Five Ton

I

Jung closed his mouth in the IFV while the soldiers were talking to each other. He didn't understand a single word that they were talking about. But he was sure that their eyes were staring at him with hatred. While chatting, one soldier hushed their friends when someone on the radio started speaking. Jung opened his ear.

Jung listened to the radio, and someone spoke through it. The commander inside his vehicle answered and exchanged a couple of words.

The man tapped on the vehicle's body. The door opened. Soldiers exited the car in order, clearing the area. Jung stood up and poke his head outside. The car was burning, and he heard the small crackles it made.

Jung was on the highway between Harut and Hueyyad. He could tell it by the sign on the highway. The road was empty... very empty. Exempting the burning car in front of the convoy. The journalist saw smoke come out of the burning van. The car was currently burning, which means the 'accident' had happened recently.

At the side of the road, there was a small drop, beyond it there lies the treelines. Jung remembered that once upon a time; the trees were once beautiful. And only now does it send chills down his spine. Jung breathes out of his mouth. Some soldiers were guarding the road, and the others went back into the IFV.

Then a shout.

"Die!" a voice yells in Hellet.

"What was that!?" Jung spoke in panic.

A rocket-propelled grenade penetrated the leading IFV in the convoy's front. It took a second, then exploded. The journalist could see the darkness of the night filled with hot and red fires.

"Sco-" a soldier shouted before getting shot dead. Some of his head matters splashed on Jung's shoe.

A gunfight erupts. Jung couldn't see the attackers. He looked through the small slits and saw hundreds of bullets leaving lights as they flew. He could see sparks of fire when the bullets ricochet as they hit the IFV steel body.

A very young man ran to the IFV Jung was hiding in. He was holding an assault rifle. When he was alerted to Jung's presence, he pointed it at the journalist. Both men look at each other for a couple of seconds. They identified with each other; they both know they are not Nagarian.

"You..." he spoke with his gun pointed at Jung. "You're not Nagarian."

"Either are you."

"I'm not. What are you doing here?" he now aimed down the sight at Jung.

"Easy there," he raised his hand. "I'm not with them?"

"Then why are you-"

Before finishing his sentence, two gunshots rang. The young man drops his gun and fell toward Jung. The journalist grabbed him and saw the man was dying. He grabbed him by the back and felt something smear his hand. It was the man's blood.

Jung saw the badly wounded commander in the background with his pistol in smoke. He killed the man and took his last breath before his eyes fade away.

Suddenly, a deafening silence. He cautiously walked outside the vehicle. Jung saw two burning vehicles and dozens of dead Nagarian soldiers around him. Later, Jung found something alerting. Dozens of dead people with guns are lying on the ground surrounding the convoy. Jung couldn't understand what had just happened. In minutes, he has seen the deaths of hundreds of lives.

"How many lives are going to perish in a single day?" he asked himself as he walked among the dead.

Such horror he remembered. The day Hellsum's soldiers fought the Nagarian when he was still reporting the war. Hundreds of horrible things bombarded Jung in his mind, and now he had nowhere to go. He didn't know where the Nagarians were taking him, and now he didn't know where he needed to go.

He embarked on a long walk to Hueyyad, leaving the burning disaster behind.

II

He was walking alone on an empty road. The wind was whispering to his ear and echoes the sound of explosions from afar. He cannot escape it. The war, the killing, the blood. It just followed him, even when he had walked for a day. At last, Jung fell onto the hard asphalt road. His body couldn't take it anymore. Everything shut down.

He had drunk no water in the last hours. Only half-empty bottles of water he had found. Yet those weren't fulfilling.

On the empty highway, he closed his eyes, restless and alone.

III

Jung woke up with warmth. At the same time, he could hear something crackling and producing light. The man looked at his surroundings; he recognized them. But he couldn't point where he was.

Jung sat there, inspecting where he was. The room was big, there were empty benches on the room's side. The floor was made of tiles, with yellow lines marking something on the edge of the floor. He looked at what lies beyond it, then he remembered where he was. Jung saw a rail coming from the tunnel. This was the metro station.

"Good to have you back, brother."

Jung heard a warm and comforting voice. He turned his body and saw a man wearing a mask under the fedora. He's stood there looking at Jung awaken from his deep slumber. The man wore a leather overcoat, staring at him behind the red glowy eyes.

Jung didn't know what had happened; Jung didn't know who was standing in front of him. What he knew was the man breathing heavily as he had trouble breathing. Jung could hear a little squeak as he breathes.

