[A/N: Hello everyone.
Alex is experiencing tense moments during the rescue.
Please donate power stones and comment.]
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At the safe house on the northeast corner.
"Are you sure?", Alex asked Gerry.
"Sure, I owe you after all", Gerry replied, patting Alex on the shoulder with a confident smile.
"Thanks, Gerry", Alex said, a little relieved to have someone to help him with this difficult task.
"We can all go", Alicia said with a touch of enthusiasm.
"No, just Gerry and I", Alex denied firmly. "I don't want to put everyone at risk, and it's much safer here. Besides, I think Gerry and I are enough", Alex clarified, trying to maintain a calm tone.
"I'll go", Nick said suddenly. "You won't be able to recognize him, and I doubt he'll follow you without problems", Nick added ironically.
"You can come", Alex agreed after some thought. "Madison, Nick, and Gerry, follows me. Alicia finds a room and rest, or you can help Gerry's wife take care of their daughters", Alex added, noticing that Alicia wasn't happy about not participating.
"Fine", she replied with an annoyed huff.
Then Alex and the three people he'd named followed him to a room at the back of the house. In this room, Alex and David had prepared ready-to-wear clothing sets. The set included lightweight, durable pants and jackets, boots, gloves, and some tactical restraint systems, including belts and straps, for carrying guns and knife holsters.
"Take a set each", Alex told Gerry and Nick. "We need to be prepared", she added with a worried look.
"Why did you call me here?", Madison asked as she watched them dress and gear up.
"I need you to take care of everyone in the house", Alex said in a serious tone. "I know you're not a gun-toting woman, but we need someone to protect this place", Alex added, looking her straight in the eyes.
"I understand", Madison agreed, albeit somewhat reluctantly.
It only took four of them a few minutes to get ready. Gerry even explained gun safety to Madison, giving her some tips and warnings about misuse. At first, Madison seemed very scared holding the gun, but after some encouraging words from everyone, and realizing that she was now burdened with the responsibility of keeping more people safe, she finally held it more confidently.
"Gerry, take care of yourself", Karin said as she hugged him tightly and kissed him on the cheek.
"Dad, you can do it", Gerry's daughters said as they hugged him at the same time.
"Nick, take care of yourself", Madison told Nick as she tenderly stroked his face.
"I will, Mom", he said as he walked away from her, his face flushed with embarrassment.
"Don't get the others in trouble", Alicia said, her tone sullen, but her face full of concern.
The three men left the house after saying goodbye. Alex went through the same steps again to open the gate, while Gerry took the driver's seat of Alex's car and drove outside the walls of the house. Once Alex closed the gate again, they headed downtown, since that's the last place Travis had reported he was.
"Nick, get back to Travis", Alex said urgently. "It's so late", Alex thought, looking at his watch, which read almost 7 p.m.
"It'll be dark soon", Gerry commented, noticing Alex looking at his watch impatiently.
"That's right", Alex said, listening to Nick talking to Travis.
Travis told Nick that because they were stuck in a traffic jam, they tried to take a detour, but ended up in the middle of a protest, where police and a group of people were clashing. They were now sheltering in a barbershop on the main street.
"Tell him we'll be right there", Alex told Nick.
After 15 minutes of avoiding traffic jams, abandoned cars, desperately running people, and a few wandering zombies, they reached a street parallel to the protest area. They parked the car and cautiously exited.
The sound of gunfire and screams could be heard in the distance. Smoke rising from several nearby streets adorned the sky, which slowly turned warmer where the sun was setting, and darker in the opposite direction. Evening was approaching, and the danger would become increasingly greater as night fell.
"Let's go", Alex said seriously when he noticed everyone was ready.
The three of them set off at a brisk pace. Alex was in the lead, Nick in the middle, and Gerry in the rear. Along the way, they encountered several people vandalizing cars, stores, and traffic signs. The atmosphere was tense, and the screams of people were just one of the many sounds that accompanied the cacophony of this chaotic afternoon.
"I think we're close", Nick commented.
They continued walking for a few meters, but as they turned the corner, they realized they were in the epicenter of the chaos. If destruction had been uncommon before, this street was hell in comparison.
The street was filled with smoke, and many of the stores were on fire. The cars were in terrible condition, some slowly catching fire. People danced and shouted around the cars, while the group confronting the soldiers at the end of the street was constantly being hit with debris used as projectiles against the soldiers.
"We need to hurry", Gerry said, pointing at the soldiers in the background. "I think they're going to use lethal force against the protesters", he added worriedly as he noticed the soldiers' changing formations.
Alex quickened his pace, noticing the urgency in Gerry's tone. They checked the remaining windows, looking for the barbershop where Travis, his ex-wife, and their son were. After a few minutes of searching, they managed to find it. "Alex, help!", Nick cried, frightened, as a man suddenly lunged at him.
Alex pulled out his gun as quickly as he could and pointed it at the man on top of Nick. He was about to fire when he noticed Gerry signaling for him to stop, as he quickly approached Nick's attacker and knocked him down.
"It wasn't a zombie", Alex muttered, his skin prickling with fear, sweat building on his face and back.
