Charted Deception III

< intercomm dialogue >

> Username: Online Chatting <

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|| 'AI speaking' ||

[ Location ]

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"Where's Kaddius? It's been an hour." Ana has been pacing back and forth in their office.

Killian as usual is lax and calm.

His competition has been missing for almost two weeks, no word or hint of Hilde's location.

Not even after Kurt was able to track her phone from the Lost and Found station.

And now Reese is the one suddenly dropping from the radar.

"Call him." he casually suggests, shrugging his shoulders.

"He's not answering."

"Eventually he will."

Ana dials again and puts it on loudspeaker so Killian would hear.

"Now his phone is off." she groaned in frustration, throwing her phone at Killian.

Killian catches it and places it on the table where he rests his feet.

He doesn't know what to say to a Guisarme Captain that won't piss her off so he chose silence.

"Where did he say he'll go before he left?" she asked, finally stopping her pace.

"Looking for the runaway zombie."

"Felix?"

"Yeah him."

"Did he say where he plans to find him?"

Killian felt like he is being interrogated by the rush of questions coming his way.

He dragged his feet down and tries to sit properly before Ana points it out herself.

"He didn't say but I think he's going back to the arena." he tried to guess.

He isn't sure because he half-heartedly listened to Reese's ramblings earlier.

"Okay, call me if he shows up. I'll be back." Ana grabs her car keys from her desk and heads for the door.

"Mmhmm." Killian mumbles and finally focuses back on his computer without anyone pacing loudly behind him.

Her phone vibrated on the table as a text message went in.

Killian stared at the unknown number that sent her the text.

'She left her phone.' he thought.

"She left her phone!" he exclaimed out loud when the realization finally clicked in his brain.

He grabs the phone and runs to follow the Guisarme Captain.

Ana is already in her black Chiron fresh from the car wash.

Killian called out to her and threw the phone to her open window. Ana catches it before driving away.

"Right, it's the weekend. Cars on the roads are limited." Killian remembered.

Which means Ana can drive her baby Chiron at full speed.

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[Human Region – Zone 8, Arena Dormitories]

Ana parks her car and sees a glimpse of Felix walking with the other contestants back to the dormitory.

She smirked.

The Guisarme captain kept her gun underneath her coat and confronts him.

Felix saw her coming from his peripheral.

He is ready to sprint if he needed to but he saw that Ana walked towards them calmly with both hands in her pockets.

"Felix." she greets, relieved that he didn't run this time.

Felix's friends didn't like her presence around, remember she is with the Militia.

But he could feel that she is just as trustworthy as Reese is.

Someone who is just doing her job and means no harm.

He whispered to his friends and fellow contestants so they'd disperse and give them some privacy.

He stood confidently, crossing his arms.

"Lady." Felix addressed, forgetting he didn't know her name.

"You can call me Ana." she says.

"Right okay, Lady Ana." he fixes. "What do you want from me?"

"My colleague, Reese Kaddius, he's been here, right?" she remembered how excited he was to tell her something that he discovered.

The only news he'd be excited about when going here is finding Felix.

And probably had already squeezed information out of him.

"He's right." Felix blurts.

"Excuse me?"

"He had a theory that someone is taking zombies and framing them to assault humans in sensitive locations."

Felix summarizes for her.

"He said that I was next." he adds.

"And yet you're here and he's not."

"That's what I am trying to figure out too."

Felix pointed at the dormitory's gates.

"Bystanders told us that a man got hit by a car more than an hour ago."

"Kaddius." Ana confirms.

Felix nodded.

"I doubt that person would make a mistake snatching him instead of me. He's probably taken on purpose."

This time it is Ana who crosses her arms, studying Felix's facial expression.

She wanted to verify if he is telling her the truth or misleading her with false information.

"What made you change your mind? Why are you freely helping us now?" she questioned.

"Reese is a good human." Felix declares.

He is silent for a second, Ana does not say anything to encourage him to keep going.

"He has good intentions. The only reason my kind and I are aloof to the Militia because they are capable of violence and doing us harm."

"And your kind isn't just as violent?" she countered.

Felix scoffed.

"The lapsing of Zombie Evolution is a new mystery even to us. But we want to live a normal life just as you humans do."

Ana nods.

"I will help with what I can. I will help you look for Reese even. But know that I don't want war."

"Same here. At least we have that clarified now."

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Reese wakes up in a dark room. His back lying down on cold cement.

He could feel his body heavy and aching from the impact on his side. He groaned and winced.

Curling on his side, he tries to move his hands and aid himself to sit up.

He groped through the darkness, hoping to find someplace to lean on, but it was just empty space.

Now on his knees, he grits his teeth to hush his groaning.

There was nothing to see in that place. It was just pure darkness.

It was as if his eyes were still closed and he is still asleep trapped in a realistic escape-the-room nightmare.

He turned his head left and right, sensing if there is a 'right direction' to crawl to.

He still has other senses that can assist him.

To smell if there's food or anyone around, to try and listen to even the faintest of sounds.

Reese sensed nothing in particular and winged it, crawling to his right carefully.

He still favors his side where flesh is beaten and it is probably swelling and covered in black and purple.

He crawled like an injured dog, basically dragging one side and muffling his whines and kept his head down.

Until the crown of his head touches base with something solid.

Hope sparked again and he groped the solid object, analyzing it carefully.

'Hollowed-brick walls' he concluded.

From there he can assume he is in a dungeon.

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A/N: I revised this chapter so all of the paragraph comments have been deleted. I'm really sorry you guys.