CHAPTER 33: CHAPTER 32: BUS 357 (1)

As Zaen disappeared without a trace, some trouble was brewing elsewhere.

"ST-14 to headquarters, we might have a lead on subject G-017. I repeat. We might have a lead on subject G-017," Markus, the large Caucasian male, yelled over his radio as a blonde woman and a man akin to a bowling ball followed him.

"Got it, Strider team 14, pursue the lead and report back as soon as you find the subject." A feminine voice crackled through their radios. "Do not engage the subject in combat! I repeat, DO NOT engage! It’s more precious than all of your lives, understand? Wait for the Impounders to be deployed. Do not let the subject get out of sight."

"Roger that, command." Marcus then disconnected the link.

"Yo... lead... mind if... I take... a break?" Hugo, the bowling ball, asked Marcus. Someone like him clearly wasn’t suited for this job, and Marcus knew it well.

"Fuck fatso, why did you even join the force!?" Marcus yelled back, pushing a bystander out of his way.

"I thought... we... just sat on... our butts... all day and... earned money... hehe!" Hugo smiled.

"Fine! Get back to the vehicle and wait for the Impounders," Marcus said, pushing yet another woman out of his way.

"Aye Aye... captain!"

None of the men seemed to care about the people around them, but Miranda stopped to check on the woman Marcus had pushed away. She gave her hand to the woman, but the woman slapped it away.

"I don’t need help from the likes of you!" the woman bitterly said and got up by herself. "First, they’ll push people around and then try to act like heroes. Damned hypocrites!"

Miranda just stood there as more people joined in to bash them. She knew Marcus was out of line, but it was a tense situation. They had to get on the bus before it departed, and the crowded street was impeding their chances of that.

Still, she bowed and apologized to everyone

"Miranda!" Marcus’s voice echoed through her radio. "Where the fuck are you? Don’t tell me you went off to kiss that fatso? Get your ass out here, right now!"

"On my way, Captain!" She rushed away, patting Hugo’s back as she did.

Her mind went back to the reports they had received about the bus. No one who entered the bus left alive.

That was it. A one-line report along with the vehicle’s mysterious route. The lack of information regarding the anomaly was baffling. However, it was to be expected as they had lost multiple operatives while trying to gather information about it.

They were the fourth team assigned to collect clues and information about the anomaly, but their mission was in danger of failing even before they began.

"I don’t get it," Miranda spoke through the radio. "Ordinary people can’t see the bus, and it always waits before someone boards it, so why did it change the route so suddenly?"

"The hell do I know?" Marcus yelled. "Also, this damned collar doesn’t let me breathe properly."

Miranda didn’t bother consoling him. Honestly, even though Marcus was their team captain, she hated him with the core of her being.

Unlike her, who had entered the organization after proving herself, or Hugo, who got in because of his calamity-class ability, Marcus had been a criminal.

In the first game of his round, he killed seven civilians even before the ghouls got the chance to. Once the force arrived to rescue people, only Marcus was left to rescue.

He was marked as a criminal right then and there, while his accomplices, let’s just say, the organization conveniently forgot to search the area. Marcus would have met the same fate if not for his regeneration ability.

That was the reason their team was chosen for the espionage mission. The higher-ups believed that even as Marcus died, his ability would keep him alive long enough for them to gather some information about the anomaly.

Besides, they had already managed to extract and replicate a portion of his ability through the Phoenix Project, which made him expendable.

As for the collar on his neck, it was an explosive paired with a camera and other small devices to record whatever the bus was. It would transmit all the data directly to the base, so there was no need for them to retrieve the collar.

As for Miranda and Hugo, they had no intention of boarding the bus. They had already discussed the plan and played their parts.

Marcus, being oblivious of the fact, just thought his team was incompetent and pushed ahead alone. A seemingly normal black colored bus was on the move.

"I can’t miss this chance!"

Not willing to wait, Marcus jumped and grabbed the metal bar around the open gate of the bus. As long as this mission was successful, the organization had promised to let him go. He would earn his freedom after this mission!

While the thoughts of freedom shrouded his mind, Miranda had a smile on her face. But that’s when she saw something strange.

Someone was already sitting inside the bus!

***

Wasn’t I supposed to board a bus?

Zaen thought, looking around the empty place.

Much like during his perception task, he was swallowed up by a portal and dumped in a strange place. He could hear the chatter around, but couldn’t see a thing, even though he was holding his stick.

He was wondering if the system had made a mistake when a piece of paper suddenly materialized in his left hand. Unlike the surroundings, he could read what was written on it.

It was a bus ticket, but that wasn’t what he was looking at. He was surprised at the material the ticket was made of.

What he thought to be paper was... human skin.

"...shit."

Suddenly, a bus materialized before him. There was no one inside... not even a driver, yet the gates opened as if welcoming him. The next second, his feet automatically moved, and before he knew it, he was seated in the farthest seat.

What the hell is going on?

Zaen tried to move, but he couldn’t. Only after the bus moved was he able to use his body normally. Simultaneously, the entire normal-looking bus got covered in static texture.

His mouth fell open.

He thought he had to deal with the one operating the bus, but in reality, the bus itself was the anomaly he had to kill.