"I can't find the kid anywhere in the Sanctuary, Cap. She's not there."

Pie covered , attempting to muffle her cry. Jane hugged her right away.

"I think I should take you out, Pie. This may be too much for you to take."

"No, Jane. I won't go out unless I see my daughter again..."

Jane sense 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 Kim will be able to find her."

"I just hope so, Jane. I just hope so..."

---

"WHAT!"

"I checked all the places, Cap. The kid's not there."

"!" Kim 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!!!" Kim shouted inside the Sanctuary. She went to the back and called the little kid again.

No answer.

"!" Kim 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 --"

Kim 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 Kim, 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 Yam, Zee, and Conan.

Kim 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.

Kim observed the hole that's about a 10 feet high. "Is this where the herd came from?"

"Captain Kim, this is Commander In. Don't go in there unless you have back up. I repeat, don't go in there unless you have back up."

Kim 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 Kim, I need your confirmation," said Commander In.

Kim 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 Kim, yo --"

Kim threw out her earpiece and radio far away. And without second thoughts, she dives in.

---

Commander In massaged her head, sighing. She motioned to one of the personnel. "Let's connect with Conan instead."

"Copy, Commander." The man pressed some buttons.

"Control Room, coming in," said Conan's voice.

"Conan, this is Commander In. 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 In sat on the chair and groaned. She stared at the screen above, particularly the one displaying the inside of the tunnel Kim went in. It is obvious that it is dark because the light inside is coming only from the camera attached to Kim's helmet.

Commander In 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 Kim 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 Pie already panicking in the Control Room now.

Kim 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.

Kim 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.

Kim pulled out her sword and attacked the Even from the back right away, causing the monster to create a loud noise.

"Creeeee!!!"

Kim 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!"

Kim's body was thrown on the side when the Even hit her with one of its claws. With Kim getting knocked down for a bit, the Even slowly walked towards the web ball again, trying to fix the web of its prey.

"Ahhh!" Kim 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. Kim attacked again, this time focusing on the torso until the Even fell on its back.

This gave Kim 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. Kim 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 Conan, changing her Retter Blade too.

"We were worried," said Zee. "We heard you scream."

"I-I'm fine. Thanks." Kim continued cutting the web.

"Let me help you there, Cap." Yam pulled out a knife too and helped Kim.

Not too long the kid's face is finally revealed. Kim and Yam 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?" Yam tapped the kid's shoulder gently.

No answer.

Kim was just breathing hard while looking at the somewhat bluish girl in front of her.

"Katie..." Yam tried sensing the pulse. She looked at Kim. "Not breathing. No pulse."

Kim shook her head. "No... no..."

"Captain, we did our best --"

"NO!" Kim knelt down on the side of the kid and tilted the little girl's head back. Kim pinched Katrien's nose and blew into twice.

There was no reaction from the kid.

"C'mon. Don't go dying on me now!" Kim placed both her hands in the middle of the kid's chest and pushed down repeatedly. "C'mon, Katie. Please!"

After the chest compression, Kim blew air into Katrien's mouth again.

Still no response.

Kim wiped her eyes with her hand, preventing tears from falling down. She repeated the process one more time to no avail.

Yam started crying, turning her back at the scene.

"Captain..." Zee hesitated.

"She's gonna make it, Zee," said Kim, 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!!!"

Kim 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 Kim back and rested her head on the captain's shoulder.

Zee looked away, her eyes watery. Conan had to wipe her tears too. Yam cried more tears of joy now.

Kim 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 Kim, 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 Kim again.

Their happiness was cut short when the ground started shaking.

"Captain, something's coming from inside. We need to move now!" said Zee, looking terrified.

"Too late. They are already here!" Yam drew out her sword and attacked the first Even who approached them.

"Captain! We'll try to hold them. Go out now!" said Conan. Kim 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 Zee, irritated.

"I don't know! This may be another herd attack!" said Conan.

"We won't last long in this, guys. Let's go out now too!" suggested Yam.

And so they followed Kim outside. But the movement in the ground intensified.

"Keep running. I'm throwing them a bomb!" shouted Conan.

"Hopefully that one will blast right away, Nan!" said Zee.

They kept running until they were out in the field again. Conan 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 Kim, 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 Zee.

There are also few Evens that are ahead of them. Yam, Zee, and Conan killed those in front of them, making sure that Kim and Katrien will pass safely.

"There are too many of them!"

"Just keep attacking!"

"On it!"

Kim 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!!!"

Kim turned around when she heard Yam's cry like it's asking for help. She felt relieved for a second after seeing Yam 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.

Kim 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 Pie. She will surely suffer.

Kim can't let that happen.

She'll do what she can to protect the kid, even if the chances are really slim.