Standing in front of the third building, the first to take a step forward and go inside was Tāo, followed by yumiel and Jack.
They quickly noticed that the ground floor reeked. Climbing upstairs, they understood why. If the previous building had been a cemetery for wolves, this one was a cemetery for humans.
Some people were still alive, struggling weakly. Going up another floor, they discovered a makeshift hospital, the wounded there being in much better condition than those below.
A woman tending to the injured aimed her weapon in their direction, trembling slightly but no more than that. They didn't hold it against her, moving toward her and the wounded.
The closer they got, the more the woman backed away, until she finally spoke in fairly solid English.
« These are only wounded people, please leave them, they can't fight anymore! »
« Hummmmm, let me see… No, not feeling it. »
Sending her daggers forward, the woman pointed her pistol at her own head. « TAKE ME! »
That kind of little game amused yumiel greatly; Jack also had a small smile.
« I've never seen someone say "Take me" while pointing a gun at their own head. »
The woman looked at her pistol, then threw it to the ground.
« No… uh, I mean, kill me instead of them. »
« And why? »
The woman searched for her words, getting lost in stammering. That amused yumiel a lot.
« What if you told us what you know? You must know more than these simple soldiers, right? »
« Yes, yes, of course, obviously. »
« Very well then… »
Suddenly Tāo interrupted her.
« Not… Kill? »
Turning to face him, she said: « No, not kill! At least not yet. »
Tāo began to growl and swell, drooling with rage.
« NOT…KILL! »
yumiel understood his disagreement; he wanted to kill them. But that wasn't her objective right now. She simply ignored him, until he lunged at a wounded man, slaughtering him, then moving on to the next.
Jack rarely hesitated, yet this time he did, not wanting to create future conflict. In the end, it was yumiel who stopped him, sending her ten daggers—one piercing his shoulder, immobilizing him, then another through the second shoulder, pinning him to the wall—before approaching him.
« YOU FILTHY FUCKING MUTT! YOU THINK YOU'RE MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICES? YOU THINK SURVIVING IS EASY? THEN GO ON, GET OUT OF HERE, AND DON'T COME BACK. »
Even if he didn't understand everything, he grasped the essence of what she was trying to convey. But his instinct told him to fight back, not to let himself be dominated.
It was in a bestial rage that he tore himself from the wall and tried to attack yumiel despite both shoulders being pierced. She loved it—such a survival instinct was simply magnificent. She knew that even with his back to the wall, Tāo would never back down.
Too injured to really attack, it was Jack who intervened, gently placing his hand on Tāo's shoulder, making him lower his arm. He finally detransformed, becoming human again.
« Maybe Alpha didn't lie when he said "reliable." »
The holes in Tāo's shoulders were severe. But with rest, it would get better. Jack helped him sit in a corner, speaking calmly to him.
« 我知道这听起来可能很奇怪,但他是个好人...尽管他是个怪物. »
« 我们不会这么说... »
yumiel went back to questioning the woman, who had been waiting.
« Ah, kids… it's always complicated. Where were we? »
« I pity your future children. »
« Excuse me? »
Suddenly the woman caught herself, thinking out loud.
« Ahahah, no, I wasn't talking about you… it's just, let's say, a misunderstanding, I thought maybe you and… »
She sighed, waving her hand.
« It's fine, it's fine. Let's get to the point. Do you know why this place was chosen as a makeshift hospital, or what the seraphins' powers are? Also, if you know where someone named Alan is—though I highly doubt it—and of course any other information that comes to mind. »
The woman analyzed everything yumiel said while moving her fingers, as if counting, then repeating it in her head. She moved her fingers again, then started speaking more slowly.
« Uh, so you asked me… the hospital, yes. Actually, it was set up here because the main battlefield moved—or more precisely, there are two now. The first is close to here, and the second a bit farther away. But if you want my opinion, I think the two will merge. »
She counted again on her fingers before continuing. yumiel could feel this was going to take a while and rubbed her forehead.
« Ah, yes, the seraphins' powers. No one knows about them, not even the seraphins themselves. However, I know that each one commands a squad, except for some. But if you want my opinion… »
« I don't give a shit about your opinion, spit it out! »
« Yes, sorry. »
Counting on her fingers, head tilted up, trying to remember what yumiel had asked.
« So, your friend Alan. No, I haven't seen him, nor known him. Then… it was, uh, whether I knew other information. I think I remember a useful place. (She thinks for a moment.) Oh no, sorry, that place was destroyed. Another piece of information… »
She pressed her frontal lobe harder and harder.
« Alright, why are you here? »
« You mean here? »
« No, on the moon—yes, here! »
This time she answered faster, speaking a bit more quickly.
« My lifelong dream is to be a war doctor recognized worldwide. The problem was my grades at school, but luckily I still managed to enter the military academy. There, I worked twice as hard, learning English and other foreign languages. Yet despite my efforts, they never agreed to send me on a mission. »
Jack, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed, laughed. « Surprising. »
« And… »
« No need to tell the rest, we can guess. We're leaving now. Good luck keeping your patients alive—if only alive. »
Gathering Jack and Tāo, she noticed his wounds hadn't healed—at all. It was clear he didn't have a regeneration factor like yumiel, or, let's say… like Jack.
« With those injuries, we won't get far. »
She thought for a moment, then picked him up and carried him elsewhere. Setting him down, she stood behind him near one of his injured shoulders. Jack looked at her, wondering what she was about to do. She answered naturally.
« I'm going to try to heal him. Just warning you, Jack, I need concentration. Okay? Concentration—it's dangerous. Well, I think. »