Chapter 50: Boomerang

"Kora..... you are an awakened ?"

This was the most shocked Damon had ever been since his arrival in this world.

He always felt there was a different air around Kora; and he felt she somehow gave off a familiar aura he couldn’t really place.

Being instantly moved from where they were to this location was incredibly surprising to him.

"Oh.... Good thing it worked. I wasn’t sure it would. It was my first time trying it with someone else after all." Kora intoned; letting go of Damon’s hand and gently seating on the edge of the rooftop.

"Wait... you weren’t sure?."

" Yeah. We might have actually died. But my skill said I could take one... so I gambled."

"Gambling is fun."

Damon was quiet for a while. Several questions crossed his mind to ask Kora seeing her seating there calmly on the edge of the rooftop. At the end, he too joined and sat beside her on the rooftop edge; taking in the view of the carnage below.

This was his first direct experience of this apocalyptic world; yet instead of dwelling on the destruction below; he chose to focus on the sweet peaceful sensation of feeling the natural breeze on his skin, the air against his face, and the freedom of finally being out of that building.

"Thank you, Kora." He said. The both of them indulged calmly in the peace of the moment.

"Take in all in white prince.... We’ll be returning in exactly one minutes."

Damon didn’t respond to Kora and simply dwelled in the moment. But in exactly one minute.... He found himself standing right back where he was before.... Back inside the apartment, alongside Kora.

"So this is what you mean." Damon muttered as the both of them went to sit back into the sofas.

"It’s not a really useful ability. And don’t ask... because I won’t be able to do that again for a while."

Kora slowly opened up to Damon about what type of skill she had used. She explained it was called ’Boomerang’--

It allows her to instantly change positions like teleporting but she always snaps back to where she previously was.

There are two phases in total. The one second phase which is almost instantaneous back and forth. This consumes less amount of her mentality and has a short cool down time. The one minute phase consumes almost all her mentality to execute, and has a really long cool down time.

The range for the one second phase is constructed to only a few feet around her surroundings. While the range for the one minute phase was longer. It was still only a few meters from her position and her eye sight must not be obstructed.

While she can’t take anyone with her on the one second phase; she can take a single person with her at the moment on the one minute phase.

When asked why she kept it from the group that she had awakened; Kora didn’t give a response.

Seeing how she had decided to show her skill to Damon just to make him feel better, even though most times her words and actions were really rough; Damon appreciated the effort, and decided not to pry further into what reasons she might have for keeping her powers a secret.

When she was ready, she would tell the rest. For one; Damon felt a little more assured having another awakened on the team. And though she felt her ability wouldn’t be so helpful in combat; he thought otherwise.

Like so; the fourth day of the trial carried on. The number of survivors had reduced to forty two percent and on the regional chat channels, there are people now crying out in starvation.

It was one thing to find somewhere safe from the mutants and it was another to continue to survive without sustenance. For the awakeners, the survival ratio when going out to hunt can be as high as seventy out of ten; especially when they are in a team of more awakened.

But for regulars, even if they are in teams, that ratio is reduced to less than three out of ten. Nobody was willing to risk this so the cry for help or some brave ones risk it to locate private or governmental shelters.

These government shelters are already at full capacity and more people were still racing there. There was only so much that soldiers can do with limited and finite ammo.

Somewhere in the state of Newhaven, in a military base quickly constructed in a massive shelter that could contain thousands of people; secured by patrolling personnel armed to the teeth with rifles and heavy military gear—-

General Kane was inside the command center, speaking into a walkie talkie and looking very tense and anxious.

"What’s the status on white crane?" He voiced into the devise.

"We are still several clicks away from the capital, Sir. Estimates puts arrival in twenty four hundred hours." A response came from the intercom.

"Alright. We are at capacity over here now; so...." He passed as his brow crease in unease.

"You can relay to the others to stop sending survivors over. Redirect to other temporary shelters. "

"Sir, Yes Sir." The response came resolute and the call was disconnected.

General Kane had a dejected look on his face. They had quite the reserve in firearms and Ammo.... But the rise in the number of people flooding the shelter even with the amounts that end up dead on the way; they just couldn’t keep up any more. The rate of gain in origin crystals pales vastly in comparison to the mouths there is to feed.

"At some point; we will have to start to kick some people out.... Don’t you think so, private Natasha ?"

"It is inevitable sir." A young lady in military uniform responded professional from behind the general.

"Though I wonder.... What is so important about this subject white crane that ’he’ would have me deploy so much of our limited force to find ?...."

"God help us all."