"Do not be afraid, brother. I will cause you no harm if you do the ‌same to me. My name is Syurabil, and I'm the one who brought you here. Your body was weak by the time I found you lying on the cold-night road. I saw a nametag on your clothing. Showing that you're a journalist for the World News in Hueyyad," he said in his pleasant voice.

"Where are we? How did you find me?"

"We are in Hueyyad. I was on the way back from scavenging on the outskirts of Hueyyad when I saw you out cold on the road facing the stars. I couldn't leave you there; dying from the coldness. So, I brought you here in a small cart."

"If we are in Hueyyad… I need to find Hellsumer soldiers," Jung clumsily stood up.

"It is dangerous to venture outside during this time. Hellsum doesn't accept civilians crossing their defensive line. Fearing that one of their enemies may be us," Syurabil held Jung's shoulder to make him stay down. "They send an announcement on the radio urging those who live in the battle zone not to come out or dare to leave the city.

The result is that about ten civilians died in the first forty-eight hours. They shared the announcement to the people of Polny."

"The Nagarians in Polny?"

"Days after they bombed Harut, many Nagarian soldiers fell from the sky. The once blue skies are now dark. Covered by Nagarians in uniforms."

"What? Is there a way for me to cross the defensive line? How can I leave?"

"Only if you're a soldier. They always shoot those who don't wear the uniform."

"I need to try," Jung stood up for the second time.

"You need to rest," Syu put his hand on Jung's shoulder.

"You need to back away!" he stared at Syurabil.

"People die every day. You don't even know what you're facing now."

"I know what is going on!"

"If that's true. Then follow me."

The two of them walk to the stairs, towards the upper level. When he walked to the empty train station, Jung heard sounds of conversation. He walked around the corner and saw hundreds of refugees. The ceiling was shaking when an explosion happened outside the metro. People were scared. These refugees are hiding from the war. The place was so cramped there was little movement. People tiptoed around to avoid stepping on someone.

There were people from the oldest to the youngest babies still in their mother's hands. It was the first time he saw something like this.

"What happened?" he asked Syurabil in worry.

"War happened. They have no home, everything turned into rubbles. It's no-man's-land up there. We only go out at night to scavenge food. We stay underground when the sun is up. First, we tried to get help from Hellsum's side; they answered our cries for help with the blazing of bullets.

One of us died, the rest went back here, and some were injured. When we approached the Nagarians, they didn't allow us. Perhaps they don't want to treat the Hellsum civilians out of..." he halted.

"Do you know the Scorch?"

"I know."

"Then I don't need to explain it. Some of these families met them, not their best experience. Those human filths will face death by my hands. Mark my words. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but they will crumble," Syurabil crossed his arms. "I'm sorry to make you listen to my odd answer. But now, I need your help.

You have seen how the war is. I need people who can help these refugees. It is your choice to choose. Do you want to go out there? Or stay with me, helping those in need."

"How many souls have perished for this?"

IV

Syurabil opened a door in the worker's rest area. When he opened it, Jung saw a group of three people. One female, two males. Ordinary people with ordinary appearances. But each of them was wearing a bulletproof vest and a gun holster.

"Who is he?" asked the girl.

"A friend. He's willing to help us. His name is Jung," Syurabil introduced the former journalist.

One of them approached him. Blonde hair, sharp blue eyes, and wore a casual outfit.

"Good to meet you. My name is Ismael," the two of them shook hands, and then he pointed at the others.

There was a man with his long hair tied back. His beard almost covered his mouth, but Jung could still see him smile. He wore a long-sleeved white shirt and black vest, with a black tie. An office worker type of style.

The other one was a woman with eyeglasses. She has long hair, the same colour as Ismael. She was wearing quite a dirty white shirt, black trousers and a pair of boots that were a little too big for her.

"There you have Callus. And my sister, Inara."

"Good day, friend," Callus greeted.

"How is it?" Inara nods at him.

"Well, this is new. We never had a guest before. In this room, I mean," said the bearded man.

"We need to protect these people, and we need all the human resources we have. And I think we have a good man that could go with us," Syu exclaimed behind his mask.

"Why choose him, Syu?" asked Inara.

"You already knew where I found him, on the lonely road," he then looks at you. "That is the first path your journey started, and it won't be your end," Jung could tell he was staring behind his mask.

"My end?" Jung repeated the word.

