Ignavus : City of Blood

Act 35 : The Herbalist

The edge of shadows visits their exhausted observation. Shanice felt a massive strain upon her arms after continuous cycle of dead-bodied opponents pummeling their wayward fists upon them. Killing a human means to murder them a second time in a row. The rule of underground forest of Darte fixed them quite a challenge to overcome, that their team succeeded on faring well so far.

“Look, it’s our way out! Make speed, fellas!”

Shanice clamored once observing an exit path across the eastern hemisphere. Faint yellow of sunset shines upon the slightly-elevated terrace of cultivation, basking the row of vegetables and pineapples down under with its perpetual illumination. Meeting the escape door lifted up their spirits once more to produce adrenalines within their veins.

“Wohoo! It’s coming home, boys!” tailed the bearded man behind.

Gads Gilmore was the last ones in their group due to his duty for pulling the carriage. After finally discovering their exit route, he got himself a stint of power instilled in subsequent manner,”Excuse me! I’ve gotta need recharge before it’s all died out!” shouted the bearded man as he runs past them. Shanice and Natasha Gastano rapidly proliferate their pace, too, as they have to cover the blind spot of their companion up ahead.

~s***h~

Natasha Gastano slices her knife in rather-unstable command. It knocks away the approaching zombie, but never enough to slay them on the spot,” Die, you already dead man!” yelled the auburn-haired woman whilst bearing her MP-5 sub-machine gun on the other hand. At once, Natasha Gastano barraged the zombie’s face with every bullets she had left and splitting its decayed face altogether,” Good one, Natasha! I see you’ve copied my tactics, it’s nice!” Shanice complimented from a few meters away from her.

~roll~

Shanice rolls down the lightened soil and smelling its coarse feature on the ground. It is never for long, however, as the curly-haired woman still has to direct her attention towards the rear end of their pathways. The number of zombies behind them swells larger than before. It grows from a few dozen into hundreds in the wake of their rampage, brought her up to moan in tiresome voice,” Damn it! We have to upscale...”

Her vision gradually becomes blurry. Gads Gilmore and Natasha Gastano were also fell on the spot after reaching the end of darkness. Yet, as the zombies reached their grounds, they suddenly move aback and stopped midway before the brightened borderline, creating uttermost chaos on their ranks as the next one on the line crashed onto their dead fellows at the front.

“I can’t believe it.... Gads, you hear me?”

Shanice fainted before being able to grasp her brother across the left, leaving them bare and vulnerable on the bottom side of the farm terrace.

---

“Where am I?”

Gads Gilmore rises up from his bed. His sister rested on the far corner of the room, sleeping safe and sound under the beeping monitor on the wall. It is way freezing for the man to resist as he was barely clothed on the torso. Yet, his perspirations were dispersing out way before the bearded man regained consciousness, worsened its cooling down temperature around,”I have to locate my vest and armor, first.” He mumbled. Gads Gilmore has no other discussion partner other than himself at the moment. Natasha Gastano was also asleep to the world, drawing her thumbs into the lips and sounding peacefully upon the face.

~tap-tap-tap~

The bearded man found his vest and armor down the floor. He wears them quick, then looking at the ceiling to find four security camera were installed on the top,”It’s useless for me to become so hasty. They must be having myself on the camera, now.” He calmed himself under the view of such technologies. If they wanted them dead, He could never be awakened in the first place, so the bearded man theorised within the mind to tone down negative thoughts within.

“Do I have to wake up Shanice and Natasha?” He faintly whispered,” I also have to locate John’s casket, too. What’s better to start up first?”

Gads Gilmore decided to learn of their current position from the outward view of the window. Nightfall has enveloped the atmosphere in conjunction with faded illumination originated off the full moon. A stack of farm terrace were brightened up by prolific amount of light-powered lantern across the edge. From their current position, they positioned on the high-side landscape, as the bearded man saw the glimpse of steel casket down below,” They left my brother there. Must be too heavy to haul up top.” He deduced.

“Oh, you’ve been come to, master survivor.”

Someone entered their dormitory before the bearded man managed on learning. His low-pitched voice color reminds him of the announcer of boxing exhibition at Contis. It is all white around the hair in combination of solid stress lines on each side of the nose. His fierce-looking eyes penetrated deeply into the soul once meeting head-to-head against.

And it is the voice of someone they have known so well.

Gads Gilmore bowed in respect towards the wise figure ahead,” Mr. Gannaro. It’s been a pleasure to meet you in this awry situation.” Muttered the bearded man in utmost reverence. Gannaro returned Gads Gilmore’s gentle salute by doing the similar from his end, before then approaching him to embrace.

“Thank God, both of you somehow survived from this madness.” Gannaro muttered amidst their warm squeeze,” I’ve heard about the challenge. I condemned him so much on working that kind of entertainment to our land.”

The bearded man nodded,”Yes, father. We’ve been murdering too much bystanders lately, but we don’t know exactly of how this challenge works.”

