RB Chapter 172 Leah Awakens

A half an hour had passed since the battle. Shattered glass littered the road from one car which was relatively intact. Another had flipped on its side at the side of the road, crushing the undergrowth. The third car had burnt for a few minutes and now, only faint smoke could be seen rising into the sky. Except for the fuel, the car was made of inflammable materials that's why it had only blazed for a few minutes. The scene of the three cars gave off a feeling as if they had been in a warzone.

On one part of the road, footprints, with minute cracks all around them could be seen. Long groves, like those caused by slashes could be observed within the soil making up the road. This had been the battlefield between Monki and the assassin.

Dagger fragments were also on the ground, scattered due to the force of the strike that had shattered them. The metal glistened in the sun, as if trying to show that even shattered, it was still of high quality.

On the side of the car that had its engine explode, two figures were standing. The door to the car's side was open from when Leah had crawled out. The two were Eric and Elena. They were trying to determine the force of explosion so that they could figure out how injured she had been. One of them appeared to be antsy.

"We aren't experts. I can't figure out anything from this." Elena complained as she passed a hand through her hair for the third time, messing it up. She appeared to be frustrated with her lack of knowledge.

Eric on the other hand was silent, a few electrical arcs could be seen dancing within those dark blue pupils. His hands were crossed at his chest and Elena didn't interrupt him when she saw him that focussed.

"Miss Njibwa is about two kilometers away from us." Sally's words attracted Elena's attention.

She moved away from beside Eric and went to gaze at the hologram floating above Sally's palm. Even though the drones had proven useless after Monki went offroad, they were following above the trees, tracking miss Njibwa's team through the jungle, providing a route for Eric's team to follow.

"Someone removed the assassin's corpse...who do you think it is? Could it be Njibwa?" Chloe asked as she looked at the dried blood on the car. There were no drag marks or blood trails, it was like the body had simply vanished.

"Their car is over there. Since it isn't inside, there is no way they would have taken it with them, not to mention burying it, so someone else must have been here, or come just after Monki had fled." Sally postulated. She appeared to pay attention to detail.

The drones had gone on to follow Njibwa's team. There were only three drones left and they were all coincidentally those of Njibwa's team. Monki had destroyed those sent by the people in the shadows, while those from elder Muti's team had crashed the moment the team perished.

"Sally, how long do you think it would take us to catch up to miss Njibwa?" Eric asked as he came over. His face was a mask of seriousness.

"They are moving slowly since they also have to track Monki to make sure he doesn't give them the slip, about two hours, give or take." She answered.

"Let's go then. There is nothing else to see here." He said brusquely before leading the way, appearing to be impatient.

"What about the vanished corpse?" Chloe asked after catching up.

"Leah is currently more important." Eric answered.

"Did you manage to find out anything?" Elena asked. His seriousness alone suggested it.

"Leah is heavily injured. Even if she's still alive, she is only hanging on by a thread. Monki is being pursued, so he lacks the means to attend to her. We have to hurry and find them." Eric answered while snapping a twig in front of himself. The sun was bearing down with all its might, causing a few patches of light to appear on the ground from above the canopy of trees and damaged structures.

Monki has taken this route. This city must have been one with a speciality centered on vertical farming. Trees and all manner of edible plants could be seen having grown out of the windows, roots creeping along the walls, sucking up nutrients and causing them to crumble.

It was hard for plants to grow on concrete before the forced evolution, but now, concrete was showing signs of not being able to impede their roots. Bird calls and insect calls entered their ears, forming a calming melody as they trekked on the damp ground. This place wasn't dry even though the sun had been shining a lot these days.

Not all the animals were being killed. Herbivores were thinned while the harmless insects like the small butterflies were left behind.

Only Sally, who didn't know Leah all that much was taking in the beauty of nature. The others were walking in silence, deep in their thoughts.

Shew!

