Chapter 15: The Dangerous Truth

Commander Frost was frozen with disbelief. He stared at both Zane and Layla, unable to fathom the horrors before him. Layla was covered in small cuts and a dead Apocrypha was sprawled out behind her.

After hearing the deafening gunshot, he had hurried to the scene alongside Joseph and Durant. Fortunately, both Zane and Layla were still alive.

"What the hell happened here?!" Shouted Commander Frost.

Zane slowly helped Layla to her feet. They were still in a state of shock.

"Zane, how do you feel..? Do you think that it's over..?" Asked Layla softly.

"I... I don't think so... Even though we killed the Apocrypha, I still have a feeling that this isn't over..."

"Why didn't you two call for help?!" Boomed the commander, interrupting them.

Layla shuffled nervously, "I'm sorry... I didn't think it would come to this... I thought I could handle it alone..."

"Handle it alone?! Do you think this is some f***ing game, Layla?! Your life doesn't belong to just you anymore! You're carrying the entire world's remaining population on your damned shoulders! Taking risks like this is out of the question!"

Layla averted her eyes. She felt guilty. She knew it was a reckless move but she had done it anyway. It was almost as if she enjoyed the thrill of fighting against the Apocrypha. She had allowed it to blind her from logic. If Zane hadn't shown up when he did then she would have surely died.

"Tch! This is why I hate dealing with kids under the age of 25!" Cursed Joseph. "You always do the dumbest shit and expect the brightest outcomes! To top it off, it's almost like you've forgotten that you're only a woman! There's nothing you can do against an Apocrypha by yourself!"

"Hey, there's no need to talk to her that way! Just because she's a girl doesn't mean she can't defend herself if it comes down to it! If you ask me, she's doing a much better job protecting herself than you've done this entire time!" Argued Zane, coming to Layla's defense. 

Layla glanced up at Zane in shock. Her heart fluttered. His words had soothed her guilt significantly. It made her happy that he came to her defense.

Joseph, on the other hand, wasn't quite as appreciative of Zane's remark. He gritted his teeth in anger and the look of a hungry lion crawled onto his face.

"I don't want to hear that coming from some sissy! Just from looking at you two, it's easy to tell that she was the one who did all the fighting! If you were such a man then you would have protected her and prevented this from happening in the first place! So shut up and know your place, jackass!"

Zane clenched his fists in frustration but kept his lips sealed. He wanted to argue but he knew Joseph was right. If he had put his foot down and stopped Layla from leaving with Phoebe then she wouldn't have gotten hurt.

"Alright! Everyone just shut the f**k up! This isn't the time to be arguing! An Apocrypha found its way inside this place so we need to find out how it did," declared the commander.

Everyone then went silent. Only Zane and Layla knew the horrific truth.

"Wait! Before that, where are Sasha, Rohan, and Lewis?" Queried Layla.

"I left Lewis with Durant and Joseph earlier. Rohan should be with Phoebe and Sasha should have been guarding you!"

Layla's eyes sunk into the back of her head. If Rohan was supposed to be with Phoebe then there was a good chance that she had killed him. As for Sasha, she was nowhere to be found, despite being on guard duty. There was a chance that she had also been killed.

This was when Zane spotted something behind one of the stalls in the bathroom. He couldn't see it well but the floor appeared to be just a little wet. Slowly, Zane approached the door of the stall. As soon as he pushed it open, a scene straight out of a nightmare caught his eyes. This was followed by a terrible scent that caused everyone to pinch their nose.

"What the hell's that?!" Exclaimed Joseph.

Quickly, everyone rushed to Zane's side. This was when their eyes laid upon the sight of the bodies of both Sasha and Rohan in a pool of blood. The skin from their faces was almost completely peeled off. Even the front portion of their skulls was missing, revealing their brains. 

"Damn that filthy Apocrypha!! It took 3 of us before we could finally put it down!" Boomed the commander in rage.

"Damn it! And here I was blaming Lewis all along! First Carmen and now Sasha and Rohan! I'll never forgive those pieces of shit!!" Cursed Joseph.

