutant and he couldn''t help but begin to cry.


    "Damn it!" Still wanting to get close he continued slowly walking up to the glowing core and Reia. When he got close, the core light had now changed into purple and suddenly exploded. Pushing Akira back, hended into the wall that trapped them inside and suddenly went through it with no trouble.


    "Akira!" Lou had been constantly bashing at the wall and even firing her most powerful bullets, but they had not even put a dent in it. Going to his side Lou quickly sat him up and wanted to know what was happening.


    "I-it''s Reia, she absorbed the core and f-from what I saw, she t-turn into a m-mutant." Akira felt utterly useless and seeing Reia sacrifice herself was a big hit to his mind.


    "Tch that dumb bitch." Lou looked at the wall and had no way to tell what was going on, making It hard to say what Akira said was true.


    Covering his face with his arm, he did not want to look at the wall as that would cause him to break.


    ''Why was I able to get out?'' Akira was confused, having a million thoughts run through his mind, making it hard to think straight.


    Kim, seeing that Akira was out, had felt a little relieved, but was still waiting for Reia which was the main concern.


    ''Don''t tell me, she did the exact opposite of what we said.'' Kim had teared up a little as the panic started to well up in her, as there was no way Reia would be able to survive alone.


    All of them were waiting to see what will happen, hoping that Reia wille out of the nest, but the crushing reality she had turned into the mutant was bing more real as each second passed.


    ''I''ll make sure I kill her if she dies.'' Lou clenched her fist as looking at Akira''s condition it did not look like anything good was happening.


    ***


    <Kadi POV>


    Pacing around in the bunker she had felt a constant uneasy feeling as time went on and although it had only been an hour it felt like an eternity.


    ''They will be back, just believe.'' Kadi wanted to trust Lou and Kim, but the fear of losing someone had gued her, making it hard to stay calm.


    ''I should do some essence training while I wait.'' Wanting to distract herself she sat down in the middle of the room, trying to take her mind off the whole situation.


    ''Please be okay.''

 Chapter 49 The core鈥檚 power

    49 The core¡¯s power


    Inside the nest, a purple mist had covered the area from the explosions and contrary to Akira''s belief Reia had not turned into a mutant. Standing right where he was pushed into the wall was Reia.


    Her body had seemingly gained mutant traits, but she was stillpletely sane. Her hands and feet were covered in ck slime and had streaks of purple that resembled circuits. Her eyes were also engulfed in ck and she had gained an extra tail that waspletely made out of mutant slime.


    ''Now that Akira is safe, now I have to deal with these mutants.'' Reia had been the one to get Akira out of the nest and because she had gained a speed boost, she was too fast for him to see her.


    Feeling the insane amount of essence flow through her body, she felt like she could now use the essence fox form she had used all those years ago.


    ''If I get damaged again, let''s hope it''s only a few years likest time.'' Reluctant to have to use the form, she had to use it to survive.


    ''Why did my special ability I inherited from my family have to be so damaging? No wonder my parents are so damn inept in feeling anything.'' Reia, whose special form was unique to her family, realized that the damage her parents obtained from using it, caused them to be deranged in their own way.


    ''No matter, let''s hope they are dead since I''d rather never see their face again.'' Hoping the mutants had gotten the better of her parents, she then activated her essence fox form.


    The streaks of purple on her body began to glow brightly and unlike this time, the essence ws felt stronger. The mutant tail she obtained now had a purple essence coat and her hair was now a bright purple. She had also obtained a kitsune mask purely made from essence to appear on her head, which confused Reia, but she didn''t have time to think about it.


    ''I wonder if the mutant parts I got are facilitating my essence so I don''t'' take any damage.'' Reia had noticed that she did not feel anything happening to her body despite the heavy amount of essence she was using on herself.


    Lightning surrounded her body striking the ground around her and the mutants that were blown away by the st started approaching again.


    The giant mutants that hade into the nest had retreated after seeing the core explode and returned into the branching caves observing Reia. This was rather confusing, but Reia was d as it seemed like the mutants that used essence had some intelligence and were not interested in fighting.


    ''More questions just keeping up.'' Reia wanted answers, but any lead on the mutants led to more questions. Did the giant essence mutants have a goal or did they simply give up and know they will lose so they rather preserve their life.


    ''Maybe I should hunt one down.'' Reia considered using her newfound power to see what would happen, but then she thought about how Akira and everyone were waiting outside.


    ''Let''s focus on clearing the nest and get out of here.'' Reia wanted to leave and knowing the panic she was putting Akira through didn''t want him waiting any longer.


    Dashing forward in a sh of lightning, Reia appeared in the middle of the horde and punched down into the ground. A wave of lightning exploded, electrocuting the mutants and killing some in the process.


    Using both her hands and feet, Reia started to pierce mutant bodies aiming for their cores. Swiftly killing the mutants, almost like a dance, Reia had gotten through 30 mutants in a matter of 10 seconds.


    She would stomp down on mutants, use her lightning to strike the core and use her hands to put holes in mutants'' bodies. After killing more of the horde Reia had noticed that the ceiling, walls and ground were starting to lose the mutant slime suggesting that she was getting closer to clearing out the nest.


    However, what had started was mutants were pouring out of every possible location in an attempt to overwhelm Reia. Trying to speed up her killing, Reia had tried to userger scaled attacks with her essence.


    Causing a bunch of lightning strikes killing bunches of mutants but it was not enough to stop the sheer amount of them as they began to stack on top of Reia.


    Getting bit and scratched by the mutants Reia sustained a bunch of injuries, but she still did not feel like she was turning. Her only guess was the mutant traits had made her somewhat immune.


    "ARGHH!" Screaming in pain as more mutants had got their fair share of attacks, Reia funnelled her essence into her ws. Letting her ws overcharge, a massive wave of lightning burst out pushing the mutants away and killing any that were close.


    Blood had covered Reia''s body as she had cuts and bite marks all over her body.


    "Fuck that hurts." Her entire body ached in pain, but she needed to continue pushing on in order to get out alive.


    Once again dashing forward Reia let out waves of lightning from her fists killing multiple mutants at a time, making full use of the massive pool of essence she was given.


    *


    <20 minutester>


    Smashing down with both her hands, Reia had killed thest mutant and the entire room was nowpletely dried up of any slime, meaning that the nest was finally clear. All that stood was the wall between her and the outside.


    The giant essence mutants had left long ago and although they would have the perfect opportunity to attack it seemed like they left for another possible nest.


    The essence ws and tail started flickering indicating she didn''t have much time left. Picking up her sword and rifle that had been dropped on the ground, Reia then limped towards the wall.


    Looking up at the wall that looked dried up and would break in a small hit, Reia prepared onest attack before her essence ran out.


    **


    <Akira and Lou POV 20 minutes before>


    Akira was lying on the floor by the wall, not daring to look so he could avoid breaking out in tears.


    Lou had tried again and again to break the wall, but nothing came of it. She had even signalled Kim to give it a few shots, but even her explosions were not enough to get through as it would instantly regenerate in a few seconds.


