No second chances: The beginning of the end

Chapter 10: Silent Farewell.

Chronos was simply waiting in the back of the whole convoy while the rest of the group was assessing the situation. Phill kept an eye on him from afar but didn't want to pay much attention to what Gree mentioned earlier before the ambush. She seemed serious with that regard, i will just try to stay calm about it, Chronos has a good intuition, and alerting him would just make things worse. Phill said while trying to give maintenance to the coilgun, next to one of the wrecked turrets.

There was no real threat at the moment and the military team took its time to collect as many samples as possible and count the number of casualties including the damage on the vehicles.

One of the soldiers took the severed arm of the screamer and brought it back to the resources truck in order to store it while noticing Sinns stepping out of the truck and walking towards Gree. Without hesitating, he began to record the situation with a camera on his assault vest.

Gree didn't have much information regarding the Victoria's Model project, since it was not in her former department, all she knew was that it was related to the development of weapons to fight TDW-A01. She never expected a doll-looking girl to be part of that project, so she couldn't really think of what Sinns actually was. A Cyborg? A half-breed with suppressed non-human features? Maybe a Hero? In any case, I hope the virus I left in the convoy results useful to answer that question. Gree planned in her mind while her path was suddenly blocked by Sinns.

Neither Sinns nor Gree said anything for a moment while staring at each other, and the soldier kept recording while hiding by the resources truck. "You are undeniably cute but I know very well I'm cuter, so it's alright to keep staring, but it is weird if you don't say anything though" -Gree said with a sassy tone as she shrugged.

Sinns kept quiet and moved aside, letting Gree walk forward but whispering something between her teeth. Gree couldn't really hear it well until Sinns mentioned "Dr. Otto told me to help you, escape now that you can". Sinns was definitely there to capture them, but thanks to a former colleague Gree was granted the opportunity to escape once again. Gree's eyes widened but knew she couldn't waste any time and so kept walking towards the group. The soldier stopped recording the moment Gree walked away from Sinns and went to report to his superior.

Nat was collecting all the weapons she could since she knew very well Gree would love to dismantle every single one of them to create something. Phill was relaxing a bit, cleaning his weapon, but often shifting his eyes over to everyone. Chronos on the other hand was trying to check on the egg and to his horror, he noticed some cracks on the egg's surface. He didn't know if they were natural or if it was a result of the fight, but his mind couldn't cloud with the worse thoughts at that moment, so he tried to keep it safe once again and join the group.

Gree had a serious expression and motioned her hand towards Phill to come over while Cronos was walking towards Nat. Phill felt something was off and followed her without hesitating. "Everyone, get to the car, we are leaving as fast as possible" -She said while the only one who seemed to not know what was going on is Nat. However, she still got in the car but before they could do anything, the soldiers were aiming the turret towards them.

Phill and Gree noticed they didn't have time and before the turret could shoot, a heavy screech coming from the turret itself deafened partially the soldier and the barrel fell down with a clean cut as if something sliced it making the ammunition that was being fired explode upon leaving the now sliced barrel, destroying the top of the turret and leaving the vehicle unusable. All soldiers aimed their guns towards Sinns as Chronos' group used the opportunity to leave as fast as they could. Sinns simply sighed and surrendered while dropping her Axe and raising her hands.

The team leader addressed the situation and reported to the headquarters."Sir, we have confirmed VM No.1 sabotaged the operation and let the targets escape, we are now taking measures to arrest her and carry her back to be processed" -Said the soldier while Sinns was being cuffed and forced into the convoy.

Back in an unknown section of a military building in the capital. "Dr. Otto Van Weils, we have confirmed Victoria's Model No.1 to be a traitor of the nation by failing the very first mission she was assigned and letting the targets escape, which means you are also suspect of betrayal to the nation, we are here to terminate you" -Said a uniformed soldier along with a partner who was holding a simple assault rifle.

"Can I see Sinns one last time?" -Otto asked while sitting as he was placing down his pair of glasses on a nightstand.

