Chapter 36: Before the Train Leaves

Upon returning to Selma and Mary’s tent, they sat around the table inside, and Craig began recounting his life inside the simulation, making Clyde, who listened to Craig’s story, gasp in shock because, if placed in his own shoes, Craig was just like his friend, Tyler, who shared the exact same backstory as Craig since he had also lost his parents, had a childhood friend named Kate, who in Craig’s case was named Lyra and was friends with him as well as Monica at school, who in Craig’s case were Nate and Dana.

Both of Clyde’s hands clenched into fists, and this time he truly felt that his life was nothing more than a script written by someone else, and not just his, everyone’s, including Casca’s and Corie’s. Mary, noticing the change in Clyde’s expression, placed her hand on the table and gently held Clyde’s hand, causing Clyde to look up at Mary in front of him,

"Are you alright, Clyde?" Mary asked.

"I’m fine, Sis, I’m alright," Clyde answered in a faint voice.

Selma then explained everything to Craig to help him understand, and Clyde could see Craig looking down as well, his sharp eyes fixed on the table and his jaw tightening, feeling the exact same way Craig did and not just Craig, as Casca and Corie wore the same furious expression. After Selma finished explaining everything, Clyde turned to look at Selma,

"Sister, I want to ask, where is that train heading?" Clyde asked.

Before answering, Selma lit her cigarette first and blew a plume of smoke upward, before looking back at Clyde,

"Safe Haven... a small, hidden city that even Neo Ark knows nothing about, on the surface... there’s a farm there, and we’ve been gradually freeing all the humans trapped inside," Selma answered.

"Near that city... there’s a farm?" Casca asked.

"Yeah... and five days ago, the military went there, you’ve seen the footage, right?" Selma asked, pointing to the tablet on the table.

"Blam," Craig suddenly stood up and slammed his fist onto the table, making everyone instantly turn to look at him,

"That means... Lyra, Nate, and Dana are inside there, and then the military caused that horrific apocalypse in the simulation... aaargh... can I destroy this city?" Craig asked directly, glaring at Selma with his red eyes and a clenched jaw.

The atmosphere inside the tent suddenly fell dead silent, with Selma looking relaxed as she folded her arms across her chest while smoking, whereas Mary looked down at the table in front of her.

"Don’t be reckless, Craig, we have a goal, we have to head south, remember," Clyde said.

"But Brother... my friends are in there... that apocalypse was truly horrifying, they and I were watching the launch of an AI system named Pandora on television and... everything happened so fast when the broadcast cut out after blowing up from Pandora’s attack... I saw Lyra, Nate, and Dana get transformed and suffer right in front of my eyes," Craig shouted angrily.

Clyde fell silent, having also felt how terrifying and revolting it was to see that in the footage Selma showed them, let alone Craig experiencing it right before his eyes, so he could certainly feel how deeply shaken Craig was by all of it. Casca and Corie seemed to feel it as well, their faces displaying the same enraged expression as Craig. But suddenly, a large holographic screen appeared in front of the four of them.

The eyes of Clyde, Casca, Craig, and Corie widened as they saw the figure of Celes in the footage roaming the city, slaughtering countless machine zombies while searching for the address where Craig lived, even stopping by the school Craig attended to kill all the machine zombies there. Craig, watching Celes in her combat mode enter his basement to kill Lyra, Nate, and Dana before transforming back to face him, sat straight back down in his chair.

Even Celes’s last words were repeated, showing how her body dissolved into particles of purple light that drifted up into the sky. After that, "bzzzz," static appeared on screen, revealing a girl suspended with both hands raised as if bound inside two tubes, her white hair falling forward over her bowed head while the blurry background looked like a cockpit or the front section of a giant robot. The holographic screen vanished, leaving Clyde, Casca, Corie, and Craig frozen in their seats,

"That last part... Sister... Celes... she’s... where is she bound? By whom?" Corie muttered.

"Sister Celes... she... entered the simulation and saved as many people as she could inside... she was... captured and looks just like... Corie back then," Casca murmured, seeing Celes’s condition identical to Corie’s when she was found inside the GEAR.

"Do you understand now, Craig? There is a far more important mission, we have to save Celes," Clyde said, turning to look at Craig with both hands clenched into fists.

