CHAPTER 139: 139-ALWAYS STARTING A WAR

Clementine:

I did not expect him to forgive me. I thought he would be angry, and I was already upset with myself. But then he showed up, looked for me, and chose to clear up any disagreements or misunderstandings right away. Even though I had a harsh past with him, his actions made me see him differently. The way he changed so quickly, realizing we needed to talk and resolve things when he could have just waited, made me feel good. The fact that he came right away made me feel very special.

After Troy came to fetch us, we decided to rush back to the train station. But something else caught our attention. We realized we were in one of the biggest cities. The tall buildings and high-rise apartments were empty, or maybe filled with monsters, we couldn’t tell. The roads were massive too, with old cars scattered around, all in a fucked-up state. Aside from the wind, there was no sound.

I had run deep into the city and hadn’t found a single soul. Not even dead bodies. Just blood splatters.

"We should go," Haiden said.

Right then we heard the loudest groan, almost earth-shattering. He grabbed my arm while Troy put his hand on my back to steady me, even though I didn’t need it. Our heads turned to the side.

A cluster of tall buildings loomed, and among them was a shadow. Huge, slender, stretching into the clouds. We couldn’t make out its form, only its shadow. But the sound it made was like the loudest sirens we’d ever heard.

"Whatever the fuck this is, we need to get out of here," Troy said.

We nodded and sprinted back the way we’d come. So fast that if any of us had tripped, we would have been seriously hurt from the sheer pressure and strength we used to get away from that monster.

This time it felt different. We had lost quite a few people, and not just lost them. Much worse shit had happened. We couldn’t retrieve any bodies except for those turned to stone by Medusa. Among them was Xenia, her stone-cold body carried by the other squads.

At the station, everyone was there except for the white squad. That was odd. They always stuck together, which made me wonder how Xenia ended up alone and in the grasp of the brown house people. Jessie was still a mess. I figured she’d need to go home first, heal a bit before she could fully recover after her transition.

Matthias from the red squad was helping her board the train, while Oriana stood behind with her arms folded across her chest. Her eyes landed on me, and a smile spread across her lips.

"Ooh, who is that?" she grimaced as her gaze shifted to Ian, who had the leader’s arm draped over his shoulder.

"Isn’t that—" She gasped as recognition hit her.

"Yeah, somebody help us find something to tie this man up with," I called out. Almost everyone jumped to work, except for Oriana. She was usually in such shock that it took her a while to snap out of it, let alone help.

After all the preparations were done, we boarded the train with the white squad rushing in late. The others seemed fine. It was the same people, Joshua, Jack, Suki, Nate, and Yash, but they were missing someone.

"Where is Xenia?" Jack asked as he stepped into our carriage. The train still hadn’t left.

We just gave him a silent look, a clear hint we weren’t interested in answering. He rushed past to the carriage behind us. Suki and Nate followed, searching for Xenia, while Joshua and Yash lingered in the doorway between carriages.

Joshua leaned on the frame, elbows spread, his eyes scanning us until they landed on the man, tied and passed out.

"Who is that?" he asked. I expected him to react like Oriana had, eventually remembering who this man was. But it seemed he’d never seen him back in the North.

"Is that a survivor? Did you guys find a survivor?" he repeated. None of us answered. We just stared out the window.

"So, just because you got to slay another monster, now you’re suddenly arrogant?" he scoffed. We stayed quiet. Another fight wasn’t worth it. Situations like that had already cost us too many members. Moments later, his squad returned.

"How is it possible?" Jack muttered, shocked by what he’d found.

"What is it?" Joshua asked, pulling back from the doorframe.

"Xenia turned into stone," Suki told them. Joshua’s eyes went wide.

"She was caught by Medusa?" he stammered.

The looks on their faces showed real grief, though part of me knew they were also mourning the loss of someone they used for their dirty work. We didn’t say anything. White Squad could get messy, and now wasn’t the time.

Just then, the doors began to close one by one.

"We should head to our carriage," Yash uttered, but one harsh look from his squadmate shut him up. That’s when the Red Alarm started blaring, probably because they weren’t in their carriage.

"Who is this man?" Joshua demanded again, pointing at the one tied at our feet, lying on the floor.

"Dude, you need to get back to your carriage," Haiden finally snapped, intervening in their little conversation.

"No, tell us who he is and why he’s tied up?" Joshua pressed. I guess he asked that because he had finally realized if it was a survivor, he wouldn’t be tied up like that.

"You need to get back to your carriage because the train is not moving. Before any other monster decides to board the train with us, you better fuck off," Yorick hissed as we noticed the doors opening again after the alarms had blared for a few minutes.

"Not until you tell us who this man is," Jack insisted, siding with Joshua and repeating the same question again and again.

"This is the brown house people, the people who kidnapped our people. Now you got the answer? Now fuck off," Oriana cut in. I don’t know why she always had to bud in, be part of the conversation, when she never helped.

There was a reason we weren’t telling them who this man was. The look on their faces showed they weren’t happy to hear it.

"Wait, is that the man whose people were trying to fight us?" Yash asked, and the rest of them turned to look at him.

"Oh, we better kill him right here, right now," Joshua announced, making our eyes go wide as we jumped off our seats, ready to stop whatever he was about to do.