"MOM!!"

Sylvia was startled as she heard someone shout the word, mom. This was clearly Ellen's voice but what was she doing here? She was supposed to be at home, safe. Did she come out searching for her? Was this just an illusion that her dying brain was showing her? No matter the reason she needed to warn her daughter right now, illusion or not.

"Ellen, what are you doing here? Get away from here right now. There are monsters in here, do not come in. You hear me do not come here."

She looked up as she shouted at her daughter which she could not see. She was worried about her daughter so she looked back at the monsters. She was shocked to see that her daughter was not there but the monsters were frozen in their place.

They were just standing there like a statue not attacking anyone. Even the ones that were just a few inches away from their prey were stuck in their place. Even if this was an illusion brought on by her brain losing blood and oxygen, why were the monsters standing still?

"Mom!"

With another shout, Sylvia finally saw her daughter running towards her tiptoeing around the frozen monsters. She tried to shout at her again to warn her but instead of her voice coming out a mouthful of blood is poured out. The monsters are standing still as Ellen runs towards her and catches her mother mid-fall. She hugs her mother while crying a river.

"Oh my God Mom! Are you alright? Look at me. Oh, this is bad, really bad. Dad! Hurry up she is bleeding." Ellen hugs her but then quickly lets her go seeing her state.

Ellen tries to hold her injured hand with both hands to stop the bleeding but the wound is so big that there is no use in trying to stop the bleeding. She tries to grab one side to stop the bleeding but blood spurts out from the other side. Sylvia had lost too much blood at that point and was having trouble staying awake.

"Ellen? Why did you come here? I told ... you ... to .. Stay Hommmee..." Her speech was slurred and could not speak anymore.

She was worried for her daughter who had just walked in the middle of a battlefield surrounded by monsters. What could have driven her to take such a stupid decision? Did she want both of them to die here today? Just then as she was berating Ellen's decision to come here a single thought stung her mind as it was losing consciousness.

'Why did Ellen just say dad?'

She thought about it with what little level of comprehension she had left when the figure of a man walked into her blurry line of sight. He crouched down in front of her and gently touched her cheek.

"Don't worry honey, I got you. Everything is going to be alright now. I promise! You will be fine and don't worry about our daughter I will take care of her, I will take care of everything."

Sylvia had no more strength left in her body to think about what had just happened in front of her. Her eyes did not have enough clarity left to identify her husband. The only thought that she had in her mind as she drifted away was, Why was Ellen there? Why did the monsters stop in the middle of attacking them? Who was that man at the end? What did he say to her? Her vision slipped into the darkness with worries as the man caressed her bloody face.

Sylvia loses consciousness just as Jake finally got to her. He had thought about the various situations in which he will finally meet her but none of those circumstances included meeting her like this, bloody and unconscious. She had lost a lot of blood and her face was paler than whipped cream.

Jake was shocked to see her state like this. She was severely injured and it was nothing less than a miracle that she was still alive. Miracle or not it mattered not to Jake. He thanked whoever that might be listing for this chance to save his family.

Jake was trembling as he saw her injured like this. He did not know what to do with this anger at himself and the monsters. He wanted to massacre the wolves right now but now was not the time. Not just Sylvia but a lot of the people here were injured and some were dead. He needed to take care of these people first then he would deal with the monsters.

"What do we do dad? Is she going to be okay? Let's hurry up and take her to a doctor." Ellen was crying rivers as she held her mother in her arms. She had never seen someone injured like this before let alone her own mother.

There is a stark difference between seeing a stranger injured and seeing your loved one injured like this. In her mind, there was nothing they could do and she was most likely going to die here. Her only hope was her father who might be able to rush her to a hospital.

Jake didn't say anything to Ellen. He was silent, he took her away from Ellen and embraced her. He held his other hand over her and like before it had worked for Andy his hand shined brightly and the wounds on Sylvia started closing up.

The torn flesh from her elbow all the way to her exposed shoulder started getting healed in seconds and attached itself to the exposed bone. Her missing hand grew back finger by finger. The muscles took their place back and skin covered them like it was supposed to. Now other than her torn bloody clothes and pale face, there was no evidence that she had ever been injured before.

"Take care of her Ellen, she is going to be alright now. I need to go help the others." Jake got up and patted her head before he walked off.

Ellen sat there astonished for a second. She said nothing as Jake healed her and walked off. How could she have forgotten that her father was a healer? Her mother had shouted this very reason for his survival many times during their fights. There was no need to go to a hospital because Jake was here. She wiped her tears and cradled her mother in her arms thanking the gods that her mother was okay.

Jake looked around in the cafe there were three dead and many more injured. The one who needed his attention right away was the young boy who had protected everyone. He had taken the brunt of the monster's attacks, first by using his shield as he protected everyone and then by the monsters attacking him directly when his shield broke.

When Jake got to him both his legs were chewed off and one arm was missing. He had severe internal bleeding and a nasty gash on his chest resembling the claws of a wolf. No one should have been able to survive this type of injury but because he had awakened his body was considerably strengthened. This was the only reason that he was still alive. Jake kneeled in front of him and put his hand over his body.

"You did well kid. I did not see the whole thing but from the looks of it, you protected everyone here including my wife. For that, I owe you one."

This time he used both his hands and started healing him. His twisted legs and arms straightened themselves and started to grow anew. The wound on his chest that had exposed his ribs and his beating heart started closing up and not even a scar remained. His haggard breathing calmed down as his body completely healed. He lost consciousness in the middle of healing because of the pain.

While Jake was healing Ji-won the group of soldiers that had guided Jake towards this location finally arrived. They were ready to fire at the monsters when the platoon leader stopped them. There was something wrong with the scene in front of them. He had taken part in hundreds of rescue missions but this scene made no sense. The monsters were standing in their places without so much as making noise. Even though Jake was sitting in front of a monster they did nothing.

"Sir, what is happening here? Why are they not moving? Look at that man, there he is."

The young man lying in front of Jake was so horribly wounded that there was no way he would have survived. They rushed forward to see if there was something they could do but a light shined and the boy started healing up.

"Looks like he wasn't lying when he said that he was an S-rank. Looks like he is a healer. He must be the one who has stopped these monsters somehow. Looks like we are okay for now. Let's go and help the others."

The group entered the cafe still wary of the frozen monsters and started helping the injured. Jake helped them and started healing everyone. One by one he healed everyone and left them to the squad. When he was done with the last monster he went back to Ellen and carried Sylvia in his arms. They were about ready to leave the cafe when the platoon leader spoke up.

"Everyone has been healed thanks to you and we are ready to move," The leader bowed down to Jake and thanked him. "Thank you very much for helping us and the people." The other people that Jake had healed also thanked him.

"We will carry those that are unconscious and move out but," The leader looks at the monsters and asks, "What do we do with them? You are holding them in place, right? How long can you hold them for? I will contact a hunter nearby so he can come and take care of these monsters."

Jake walks out with Ellen and Sylvia in his arms. He looks at the monsters for a second and then looks back at the leader with a smile.

"There is no need for that, I will take care of them."

Jake snaps his fingers and the monster's head makes a loud crack noise. All of their heads with a swift motion make a 360-degree turn and their eyes go dark. With a loud thud, all eight wolves drop to the ground lifeless. Without so much explaining what had just happened, He starts walking back towards the camp where he left Andy and Alice.

ShujaatAmin

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