    "This stupid fucking wall, let me in so I can kill those motherfucking mutants." Lou was getting more pissed off by the second as anything she did was useless.


    "Lou there is no point, just sit and wait." Akira did not want Lou to waste any more of her energy as it was futile.


    "Shut up, you gave up before you even tried, Reia might still be in there fighting yet here you are sobbing!"


    "I saw her turn, what else do you want me to do, I don''t want to see her in that state!" Akira smashed his fist into the ground as it was already hard enough to see her turning and couldn''t imagine seeing her mutant form.


    "Tch, better die trying than give up." Lou didn''t care as there was no guarantee since she had used the core it might have just been part of the process to absorb the essence.


    *


    <20 minutester>


    No progress had been made and Lou sat on top of a car looking at the wall trying to think of other ways to break it.


    ''It looks more brittle, maybe I could get Kim to fire some shots at it again.'' Lou had noticed the change in the wall as it no longer looked like flowing slime, but a hard wall.


    However before she could move, the wall suddenly burst open with lightning andunched chunks of the wall toward Lou. Rolling on top of the car and getting behind it, Lou pulled out her berettas, preparing for mutants toe out of the small hole that was created.


    "Reia!" Akira had called out as he was the first to see who made the hole and was not in the st range.


    Lou looked over the car and saw Reia who was severely injured, barely being able to stand.


    Akira had run over to Reia''s side and as soon as he did, she had copsed, no longer being able to support her own weight. Lou had also rushed over to see and there was a ring detail about Reia.


    Her hands and feet were transformed into that of a mutant and it looked like it was slowly infecting her.


    "We need to get her back to the bunker quickly!" Lou wasn''t sure what was going to happen to Reia, but they needed to treat her wounds before she died of blood loss.


    Akira with tears in his eyes picked Reia up and began to sprint with Lou back to the bunker.


    Kim had seen that it was Reia and knew they were running back to the bunker, so she packed up and quickly climbed down the building.


    *


    Not stopping a single moment, they had made it back to the bunker in about 10 minutes. Quickly opening it up, Akira rushed inside and ced Reia on the table.


    Kadi who was excited to hear people return quickly went back to worrying as she saw the condition of Reia.


    "Hey sweetie, everything will be okay, now it might be good if you head to your room for the time being." Kim, following behind Lou, saw Kadi''s stressed-out face and quickly tried to get her to go to her room.


    "I-I okay." Kadi was very conflicted as she was happy they were back and did not abandon her, but was stressed out about what happened.


    Kim led Kadi to her room and decided to stay with her to keep herpany while Akira and Lou treated Reia.


    Lou, having the most medical experience due to her hurting herself so much and having to patch her own wounds, was able to treat Reia. Stopping all of the bleeding, the immediate danger was over.


    Cleaning up most of the blood that was all over Reia, they were able to get a clear look at the mutant infection on her arms and legs.


    "It looks like she is slowly being infected." Lou saw it move ever so slightly getting further up Reia''s arm and legs.


    "Fuck what do we do." Akira shook a little as although Reia had lived through the nest, it seemed like she didn''t have much time to live.


    "Hmm it may be a crazy idea, but I think we might need to use your essence." Lou had a sudden thought when trying to think of ways to help Reia.


    "What? Are you crazy?" Akira was in a bit of disbelief as if he used his essence, could very well kill Reia in only a matter of seconds.


    "Yes, I am and thank you. Now listen to me, your essence can eat the slime that the mutant bodies are made of. What if you gave a very controlled dose of corruption onto where Reia is infected to eat it up." Lou''s idea wasn''t too far-fetched, but it was extremely dangerous as one slip-up would kill Reia.


    Akira bit his lip unsure what to do, as there was no real way to cure Reia and as of right now, was the only method they had.


    "If we don''t start now, we may run out of time." Lou wasn''t sure how long it will take for it to fully turn Reia, but the sooner the better.


    "Alright fine, it''s the best shot we have." Akira was determined to save Reia and although he could identally kill her, there was no better alternative.


    Grabbing a few small utensils to facilitate the corruption and precision needed, Akira sat down ready to start.


    Hope you enjoyed the fight scene, I wanted to make it longer, but it would have been Reia hit this mutant and kicked this one so hope you can imagine a mass murder to fill in that gap x) Shoomoon

 Chapter 50 Precision and results

    50 Precision and results


    Akira''s heart was racing as Reia''s life was in his hands and one small mistake will kill Reia.


    ''Will this even work?'' Akira was cautious of Lou''s idea, as he had never used his corruption in such a way.


    Taking a deep breath, Akira picked up a butter knife and coated the edge with his corruption. Looking at Reia''s arm, he was a little unsure where to start, but decided to go for the top of the arm, where the infection was moving.


    Lou who was unable to do anything left it all up to Akira and so she went to go get Reia a change of clothes as hers had been ruined.


    ''I swear if Akira doesn''t save her, I will kill him and her at the same time.'' Lou did not want anyone dying as she simply wouldn''t allow it and if they were, she wanted it to happen with her own hands.


    "Akira I will be going out to get some clothes, don''t you dare fuck up while I''m gone." Lou opened up the bunker and quickly left while leaving Akira a warning.


    "What a way to add to the already crushing pressure." Akira''s anxiety was spiking, but he did not let that stop him.


    ''You are the only one that can do this.'' Akira leaned in close and trying his best to keep a steady hand slowly approached the infection. It also was a surprise that Reia didn''t turn quickly, but that was a question to be answeredter.


    Touching the infection with the corruption, it had begun to eat it away slowly and since it was a low dose it fizzled out quickly.


    ''It covers a lot more area than I thought.'' Akira cleared a few inches of infection with only a small tap and it seemed the corruption was only going for the infection. This reassured him that it wouldn''t go astray and kill Reia unless he made direct contact with the skin.


    Spreading out his touches he had made great progress on clearing the infection at a rather fast rate. Even with a few close calls where he would touch too close to the skin, the corruption still aimed for the infection.


    ''There must be something about this infection and the slime it creates that makes my corruption target it.'' Akira, who thought he had a good grasp on his essence, felt like he was back to square one, knowing nothing about it now.


    Finishing up on Reia''s arm, Akira was relieved that Lou''s idea had worked.


    "I can''t believe it, I can stop the infection." Akira had gained quite a lot of confidence and so he quickly moved onto her other arm.


    <10 minutester>


    Akira had just finished off Reia''s legs and was about to move onto the tail Reia had acquired. Turning her on her stomach, Akira lifted her clothes to see if there was any infection on her back.


    To his surprise, it seemed like the tail was not infecting her as there were no signs of it moving. Still wanting to get rid of it, he went ahead and used corruption directly on the tail.


    However, upon touching the tail, it gave Akira an electric shock and the corruption quickly fizzled out.


    "What the hell?" Akira stood up, causing the chair to fall. His heart rate had quickened again, panicking that all his effort would be for nothing.


    ''Fuck.'' Not knowing what to do, he started to tear up as thoughts of Reia turning flooded his mind again, but she had suddenly shot up from the table.