"People in these times rarely like to work with each other. Everything is scarce. One of them doesn't like to share. And one of them sometimes has a good reason not to share. But it's better to think about another soul and not only yourself, is it not? Now, we need to focus on our next aim."

All of them surround a large table with the map of Hueyyad.

"This is the map of Hueyyad. I'm guessing you already know about it. We've drawn a plan for our scavenging tonight," Syurabil led the meeting.

"What are we scavenging?" Jung asked.

"Foods and water, perhaps weapons too. There are bandits out there, and we need to arm ourselves. We cannot let them attack these people. If we are defenceless, there's a high chance many lives will perish. And we cannot let that happen. Not after all of this."

"So... what is the plan?" Inara's eyes stared at Syurabil.

"The plan is to head towards the former police station. Since the start of the attack, all the police have stopped doing their duties to the people. At least here in Hueyyad. The police station should have the guns and ammunition that we need after they leave. We need guns and scraps to create defensive perimeters around the metro. The path could be challenging. It is in no-man's-land. We could encounter scorches, Nagarians, or Hellsumers. If they found a group of civilians with weapons... we will be in great danger."

"Let's gather enough people to go scavenging with us. More people, the more we could bring back to these people," the former journalist gave his opinion.

"Having a large member in this scavenging party will put all of us at risk. Soldiers will spot us when we move in a group. They could assume that we're their enemies. When the Nagarians think it's Hellsumers, Hellsumers will think it's Nagarians. And we will be in the crossfire.

This discussion led me to another question for the four of you. The risk is even greater than the day before. This means we need to do things carefully. We will go tonight, but the scavenging will be up to you. Do any of you have an idea about how we should approach this?" Syurabil asks for their opinions.

Callus raised his hand.

"We should focus on scavenging together. It'll be faster and safer. We know when one of us needs help."

"I prefer we go our separate ways and meet in a specific location. We attract less attention. It is easier to hide from the patrolling armies," Inara preferred the exact opposite.

"Well, that's certainly a good point. I don't know... I support both of your choices," said Ismael.

Syu looked at the Yuppie. His one-way lens covering his eyes shows a reflection of Jung.

"Well, do you have any idea? Or do you want to go with one of their plans?" asked Syu.

"I like Callus's plan."

"You've got to be kidding..." Inara raised her shoulders.

"Then it is settled. We will go to the station this evening," Syu has already set the plan. "This may be a poor decision, but it's better than nothing."

They waited for dark. The five of them move through the empty streets discreetly. Moved from one building to another, just to hide from the sight of the sniper in the tall building on the plaza.

Jung could hear gunshots from there, but he didn't know who was shooting or who they were. Therefore, each gunshot they heard alerted them to take cover.

Across the street, Jung saw Syu and Inara. They're peeking and giving him the 'go-to cross. When he was about to cross, a bullet flew right next to the building that covered him and sent small debris to his face. Jung was startled and nearly fell backwards.

"What was that!?" Inara was unaware of the gunshot.

"Whatever it is, we need to keep moving! Jung, you need to make it here. Fast!" said Syurabil.

"You got to be kidding me," Jung exhaled.

"We can't go around the block. We will be late," Syurabil spoke from across the road.

Jung ready himself, mentally. Then, he ran as fast as he could across the streets.

As he ran, Jung heard another gunshot.

Jung accidentally fell. When they saw him fall, Syu hurried and dragged him away from the sniper's sight.

"You okay?" asked Syu.

"What happened?" Jung was visibly troubled.

Inara held his leg and ripped his trousers open.

"They shot you," Inara informed the man.

Then Jung realised they had shot him. The pain kicked in. His right calf feels a tremendous pain as if someone squeezed a burning hot metal to brand him. Jung screamed in pain and the others were worried.

"Go around! This place isn't safe! We'll meet you up at the station!"

Ismael and Callus agreed and took a detour. Syurabil observed Jung. The three of them saw Jung's flesh turned into a jelly.

"Can you do something about it?"

"He needs surgery. But I have an alternative," Inara opened her med-kit pack while Jung lay on the ground.

She took out a small tube and sprayed something on the wound. It hurts even more than getting shot. Syu grabbed a small piece of wood from the rubble and wrapped a cloth around it. He put it in Jung's mouth and let him bite it. It stings and made an unforgettable experience of something clawing at his flesh. After being sprayed, Inara coated a cold gel on the wound. Then she stabbed him with a syringe.

His foot felt semi-numb. Inara checked with Jung and held his head.

