Chapter 39: Chase
Maki made a hard turn back to our previous lane, trading the wreckage-packed road and its penchant for constant ambushes for more open terrain.
The decision just had the slight disadvantage of putting us on a straight collision course with the rapidly approaching horde.
Lily had taken to actively scanning the wreckages in front of us as she ran.
"Ambush ahead!"
Lily shouted, pointing toward the remains of a car.
We carved as wide of a path around it as we could without losing much momentum. The sound of flesh crashing into metal sounded not too far behind.
For whatever reason, I gave into temptation and glanced behind me.
The horde was right behind us.
Three fleshier, long-limbed variants were the closest. Racing on all fours, their skin stretched tautly across the snouts of their humanoid skulls, as they snarled at us.
More specifically, they snarled at me.
I was in the rear, after all.
’Why the fuck did I choose this position?’
In the end, I could only sigh in retrospect. There’d be time for regret if I survived this.
Right now, I had to find a way to slow the bastards down. They were gaining on me fast.
I looked forward, ahead of Maki, at two truck remains lying side by side with a gap in the middle.
Suddenly, I had an idea.
I waited for Lily’s analysis.
"Clear!"
The moment she said that, I called out.
"Maki! Set up a trip, they’re gaining on us!"
The girl gave no words in reply, but she stepped to the side in front of the gap, allowing Lily and I to overtake her.
The moment we did, I turned around as well, crossbow at the ready.
Maki had already launched two pairs of strings to the bottom of both trucks by then. She quickly connected the separate pieces in her hands, seamlessly fusing them to form a layered trip.
I wasted no time leveling my crossbow at the leading Runner, not even bothering to target any specific part of its body before pulling the trigger.
"Don’t they dissipate the moment you release them?"
"They do, but not immediately if I infuse essence."
Neither of us waited to see the results of our actions, as we both bolted the next instant.
However, the sounds of bodies crashing and tumbling into each other behind us, and the fact that we weren’t immediately mauled by the rabid monsters, assured me we’d somewhat succeeded.
Neither of us ran any slower at the realization though. If anything, we picked up speed to get as much of a lead on the monsters before they recovered.
At that pace, it didn’t take long for Maki to surpass me. Lily still lay ahead of her though.
Just when Maki was starting to catch up with her as well, the snow beside Lily suddenly burst open.
Five clawed hands attached to the same torso reached for the girl, and Maki wasn’t in range to intercept any of them.
I hadn’t reloaded my crossbow since firing at the horde either.
Just when I feared the worst would happen to her, Lily shocked me by swinging an axe at the thing.
It was a careless, panicked swing, but it was enough to deflect the abomination. She froze in shock after that.
Luckily, Maki reached her then, patting her shoulder as she passed her by, shaking the girl out of her stupor.
I screamed.
"RUN!"
That finally did it, as Lily shook her head then started running again, trailing behind Maki this time.
I followed closely.
---
We ran for nearly half an hour, weaving between wreckages, constantly switching lanes and narrowly avoiding ambushes before we came upon the city.
I was just about done with life by then.
I breathed heavily as I forced myself to jog down the path, while holding onto my crossbow for dear life.
I’d been tempted to straight up abandon the thing more than once, but that would be throwing our shot at killing the Predator right into the gutter.
So I held.
I never imagined I’d be thankful to that Shang bastard for his brutal methods.
But life had this awful tendency of crapping on expectations, and here I was. Only standing due to Shang’s training, and my exercises.
Eventually, the looming silhouette of the city finally transitioned into grey concrete shapes.
As we neared the ruins of an apartment building on the outermost ring, my legs suddenly gave out beneath me.
I barely managed to toss my crossbow to the side, before I crashed straight into the snow.
I ripped the scarf off my face as a wave of nausea suddenly crashed into me, making me wretch to the side.
My arms shook violently, as I spilled the contents of my stomach onto the floor, nearly collapsing into the pool of my own vomit.
It left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Although I still felt the urge to dry wretch, I forced it down before shakily wiping my mouth with gloved hands.
Looking up, through bleary eyes, I found both Maki and Lily running toward me. I blinked away my watery eyes before they could reach me.
"Victor! Are you alright?"
"What happened?"
I tried standing up, only to stumble halfway through. Luckily, Maki was there to catch me in time, lending me a shoulder before I could faceplant in the floor.
Still, I replied.
"I’ll tell you later. We need to get to shelter first."
She paused, looking at my exposed face before nodding and walking toward the building. Lily trailed behind us with my scarf and crossbow.
We crossed the main road before reaching our target building. It was a blocky apartment complex with somewhat intact windows, and the bottom of its front door buried behind a small pile of snow.
Maki glanced at me.
"Do you think you can stand on your own now?"
I glanced at my legs before deciding to answer honestly.
"No, not really."
I was ninety percent sure I’d just collapse again.
Nodding, the girl gently transferred me to Lily, before walking to the door, rapier drawn.
She knocked once, then asked.
"Lily?"
"No movement."
She reached to test the handle, only for the door to silently slide open the moment she touched it, revealing the dim lobby behind it.
She took out her flashlight, carefully stepped over the snow and entered the room. The girl was out in less than two minutes.
"Ground floor is clear."
Lily stepped forward at that, helping me over the pile of snow as we stepped in.
Being within the safety of four walls again, I slid off her shoulders and collapsed against the wall beside the door.
The girl closed the door behind her, before bracing her bag against it, trapping the wind outside.
I let out a shaky sigh of relief.
Pulling off my bag, I took out a bottle of water to rinse my mouth, trying to get rid of the bitter taste.
It did absolutely nothing.
Sighing, I shut my eyes, taking deep breaths to calm my body down.
I had a feeling something like this would happen. Hell, this was already a much better result than I’d expected.
None of us had died, or even been wounded during the journey here.
Leaving for the city earlier than other Cadets had naturally been a very dangerous thing to do.
If we’d waited for more Cadets to move before going, we’d have encountered far fewer monsters, as those that left before would have already dealt with some of them.
Now we’d met the road fully packed.
Lily having a sensory ability had been a massive stroke of luck. While it might have been possible to get through it without her, that would’ve been hell compared to what we just went through.
I heard her voice.
"You’re burning up, Victor. Almost like you’re having a fever."
I pried my eyes open, to find the girl kneeling before me. I replied wearily.
"I do have a fever."
Her eyes widened in surprise.
"But, I thought—"
"I know. It’s just a thing that happens to me specifically."
Behind her, Maki had a look of understanding in her eyes as though confirming a suspicion. She didn’t question me just yet though.
Instead, she cut in.
"Should we clear the building before resting?"
I shook my dizzy head.
"There are multiple floors, with multiple rooms and stairwells. Anything can be hiding in them. I think it’s best we clear them together when we’re in better condition. For now, we can just defend the lobby."
The room we were in only had a collapsed desk at its centre, with two other doors placed at either side of it.
While it wasn’t the most defensible room, we could certainly hold it.
Besides, this wasn’t the outskirts anymore. Carelessly searching a building was basically just asking to get ambushed.
"I thought so too."
Maki sighed, before wearily bringing herself to the ground.
’So she’s not a machine in the end, huh?’
I let out a wry chuckle, before closing my eyes and resting my head on the wall, trying to shut out the dizziness.
Outside, the snowstorm grew steadily in momentum.