Abi gasped in shock. A man's face hovered over her like a maniac's and he was smiling triumphantly now that he found his hiding prey. Abi forgot to breathe for a while as the shock registered in her mind.

She saw his hand reaching out for her and the first thing she did was point the pepper spray towards his face and press down on it.

"Urghh!!" the man immediately roared as Abi stood up and pushed him away. The man fell backward and hit the ground with a thud.

Abi didn't know what she was doing anymore. Her survival instincts must have kicked in at that moment because she didn't even know how she could still move as fear and panic rushed inside her heart.

She climbed out of the crack of the tree but the moment her feet reached the ground, someone grabbed her hair from behind. The man tugged at her hair so hard that she stumbled backwards and a pain filled scream was torn from her lips.

Abi's brain was still working and she tried to turn, her hand ready to blast him with another round of pepper spray, but the man snatched the spray can from her hand before he shoved her hard on the ground.

Abi scrambled, her hands and knees crawling on the wet soil as she tried to crawl away, to get away from these maniacs. However, her mind started to turn hazy. She felt like she was going to pass out and then she felt something warm flowing down from her nose… oh no! Her illness…

"You little bitch, come here!" A harsh voice snarled at her and then he pulled her hair again, forcing her to get up. She cried out from the pain and tears pooled in the corner of her eyes. Blood started to pour down her face, over her eyes and she felt dizzy. Her fingers were covered in dirt mixed with blood from her struggle to crawl away. Her legs wobbled and she couldn't feel some parts of her body anymore as the man forcefully dragged her by her hair.

It was then that she heard a sickening scream, a sound obviously coming from a man who was in excruciating pain.

Abi's eyes were blurry and she was barely hanging on to her consciousness. She felt the man's grip on her hair loosen and then tighten again.

"Ahh!!" She yelped again as she closed her eyes and teardrops fell from her eyes.

And then, the man beside her cursed. He began to step backwards as if he had just encountered something more terrifying than him. She felt his hand tremble as she heard another piercing scream, followed by the sound of birds flying out of the forest, and then a few seconds later, just utter silence. It almost felt like this had turned into a horror movie where a certain unknown creature was going on rampage.

Abi forced herself to open her eyes. Was it Alex? Was Alex finally here?

Her vision was blurry and she couldn't open one of her eyes.

Then, in the next second, the man holding her suddenly let her go. Her legs seemed to have lost its strength so she immediately fell to the ground.

"F*ck! What is this?!" she heard the man curse again and this time he sounded very desperate, almost scared. She heard his steps move backwards as if he was attempting to run away but then he came back again, like a cornered prey, in a panic.

"No, no, we're just – Ahh!!" The man's scream was accompanied by the sound of bones snapping.

As Abi's blurry eyes cleared up a little, the first thing she saw was blood everywhere and then a body fell before her eyes.

Before she could register anything else, it seemed her brain couldn't take it anymore and she fainted.

…

Kai followed the trail of blood which started from the car by the road side to the forest. He passed by three more bodies before he finally spotted Alex.

A man's lifeless body had just fallen to the ground when he got there. Kai was about to approach him when his eye caught sight of a small bundle lying on the ground. Kai froze when he saw her small, lifeless body covered in blood.

His eyes immediately whipped back to Alex. The pure darkness and bloodlust in Alex's eyes were gone. What replaced it was extreme fear as he looked down at the unmoving girl on the ground.

He fell to his knees as his lips parted, his whole body trembling. His hands, which were slowly reaching out to touch her, couldn't stop shaking. This sight of Alex almost crumbling in fear like this was something Kai had never, ever seen before, not even in his strangest dreams .

"A-abigail…" Alex's voice was barely a whisper as his trembling hand was about to touch her. He was shaking so bad, like a broken man who had lost everything.

Kai immediately rushed over to them. He knelt down and put his fingers on Abi's neck, searching for a pulse and when he found it, he felt like a huge thorn was pulled out from his chest. Damn! He really didn't even know what he would have done if Abi wasn't breathing anymore!

Looking at the man who looked like his whole world just crumbled down to ashes, Kai stretched out his hand and held his shoulder to wake him up.

"Alex, we need to bring her to the hospital. Don't worry, she's still alive," Kai told him and the pitch black darkness in Alex's eyes slowly cleared up a little as he looked up at Kai.

Kai lifted Abi up. They couldn't waste any more time or Abi's life might be in danger.

However, Alex didn't move and just remained there, kneeling on the ground. Kai could tell that trouble was brewing. He couldn't let Alex go on another rampage, not when he was in that state, especially because they weren't in Country V.

"Damn it! Alex!" Kai cursed and he was forced to turn back. He knelt before the frozen man again and gently but firmly placed Abi into his arms.

"Take her to the hospital, Alex. I will deal with these bodies," he said. "C'mon, Alex, wake up! This is not the time for you to act like this! Abigail needs you right now!" he yelled at Alex for the first time in his life.

The moment Alex looked at Abi's face, his jaws clenched, he gritted his teeth and his grip on her tightened. He shut his eyes, as if to ask the heavens for strength, before he finally stood up with her in his arms.

"Take her to Zeke's hospital. I'm going to call Zeke now to wait for you." Kai told him and without a word, Alex finally headed out.