"Jung, how are you feeling?" she asked and then tapped his foot two times. "Can you feel the tapping on your foot?"

He nodded.

"I can feel the pain eased. But it's cold," he responded.

"Good. Then it worked," Inara let out a relieved sigh.

"What did you do?" Syurabil was bewildered.

Inara grabbed the kit and raised it right next to her head.

"Say thanks to Tek-Tus field medi-kit. Good thing I have this beauty. If not, that will be permanent," she packed the items back.

"How did they do that?"

"I don't know, Syu. Tek-Tus techs are not my speciality. I'm a nurse. But it said they use a 'neotracin' for the spray. What a lucky person you are, Jung."

"Lucky I am."

Inara stood up.

"Can you stand up?"

Slowly, Jung stood up and moved his leg delicately.

"I can. But I can't move fast."

"Well, that's alright. I'll carry you by the shoulder," Syu offered to help.

Jung put his hand around Syu's back. The three of them left the street and moved to the police station.

V

It's been a three-hour walk, and they finally arrived at the police station.

The building was half-ruined, the right side was now nothing but a ruin. The door and windows are wide open, glasses are broken. It looks like someone left the building in a hurry. And here they are, hiding in a store across from the police station. Staked the building before entering, being careful of what comes next. The three of them spent another hour staking the place and also waited for the others to arrive.

"Where are they? Shouldn't they be here?" Inara became even more nervous.

"Something isn't right. But I hope they'll find a way out. I believe we should go inside. It's a risky move, but it's better than sitting here," Syu explained.

"But what if they arrive, and we aren't here?"

"They'll know. How about we leave a small message here?" Syu grabbed his pencil and wrote something on the table. "Done, they'll see it. Now, let's go inside the police station."

Inara sighs and follows Syu out with Jung.

The trio stood before the open door. Syu and Inara hold their pistols, ready to move in. Syu went first, Inara second. It was empty, as expected. By the time they cleared the front of the station, they saw something big in the middle of the room.

"Great creator, it's..." Syu was speechless.

Jung walked inside, and he was as speechless as Syu when he saw the object in front of him. Jung was suddenly stuck on the spot like a statue. Sweats drop, his legs were shaking, and chills went down his spine.

In front of him, something dangerous sleep, waiting to be woken up.

"Th- that's not rubble," said Inara as she stuttered to let out her words.

"No," Syu knows it too. "It's a bomb."

On the bomb's body, they saw the number '5000 Kg'. It's the weight of the giant bomb. The presence of this warhead already made them think twice about looting the police station. She slumped into the wall; all of her body was shaking. Jung immediately checked on the nurse. Her body had entirely shut down.

"Jung, we need to loot this place fast!" said Syurabil. "Let her be. We need to save the weapon. She'll be fine!"

Jung was concerned, but he bolted to help Syu.

They ran to the back and searched for the guns that they left. Through rubbles and ash, Jung crawled to find the weapons. He threw the debris aside and used his hand like a shovel. Sweats covered his shirt, and there were still no guns nor bullets... until he find something beneath big rubble of concrete. He peeked through the rubble and saw a stack of guns and ammunition boxes.

"Syu... Syu! I found it!"

He dashed to Jung and saw the ammunition box.

"Can you help me push it away?" Syu looked at Jung's leg.

He nodded, and the two pushed away the rubble, clearing a way for them to inspect what was inside of it. Syu opened it and saw rifles and bullets.

"Oh, great creator, we did it! This is a miracle, but how can we bring it back to the metro?" Syu asked himself.

"Hold on. Where are the others when we need them? Where's Callus and others?"

"I don't know. They should've been here. We should carry as much as we can in our hands."

"Should we wait for them, Syu?"

"There's no time. Inara is in shock. There's a bomb near us. We are suicidal if we don't leave this place."

The two of them walked back to the front door. Before they reached the front, Syu pushed Jung away to take cover. He shushed him and gave Jung sign language to take notice of. Jung peeked around the door hall and saw a group of people.

They were not Callus and Ismael. Those people wore dark uniforms with bulletproof vests. Six people were standing, and one of them was speaking with Inara. A thick bulletproof outfit covered the person who spoke with Inara. Making the person look strong and bulky. Jung even felt quite intimidated by the person.

"Nagarians," said Syurabil. "Can you hear what they say?"

"I don't know. But I think they are questioning her. What are they doing here?"

"A patrol perhaps? Whatever it is, it's bad."