"Well, at least the Apocrypha's dead which should give us some time to figure things out," comforted Durant.

Layla quickly stepped forward in denial of Durant's claim. Assuming that it was over was the last thing they needed.

"Commander Frost, this isn't over! You may not believe me when I say this but Phoebe was an Apocrypha! She was somehow able to shapeshift, changing between a human and an Apocrypha! She was a Rank 3!"

Shock and disbelief suffocated the room. No one could believe what they were hearing. It didn't make sense.

"What do you mean Phoebe was an Apocrypha?!" Shouted Joseph.

"It's just like I said."

"But that doesn't make sense! We've all known each other for years now! There's no way she could have been an Apocrypha the entire time!"

"I'm sorry but I don't know how it's possible either. But the truth is that I saw her turn into that Apocrypha! Zane can support me on this!"

Zane slowly nodded in support. Due to this, anxiety began coursing through their veins. If Phoebe was an Apocrypha, then there was no telling who else among them was.

"Look, this is partly hypothetical but I think there's at least one more Apocrypha among us. I don't think they'd send only a single Apocrypha inside this place," proposed Layla darkly.

"Then what you're trying to say is that one of us is also an Apocrypha..?" Questioned Commander Frost.

Layla nodded. It was best to get it out and end things once and for all. It would significantly destroy their trust but she was convinced this was the right thing to do. Assuming that Commander Frost was still human, it would be okay for her to rely on him to keep everyone calm.

"F**k this shit! Where is Lewis?! I left him with both you and Durant, Joseph! Did one of you kill him too?!!" Panicked Commander Frost, grabbing onto his gun.

"Man, I don't f***ing know! All I know is I ain't trusting any of you motherf***ers!" Swiftly answered Joseph, swinging his gun around.

Even Durant grabbed his gun, ready to shoot anyone who tried to attack him. Due to this, Layla and Zane were forced to do the same, making it a complete standoff.

"Everyone, calm down! We can't turn against ourselves here!! Let's put our guns down and go find Lewis!" Shouted Zane.

"Shut the f**k up or I'll f**ing shoot you! How do we know for sure that you two aren't working with the Apocrypha to mess with us?! Every time you two propose a theory, it turns out to be correct! That's way too suspicious in my book!!" Argued Joseph, pointing his gun at Zane.

"Joseph, put the gun down! I'm not going to allow you to rob humanity of its final hope of survival!" Boomed Commander Frost angrily.

"I said shut the f**k up!!! Everyone's trying to play innocent but I'm not buying it! You're a suspect in all of this too, Frost! You think that just because you're the commander, no one would suspect you?!"

The atmosphere was filled with tension. The slightest mistake could result in another life being robbed. They needed to be careful but their emotions were running far too high. At this point, Zane and Layla were the calmest among them. They needed to find a way to deescalate the situation before it became worse.

"Sergeant Durant! Why aren't you saying anything to help calm everyone down?!" Interrogated Layla.

Durant flinched as if he had been snapped out of a trance. This was when his eyes broadened with fear and his arms began to tremble.

"Damn it! I can't keep it a secret any longer! I saw who killed Lewis! It was Joseph! I saw him do it!! He turned his fingers into sharp fingernails for just a few seconds before stabbing Lewis in the back of the throat when no one else was watching!"

Joseph turned to Durant in disbelief, "What the absolute f**k, Durant?! You were the one I left with Lewis! You told me you needed to talk to him about something so I left you with him!"

Durant quickly pointed his gun at Joseph with his trembling arms, "It's f***ing you!! I saw you kill him with my own two eyes, you lying son of a bitch!! I couldn't believe it at first so I didn't say anything up until now! But I can't keep it hidden any longer!!"

"You mother****king backstabbing lying son of a bitch! You're the one that did it, didn't you?! As soon as the commander and I left, you killed Lewis!!" 

"Don't try to turn this on me! You know you killed him! You're the Apocrypha!!"

Zane, Layla, and Commander Frost watched in horror. The two were now pointing their guns at one another, ready to shoot at any moment. They needed to find out who was the impostor before things took a turn for the worse.

