Neutral POV:
"Gasp!"
With a gasp, Tom woke up and reached for his sidearm immediately.
"It's me! Harry!" Harry was startled by Tom's sudden awakening and quickly raised his hands
"...Fuck-" Looking around still alert, Tom got confused.
"How... did we get here?"
"You can thank me for that. I carried you all the way."
"You? You did? You carried me and my gun while running away?"
"Don't look at me like that. Desperate times call for desperate measures."
"Update me on what happened after I passed out." Getting up and picking up his rifle, he asked Harry.
Harry looked at a fridge of drinks. Getting up from the ground, he took one and started drinking while he tried to cook up a story.
When he finished, he offered Tom one and started his story.
"When you passed out or, as I thought at that time, 'died,' I was very angered, obviously. Four people came with guns and tried to handcuff me. I snapped, threw the one over to the right where two of them were standing, simultaneously grabbed my gun, and shot the one standing to my left. Then all three who were trying to stand up, and the rest you already know. Yup, that happened. Crazy night, I know, right? Though I wanted to ask, like, how many more kills before I become a mass murderer?"
"Hah... You don't have to worry about that. You did good. We were lucky that they underestimated you and didn't take your gun. Anyway, I lost the radio. So let's go there and look for them. Where are we anyway?"
"We are close, but we have to lose the big gun and the vests."
"Why?"
"There are many people and cops there."
"How'd you know?"
"I went there to see if the party had arrived or not, to ask for help with you. They were not there when I went. I just took a look and came back."
"You could've died."
"I didn't."
"Are they just standing on the road?"
"Yeah..."
"Weird. Alright, we lose the big one, but we'll keep the small ones. The cops won't find that odd. And we need new clothes for both of us to blend in."
Looking around the shop, Tom found clothes for both of them. After dressing in their new clothes, Tom and Harry departed from the shop.
"No jacket?" Tom asked Harry as they were walking towards the open area below the large building.
"I feel warm."
"That's just adrenaline speaking. I know we'll ask for one from your father's people. They'll give all of us a big expensive one."
"Heh, sure they will. I'll ask for the most expensive one."
"Haha." Tom also laughed at his own lame joke.
"You didn't change your shoes," Harry asked as he noticed the same shoes.
"Yeah, I like them," Tom replied with a cheeky smile.
They neared the group of people and saw that cops had made a circle, blocking the road. As they approached the encirclement, the cops took the duo in their sights.
"Stop right there!"
"We came here for safety..."
"Get on the ground! Hold up your hands high where I can see them! And stop talking!... Sam, pat them."
While Tom and Harry tried to give police officers their most harmless smiles, the cops had pointed many weapons in their direction and were feeling trigger-happy, rightly so given the circumstances.
When Sam patted them, he found a handgun and two spare clips on Tom and nothing on Harry, for which Tom looked at him in confusion.
"I forgot mine." As the cops only raised Harry, he smiled and whispered to Tom while Tom returned a glare.
"All clear," Sam announced after a while while raising Tom.
"You cannot take the gun further; there are people inside. We can't take any risk," one of the cops told Tom after realizing them.
"Sir, that's a very sentimental piece. It was a gift from a departed friend in the army. Hope you can reconsider," Tom started to bullshit.
"I can give you the gun, but I'll take the bullets. That's the best I can do." After a moment of silence, the officer replied to Tom.
"I'll take it, thank you very much, officer." Tom seemed genuinely relieved.
"No problem."
After removing all the bullets, the officer gave them the empty gun and sent them on their way.
"Is that all right, sir?" Sam came forward and asked the officer who gave Tom his weapon back.
"You patted them; you tell me. Both of them seem to have taken lives; both are dangerous. Tell Carter to keep an eye on them. Just in case."
"...Alright." Sam seemed surprised by the deduction but complied with the order.
Harry and Tom kept making their way through the crowd of people—some were agitated, some were pacing around in groups, some were bawling their eyes out for the loss of friends and family. Both of them took in the grim sight.
"Was it really?" Harry asked Tom.
"No."
"Ha, I knew it."
"Come to the side for a second."
As Tom led Harry to the side, he told him to stand in a position that covers his body from any stray sight, then he sat down on an exposed rock. He then removed both his shoes and plucked out two clips from inside of them.
"You were running around with shoes filled with clips, how? Doesn't it hurt?"
"They are placed in the carved space in the sole, and I wear padded socks. Smart, right?"
"Smart, alright. You said you liked them, your shoes."
"I like my shoes that are filled with spare clips. Happy?"