They watched as the soldiers left. But before they stepped outside, the leader of the small group of soldiers halted. Abruptly, they faced the wall where Jung and Syu were hiding.

"Come out!" shouts the Nagarian.

They both looked at each other. Both know that they are compromised. They walked to the front with guns in hand. The Nagarians were already in position with their guns aimed at them. However, the leader of the group ordered the soldiers to lower their guns.

"Major-General Tika of the 55th MP division," the soldier introduced herself. "You," the soldier pointed.

"Why do you look familiar to me?" her eyes were stamped on Jung.

"We spoke a little in the car, don't you remember?" Jung explained himself.

She thinks for a second.

"Oh, yes," her whole personality changed. "I remember that. You were also transferred to the convoy, which got destroyed later. Tell me, how did you survive?"

"The Nagarian fought until the end. I am the only one that survived.."

"May their deaths be well," she prayed.

The conversations shocked Syurabil.

"She knows you!?" his voice was flat, and so were all the words that came out of his mask.

"Silence! Don't speak unless you're ordered to."

Syu looks at her. Jung felt a tense scent coming from him.

"Think before you talk, Nagarian."

The Nagarian soldier aimed at Syu.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Tika growls.

Syu only stared back at her from under his mask.

"You don't scare me," Tika stared back.

"I know, but that thing does," Syu and everyone else looks at the bomb.

She cursed in her language and immediately ran to the humongous bomb. She opened some kind of toolkit from her waist. All the remaining soldiers went to her and helped her to defuse the bomb.

"Is that why you are here?" Syurabil put the pieces of the puzzle together.

The female soldier took off her helmet with tangled hair. She sweats, pressured by the ticking of the bomb. The other Nagarians seem to give her instructions, but she was confused. Syu‌ was about to leave with Inara in his hand.

"If you are here. That means there is a Nagarian army nearby..." Syu predicts something out of nowhere. "You people still don't learn, don't you?"

"You need to help us!" Tika begged.

"You're the soldier. Figure it out yourself!" Syu answered. "Jung, give me a hand with Inara! I can't do it alone," he grunts, dragging the girl outside.

"You won't survive 6 blocks! Civilians will die!"

Syurabil paused his walk, but then ignored the warning and left.

Jung looked at the Nagarian, who was trying to defuse the huge bomb. Possibly saving thousands‌ of lives. And there's Inara and Syu, trying to get away from the inevitable explosion and the Nagarian. He looked at both Syu and the Nagarian. There are lives at stake. He chose the latter.

"How do we defuse this?"

The lady moved aside and made him take her place.

"I need you to listen carefully," she opened some kind of manual. Tika reads the manual as fast as she could when people try to interrupt; she hushes them down.

"What- what kind of bomb is this? Never mind, 'Five chances. Cut the wires; Blue, white, Green, Yellow, Yellow, Black, Magenta, Maroon, Black, Blue."

Then she stopped. She re-read the manual back from the start.

"Wait, no! It says 'cut one wire' not 'cut the wires'. But which wire!?"

The timer shows the bomb was about to explode in five seconds. He needs to do something whilst the Nagarian was busy learning the manual.

He cut the red wire, the bomb still ticking.

He cut the blue wire; it was still ticking.

"Wait! Don't cut it just yet!" Tika held Jung's hand to make him stop.

"Well, what do I need to cut?"

"NO, listen…" Tika re-read her manual.

While she read, Jung found a text written in Nagarian.

"Hey-hey, Tika! There's something written here."

"What is it?" her eyebrows were pulled up together. He moved away so the Nagarian could read it.

She read the instruction. Then she pressed a button. A hidden compartment was revealed, a small TV with buttons. Also, include another sentence in Nagarian.

"Is that... a computer?" she wonders. "Egyerek nagari diradom?" she read the screen. "What do we call the nagarians?"

Tika pressed a button with the letter 'a', and the letter 'a' appeared on the screen. She wrote the possible answers on the small button that looked like the alphabet. Her soldiers tried to help by giving their answers, but none of them worked.

"What do we call ourselves!?" Tika banged the bomb.

"The answer…" Jung understood it. "It's brute."

Tika inserted the answer in Hellet. When it fails, she inserted it in Nagarian. A small check appeared on the screen.

The bomb stopped ticking. It was a relief.

"How did you know?" it made her dumbfounded.

"The bomb. It was ours."

"We know that."

"Why… Why did the air force bomb the city?"

"To halt our advance, perhaps. But what I don't understand is why did they create it in Nagarian instead of Hellet?"

