Penny perked up, excitedly waving her arms sideways and yelling, "Second Brother~!"
She and her group had been searching for anyone, but unfortunately, all they saw were remnants of battles. They made a few stops to check for casualties, fearing they might be their own people. Fortunately, they weren’t.
Her smile, however, slowly disappeared as they approached Hugo. Her brows knitted, and she climbed down from the truck’s cab, then hopped off. She almost rolled over because the truck was still moving, but thankfully, she didn’t.
"Second Brother!" she called, running imdiately to where Hugo stood.
The re fact that Hugo didn’t run to her, didn’t et her halfway, told her sothing was incredibly wrong. She knew Hugo had a previous injury, but what if he’d been shot or hurt? Even the reopening of his old wound would be horrible enough.
Without even glancing at the other guys around the truck, Penny reached Hugo.
"Penny—" Hugo reached out for her shoulder.
Penny, on the other hand, just held his side and assessed his pale face. Hugo’s expression was still his usual, but he was undeniably pale.
"You’re... you’re okay?" Relief quickly dominated his face, but Penny didn’t answer that.
"Did you get shot?" she asked, gazing down. "That’s a lot of blood."
Hugo also looked down and squeezed his leg. "No, it’s just the injury, but I’m fine."
"Fine?" she repeated, her lips curving down. "Doesn’t look fine to ."
With that, Penny was about to bend down and check his leg. However, before she could, he grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"Penny," Hugo called, gripping her arm and looking her in the eye. He then tipped his head towards the truck in front of his vehicle, making Penny turn to the people she had just run past.
Penny’s brows crinkled as she studied the people until she caught sight of Mint in one of the n’s arms.
"Enemy?" she asked, her question directed at both Hugo and the group of n.
Before Hugo could answer, the man in the middle spoke aloud.
"Hopefully not," he said, raising his chin slightly, his eyes on Penny. "I see you’re using vehicles you shouldn’t."
"A certain grandma told us to pick!" Penny shrugged, though her indifference lacked any playfulness. "I assu you’re from the Shadow Order?"
The n raised their brows, eyeing the woman who had just arrived. They then cast a quick look at Hugo, who seed a bit confused.
"Penny," Hugo called quietly. "I’m still not sure about them, but they’re offering us an alliance."
"An alliance?"
"Yes," the man in the middle nodded. "An alliance. We will help you, and you will help us. We’ll give you our strength and draw out Nathalie Zorken’s attention while you help us rescue our people she has held hostage in the Mansion."
"We also offered to give him dical assistance, but since you are here, I believe that doesn’t count anymore," he added without breaking his tone.
Penny nodded in understanding before jerking her chin toward Mint. "What about her? What happened to her?"
"They said she was tranquilized—technically by them."
"We were working for Nathalie Zorken for the ti being, with her holding our people as leverage. They tranquilized her," the man explained, keeping it short and simple. "However, we may not have any intention of keeping her, but with our numbers, we thought working with people who share the sa enemy as ours raises our chances."
"Are you sure about this?" she asked before facing her second brother, pushing his shoulder as a signal for him to sit in the driver’s seat. But before she tore his pants, she pulled away and looked at the guys past the open door.
"What I’m saying is, are you sure that you’d fight Nathalie Zorken when Granny already said she’d rest everything on fate?" she clarified. "I don’t think Granny ordered any of the Shadow Order to join this fight."
The man just gazed at Penny and then glanced at his comrades. The others also exchanged quiet looks before setting their eyes on Penny. Considering the vehicles Penny was using and knowing the person currently holding the highest spot in the Order, it seed Penny had truly t the Madam.
"Currently, we are just so mbers who were held hostage," the man finally answered. "We might follow orders without question, but one of the most important rules of the Order is survival. This, tonight, is our survival and our comrades’ survival."
He paused and nodded. "Whether we get punished after tonight’s action is not your problem, but ours."
"Nathalie Zorken already wanted us dead," another one spoke. "So, there is no reason for us to hold back."
