Chapter 49. Chris Teach was angry. The angriest I had ever seen him. Even when he got to know of Hendry's betrayal, he was this mad. The air around got us colder, or it was just me that felt a little cold. I was never scared of Teach, not once. But today, my legs were shaking just being around him. I was angry. At first, I didn't recognize the man because his face was covered in blood and all, but after getting a better look, I was able to identify who it was and the person beside him. Chris and his sister Chloe. Everyone in the city, Arthur, the twins, Garry, I knew none of them. The first person I meet, whom I personally know, after the merge is dead. I could have saved him if I was a minute or two faster. I had never seen or known Chloe personally, I only remember seeing her on Chris' phone background. I was angry and sad but there was someone who was more so than me. "Why?!! Why couldn't you be a little closer to the boundary?! Why did not come here a little early?! We have been running for days, not even having time to eat, rest, or sleep." She started punching me, and it didn't hurt me physically but there was that mental pain that kept stabbing like a sword. Luke stepped forward but I raised my hand stopping him from coming any closer. He flinched a little but stopped after seeing me deny any help. She punched me a few times more but stopped after that, falling to the ground, and wept as she held her brother's body in silence. She fell unconscious after a few minutes but still called out to her brother, asking him to not leave her alone. 'The people who did this are going to pay.' I carried her back to my tent and let some of the healers check if her life was in danger or did she need some immediate attention. Fortunately, that was not the case, and she wasn't in any danger. She had just lost a lot of blood and the trauma made her fall unconscious. "Where is he?" That was the first thing that she said after waking up. It had been three hours since she fell unconscious, while I waited for her to wake up. "We brought Chris' body inside a tent and were waiting for you to wake. I don't know how you wished to send him off." "So it wasn't a dream," tears filled her eyes once again. But suddenly she put up her guard, and suspiciously looked at me. "How do you know my brother's name or mine? I never said his name and I heard you call mine in the forest." "I don't know if he told you about me, but we worked in the same store. We talked a couple of times and were in the same year, but didn't have a very close connection. I saw your picture on his phone, he once said that you were his only family alive and he worked hard so he could provide for you." She relaxed after hearing me say all this, "It's funny, isn't it? Chris said that you, Ray, were the only person he would trust in a situation like this. And now that we finally reached you he...." I didn't know what to say, seeing that Chris trusted me even though we knew so little about each other and I still couldn't help him, made me feel more guilty. "Come out when you're ready, I'll wait just outside the tent," I said and was making my way towards the exit when Chloe started to speak. "I am actually not related to Chris by blood, I got to know it when I was going through our parents' stuff after their death. They adopted me after the Doctor recommended not having more kids as mom had a weak body and she might not be able to handle another pregnancy. I wasn't treated any different than Chris, maybe the more loved child of the family. It happened during I was six or seven. We were going to pick up mom and Chris from the school, there was an event that they had to attend when a truck crashed into us. Dad covered me with his whole body, and that was the last thing I remember. My eyes opened in the hospital and overheard the doctor and mom talk, how he glassed had pierced all of his body and only because of him covering me that I came out without a scratch," She paused here and sniffed, trying to hold back the tears. "Mom started to once again work at her old company, to support the family. But she wasn't able to hold for long because of her weak body. A few years later, when Chris just started high school, mom's body gave up. We didn't have enough money to afford the hospitals even though we both worked part-time, but it wasn't sufficient. And mom too left us. We both only had each other to rely on now. I didn't know much about our relatives or if we even had some left. No one visited us during mom or dad's deaths except some neighbors who showed sympathy but didn't help any more than that. Chris started to work part-time jobs from then, one, two, sometimes even three. Not many places would allow me to work, as a middle school student and because of my clumsiness, I was fired not long after. He work hard enough to pay for my fees and was also saving up to clear his student loans. He never let me feel any kind of discomfort or let me be sad. He got into a good university and I was able to get into a good high school. Things were finally starting to get better when all this happened. I was a burden to him even in the tower. On the base floor, he had to protect me at every turn, and things just got worse after the path selection. Someone big from the council took a liking to me and we had to run for our lives after that. We were not allowed into any other city because they were scared of the council, we even had people chase us hoping to earn some reward. The home became our destination, being the only place to fight for every single one of its people, but it was too far away to travel to. We lived in the woods for the next few months, having to continuously be on the move to avoid people. And when we came back to Earth, the bigshot happened to be in the same area. He quickly took hold of the people and we were once again chased down. Chris said you would be different, always having an aura around you. We were attacked by monsters a lot but we could handle them, if not we would run. The problem started when some people once again started to chase us, not from the Council, but from the Syndicate this time. We were never able to hide from them in the city as they kept finding us over and over again. So we ran into the forest, but only after Chris got that wound while running away. They kept chasing us but stopped after we entered the forest. I thought we would be safe but Chris' wound kept getting worse." She kept crying, "He didn't even leave me when I said that we weren't related by blood. He just said, 'So what? Like it matters to me, you are my sister, my only family. I won't ever leave you, even if I die will keep you safe. And he did." "I know you feel like bad luck, but you are not at fault. It is everyone that pushed you into this corner that is at fault, and every single one of them will die."