"They are mocking you."

"What?"

"They hoped you know the answer. A brute. But it seems you didn't."

"A brute…"

"If you answered it correctly, then you called yourself a brute. If you didn't. Then I guess you know what happens. Either way, they laugh."

"Hellsumer bastards," Tika punched the earth. "Well, not you Jung. I was referring to another Hellsumer," she clarifies.

"It's okay," he held up his hand.

"That is insulting," said the MP. She lies down on the floor and stretches her body with a smile and then lets out laughter. "We did it!" I-I can't believe it." She sat there next to him, giving Jung a firm hug. He can't breathe as her bulletproof vest was pressing on him. "Thank you. I- we couldn't do this without you," she corrected her words.

The other Nagarians gave him a pat on the back. Smiling behind their balaclavas, congratulating him.

"Thank you for everything," she let go of the hug. "Since we are here, can we talk a bit?" she asked. "After all of this, I think we are pretty much in your debt."

"What do you want to talk about?"

She ordered her troops to stand guard outside while she talks to him before a 5000kg bomb. Her shoulder was lowered. Even though it still looked as if it was still up because of the thick armour she was wearing.

"Remember what happened back when we were talking in the car? You know me much more than any soldier in my division. I need to tell you something," her voice softened. "About the time before... this," she looks at the giant bomb and the ruins. "I lied about something."

"So?"

"So? I lied to you. This is an unforgivable thing that people could do to a friend."

"Wait a minute, did you just call me a friend?

She opens her eyes big and wide, realising she had just said that.

"Well..." she sounds shy. "Never in my life have I met a person like you. You understood people, you tried to ease people's minds even though you don't know who they are. Even if you weren't aware, you did. That is rare and beautiful in some ways. You don't hear that from people like me," she paused and smirked. "Do you think we are friends?"

He raised his shoulder once.

"The clothes that seal our skin, nor our different race, do not limit us. If we wore something other than our uniforms, we could be brother and sister. With the entire world is our family."

Hearing that, she hugged him.

"All the bad things I did to those people and you. I shouldn't even be forgiven, but you did," she sniffed. "Thank you... for everything."

Not long after, Jung and Tika went outside. Soldiers accompanied the two of them. She promised to escort him back to the metro. But first, they're going to find his friend, Syu and Inara.

They entered a Nagarian truck. Two soldiers were in the front, and the rest were in the back with you.

A couple of blocks passed, and they found Inara and Syu pushing a cart full of guns. The truck stopped.

"Jung, climb in!" Jung asked him to come.

"With the Nagarian?" he asked.

Inara seems agreeable when she climbs in, but not Syu. He seemed hesitant.

"Don't be like that, Syu. Just this one time," Jung persuaded.

"Fine. This once."

They brought a dozen guns into the back of the truck, and all of them drove back to the metro.

A couple of hours passed, and they were finally near the metro. Near the metro, Jung saw a giant smoke. Inara stared at the smoke behind the truck curtain, wondering what it was.

"That's a lot of smoke. Where does it come from?" asked Inara.

When the truck took a turn, they saw the metro. The metro was full of bullet marks, fires, and dead bodies. Smokes coming out from the underground, a catastrophe.

"Oh no..." said Syu.

The truck stopped right in front of the metro. Everybody exited the truck near the smoky station. Syu was full of rage when he stomped on his walk. Syu approached the Nagarian.

"Is this your piece of work!?" he was about to grab her by the uniform.

Soldiers stopped the fight again between those two. One of them aimed their gun at Syu.

"No! It's not our doing. There is no strategic importance here. Why would we do such a thing to destroy this metro? What's so important? It's a ruin!"

Syu released his grip. He only stared at them with a ghastly look, and the Nagarians didn't take a step back.

"This metro is a safe place for refugees. The civilians of Hueyyad couldn't go beyond the Hellsum line, and yours. We had to live here and be safe from your soldiers' evil," Syu crossed his hands while his palms were tense. "So, tell me this. Why wouldn't your people (who are extremely searching for death) wouldn't attack a group of refugees?"

"I told you it wasn't our doing!"

Syu wasn't buying it

"Jung, do you believe this madness?" Syu stares at Jung.

Jung held his breath when Inara found something. On the ground was a dead person. In his vest, there was a badge, not from the Nagarian, or the Hellsumer.

"Syu!" she grabbed the badge and showed it to him from afar. "It's not the Nagarians. It's the Scorch."