Chapter 2: Starting right away

A violent jolt ran through the truck, and the atmosphere instantly became strange.

Jack, the nearly two-meter-tall heavy weapons specialist, had turned bright red. The bronze complexion of his rugged face was flushing at a speed visible to the naked eye, the heat spreading all the way down his thick neck.

The culprit was the delicate little hand clamped tightly around his.

He raised his other hand, intending to pry her fingers loose, but stopped halfway there. He simply couldn’t bring himself to touch her.

Her wrist looked so slender that his fingers could probably circle it completely. He was terrified that even the slightest bit of force would hurt her.

Sweat broke out across Jack’s forehead as he stammered, "L-let go... please..."

Before he could finish, one of the truck’s heavy tires rolled straight over the mangled chest of a corpse lying in the road.

The entire vehicle lurched violently upward.

May, barely conscious and already hurting, instinctively tightened her grip to keep herself from being thrown around, and somehow managed to make the situation even worse.

Jack froze.

This was catastrophic.

"Gah—!"

He sucked in a sharp breath and instinctively recoiled. His massive frame actually shrank back a fraction, broad shoulders curling inward as his hands hovered awkwardly in the air, completely unsure of what to do.

He had never suffered such a devastating physical ambush in his entire life.

At the wheel, Alex, the team’s sixth member, swerved around piles of debris littering the road. Through the rearview mirror, he caught a full glimpse of what was happening in the back.

When May had been thrown around moments ago, large areas of pale, smooth skin had been exposed to the smoke-filled air. Her frame was exceptionally petite, her waist slender enough to fit in both hands, while the torn neckline of her dress did little to conceal her generous curves.

Her rapid breathing made her chest rise and fall, the startling contrast between her delicate appearance and the grim, bloodstained surroundings making her look even more vulnerable.

Alex’s unruly brown hair bounced as he grinned, his puppy-like eyes narrowing with obvious mischief.

"Careful, lads. This mysterious woman might be trying to trick us. Why don’t... I take this burden off your shoulders and take care of it myself?"

May’s mind immediately produced a giant question mark.

Seriously? Are we starting to flirt right away? I mean, sure... This is an adult novel, after all...

Still, she cautiously lifted her eyelids and glanced around the truck.

Her heartbeat skipped unexpectedly.

Every man in this vehicle was ridiculously good-looking. Honestly, falling into this den of handsome wolves wasn’t such a bad deal after all.

She almost wanted to sigh in relief.

Then the black barrel of a rifle suddenly pressed against her forehead.

Mitch, the team’s fifth member, was holding an assault rifle in one hand.

But the moment he got a clear look at May’s exquisite face, damp with cold sweat and bearing an almost painfully innocent beauty, his gaze accidentally lingered on the exposed skin at her chest and waist.

He immediately looked away.

The tips of his ears burned red, although his voice became even louder.

"Why waste time dealing with her anyway? Who knows what kind of monster crawled out of this hellhole. Could be one of those skin-stealing freaks. Better to put a bullet through her brain and be done with it!"

"Mitch, pull that thing away. We don’t know that yet."

Ace, the team’s third member, chuckled softly.

Tall and lean, with elegant features and warm, seductive eyes, he calmly pulled a compact scanner from his tactical belt.

Looking down at the frightened girl, he spoke with an almost reassuring smile.

"She has a heartbeat, and there’s no sign of mutation or infection. You know the team’s rules. If we encounter a living person, we save them whenever possible."

Mitch clicked his tongue impatiently and lowered the rifle.

Yet his gaze betrayed him, drifting toward May’s long, slender legs before he quickly forced himself to look away.

Ray, the team’s leader, stepped forward and dropped onto one knee against the metal floor.

He caught May’s face beneath the jaw and gently forced her face upward.

Her skin was astonishingly delicate beneath the grime. Her lips parted slightly, while moisture shimmered at the corners of her eyes.

For a fraction of a second, Ray’s breathing stopped.

His Adam’s apple moved sharply as his fingers rested against her jaw, where he could feel the faint, irregular beat of her pulse.

He had never cared much for women. But there was something different about this girl.

An unsettling mixture of innocence and natural allure seemed to stir a heat deep within him that he hadn’t expected.

"What is your name? Which shelter did you escape from?"