Gannaro strides ahead of the supporting cables for Shanice and Natasha. He replaced the near-empty intravenous bottle with another ones stocked under the bed. The old man noticed of his slightly-worried look, that Gannaro glances upon him afterwards,” Don’t worry, I’ve had female assistant to aid their wounds. I won’t touch your sister unless she permitted me to do so.” He said towards the bearded man subsequently,”Oh, they would wake up hours longer than you are. Please, be patient, will ya?”

~tap-tap-tap~

“I’m late... Reporting for duty, sir!”

A petite-shaped person appeared before the old man’s face. He wears on a vest uniform in the identical color to the blue ones they found in Brathe. Instead of bulking the same figure to the regular officer, the man before them stands inferior to the common on-duty officials of Axeport city. He attains 160 centimeters in height and slender waist on the torso. Brown-haired across the top, He seemed weak and non-capable to defend himself out of harm.

Yet, the old man welcomes him with full embrace. Gannaro handed the brown-haired man a golden key, then moderately impelled his figure to reach the door near the bottom side of Natasha’s bed,” I don’t think you’re late, Simon. Go on, spot the tower for us!” he urged.

“Sir, yes, sir!”

His petite form does a perfect military salute towards Gannaro, opening his right palm to facing the old man up front, then before the bearded man as he left the two of them in the room straight away.

“He’s one of those uniform admirers, Gads. I rescued Simon Terino ever since he was little, like I do to the both of you.” Gannaro laid his eyes over the ceiling. He ponders about the past whereas the bearded man inquire and meddling into stored memories of the old days. The old man then glanced towards Shanice Gilmore that was still laying unconscious on the white linen of the bed,”How’s my daughter? She’s safe with you, Gads? I know my daughter sometimes rash, but still....”

Gads Gilmore shook his head respectively,” She’s our leader for this survival game, father. Instead of myself, your daughter has taken care of us mostly this time around, hahaha!” He chuckled afterwards. The old man scrubbed his left palm onto Gads’ shoulder and laughed along,” Yeah, I’d have to admit. It was me who transformed her that way, hahahaha!” He muttered. Soon after, Gannaro turned his expression into serious look as the old man pressed both arms onto the shoulder, gazing upon Gads Gilmore’s directly. It suddenly developed into frightening air once his grasp enters the zone.

For the bearded man, one thing that he could do is being cooperative in this kind of situation. He was surely terrified the minute after Gannaro shown up before his face. Shanice distrusted him following an accident in the preceding days of them together, caused a massive trauma which also become the catalyst to run away.

”So, what’s the business for you coming here? I thought you’ll dismiss me from your list.” Gannaro seethed. The old man’s pair of teeth somewhat grow enlarged into fangs within his imagination. No wonder, He tinged most of the upper ones into the neck and planted it gently into the skin,” You know, I’m so longing for you two to return home someday. We’ve had a feast to die for.”

Despite the calm and collected fashion, Gads Gilmore trembles. He witnessed the old man murdered people with cold blood when he was a child. In the prime days of the old man, Gannaro was infamous for his notorious killings and reputations as an assassin for the leader of New Pangaea. His stare alone could defeat critters on sight.

“Stop that, father. I’ve returned home for the sake of my crew, not yours.”

Shanice seated on the bed this time around. Her eyes peered onto Gannaro menacingly as if no more love left within the mind. She rubbed either hands to remove the micro-sized pipes for the intravenous liquid hereafter by force. It will hurt for most people, but never in the heart of the leader as She wrapped up the small wounds with bandages on the table straight away.

Because of her immediate control, the old man withdraws himself away from Gads Gilmore. He laid down both arms behind head, “Hahahaha! I love the sounds of your racing veins. It’s beating so hard I felt them blood on my teeth.” He lauded to ease off the tension amongst them, then facing the leader and stared at her afterwards,”So, what’s the business you’ve wanted from me for you crew, o’ captain?” He asked playfully.

Against his ridicule, Shanice stood up from her bed and pointed across the steel casket outside. It seemed that the curly-haired woman has been alerted of its disappearance, for the leader to point at the outside in straightforward manner.

“My friend’s been losing his dearest, and Gads believed that your expertise will aid him from infinite woes. He thought that we are merely an imagination of an awful memories and he kept trying to kill himself because of it. You know, he tried to force-awake, as if we’re trapping him here at some point.”

Her eyes vibrated sense of pity ahead of the steel casket down bottom. Shanice gazed deep at the old man, indeed, yet her feelings has somewhat passed on towards the unconscious John Straverman within. Gannaro himself seemed capturing her words earnestly. He maintained his direct gaze onto the face of his daughter all the time in spite of her trying to shake him off from sight,”So, I just have to concoct my brew for you guys, then you’re gonna depart once more, I see.” He responded whilst rubbing both cheeks by the left palm.

Shanice reacted none regarding his thought.

She waited for the old man to decide, never to discuss or negotiate the best bargain. Shanice faced the man he loathed the most for the purpose of another. No matter of how remorseful the old man going to be, her past sufferings would ended none in return.

Then, the old man nodded after staring in silence for a few while.

“Okay, I’ll do what you want. I just wanted you all to take care of my Simons, that’s all if you don’t mind.”