Chapter 400
Chapter 400
Barely containing her impatience, Samantha watched as the front gates creaked open and the familiar pickup truck rolled back into the base. As it rumbled toward the parking lot, she set off at a brisk pace across the compound, with Marcus, her second in command, following closely behind.
She walked so fast that she reached the vehicle at the same time Tessa and Kevin climbed from the cab. She waited a moment, but no one else got out of the pickup truck. She didn’t ask where Noah and Victor were, as she already knew something had happened. She didn’t yet know exactly what it was, but it was clear she had lost two of her men.
“What happened?” she asked sharply as Tessa and Kevin stood in front of her.
Tessa shifted her weight from one leg to the other nervously, guilt flickering in her posture even though she had done nothing wrong. The sight of her boss in such a foul mood was unsettling, especially knowing what had happened to her two companions. Or, more accurately, having no idea what exactly had happened to them, other than that they had never returned after stepping into the morphus’ lair.
As Kevin glanced at Tessa, he realized she wasn’t going to speak up, so he said quietly, “Victor and Noah. They’re gone.”
“I can see that,” Samantha shot back, her tone edged with irritation. “What happened to them?”
“They went into the morphus’ lair,” Kevin answered.
Samantha’s eyes widened.
“They did what?!” she snapped. “Why in the world would they do that?”
“It was Noah’s idea,” Kevin replied. “You know him, once he sets his sights on something, nothing can sway him.”
Kevin suddenly realized he was still speaking about Noah in the present tense, even though he and Victor were likely no longer alive.
He then quickly recounted the events: Noah’s decision to brave the morphus’ lair and Victor’s choice to follow him inside.
He finished speaking, but Samantha stayed silent. Her eyes were fixed on some distant point, a shadow of grimness settling over her features. Victor, Tessa, and Marcus watched quietly, unwilling to break whatever thoughts were forming in her mind.
“That fucking asshole,” she murmured at last.
“Yeah,” Kevin said with a nod. “Tessa and I tried to reason with Noah, but…”
“I don’t mean Noah,” Samantha cut in sharply, her gaze snapping to Kevin. “I mean the morphus… Jake, or whatever his name is.”
Kevin had a good idea why she blamed Jake. He knew how much his boss despised the mutant. He didn’t say anything, even though he didn’t agree with her. Noah and Victor had sealed their own fate the moment they stepped into Jake’s lair. Whatever happened to them was on them, not on him.
“If his lair is so dangerous, he should keep it sealed at all times so that nobody can enter,” she ranted, likely voicing her thoughts involuntarily rather than intentionally sharing them with her people. “But no, instead, he always keeps the entrance open. I bet he does it intentionally, just to lure us foolish humans inside so he can turn us into monsters. I’m guessing he was laughing to himself, smugly watching as two naïve humans walked willingly into his trap and were captured for whatever wicked purposes he had in mind.”
Kevin could see there was no point in arguing with her, no point in trying to convince her that Noah and Victor’s fate was their own doing. He shifted the subject. “Do you want us to brief you on the Ravage now, or would you prefer later?”
For a moment, Samantha just stared at him, not understanding what he was talking about. Kevin’s news had hit her so hard that she had even momentarily forgotten what Noah, Victor, Tessa, and Kevin had been doing outside. Then she remembered.
Earlier that day, she had dispatched them on a reconnaissance mission to monitor the spread of the Ravage Contamination and report which areas of the city remained untouched. As evening shadows lengthened, she had radioed them, wondering why they were taking so long. Kevin was the one who answered. His voice was tense as he said something bad had happened, but when she pressed for details, he only said that they would explain everything once they returned.
But for the moment, she couldn’t think about it. Right now, all she could think about was Jake. Her hatred for him was spilling over by that point.
She gestured toward her second-in-command at her side. “Marcus will take your report. After that, you both may rest.”
With that, she spun on her heel and began to walk away.
“Where are you going, Sam?” Marcus called after her.
Without breaking stride, she glanced back. “To HQ, to tell the other leaders what’s been done to my people. They should now.”
As she strode across her base, she swept her gaze across the gathered crowd. Those close enough to overhear her exchange with Kevin had already begun spreading the news. A spark of satisfaction lit her eyes as she caught the anger twisting in some faces, rage aimed squarely at the morphus.
However, not all of her people shared that loathing. Some were convinced Jake was no enemy to them, and, as proof, they always brought up the fact he had helped them escape from the Los Demonios main base whenever an argument about the morphus arose.
Most of her people were those with whom she had fought against Los Demonios, launching frequent ambushes against the bandits in the mines. Even though all of them were loyal to her, as far as she knew, her people were split about evenly: half burning with hatred for the morphus and half still thinking of him as a trusted ally.
But she knew better. She knew they couldn’t trust Jake. It was impossible to coexist with him, and what happened to Noah and Victor only proved her point. Jake needed to be stopped, that was for damn sure. The only question was how.
For all her hatred toward him, she couldn’t help but admit he was far too powerful for her to defeat. He had dealt with Los Demonios entirely on his own, a feat neither of the survivor groups had been able to accomplish. Compared to the bandit organization, her own group was still far too weak, little more than a fledgling force.
Her people had only recently built this stronghold, thanks to the resources provided by Catalina and Melissa. Without their aid, Samantha’s people would still have been toiling away in the wrecked city, scavenging materials and struggling to raise defenses. And currently, they were a long way from matching even half the strength of Los Demonios.
But even if they were to become as strong as the feared bandit organization, what good would raw strength be? After all, for all their power and numbers, Los Demonios hadn’t been able to stop the morphus.
No. If she wanted to defeat Jake, she needed to be smarter than that. Brute force would never be enough. She would have to develop some kind of superweapon capable of damaging and ultimately killing the morphus. Fortunately, she already knew where to begin her search.
A few minutes later, she entered the security control room inside HQ and opened a video link to Catalina and Melissa, leaders of the other two human strongholds, to relay the grim news about her men.