RB Chapter 166 Nightmare, Hospital

40 minutes after the bombing...

"What the hell happened?" Monki asked, beads of sweat on his face, his eyes bloodshot and his hands trembling uncontrollably.

He was inside a car...a model resembling that of a jeep, an offroad vehicle. The jeep-like car was part of a convoy composed of three, all heading north. 

He was shouting at one of his minions, the man's face almost as pale as a sheet.

The last few minutes had been in silence, the shouting had been abrupt, causing the others in the car to almost have heart attacks.

Ever since the car made it out of the city, an uneasy silence had been shrouding its inside, as if the place was a cemetery.

The silence had come about because of Monki, the terrifying young master. A person who had inspired terror in his surbodinates these past few days. His car was located in the middle of the convoy.

Something had gone terribly awry, during the mission, and now, the other three were waiting for the young master's reaction, something they dreaded, judging by the man at Monki's left, shiveringly trying to put more space between himself and the man, thereby squishing his body on the car door.

Monki, who had been a daze moved his gaze to his thighs, were the two pieces of his spear were resting. It had been a staff before, but he had commissioned a tip to be made. His gaze rested on his hands...they were trembling, not from rage or anything, but fear.

Everything about the attack had been planned thoroughly, down to the tiniest detail. A cracked cog in the machine, a blemish in an otherwise great tapestry of a plan appeared, changing the course of his life.

Monki's jeep had been parked on the other side of the road, waiting for something, but the moment the awaited time arrived and the bomb went off, that's when he knew that he had been screwed.

He instantly understood what had happened...the so-called helper, who hid in the shadows, had given them something that shouldn't have been given. Something that made Monki's great life come to an end.

What was supposed to have been a sonic bomb, only capable of causing minor disorientation, had been replaced with a real explosive, capable of death and destruction.

'My life is over. I am going to be hunted forever. I will have to hide and scrounge for resources like sewer rats...provided I survive. What am I going to do?' He asked himself. 

The plan was still ongoing, but now he had been pushed to a road of no return.

At this moment, Monki was holding the man who had been seated at his side by the collar. His hands were trembling from both fear and rage. He could feel it, the murderous intent...all he had to do was snap the man's neck. He had the strength...

"Young master! Mercy! We...I didn't know!" The man shouted, his mind almost collapsing from the terror. The gaze of his master was terrifying...he was definitely considering killing him!

He had been sitting on pins and needles ever since he had entered the back seat with the young master. The pressure he had been under reached a tipping point from being held by the collar and his tears fell in streams down his face. Snot also streamed out of his nose making his already ugly expression, worse.

"Shit!" Monki cursed and let the poor man go. He had become so unbearable to look at that Monki's murderous intent had dissipated. The man's gross face had saved his life, if only temporarily, after all, the young master's mood was as unstable as the wind.

"How do sonic bombs turn into explosives?" Monki asked, putting a hand over his face as if to mask his expression.

"Sir, we didn't know!" The man who had been about to be killed tried to justify himself.

"No no no NO! The problem here is that you didn't thoroughly check what you were given!" Monki shouted, causing all the vehicle's other occupants to flinch.

"Look at where we are now, none of us will ever have peace, no matter how we try to survive, we will be hunted like stray dogs. Hahahaha..." Monki chuckled, a very creepy chuckle which caused a spine tingling hair raising feeling.

Since his face was obscured by his palm, the other three didn't understand what kind of expression was painted across his face.

-----

Fog...that was all that he could see in this place. It was everywhere, shifting, like clouds in the sky. Moving through it caused it to stir. It was all white. He didn't know where the light came from which caused it to appear white as even when he tried to look up, all he saw was the fog.

When he moved his gaze downwards, trying to get a glimpse of his body, all he saw was the fog. It only allowed him a few centimeters of vision around his eyes. The rest became murky until it vanished behind the fog veil.

He was running, his heart beating a million miles a minute, pounding in his chest. He was finding it increasingly difficult to take in and exhale oxygen. Worry, terror and fear...all these, occupied his mind, causing the eraticness in his body.

These feelings and emotions weren't directed at himself, but at someone else, someone he cared about deeply.

"Leah! Leah! Where are you?" He called out. His tone was urgent. His mouth expelling white mist and his body temperature, high. His voice had become hoarse. This want the first time he had been calling out and it definitely wouldn't be the last.

"Eric! Save me!" A voice called out from his front, as if answering his pleas. He could sense the unimaginable fear and terror within it.  

Eric became frustrated and his legs sped up upon gearing that voice. The fog...everything was the fault of the fog. Only if it could disappear! He wished that he had the power to destroy it!

It was keeping him from reaching her, the person close to his heart. The voice always sounded close but he never managed to reach it. Only if he could see what was in front, maybe, just maybe...he could catch up to her. As curses and wishes intertwined in his mind, his legs didn't stop.

"Hehehehe...brat! This time its my win! Hehehehe..." Someone's cold chuckle reached his ears. It was coming from the front, the same direction as Leah's voice. 

He heard his teeth grind in rage at the voice. He recognised it, it was Monki's, Leah's captor. Someone he definitely wanted to reach and punch in the face. Once again he found strength from the rage and increased his speed. His adrenaline, coupled with the current state of his mind temporarily made him forget his fatigue.

He didn't throw back any words at him, only increasing his pace, saving the words for punches which he imagined he would throw at the guy. 

