Caught in the Crossfire

"Janice, I know you had our best interests at heart, but it's really hard to forgive you for smacking the back of my head like that," Lily said, emerging from the tornado, her tone filled with frustration, her face twisted in a mix of excitement and annoyance.

"Ouch," Gordon exclaimed as he touched the back of his head. The iron sand that had been surrounding him was sent flying into the air by the nearby tornado, effectively ending his invisibility.

Both of them stood in the center, looking at each other as if they were about to kill each other.

DADADADADADA...!

The enemies were fulfilling their wishes, but it was only out of their survival instinct and the fear that Janice and the others had already instilled in them.

But what came next was not just fear.

It was hysterical despair.

Lily saw bullets coming their way and raised her hand forcefully. A powerful gust of wind strong enough to scrape the ground shredded the bullets.

Gordon followed suit, and the multitude of iron sand started spiraling upwards, forming a dense rain that fell upon the enemies' heads, turning their skulls into beehives.

As the iron sand finally ceased falling, all the enemies fell to the ground simultaneously, and there was no second sound of foreheads meeting the ground.

"Hey! Are you an idiot?" Lily shouted, "If I hadn't quickly put up a wind barrier above Janice and the others' heads, they would probably be dead!"

"I know."

"Knowing doesn't cut it! Don't turn your face away!"

"Tana doesn't need protection, does she? Her body can turn into water, right?"

"What about Janice? And... a stranger?" Lily paused, suddenly puzzled.

Gordon was also taken aback.

"It's me," Alice emerged from the car.

"You're... the one who knocked out Brian last time?" Lily recognized her.

Gordon did too.

"Yes, she came to save us," Janice also crawled out from the back of the car, "What about Uncle Michael?"

"He's still unconscious," Tana pointed to the person lying next to her. Lily had mistakenly thought he was just an innocent civilian and had erected a wind barrier to shield him from the falling iron sand, "By the way, do you not care about your friends at all?"

"Tana, are you okay?"

"If your body were blown in half, do you think you'd be okay? Please ask more useful questions," Tana squinted her eyes, indicating her frustration.

"Well, what the hell is going on here?" Alice interjected.

"Janice, Tana, and a girl named Gray are being hunted down. It seems they were experimental subjects in the past, and someone wants to eliminate them to cover it up," Gordon decided to be honest after a moment of contemplation.

"Where's Gray?" Alice asked.

"Hiding," Gordon shrugged. He still couldn't fully trust the person in front of him.

Just then, an explosion behind them made everyone experience a sudden loss of gravity, sending them flying into the sky before crashing back down.

The enemy reinforcements had arrived.