COLONY
UNTOUCHABLE (KRYBER)"I can't find the kid anywhere in the Sanctuary, Cap. She's not there."
Krystal covered , attempting to muffle her cry. Jiwon hugged her right away.
"I think I should take you out, Krys. This may be too much for you to take."
"No, Jiwon. I won't go out unless I see my daughter again..."
Jiwon sensed there's no point trying to argue. She continued hugging her friend instead. "Don't worry. This isn't the first time something like this happened. I'm sure Amber will be able to find her."
"I just hope so, Jiwon. I just hope so..."
---
"WHAT!"
"I checked all the places, Cap. The kid's not there."
"!" Amber left her troop and dashed towards Sanctuary Four. Although it is still foggy due to the smoke, she can clearly see now that the barriers were also destroyed because of the bomb.
"Katie!!!" Amber shouted inside the Sanctuary. She went to the back and called the little kid again.
No answer.
"!" Amber paced back and forth the room, breathing hard. "Control Room. We need a bird's eye view. Please try to look for any trails. The Evens were weakened by the bomb. They shouldn't be far away."
"On it, Cap." There was a short silence before the man spoke again, "There's a trail northeast of you, Cap --"
Amber ran outside the Sanctuary right away without waiting for the person to finish. She injected another booster in her veins and began following the trail, leaving her troop behind.
"The kid's captured," said Amber, motioning to her radio. "Don't bother to kill all of them. Follow me. Make sure to take another booster. We don't know what's waiting for us there."
"Roger, Cap," said Tiffany, Taeyeon, and Yuri.
Amber felt hope when she finally got a sight of the trail. She moved further until it led her to an underground opening.
"Disengage, Cap. We don't know yet what's inside," a voice from the Control Room said.
Amber observed the hole that's about a 10 feet high. "Is this where the herd came from?"
"Captain Amber, this is Commander Sunny. Don't go in there unless you have back up. I repeat, don't go in there unless you have back up."
Amber looked at her back. Her troop isn't there yet. She sighed. She looked at her watch and her eyes focused on the seconds running.
"Captain Amber, I need your confirmation," said Commander Sunny.
Amber took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Commander, but the kid is in there. I may be able to get her alive if I go in now."
"Captain Amber, yo --"
Amber threw out her earpiece and radio far away. And without second thoughts, she dives in.
---
Commander Sunny massaged her head, sighing. She motioned to one of the personnel. "Let's connect with Yuri instead."
"Copy, Commander." The man pressed some buttons.
"Control Room, coming in," said Yuri's voice.
"Yuri, this is Commander Sunny. Your captain has run amok. Follow her quickly and get out from there as fast as you can. Copy that?"
"Roger, Commander."
"Over and out for now."
After that, Commander Sunny sat on the chair and groaned. She stared at the screen above, particularly the one displaying the inside of the tunnel Amber went in. It is obvious that it is dark because the light inside is coming only from the camera attached to Amber's helmet.
Commander Sunny sighed again and whispered to herself, "You really don't care about dying, do you?"
---
It's starting to feel hot now deep within the tunnel. But Amber knows she won't suffocate. These creatures need oxygen too. If they are really hiding underground, there's a possibility that the oxygen is present in there too.
But what about Katrien?
The kid is webbed and is probably having a hard time breathing now.
She's also imagining Krystal already panicking in the Control Room now.
Amber shook her head, trying to stay positive. Her steps went faster. She doesn't care now what's waiting ahead of her. Her main goal is to free the kid at all cost.
Amber felt hopeful when she had a glimpse of the monster's back ahead of her. The monster is slowly walking, pulling a web ball behind that's about a size of a kid.
Amber pulled out her sword and attacked the Even from the back right away, causing the monster to create a loud noise.
"Creeeee!!!"
Amber took the opportunity to drag the web ball away from the monster. She pulled out a knife and started cutting the web.
"C'mon, kiddo, please stay alive for me. Ouch!"
Amber's body was thrown on the side when the Even hit her with one of its claws. With Amber getting knocked down for a bit, the Even slowly walked towards the web ball again, trying to fix the web of its prey.
"Ahhh!" Amber launched another attack, stabbing the Even again from behind. She noticed that her Retter Blade is already broken so she ejected the old one and inserted another bullet in the handle, forming a fresh new blade. Amber attacked again, this time focusing on the torso until the Even fell on its back.
This gave Amber time to do what she needed to do: she went to the web ball again and resumed cutting the webs.
"C'mon! C'mon! C'mon!"
She looked at the Even and it's starting to move again, trying to get up. Amber knows it won't take much time before it attacks again. She tried cutting the web as fast as she can until finally, the Even stood up.
"Agh! I'm so close!"
The Even was ready to attack when something from the back hit it continuously, until it fell down on the floor, lifeless.
"Cap? You alright?" asked Yuri, changing her Retter Blade too.
"We were worried," said Taeyeon. "We heard you scream."
