Chapter 5: Haunted by Survival

Limbs, blood and crisp corpses were scattered inside the train, and Josh stared daggers at Weber.

Weber's brows knitted, "Josh, what happened?"

Josh gnashed his teeth, "after Desmond came back and went back to you, people were assassinated! If you had fought to protect, this wouldn't have happened!"

Weber wanted to speak as he opened his mouth, but no words came out. 

"If I didn't do what I did, there'd be no future for us," Weber said, breaking the silence. 

Josh grimaced "do you know how painful it was to see a child asking why you couldn't do anything for them in spite of your power? Only for that to be their last words?" 

Weber sighed and rubbed his hair and head with his hand, "with a power I don't know about, it's impossible to guarantee safety. You wouldn't understand!" Weber snapped. 

Josh released eye contact and sighed "true, I don't. I don't know what this is like. I'm... Sorry."

"I understand your frustration. So can you tell me what happened here? From what I know with Desmond, he didn't do this."

Josh nodded and pointed around their surroundings.

Weber visually took in the scene and considered the precise attacks that the bodies took which killed them. They weren't like his other foes that fought with strength. This person moved with purpose and was fast.

"So how are you alive?" Weber inquired, crouching next to a corpse with his hand holding his chin and his brows furrowed.

Josh stiffened and his breath hitched "they kept me alive, so that there'd be someone to tell you what happened."

Weber's heart sank, with his head turning sharply, eyes locking unto Josh's.

"You're telling me this person just killed people so you could tell me what happened? That's odd. Why you and not others?"

"I think he knows we're together," Josh said, his hands shaky "he was just so fast. So precise."

Weber stood erect and rubbed his chin with his hand "unfortunately, there's no clear way of knowing a member from the Ones of Rite. So at this rate, we move before it's too late," Weber said picking up his bag and walking away.

Josh sighed "before we go, can we give these people a proper burial?"

Weber turned around, grimacing "I understand your intention, but if we did this type of thing every step of the way, it won't be long before people start offering prayers to us in the after life."

Josh took in a deep breath "just this one time."

A frown crept up Weber's face as Josh went on his knees clasped his hands together and bent his head.

Weber closed his eyes, then opened one eye when he heard sniffing from Josh.

Josh stood up and wiped his eyes and nose with his sleeve.

"Let's go. If we make the right decisions, we won't need to stop and offer prayers like this all the time," Weber said, his eyes subtly glowing then returning to normal.

Josh brought out a flashlight and they began walking.

They both left the scene and walked dozens of meters into the underground railway without saying a word.

Every sound at a corner made Josh jump and tighten his grip on the torch.

As they went deeper into the railway, Josh's hand began shaking and sweat had welled up on his forehead.

But Weber had been laser focused on walking forward.

"Um...Weber?" Josh whispered.

Weber slowly turned his head towards Josh.

"What?" Weber asked.

"I think we're being followed. The place is dark, but it feels off."

"A war is going on, we left dozens of dead bodies moments ago killed by an assassin plus members of a terrorist group and we're being hunted. Why won't you have the feeling?" Weber said with a grimace.

Josh shot Weber a glare "excuse me, but I prefer to not be complacent."

Weber shrugged, "well, since I don't know how to properly use my powers, we can't just get to the border at high speed. So we rest here."

They stopped walking and saw a train that had been abandoned and wrecked.

"There should do." Weber said taking the lead.

Josh brought out a pocket knife and tightening his grip around it, he took a deep breath and walked closely behind Weber.

Reaching an open door to inside of the train, Weber slowly placed his foot inside the train, seeing it held strong, he placed the other foot and Josh went in after him. 

Like the whole railway, inside the train was quiet and stuffy. The chairs were torn and worn out. The floor had dust and glass from broken windows all over the place.

Josh began coughing and taking in deep breaths.

Weber went to a corner of the train and found a chair that was in better condition than the others. Feeling around the seat with his hand and dusting it, he sat down, sighed and closed his eyes.

Josh sat at another chair that was at the opposite row and lied down.

An hour passed without an exchange of words.

As Josh was about dozing off, Weber's voice caught his attention "hey Josh, can you tell me more about this person? Is it another member from the Ones of Rite? Or what?" Weber asked, his eyes still closed. 

Josh sat up and rubbed his chin and head "it's something I'll never forget. Their appearance... I couldn't see. Like a spell for me to forget specific details. And to make it worse was the way they moved... It was all over too quickly."

Weber sat up and opened his eyes "I think right now, all we can do is plan on how to not get caught."

Josh was silent for a few moments, then his eyes widened and he smirked "hey, I think I have an idea of who that guy was," then Josh's smirk turned to a frown and his eyes became dull, staring into an open spaces without a word.

"What are you not saying?" Weber said, turning his head slightly to the side, his brows furrowed. 

"With all the tension that's been going on, I forgot which period we were in." Josh replied.

"Can you be more specific?" Weber asked sharply.

Josh slowly turned to meet Weber's eyes "the period that a Captain is searched for, the only ones capable of turning the tides of a war."

"And that's when the enemy country looks for people the government might want to appoint." Weber said grimacing "and that means only one thing. This stealthy enemy of ours might be a foreigner. And that means only one thing."

Josh nodded affirmatively and replied, "they're after you."