[UNEDITED]

My blood ran cold in my veins. They wanted to go back to the infected lands? Why?

"There's no time for chitchat," I probed, "Let's keep moving."

"Let's take the road beside the park to the Town Hall. Then some of us can cover the park and surrounding areas, and some of us can cover the Rank Two colonies," Dylan suggested.

"I am not sure if I can do much to round them up," I said sadly, "I'll try and kill those things."

The men exchanged confused glances.

And then we were off. We had to cross through the Rank One colonies, and surprisingly, the entire place was quite deserted. I saw military cars parked in front of almost every house, and was disgusted. I wondered whether they had done the same to the taken the same measures for the Rank Two people.

Although irritated at their double standards, I was somewhat relieved thinking that my parents were in safe hands. So I successfully pushed down the urge to rush to my house and meet my mom. I knew she was safe. I knew she was okay. And I wasn't really sure if she would be ecstatic to see me in this state.

I didn't know if I would even make it. I wish I could say goodbye to her at least, or dad. I sighed as I gave a thumbs up to Dylan, and then split with two rebels tailing me, and entered the Rank two colonies.

The case was even worse here.

The houses here were more congested than Rank One colonies, and as I fought off some of the creatures, I left a trail of damages. Houses were breaking, and people inside them started scattering out. I tried to push one of them out of the way, but she misunderstood me, and screamed right on my face.

The rebels on the other hand seemed to have gestures to communicate between them. It took them an impossibly little amount of time to warn and gather up a majority of them. We had already lost the rest of them.

Dylan joined us shortly.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

I nodded, but I was not okay. I limped a little from the fighting, and one of the creatures had bitten some flesh off my arm. It was sticky and green with my blood. The pain was there constantly, so it did not feel new.

"We should move forward," I told Dylan, "If we cannot outrun them, we are likely to have more casualties." I pointed to the roads. It was filled with torn limbs and blood--both red and green.

"I don't know if Dan and others know about this, Dylan worried, "If they don't, they are going to fall right in the middle of this war."

The thought had not occurred to me before, "Do you think the creatures will cover the woods too?"

"I don't know," Dylan said.

"Don't worry," I raised my hand, but removed it finally to avoid hurting him, "Let's move."

We instructed more rebels to warn their fellow rebels and move back, while we pushed forward. I knew what was on Dylan's mind, and it was on my mind too. I wanted Daniel and the others to be safe. I hated Nicole, and I hated Daniel too, but this was not the right time to shower hatred everywhere.

One hour was gone.

Instead of taking the roads, we tore through the woods. It took us much less time to reach the establishment.

The people were there, all of them. It seemed like they were pretty unharmed from whatever was going on outside, and the full credit went to the heavy woods.

Nicole screamed as she saw me, and Daniel turned his full-aggressive mode on as he saw me enter. Luckily Dylan was there to stop him.

"What the hell?" Daniel cussed as he was given a brief.

"Please cuss later," I said, "There are about a thousand other strolling outside, and we have to..."

I could never finish the sentence. Daniel's eyes saw past me, and something in his eyes shone. I turned, and was lost for words momentarily.

The creatures were here.

"GO BACK TO THE NORTHBRIDGE AVENUE!" Dylan screamed, and then turned onto the creatures with his gun. I saw Riley grab Mel and push towards the woods.

"How the hell did they get here?" Dylan screamed.

I was not sure, but it felt as if they had taken my lead, because they had entered from exactly where I had entered the establishment.

Daniel did something I had not seen him doing ever. He picked up stones from the ground, kept them in hand for a few seconds and then they caught fire. He then threw them towards the creatures. I saw them retreat as the fireballs singed their skins even after having those glossy scales. Daniel was throwing them pretty hard.

I counted their heads, there were seven here, sniffing madly. I checked in time to see that Sam had gone inside the eastern cottage, probably to get Beth from her room. Nicole came out of the same cottage, holding guns in her hands. She tossed one to the retreating Riley, and they both hurriedly joined us.

"You guys should leave," I told them, particularly to Riley who did not have any power to use, "We have it covered here."

"Don't be silly," he shot one creature, and with such accuracy that it hit it in the eye, "If a lass like you can fight, I would be called a coward if I simply run off to save my butt."

I rolled my eyes, and then uprooted a tree. Then I walked up and hit the closest creature with it. He fell over onto the water tanker, and the cement shattered and water spilled all across the ground.

Daniel was quick to place his hand on the spilling water, and I saw him craft the most beautiful ice shards from it. He kept one in hand and tossed the other at Dylan, who slipped it perfectly into the heart of the creature he was fighting.

Riley shot one of the creatures in the head, and I kept him behind me, and took all the melee attack on myself. I was in no state to fire with my enlarged fingers and one half-injured arm.

Nicole took a pretty bad hit from one of the creatures, and so did Dylan. Riley chased one of them, and I chased another, and we totally missed the third one approaching the hut.

A sharp scream made me turn away, and Beth's panic-stricken face was the last expression I saw on her face before the creature grabbed her feeble midsection and pulled all her guts out.

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