Lucas, Vance, and Dave joined different groups. They couldn't be together because they were the only ones with advanced rifles. Without them, they wouldn't be able to save people in other cities.
And since Lucas was more familiar with Ryker, he followed him along with Seb and a woman whose name he didn't know.
"You must be Lucas," the woman said, her black eyes studying him from head to toe.
"I am, and you are?" Lucas nodded, subtly examining the woman. She seemed pleasant. Although she wasn't outstandingly beautiful, she looked friendly, and that was enough for him.
"Kyla. You've been the talk of Velomore since you arrived," the woman said, flashing him a mysterious smile.
"I have?" Lucas didn't know what she was referring to. He had spent his time mostly with Vance and Ryker, getting to know more about Velomore and the world, or in the lab with Patrick. So, he was oblivious to the gossip spreading among the people.
Subconsciously, he glanced at Ryker, who looked equally confused as he.
"Why are you looking at me that way? I know nothing about this," Ryker shrugged lightly, turning to Kyla for answers.
They were waiting for Seb to gear up. Once he was done, they'd depart for Solvane to begin the rescue mission.
"Aren't you the hero who joined Patrick in his research?" Kyla said, his eyes filled with a strange glint.
Lucas, for a moment, couldn't fathom whether she was taunting him or praising him. And if she was taunting him, why? Wasn't it good that he joined Patrick's experiment? With him now involved, wouldn't the output rate increase?
"Are you teasing me?" Lucas asked, finding the woman mysterious all of a sudden.
"Not at all. You're the first person in Velomore who volunteered to assist Patrick in his research. None of the others were willing, and mind you, we don't have a lot of people who are knowledgeable in Chemistry or Biology, not just in Velomore but in the whole world." Kyla explained, and Lucas quirked his brows in wonder.
"You sure have guts," she added, nodding at him in approval, and Lucas couldn't help but feel bashful. The woman was staring at him with such a heated gaze that he didn't know where to look.
Seb arrived right at that moment, saving him from the awkwardness, and the four people entered the chopper, with Ryker and Seb in the front and Lucas and Kyla at the back.
"This rifle doesn't seem normal," Kyla pointed out, noticing Lucas's rifle. Although it looked similar to what she was carrying, it was still different. It looked heavier and more capable.
"Umm... we found this Aslan," Lucas replied vaguely. Not many people knew about his mini trip to Aslan, and before they could reveal it to everyone, they were dispatched on a rescue mission. So, he didn't know how to reveal the truth to Kyla.
"Did you go to Aslan?" Kyla was taken aback.
Even Seb turned around in shock and stared at Lucas with his eyes wide.
"Yeah. It's a long story, actually."
"Oh, why don't you tell it to us? It's a long journey to Solvane, anyway." Kyla was intrigued, and she didn't bother about anything else, wishing to find out everything as soon as possible.
Lucas glanced at Ryker, who only smirked at him as he started the chopper, the blades rotating slowly before they picked up speed.
Noticing what the man was doing, Lucas's eyes narrowed, and he gave Kyla a look.
"Why don't you ask Ryker? He accompanied me as well."
Now it was Ryker's turn to curse. But he didn't allow Lucas to have the upper hand.
"Lucas, I have to focus on flying the chopper." Ryker threw the puck back to him, and Lucas gritted his teeth.
He didn't mind repeating all that had happened in Aslan. It was Kyla's overly enthusiastic attitude that he minded. She was too friendly and touchy for his liking.
"Get speaking, Lucas. Our journey is long." Ryker winked at him and pushed up the collective pitch control, and the chopper rose to the sky instantly.
Lucas would have kicked the man if they were flying.
Fine! Since it had come to this, he had no choice.
Lucas iterated the exact words he had said to Stinton, while Seb and Kyla listened to him in horror. Kyle's face was especially expressive, and by the time Lucas was done, he had an inkling that he had just finished telling a horror story.
"What the fucking hell!"
"Yeah, what the fucking hell!" Ryker commented from the front, making Lucas roll his eyes in disdain.
Could this man get any more annoying? Mark my words, Ryker. You'll be the first person I'll be killing after all this shit ends. What a dickhead!
Ryker knew Lucas was silently cursing. He could practically see steam emerging from his ears and head, and he stifled a laugh.
Seb and Kyla asked a few questions along the way, and Lucas answered all of them patiently.
"Reaching Orvale in 10," Ryker said suddenly, and everyone went silent at once.
To go to Solvane, they had to pass by Orvale, and Lucas looked down, watching the place below him silently. Blood had splattered everywhere, showing how deadly the situation had been. He was instantly reminded of his arrival. If Ryker hadn't saved him, he'd have been dead by now.
But as expected, there were no bodies of mutilated humans or monsters. Except for blood, there was nothing else.
"You know, why can't the humans hide in their houses?" Kyla asked with a frown. "Isn't it easier to protect themselves from the monsters than running blindly in the open?"
"Debatable," Ryker countered, shaking his head. "Patrick feels that the monsters have a heightened olfactory sense. They can easily detect the other humans, even if they are hiding."
"Makes sense."
If the humans remained hiding, then they'd only be waiting for their death. If they ran around in the open, at least they had a chance to be rescued by the rescue team.
"Reaching Solvane in 3," Ryker informed when he neared Solvane, and the other took position immediately, ready to kill the humans.
While Lucas held his laser rifle, Seb and Kyla loaded their machine gun with the new tranquilizers Patrick had created the previous day.
"What the freaking hell!" Lucas almost felt his ears shatter when he heard a thunderous growl that shook the ground.
Even before they reached Solvane, they saw a monster as tall as a building wrecking havoc in the city as it killed people left and right, leaving nothing but a clutter of dead bodies in its way.