    "ARGHH!" Screaming out in pain from her sudden movements, she was forced toy back down on her back.


    "Fuck that hurts and why am I on the table?" Reia looked around, trying to get her bearings and saw she was on the bunker dining table. Looking over to the side she spotted Akira who was on the verge of tears while staring at her.


    "W-wait I lived?" Reia was under the assumption she would have died after passing out as herst attack took thest bit of her energy and wasn''t sure if she would get through.


    "R-Reia." Akira was trying to keep it together as he was unsure if Reia was fine or not.


    Lifting her arms she no longer saw the mutant traits she had gained that had helped maintain the essence fox form she used.


    "Akira what happened?" Reia, not wasting any time, wanted to know what happened to her body after she passed out.


    Holding back tears, Akira picked up the chair and sat back down moving a little further away from the table. He then exined how the slime on her body was slowly covering her body and how he just used his corruption to get rid of it.


    *


    Slowly sitting up on the side of the table, Reia now had a better picture of what happened and her heart rate had also increased, but for an entirely different reason.


    ''Akira saved me.'' Letting her thoughts wander, she remembered what she mouthed to him before using the core, causing her to turn red.


    "Anyway, the only thing I couldn''t get rid of was your mutant tail and hey are you okay?" Akira held back the urge to hug Reia due to her injuries and was able to calm down while also keeping hisposure, but he noticed Reia''s face had turnedpletely red.


    "I''m fine, don''t worry, I don''t feel unwell and that second tail, I can control it like it''s one of my own." Looking over her shoulder, she wagged the mutant tail and felt nothing out of the ordinary. The change of topic also helped Reia not to focus on what she said while in the nest.


    "Hmm, okay." Akira trusted Reia''s word and although the tail was still suspicious, it was safe to assume it was not dangerous for now.


    "Now tell me, what did you say to me just before using the core?" Akira was confident in what Reia said, but he needed to confirm it for himself.


    ''Shit.'' Reia was hoping Akira didn''t remember and wanted to avoid the topic, but it seemed like she wouldn''t be able to escape it.


    Turning her head, Reia avoided any eye contact not wanting to say anything but had spoken anyway.


    "G-give me some time to think, I-I''m not ready to answer." Reia hadn''t expected toe out alive and so she mouthed some words to Akira, just so she didn''t have any feelings of regret.


    react.


    17:57


    *


    "Alright." Akira, always giving the space and time Reia needed, agreed to wait a bit longer.


    ''She really did say I love you.'' Akira felt a swirl of emotions inside him and he didn''t know how to really react.


    *


    Kim, who had decided to peek at what was happening, was trying to hold back her excitement about Reia''s recovery.


    ''YES, IT''S FINALLY HAPPENING!'' Screaming in her mind as the atmosphere of the room was full of tension and love, Kim couldn''t help but be happy that some progress was being made between them.


    However, because she had lost focus on trying to hide she identally swung the door open exposing herself.


    "Oh hey Kim." Akira had thought she had juste out and didn''t hear anything so he tried to act normal.


    "H-hey Kim." Reia''s voice was rather shaky as she hadn''t calmed down, but tried to act normal as well.


    "So is Reia all clear?" Kim realising that she hadn''t been found out tried to make it seem like she didn''t know Reia was okay. She had also felt anxious as she could see the mutant tail despite knowing there was no danger just yet.


    "For now Reia is okay and the tail is still unknown, but as far as we know, nobody is turning into a mutant." Akira saying it out loud, helped the reality sink in that Reia was okay and almost brought him back to tears.


    ''Damn it, now I''m the emotional one.'' Akira hadn''t been through such a rollercoaster of emotions and wondered if it was how Reia felt with her emotional immaturity.


    "Phew, now you need to just get some rest and heal up before we go back out." Kim felt relieved and now that the chaos had blown over it feels like they could rx again.


    "I can still move around, but my entire body is sore." Reia who wasn''t severely injured from the mutant attacks still had hindered her ability to move. The scratches and small bite marks that did not dig too deep also made it rather hard to turn without some part of her body hurting.


    "Oh, well Akira, why don''t you carry Reia to her room." Kim had a smug smile and Akira knew exactly why. Reia had also blushed, but she definitely wouldn''t mind as it was painful to move.


    "I wouldn''t mind a change of clothes though." Reia looked down and saw that her clothes had a bunch of holes and tears, but still just enough to cover her body.


    "Lou will be back soon with some extra clothes and is probably getting some for herself and Kim." Akira realised that they didn''t have many spare clothes and he would need to go out and look for some.


    "If that''s the case, please take me to my room." Reia looked down at the ground as she asked to hide her blush.


    "Heh." Kim looked at Akira and when she did he red back at her as if it was her idea in the first ce.


    Letting out a sigh, Akira got up from his seat and lifted Reia into a princess carry. Kim quickly pulled out her phone and took a photo as she realised that the camera would still work.


    Akira heard Kim, but because he was carrying Reia he was unable to do anything now and just had to leave Kim be.


    "Hehe." Kim quickly ran away back to Kadi''s room which was next to hers to avoid Akira.


    "Tch." Clicking his tongue he walked off carrying Reia who had gripped his clothes as this was her first time being carried like this before.


    ''Warm.'' Reia had felt ratherfortable and didn''t want to move from Akira''s arms.


    ''Maybe I should just say it.'' Reia considered just admitting what she said since she felt confident that the feelings she had were that of love.


    ''Every time I''m close or think about him, my heart and mind always wander and after he saved me, I felt this spark.'' Reia was convincing herself that she did feel something for Akira and she didn''t want to keep him waiting any longer.


    Akira walked into Reia''s room, putting her down lightly on the bed and before he could move away Reia grabbed onto his sleeve.


    "Can you stay for a little bit longer?" Reia didn''t want Akira to leave just yet.


    "Alright." Akira sat down on the edge of the bed wondering why Reia asked for him to stay.


    Reia sat up so she could see Akira better and took a deep breath.


    Akira looked away unsure what to say as it was rare for Reia to do anything like this.


    "Akira¡­" Reia leaned into Akira and as he turned his head to look, he felt a pair of hands pull his face in.


    There will be effects from the infection, but they are yet to be discovered, just have to be patient as not everything can fit in one chapter x)


    Shoomoon

 Chapter 51 First time

    51 First time Reia had pulled Akira in for a kiss and since it was their first time they had held it for 20 seconds, not wanting to stop.


    Akira was inplete shock, but he did not let himself ruin the moment and went along with it.


    Reia pulled away to get air and looked directly at Akira in the eyes.


    "Was that the answer you were looking for?" Reia was blushing severely, but she didn''t break eye contact and so did Akira.


    "It was beyond my expectations." Akira smiled and this time he couldn''t hold back the tears as he has been waiting for years for this day. Seeing ite to reality felt surreal to him and the bottled-up emotions hade pouring out.


    "O-oh, umm." Reia seeing Akira crying was unsure of what to do, as everything to do with rtionships waspletely foreign to her.


