Her left finger slammed the triggered repeatedly causing its right arms breaking free from the body but its left hand still crushed her little ankle. It started dragging and she fell on her butt.copyright protection166PENANAxf9qgBTvFq
“Wade!”copyright protection166PENANA0bkgKqUHlW
He reached his hand to catch her but another robot raised its fist to smash him. The boy twirled to avoid it aiming the gun but the enemy took her away before she saw if her friend could finish the opponent or being finished. Alexis still shot it until the laser function on the stupid head damaged. At this last chance, she kicked its head until she could beheading it and the body fell on its back the same way she did but more violent. Deserve it! The girl turned to the same old position seeing the vicious wave of fire swooped down to her with the sudden heat and her body bounced away like a ball hit into the goal.copyright protection166PENANAA7Wd4UhlaV
She tried to move but another body engulfed with flame flew and fell near her. In the moment of horror, trying so hard to forget the pain, she got up and helped that person before getting all burnt. Taking her jacket to beat out the fire before it burned all skin cells. However, she had to look at her favorite jacket burnt into dust including the loss of her family’s photos. Sad eyes, all were her treasures. Still, worried about her friends, she called out their names but nothing responded except the fire and the heat. One thing that came out was the robot on fire.copyright protection166PENANAoAuVvbqpVT
Alexis knelt down to help that survivor stand but he could not. “Please, don’t leave me,” Paul said.copyright protection166PENANA6M7kSyhI7N
“Help me, please,” he cried in agony. She caught his hands and dragged him to flee from the scene. “Sorry. I’m sorry,” the girl mumbled on the way. He yelped staring fixedly at that robot. More horrified, like a devil sprang out of the flame, the fire head rotated to their position as though its sensor still worked so this heartless demon could detect the living thing. However, once it was about to turn, the metal body exploded.copyright protection166PENANAih9HFy4ovd
Lucky them.copyright protection166PENANAL787iNVok9
“Paul…are you alright?” Indeed, she should not have asked such a question. He just had been grilled alive.copyright protection166PENANAsRH7rsYehp
“Help,” he mourned painfully. Alexis grabbed her bag but before taking it off, she heard the enemies’ sound so, instead of treating his wound, she dragged him to the nearest room.copyright protection166PENANAXBxk1yRCgl
“It’s…hurt,” he cried. Alexis shooed him and whispered, “You’ll be alright,” with the fingers crossed, hoping that the robot’s sensor would be unable to penetrate through the wall. The girl searched for the medical aids but none of them could be used for burns treatment. Half of her soul knew she had to help him but another half realized that it was beyond her ability. He looked at her pleadingly, as though she could save him from the pain. In contrast, Alexis hardly looked at him. The smell of skin burning was severe, it was human skin and it did not smell savory. She wanted to vomit but was incapable of doing anything. To leave and seek for help or to leave him and survive? She hesitated. One robot, she could handle it difficulty but two and three, a girl could not fight against them. Alexis searched the medical aids in his burnt bag but found none. “Paul…”copyright protection166PENANAbEY9YaJ8Mf
He must be hospitalized which was impossible.copyright protection166PENANAtJoDo1gJop
“What happened?” the girl asked.copyright protection166PENANARnCSd4upQ5
Paul did not answer her question but looked at his lower part and cried. “I die here, certainly.”copyright protection166PENANAuNv9DqmQ4J
The laser on the wall made the sizzling sound. The hunter still attempted to corner the prey. Alexis held her gun and waited for them. No one knew what and who caused the explosion but she wished Wade, Oslo, and others could make it.copyright protection166PENANA1cnyfe7cq9
Blam! Several dents appeared on the door. Alexis swallowed her saliva and met Paul’s eyes. Blam! The door flew away from its lock. Two robots stood viciously like police found criminals. The red blink had not alerted on their eyes but it did not mean good omen. She fired them. But, unfortunately, she ran out of bullets.copyright protection166PENANAb3rUAbmdpu
