"C....Ca...ss...ie...."
Soulen took a step back as she stared at the woman who had helped her three years ago when she was still a human. Cassie equally stared back, however, the gaze she had was of utter shock and bewilderment as what she saw was a mutant of her friend regain her memory and can speak.
"Sou....Soulen...You.....You are Soulen...right??" Cassie asked quickly as she coughed up blood. she was in extreme pain and was bleeding. This caused Soulen to hesitantly move forward to her but then stop.
"I...I....."
Just before she could say anything else, a sharp pain shot through Soulen's entire body as she turned around to see 5 mercenaries shooting at her. Cassie called out for Soulen to stop but Soulen didn't listen. With an angry growl, she used her vine to block the bullets that were flying towards her. Once their gun's ammo ran empty and they attempted to reload, Soulen instantly used the vine to smack the 5 of them into the nearby building as hard as she could. They went flying and crashed into the wall; a blood puddle now visible. With a wild-like heavy breathing, Soulen didn't noticed that Cassie had crawled towards her to hold her hand. Soulen who was focused on the enemy soon turned to Cassie and stared before her eyes widened and she yanked her hand out and jumped away a bit.
Just then, someone else ran towards Cassie calling her name. It took her a bit to recognize who it was. And she as well subconsciously called his name out.
"Tou...Tougz....?"
As soon as the name flew out of Soulen's mouth, Tougz froze for a few seconds before slowly turning to see Soulen where his eyes widened in disbelief.
"Soulen....? No fucking way...."
With several steps back and the realization she nearly killed the very people who took care of her three years ago broke her. Without looking back, she jumped away while Cassie called out to her to wait.
As soon as Soulen landed on the entrance gate, Her revenants had returned to her. They stayed close to her and Snow gently placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. Their gaze had returned to normal. they didn't seem under the influence of the infection again. This was due to her regaining her senses back. She frowned as the tears in her eyes had yet to stop. Then she noticed there was actually something in her hand. She was so focused on running away that she didnt notice it.
It looked like a tracker. she remembered seeing one although broken 3 years ago when she was surviving by herself. Her gaze returned to the direction where Tougz and Cassie was; where she saw Cassie had passed out probably due to blood loss and a group of people had met up there where they shot at the infected coming and protected Tougz and Cassie.
Soulen immediately Gave a loud roar which caught the attention of everyone. but more importantly the rest of the horde. They turned around and began to run out of the base gate where Soulen stared at the ruin she had caused before jumping away with her revenants.
*****************************************************************
A few days had passed now and Soulen and the rest of the horde had made their way back to a random destroyed base. The horde began to aimlessly move about or sleep on the spot while Soulen herself was in one of the abandoned buildings; staring at the ceiling. Her revenants had sat down somewhere nearby and had fallen asleep. Mostly because they needed to heal up quicker as their injuries though minor, needed to be healed up. Soulen however had fully healed up. Her healing capabilities were far more superior to theirs. It was probably due to her being the first and the closest to the Corolla.
Nonetheless, She remained in that spot while staring at the ceiling. Then her gaze returned to the tracker on her hand. Two days ago, the tracker activated and showed the location of where the other part was. It was definitely Cassie who activated it and was showing where they were. Soulen however didn't have the resolve to meet them. At least then.
The visions of how crazy and destructive she was still vividly resurfaced in her mind. And then how she hurt Cassie. It made her hesitate and ass well, made her scared to face them.
Its been a few days since that day. and now she felt a bit calmer mentally. She heaved a heavy ssigh before standing up and walking out of the broken building.
Now outside, she stared at the horde she had spent a few years with. It felt nice being in command with this many infected at her beck ad call. but now she would have to leave them to check on Cassie and her a place she once called home.
She made her way to where her revenants where whom were already awaiting her. They bowed gently before smiling a bit as she stared at them briefly before looking down at the ground.
Vira was the first to walk forward. She went towards her master and gently hugged her which Soulen's eyes widened gently. she stayed like that for a few seconds before returning the hug as Virgil and Snow walked towards her.
"Do what you must mistress....we can tell you want to meet them...." Vira says in the infected tongue. Soulen stayed silent for a few minutes then squeezed for a few seconds before smiling.
"Thank you...all of you..." Soulen replied back in the infected tongue before pulling back from the hug.
The three of them had evolved quite a lot within the past year, each of them almost resembling humans now. there was now only a singular flower on their shoulder and their skins looked a lot smoother than before. It made her happy because if for any reason, they needed to pass a human settlement. they could fool them at least once and escape.