    ''AHHH, what do I do? It hasn''t even been 5 minutes and he is already crying. Do I hug him?'' Reia having an internal panic about what to do decided to do the first thing she thought of.


    Reaching her arms around Akira, ignoring the pain that came with it, she pulled his head into her chest. Akira had suddenly stopped crying from the sudden hug and started to hug Reia back.


    "Thank you." Akira didn''t have many words and despite the rather awkward position he was in thanks to his height, it did not bother him.


    "Aha, you have no idea how clueless I am right now, just d that I made the right choice." Reia wanted to be honest as this was territory she hasn''t been exposed to and didn''t want Akira building any false expectations.


    "I''m not surprised and it''s okay, I know this isn''t your sort of thing. I''m just incredibly happy and it seems like I just bursted after so many years of waiting." Akira was well aware that Reiacked knowledge and experience, so he knew it was going to take a while for things to progress.


    "I''m sorry that you had to wait so long." Reia had felt guilty as she had lost her emotions for so long and during the academy, rtionships were something that her parents had tried their best to hide from her.


    "Don''t me yourself, I was well aware of the situation and knew it would be a matter of time before I would be able to make any progress." Akira understood what it would take and he had taken the challenge, confident that one day he would finally be where he is now.


    "Still, even when I was an emotionless military husk, whenever you were around, I had the slight inkling of emotions." Reia thought back to her prime as a soldier and when she had done a mission with Akira for the first time.


    "Our first mission together, I seemingly kept it a priority to protect you and I wasn''t even aware of it. Only if I realised sooner, I wouldn''t have put you through that." Reia had also thought back to other times when simr situations urred and it surprised her how long it took her to realise her feelings.


    "We are here now so no use in regretting the past, let''s just enjoy the moment now while the world is falling apart aha." Akira couldn''t care less about the what-ifs and wanted to focus on the present.


    "You''re right. I''m d you waited for my emotional rollercoaster to stop." Reia started patting Akira''s head and smiled, feeling a lot more confidence in herself.


    However, the door suddenly swung open and a silver-haired she-wolf walked in.


    "Reia, I brought you some new clothes and where is that damn Aki-." Lou froze for a moment seeing the scene in front of her.


    "ARA~!! Am I seeing things or has it finally happened after all these years." Lou had to take a step back and rub her eyes as this was a scene she thought wouldn''t be possible for at least another year or so.


    Akira went to pull away, but Reia decided to take a stand and held him tighter.


    "Yes, and do you have a problem with that?" Reia red at Lou as now she had a ticket out of being teased.


    "Fufu~ not at all, I will leave these here and I will let you have your fun." Lou ced a few sets of clothes on the desk and swiftly exited the room while winking.


    "..." Reia had stayed silent as she was a little unsure what Lou meant, but assumed it had to do with going further with Akira.


    ''I will never escape the teasing.'' Reia internally sobbed as if her guess was correct, Lou would only have more things to tease her about.


    "Can''t¡­ breathe." Akira was being suffocated in Reia''s chest and because she was lost in thought, had held him even tighter.


    "Oh sorry." Reia quickly let go of Akira, whose face waspletely red as he never thought he would experience suffocation via someone''s chest.


    "It''s okay, I should let you get changed and cook you some food." Akira figured he should probably leave the room while she changed and get some food ready in the meantime.


    "Ahem yes." Reia blushed as she wasn''t quite ready for anything that intimate.


    Akira nodded and quickly leaned in, kissing Reia on the forehead before exiting the room.


    Reia a little surprised, put her hands where Akira kissed her and felt extremely happy.


    "Hehe~"


    *


    Reia slowly got up from the bed and went over to the desk where Lou had put down sets of clothes.


    ''Lou seemed to have got clothes for everything.'' Reia looked through them and found clothes that were identical to her ruined ones as well as some casual wear for when they were in the bunker.


    Picking out the casual wear which was a purple t-shirt with some random ck patterns on it and a pair of shorts that were a little too short for her liking. However, a thought urred to her about the shorts she was given.


    ''I wonder if Akira would like it?'' Realising what she had just thought, quickly shook her head out of embarrassment.


    ''Damn it, Lou isn''t even her and she is still teasing me just through clothes.'' Reia decided to me it on Lou as she was the one to pick out the clothes.


    *


    Changing into the clothes anyway and cing the old ones on the desk, she had finished changing. Wanting to see what she looks like, walked over to a full-body mirror that was ced next to what seemed like a closet.


    Turning around while trying to not hurt herself, looked at the new mutant tail she got.


    ''Hmm it doesn''t seem too bad, but I wonder why it stayed.'' Reia moved her mutant tail around once again, still curious about what it meant to have one.


    ''Well, at least it still matches my hair.'' Reia was d that the tail had purple glowing lines throughout instead of the usual green mutants have.


    ''Now let''s hope it doesn''t be an inconvenience.'' Reia now having 2 tails was unsure how it would affect her physically and hoped it wouldn''t get in the way, as having one was already a hassle to get used to when she was younger.


    Reia then sat back down, waiting for Akira to return.


    *


    "Eh? Why are you out here? I expected to be hearing "Oh Akira!" right after I left." Lou smirked and was sitting on the couch with Kim and Kadi.


    "Oh shut up." Akira who had also hoped for the teasing to stop was realising that it was most likely going to be worse and more frequent.


    "Ohh finally they were no longer being stubborn." Kadi had spoken up and was still unsure if what Lou said was true about Akira.


    "Heh, I know right? I have been telling him to hurry up, but he never listened to me." Kim also joined in and Akira was now regretting even leaving Reia''s room.


    Continuing to the kitchen trying to ignore the 3 annoyances in themon room, he went ahead and cooked some food. However, Lou followed as she wasn''t done teasing Akira.


    "Come ooon~, tell me, what happened while I was gone." Lou wanted to know everything as Reia had been cleared of the infection and suddenly started dating Akira in such a short time.


    "Well your ideas worked extremely well and I was able to get rid of it in about 15 minutes or so." Trying not to entertain her, he gave the driest responses and made sure to not say anything that could lead to him being teased.


    "Geh, tell me the more interesting stuff." Lou was happy that Reia had recovered, but she was much keener on the details that happened between them.


    "There isn''t much to say."


    "Surely you said some cheesy line and swayed Reia''s heart and finally confessed your feelings."


    "Yeah, no."


    "Tsk you''re no fun." Lou sat up on the kitchen bench, getting annoyed that Akira wouldn''t say anything.


    *Sigh* "If you really want to know, I carried Reia to her room and when I was about to leave she asked me to stay. Then she pulled me in for a kiss." Giving up, he exined it to Lou as it would only be a matter of time before she went to annoy Reia about it.


    "Ooo~ so Reia was the one to make a move, how bold." Lou hadn''t expected Reia to take the initiative since she was an emotional mess and thought it would stop her from doing anything.


    "Now go away."


    "Hehehe~, I''ll leave you be for now." Lou now having some valuable information was going to save it forter.


    "Good." Akira sighed and finished cooking food for Reia.


