6 Where's Anna?

Hearing her mother's loud taunts and seeing her running into the forest with the monster dog clumsily chasing after her, as if it had no idea where it was stepping, Mia's heart shattered into pieces. 

Her mother was going to die. 

Mia didn't want to think like this, but the thought couldn't be pushed aside.

Mia had witnessed the entire situation from the appearance of the massive monster dog to the current perilous moment through the car window. 

Based on what she had seen, Mia didn't believe her mother stood a chance against that monster dog. 

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she couldn't afford to be loud; who knew if her voice would attract another monstrous threat?

Mia had an inkling of why her mother had acted this way, leading the monster dog into the forest. 

It was probably to ensure their escape from this place. But at what cost? At the cost of her own mother's life. 

Although Mia realised that, given the situation, there was little she could do, she still blamed herself for feeling so helpless.

Then, it struck her.

There was something she could do. 

A determined expression formed on Mia's teary face as she sharply turned to look at her father and brother in the back. 

Yes, there was something she could do. 

She could carry her family away from here to a safer place. 

With this thought in mind, Mia quickly moved to the driver's seat.

The car's engine was still running, so Mia didn't need to start it again. 

Mia closed the open driver's side door and was about to step on the gas pedal when a voice echoed from behind her.

"Mia, where's your mother?" Malachi said weakly as he sat up in the passenger seat, using his hand to massage his forehead.

"Damn this headache," David's voice followed as he mirrored his father's action of massaging his forehead. 

Both Malachi and David had mild headaches, which, while not very painful, made them feel uncomfortable.

Malachi turned to look out the window, only to see two cars speeding out of the filling station and was stunned. 

It wasn't the cars that startled him; it was the sudden unfamiliar environment.

"Where are we, Mia, and why are you in the driver's seat?" David asked Mia before his father could. 

However, as he spoke, David suddenly remembered something and quickly followed up with a question, while Malachi also had something to say.

"Where's Mom?"

"Where's Anna?"

Initially relieved that her brother and father had awakened safely without turning into zombies, Mia broke down into tears again when they asked about her mother. 

Seeing her cry, Malachi and David immediately realised that something was terribly wrong.

However, while they were concerned about Mia's emotional state and her tears, the absence of Anna became their top priority. 

Fortunately, the two didn't need to ask again, as Mia tearfully pointed in the direction where Anna had lured the monster dog into the forest. 

Malachi and David didn't exactly understand Mia's gesture, but they knew it had to be the direction where Anna was.

"Your mother is in the forest?" Malachi asked, clearly confused.

"Yes, she's being chased by a monster," Mia replied between sobs.

Hearing her words, Malachi and David were stunned. 

Contrary to Mia's expectation that they would immediately scold her for saying such things, the two didn't do that. Instead, they stared at the direction Mia had pointed to earlier with a worried expression on their faces.

Before the strange occurrences and the appearance of the cracks, Malachi and David would have probably scolded her if Mia had said something like this. But the bizarre events they had witnessed and the blue gas emitted by many humans at the time made them take Mia seriously. 

They didn't actually believe that a literal monster was chasing Anna. 

Given all the strange events that had transpired up to that point, they understood that even if it wasn't a monster, there was a good chance that something genuinely perilous had driven Anna into the forest. 

There was no reason for Mia to joke with them in such a dire situation, and she wasn't the type to play pranks like this.

Malachi knew that if it had been David saying exactly what Mia had just said, he might have given his son a small beating. However, the circumstances were different, and the situation was far from bright.

Knowing that Anna was potentially in danger, Malachi and David sprang out of the car with swift movements.

After coming down from the car, David wasted no time and sprinted in the direction Mia had indicated their mother was. Malachi, however, remained behind to instruct Mia.

"Lock all the doors and windows of the car, and don't come out. We'll be back," Malachi told her. He didn't wait for a response from Mia but immediately followed David in search of his wife.

This abrupt change of events left Mia stunned, and she couldn't react or say anything in time. But something else added to her shock. 

Why does it seem like Dad and David got so much faster?

Mia initially thought it might be her eyes playing tricks on her, but it looked as though they had covered a vast distance in just a few steps.