"Why are we in the middle of a warzone again! I thought for sure this time around we'd have gotten to a safe zone or at least one with no infected in the area" Red exclaimed aiming the gun he'd found before at another infected, shooting the former human right between the eyes
Leaf didn't say anything, her hand gripping the blue fabric still around her neck. She hadn't taken off the scarf since Red had wrapped it around her neck "Leaf! Get your head out of the clouds!" she heard Red shout as she shook away the thoughts from her head and grabbed the knife she'd decided to take on as her weapon, gripping it tightly
Seeing an infected coming towards her, Leaf ducked and slashed the leg as the infected human lost balance and fell to the ground. This in turn made Leaf twist the knife into a reverse grip and slash at their neck before stabbing them in the forehead for extra measures
Leaf had changed since that day. She had been training in secret so Red and anyone else wouldn't need to risk their lives for her. She had disregarded her former self, no longer the happy, teasing and mischievous girl she once was. In her place stood someone who had seen too much, a fighter ready for anything. Leaf barely even talked or cracked a smile, something which made Red worried
Speaking of Red, he wasn't the same either. He was more brutal since he killed his first infected that day with Leaf. He started to kill any infected that stood in their way, not allowing them to get back up without mercy or hesitation. He still had his humanity though! He was only seen this way towards the infected. When it came to Leaf or people he could trust, Red's old personality shined through the darkness inside him
Both Red and Leaf were covered with blood and so was the whole area after finishing the infected. A few infected had been impaled by makeshift spears, couple limbs were seen hanging, internal organs laid across the ground and many heads either decapitated or had a hole between their eyes. All and all the whole scene screamed a massacre... and it was only done by two teens!
Red sighed as he grabbed new ammo and reloaded his gun. However unknown to him one infected managed to avoid the slaughterhouse and was slowly creeping up on the distracted teenager
Fortunately, Leaf saw this and without any warning grabbed the sword Red had been forced to drop while battling an infected fighting type and rushed forwards. She pushed the distracted teen out of the way while using him as a springboard and landed behind the infected stabbed it in the middle and with a twist of her body, kicked the infected to disorient him as she swung the sword and decapitated the infected Empoleon without even hesitating
The former Kanto Champion just stared at his friend. To think this was the same girl who would always tease and prank him when they were younger... he was scared that this version of Leaf is all that was left and that the old version was gone, never to return
Pushing his thoughts to the side, Red picked himself off the ground. He grabbed the sword Leaf was holding out for him and placed it back in its holster, same with the gun. He watched as Leaf placed the knife back in its holster and with that the two continued on their journey
However, they didn't walk much as farther away both could make out what sounded like a battle. Red didn't even ask for Leaf's opinion, knowing she wouldn't say anything and would just follow him either way as the two ran towards the ongoing battle
Hiding behind a couple of trees, Red noticed it was a small group of at least 4 battling against a swarm of infected. One was a teenage girl with short hair and had a bow and arrow as her weapon choice. She was seen firing arrow after arrow at the flying infected. The one wielding a sword was mostly attacking the infected humans, slashing away their heads
The other two were a mystery for Red. The young adult that wore all blue clothing was seen trying to calm the teen on the ground gripping his head and would occasionally mumble something that Red couldn't hear or make out through lip reading
Before Red could even speak a word on the situation, Leaf was suddenly moving. Red knew better than to call her name, it would alert the others of her presence and that would ruin the element of surprise
However much to Red's shock, he saw as the teen on the ground suddenly turn in his direction and then towards Leaf. Neither he nor Leaf had made a sound... how was it he knew where they were? Also were his eyes glowing?!
'Questions later Red! Right now, you gotta fight!' he thought to himself, grabbing hold of his sword as Leaf used her environment to her advantage to get the surprise on the hidden infected
Due to now having four weapon wielding teens instead of only two, they were able to clear the area much faster then before. It was only after all the infected were gone, did the raven-haired teen seem to have regain colour to his formerly pale face
"Is that all of them?" white-haired (or was it a beanie?) teen asked towards the non-weapon wielders
Raven-haired teen was seen nodding his head "Ya... seems there aren't any in the area" he said, his eyes still a glowing blue and looked around at the end result. Of course, since Leaf and Red were a little more graphic with their ways, bow girl and even beanie boy both looked away from the result of small massacre. The young adult and the raven-haired teen however both looked unaffected, something which Red wasn't sure what to make off
"Who are you?" beanie finally demanded, as Red saw both him and the girl with their weapons pointed towards them, ready to strike at any moment
"You tell us and we'll tell you who we are" Leaf said in a monotone as Red gave her a glare before turning back towards the small group before them
"They aren't our enemy" raven-haired teen said as bow and arrow girl seemed to accept what he said while beanie boy didn't
"How can you know that?! Just because they saved us?"