The sound of something cutting air fell into Eric's ears, he didn't even change his expression, batting away the green long snake that was trying to ambush him. When it hit the ground, it was already dead. He didn't show any mercy. Electrical arcs could be seen on the hand he had used. He had fried it's brain. Sally's eyes shrunk into needle points upon seeing that.

They had all broken into a light jog, preserving energy, while also doing their best to catch up with Njibwa's group.

"What if Monki threatens you with Leah's life when we catch up to him?" Sally asked, trying to start a conversation.

"...Sally, your EQ must be pretty low. Anyway, this city has many fruits trees. Since the plants survived the evolution, they must be superior species. This city ruin must have had many organisms living within it. We won't have to worry about food a along as we are within its confines." Chloe tried to introduce a lighthearted subject. While jogging, she plucked one of the fruits hanging low, a ripe mango as large as a football and took a bite.

"Wouldn't they be poisonous for us humans?" Eric asked, shocked that she didn't even have the slightest caution.

"Eric, these fruits must have been eaten by the animals here almost everyday, how could they be poisonous to us humans when we have part of the genetic code of the animals?" Chloe asked with a grin.

"This city was called Balimi city, which meant Farmer's city. It used to be the prime provider of food to the people of Uganda, the nation which used to govern this piece of land..." Sally provided information.

"You are like a living encyclopedia." Elena said half in amazement, half sarcastically.

Sally, though didn't seem fazed by her words.

"Having a lot of knowledge is a good thing. It allows you to make the optimal decisions in all situations." She answered her.

Eric swiped a banana and proceeded to devour it as he jogged. They hadn't even had the chance to have breakfast when this happened. As he ate, he wondered how Leah was feeling if she was still alive.

The others followed Chloe's example and devoured the fruits.

"Why couldn't there be a tree that grew ready, cooked meat?" Elena, the carnivore complained.

"If it was there then, there would be no point in hunting, actually, there would be no predators." Sally got her chance to bite back causing Elena to grumble.

"Sally, do know anything about what's happening in the front lines?" Eric asked. Every time he was quiet, worries would feel his mind, so he created a new topic.

"I heard its churning out corpses by the minute, ants and beasts alike." Elena said.

"So far the city authority have blocked all the information, but according to my sources, its bad! Many ants have already been slaughtered and the birth of new ones is slow." She revealed.

And just like that, Sally became their informant about the situation at the front line.

-----

Within one of the many ruined buildings in Balimi city ruins, a male figure was collapsed. His chest, which was rising and falling with every breath proved that he was still alive.

It was Monki, beads of sweat were rolling down his forehead onto his chest as he leaned against the wall with eyes closed. The wall provided a cool sensation on his back which soothed his hot body.

Leah was lying at his side, some of the black parts on her skin had fallen off, exposing healthy skin, even unconscious, her cells were trying to deal themselves. Though it was going at a pretty slow pace due to a lack of sufficient energy.

'I think I have given myself enough of a head start." Monki thought as he felt the lethargic feeling in his body. He had ran the moment he made it into this city ruin. He had moved so fast, not caring about the energy consumption, so that he could give himself a respite. He had also shot out his fur, to buy himself enough time.

'I will only rest here for an hour.' He thought as his gaze speared at his side, at the unconscious girl. Patches of her skin were exposed as her SYMOR lacked the energy to recover itself, but he didn't care about the nudity, instead his gaze was tinged with genuine concern, a rare thing for him.

"Girl, you better heal up. If you die it would truly be a pity." He mumbled before standing up. He had chosen a place with plenty of fruits in the vicinity, so it was easier to replenish some of the lost energy.

Monki hadn't retrieved his spear because it had become scrap. The many marks on it made it so that only, by melting it down again, could it be salvaged. He was even sure that it had broken into pieces wherever it had landed as he had put a lot of force in the throw.

He cautiously peeked out before going to a jackfruit tree and plucking the ripened fruit.

'This place is a paradise! No wonder there are many battle marks! The organisms living in this city must have been a lot!' He thought while looking at the fruit which was as long as his arm up to the shoulder, and as wide as his waist.