"Yeah, let's go." Harry smiled and said.
"I thought you'd be dead by tiring yourself."
"...I took my medicine."
"You should have done that when we took the 5-min break. Nearly killed ourselves."
"Sorry about that, I'm all fine now."
"I can see that."
Harry and Tom neared the building that they were supposed to enter, and still, there was no sign of Tom's team.
"Are they okay?" Harry asked Tom.
"Probably."
"I never asked what your team's name is."
"WHITE."
"What a racist we have here."
"What are you on about?"
"Hahaha."
As they stood in front of the building, Tom suddenly turned and looked at Harry.
"You saved my life twice in one night. Thank you."
"And you saved mine like a thousand times, in one night. We're kinda equal there. But same, thank you for your service. I'll ask my father to give you a promotion."
"Hahaha, jokes aside, in the army, those who save your life became something like brothers. So call me up, we'll go to a bar to celebrate."
"You are too old to be my brother. How about my uncle?"
"That'll do... I guess."
"But aren't you going to come with me?"
"Yeah, I am, but my team is late. You'll have to go on your own. Don't worry; you'll be safe. A person is coming to pick you up."
"Boss! Kid!"
As they both looked back, they saw Slipper being supported by Stem. Fax and Fin were also walking along with them.
"Hey, the Team WHITE is here." Harry also cheered back. He was in a very jovial mood as one of his biggest problems was solved. That too left him with superpowers.
"Is this the kid? he doesn't seem like a kid. how old is he again?" Fin asked.
"Hi, I'm Stem. Ignore Fin; he is always like that," Stem introduced herself while supporting Slipper.
"Hi, I'm Harry Winston. I want to thank you all for what you have done for me. I'm really thankful."
"It's our job, kid," Fax replied while returning the smile.
"Let's go; we are late already." Tom cut in their conversation.
The Team White and Harry moved inside the building. While they expected to mount the elevator, they were greeted by the sight of five people standing in the middle of the hall.
Four army people and one woman with short black hair wearing an all-black suit and pants.
"You guys are late. The code's 95HWF24." the woman spoke.
"Oh...shit." For a complete minute, nobody talked, and that surprised Fin, Stem, and Harry. And then Slipper slipped some words.
"What the hell are you doing here...witch?" and then some more.
"Sorry about that, it seems my friend here misspoke. He meant to say Bitch," Fax too offered some kind words and pulled out his handgun.
Tom too quietly took out his loaded gun. Seeing this, Harry was baffled.
Seems like a story here.
"We don't have time for this; hand over the kid. Overlord sent me," the witch spoke while signaling the army people to lower their guns.
"Over my dead fucking body." Tom seemed all too cold now. He stepped to the side, covering Harry with his body.
"Is the code wrong? Fin?" Looking at Fin, the lady asked.
"No..." Fin truthfully replied.
"Then we have no problem. Do we?"
"Oh, we have a problem, alright." Slipper spoke.
"You seem injured, Slipper."
"None of yer fuckin' business," Slipper replied.
"I heard you go by the name Hunter these days, trying to hunt someone?" Looking at Tom, she provoked.
"Why don't you find out yourself?" Tom offered.
"Is she an enemy?" Harry asked aloud.
"The worst kind you could ask for. Never trust her words, Harry," Fax spoke this time.
"My name is Sable. I work for your father. Do not put too much trust in these contract killers, Mr. Field. I've been instructed by your father to bring you to safety. Please come with me."
"I think... I'll take my chances with them. No offense to you, but I cannot trust only your words, you should know that. Fin?" Harry slowly explained his reason to the lady while calling for Fin.
"Her code was alright... but anyway..." Fin replied back and started connecting to Overlord.
Click
"This is Henry, how may I help you, Mr. Fin?"
"Yes—"
"Is it Henry? Gimme the phone." Recognizing the voice of the butler, Harry asked Fin.
"Henry! How are you?"
"I'm fit as a horse, Master Harry. How are you? I heard there were some close calls. Your father was very worried."
"I'm sure he was... anyway, we'll talk about that later. There is a situation here, the lady father sent, you know her?"
"Why yes. Her name is Sable. She is one of the very best we have. While she and Team WHITE have some unsavory history together, she is trustworthy, I can assure you. Please hurry, Master Harry, Master William is growing impatient by the minute."
"How does she look?"
"She has met your mother."
"...Did she now? Alright, that's all I needed. Take care."
"You too, Master Harry."
Click
"Did you meet anyone other than my father from my family?"