    Lou had returned to the couch sitting next to Kim who was trying to listen in on the conversion.


    "Good luck Akira~." Kim had a smug grin while she waved at Akira as he entered the hallway to Reia''s room.


    *


    Walking back into Reia''s room, he handed the food to her and sat down on the edge of the bed again.


    hungry than expected.


    20:16


    "Thank you." Reia began to eat and devoured the food rtively quickly since she was a lot more hungry than expected.


    "Good thing I cooked a bit extra." Akira suspected that Reia would be rather hungry after she had killed off an entire nest all by herself.


    "Oops." Reia wanted to preserve as much food as she could and now felt bad for eating so much.


    "Oh well, if you''re all okay now, I will head back to my room." Akira wanted to get some rest as he felt exhausted from today''s events and sleep was calling him.


    "Oh okay¡­. H-how about moving into m-my room?" Reia felt extremely nervous asking and although she wasn''t sure if she was ready for such a thing, she wanted to feel the same warmth from when he carried her.


    Akira was at a loss for words as it came out of nowhere and was something he didn''t expect to happen so soon.


    "Y-you don''t have to¡­ But I kinda liked the warmth from when you carried me." Reia quickly spoke and trailed off her voice, half hoping Akira didn''t hear.


    "Uhh, Sure." Akira wasn''t going to say no and was more trying toprehend what was happening.


    "Let me go get change first then I will be back." Akira needed to change into moreforting clothes for sleeping, so he quickly went to his room to change.


    ''AHHH I actually asked him, what the hell am I doing.'' Reia had no idea where her newfound confidence wasing from and was surprised at herself for being so assertive.


    *


    ''Just don''t think about it and everything will be fine.'' Trying to calm herself down Reia jumped a little at the sudden opening of the door.


    Akira hade in with a white t-shirt and ck boxer shorts.


    "Are you sure you are going to be fine with all your injuries?" Akira was unsure if it would be painful for Reia if they were to sleep together.


    "Don''t worry about it." Reia didn''t mind and so she moved over so Akira could get in.


    "Alright." Akira hoped Reia would be okay and hopped in bed with her. Laying down Akira had taken the initiative this time and put his arm under Reia''s head. Naturally getting into position, Reia snuggled into Akira and the same feeling of warmth she felt before came back.


    Closing her eyes Reia, a few minutes had passed and she quickly passed out, but Akira was having a much harder time.


    ''I can''t believe this is happening.'' Everything had been a blur for Akira and was finding it hard to sleep as the realisation of what was happening started to kick in.


    ''I hope I can get some sleep.''


    Hope it wasn''t overbearing or cringe the rtionship.


    Shoomoon

 Chapter 52 Movement within the city

    52 Movement within the city


    <Outskirts of the city>


    A Japanese shrine-like structure that had survived the many earthquakes and cracks that appeared throughout the city, was currently the headquarters of one of the top families.


    Inside the main building on the top floor was a tatami room which was rather bare of furniture only having a table in the middle that was upied by 4 people.


    "So far we have gotten most of our members back, but we are still missing Reia, Akira and a few others that were in the military." A white-haired fox girl that had a ck eye patch was sitting at the end of a table. She wore a white shirt and a grey jacket that had bright blue ents which matched her eyes. She also wore a skirt that had bright blue edges and a katana holstered to her side.


    Around the table were other fox girls with varying hair colours and each of them wielding unique katanas.


    "I doubt they died unless they were directly caught in the st." A brown-haired fox had spoken up and was sitting in a rather rxed position while leaning on her katana.


    "Especially Reia, she is our pride and joy of the Nekane family branch and her skills are too valuable to lose." A ck-haired fox that had simr purple underneath to that of Reia also joined in the conversation.


    "It''s a shamemunication is down otherwise, we could have taken advantage of Reia''s obedience, but I heard just before the copse she betrayed the military." The white fox wasn''t sure as she was getting a report on what was happening with Reia, but the line was cut short.


    "They tried to assassinate her after doing that highly ssified mission, but I didn''t know what they were expecting when they tried eliminating her. Of course, she would betray them and if anything, would have broken our rtionship with the damn scumbags at the military." The ck fox girl knew what was happening as she got live updates right as it was happening and knew Reia was on the run.


    "We were waiting for a reason to break the contract anyway." An orange-haired fox girl that sat at the opposite end of the table finally joined in the conversation.


    "Indeed, but you can''t deny without their funding we wouldn''t have been able to produce the swords we have." The white fox lifted her Katana and the orange hair had nothing to say in response.


    "Moving on. With everything getting sorted out here, I believe we can send some people to search the city for Reia and other members of the family?" The brown-haired fox proposed to send some of their members to look for people as their numbers were rather low at the moment.


    "I believe we are ready, just make sure to fill them in on who they are looking for and key traits as the katanas of the missing members should have the crest on it." The white fox put her hand on her chin while trying to think of other things that they may need.


    "Alright I will go find some people and hopefully they can return with some people and if not I think we will have to go out ourselves." The brown fox stood up and brushed herself off of any dust.


    "I will leave it to you then." The white fox nodded and the brown fox left the room.


    "If we have nothing else to discuss then we will return to our post and tomorrow we meet back here." The white fox dismissed the meeting and they all left the room except for one.


    ''We need to get Reia''s sword back.'' The white fox looked at her sword which had the initials R.N on the hilt.


    ***


    <Rebel base - The mall>


    "Have the supply team returned?" Edina was on the second floor of the mall, looking out to the ruined car park where they had fought off the horde.


    "No idea, but they should be returning today." The old headmaster was sitting behind Edina while smoking.


    "How useless can you be Griffith?" Edina turned to the old man who was justzing about.


    "What do you want me to do? It''s not like I canmunicate with them." Clenching his fists, he did not appreciate Edina''s attitude and wanted her to just shut up.


    "We are on a tight schedule here and we can''t be wasting time sitting around smoking fucking cigarettes!" Edina smacked the cigarette out of Griffith''s hand as the pressure of running the base had made her rather short-tempered.


    "You fucking bitch!" Griffith had about enough and went to pin Edina to the ground.


    "You wouldn''t dare do anything." Edina had achieved a higher position than Griffith after surviving the horde of mutants without anyone dying. The leaders of the rebels deemed her worthy, making her jump ranks that had taken some years.


    "Watch me." Griffith grabbed Edina by the shoulders and tried to push her to the ground. However, she did not move at all,pletely unaffected by his push.


    "Heh, how about this." Griffith smirked and went to go for Edina''s chest.


    knowing exactly what he was doing, she swept his legs and created a blood de out of essence. Kneeling, she held the de to his neck, almost slicing it.


    "Don''t ever touch me and if you think you can do what you want, I will have your head." Edina red at Griffith and a slight red glow appeared in her grey eyes. Leaving a small cut on his neck as a warning, she got up and left him toy on the floor.


    Beingpletely speechless, he had frozen in ce, trying to calm down.


    ''That damn old man, the longer we wait the longer it takes to find those two vixens.'' Edina had wanted to begin expeditions outside, but they needed to set up the base so it was sufficient while she was out hunting.