He held it with two hands and went back to the hideout. Since he lacked a blade, he grew out one of his nails with the minute traces of energy in his body and used it to cut the fruit.

When he had cut it in half, white sap and yellow things entered his vision. The yellow eatable fruit was the size of a palm!

"Wow!" His exclamation caused Leah to shift in her state.

"If you are awake, then open your eyes! You need to recover your energy so that you can heal. Fruits don't exactly give plenty of energy, but we will make do since there are no longer any animals to hunt here. What is left are critters." He sighed at that.

Leah opened her eyes and strenuously tried to sit up, but her body collapsed into his arms, which he had held up, anticipating the movement.

"You...I don't..." She struggled to speak, trying to push herself away from his hands.

"I know I know, you hate me, but I am the only one here who can help you. Or would you rather die?" He asked.

"You should eat a little." He continued when he felt her struggles cease.

He held her until she sat up without the need for his help. Though, her emerald vertical slitted eyes glared at him even as she dug into one half of the fruit, never leaving him.

"Don't glare at me like that. You saved my life, now its my turn to repay you." He said.

But she didn't turn her eyes away. She continued eating without moving her gaze away, causing Monki to turn his back to her.

"...I am a very principled person. I won't use you as a hostage if that's what yih are worried about." He said after sighing.

"What happened? Where are we?" Her cold voice came from behind after a few minutes. She appeared to have finished eating.

"We are north west of the road. That bastard destroyed all the cars so I had no choice but to plunge into this jungle. Remember, we only have an hour of respite. The pursuers are still hot on our heels." He said.

"'Our?' I don't think they are after me." She scoffed.

"Well...I don't know which group's behind us. If its someone related to that assassin, then even you would die. So you have to stay with me a little longer." He answered. He didn't hear anything for a while. She might have been considering things.

"I bet you lack the energy to support yourself, let alone fight." He continued.

"..."

"Have you managed to get a glimpse of our pursuers?" She asked.

"No, though, I bet they will catch up to us after an hour." He said.

-----

Leah felt her body's condition and sighed for the fourth time. It was in shambles. Many organs were injured to varying degrees, her skin, had just started regenerating, so it was still thin and various blood clots were embedded within her veins.

As she looked at the back of the man who had caused all this, she had the urge to year him apart, but she held herself back. She was still too weak. This jackfruit wasn't enough to provide the energy needed to deal with all her injuries. As she looked at the now empty shell, she wished it had been meat.

"Where are we going?" She didn't want to to talk to him, but she had to if she wanted to find a way to escape from him.

"The front line. That would be the only chance for I to survive." He sighed after answering. She felt a feeling of dispondence and loneliness from him, but she didn't have the thought to comfort him. He brought all this on himself.

Currently he was only dressed in tattered pants, you could even call them rugs. His body had a few scars which were on the verge of vanishing completely. They must have been the wounds inflicted by that assassin.

"Where did that assassin come from? ...I mean which group?" She asked.

"Those businessmen who supported elder Muti's rise. They are terrified of the thought that we might seek revenge so they want us all dead."

"I thought you were a simpleminded person, but it seems we were all mistaken...though, you did fall into their trap, so maybe am mistaken." Leak said, causing Monki to flinch.

She almost had the urge to laugh, but them she remembered that he was the enemy so she adopted a cold expression once again.

"We must find a place to hide. A tall place, and then spy on our pursuers. If they are my friends, I want to rejoin them. If they aren't, I will follow you." She proposed, her hands clenched, scared if the answer she might get.

"...you really want to rejoin your friends that badly...okay." He agreed, causing her to breathe out a sigh of relief. According to rumors, the guy was crazy, if what he was showing her was just a facade, then she feared what would happen when he showed that ruthless side. She didn't want to be here when he flipped.

'I hope its Eric.' Tears almost fell down her eyes as she thought of her friends. She missed them. She felt like she wanted Elena to hug her. She wanted to cry in her embrace. She didn't dare of thinking about doing it in Eric's. That would be embarrassing!