Paul threw his knife to the rivals that advanced their steps towards the victims like the reapers. Finally, he made the decision, turning to her saying, “Go.” His eyes expressed that it was against the need to survive. He did not want her to go but Alexis’ chance of survival was higher…copyright protection166PENANAwZbHLpqCAL
“I’m sorry.”copyright protection166PENANA81WVI3JGeH
Paul threw everything he could do as the mean to attract them, though, the severe pain consumed all over his body. She grabbed her only one left pistol and used this chance slid between its legs until she could balance herself and ran without looking back. Yes, she ran for her life. The shriek of his last torment resonated and no more, the other robot ran after her without giving up. The speed of it could be compared with a national runner. A few seconds it almost grabbed her. Alexis made the instant pause, turned to face the enemy and shot, aiming that with this close distance, the bullet would destroy it at once. However, it was the big mistake. The iron arm swiped the gun out of her hand and another one grabbed her neck and pressed it.copyright protection166PENANAWE1QGT3PHb
Instantly, a mysterious force casted the head part out of its body. The iron arms released her neck and she fell on the ground.copyright protection166PENANA2RaK3RYGZr
“Have you seen Ben?” Alex’s voice vibrated into her ears before he arrived at her position. Alexis shook her head slowly and asked in return, “Have you seen the others?” He did the same.copyright protection166PENANANiwfxSFxjh
There was redness on Alex’s face while his hands and arms were decorated with small wounds. Regarding his movement, he probably got a slight impact from the explosion. “What happened?”copyright protection166PENANASPfTlh00TM
“I don’t know. It’s the bomb and boom and everyone’s gone. Come on. Get up. Some robots still move.” He helped her on her feet. Alexis looked at her hands and was shocked. The blood covered all over.copyright protection166PENANA9NSrkuzpdj
“Alex, you’re hurt.” Her eyes observed to detect the injury at once and she saw that the blood soaked between the waist and the abdomen. Alex seemed uninterested in it but kept walking shouting for Ben. He was about to resume to the explosion area but the three robots on fire walked as zombies appeared. Both ran away.copyright protection166PENANA0qqgcWr0Im
“How far is the safe zone?” asked Alex. copyright protection166PENANAQtIyqNZuHS
Her left hand rotated to the back automatically but the map did not stay with her because she left her bag there. She thought of the map in her head for few seconds. “There are two.” Pause for a breath. “But the closest to the exit is not nearby…”copyright protection166PENANAXQqHua1TOC
“Just find the nearest safe zone, not the exit,” the young man shouted and stopped running. He glanced back and they realized that those zombie robots did not come after them. She stared at his hands on his waist and nodded, understanding, “the nearest one leads us to the exit three…but we can go back to the same route.”copyright protection166PENANAM5niADRlYw
He nodded. “Okay, we rest there first.”copyright protection166PENANAiFTG0gM6ap
“Okay,” she nodded in confirmation. “Follow me.” The girl still saw the map inside her head. They arrived at the safe place, went through the automatic glass wall. Once they were completely safe, Alex collapsed on the floor. She rushed to the medical aids shelf.copyright protection166PENANANKcKtpUggq
His wound was a terrible deep cut. “How you get it?” She did not understand how this man could endure this kind of wound because if it was Alexis or the others, they surely were unable to stand.copyright protection166PENANAJORl3eNfYa
“Metal piece,” he replied and moved to make her see clearer. His voice implied that he was angry at himself, blaming his retard. Alexis turned on the hologram that instructed her how to treat the wound. She was not a doctor, not even, a medical student. Due to the deep cut, she trusted the instruction rather than her instinct.copyright protection166PENANA9o9tRFmQi0
Pitifully, her hands quivered. It was hard to steady her focus because she had no idea how the others would be. And her minds specifically thought of Wade and Oslo.copyright protection166PENANAV1NnN8PATa
