Immunity Hunter

Chapter Thirty - Ashley Sonnie

Old, abandoned Caara Island Hospital, ground zero of the mutation virus. This is the safest place—for now—to hide out until Rin and I find some help. With the full force of the Eradication Squad in this abandoned city, someone will come and find us—I hope.

My squad was dwindled down to four members. Lin Ming is missing and Sasame quit. Thanks for June—our squad leader—and her quick thinking, Maria, Rin, and I managed to team up with another squad, but we were pinned down and separated during a massive horde attack.

"Perfect time for our radios to go out." I poke at my earpiece trying to get a signal. I hold it up to my ear, yet there's nothing but static.

"Oh well," Rin says. "Let's see what we can find. We passed what looked like a battle site. Maybe someone came through here."

I'm glad she's so optimistic. I, on the other hand, am not so sure anyone is here. We may as well see if we can find something, maybe a way to contact our team and get back home. I join Rin searching around the reception area. Part of the ceiling is caved in, dripping water on to the floor. It reeks of mold in here. I walk over to the receptionist's desk and notice a book with names printed on the pages. I pick it up and flip through the weathered pages.

"It looks like they had a busy day." My finger moves across the last entries. "This is dated back seventy-five years ago."

Rin rolls her eyes. "Nice to know, Ash. How do we contact the rest of our team?"

"There has to be an old radio here somewhere, even if it's busted I can probably get some electricity surging through it. Let's go look around."

I place the book back on the desk and head toward a set of double doors. Rin follows close behind me with her arms crossed. I can read it in her face; she doesn't want to be here anymore than I do. As soon as we find a radio, we can leave.

Rin runs up to me. "We need to get out of here."

"There are Konadai outside and our team is missing. We can't leave."

She nods. "Okay, but let's stay close."

I smile at her, letting her know that I'm not planning to leave without her. We keep walking down the dark halls guided by the beams of our flashlights. Our footsteps echo through the empty passageways. It becomes a rhythm in my head. That's when I hear another set of footsteps coming up behind us. I grab Rin's hand and pull her into the nearby exam room. I hold a finger over my mouth to tell her to stay quiet. We shut off our flashlights, hiding under a gurney. The footsteps stop just outside the doorway, revealing only the boots of our follower.

"Hello? Is someone in here?" a male says in a musical tone. He begins to whistle as he walks around the room.

Rin covers her mouth to keep from crying out. She looks over at me, begging me with her eyes to keep out of sight. Judging by his boots, he must be a member of the Eradication Squad. Why else would he be here?

I crawl from underneath the bed and reveal myself. He's a teenager, around my age, dressed in his squad uniform. He's only a few inches taller than me. He looks as though he's been attacked. Parts of his clothes are torn revealing cuts and bruises. I swallow hard, not sure I should've presented myself to him or not.

"Yes, I'm here," I say, standing in front him. I look into his eyes, he doesn't seem dangerous but his smile says otherwise. "Who are you?"

He doesn't respond. He just looks at me, shaking his head laughing.

"I asked who you are," I snap.

The boy still remains quiet. He just continues to stare at me smiling. I take a step back, ready for an attack. "Answer me!"

He reaches out his blood stained hands. I back up bumping into the bed behind me. I swear I've seen this boy before, maybe at Monanie Academy.

"Who is here with you?" he asks in a calm voice, dropping his hands to his side. The creepy smile never leaves his face.

"No one, I came here by myself."

"Liar." The boy shoots an evil grin. He holds up his left hand with his palm aimed at the bed. "I'll ask again. Who else is here?"

"I said no one," I snap, holding out my hands at the boy's face ready to blast him. Before I can focus my energy, he pushes me to the ground with his other hand. I roll over to get back to my feet, but he rams his booted foot into my back, pinning me to the floor.

"Not fast enough," he says.

A powerful sound wave shoots out from his hand. I cover my ears screaming. The sound wave hits the bed dead on, revealing Rin underneath.

"What is wrong with you?" I yell from the floor.

"Well lookie here, we have ourselves another little mouse."

In a flash, Rin jumps up and punches the boy in the face, sending him stumbling backward. This gives me enough time to get to my feet and hit him with my own attack. I focus my energy as quick as possible and blast him in the chest. I didn't want to kill him—yet—so the attack is weak. He falls to the floor wincing.

"It looks like you two have some fight in ya after all," he says, wiping a drop of blood from his lip.

I walk over to the boy placing my foot on his chest. "Why did you attack us?"

He chuckles. "I wanted to see how many pretty girls were going to come play."

His response makes me cringe. I kick him in the gut expelling the air from his lungs. He grabs his stomach gasping for air. I look at Rin trying to figure out what to do next. He's no squad member, at least not one under my father's lead. While I'm trying to decide what to do with the fool, he holds up his hand ready to attack us.

Rin and I jump out of the way just before the sound waves fires past us. I land on my side, covering my ears to keep the sound out. When the high-pitched noise dissipates, the boy stands and picks up Rin by her neck. He holds her in the air as he examines her body, her feet kicking trying to get loose. I try to stand, despite the excruciating pain in my left side.

"That punch almost knocked a tooth loose. Not bad for a princess." He drops her to the floor and stands over her. Rin tries to scramble to her feet, but he kicks her in the stomach. A gasp of air and blood escape her lips.

"Stop it!" I yell. I find the strength to grab him by his ankle and pull him to the floor. Rolling over on top of him, I pin his arms to above his head. He tries to push me off, but I head butt him, knocking him out cold.

Rin crawls over to me, holding her stomach.

"Are you okay?" she says, speaking through the pain.

"I'm fine, what about you?"

Rin nods. "I'll be fine." She looks over at the boy, then back at me. We both know we need to tie him up to keep him out of our way.

I stand and walk over to the gurney. Piece by piece I tear strips of cloth from the bed then throw them over to Rin. She kneels next to the unconscious boy and ties his hands and feet together.

"Who is he?" Rin asks.

I shrug. "I have no idea, but I think I've seen him before at the academy."

Rin shivers, not from being cold but out of fear. She looks over at me shaking. "Let's just go, Ash. I don't want to be here anymore."

I have to agree, I don't want to be in here anymore either.