Alex believed Nick had been attacked by a zombie, but, from Gerry's gestures and upon closer inspection, he could see that he was just a man in a frenzy. He showed no signs of being bitten, continued to shout things like, "The military wants to kill us", and even complained about the blow Gerry had given him.
"I almost killed someone", Alex reflected, terrified.
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[A/N: Alex thought everything would always turn out well for him.]
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The situation constantly recurred in his mind; his conscience wouldn't let him rest. He tormented himself so much that he was oblivious to what was happening around him; even if a zombie appeared in front of him, he might not notice it. Alex believed that knowing how to carry a gun and knowing how to kill zombies was enough, but this incident made him realize that reality was much more complex than all the scenarios he imagined; any mistake could cost an innocent person their life.
"Is someone calling me?", Alex wondered in his dreamy state.
"Alex... Alex. You'll have time to reflect later", Gerry said sharply to Alex as he shook him by the shoulders.
"That's true", Alex said with renewed spirit after slapping himself hard in the face.
"Alex, Travis is here", Nick said in a frightened tone. He still hadn't gotten over the previous situation.
"Tell him we have to leave immediately", Alex told him urgently.
Gunshots began to ring out further down the street, but they were only warning shots. The people in front of them, noticing that the soldiers weren't resorting to violent measures, grew even more emboldened and began throwing projectiles again. However, just as Gerry had noticed, the soldiers were just waiting for the order to open fire.
"Nick, thanks for coming for us", said a man from the metal door the barbershop owner had opened to let them out.
"Travis, we should go", Nick told the man, fear on his face.
"Calm down, Nick. By the way, who are your friends?", Travis asked Nick when he noticed Alex and Gerry scanning the surroundings.
"Travis, we should go now", Nick said desperately as he tugged on Travis's hand.
"What's up? Are you ready to go?", Alex asked, noticing that no one was coming out of the barbershop.
"Hi, I'm Travis. Thanks so much for coming for us. Who's your...?", Travis was introducing himself when Alex interrupted him.
"Travis, if you don't come out in a minute, I'll leave you here", Alex told him, looking at him seriously.
"Okay", Travis replied, noticing this wasn't the time for introductions.
"Mom, the wall is on fire", said a young man's voice from inside the barbershop.
"What did you say?", said an older man's voice as he walked toward the spot the boy had touched earlier. "It's dangerous to stay here", the man murmured.
Everyone inside the shop became alert, not only because of an impending fire caused by the fire spreading from the nearby tents, but also because of the gunshots and screams that began to be heard coming from the street.
"Ofelia, bring your mother, we should go", the man told his daughter in Spanish.
"What's going on, Dad?", Ofelia asked, confused.
"The barbershop is on fire… And from the sounds of things outside, we should get out of here faster", he replied in Spanish, sounding worried.
At the same time, Travis's ex-wife was talking to him and their son, looking worried but also confused. Everyone in the house only knew that the protests had escalated to a very dangerous level, but they didn't know that the real danger was slowly beginning to increase in number around the city.
"Are you ready?", Alex shouted to the people inside the tent.
"We're ready", Travis said, standing still at the tent's entrance.
"Why don't you come out?", Alex asked, annoyed.
"Daniel and his family need to come with us", Travis said in a good-natured tone. "The fire might reach their tent, and they have nowhere to go", he added, looking inside where Ofelia was helping her mother, while Daniel carried a bag with his belongings.
"Okay, let them come with us", Alex said without hesitation, looking at Daniel, who nodded in thanks.
Everyone quickly left the tent. Those inside the barbershop only just became aware of the chaos outside. While the screams, gunshots, and noises might have created a picture in their heads of what was happening outside, when they saw the state of the street and the violent confrontations taking place, they realized how close they were to being engulfed in madness.
They began walking, led by Alex, who was now much more cautious than before, constantly looking for danger. Gerry carried Daniel's wife, and although Daniel didn't want anyone else carrying his wife, he changed his mind when the gunshots rang out.
The soldiers had received the order and fired without hesitation. The soldiers didn't hesitate because many of them had spent several days containing zombie cases in different parts of the city and knew how deadly they could be.
Some of the people, noticing that some of the others were lying on the ground with gunshot wounds, ran in all directions in terror. Alex and his group approached an alley to avoid being attacked by the escape mob. However, something lurked in that alley.
A zombie slowly approached the group. Due to the noise of the screams of the people in the mob, no one noticed the zombie. When it was only a few steps away from the group, it launched itself directly at Gerry, or rather, at Daniel's wife.
Gerry, with his reflexes honed by years of experience as a UN investigator, noticed someone approaching and placed his forearm where the zombie was about to bite Daniel's wife. Daniel endured the pain and tried to push him away.
At the same time, Alex, noticing Gerry's quick movement, rushed over to help. He drew his knife, and to the astonishment of the few who witnessed the scene, plunged it directly into the head of what some of those present considered a human. Alex moved the body soundlessly and let it fall gently to the ground. "We have to go", he said in a serious tone as he cleaned the knife on his pants.
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[A/N: CHAPTER COMPLETED
Thanks everyone for reading.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
The next chapters will follow suit.
Read my other novel called Vinland Kingdom: Race Against Time.
You can find it on my profile.]