As they walked through the woods, the group who were attempting to covertly take Visette hostage moved closer to prevent her from running away. A woman squeezed Visette’s shoulder tightly while a gun-wielding man walking next to her maintained a false look of concern and friendliness.

“We only want to help you.” He adjusted his grip on the rifle in his hand.

Visette looked around and only saw shotguns, revolvers, and bolt action rifles that could be considered dangerous but weren’t fit for fighting other humans, at least when compared to higher powered rifles with higher firing rates.

“Don’t worry, they are more than equipped to handle themselves. Since that’s the case, I think you should let us hold your weapons.” The woman leaned closer to Visette and whispered as she dug her nails deeper.

“I understand,” Visette spoke in a low voice.

The woman slightly loosened her grip and smiled “That’s good–” but just as finished, Visette raised the hunting knife and stabbed her in the thigh.

“Ah! Fuck!” The woman clutched her leg as she tripped to the ground.

Visette was already moving toward the man wielding the hunting rifle. He reflexively raised the gun to defend but Visette plunged the knife into his abdomen and gave it a slight twist before sprinting toward her next target.

“Y-You, bitch!”

As Visette approached another man he raised his gun reflexively and tried to shoot but his revolver wouldn’t fire. The cause was threads of psionic energy that were wrapped around the barrel.

“Jammed!” He shouted as Visette arrived in front of him and stabbed the knife into his forearm, as a result, he dropped the revolver and Visette picked it up. She released the cylinder and took out the bullets before stashing them in her pocket.

She stabbed the man in the leg for good measure and continued on, stabbing four other people.

“Shoot her!” Someone yelled.

“No! We need her alive!” The injured woman shouted.

Visette ignored them and dashed toward a woman holding a hunting rifle. The woman panicked and dropped the rifle which Visette picked up before fleeing.

“Damn it!” The man Vis stabbed in the gut cursed aloud as he saw people gathering to see what the commotion was.

“She can’t get...that...far...” A guy holding his wounded arm couldn’t help but trail off after seeing that Visette had covered a huge distance in a short amount of time.

“Fuck! Is she an abnormal or something?”

“If she was I doubt she would be left behind.”

“She’s just a kid.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me if she was Anton’s kid.”

“Shut up.”

A few people from the main group of evacuees approached with clear suspicion as demonstrated by their guns being held close to them, “What happened?”

“I…” The man tried to think of a story while clutching his abdomen that was leaking with blood.

“That girl Rachel was looking after went crazy and attacked us...I think she was scared after that attack that happened last night.” The woman Visette stabbed in the thigh spoke up as she tied a bandage around her leg.

“...I see.” There was still lingering suspicion based on the fact there were no gunshots and everyone witnessed Visette receiving a shotgun and a revolver. After some contemplation it was clear no one in the group fired either so it was hard to say what happened exactly and Visette wasn’t really looked upon positively.

"All of you need to get your wounds fixed up, in the meantime, we'll let everyone know to look out for that girl."

...

Visette continued running through the forest with psionic energy fused into her muscles. It allowed her to put more a great distance between her and the group of evacuees. She finally stopped to catch her breath and it was then she noticed that it was starting to rain.

‘Would it help them escape?’ Vis asked herself.

The Corrupted were known to have an extraordinary sense of smell but the rain should at least hide away the traces of the fleeing townspeople. Then again, with so many people moving together in close proximity it was more likely of them being discovered.

Visette pulled the drawstrings on her windbreaker and continued her trek through the damp soil that was littered with fallen leaves.

A few hours later and the light drizzle had become heavier and Vis was forced to stop. Evening time was approaching and she had moved away from the main road already so she had no choice but to stop. She placed a few branches against a tree and then raised her hand causing dozens of leaves to rise from the ground before she layered them over her shelter. It wasn’t the most detailed construction but her makeshift shelter was enough to protect her from the rain.

She crawled in and took up a cross-legged position in order to practice with her psionics. She removed the bullets from her ammo pouch and began to levitate them around her while occasionally sending out a pulse to check her surroundings.

‘I’ve wounded those who were more likely to cause trouble which may help those who are heading toward the city.

…

In the city of New Mayhall, one of the lower class districts was ripe with activity. The seven-year scarcity in Corrupted attacks lead to some becoming more comfortable. A small bar was full of intimidating looking men who smelled of alcohol. To somewhat contrast the scene, there was a young woman holding a sheathed sword sitting alone at the counter. With one look at the sheath, one could tell the sword was double-edged with a small circular guard. A pair of dog tags hung on from the pommel of the weapon, which caused many eyes to focus on the woman.

Seemingly unaware or maybe completely unfazed, the woman held a shot glass with her free hand.

On Earth, it would be a little concerning for someone so young to drink so heavily seeing as she looked to have only recently hit her twenties. Her dark brown hair was in the style of a ponytail held together by a cheap rubber band while the loose strands hanging over her forehead were indicative of her lack of care. Her outfit consisted of a brown leather jacket and a plain black tank top along with a pair of jeans and brown hiking boots made from some type of suede.

“Another,” She spoke curtly to the barkeeper as she slid her glass over. Her request was fulfilled and she was given another drink almost immediately.

Her narrowed gaze and almost frustration-filled blue eyes made it seem as if she had an attitude and with her sword held close by there was no one willing to test her.

That is until a bald man with sunglasses approached and sat in the stool beside her.

“Commander Wakefield needs you to do him a favor,” The man said.

“Then he can give me an order...And who the fuck wears sunglasses on a cloudy evening?” She sneered.

“The same one who carries around a military issued sword everywhere she goes. It’s almost if you want everyone to know you’re an Abnormal.” The man chuckled which made it clear he wasn’t bothered by her prickly attitude.

“What does the Commander want?” She emptied her shot glass and inquired with a skeptical expression.

“Says his family is arriving in a day or two and he wants you to keep an eye on them,” The bald man answered.

“Family? He has a family?”

“Yeah, doesn’t talk about it much though.”

“Any clue as to why that is?”

“...You didn’t hear it from but his wife’s parents died under suspicious circumstances. The higher-ups at the administrative branch ruled it as an accidental death but it was clear what happened. The commander wasn’t the commander at the time and couldn’t do anything which caused his wife to leave. Since he’s the youngest to take up the position he still faces a lot of resistance from the administration and even the Governor, so I doubt he can bring the case up again.” The bald man spoke in a hushed voice.

“I see.”

“Listen, Lyn. The Commander says this is important so don’t do...what you always do.”

“What does that mean?” Lyn asked defensively.

“Don’t shoot the messenger, he said and I quote ‘Tell O’Hara not to be so brash.’ I’m guessing he wants you to handle it with delicacy.”

“...Got it.” Lyn tightened the grip on her sword before standing up and tying it to her back.

“Delicacy, Lyn.” The bald man repeated.

Lyn snorted but didn’t say anything as she left the bar. Once she was outside she could see it was starting to rain and clicked her tongue before moving toward a black motorcycle and grabbing a helmet that was clipped to the backseat.