"No... I just know they aren't here to cause trouble. They suffered just as much as you did" he said and Red once again wondered how it was, he knew that. Red saw as he turned towards both him and Leaf "I'm Ash Ketchum. The one with the sword is Brendan Birch. The one with the bow and arrow is May Maple. Lastly this is Riley Gen. Thanks for the assist back their... I wasn't much help again and many of our Pokemon would have likely fallen due to having battled with infected and have yet to receive treatment"
"I'm Red. The silent girl is my childhood friend Leaf Green. Helping you was no problem. I will say I'm surprised to see other non-infected... I though Leaf and I were the last ones in this part of Sinnoh" Red said as he saw Brendan slowly lower his sword, but still kept it ready "What are you doing in this part of the region anyway?"
"We just escaped the Oreburgh mines a few days ago. We were planning on resting here before Ash got another one of his spells" Brendan explained
"Spells?" Red asked... was this how the teen knew things? Did he have some sort of ability or something?
However, before anyone could even say anything, Ash's eyes widened and suddenly grabbed May's bow and arrow from her as he aimed and let the arrow fly. Many (expect Riley) stared at him confused and wondered why he did that... until they saw an infected bug type with an arrow sticking out from their head, fall down from where Ash had aimed his arrow at. He returned to May her weapons and looked at the infected he had just killed. Although you couldn't see it, this was Ash's first kill
"How'd you know there was still an infected in the area? None of us heard or saw anything, yet you somehow knew. Come to think of it, how did you know Leaf and I were hiding behind that tree and also that we've suffered since this whole thing started?" Red questioned
Ash didn't say anything, his eyes now an auburn brown much to Red's shock. Ash was looking at the one called Riley as if the two were communicating silently. Finally, Riley sighed and looked back at Red and Leaf "If I tell you this, you better not let anyone else find out. Ash and I could both be in danger if this gets out. That goes the same for you Brendan. May, Ash has already told me you know, so I know I can trust you"
Red nodded. He had never before broken his promise to keep a secret hidden and he wasn't about to start now. Although skeptical, Leaf soon nodded her head after taking the serious tone from Riley and the slight nervous shifting from Ash into account. Brendan was hesitant to accept this, but one look from May and he sighed as he too nodded in agreement
"What you call spells Brendan is in fact Ash's aura ability activating and letting him know about the incoming danger. You saw Ash's aura sense in action just now, plus his eyes glowing blue are a sign of him using his aura abilities. Aura users it seems can somehow sense infected when they're in the same area. Unlike me, Ash is unable to control his abilities to shield his mind from their negative energy. That is the reason why he has these spells whenever infected are involved"
"Wait! So, you mean to tell me that both you and Ash are able to manipulate and use it to sense infected or danger due to this aura ability of yours?" Red asked in awe. He knew that there were people with psychic abilities, but to hear of something like aura... it was new for Red and judging by the look of both Leaf and Brendan it seemed to be the same for them
The sun was seen slowly setting, which meant it was time to go. Dealing with infected during the night wasn't ideal due to them having better vision and senses. As such many of the survivors had made it an unofficial rule to not engage against any infected during the night
"It's not safe to stay in the open, we need to find some cover or shelter. Anymore question will need to be answered along the way" May said, her body tense as she looked around for any signs of infected
"There aren't any near us at the moment May, but I agree with her. Unless you two have somewhere else you need to go, you're welcome to come and join us" Ash said, grabbing May's shoulder to comfort and ease her. The brunette sighed and relaxed sightly as she gave Ash a small smile
Red and Leaf looked at one another for a moment and then the small group in front of them. It was true that they had been able to do fine on their own so far... but at the same time, they had also gotten so many close calls as well. With Ash and Riley being able to sense infected, it would make things easier, but Red didn't want to take advantage of the two, especially since it was clear that should anyone find out about their abilities... who knows what could happen
"Sticking together would be best. We don't know how many else survived. With more and more infected coming at us, small groups are likely to fall" Riley added as that was enough to make Red agree
However, as they walked, Red couldn't help but feel as if this meeting was fated to happen... like destiny brought them all together somehow. It felt like it was a meeting of a lifetime
So let's be honest, how many of you already knew I was going to be adding Red and Leaf to Ash's group? Also I changed Leaf and Red's personalities after there encountered from the last time everyone saw them. Also no I haven't forgotten about everyone else, I'll return to them after two chapters. Not all will be seen though because I don't want to reveal all the survivors. Also we are getting closer to finishing the year. After that everything will be taking place in the present. Till next time ^^