"Denied" -said the soldier while turning around and leaving the room, which indicated the partner to open fire and fill Otto's body with lead splattering blood around which also fell on the glasses and disfiguring his body until the magazine clicked empty.

Oblivious of this gruesome scene, Chronos' team was moving away from the convoy and making fake tracks to avoid being chased so easily. "Damn, I really feel like puking after going into so many circles" -Said Gree to herself, she seemed a bit sick from the turns Phill have been making on the road.

Chronos was checking his map and Nat was sleeping, Phill felt rather stressed since the past events have been too convenient for their sake. "What did Sinns tell you?" -He asked Gree who was curling into a ball with her seatbelt on while whining because of her dizziness.

"Oh, you know, the typical stuff, something something a friend, something something the ruler, we were being jebaited and that was a very elaborated trap" -Gree summarized while rubbing her stomach slowly as she curled.

Phill sighed in disbelief, remembering the only one who they knew on the VM project was Otto. Who oddly enough share the same surname as Chronos -He thought. "Wait, but this implies-!" -Phill said while being suddenly interrupted by Gree. "Yes, I know what will happen now, if it didn't happen already..." -She added.

Chronos heard the whole conversation and recalled the moment Sinns appeared, clenching his fist and feeling powerless since he had to be saved once again, at the same time, he for some reason felt relieved since there are still people that show kindness to others by helping them somehow. I can understand that I don't have the reflexes nor the strength to fight on my own in this world, If it wasn't for Natasha, I would have been captured or killed the very first day I stepped on a town -he thought while briefly looking at Nat sleeping as she snored softly.

A nauseous feeling traveled up from Chronos' stomach, and he suddenly fainted without Gree or Phill noticing. It seems like the moment he relaxed his body began to backfire and forced him into unconsciousness.

Nat woke up a couple of hours later and noticed the car wasn't moving, and the windows were down, also Gree and Phill were not in the car. Huh? What is going on now? Where are those two? -she thought while slowly coming out of the car.

To her surprise, Nat noticed Phill comforting Gree while patting her back slowly as she cried and puked. "We were about to die so many times...why are we still being hunted down, we did so much for the ruler and now we can't even...-Gree complained briefly and stopped to puke again while remembering the past few events.

Nat simply kept her distance and couldn't help but remember the death of her friend in silence as well as the fight against the infected. It seemed like the group was starting to understand the path they walked on was nothing but full of blood.

This is a fact Chronos accepted the moment DD passed away and was taken by one of the rulers who oversee this kingdom. On the other hand, Gree, Phill, and Nat never thought the beginning of this "trip" would turn into a heavy psychological challenge and the moment they thought everything was turning for the best, they would be haunted by death once again.

"I don't know if I could take this for too long Phill, I belong to a laboratory, or even a workshop, not the battlefield, and yet for almost 1 month we've been hunted down like f*****g dogs" -Gree complained with anger filling her words.

"We need to leave this kingdom, and maybe that way we would be able to get an opportunity to survive" -Phill reasoned, trying to comfort Gree with the start of a plan.

Nat was eavesdropping and slowly sat down behind a tree, looking up to the sky and trying to find peace in her mind. Chronos woke up a while ago and saw everyone from the distance while checking on the egg once again, realizing it had more cracks, meaning that the egg, the successor he has to protect, was about to be born. Maybe it is time to part ways with them before they notice I'm the cause of this situation -Chronos thought while grabbing his bag and the white gold coins left.

Without saying a word, he simply walked away, hoping he would be able to avoid the death of the people he was traveling with. Just like the first time he went to a town, Chronos was decided to travel alone again but this time he had experience and knowledge of the world, he just needed to find a way to survive it.

Nat, Gree, and Phill went back to the car to notice Chronos disappeared, they were clueless of why but Gree had a hunch, which made her angry because she knew nothing about him, and yet he seemed like he hid something important from them. However, regardless of Chronos hiding something to them or not, there was nothing they could do now, but hope they crossed paths once again.