Back at the base, Ella kept checking her wristwatch while staring at the door.
"He's still not back, and it's already 8 p.m.," she said worriedly to her mother. Her mother was also worried, unable to focus on anything else.
"Maybe they ran into an unexpected delay, or the road was in worse condition than expected, like we experienced on our way here," she said, praying that was the case.
They waited for another hour until Ella stood up. "I can't take this anymore. I'm going to the job office to see if they know anything."
Her mother nodded, agreeing with Ella's suggestion. "Go, just don't take too long."
Ella quickly ran over to the job office, noticing that she wasn't the only one there.
"Where is my son? They were supposed to be back hours ago!" wailed an elderly woman.
Ella quickly walked over. "Excuse , ma'am, did your son go on a scavenging expedition this morning?"
"Yes, yes. He left early this morning but still hasn't co back. I'm worried sick!" she cried.
Ella wasn't sure if they were in the sa group, but she felt her stomach sink. She ran over to the counter to find a recruiter. "Sir, please! Do you know the status of a scavenging group that left early this morning?"
The recruiter looked at Ella with a frown. He noticed that, although she was worried, she still kept it together.
"Don't spread the word, or it will cause panic. We've lost contact with one of the groups that was sent to look for dical supplies. If we don't hear back from them by tomorrow morning, then we will send out a scouting team to check," he said quietly.
"Why wait so long? What if they're in danger?" Ella said, doing her best to keep her voice lowered.
"They should be okay. Each group leader is from the guard team and has a weapon and radio on them. They're trained to radio in the mont any kind of danger appears so that we know. But we haven't heard from them at all. The higher-ups decided to give them until tomorrow morning before expending more manpower and resources to go find them," he replied.
Ella wasn't sure what to feel. On one hand, it was good to know that there was a guard with the group, but on the other hand, it wasn't impossible that they had t trouble and didn't have enough ti to radio in.
She made her way back ho to report the situation to her mother, lost in thought along the way. When she arrived back ho, her mother quickly got up to greet her.
"Ella, what did they say? Is your father okay?" she asked quickly.
Ella smiled at her mom, not wanting to worry her too much. "They said that they'll give it until tomorrow morning to see if they co back. Each team leader is from the guard team and has a weapon, they should be okay."
Her mother nodded, unconvinced. "Right, right, maybe their radio broke or ran out of battery. They're probably making their way over slowly as we speak," she said nervously.
"Mom, if he doesn't co back by sunrise tomorrow, I'm going to go look for him," Ella said resolutely.
Her mom was about to stop her but decided not to. "Very well, go ahead. Take the car and be careful. Hopefully, it doesn't co to that."
---
Rayne and Julian finally made it to the van, quietly waiting for the rest of the group to show up while keeping an eye out for dangerous animals.
A few minutes later, Kia showed up, dragging Percy behind her. "Hey, looks like we're just waiting on the other two," she said.
Rayne nodded while Julian gave her a cold glance. He was clearly still angry over the way Kia treated Rayne.
Just as Kia was about to ask if they had any luck, Kenzo ca running frantically, screaming.
"Help! Help! It's chasing !" he yelled without looking back.
Before anyone had ti to react, a large lioness ca running from the sa direction as Kenzo. Just as the lioness was about to jump him, Rayne took out a regular pistol from her system and shot.
The bullet flew right past Kenzo and straight into the lioness's skull, killing her instantly. Kenzo fell to the floor, gasping for air.
"Th-thank you!" he muttered, completely consud by fear. He had co so close to being eaten, and if it hadn't been for Rayne's tily and accurate shot, he wouldn't have lived to see another day.
Rayne quickly ran over to him, along with the rest of the team, helping him off the ground.
"Where's Tyler?" asked Kia, looking at the dead lioness on the ground.
Kenzo shook his head. "We were caught by surprise. Tyler was closer to the lion than I was, and unfortunately..." he didn't continue.
Kia nodded in understanding. "Why are there exotic animals on the loose around here?"
Rayne helped Kenzo up and handed him a water bottle she pulled out of her backpack. "We heard from a local that the earthquake caused a lot of the animals to escape from the newly constructed zoo."
"Jeez, the world really has gone to shit," muttered Kia. She looked over at Rayne, reevaluating her opinion of this 'pretty girl.'
All things considered, Rayne really did save Kenzo's life. Not only was she the first to react, but her shot was also very clean.
"Good shot," Kia said while giving Rayne an approving gaze.
Rayne still had the adrenaline coursing through her veins, so she only responded with a curt nod. This was Rayne's first ti seeing a lioness up close, and she was surprised at how large the animal really was.
Julian walked over and reached out to grab Rayne's hand. "You did incredibly well. Good job," he smiled.
Rayne was happy to hear his praise and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
"So tell about this local. Did you get any leads on the scientist?" asked Kia, while she stared at the two lovebirds.
Rayne pulled away shyly, feeling slightly embarrassed. Julian smiled at her cuteness and turned to look at Kia.
"The local lives in the apartnt building behind the supermarket. He said we can spend the night there if we want. He just asks us to follow him back to the base when we head back," explained Julian.
Kia turned to look at the apartnt building, sizing it up. "Okay, that's a good offer. Let's head over now before more dangerous animals sneak up on us."
The group followed Rayne and Julian into the supermarket on their way over to the apartnt building and noticed how stocked the shelves were.
"Wow, this is amazing!" shouted Percy as he ran over to one of the snack shelves, grabbing as many bags of chips as he could find.
The others were more reserved but did the sa, filling their bags and backpacks with different kinds of food and water.
"We should fill the van with goods before we take off tomorrow, so only grab what you can carry right now," announced Kia. This made Percy and Kenzo relax slightly, picking up only the items they could eat right away.
Rayne and Julian picked a few items as well, so they didn't seem too out of place before continuing through the supermarket.
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