After Leah's voice, it was always Monki's voice next, torturing his mind and making him picture all the vile things he might be doing to her. He found it infuriating!

"If it wasn't because of this damn fog..." He muttered to himself in anguish. His legs carried him...the good thing being that the ground was somehow always flat, preventing him from tripping himself. He had a feeling that if he ever collapsed, he might never get up again.

"Leah! Leah!" He called out. His lungs were burning. For some unknown reason, he lacked his repertoire of genetic abilities. It was like he had reverted to a normal human...helpless. His eyes darted around in his eye sockets as he searched for any hole in the veil of fog that he might exploit.

He didn't know how long he ran, maybe seconds, minutes or even hours, but never once did he allow himself to collapse because every time he reached that threshold, Leah's voice gave him strength.

As he was wondering whether he might chase forever, the fog abruptly vanished and a bright white light caused his eyes to sting. He had no choice but to close them.

"Leah!?"

He called out and finally managed to open them once again, only to find himself gazing at a ceiling. It was brown, with a white glow coming from one of the squares it was made of.

The white light illuminated the room, giving him a glimpse of what it was. He was lying on a bed and his body was dressed in the soft baggy comfortable hospital attire. 

As his memories aligned in his mind, he jumped out of the bed, only to freeze while looking at his right. Sally was standing there, her back to him as she gazed out the window. This appeared to be one of those rare moments when she wasn't looking at the holographic screen of her patch.

She was dressed in blue jeans and a brown top. Her short black hair waved as a breeze came into the room from the wind.

"I waited for almost 1 hour. Are you okay?" She asked without turning her head.

Eric had thought that he would shout at her the moment he saw her once again, but that wasn't even remotely on his mind. He just stood there and admired the peacefulness she was radiating. It made him calm.

"Did you know?" That simple question caused the gaze which she had felt to be lukewarm turn scorching. She could feel it on her back, threatening to burn through it if she answered wrongly.

"If its about the bomb...then, no." Sally turned to face him. She wanted him to look into her eyes. Even though she appeared calm, Eric felt the earnestness in the gaze. She really wanted him to believe her.

"Its very hard to believe you. With your intelligence network, it would be hard for something to escape you." He remained sceptical.

"What about his shadow helpers, the ones who provided him with all the resources he needed? Those people were too secretive. They knew about my network. There has also been something that I have wanted to confirm, for now its just a speculation..." She saw that he was listening and decided to continue, pacing, as if the words were forming in her brain a second before being uttered.

"...Monki was also in the dark. He probably didn't know about the bombs. He simply fell into their trap." She finished. After that, she moved to sit on the chair by the window. It seemed that she had been sitting there before she had stood up to gaze out the window. Eric could feel it.

"Who are they? And why would Monki accept their help?" He asked. He also sat on the bed after asking the question.

"The winners, those who fear our revenge the most. Monki was simply naive enough to believe that there wouldn't be consequences to accepting their help." She said.

"They will get my wrath, but the first person to feel it will be Monki." He clenched his fist.

"Do you know his location?" He asked.

"He's heading north...with multiple parties at his tail." She answered.

"North! I want the specifics." He demanded.

"If you want to hunt him down, I can give you the specific position, but...I have a condition."

"Sally, I am very very enraged right now. I am only barely restraining myself, so...don't give me an excuse to separate your head from the body." His gaze became colder. A chilling murderous intent filling the room.

"My injuries are even fully healed." He continued.

"All I ask is for you to take me along." She said. She was holding his murderous gaze without flinching or averting her gaze. This was the one thing she couldn't afford to back down on.

"I see it. You still want to have a connection to us." Eric said. He felt disgusted by her shamelessness. She even had resolve in her eyes.

"Eric, I heard your voice from my room. Are you awake?" The door to the room opened and a voice broke them out of their standoff. The person who had opened the door was Chloe. She was in the same white hospital patient gown as his.

But the moment she entered and caught sight of the other person, her next words died on her lips and her face morphed to one of rage, like a sudden thunderstorm.

She took a step, becoming a blur, only to appear between the two. She faced Sally who was seating on the chair. 

Sally returned her gaze, but Eric still caught some uneasiness from her.

"What are you doing here?" Chloe asked through gritted teeth, trying to hold back the beast that was her rage. She appeared to be failing at the task as electrical sparks were appearing around her.

"She didn't know." Eric said, causing Chloe to turn her neck to the side, giving him a side eye. She wasn't ready to step away from Sally.

"She didn't know about the bomb." He repeated.

"She knew enough to at least provide us with additional information...at least we wouldn't have been caught offguard!" Chloe shouted. Her rage wasn't going to go away with such a flimsy explanation.

"Chloe, our first task is to locate and rescue Leah. She knows the location and will even be kind enough to lead us there, so she isn't going to run. You can deal with her after." Eric persuaded.

Notice:

Due to a certain situation(the need to create more patreon tiers) the release schedule of my two novels, Rampaging Biology and Legend of Blood And Flame are going to change, starting this week.

The changes are as follows;

Rampaging biology;

3 chapters a week(Mon, Wed and Fri) same time, but with over 2000 words, double that of previous ones. You never know, some might even reach 3k.

Legend of Blood And Flame;

1 chapter a week(Sat) with 2k and above number of words. This is temporary as I create a backlog of chapters for my previous fiction. Sorry for the inconvenience.

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