“Hey” She raised her head upward and their eyes met. “Your friends were far from the bomb area. They’ll be alright and may be far away from here. The bomb was near me. I fully received the impact,” he narrated.copyright protection166PENANA4b1smqZMJF
She sighed and tried to make up her mind before cleaning his wound. “How you survive that?”copyright protection166PENANAIP5L3sbFbE
As she glanced from the corner of her eyes, the corner of his lips lifted up. “My reaction is quick but not enough. Not quicker than him.” Alexis shook his head. She knew he meant Michael. “Not quick enough so I got this! Thanks whatever. You’re alright.”copyright protection166PENANANxDGehOTI6
Alexis breathed out again, exhausted. “Yeah, I have the luck because the robot dragged me away. I survived because of it and as I returned…boom.” When she put the medicines on the wound, Alex immediately rotated his head to the other side, trying so hard not to moan.copyright protection166PENANAxqW74k7E9b
“And what is this blood?” He still talked, eyeing at the tainted blood on her t-shirt. She thought of the girl who shot her head before her eyes. Her blood spilled even though there had been the jacket covered but the blood still painted the chest part. “Not my blood.”copyright protection166PENANAPhZQOOx32b
“Talk to me. Keep talking to me.” He commanded.copyright protection166PENANAsyRl3URBxW
“I have to focus.” She reasoned him. “Be patient.” Then put the cotton wool on his wound. Alex cursed loudly. “Fuck! Your father is the doctor, is he?”copyright protection166PENANABDrQ1f3Ui8
“If your father is an astronaut, can you travel into space? And another thing, if my dad treats your wound, you’ll cry, no matter what.” Again, she added the medicine on it. He gnashed and groaned. “It’s not a small one. You should have sent to the hospital but there is no hospital and we must...”copyright protection166PENANApIa0xjNRN1
“Shut up.” It sounded like he scolded at me. His temper seemed to rise easier than his normal state because he was calmer. Alexis began wrapping up the wounds and put all her effort not to torment him. Alex picked up the pack of cigarette but before he lit one, the young man looked at me to ask for permission. Alexis sighed and let him smoke. The girl gave him the antibiotics and the painkiller, according to the instruction, to him. “Take it.” After that, she rearranged her stuff with a new backpack, putting every necessary thing inside. Alex approached, picked up the medical aids, and threw it away.copyright protection166PENANAfz8ri7RSTF
She narrowed her eyes to her companion; hugged herself tightly. “When you smoke, you become a jerk.”copyright protection166PENANAnK8qzBGhgi
“Just smoke,” he opposed. “You can’t support all these stuff on your back; that’s unbelievable. Look at these things.” He showed her dry bread and soup cans. “Camping?” With this gesture, Alex in this hour looked like Ben.copyright protection166PENANAMn11lXlll0
“The safe zones are not located everywhere. When we enter the second zone, the number of them reduces. We must have food supplies if we have to sleep somewhere outside the safe zone.” This was her reason.copyright protection166PENANALqFYCRDCAu
“But we’re in the first zone.”copyright protection166PENANA4stUFDmOMz
“And we should have stayed in the second one now. Please, your wound needs this stuff. If you still bleed…”copyright protection166PENANARy7GtLZ2Wo
“Leave it be. You already treated it and I can walk without any pain. If your back supports this kind of weight, like a big stone, you won’t make it. Tell me how can you carry the gun with these? Have you ever run out of bullets?copyright protection166PENANA2sxKE1nn78
“…”copyright protection166PENANASvBhA5C0dn
Alex smiled for his victory. He rearranged the backpacks for her and himself. When he messed with his bag, the girl snatched the medical aids and put inside the bag again. She selected the same old weapon Noel had taught her. Within the short break, she practiced the gun skill by changing the magazine to be familiar with it.copyright protection166PENANALsG8TIhxWC
You guys must be alive. She mused on her friends and crossed her fingers. The more the time passed, the more her worry increased. She hated when they were separated.copyright protection166PENANADHyJ38KMAC
