ABYSSFALL ONLINE

CH. 07: The Vanguard Command Strike Team

CHAPTER 7

 …

Morning pierced through the darkness like a raging blade. 

The sickly yellowish hue had also returned to the sky.

Trevor and Lyssa were fast asleep in an awkward, sensual position—tangled together like they'd collapsed mid-embrace.

It wasn't long before Trevor woke.

[ Ding! ]

...

[ Note: System is impressed ]

...

[ Remark: The host has Lyssa Kent wrapped around his fingers. The host is ten times better than the former occupant! ]

…

Trevor wasn't sure what to say. He'd had a long night with Lyssa. After their first release, he'd kept going until neither could move anymore.

Lyssa woke soon enough, still looking sleepy but completely attentive to him. She rested on his chest, her hands searching for his length. 

She felt him hardening and wanted to stroke him, but Trevor stopped her with a deep kiss.

When he pulled back, he noticed she'd slumped back into sleep. Was she dreaming?

Trevor couldn't ignore the obvious: they were both naked. They needed clothes. He checked the system shop and purchased clothes for both of them, along with breakfast for Lyssa.

Within an hour, they were dressed and ready to head toward the main city.

Except the air between them was strange—awkward. Neither of them seemed willing to speak now that they were in their right minds.

Man, I can't believe I actually did that with a stranger, Lyssa thought, biting her lip. Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

What do I even say to break this silence?

As if Trevor had heard her exact thoughts, he spoke. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

They both froze mid-step.

To Trevor, something was approaching. Something fast. But he couldn't quite—

An engine roared from nowhere.

Four tanks and two vans shot down the road behind them, their heavy frames shaking the ground with each movement.

Lyssa's eyes widened in recognition.

She knew them.

"It's the Vanguard Command!"

"The what?"

"A military-like organization designed for the apocalypse!" She didn't wait for more questions. She broke into a sprint. "Don't just fucking stand there! Run!"

Trevor gritted his teeth and joined her immediately. They ran ahead as fast as possible, but there was no way they could outrun that kind of firepower.

BANG!

One of the tanks fired ahead. The impact created a reverberating shockwave. Craters exploded upward in its wake, the ground itself rupturing beneath the force.

A missile streaked toward Lyssa.

Trevor sensed it the moment it launched. 

Without hesitation, he moved with terrifying swiftness and grabbed the missile mid-air, his hand closing around the hot metal. The force of it tried to tear his arm off, but he held firm.

He spun around with impossible speed, his body a blur of motion.

His hand cocked backward—every muscle coiled with tension.

Then he thrust forward with all his strength.

BOOM!

The missile shot back and plastered directly into two of the tanks. The explosion was catastrophic. An omnidirectional wave swept across the remaining vehicles, pulverizing everything in its path.

Trevor watched as the remaining two tanks summersaulted down the road, their metal frames crumpling like paper before disappearing in the blast. Only the two vans remained, screeching to a halt.

[ Ding! ]

...

[ Note: System is thrilled! ]

...

[ Remark: The host's timing and accuracy are out of this world! ]

...

[ Rewards: +100 Abyssfall Points ]

...

Trevor smirked as he rejoined Lyssa in their sprint away from the Vanguard Command. I might want to impress the system more often if I need more Abyssfall Points, he thought as they kept moving forward.

Behind them, the vans skidded to a halt. A man rushed out of the first one and jammed his ear comm. "Vask to Authority, we lost four tanks!"

"The target?"

"She got away. But she wasn't alone."

Vask could have sworn he heard glass shatter somewhere in the command center. It stiffened him as he waited for a response.

Minutes passed.

Then static feedback crackled through his ear comm. "Find the target—Lyssa Kent. As for her company, I don't really care what you do with him. But Lyssa Kent is very important to our project. Her talent for healing is rare. Someone like her needs to be under our supervision."

Vask's face went cold. He'd fired that missile directly at Lyssa, intending to kill her if she wouldn't comply. But her companion—whoever he was—had stopped it.

"Yes, sir!”

"Now find Lyssa Kent and bring her to me. Alive."

…

Footsteps pounded against the earth as two figures came running into an open field. Still no sight of the main city.

"D—did we lose them?" Lyssa stopped abruptly to catch her breath. Sweat trickled down her forehead as her breathing came in ragged gasps. Her legs buckled beneath her, and she crashed onto the green field.

Her heart slammed against her ribs.

Trevor was right behind her, appearing completely unaffected by the run. He purchased a bottle of water and napkin from the system and crouched in front of her.

"Here," he said, handing her the water. He wiped her face clean of sweat with the napkin and watched as she gulped the entire bottle desperately. But even after finishing it, she was still panting heavily, her breath coming like a hunted animal.

"We have to get out of here," she forced out between gasps. "T—they won't stop until they have us!"

"Who are they?" Trevor asked. "You called them the Vanguard Command, but I've never heard of them before."

He admitted the truth: Trevor's memories had no connection to the Vanguard Command. So who were they really?

Lyssa was silent for a while, still catching her breath as she looked away.

Trevor took her hands and caressed them gently. "Tell me who they are, Lyssa."

She exhaled softly, her eyes still unable to meet his. "The Vanguard Command is a combat division of an organization known as the Authority."

"First Vanguard command, now Authority?"

"Yes. To us humans, we believe the apocalypse began just yesterday. But to the Authority..." She paused, the weight of what she was about to reveal evident in her expression. "They knew it would happen five years earlier. They've been preparing for this before it even began."

Trevor's mind raced. Five years? That meant the Authority had known about the meteor, the Zombies, the Void Walkers—everything—long before the world fell.

One question lingered in his mind, if they knew and have been preparing for the apocalypse, why aren't they doing anything to stop it?

Why chase a civilian with such fire power?!