ABYSSFALL ONLINE

CH. 011: THE WALKING SUN

Morning, afternoon, night? It looked impossible to tell what it was. It was foggy outside and crawling with zombies. Atop the red zones, the highway linking to the Vanguard base was as clear as daylight.

No single soul on the bridge, except a black cruiser. Steadily active with humming sound. Standing right behind were two Vanguard soldiers

It was eerily quiet but it was normal for then. But the fog, that wasn't normal. The fog had recently appeared and it crawled up the highway at an unmistakable speed within days of its appearance.

Serenity lingered longer with her legs crossed, arguing for dominance with the humming sound from the Vanguard cruiser. Unfortunately, no side was winning the contest.

While both concepts argued for dominance, the sound of another Vanguard cruiser blasted them both out of existence. Its engines roared so loud you could hear it from miles away.

The moment the other two soldiers spotted it, they got into position—not an attacking position.

Eventually, the cruiser came to a stop. The doors pushed open momentarily and about five Vanguard Command strike team members stepped out.

But someone else was with them.

Lyssa Kent.

Even though she was a harmless healer, her hands were bound like a prisoner's and she was shoved forward like a dirt bag.

The backseat to the former cruiser opened up suddenly; it appeared someone was in there after all.

A black-haired man stepped onto the highway. His overall black attire is overlaid by a slim silver overcoat with yellow stripes on both sides at the bottom of the coat.

His beard and transparent glasses that held eyes of ages made him look like he was in his sixties. Surprisingly, he was somewhat taller than everyone there—weird.

He approached Lyssa deliberately. The Vanguard soldiers backed away with their heads low. Whoever this man is, his aura is definitely commanding a presence that makes them nothing less than ants in his eyes.

“How beautiful.” He touched her chin and forced it up to catch her gaze. “You shouldn't have run away in the first place, Lyssa. You don't belong out here and you never will.”

Lyssa said nothing, arrogantly looking away. She'd never stop cursing Trevor for having them captured in the first place.

“Look at me.” He demanded, but Lyssa was arrogant. Serenity played in-between them, but his cold, dark voice made it disperse immediately. “I said… look—at—me.”

Lyssa still refused and it angered him. Without hesitation, the man's hand slapped Lyssa so hard that she fell down badly.

The pain so hot she gritted her teeth. She struggled not to make a sound, wished her hands weren't cuffed. The pain itched her so bad she'd curse Trevor harder.

“I am your creator and you will show me the respect I deserve.” He told her. “Take her in.” He gave the order and the two Vanguard soldiers with him immediately grabbed Lyssa Kent and led her into the Vanguard Cruiser.

While they prepared to leave, the other Vanguard Cruiser had already driven off, but it wasn't far enough. It was still visible to the human eye from a distance while the other cruiser got ready to leave.

BOOM!

An unmistakable sound tore through the highway without warning. The other still cruiser watched in awe as the other cruiser got blasted off the ground.

Lyssa, who was at the backseat with her supposed creator, had eyes widened in abject fear. The blast—it looked familiar. It caused her memory to shift; there she saw her family, all of them, caught in a blast.

The blast came into her eyes like sunrise. The cruiser on its own crashed violently, succeeded by a disheartening blast that ripped it in half.

Nobody spoke for almost a minute. Then something dropped into the highway like a meteor.

An inhumane figure of unknown origin descended upon the highway with its presence. Its entire body, sun-dipped, a walking herald of the sun.

“Drive! Now!” The man gave the order, but he didn't need to tell them. The cruiser had already taken a sharp U-turn and drove off at unprecedented speed, away from the chaos and deep into the heart of the fog.

However, the inhumane figure was still there, not moving a muscle. Perhaps it had missed its trajectory or something. It just stood there, statuesque.

Just then, it raised its hands up close. He looked at them with a foreign gaze and then his knees buckled immediately and he crashed on the asphalt road. Not too far from him were demolished body parts of the Vanguard Command Cruiser, and around him were the five bodies of the strike team.

Its hands found the parts of the cruiser, burnt to black and crispy. He looked at the dead soldiers; he barely had a face left to study. It was blank as the face of the sun.

Serenity pried the sun-walking humanoid, but it ceased immediately when it heard him say.

“Carol…”

“My dear… Carol.”

…

Back at the Vanguard Command Strike Base where Trevor was held captive and was being prepared for project Super mutant, a distress signal struck the base immediately and everyone in it rallied around to figure out what the matter was about.

The signal stopped Mrs. Carol from working. Alarms blared infrared across the entire base, forcing everyone on their feet, including her. Vask had taken his weapon and had rushed out of his office and went straight to the top of the base where all the operation team were rallying to figure out what the distress signal was about.

“What the hell is going on?” He asked as the doors hissed open fully. He walked in and joined them at the front.

The radar showed something was heading towards the base but they couldn't identify whatever it was.

“Get a clear visual of that thing ASAP!”

“Sir, we are trying our best but the fog—”

“I don't give a damn about the fog. Find out what that thing is now! Put up the Vanguard Barrier.”

“Sir, it's up and running.” Another replied.

“Pull up all external weapons and lock on whatever is heading towards the base!”

Meanwhile,

Trevor sat there waiting for Mrs. Carol to make her move, but she had already left the room in response to the distress signal.

Before Trevor could process the situation, the system notification bled into his consciousness.

[DING!]

…

[WARNING! SUPER MUTANT IDENTIFIED! SUBJECT IS HEADING TOWARDS THE VANGUARD BASE]

…

[Name : David Jones]

…

[Species : Super Mutant]

…

[Notable Relationships : Carol Jones]

…

[URGENT MISSION ALERT! PROTECT CAROL JONES FROM THE IDENTIFIED SUPER-MUTANT AT ALL COSTS!]

…

[SIDE QUEST: RESCUE LYSSA KENT | DURATION : 1 MONTH 3 DAYS]

…

Trevor gasped immediately the moment he saw the text.

SUPER-MUTANT!

And worse, it had a relationship with Carol Jones. Trevor shook his head thinking about it.

“I have to get out of this first.”