“Are you alright? I know you worry about them but…” She looked at him, having no idea what he tried to say. “Normally, you’re the positive energy of the team.”copyright protection166PENANAg1TrF5DMTn
The silent wave diffused around the room. The girl pointed to herself. “You mean…me? The positive energy?”copyright protection166PENANASzWew8U5IB
He bent his head while gazing her. The way he did it, Alexis tried so hard not to overthink. “I don’t want to see you cheerful but Alexis…you’re brave. You can handle the situation better than other people. Although we parted from the group, I believe you will find them.”copyright protection166PENANAeIA1Gi0j9l
Something stirred inside the stomach, butterflies? No, it was not the symptom originated by romantic feeling, it was Alex’s words that made her feel that what she expected would never happen. Admittedly, after the separation, her brain could not conquer the fear as good as it had done. On the contrary, the fear multiplied. The painful howl of Paul and his half burnt body, the moment that that girl shot her head, the death of O.J., and other dead bodies reran inside her head repeatedly. They paraded showed up. And because her talent was not the ability to move things or push the enemies away, it was how her brain could memorize every detail, even the time of blood spilling; Alexis would never forget these scenes until…she died.copyright protection166PENANAzC2PNAxQ93
Alexis had never missed her family as much as today. She was too bone-tired to be strong. The girl wanted to collapse and let those metal killers assassinated her quickly but because of the fear of death; she was too coward to give in. The nerves danced drastically and it caused her headache. It was so painful, hurtful.copyright protection166PENANAWcLlwaTOUf
“Hey…”copyright protection166PENANABj6Gkak7hY
“I’m okay.” But she did not know exactly how she was. A part for her felt jealous of Ben and Alex, even Tessa because their percentage of survival was higher than the Suspect group. In this hell experiment, those who were not the Risk had no difference from the inefficient samples that were waiting for the time of elimination.copyright protection166PENANADaDG8jGI5C
Alex approached, bending his head. At her first thought, she assumed he would kiss her but no, not at all. His forehead kissed her front and his hands massaged her head gently, slowly, very relaxing. Alexis closed her eyes and all her aches evanescently vanished. She was free, out of all pressures, and when her eyes opened, seeing these two beautiful jaspers, the impossibility became possibility. He dropped his hands and smiled gently. “We should go.” She whispered to him. The man nodded.copyright protection166PENANA4iCVI0QJce
They moved away from each other. Alexis saw Alex carried his own backpack and walked straight to the entrance. “No, not that way. We have to go this way, to the exit. That way will return to the way we came.”copyright protection166PENANA5aNqyBvj6D
He seemed to be uncomfortable to reply. “We won’t go that way.” As he saw Alexis shut her mouth in doubt, he confessed. “I must find Ben first and you must come with me.”copyright protection166PENANAOE8vc5ZgRE
The headache resumed. It felt like a slap on Alexis’ face. Did he take her here just for being nursed? As if they would follow the group. Shame on her, there was only Ben, Ben, and Ben in his head, only thinking about his best friend.copyright protection166PENANAGgIsgEsbiZ
“We have a deal if we separate from the group, we must continue the same path.” She revised Noel’s original plan. “No one protest Noel.”copyright protection166PENANAZwO1P1ODey
“We will find Ben.” He spoke slowly to insist his words.copyright protection166PENANA3SE2Cw3pDv
“We?”copyright protection166PENANAQTvqrqsL91
“You can travel alone.”copyright protection166PENANAS1xBCyrkze
Alexis thought of throwing something at him. “I don’t want to stop you but if we go back, we’ll lose the time. Ben knows well that we have planned for this case."copyright protection166PENANAtqJgfkUItH
“That’s Ben. Do you think he’ll listen? He might be mad this time and searches for me everywhere until he’s certain I’m not there. So we must reach him or else…”copyright protection166PENANALf0UtEoy9H