    ''I will kill them.''


    ***


    <Bunker>


    Akira had managed to fall asleep and had gotten quitefortable as after getting over the embarrassment, he was able to enjoy the moment.


    Lou, Kim and Kadi on the other hand were still up and were using the small gym that was in the bunker.


    Kadi had been forced to use some of the machines to build up some muscles and so she wasn''tpletely helpless. Kim thought it was rather pointless, but when she thought about how Kadi would most likely take after Lou''s fighting style, it would be better if she built some strength.


    "I can''t¡­ do any¡­ more." Kadi was out of breath and her arms were inplete pain from doing a few sets.


    "Ohe on~ one more time, I''m sure you can do it." Lou wanted to push Kadi as far as she could and although Lou was telling her to do more if Kadi believed it was enough, then she would stop.


    Thinking about it, Kadi had taken a couple of minutes break before she tried to push through one more set, but this time she could only get halfway through as her arms reached their limit.


    "Good~ Now for your legs." Lou smiled as a bit of dread appeared on Kadi''s face since she thought that it would be over.


    Reluctantly walking over to the leg workout machine, she sat in it and took a moment to let herself rest.


    "Whenever you are ready." Lou allowed her to have a break and stood back to talk to Kim.


    "Fufu~ she is rather obedient despite her snappy attitude." Lou noticed that Kadi would do whatever she said, but would also be a brat about it.


    "Isn''t it obvious? She likes you but is too afraid to admit it." Kim had realised for a while now and found Kadi''s attitude rather cute.


    "Oi, I can still hear you!" Kadi pouted as she could still hear them and felt embarrassed from being exposed so openly.


    "Heh." Both Lou and Kim looked at Kadi with a grin as now she was getting teased.


    "I-I." Kadi looked away, having nothing else to say as it seemed like they were doing it on purpose.


    *


    Kadi began her leg exercises and Lou kept talking to Kim while she waited for Kadi to finish her set.


    "Wonder what those 2 lovebirds are doing." Lou was really expecting to hear some noises, but it had beenplete silence.


    "Well Reia is too injured, so I doubt they would be doing anything." Kim knew that Reia could hardly move without it hurting so for them to be doing anything sounded unreasonable.


    "Tsk, here I am waiting for some more material to tease them with." Lou had no reason to hold back now and wanted to tease them as much as possible.


    "Sheesh, don''t go too hard on them, they only just started and you know Reia is new to this so don''t go filling her head with things that are unnecessary." Kim felt rather worried as Reia seemed like the type to do something if it''s suggested.


    "Oh but that''s the n~." Lou however, wanted to take advantage of this and have Reia do embarrassing things.


    "Please don''t go too far." Kim facepalmed as although it was entertaining, she didn''t want to put Reia through such a thing.


    "PfftHaha, I won''t be that mean. I will give her genuine help, but I have to sprinkle in a few things that will create a rather embarrassing situation hehe~." Lou couldn''t wait as being in the bunker won''t be as dull as she thought it would be.


    ''Maybe I should try to interfere.'' Kim had thought about trying to stop Reia from doing anything too bad, but she had to wait and see what Lou would get her to do.


    ''May result in punishment from Lou, but I see that as a win fufu~.'' Kim having her own n to help Reia, as well as get some punishment, Kim considered she would do it anyway even if it isn''t all that bad.


    "Urgggg, I already feel like dying." Kadi had finished and her legs were shaking.


    "30 seconds rest." Lou called out and started to count to make sure Kadi didn''t get any extra time for resting.


    ''When will this torture be over.'' Kadi felt determined to do it, but the pain had caused her to dread the exercise and right now only wanted to sleep.


    "Go!" Lou finished counting and Kadi pushed through the pain trying her best to finish another set.


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    Shoomoon

 Chapter 53 Looking for members and Kadis first shot

    53 Looking for members and Kadi''s first shot


    A week had passed and Reia was finally recovered enough to go outside. During this time Lou and Kim had kept training Kadi and some results were starting to show. Akira on the other hand had nursed Reia back to health and had gotten a lot morefortable with each other. He had also gone out and made sure their food was always topped up and gotten more clothes for himself and some for Reia as she requested for some.


    Sitting on the couches, Reia exined what had happened in the nest with the core and how it allowed her to use essence on her own body.


    "So the mutant parts you had, actually made it so you didn''t have any side effects?" Kim was finding it hard to believe, but since it was Reia, she just had to believe.


    "I feltpletely fine, but I will point out that I was injured a lot by the mutants so I don''t know if the core infected me or it was the mutants." The potential of the core was still dangerous and without using it in an isted environment, made some details still blurry. Reia also wanted to believe it was safe and that because of the injuries that the infection stayed.


    "We will need to find another nest and I don''t want to be going through those caves, so we should probably explore the city some more." Lou wanted a core for herself as from what Reia said it had improved her essence.


    "I''m unsure if anything has improved, but as far as I can tell my essence capacity has increased and feels a lot more vtile." Reia who has been on home arrest for a week hasn''t had the chance to test her essence.


    "I don''t think we should go out of our way to look for one, but definitely should keep these locations in mind." Akira who sat next to Reia would rather focus on other things than clearing the nest.


    "We need to get everyone together before we even attempt one again as I barely survived." Reia would have liked to obtain more cores for the squad, but as it stands, it was a miracle that she lived.


    "Well how about we try to look for Aoi and the others then?" Kim figured they may as well search the city some more and since they have been in the bunker for about a week, everyone has been itching to get out.


    "Mhm I agree, we need to backtrack towards gates 12 and 11 which is rather far, seeing as we are at gate 2." Reia wanted to make the journey and map out the city a bit more despite them having to leave the bunker possibly for a couple of days.


    "It''s very unlikely that we will run into them, but it isn''t a bad idea." Lou didn''t like their chances but wasn''t opposed to some more exploring.


    "Sounds like a n. We will leave tomorrow, so make sure we are all packed and ready to go." Everyone nodded agreeing with Reia''s decision. So she sunk back into the couch and leaned into Akira as serious discussions were over.


    "Geh." Kadi, who was lying in Kim''sp, turned around to avoid seeing their affection.


    "Pfft." Kim chuckled as what Kadi was doing right now was no better than them.


    "Well seeing as we will be leaving you alone, will you be alright with keeping your routine?" Lou didn''t n to take Kadi just yet as she still struggled to get essence into her hands and into Klein''s gun.


    "But I want toe!" Kadi had thought she wasing and hearing that she would be locked up in the bunker even longer, protested against staying.


    "I think we should let her go out." Kim didn''t see an issue and if they were to give Kadi a normal pistol, she would be able to somewhat use it.


    "I don''t have an issue as long as you protect her." Reia didn''t really mind as it wasn''t dangerous where they were going.


    "Hmmm, fine, but are you sure you can cope?" Lou knew Kadi had some trauma with the mutants and didn''t know how she would react if she saw one.


    "I-I think so." Kadi believed she would be able to handle it, but there was no way of knowing until she went out.