"Wait!" Interrupted Layla. "I remember something! Even when the Apocrypha are transformed, the color of their blood doesn't change! If you can cut one of them and check the color of their blood then we'll be able to tell which one of them is the Apocrypha!"

"Cut yourself and show them your blood, Joseph!" Shouted Durant.

"Hell no! Why should I when I know you're the Apocrypha?! The second I let my guard down is the second you take my life! I ain't doing shit!!" 

"Joseph, let us see your blood!" Ordered the commander sternly.

Joseph once again began to swing his gun back and forth between both Durant and Commander Frost. He refused to do as he was told.

"I ain't trusting any of you! Before I allow myself to be killed, I'll pop a hole in both your heads!!"

Layla hissed in frustration. She needed to think of something quickly. This was when she recalled what Rohan had told them. He had told them that after seeing the Apocrypha kill Carmen, it had disappeared around a corner. But as soon as he followed it, he ran into both Phoebe and Durant.

Layla's eyes widened with shock. She had figured it out. If what Rohan said was true, then there was a chance that the Apocrypha had simply reverted to human form before he could catch up to it. Assuming that the Apocrypha was Phoebe, it would only make sense for it to revert to human form right before Rohan caught up to her. But for this to be possible, Phoebe would have needed to transform in front of Durant. There was no way that Durant wouldn't have known that Phoebe was an Apocrypha. This could only mean one thing.

"It's—"

As soon as Layla opened her mouth to speak, the sound of a gunshot echoed through the bathroom. She looked on in horror to see Joseph lying on the floor in a pool of red blood with a bullet to the head. Durant had shot him. Joseph was not the Apocrypha.

"Durant, you son of a bit—"

Before Commander Frost could finish, Durant fired another shot, landing a bullet between his eyes. He immediately fell to the floor with a thud. He died on the spot.

Layla and Zane were left in disbelief. Quickly, Durant reverted to Apocrypha form. His hair danced above his head like a flame and his body became as dark as a shadow. His eyes glowed white and shark-like teeth appeared all over his body. 

"You were an Apocrypha..?" Trembled Zane.

"Always was."

The Apocrypha then raised its gun and prepared to shoot. Layla dived into Zane and pushed him to the floor alongside her. A bullet flew past their heads and crashed into one of the stalls. 

"Zane, get a hold of yourself!!" Shouted Layla.

The two then scurried to their feet and rushed from the bathroom as two more bullets flew past them. They then dived around a corner leading to the security room and slumped themselves down beside the wall with their guns in hand.

"Why didn't we try to fight back?" Quickly asked Zane

"This is our chance to squeeze information from that thing! We need to disable it and then get the information we need. Afterward, we can kill it."

Just then, the Apocrypha's voice came into play, interrupting them.

"Humans, just come out and make this easy for me! You're just delaying the inevitable!"

"Let's make a deal then! We'll come out if you answer our question. Besides, it's two of us against one of you. We already killed your friend so there's nothing to say that we can't kill you too!"

"Haha! Fine then! What is it that you want to know?"

Layla paused before answering. She could hear it in the Apocrypha's voice. It sounded a little anxious. It was evident that it was a little scared. It had its doubts about being able to kill them. She could take this to her advantage.

"We want to know how you turn into people and how you managed to infiltrate the bunker! Every single detail!"

"Hmph. You must truly underestimate me if you believe I'll simply tell you the Apocrypha's secrets."

"Oh? It seems you have a death wish then. You do realize you haven't heard Zane in a while, right? I sent him around the back to ambush you from behind. You won't be able to fend both of us off from either direction at the same time! Zane, shoot him now!!!"

The Apocrypha quickly looked behind itself in shock. However, to its surprise, no one was there. It had allowed its anxiety to get the best of it. Even the smartest beings crumbled under pressure. Taking advantage of this, Layla jumped out of hiding and shot the Apocrypha in its arm, forcing it to drop its gun. It shrieked in agony, holding onto its bloody arm.

"Don't move or I'll empty my clip in your head!" Warned Layla.