"I met Mrs. Anna once, in her last days. It was 16 years ago."
"What did she talk about? Which Food?" Harry asked, expecting an answer.
"Nothing about foods...she offered me some though... she said that she loved cats, and I should adopt one."
"Well, it seems she is alright. Sorry about earlier, Miss Sable."
"It's alright, Mr. Field. You are very polite, unlike some people."
"Come on, To-Hunter. We are late. We'll talk in the jet."
Tom also understood the situation, putting his grievances aside, he holstered his gun, and Fax also put his gun away.
"Now, follow me." Sable spoke.
Just as they started moving, Harry again started hearing everyone's heartbeat. Tom, Fax, and Slipper had faster heartbeats, of which Tom's was the fastest, and the rest had normal heartbeats, save for Sable. She, too, had a faster heartbeat, nearly the same as Tom's. Harry again wondered what was their history. After a few seconds, he started hearing two very loud heartbeats; they sounded like drums in his ear.
Looking around, Harry tried spotting anyone in the vicinity. It was then his vision changed, and everything became dark, save for yellow and blue colors, which indicated humans. Startled, Harry thought, 'Thermal vision! Fuck, what else do I have?'
With its help, Harry located the sound. It was coming from the second floor, which was exposed. There were two people standing, holding sticks at his direction.
"Are they with you, Miss Sable?" Harry asked Sable about the two men who had trained their rifles on him, thinking they were backup for Sable.
"Who?" Sable turned and seemed confused.
"Snipers!" Harry didn't reply as he heard their heartbeats go up and a peculiar sound of a trigger being squeezed, pushing Tom, who was still walking in front of him. Harry screamed.
Boom!
Boom!
Two explosion-like sounds echoed in the large hall while everybody scattered because of Harry's shout. Tom, who had stumbled because of Harry pushing him, rolled to the side where a pillar was. When he looked back, he saw something that chilled his entire body, and a scream escaped his mouth.
"HARRY!"
Harry's POV:
It's warm... and wet. This feeling... I felt this when I was a child. It was a little lower, but the feeling was quite the same. The first time I ever wetted the bed after turning 5 years old, I remember it now. I had just turned eight, and seeing the wet bed, my mother had consoled me, witnessing my embarrassed state. I had requested the maid to not say anything, but she betrayed me, and my ever-beautiful mother told Emma and Edward. Both of them had a lot of fun teasing me. Mom had profusely apologized afterward.
And there was that time when a wild cat had given birth on our estate and later ran away, leaving her kittens to die. My mother had taken it upon herself to raise them, but Father was allergic to furs. So, every time she met somebody she liked, she explained to them how lovely cats were and their advantages so they would adopt one from her. She was quite lovable like that.
Now that I think about it, in every memory, she always appeared young and cheerful, as if all the pain she was going through was not present. How did you do it, Mom? Did you also awaken? Did you also get superpowers? Does Dad know? Why did you leave when you had these powers? Is Father also... no, if he had these powers, surely he would have saved you. Yeah, he suffered too. Wish I could see you again mom, just as always, smiling and beautiful. I read your letter the other day. Kate gave me your box. I don't really care that you were the heir of a sect or a country. I burned the letter and the photo. You looked good in the photo, though... Hahaha.
Neutral POV:
Tom's scream brought everyone's attention to the body laid on the ground.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Kid!" Slipper and Fax spoke at the same time as they returned fire. The position of the snipers was dark, and nothing could be seen, so they had sprayed bullets in the general direction.
"Cease fire!... Fuck!" Sable ordered and looked at Harry, who was lying on the ground, his white full-sleeve T-shirt appearing red on two spots.
Tom, all this while, was in shock, but he quickly got up, taking the pillar as support, and barked orders.
"Fax, cover fire!"
Fax complied and started shooting at the spot with an M4 while Tom ran to Harry and carried him out the front door. Everyone also retreated outside the front door while covering for themselves.
As everyone came outside, they saw that people were scared and had put a distance between them and the building from the sound of gunshots, probably.
Tom had put Harry down and was covering his wounds with his hands. He too had realized that after getting hit by two sniper rounds, his chances were probably zero. The only reason Harry was still alive was because of that weird power, but that too could not save him at this moment. Had he awakened just a year ago, he could possibly survive, but it was fate.
Harry passed away...
The moment Harry died, it started snowing, and the snow had never felt so sad for Team White. Although they were accustomed to the deaths of their close ones and their principles, it was always a tear in the old wounds to relive the misery.
End Volume 1.