“I want to find Wade and Oslo too!” She hit her fist on the wall, upset. “I know you worry about your friend. We don’t know if he can flee from the explosion or not. But we can meet again if we head to the exit two. We are the last group that got our butts out of that scene. Alex, if he’s alive, he must be ahead of us.” She hoped he understood but Alex was stubborn.copyright protection166PENANAYrDWvd4IVA
“I know him better you do.” Alex raised his hand up to stop her argument. “Please! Listen. I must rush to him before he uses his telekinesis over his limit…”copyright protection166PENANAuu793iwVWN
Alexis did not succumb. Deep down, she felt pity to have the feeling toward him a moment ago. “Whatever you want, I’ll go this way.”copyright protection166PENANAmeKZRq23kW
Alex laughed, mocking. “How could you survive recently? Who saved you last time…” He stopped and made a painful face. This time, it was her who smiled mocking him, knowing well his wound affected.copyright protection166PENANA2z1jHNHUxV
Her counter partner bit his lips. “Listen. I can use my power and my shooting skill is better than you. Ben is your friend too, is he?”copyright protection166PENANAmQ30YpHUsE
“How are you so confident that he’s alive?”copyright protection166PENANAJGAOkbRrpX
“If he dies, we’ll see his corpse. I believe he’s alive and is searching for me. We must find our friend.” Again, he emphasized the word ‘friend’ to make Alexis felt guilty.copyright protection166PENANAxDITupNP4o
She screamed her stress out. “You!”copyright protection166PENANAcRpOeL8x6H
“And if we argue like this forever, they will be far from us. Did Noel say ‘don’t wait’? You trust his words. Please, trust me too.”copyright protection166PENANAVWGVmBdNVx
How could she refuse? She could not. It was Ben who blocked the robots and followed her plan without objection, though, he was flirty and possessed a very sharp mouth, more annoying than Wade, and acting like the world had only him and Alex. At the end of this battle, Alex won.copyright protection166PENANAonFHkKI4s9
Their bond was strong and even the outsider like her could perceive it and it reminded the bond between her and June.copyright protection166PENANAyK67sRzIxX
If she still sees me as her friend. copyright protection166PENANAA7ur2yaarH
And more upset, Alex was right. He knew his friend better than she knew Wade and Oslo. They were searching for each other. How could she realize that? It was because there was no robot left except for scrapes. They were pressed and smashed, pressed and smashed. The metal pieces were scattered along the way. Ben sought Alex but he did not stay on this floor.copyright protection166PENANAJ40Aj2VfpJ
“Well…he moves on. I think he prefers the same path…” Alexis made the face of See-I-told-you. “You don’t have to make that face. He moves on because he doesn’t see me.” The man excused himself without the regret on his face. “Okay, we can continue your plan.”copyright protection166PENANA92zQ8BiKSP
Her facial muscles tensed up immediately. Alexis did not respond to this man’s annoyance. One reason she thought was as they found only scrapes and corpses, it meant they were behind everyone. Or another pessimistic reason, no one was alive except them, but because there was no corpse identifying to be her friends, excluding the burnt bodies that hardly indicated the identification or pieces.copyright protection166PENANAIIG8JVuLdP
The worse thing was Alex’s wound still bled. He was not immortal. Even though her companion insisted that his body healed itself faster than normal people and with the medicines that were efficient like magic, he forgot that this type and the size of his wound was not a bullet’s scratch like Oslo’s.copyright protection166PENANAFSIqQ517o9
The glass door automatically opened. Alexis checked the time on her wrist and found that they waste twelve hours on this floor. That means if she was still reluctant, she might waste three days for the first zone.copyright protection166PENANAnZwu7gKmSZ
And there were four zones actually.copyright protection166PENANAIlytsMRbjM
Crack. Her feet stamped on dry bread that scattered on the floor. She used her feet to brush them away. Wait! “There must be people before us and it means there’re survivors…not one but a group! Oh, may be other groups.” Her eyes scanned around the room, seeing they arranged their backpacks and continued the journey. Alexis prayed they were her friends.copyright protection166PENANAgzVx47XBPl