"Yeah... I do, Brother, I understand now," Craig replied softly.

"What are you guys talking about?" Selma asked.

The four of them looked forward, only now realizing that Selma and Mary were staring at them in total confusion.

"Sorry, Sis, we were talking to ourselves... they and I intend to go south, we want to find one more of our siblings, and she is in the south," Clyde answered.

"Hmm... I see... what do you think, Mary? Do you want to go with them to Safe Haven?" Selma asked.

"Huh," Clyde, Casca, Corie, and Craig turned to look at Mary, who was now folding her arms across her chest and staring down at the table. Then, "sigh," Mary let out a sigh and brushed her hair back. After that, she looked at Selma, then stared at Clyde, Casca, Corie, and Craig in front of her,

"Before anything else, let me tell you, I do intend to go to Safe Haven and settle down there, I will join the rebel forces there to help liberate the people from the nearby farm, but don’t worry, that farm has been abandoned and there’s no way the giants will notice it, it’s safe, so I’ll travel with you to the east, to Safe Haven," Mary said.

"Um... but aren’t we supposed to go south?" Corie asked.

"Clyde, do you remember Commander Ryker’s plan to wait for us in the south to escape, but we ended up coming here instead?" Mary asked.

"Yeah, I remember," Clyde answered.

"In the south lies a city... perhaps not as large as Neo Ark, which is humanity’s sole remaining city, but the city in the south is a place where humans live side-by-side with demi-humans, not giants... the city’s name is Utopia, and that was actually our destination from the very beginning," Mary explained in reply.

"Oh... so that’s how it is, but why do we have to head east first... to Safe Haven?" Clyde asked.

"Because there’s a railway line running from Safe Haven straight to Utopia, looping far around Neo Ark," Mary answered.

Hearing that, the expressions of Clyde, Casca, Corie, and Craig shifted, turning to look at one another before looking back at Mary with bright faces, their eyes narrowing with resolve.

"Alright then, Sis, we agree, we’ll go together, but what about you, Sis Selma?" Clyde asked on behalf of his younger siblings.

"Huh... I’m staying here, if I leave, there’ll be no one left to look out this city, so don’t worry about me," Selma answered casually with a wave of her hand.

"Alright, in that case, let’s pack our things now, we leave by train tomorrow morning," Mary said, standing up.

"Alright, Sis," Clyde replied.

"Thank you, Sister Mary... even though we just met... I really want to ask for your help to save Lyra, Nate, and Dana who are still trapped at the farm, I’m truly grateful to you, Sis," Craig said, bowing his head.

"Leave it to me, I’ll take good care of your friends," Mary said, stepping forward to pat Craig’s head.

Suddenly, the tent flap burst open, and a soldier rushed inside, his face pale and his breathing ragged, seeing which Selma immediately stood up and approached the soldier, who looked as if he had just witnessed a terrifying horror movie,

"Emergency, boss, emergency!" the soldier stammered, out of breath.

"Hey... calm down, tell me slowly," Selma said, patting the soldier’s back. "What happened, tell me," she added.

"Giants... a Tier 2 Nephilim Giant, 22 feet tall, dressed in gladiator armor and carrying a machine gun, is attacking the north tunnel... there are five of them... the city is in critical danger, right now the military forces are holding them off and a gunfight is breaking out over there," the soldier said.

Hearing that, Clyde, Casca, Corie, and Craig stood up, while Mary immediately approached Selma to speak. Clyde turned to look at Casca, Corie, and Craig, who also turned to look at him,

"So... how about before we leave, we have a little fun?" Clyde asked with a cynical smile.

"Ha... that’s exactly what I was looking for, I need to let go off some steam," Craig answered, slamming his fist into his palm.

"Finally... a chance for me to test my abilities and strength," Corie added, equally cheerful.

"Let’s go, Brother, what are we waiting for?" Casca added with a smile.

"Alright, let’s head out," Clyde said.

Without delay, the four walked toward the exit, passing Selma, Mary, and the soldier who were talking, prompting Selma to immediately call out to them,

"Hey... where do you think you’re going?" Selma asked.

"The north tunnel," all four answered in unison without turning back as they walked out.