    "Klein did have a pistol on her which shouldn''t be a special model, unlike her MP7, so as long as you can get essence into your hand then it should be okay." Akira knew that it took much more concentration and more refined essence to use specialised weapons, but things like basic pistols were easy to use for anyone.


    "Seeing as she has made great progress she should be able to use it." Reia had the same thoughts and if Kadi was able to move her essence, then there was a high chance of her being able to use one.


    Kadi had sat up with her eyes shining as she wanted to be able to use a gun since it was her main goal for trying to cultivate her essence in the first ce.


    "Please?" Kadi turned to Lou looking at her full of excitement.


    Lou struggled at finding a reason to not let her go and didn''t want to shatter her hopes of leaving.


    *Sigh* "Fine, you cane." Caving into the rather cute side Kadi had just shown, she decided to see this as a reward for all her hard work.


    "YES!" Kadi jumped off the couch in excitement and ran to her room to get ready.


    "Does she even know how to hold a gun?" Reia who has been rather disconnected from her training didn''t know exactly how much progress she has made.


    Lou and Kim both looked away avoiding Reia''s gaze as they just realised they hadn''t taught her anything like that.


    "Well, I guess we can teach her along the way." Reia rubbed her forehead as it was going to be either a headache or Kadi would pick it up quickly.


    "It''s not our problem." Akira wrapped his arm around Reia, not concerned about the issue as Kadi wasn''t their responsibility.


    "True, good luck Lou and Kim." Reia followed along and made sure all responsibility fell upon the two.


    "Tsk." Lou couldn''t argue as they agreed before taking in Kadi that Reia and Akira are not obliged to look after her.


    "The spare pistol should be on top of the cab in the kitchen." Akira told them where he had put it and everyone was rather confused by its location.


    "What? I put it up high so a sneaky brat didn''t get it." Akira saw the rather confused looks and borated further on why he did it. So after exining everyone shook their heads and Kadi pouted as she knew exactly who Akira was referring to.


    *


    Everyone had gotten into their tactical clothes and were now just outside the bunker double checking they had everything.


    "Now Kadi, I will give you the pistol, but first we need you to have a little practice." Kim had been bestowed upon the responsibilities of teaching Kadi and although Kim thought Lou would have been a better fit.


    "Mhm." Kadi vigorously shook her head and carefully took the pistol from Kim''s hand. Examining the pistol she got, it was a P226R which was a standard pistol that everyone carried as a backup weapon or if their essence was low.


    Kim then proceeded to get Kadi out on the street and guided her on how to hold the pistol.


    "Now try to move your essence into your hands and the pistol should fill itself up." Kim stood behind Kadi and was holding her hands to keep them steady.


    Concentrating on using her essence, Kadi slowly moved it to her hands and the white line on the handle began to glow. Trying to contain her excitement she made sure she followed every single instruction.


    "Alright now try to line up the sight at one of the windows." Kim pointed at a store that still had some windows.


    Kadi concentrated on lining up the dots at the window. The pistol was now full of essence and Kim was making sure her hands were steady.


    Pulling the trigger a white essence bullet came out of the gun and went straight for the window. The recoil of the gun was not too much for Kadi to handle and thanks to Kim holding her hands, had kept the gunpletely still.


    The bullet flew through the air and hit the window in the middle,pletely shattering it.


    "Yes!" Kadi jumped up in excitement and Kim couldn''t help smiling.


    "Now make sure you don''t identally fire, so get your finger off the trigger. Only have it on the trigger once you are going to make a shot as we don''t want you hitting us by ident." Kim had gone over some fundamental rules and although it was for self-defence, it was better safe than sorry.


    Kadi instantly did what Kim said and made sure her finger wasn''t near the trigger.


    "Nice shot~." Lou was impressed and although with Kim''s help, being able to fire a gun at 13 years old was not something many could do as in military school it wouldn''t be till you were 16.


    "Hehe~ thank yo- ahem of course it was a nice shot." Kadi was pleased to get praise from Lou, but she didn''t want to give up her bratty persona.


    "Ehhh~ what was that? Come ooon, Say it again~." Lou did not let what Kadi said slip by and leaned into her face trying to get an answer.


    "Hmph." Kadi''s face was red and turned her head to get away from Lou''s face.


    "Tsssk, one day." Lou did not want to waste much more time as Reia and Akira were out in the street waiting.


    Kim shook her head at the scene, realising that Kadi only acted this way towards Lou and found Kadi would only break character with Kim.


    "You guys done? She can practiceter on some mutants since we can disable them." Reia called out seeing that they were done practising and were back to teasing.


    "Ooo good idea, next mutant we find, try to make it so it can''t attack." Lou liked Reia''s idea of disabling the mutants as it will be a great way for Kadi to get her first kill and get over her trauma.


    Kadi hearing this idea was intrigued, but also a little terrified. Kim had put her hand on her shoulder to provide a littlefort and also a bit of encouragement.


    "Alright we will try, but no guarantees as they seem to travel by packs rather than by themselves." Reia had noticed that mutants were always in groups and the lowest you would see is a pair.


    "That shouldn''t be an issue, now let''s get going, we don''t have all day." Lou wanted to get a move on and so Reia started to move. Everyone followed Reia with Akira by her side and they began to make their way towards gate 12.

 Chapter 54 Rebel activity

    54 Rebel activity


    Traversing further out in the city, Reia and the squad had not encountered any mutants or rebels. They had only passed by some desperate survivors, but all they could do was brush them off and keep walking.


    Kadi looked like she wanted to help, but Lou would re at her to not do anything.


    ''Why can''t we help them?'' This question had gued her mind and was trying to think why.


    Kim had noticed the bit of anguish on Kadi''s face and assumed it had something to do with the survivors.


    ''Urg not this moral dilemma.'' Kim assumed it had to do with who to save and who not to save.


    ''Such a harsh reality for someone so young.'' She also was saddened by the scene as someone like Kadi shouldn''t be going through this and let alone be training to shoot a gun.


    ''No matter, we have to do what we can, it would have only been a matter of time before Kadi would have been stripped of her innocence by the world.'' Kim didn''t want to tell the harsh truths, but they were surrounded by the copsing world and it would be pointless to try to hide it.


    Leaning over to quietly talk to Kadi to not anger any of the survivors nearby, Kim started to give reasons for their squad''s coldness.


    "It''s a hard reality, but we have to ignore them. I know you may ask why we saved you, but never feel responsible for other people''s lives just because it happened to you." Kim started with a warning as many recruits that enter war always have this thought especially when ites to other people''s lives.


    Kadi looked up at Kim while biting her lip, trying to not show any emotion. Kim then patted her head while walking and continued to talk.


    "I know you may have a pure soul that wants to save them, but now you have to be selfish and protect those close to you. Of course, there are exceptions like you, but doing it for everyone will create a burden you will not be able to carry."


