Chapter 58: Pain Serum
Meanwhile, far away from NYC City, Erza sat alone in the cabin of an unmanned helicopter. The night outside was pitch black, and the only sound was the rhythmic chopping of the propellers. Her nerves were on edge. She swallowed hard, trying to shake the uneasy feeling creeping up her spine. "Is it just me, or does this feel haunted?" she whispered to herself, glancing around the empty cabin. Her voice echoed faintly in the confined space.
"Why couldn't I fly back with him? Leaving me alone here... What if this thing crashes? Are there even parachutes?" Erza muttered anxiously. She searched the cabin half-heartedly, finding nothing that reassured her.
The helicopter hit turbulence, jostling her seat. Her stomach flipped, and she clung tightly to the armrests, her face pale with fear. "It's over! I'm going to die!" she groaned dramatically, bracing for the worst. When the turbulence finally passed, Erza let out a shaky breath. "Phew... made it." She slumped back in her seat, though her relief was short-lived. Little did she know, the flight was far from over.
Back in NYC City, Zack quietly entered the upstairs room where Annie lay sleeping. Her fever had finally broken. He placed a hand on her forehead, feeling the cool skin beneath his palm. A sense of relief washed over him.
"Let me know as soon as she wakes up," Zack said to Sophia, who stood nearby.
"Where are you going?" Sophia asked but quickly changed. "Never mind. Just don't stay up too late."
Zack nodded and headed downstairs. He moved with purpose, making his way to the basement of his Mansion. The shelves there were packed with bottles and jars filled with chemicals. After a few minutes of searching, Zack found what he was looking for—a tube of light blue liquid. He loaded it into a syringe, grabbed a bottle of coagulation spray, and left.
He walked to Mansion No. 7, an unoccupied house nearby. Its decor was simple, a remnant of the developer's pre-apocalypse effort to sell properties. Zack entered the basement, where Tarantula stood guard over the maimed commander and the strongman. Both were still alive, though barely.
"You should clean yourself up," Zack told Tarantula without looking at her. "We don't want to scare Annie when she wakes up."