Rowan was looking at the sky, breathing heavily, he could smell the failure of the mission without even being there. ‘Let me see, give me that.’ Jeongin handed him the map so they could both trace an ideal route.

‘Rowan! We have to go before it’s too late,’ yelled Jeongin, coming closer than a metre away, his pupils white with rage. Turning to look at Dilka and Paulina, he jerked his head abruptly towards the ideal direction.

‘Got it! Jeongin, take him to this location,’ he added, winking and barely opening his mouth.

Off they went like galloping horses; Paulina dared to question out loud, through her sweat, ‘Why were you desperately looking for a location with cameras? Rowa… aaah, I see why now,’ as she nodded slowly.

‘Right, since we can’t keep Kim’s contact waiting, we’ll go and support her, while Rowan stays at the location to—’

‘No, wait Jeo, you’re the one who should—’

‘Oh! Yes! Yes! Yes! It’s just that, ah… it’s hard to think like this,’ Jeongin interrupted Rowan, both of them panting from running. ‘You guys bring him! I’ll take care of getting the cameras ready.’

When they had split up, Jeongin shouted at them, ‘Wait! Don’t forget your emergency masks!’ As soon as they saw him, he gestured for them to come back; upon doing so, they explained to him that they only had glasses and caps in their rucksacks.

It was then, with trembling hands, that Jeongin pulled out some face masks. One slipped from his grip, but Dilka caught it, thanking him.

‘I’m always prepared,’ he moved forward without looking back, nearly falling over completely, but he found his balance to stay upright.

Smelling of fresh fabric and medicine, with a thick layer capable of protecting them against spores, the group set off in that direction.

Meanwhile, Eun-ju kept crawling through broken glass that scattered and dug into every part of her skin, feeling cold pricks and a buzzing overhead. It was that sound that made her look up; even in the darkness, she could see several blades spinning repeatedly.

Without a second thought, she scrambled under the bus with the speed of panic. Her impulsiveness was such that she ended up slipping and hitting her head, but she was not heard over the screams of the civilians—those souls were still begging for their lives. Her blood, still dripping, offered her a taste of rust.

Her breathing was so heavy that she could notice her reflection on the ground; the fluttering of the weapons moved to her left, right, above, and behind, without stopping.

Time seemed to slow down while the tools stalked the area, tearing through every piece of metal as if ripping them off one by one. Not only was the sound loud enough to make Eun-ju hunch her shoulders, but so was the suffocating smell of burnt rubber and spilled petrol.

‘I know you’re in there…’

Immediately, the sharp weapons smashed against the ground and broken glass, making a thunderous crash like lightning, blocking her left and right exits. Every time Eun-ju crawled in a hurry to push forward, the sarpionist lifted the blades from the ground again and plunged them down at the Idol’s sides. As if that were not enough, the faces on the weapons seemed to mock her situation, laughing hysterically like children.

On top of all that, she had to deal with the suffocating heat of the bus engine above her, contrasting with the freezing cold of the blades’ metal and the glass embedded in her skin.

Inside the crowd, cornered, there was something inside that wanted to make them act, one raised their voice, ‘the singer Eun-ju is there, we have to help her!’

‘But they did and were executed! She attracts them herself!’

A group of people left the bus to call her attention, while another, shouting that he would go for the police, retreated without turning back.

‘Hold on, those weapons… you are—’

Were the last words of that person who had gone out to help her, now only four people remained outside.

‘What are you doing?! Fall back!’ Eun-ju screamed stretching her mouth as if her vocal cords were made of rubber.

Suddenly, the sarpionist raised her right hand and made a sinister smile, to then throw and pierce each of the civilians, the force so much that it pinned their bodies to the bus, sounding like a train crash. Eun-ju yelled, but as soon as she saw a head fall near her, she jumped abruptly, hitting her head, feeling the fire of the burnt engine.