"They’re going to execute them—our family, brothers, sisters," another one said. "We follow the code, but there was nowhere in the Order that said we should be mindless."
"Once their hostages are rescued, the Shadow Order will make Nathalie Zorken pay. But even if they don’t, we will."
The n kept their eyes on the truck’s open door, only seeing Penny’s feet under it as she had begun tending to Hugo’s wound. They could only hope she listened.
Well, Penny did listen, but it didn’t matter to her.
What was important to her right now was this:
Her face darkened as soon as she ripped Hugo’s pants, only to be welcod by an ugly and larger injury on his leg. His wound hadn’t just reopened; it seed to have grown bigger. Not only that, but the surrounding area was also affected.
"Second Brother," she breathed out, looking up at Hugo. "You cannot fight in this state."
"Yes, I can," Hugo clenched his teeth and grabbed her shoulder. "Don’t worry about—ahhh!!!"
Pain quickly crawled from his wound as Penny pressed a finger into it—in it—making him twist and fall back on the seat. He couldn’t even move as the paralyzing pain felt like it had even reached the top of his skull.
anwhile, Penny pressed her hand on his other leg as it moved up while Hugo slowly and painfully fell back into the seat.
"No, you don’t," she said. "Use this leg one more second, and you’ll end up losing it."
Penny pressed her palm on his wound and leaned back, eyeing the guys who were just standing there. "Hey, you!"
"Co here and help !" she yelled before casually checking Hugo’s opened injury. "Shit."
She couldn’t tell if it was fresh or dry blood, but Hugo’s leg wasn’t just red—it looked bruised. And not just any bruise, but the kind that could make skin deep purple with so blood clots inside.
The n—from the Shadow Order—looked at each other before they eventually walked toward her. They maintained a safe distance from behind her, only to catch her wrapping a ripped fabric around Hugo’s thigh.
"Hey," she didn’t look back at them. "Do you know a place here where I can treat my brother’s leg? I an with dicines and the sort."
No answer.
Penny looked back at them and straightened her back, marching toward the guy who had been doing the talking previously. She grabbed his chest and pulled him down, unfazed by the sound of rifles clicking at her.
Keeping her eyes on the man, she hissed. "Is there a place in here where I can treat my brother?"
Penny didn’t even blink. She just stared at the n with wide eyes, a look of determination flickering in them.
"You don’t care about him just as much as I don’t care about these hostages," she remarked. "But if you want this alliance, let save my brother’s life first."
Hugo could still hear them, but the pain from Penny’s mild poke sohow just made his already aching leg throb worse — no, hell. Hence, even if he could hear his sister, he could only grunt and twist slightly so as not to aggravate his injury.
anwhile, Penny and the guy didn’t speak for a few seconds before the latter nodded.
"There is an ergency clinic in the area," he said. "However—"
"Take us there," she interjected. "We can talk about this alliance once I make sure he’s safe. We’ll use that truck—yours look like it’ll explode."
With that, Penny shouted, "Shawn! Help with my Second Brother!"
Shawn, who was waiting for her from the driver’s seat while watching this through the side mirror with a rifle ready in case things go south, quickly jumped out. He rushed to Penny, and with his big build, he easily carried Hugo in his arms.
"Ugh—"
"Sorry," Shawn breathed out, stopping as he faced the n surrounding them. "Miss Penny?"
Penny glanced at him before casting these n a look. "I’ll give you my word," she said. "Just help out. Please."
All the n stared at her without any reaction. Helping her shouldn’t be a problem, but ti was running out for them too. They needed to rush to the Mansion because there was no telling how long Nathalie would keep the hostages.
She had already ordered her n to kill them, so... what would stop her from ordering the n to shoot everyone else’s head?
"Those hostages..." Penny finally spoke again. "Don’t worry about them. They won’t die. At least, not right now."
The n arched their brows while the others furrowed theirs.
She huffed faintly before waving at Shawn to go, her eyes still on the n. "Because Nathalie wouldn’t have the ti anymore. One of my brothers is already in there."
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