With that said, she was sure they could handle things here while she was away. and if anything, they could always go back to the corolla; To their home. So she smiled at them one last time before calling the vines to take her back to where everything started.
The first place she arrived was at the corolla. It had been a long time since she had seen this place. It had grown a bit more than the first time she was here. The vines had grown further out, the flowers seemed more vibrant than usual and some moss had made its way in the cave more now. Nonetheless, she walked towards the corolla and gently placed her head on the trunk of its body which the corolla responded by gently wrapping its vines around her briefly. Then the vines retracts and allows her to move back slowly.
She looks around the place briefly before noticing the area she once used to make her first set of revenants. the bodies probably decomposed already while the bowl and vine mortar she made to pound the components together had moss growing above them.
"...Ill come back home soon....for now....lets follow the tracker."
The vines wrap around her once more and covered her view before reopening to the surface once more. The vines had dropped her on an area that looked like a construction site. Next she turned towards the direction the tracker was coming from while looking at the screen of the device. With a gentle sigh, she continued to walk forward.
It took a while, maybe Thirty mintues, but eventually, she arrived at a sort of opening. Close to the camp she once was a part of. That was also when the tracker's signal shut off.
She stared at the device, then at the camp wondering what to do before examining the device once more. There, she saw another button which once she pressed, showed a display with a question: "Which channel would you like to send this too?"
She stared blankly at it for a few seconds before thinking. Then it slowly came to her.
By putting the correct channel, a tracker connected to that channel will be active and receive the signal. With that in mind, she put the previous channel that the earlier signal was on and pressed enter which it slowly began to hum and the text; "SIGNAL BEING TRANSMITTED" was displayed.
With this, they should supposedly come towards this place.
She walked back a few steps to the centre before dropping the tracker at the middle then sat down and held her knees while gathering her thoughts as she stared at the device.
It had been a while.. a long while to be honest. How did they fair after her 'supposed' death. What happened to their camp. What new things did they encounter...
She had a lot in her mind, a lot she wanted to know. And before she knew it, her eyes slowly slid close and she fell asleep.
A few minutes passed. Maybe twenty minutes, And Soulen had been woken up by the sound of footsteps and muttering.
".....The signal is coming from here..." Said a female voice. It sounded very similar to Cassie.
"...this feels stupid and risky..." Another voice came. Make, deep, cautious
"...it's crazy....but trust us... If.....if it's really her.... You'll be as surprised as we were..." Another familiar voice. However, Soulen wasn't exactly sure.
Regardless, as soon as the footsteps grew louder did she open her eyes slowly.
She heard the bushes ruffle behind her as what sound like 5 people had come towards this location.
"...the fuck is that...?" Came another male voice while the sound of a gun behind adjusted.
"Wait....wait hold on...." Cassie's voice came next as gently yet cautious footsteps were heard.
"S...Soulen?"
For a few seconds, Soulen didn't respond. But eventually, she slowly turned around to face them; revealing her face. She slowly got up and faces them properly where each of them had the expression of utter shock. All except Cassie.
Soulen stared at each of them. Their names slowly resurfacing. Despite them looking older within just two years. It wasn't that hard to recognise them.
"Ca....ssie.....To...ugz.....G...Grelda.....So-han....Sha...riq...."
Hearing their names being called was another bewilderment they didn't anticipate. Cassie recovered first however; her shock turning to a sigh of relief then a small smile.
".....It.... it...has been.....to...too L...Long..." Soulen says within occasional grunts and growls before giving a small smile as her left cyan eye flowed gently
"Hah....Haha... Fuck this is crazy
.." Sohan uttered as he rubbed his forehead.
Tougz smiled gently as she gently shoulder bumped into Shariq to get his attention. Which caused him to hold the bridge of his nose in thought
".....This...This will cause a huge change in the future.... Holy shit." Tougz remarked as he stared at Soulen in both curiosity and fear
Grelda and Cassie has tears running down their cheeks. Especially Grelda who saw Soulen more like a sister than anyone else. Without thinking twice, she walked forward towards Soulen, almost running and embraced Soulen in a tight, heartfelt hug while crying gently
"Soulen didn't move for a few seconds; not reacting like she normally would. But after a few seconds more, She returned the embrace and smiled a bit more as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth of Grelda."
"...it...it is.....good t...to see you....Grr...."
"*.....I.....Am...Home....*"