Joe opened his eyes with much difficulty.

He was on the ground, most of the right side of his body burnt. His army was the color of charcoal, and he felt nothing from it.

Instead, it was the immense pain on his neck and face that almost made him faint again.

The big explosion earlier was powerful enough to knock down all members of the group.

The pickup truck had lost control and hit a building on the sidewalk. Its engine, however, was still on and, even though it was blowing out white smoke, it seemed like there was still some life in it.

Joe slapped Marcus on the face.

His friend was further away from the explosion, so he suffered a lot less than him.

As Marcus woke up, he saw Joe looking at him, his face in despair.

- Shit.

Marcus straightened his back and hit the reverse. The truck came out of the wall, the engine a thread away from blow.

[- H… hel… p…]

A muffled voice came from the back. Neither Joe or Marcus could hear it. Their ears wouldn’t be able to hear anymore.

However, Joe remembered a special someone on the back of the truck.

Looking behind, his eyes fell upon Jack and Elicia.

Jacks’ entire left arm, as well as most of his neck and head and some of his back, had been burnt like charcoal. His arms’ bones and cranium could be clearly seen. Elicia, on the other hand, had her head preserved due to Jacks’ arm and chest, but the left side of her body had been burned so bad one could see her ribs and some of her entrails were popping under the thin layer of muscle which remained.

They were still alive, but barely.

At that precise moment, Shabes’ last words appeared on the few intact screens around the group.

‘- At the time you all see this, I won’t be in this world anymore. I will be gone, and my consciousness will inhabit Another World forever!’

Joe forcefully made Marcus look at the words.

He understood but didn’t mind. Turning the first gear, he begun to travel on the direction of the south gate once more.

Joes’ mind went blank with rage.

Gripping and pulling, he took the steering wheel and almost made them crush again. Marcus stopped the truck and left it behind.

He wouldn’t fight a dying man over a car. Even if he was cunning and disgraceful, he wasn’t so low. There were others around!

Joe climbed on the drivers’ seat, the pain obscuring his vision.

Another explosion sent shards of glass and metal all around them.

Joe didn’t even feel when a sharp pain assaulted his ribs. None of the three on the car did.

Only Marcus, a few meters ahead, kneeled on the ground, a sharp piece of glass going through his left lung, right above his heart.

He didn’t know how bad that injury was, but it surely was pretty bad. He felt his lungs fill with blood and knew that he would suffocate long before reaching the gate.

That was a fatal wound, and the disloyal man could only run as fast as his short breath allowed him - climbing on the back of the truck, side-by-side with a burnt Jack and a dying Elicia.

Joe had been focusing his willpower to be able to drive at all. Marcus thanked god for his luck.