The idol listened to liquids of blood floating in her surroundings and groans of people who didn't know if they were still suffering or a natural reaction of their bodies.

The steps of the sarpionist were being heard closer, until suddenly, it was heard as if someone slammed with a hammer on top of the bus, the idol could feel how each step went forward, it seemed to have forgotten her.

Now, those who were screaming were the civilians inside the bus, she couldn't see, but she knew that now she would go for them, her heart returned to her despair and her hands tensed.

‘Please! Don't touch th—’

In a matter of seconds, thunders were heard like drums of the apocalypse, screams like a pig in agony and flesh being cut, in a fast and fine way.

The eyes of Eun-ju were pale, as if her soul had abandoned her, her body and sensitivity lost control of her body and she collapsed to the ground, sobbing between her tears and petrol.

‘Enough… please… do it…’

Those moans made her remember small animals, being crushed and stabbed by a beautiful woman, cries of a baby, of creatures that even without knowing your opinions, could rip pieces of your soul, from head to toe.

Her eyes, were closing while she swallowed residues.

‘There she is… but what the fuck has happened here?’ inquired Rowan, upon seeing how a public bus was almost tipped into the bay, with all its crew dead.

‘Who could it have been? I'll make them pay!’ commented Paulina while lighting fire in her hands.

‘I only need one shot, sweetheart, show yourself,’ exclaimed Dilka while holstering her pistols.

With calm and slow steps, she approached.

‘Is it a woman?’ asked Dilka, looking at each other with Paulina.

The blades positioned themselves behind her, as if they were her guardian angels, rather than some blade bending and mocking like a cartoon.

‘Do those things have a life of their own?’ asked Dilka.

‘There are worse demons in this earth’ answered Rowan to her, without taking his eyes off the sarpionist.

Dilka shot towards the sarpionist, but her blades intervened to protect her.

Paulina threw flames of fire, but they were dodged and returned the attack to the team.

As soon as they saw the blades, Paulina stepped forward and created a wall of fire, but she didn't control it and created a small explosion.

Small flames swirled in Dilka's clothes, who besides the fright threw herself to the ground. While Rowan only shook himself, the face mask, glasses and cap on his head protected him from the impact. Besides, of not being as close as Dilka.

Paulina saw nothing, but she knew the cry of her friend, which made her feel a static of fire running through her whole body, feeling her heart jumping with force.

Upon turning around and seeing her friend writhing from her own power, she sobbed in a choked way through the face mask.

The sarpionist, only turned her head smiling her lip, as a symbol of disappointment and went straight towards the Idol.

She touched the bus as if asking permission to enter, looked down and there she was. Upon seeing her crestfallen without emotion, she felt a great disappointment, so she buried her blades again to scare her and then sent some straight to her body.

As if it were a defibrillator, Eun-ju got up and crawled at the speed of a cat, stopping beside the tyre, to avoid being impaled.

‘Bloody hell but what did you do? You didn't measure your actions!’ Rowan thought, as soon as Paulina hugged him and in a second went to treat Dilka.

He knew that as every person with power, the risk of losing control, was present. So he maintained composure and knowing that it was useless to have her as a combatant now, he approached her, touching her shoulders and looking intently, expressed, ‘why don't you take her away and come back to help me.’

‘But…’

He stood up without hearing her words and went towards the sarpionist, calmer than when she gave her presentation.

‘Bloody hell, I hope I don't cock it up like her.’ He muttered.

Rowan pulled out his spades and started to dig, he hadn't seen her, but he already knew where she was.

Listening to how the earth was shattering to pieces, he turned around and only saw the fire girl, who with her stupid action almost ended her friend, who now lay in her arms and were leaving.

Before aiming at her to throw her weapons, the sarpionist heard that the earth didn't stop making noise, and upon hearing a sinking, noticed that now the bus, didn't hold her prey.

The earth kept shaking, it felt as if it were inside an earthquake, but it was the earth that seemed to be overflowing.