Under The Veil of Night

’They shouldn’t have gone too far.’

He didn’t know how much time had passed when he reached the edge of the forest. Seeing the leveled ground, he knew right away that there was a fight happening in this place. It was not hard to guess that someone extremely powerful must have fought someone equally powerful.

In the middle of the area, he saw two bodies lying not far from one another. His heart thumped loudly in fear that those two were someone he knew.

Inching his feet forward, he came to take a closer look. When he saw their faces, he felt as if a large boulder had come to squash him flat to the ground.

\\"’Old Man, Ryan,\\" Patrick muttered. \\"You truly turn to the other side, Ryan?\\"

He felt that it was truly hard to believe that someone like Ryan would turn to side with the government. When he was young, he always seen his brother and his three friends together through a lot of things, including Ryan. They were extremely close, just like real brothers.

It would be a lie if he said that he didn’t feel envy towards them.

However, he had missed a lot of things during his time in the prison for years. He didn’t know about his brother’s death and the possibly pain that took place in the heart of his closest friends.

\\"Brother, you’re truly an idiot.\\"

His brother’s existence was always the greatest light in the life of many of them. Even his own son adored him greatly to the point that he nearly broke at his death and awaken his talent.

Patrick gazed at the two old men in front of him with complicated feeling. Even until now, he was not sure what he should feel about them. He wanted to hate Ryan for betraying the clan, but it was simply impossible. The time these men had spent together as comrades was something that he could never forget.

\\"Among the five of us, I’m the last one to leave this world,\\" Patrick mocked himself. He was the youngest one and also the one who was broken the very first because of his girlfriend’s death. But he instead became the last one to leave this world.

’At least, the four of them can be together again.’

Pulling himself back to reality, Patrick slowly dragged the two bodies away from the rain to the trees. He still has to find the others, so for now he could only put these two sheltered from the rain and away from the watchful eyes of the others.

Patrick sped up to reach the cliff after he had finished moving the two bodies. Upon seeing the mess on top of the cliff, his heart sank deeper.

Bang!

Slamming his metal rod to the ground, he gnashed his teeth in anger.

\\"You bastard Megara, I’ll never forgive you!\\"

There were a lot of fallen bodies around him, but he didn’t pay any attention to them. It didn’t take long for him to recognize that they were not his friends. Searching around, he noticed a trail of blood towards the forest.

Stomping his feet to the ground, he propelled himself to move faster into the forest, determined to find whoever still alive.

’You can’t die yet, Kevin. Only you can be the leader.’

After a few minutes following the trail, he sensed danger and swiftly stopped his charge.

Bang!

\\"Don’t move!\\" the hoarse voice of Neo could be heard from not far from him.

Patrick’s eyes lit up. They are alive!

\\"Neo, it’s me, Patrick!\\"

Upon hearing Patrick’s voice, Neo’s hand trembled. Even though the rain was still as heavy as before, it was not too bad inside this lush forest. He stepped out of his hiding place.

\\"Elder Patrick, is that you?\\"

Patrick was stunned to see Neo’s appearance. The young boy was filled with mud and blood all over his body. His tired eyes were brimming with hope as he stared at the man before him, but a trace of despair was apparent inside the man’s pupil. His ragged clothing showed just how much suffering he experienced in the past few hours.

\\"Neo, what happened, where’s Mike?\\"

\\"I’m here,\\" Mike limpidly stood up while holding on the trees. His right thigh was shot before, so it took him everything he had just to stand up properly. As for how he managed to reach this deep into the forest, it was simply because of his tenacity and unwillingness to die.

\\"Where are Kevin and Rei?\\"

Upon hearing those two names, Mike and Neo’s eyes showed traces of despair. \\"They fall to the sea.\\"

\\"They WHAT?\\"

\\"They fall to the sea!\\" Mike repeated with a frustrated tone. At that moment, he didn’t even know if they fell because of the gun or Kevin’s plan. His mind has been in a complete mess ever since then as he saw them after Neo’s scream. All he knew were they had fallen to the sea from that damned cliff!

Patrick took a deep breath. He looked at the two teenagers before him. \\"Let’s head to the nearest resting area, can you still walk?\\"

\\"I can,\\" Mike replied.

Neo wanted to nod too, but the relief upon seeing Patrick caused his muscle to relax. His body dropped down to the ground. Thankfully, Patrick reacted in time to catch the young man.

\\"Follow after me, you wouldn’t want to accidentally trigger a trap. It’ll be more dangerous inside the forest.\\"

\\"Yes.\\"

Following behind Patrick, Mike forcefully restrained the pain that he had on his leg. He had tried to stop the bleeding by tearing part of his clothes and tied up the wound, but it was still extremely painful. Blood occasionally flowed out whenever he walked.

\\"Mike, calm down,\\" Patrick said slowly. \\"Don’t break down again.\\"

In the past, Mike had almost broken down because he failed to protect Kevin. It took meticulous plan from Kevin to make sure this young man recovered again. Now, Patrick couldn’t afford to see this young man broke down.

If something like what happened to Ryan happened again, he might be the one who had to kill the other party. It was something that he never wanted to happen.

\\"I won’t,\\" Mike muttered. He would never ever repeat that ever again. He didn’t want to have his friends worried over him constantly. Having seen how they cared for him made him realized that he was only doing something extremely stupid. There were a lot of people waiting for him, relying on him, so he had to stand firm.

Before long, they arrived in a small hut. The location of the hut was perfectly hidden and one wouldn’t be able to find it if they didn’t know that there was one here. Patrick walked inside and scrambled for the first aid kit that they had there. Slowly, he treated Neo’s wounds. On the side, Mike tried to treat himself because Patrick was still busy.

\\"We’ll find them and then we’re going to have our revenge against Megara,\\" Patrick said in a murderous tone, his eyes filled with deep hatred. The wounds on Neo’s body might send this boy to the death door soon.

Mike nodded his head. He could never forgive Megara for what he did to them. What had happened today, he would repay that man a hundred fold!