Second World



Jack adjusted their distance following the width of the street. The street was wide but it was not wide enough to have everyone spaced out too far.

"Boss. If we only attack when the enemies attack, why do we have to move? Why not just stay here and form a defensive perimeter?" Stefan asked. "We will be less likely to get ambushed that way."

"Well, to tell you the truth. I'm looking for someone," Jack answered. "We come here together and I want to make sure she was okay. I'm sure she is on the other team. Just like your friend, Dina."

"Are you sure your friend won't attack us?" Naomi asked.

"She won't if she sees me," Jack answered.

"What if she ambushes us from the rear?" Stefan asked. "I might accidentally kill her before finding out that she is your friend."

"I find that highly unlikely. More likely you are the one who gets killed first," Jack said. "Well, if any of you get ambushed by a beautiful woman, then call me."

"Beautiful woman? Aren't that a bit vague?" Stefan said.

"Okay. If you see the most beautiful woman you have ever seen, call me," Jack said.

The others looked at each other. Not sure if Jack was joking or being serious.

"Cut the chatter. We move out now. Try to be as quiet as possible. Starting now, use hand signals if you want to communicate with the others," Jack said and went ahead to take his position.

"If your hand signals are what they used to be, we might as well not say anything," Stefan said after Jack was away. The others chuckled.

They then went and took positions following Jack's instruction. They used the ruins around them for covers. There were plenty of wrecked vehicles around the ruined streets. These allowed them to keep on moving stealthily.

After one hour of roaming around, they still didn't see or hear anything. This showed that the ruined world used for this battle royale stage was very large.

After another hour of moving, Glover said to Jack, "Hey, this is pointless. How about we follow Stefan's suggestion and just camp around here and wait for someone to come to us?"

"Sstt…!" Jack signaled for him to be quiet.

"There is no one here…!" Glover said.

Jack sighed. When he was about to say something to Glover, a scream was heard. It was a woman's scream. Everyone turned in the direction where the scream came from. They then looked at Jack. Their expressions asked Jack what they should do.

Jack gave them a simple hand sign indicating that they would head in the direction the scream was coming from. He then started moving. The others adjusted their movements with his. They moved slowly and carefully while continuing to use available covers.

They heard a few more screams in intervals as they closed in. After a few minutes, they finally had a view of the source of the screams.

It was a woman who was being harassed by two men in the middle of a park. No cover to where those three were so the closest Jack and the others could get to was near the edge of the park.

"Do you think you can run, huh, b*tch? Do you think you can get away after what you did? I told you to be the sacrifice yesterday. Why did you defy me? Because of you, my lad is no more. Now, you have to suffer the consequences."

One of the men kicked the woman in the stomach, which prompted her to scream again.

"Stop! Please don't hurt me anymore…," the woman pleaded. "I… I don't want to die…"

"But you can't," the other man said. "We are teammates, you see? We can't kill you."

"Yes, and that makes it all the better," the first man said with a grin. "We can hurt you for as long as we like and you won't die. Haha. Scream then, hah! You think anyone will come to save you. The only ones who come are those who want to kill you, b*tch!"

The two men slapped and hit the woman some more.

"Help…! Help…!!" The woman yelled.

Jack felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw Naomi had left her position and was now beside her.

"I can't stand watching that. I'm going to go teach those two a*sholes a lesson," she said.

"Well, then you are a better person than me. I'm about to head out and kill those two mother*ckers," Jack said.

Jack looked back. He then pointed at Glover whose position was closest to him aside from Naomi. He signaled for him to follow and then signaled the others to stay back and stay alert.

He, Naomi, and Glover then came out of hiding. Since there was no cover they could use to sneak onto those three strangers, they just walked in the open. Glover waved his shortsword around while Naomi grabbed her steel claw tight.

One of the men noticed Jack and the others. He warned his friend. The woman also saw Jack and she started pleading, "Save me, mister! Save me!"

She was kicked by the man. "Shut up, you, stupid b*tch! Do you think they are good Samaritans? They are coming to kill, not to save."

"I will run now if I were you," Jack said to them while brandishing his wrench.

The two turned and ran.

"What the… I didn't expect them to be that chickenshit," Jack uttered. He had expected them to talk trash and thus made it more satisfying when he whooped their asses.

"They are outnumbered, they are wise to run," Glover said. He was not that keen on getting into a conflict. He didn't have the advantage of a native's high HP in this place. He had been walking a bit behind Jack and Naomi so the two would get into the fight first.

Naomi was more eager for conflict. "Punks! I will smash their faces if I see them again."

"Are you okay?" Naomi asked. She and Jack knelt near the harassed woman.

"Don't worry, you are–" Jack didn't finish his words. He suddenly jumped away just as the woman swing her arm.

Silvery sand hit Naomi's face. She screamed as she closed her eyes.

"They are back!" Glover shouted. He meant the two men who had run away earlier.

But he then realized that it was not only those two. From outside the park, four others came running toward them.