"I-I'm fine. Thanks." Amber continued cutting the web.
"Let me help you there, Cap." Tiffany pulled out a knife too and helped Amber.
Not too long the kid's face is finally revealed. Amber and Tiffany hastily tried removing the web all over the kid's body. Once done, they laid her on the ground.
"Katie, baby, can you hear me?" Tiffany tapped the kid's shoulder gently.
No answer.
Amber was just breathing hard while looking at the somewhat bluish girl in front of her.
"Katie..." Tiffany tried sensing the pulse. She looked at Amber. "Not breathing. No pulse."
Amber shook her head. "No... no..."
"Captain, we did our best --"
"NO!" Amber knelt down on the side of the kid and tilted the little girl's head back. Amber pinched Katrien's nose and blew into twice.
There was no reaction from the kid.
"C'mon. Don't go dying on me now!" Amber placed both her hands in the middle of the kid's chest and pushed down repeatedly. "C'mon, Katie. Please!"
After the chest compression, Amber blew air into Katrien's mouth again.
Still no response.
Amber wiped her eyes with her hand, preventing tears from falling down. She repeated the process one more time to no avail.
Tiffany started crying, turning her back at the scene.
"Captain..." Taeyeon hesitated.
"She's gonna make it, Taeyeon," said Amber, doing chest compression again. "She's gonna make it." She bowed one more time to give air until the kid's chest rose.
Katrien's body finally responded. She took a deep breath in and exhaled. Then she coughed several times which was followed by a loud cry.
"Mommy!!!"
Amber couldn't hold her tears now. She hugged Katrien. "I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry... I'm not going to forgive myself if something happened to you..."
The kid hugged Amber back and rested her head on the captain's shoulder.
Taeyeon looked away, her eyes watery. Yuri had to wipe her tears too. Tiffany cried more tears of joy now.
Amber pulled away to look at the kid. "Are you okay?" She checked the kid's whole body to make sure it's not injured.
"K-Katie s-scared..." said the Katrien.
"I know. I know. It is my fault," said Amber, tidying the Kid's hair. "I swear I'm not gonna let you go out of my sight this time."
The kid simply nodded and hugged Amber again.
Their happiness was cut short when the ground started shaking.
"Captain, something's coming from inside. We need to move now!" said Taeyeon, looking terrified.
"Too late. They are already here!" Tiffany drew out her sword and attacked the first Even who approached them.
"Captain! We'll try to hold them. Go out now!" said Yuri. Amber nodded at her and carried Katrien.
The three SAU members killed the first few Evens who approached them. Eventually, they noticed that it's not stopping.
"How many are there?" asked Taeyeon, irritated.
"I don't know! This may be another herd attack!" said Yuri.
"We won't last long in this, guys. Let's go out now too!" suggested Tiffany.
And so they followed Amber outside. But the movement in the ground intensified.
"Keep running. I'm throwing them a bomb!" shouted Yuri.
"Hopefully that one will blast right away, Yul!" said Taeyeon.
They kept running until they were out in the field again. Yuri immediately detonated and dropped the bomb in the opening on the ground. They didn't wait for it to explode. Instead, the troop continued running until they reached Sanctuary Three.
"Let's go straight to the exit of the village! The Sanctuaries won't be able to protect us from herd attacks!" said Amber, still running and carrying Katrien with both her arms.
There was another movement in the ground, different from the usual one, telling them that the bomb had already exploded. This made the troop stop for a bit, trying to see if there are still Evens that would go out of the hole from afar.
Five seconds, none.
Ten seconds, still no sign.
All their faces fell when they spotted one claw appearing from the hole. It was then followed by another one, and another one, until the Evens are finally out.
"! ! ! Run!" shouted Taeyeon.
There are also few Evens that are ahead of them. Tiffany, Taeyeon, and Yuri killed those in front of them, making sure that Amber and Katrien will pass safely.
"There are too many of them!"
"Just keep attacking!"
"On it!"
Amber can hear her troop having a hard time dealing with the number of Evens. However, her main focus is to protect the kid now. She felt hopeful when they reached Sanctuary Two.
"Little more, Katie. Just hold on," she whispered to the Kid.
The ground moved one more time, stronger than ever before.
"CAPTAIN!!!"
Amber turned around when she heard Tiffany's cry like it's asking for help. She felt relieved for a second after seeing Tiffany still alive with complete body parts. However, the next thing she saw broke the last piece of hope left in her body.
Evens. Probably about hundred of them. All running towards them.
At this stage, everyone knew it was futile to fight. They kept running even though they know that it won't take long before those monsters can catch up with them.
Amber can't hear a single thing now, except for her heart that's beating fast.
She looked at the kid on her arms and felt sorry for herself.
She doesn't mind dying. She's prepared for it.
But Katrien. She's too young.
And Krystal. She will surely suffer.
Amber can't let that happen.
She'll do what she can to protect the kid, even if the chances are really slim.
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