Chapter 86: Don’t be afraid

Inside Bunny’s dream...

"Bunny, Auntie can’t come with you any further. You must protect yourself and reach the quarantine zone safely!"

Loud, biting winds roared in her ears, making her eardrums throb. Beyond the distant perimeter of barbed wire walls, an unending barrage of gunfire and heavy explosions echoed continuously.

Across the massive helipad, countless heavily armed soldiers were executing a rapid evacuation.

The chaotic mix of screaming crowds and blaring communication radars swirled into a blur. Bunny stared blankly at the unfamiliar middle-aged woman in white standing before her, her mind completely lost in confusion.

Gales tugged violently at the hem of the woman’s coat. Taking advantage of their final few seconds together, she quickly fastened a necklace around Bunny’s neck before waving a final goodbye.

A tall soldier clad in a tactical vest swiftly scooped Bunny up, hauling her onto the armed helicopter. Inside the cabin sat a 12-man assault squad tasked with escorting her out safely.

"Auntie!"

Bunny sobbed and struggled, desperately trying to scramble off the chopper to get back to her aunt, but she was held back firmly as the heavy cabin doors slid shut.

She pounded against the window, crying her eyes out and refusing to be torn away from her last remaining relative. The helicopter’s main rotor blades whirred to life, lifting them into the air. Amidst the deafening roar of the engine and the rhythmic thrumming of the blades, the figure of the woman standing on the tarmac grew smaller and smaller.

Until she shrank into an ant-sized speck, vanishing completely from Bunny’s sight.

Bunny had been separated from her very last family member.

She huddled in her seat, weeping uncontrollably. Surrounding her sat rows of tactical soldiers who seemed entirely desensitized to her relentless, tearful noise.

Enclosed in combat helmets and facial covers, only their sharp eyes remained visible—mute, still, and as unyielding as wooden statues.

Not a single soul stepped forward to console her until the operative seated closest reached into his tactical pocket for a bar of chocolate. Slinging his rifle behind his back, he dropped to a slow squat in front of her.

"Sweet Baby, don’t cry."

"I will be here with you."

Bunny managed to catch his meaning through her sobs: he was trying to comfort her. The soldier gently pressed the chocolate bar into her trembling palm before carefully dabbing away her tears.

His eyes were similar to hers, but with his mask firmly in place, his features remained a complete mystery to her.

The only distinguishing feature she caught was a striking red tear mole resting just beneath the outer corner of his right eye.

Exhausted from her weeping, she eventually leaned against his shoulder and drifted off to sleep.

By the time she jolted awake, she was cradled securely in the soldier’s arms. The assault unit had touched down on Helipad 3 within the containment zone of Naples, Italy. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Following high command’s directives, they were to execute their final objective: escorting Bunny safely to the core of the quarantine facility.

Under the shroud of night, the dead city stood in absolute stillness, bathed in nothing but pale moonlight and the faint rustle of wind sweeping dry leaves across the pavement.

Instinct warned Bunny that something was terribly wrong.

The twelve operatives filed one by one through the electrified barbed-wire barrier, advancing toward the command hub. Yet throughout the entire containment base, not a single living soul was in sight.

Along their path, overturned streetlamps, crumpled vehicle wreckage, and crusted bloodstains painted a grim picture—every sign pointed toward an impending nightmare.

The squad leader kept attempting to reach headquarters over the comms channel, but the radio returned nothing save for a hollow wall of static.

No one responded.

Bunny clung tightly to the soldier’s neck. Sensing her rising panic and unease, he offered a low, soothing whisper:

"Don’t be afraid."

Before the sentence could fully settle, an aberrant creature lurking beneath a flipped sedan screeched and lunged straight at them.

The sudden ambush instantly drove the entire team into high alert.

A relentless barrage of gunfire jolted even more dormant aberrations awake across the compound. Possessing terrible vision, these creatures relied almost entirely on sound waves and thermal signatures to stalk their prey.

More and more monsters surged from every direction—the quarantine zone had fallen long ago!

The unit fought a desperate tactical retreat.

Yet where could they possibly run? They were already completely trapped inside a dead end.

One by one, the soldiers collapsed, turning into fresh rations for the aberrations. Lacking the augmented attributes of evolved Sentinels, these men were, after all, only human.

The dark-eyed operative fought tooth and nail to haul her toward the shore, aiming to escape on a speedboat.

His final two teammates collapsed onto the sand in rapid succession, their bodies instantly swarmed and torn apart like prey thrown to a pack of hungry hyenas.

Under the moonlight, the ocean reeked of iron and blood as churning waves washed foam onto the beach. The stench of death crept closer with every passing second.

The soldier’s thigh was severely injured—corrosive acid melted through his flesh at a terrifying rate, exposing the pale bone beneath.

Exerting every ounce of his remaining strength, he hoisted Bunny onto the last moored speed vessel. Just as she reached out in a panic to pull him aboard, a razor-sharp pincered appendage drove straight through his chest.

Bunny’s eyes widened in sheer horror. Grabbing a pistol, she fired frantically into the creature.

The soldier stood frozen for a split second before making a swift, final decision. Ignoring the excruciating agony, he pushed Bunny’s boat out into the open water, pulled the pin on a grenade, and took the monster down with him in a blast.

He was already as good as dead.

And the mission had to be completed.

Bunny wept, pulling violently at his arm and begging him to come along, but the soldier shoved her away with heavy force. Right before the end, he left her with one final sentence:

"Stay alive, baby."

"Maybe we’ll meet again."

Whatever happened after that vanished completely from Bunny’s memory.

She jolted awake from the nightmare, the digital wall clock already reading 10:00 AM.

Behind her, Liam stirred drowsily and snuggled up against her, letting out a sleepy, whining hum:

"Mmm... Hug me more..."

Irritated and overwhelmed, Bunny couldn’t figure out whether that was just a bad dream or a buried memory from centuries ago. Either way, it belonged to the original Bunny.

She kicked Liam away, but the guy brazenly clung right back, wrapping her up in shameless kisses and tight hugs all over again.