"Damn it... To think that I'd allow myself to fall for such a cheap trick!"

Zane then quickly came out from behind Layla with his gun pointed at the Apocrypha as well. They could kill it whenever they were ready.

"Kick the gun toward us and don't try anything funny!" Warned Layla.

Reluctantly, the Apocrypha did as it was instructed and kicked the gun over to Layla.

"Even if you kill me, you will still inevitably fall to the Apocrypha. Apollo is simply toying with you for his own entertainment!"

"Blah... Blah... Blah... Just answer my question."

The Apocrypha hesitated. Even if it leaked information to them, there was a chance that they'd still kill it. However, it doubted it made much of a difference since humans stood no chance against the Apocrypha, no matter how many secrets they found out.

"Fine, you damned humans..! The answer to your earlier question is blood. Once a Rank 3 to 5 Apocrypha swallows human blood, they can mimic their identities. However, to gain access to the memories and knowledge of that human, we have to consume their brains. It's that simple!"

"Blood, huh? That's critical information right there. Now explain how you got inside the bunker!" 

"Isn't it obvious? We killed Phoebe and Durant before you all returned to base. I think you should be smart enough to know the rest. Now, I answered your question. I'd appreciate it if you let me go. I have a family to take care of. If I die here then they'll live their lives as outcasts among the Apocrypha! Please!"

Instead of feeling sympathy, Layla was left in a bad mood.

"Layla, it says it has a family... I know we don't know if it's telling the truth but what if it is..?" Sympathized Zane.

Layla looked at Zane with an ice-cold stare.

"Zane, are you dumb? This thing killed many soldiers! They had families too, didn't they? What about all the innocent people they've killed? Didn't all of them have families too?! Didn't they take your family away from you too?! Or have you forgotten that they were the ones that killed my father!!? Don't be so naïve, Zane! I may act like I'm fine but I'm far from it! I miss my dad more than anything! So before you go feeling sorry for one stupid Apocrypha, maybe you should fix your brain so you remember what they did to us!!"

Shallow tears laid stagnant in Layla's eyes. She quickly blinked them away before wrapping her finger around the trigger. Zane could easily hear the pain in her voice. He didn't have the right to stop her. It was a war between species. Only someone with a soft heart like himself would sympathize with the enemy.

"If this is how it ends then I will not fight back," proclaimed the Apocrypha. "But I do thank you for your sympathy, Zane. It puts me at ease knowing that not everyone in this world has an ice-cold heart. But in the end, we must do what we have to if we wish to survive. That includes killing others that you might not wish to kill."

"It only pisses me off because you Apocrypha are the same as humans if not even worse! You only start caring once you're at the opposite end of the gun."

Layla pulled the trigger, lodging a bullet into the Apocrypha's head. Zane averted his gaze, not wanting to see its death. It was the first time he had seen an Apocrypha show any sort of emotional logic. It made Zane feel just a little sad to see it die. 

"I wonder... If you have good people among humans, is there a chance that some of the Apocrypha might be good as well..? Just like us, they might be forced to do this..."

Layla grabbed Zane's hand and looked him in the eyes. She felt a little guilty for how she had shouted at him but she believed that it needed to be said.

"Zane, it's best not to get too sentimental with the enemy. It's okay to be kind because I like that about you... But if you show kindness to the wrong person, you could lose your life."

"I know..."

"Well, let's hurry and get out of here. Since everyone's dead, I don't feel very safe here anymore."

"Huh..? Where are we going to go then? I doubt outside is any safer than in here. Besides, it's no one else but us in here which means we can just look out for one another." 

"Aww! Are you upset because your one chance of staying inside a bunker alone with a girl will be ruined?"

"Layla, I'm serious..."

"I know. I'm just teasing. But staying down here isn't safe. Once the Apocrypha finds out that their plan to kill us failed, they'll send reinforcement to take us down. I hate to say it but the military can't protect us. To make things worse, since the Apocrypha can take human forms, we won't know who to trust being surrounded by so many soldiers. I think we should take our chances with the outside rather than remain here like sitting ducks, waiting to be killed."