After a long silence, Skov glanced to Varelius. He turned to Shin Hayato and nodded.
Shin Hayato continued asking us all,
"So, three people are not joining us. But the problem is, who is the last volunteer ? We only have four helmets. If we went with five people, one will die from extreme freezing."
Arlo raised his hand and handed Shin Hayato his Medical Crate.
Sheng Yue glanced at Arlo who is now hiding behind Zarina,
"Are you sure ? I mean, I can stay with them you know."
Arlo simply nodded without saying any further. He noticed me and took out IRIS who is hiding under his shirt. IRIS let out a loud BEEP with its interface showing "(ب_ب)".
Shin Hayato questioned me while holding IRIS,
"What did you do to made a robot cry, Aléssio ?"
I shrugged and snatched IRIS from Shin Hayato,
"No idea. I didn't even hit it or—"
Arlo interrupted me while raising a finger,
"He kept forgetting IRIS existed. And because of that, I think I'm a better keeper than him."
I was taken aback by that statement and held my point of innocence,
"I did nothing wrong ! It's not like I'm going to abandon it in the snow !"
Sheng Yue looked at me skeptically while nodding,
"Uh huh. Are you sure about that Blondie ? Last time you forgot to pay taxes and ran to my house to escape being caught. Anyways I'm keeping an eye on you if you forget it."
She stared at me like an eagle hunting its prey, pointing two fingers at her eyes before walking to me and jabbed a finger at my shoulder.
I argued with her and leaned in until my forehead touched hers,
"Say that again."
She grinned and leaned in too, tip toeing to make it look like she's taller,
"You hide in my house to escape taxes. You also forgets to buy groceries and nearly starved."
We pushed our forehead to each other's. Our forehead was so close, we could probably count how much eyelashes were there. We locked our eyes liked two angry cats challenging each other.
I pushed my forehead, my nose was only centimeters apart from hers,
"Back off and forget that ever happens."
She pushed her forehead, grinning even wider,
"How about no ? It's hilarious alright !"
Shin Hayato separated both of us and sighed,
"That's enough of you two—"
SLAP
Sheng Yue pounced on me and landed a hard slap. My vision blurred out after the impact hit me. I stumbled backwards, head high up before falling to the ground.
I pressed a palm on my forehead, shaking it to reduce the stinging pain and finally looked up at her.
I pointed at her and stood up,
"Fine ! If you want a fight, let's have a fight !"
Both of us took a few steps back. We bent our knees slightly while our body leaned forward. Everyone looked at us with a curious focus.
The air conditioner inside blew a gust of wind. Sheng Yue's hair waved to the side while mine swung backwards. We circled each other cautiously, not breaking the eye contact.
Sheng Yue raised an arm while the other was placed on her hips,
"Yare yare daze ! Prepare for the most powerful attack ever recorded in history."
Shin Hayato narrowed his eyes, facepalming while peeking through a small gap.
I placed one arm near my chest while the other was aiming at Sheng Yue,
"Begone once and for all filthy spirit ! I command you to land an attack !"
But neither of us moved. We simply stood there, glaring each other with ridiculous determination. IRIS stared at both of us judgementally while hovering on top of Arlo's shoulder.
Eventually Shin Hayato spoke up to ease the awkward tension,
"Alright, hurry up and get ready. We don't have all day. This is now day two and we need to find a shelter or an underground bunk."
Neither of us moved an inch. We stand there like idiotic statues preparing for the most unhinged and unnecessary duel. Cassandra snatched two suits and tossed it as us.
THUD
The weight of the suit made us fell to the ground, followed by a helmet that was thrown to our head.
Cassandra grabbed hers and head to the door,
"Let them be if they don't wear it. I'm heading out first."
◇ ◇ ◇
We all gathered in front of the TerraRider. Skov dragged his Noctryix away from the back of the TerraRider.
He stared at me while hitting the Noctryix's head,
"Have you fix it yet ?"
I strolled to the Noctryix, kicking its head gently,
"No, I didn't have much time—"
The Noctryix jerked up its head, rotating to observe the environment. It slowly adjusted itself and raised its tail high. Skov tugged the reins multiple of times until the Noctryix finally lowered its tail.
The Noctryix let out a mechanical purr as Skov patted it. It walked to Zarina, sitting on the floor and rolling around as Zarina simply smile.
A honk interrupted me from my thoughts. No, not just me, but everyone.
Sheng Yue slammed the car horn,
"Hey Blondie ! Get up here ! Shin Hayato has been glaring at you for the past few minutes ! It's scaring me !"
I bowed slightly to Varelius and Skov, rushing to get into the TerraRider. The TerraRider moved backwards as the rest who stayed waved at us.
Immediately after the TerraRider got out, the wipers was covered by the snow. Sheng Yue pressed a button that locked all the doors shut. I tried to look through the window.
The window has been shielded by a wall of steel, making us more vulnerable to attacks yet safer from freezing. I laid my back to the chair, sitting beside Cassandra.
I stole a glance at her. She spun her Vibro Dagger, seemingly lost in her own thoughts. I fidgeted my finger, IRIS pivoted itself to stare at me.
I wanted to ask her questions. What has she been doing for the whole life ? How did she cope ? Yet none of them was asked.
I gave IRIS a pat, smiling at the small company.
Sheng Yue looked through the rear-view mirror,
"Hey Blondie ! Play some music from your pocket watch thing or that robot. The situation is too tense !"
IRIS played an instrumental music, happily dancing to its rythm. Shin Hayato hummed as he continue to observed the surroundings.
The fog covered up almost everything, making Sheng Yue squinting her eyes. Even with the lights, we can hardly see what's ahead.
CRASH
I grabbed IRIS and hugged it in my arms. Shin Hayato got out of the TerraRider and beckoned Sheng Yue to get out. I jumped off to see what happened.
Sheng Yue shrugged and scratched her head,
"Not my fault alright ! This tree wasn't there in the view !"
I kneeled on the cold snow, noticing a blade that was in one of the TerraRider's wheel,
"Hey... was the blade here before ?"
Shin Hayato crouched and unplugged the blade,
"This blade... it's familiar—"
STAB
Shin Hayato fell on to the snow. I shake his arm, he didn't move or respond. Sheng Yue widened her eyes and hid behind Cassandra.
The snow had become red at where his neck is. Cassandra gripped Skov's Energy Bow and pointed it in the air. The snow blocked our view from seeing any further, leaving us more vulnerable than we had already been.
STAB
THUD
Cassandra dropped to the ground. Sheng Yue hurriedly opened the door to the TerraRider.
It was locked.
Left with the weapons, she took the Energy Bow and shouted,
"Who's there ?!"
I grabbed Cassandra's Vibro Dagger. My hands shook violently as I observed my surroundings. My breathing quickened at the slightest sound.
THUD
I stuttered raising the Vibro Dagger higher to my face,
"Show yourself !"
I dragged my feet to go back, tripping over Sheng Yue's arm. I gasped, looking at all of them laying bare without a sound. I reached out to my pockets to grab the ChronoLume, fumbling it over.
The moment I pressed 'Reset'...
STAB
My surroundings overlap, changing from the freezing cold Moscow to a tunnel with neon lights. I looked around this bizzare place, falling endlessly while my hair blew across my face.
I tried to move my body, yet no matter what I do, I'll be stuck in this position.
SHLICK
My whole body went rigid, piercing through my body was the blade that strike me. With a force from an unknown thing, my eyes fluttered shut. Lost in a long embrace of falling until the time... I can finally wake up again.