“They’re alive,” Alex said, patting on her shoulder. She turned. “It’s true they’re alive.” He urged her to look at the wall besides him. At the second these letters on the wall met her eyes, it was written by tomato sauce. “See you again.” They signed their names, Wade, Oslo, Tessa, and Minnie. Alexis tried so hard not to cry and when she turned to Alex, he smiled softly and laid his hand on her shoulder.copyright protection166PENANARDzNxXTSC5
“But…Noel…Sarah…Becky…Rami…and your friend.”copyright protection166PENANAySyKY4Gxl7
“The scrapes we found guarantees that he’s fucking alive. He would not care to sign his name.” The young man sat down and jerked his shirt up. Seeing his wound bleeding, he cursed a lot. She came to check it. Some parts were dry but they could not trust it. She put the button on the watch to check if he was infected or not. Still lucky, he was not.copyright protection166PENANAAI8vu3fh2E
“You must stay still. Don’t move. The medicines may be magically effective but you must take care of yourself.”copyright protection166PENANAfYaT4caMd1
He gazed at her and squeezed his cheeks. “But we can’t rest.”copyright protection166PENANA9UsxBiKJrr
“I know. I mean don’t move or turn abruptly like this.” She imitated his unrest gesture.copyright protection166PENANAiqsAc7nKhB
“Okay.” He folded his shirt and stopped her hand. “I’ll clean the wound again.” Although Alexis was not a doctor, she knew well that the wound needed to be clean. And she would like to add more medicines so it would be cured faster without bleeding again. “Pray for it to be dry.”copyright protection166PENANAarI4INhXBc
“Bambi.”copyright protection166PENANAEVPGy0OXtk
“Don’t Ben with me!” She put the medical aids down in the violent step. The young man laughed. “Ben becomes verb already?”copyright protection166PENANAfPqxZWyxnT
“Don’t move! Please. For God’s sake! Why can’t you understand?” Comparing Alex with Ben, to make him comprehend simple rules was harder than talking to Ben, especially when he entered the weedy mode.copyright protection166PENANAVz3mUvXprh
Who said the weeds have no effect? copyright protection166PENANAFkV3xnzwaM
After taking care of Alex’s wound, she unfolded the map on the floor. They thought about resting for minutes before continuing the journey. Suddenly, Alex who refused to sit still snapped his fingers and sang Carmen’s song alone. Sometimes, she wondered why her new friends were all special. “Singing from the ocean, hope he recognizes her. She won’t move on until he looks at the sea. Murmuring the same song, he knows the lullaby. But he is a poor sailor and she passes him by.”copyright protection166PENANANZePUWkDGf
A Sailor’s Song, she hated to be proud of knowing the title. For Alexis, Carmen is her Madonna.copyright protection166PENANATt48ttxV2H
“Skye.” He mentioned a name and slapped his laps. “That’s it! I will call you Skye.”copyright protection166PENANA7qsT3aJIQr
The corner of her lips lifting up. “How do you know that?”copyright protection166PENANADxIN2Qggtl
“What?” He lit another cigarette. “Ben calls you Bambi. I’ll call you Skye.”copyright protection166PENANAEzY0MUyiYj
The girl chuckled. “How do you know my middle name?”copyright protection166PENANAquUIdtSuji
This time, Alex was amazed. “Your middle name? Skye?”copyright protection166PENANAs1uR0Pdpdz
“Yes…Oh.” Her brows roped.copyright protection166PENANAHp1sGEL1qp
He smiled broadly. “I just thought of that room. Ah…I know better than those princes.” Alex crawled and moved toward her; his hands placed on the cross she made on the map. His faced poked before her face. “Now I have the right to call you this name without any condition.” She stared at his dark eyes. His face moved closer. The jaspers in his eyes played with the light, sparkling and then they were shut. Alex fell on the map, sleeping there.copyright protection166PENANARTfDjVnEA2
“Great!” She flipped his body just to make him sleeping facing the ceiling instead of burying his face on the ground, in order to prevent his weight fell on his wound. “Sleep here. Next time, we have no time to rest.” She checked the number on the watch; the minute change. Time was running out.copyright protection166PENANAljZbeVpphG
“We’re going to the third day and we’re still at the beginning,” she mumbled before lying next to him.170Please respect copyright.PENANAHHSDVOPs2z
copyright protection166PENANALxmGKk2Fax