Chapter 19

KAID'S POV...

Awkward.

That was how I was feeling at that moment.

As I stood amid the virus-infected prisoners, I felt like a specimen in a lab.

The moment Hugo declared that I was a female purifier, I felt all eyes on me, scrutinizing eyes.

And what made me more uncomfortable was the fact that even Axton and Thane were both looking at me in astonishment.

Axton stared at me in disbelief and curiosity, while Thane stared at me observantly, looking as if he was cracking his brain to find the answers to my unasked questions.

I was stumped, I didn't understand anything; it was safe to say that I was even more shocked than they were.

I did not understand a single thing Hugo had said.

What did he mean when he called me a "Purifier?" I did not purify anything or anyone; I didn't even know how to purify anyone, that is if that is even a thing.

I had just merely calmed Zarek down in a soft tone. Perhaps it was my soft tone that surprised them?

As they hadn't seen a woman in decades, it was possible they might be surprised by my soft voice. That was the only reasonable thing I could come up with in my head, nothing else seemed believable to me.

At this point, Axton was the first to snap out of his daze and discover how everyone was staring at me; he stepped in front of me and blocked the prisoners from looking at me.

"Everyone, drop your weapons," He ordered the prisoners.

Thane stepped forward to me, too; he raised his hands to my head gently smoothed my hair back, and proceeded to fix my headscarf for me.

"Thank you," I murmured.

He slowly nodded, managing to smile at me.

"I repeat, drop your weapons, everyone," Axton ordered again, but this time, louder than before.

The prisoners suddenly began to murmur among themselves but none of them moved to heed to Axton's orders.

"Is she real? A female purifier?" One asked in a hushed voice.

"You've seen it yourself, she is real!" The other prisoner whisper-yelled in response to the question.

"Unbelievable..." Some other prisoner said from the corner.

I raised my head and stared around, the place was chaos, and the prisoners did not look as if they were prepared to listen to anyone at that moment.

I looked down, staring at Zarek who had fallen unconscious after turning back to his human form.

A strong feeling of helplessness seized me. I felt as if my head was about to burst with the the whole situation, the constant murmuring from the stubborn prisoners, the scrutinizing stares from everyone, Zarek's condition which was still unknown, and to top it all, the condition of the world we were living in, it was the cause of our problems in the first place.

The murmurs went on, and my head was almost at the edge of bursting, and I could not bear it any longer; then, I did the only thing that came to my mind.

"Put your weapons down!!!" I yelled.

I yelled so loudly as I told them to drop their weapons, that was the only solution that came to my head, but after shouting, I realized that I might just have asked for some trouble, some serious trouble.

But, to my surprise, the whole place went quiet as the prisoners fell silent immediately at my command.

I was still in disbelief when I decided to raise my face and look at them again, but what I saw made me question everything from the beginning again.

As I looked at the prisoners, they were all quiet, and in their faces, they wore expressions of shock and reverence. I thought it ended there, but quietly, they lowered their heads and dropped their weapons noiselessly beside them.

I was utterly dumbfounded.

Could what I was imagining be real? Were these Virus-infected prisoners really listening and obeying my words?

I decided to try it out again, just to confirm my thoughts.

"Everyone, retreat to the doorway," I ordered again.

Again, to my utmost surprise, the prisoners complied and started to quietly retreat to the doorway, but they did not leave as they got there; they stood, watching me intently, curiously.

My eyes caught sight of Hugo as he stood at the center of the prisoners, he was looking at me, and his face was filled with regret.

He stepped forward, just a step and nothing farther than that, his head lowered as he said. "I am deeply sorry for the trouble we have caused. I promise I was not aware that there was a noble purifier present in our midst, I shouldn't have led these prisoners to offend you. Please, Noble purifier, pardon our mistakes." He loudly apologized to me.

I was still trying to find how I was going to reply in such an awkward situation when some other prisoners spoke up too, also expressing their reverence and guilt.

"We're sorry, Noble Purifier. We have wronged you!" Someone shouted from the crowd.

"Our mistake is unpardonable, but do pardon us, great and noble purifier," Someone else said from beside Hugo.

Axton walked toward me, ignoring what the prisoners were saying, and stood in front of me. He placed his hand beneath my chin and searched my face. "Are you hurt anywhere?" He asked directly, his green eyes unblinking as he stared at me.

I felt my cheek warm up by the way he was looking at me, but I managed to answer him. "No. I'm not hurt, I'm fine," I replied.

Axton nodded curtly then slowly released my face. After ensuring that I was unharmed, He asked a few of his team members to gather our stuff and prepare to leave the scene.

Then, he went over to Thane. "Lead them out of here, I'll carry Zarek along," he said to Thane.

"You sure you don't need help?" Thane questioned.

Axton shook his head and walked toward Zarek as if to prove to Thane that he could do it; he lifted Zarek off the floor and placed him on his shoulder.

"Let's go," He said to Thane.

Thane nodded with a smile and then turned to me. "Let's go, Kaida," he held my wrist and led me to follow Axton behind.

We reached the doorway and Axton spoke to the prisoners in his commanding voice. "Step out of the way," he commanded.

But the prisoners refused, wanting to start another fight.

"Enough, everyone! Enough fighting! Can't you all see we have wounded people to attend to? Look around you; go tend to yourselves too; enough with the fighting," I spoke with authority in my tone.

"Yes, Noble purifier," Hugo replied and stepped out of the way; the prisoners followed suit, clearing the way for us to pass.

Their heads bowed in great respect as I walked through.

I felt deeply shaken, I didn't know what to make of all this. What could all this mean?