    "Although this may sound horrible, you have to consider how this person will help you and before you ask about you that''s because Lou is crazy so her reasons make no sense. However, you have shown to be a great soldier, so you can say you''re much more beneficial to us than Akira or even Reia thought." Kim knew what she was saying was rather contradictory to Kadi''s situation, but there is room for exceptions and her advice is toy down a base foundation for Kadi to go off.


    "I-I understand. So I should act for my own benefit and not reach out to people blindly." Kadi was processing what Kim was saying and putting it on her own terms.


    "Yes, but you can be selfless, don''t think this is a rule you must follow. It would be better to think of it as a guide and change your mindset to always put yourself first when making a decision especially when out on the battlefield."


    "Hmm I see." Kadi was taking it all in and now having a new perspective it was a lot easier to look at the survivors and not be saddened.


    "Now don''t be emotionless. Reia became like that and let''s say, it is not the most enjoyable experience, so make sure to never lose yourself." Kim smiled hoping she got the message across and since they were out, she couldn''t talk about it for long, but if they were back at the base she would have talked for hours about the subject.


    Kadi looked down at herself and gripped the pistol that was in her hand harder.


    **


    The squad were now getting close to gate 12 and had run into mutants but were unable to trap any for Kadi. To their surprise though, she had held on a lot stronger and the trauma was not affecting her as much.


    Despite not physically looking scared, Kadi had been freaking out on the inside, but thanks to being by Kim''s side who stood back made it easier to bear.


    "We should be able to see gate 12 soon." Reia tried getting an angle on the military base, but the area they were in was with much taller buildings making it much harder to see where they are.


    "You said Echo split off at gate 1 and Aoi should have been at gate 12 or at least 11?" Akira wanted to confirm some information as Echo could be in the potential area.


    "We did split off at that point, but honestly I do not know much about his position. For all we know he could be at gate 9." Reia thought back to how a part of the military tower crashed in between them and after that, there was no way of telling where he went.


    "We can only search and maybe even leave a sign." Akira wasn''t a part of Reia''s so he didn''t know if they had some special symbol they could use.


    "We don''t have any of the sorts." Lou had spoken up and although she had her wolf symbol it was only something between her and Kim.


    "We will just continue to search, although if we had Aoi it would make our lives much easier." Reia knew Aoi was one of the best scouts in the military and finding a target was something easy for her.


    "I can see Aoi just appearing in our bunker." Kim had found Aoi rather scary as she had a rather huntress nature to her. Not to be confused with Lou who was much more forward with her hunting, Aoi would stalk and wait for the right moment to strike.


    "She could potentially find us first, but that depends where she is as it could take weeks for her to search a part of the city just to find nothing." Lou pointed out a habit of Aoi which was she did not leave a single stone unturned, so no matter what, she would search every corner.


    "We are leaving a mark by fighting so hopefully if she is searching can get a lead through that." Akira did not have much experience with Aoi and only knew she was just as bad as Lou when it came to teasing.


    "How about we purposely lead obvious signs that it was us that "fought" in the area?" Kadi took a rather straightforward approach and it was the most sound idea.


    "She does know everything about us." Reia tried thinking of a way to leave a mark that is rather typical of them in a fight which could help Aoi if she was looking for clues.


    "Other than leaving essence marks, like my lightning and craters from Kim''s explosions, there isn''t much we can do." It was difficult to think of a mark as leaving anything physical behind would just lead to it being taken away.


    "We will just do that then." Akira figured they may as well since it was better than doing nothing. Reia nodded her head as there was no other way to show signs of their fighting other than their essence.


    "Kim? You ready to put some ho-." Reia was cut off by the sudden shout of someone in the distance.


    "HORDE OF MUTANTS, SAVE YOUR ESSENCE AND KEEP MOVING BACK."


    Looking down the street, Reia assumed the group she saw, was that of rebels judging from the general red colour scheme.


    "Everyone hide." Reia did not want to bother fighting and since it was Rebels, it was better to let them die and wait for the horde to move on.


    Entering one of the office buildings that were in rtively good shape, they all made their way to the upper floors to get an angle on the Rebels.


    16:31


    upper floors to get an angle on the Rebels.


    Looking down at the street they were on, the Rebels all carried a giant bag on their backs that looked full of supplies. It also shared the same red theme which was the main colour of the Rebels alongside a symbol of an eagle.


    "It must be a supply-run group." The big bags had told Reia everything and seeing the amount of them looked like a big supply run for an entire camp.


    "Rather bold to be shouting though." Akira, hearing what seemed to be the leader of the group shout, couldn''t help but see him as an idiot.


    "Better them than us, I say we jump down there and fight, but seeing them suffer from here is also great." Lou licked her lips as she attentively watched the Rebels struggle. She would have preferred to be in the action but was entertained enough to sit back and watch withoutining.


    Kadi had felt a shiver from Lou as she could feel a menacing vibee from her. Kadi had also leaned into Kim''s ear whispering.


    "How can you date such a scary woman? I know she is hot, but I don''t see how she is your type." Kadi wanted to know why Kim dated Lou and since Kadi was unaware of Kim''s tastes, it was hard to exin the specifics without exining the many terms Kim would be too embarrassed to say out loud.


    "I-I uhhh, maybe another time." Kim blushed not wanting to delve into the reasons as it was embarrassing and wouldn''t be able to stop.


    "I guess if you''re happy then it''s okay." Kadi having a soft spot for Kim did not pursue it any further despite her burning curiosity.


    "Haha, thank you." Kim awkwardlyughed and scratched the back of her head.


    "If they survive we should go down and eliminate them." Reia wanted to cut some of their supplies as it would dy them from making a move.


    "If they are already doing runs like this then we should be seeing rebels roam the streets more. It also wouldn''t surprise me if we start seeing top families start to rise now that it has been a few weeks." Akira had thought back to Klein and how her family would be after him.


    "We are near the mall, so we should definitely be more careful while exploring, we don''t want people following us and although they most likely can''t get in, they can very well trap us."


    "Indeed, we should be a bit more discrete since we have been rather rxed as ofte."


    Reia and Akira continued to talk about ways to avoid being followed, so they wouldn''t have to deal with anyone right outside their front door.


    Lou on the other hand was watching the fight enjoying the ants down below struggling for survival.


    "Fufu~e on little insects, struggle more for me." A sadistic look appeared on Lou''s face and Kadi who was watching looked at Kim wanting to ask the same question.


    ''How the hell did you end up with her?'' Kadi did not speak out loud to not get attention, but she wanted answers.


    Although she looked up to Lou and her power, this was a side that Kadi wasn''t sure if she looked up to or not.


    "Oooo~! Looks like they are finally killing the mutants." Lou called out as suddenly they had given up on restricting their essence and decided to go all out.


    "Alright let''s go to the first floor and attack them when they pass." Reia did not want to waste any time as the supplies they had would be useful to them.


    "Heh my turn to cause some fear." Lou was excited and hade up with many ways to deal with the rebels. This would also be Lou and Kim''s first proper fight with the rebels since the apocalypse, making it more exciting for Lou.


    Making their way downstairs, they had got Kadi to stay hidden behind the reception desk while the rest waited by the entrance ready to pounce on their targets.


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