Chapter 24

KAIDA'S POV...

Axton was beside me in a matter of seconds, using his body to shield me from the prisoners' prying eyes.

"Move with me," He said to me.

But, even as Axton tried to shield me, I still felt the hot and curious gaze from the crowd.

"We're heading to that building," Thane spoke beside me, subtly pointing his finger ahead to a building.

It was a small house, and it looked like there were already a ton of people waiting in there for our arrival.

Under the gaze of the crowd, we managed to walk past them and finally reached the building.

Axton could be seen breathing out a sigh of relief as he had succeeded in leading me past those prisoners without trouble, but now, he looked worried for another reason and I knew why.

"We're about to head into the building, are you ready for that?" Thane asked beside me.

I looked into the building and saw many people inside it. My heart was starting to race but I felt Axton's thumb on my hand gently massaging the insides as if he could feel my nervousness.

"She's ready, right, Kaida?" Axton questioned gently.

I took a deep breath and sighed, "I'm ready," I replied to them.

Axton slowly released my hand and proceeded to enter the building, making sure I was following him behind.

I stepped into the small house in the central square, where about a dozen men and representatives of various squads, were seated.

As I entered the hall, I could feel all their eyes fixed on me as I walked in, if eyes were layers, my body would have been full of holes by now.

But, I never turned my face to look at any of them; I just kept facing ahead, walking behind Axton.

Avoiding the people sitting by the side was easy, but the people sitting in front were much harder; my gaze was suddenly drawn to a familiar figure and I noticed that the familiar figure was Hugo.

Hugo was sitting amongst other men; his Bear Gene made him look all buffed up, making the other men beside him look smaller.

Unlike his previous arrogant demeanor, I noticed that he now appeared somewhat awkward in my presence. He looked as if he couldn't look me in the eyes as he kept shifting in his chair and stealing glances at me.

Everywhere was unusually quiet, so out of character for the prisoners, it's never been heard of that the prisoners could coordinate themselves in such a demure manner, and I knew that I was the reason for this whole comportment.

Axton went over to a table and brought out two chairs, and then he signaled me with his hand to come and sit beside him.

I nodded and quietly walked toward him, it was better that way; I preferred to sit beside him than beside a stranger.

As I lowered myself on the chair, Axton turned to face Hugo and the other group of men.

His eyes looked so cold and condescending, "It's surprising. You all suddenly decided to learn some manners and ethics. Now, everyone is claiming to be all calmed and demure," Axton mocked coldly.

I got scared for a second, and a thought jumped into my mind, what if the prisoners got offended by Axton's mockery and started another fight from there?

My heart skipped a beat when Hugo suddenly turned to look at Axton, but, surprisingly, his words were not what I was expecting to hear.

Hugo nodded, "You can rest assured, Captain, we are no longer in for trouble, there's no need for battling, right?" He asked the man beside him.

The man nodded immediately, "It's true, we shall no longer cause problems,"

"We're all for peace," Another prisoner affirmed from behind.

Axton stared around the room for a second before he lowered himself next to me.

The meeting started, and I remained quiet, listening and taking mental notes of what they were discussing.

They discussed the future strategies in the face of the current lockdown, and someone noted that A3 Prison has a remaining population of fifty thousand, with supplies sufficient for only two weeks, while the lockdown is set for a month.

They also mentioned the threat of the Fallen Species, carefully estimating their number at one hundred thousand.

With food scarcity and the black market cut off, they mentioned that sustaining so many people would be extremely challenging.

Axton watched as the last speaker finished and suddenly spoke again, "As we've all understood the situation, it's time we make a major decision, for drastic problems call for drastic measures. Under the current circumstances, it is wise for everyone to unite and help each other rather than continue the internal conflicts," He reiterated.

Most squad representatives agreed, "Yes, I agree," Hugo responded.

"Me too," A lot more prisoners agreed with with the motion.

Although a few of the prisoners seemed reluctant, the majority of them supported the idea of unity.

It was understandable, as most of them have gotten used to the constant tug of war between them and Axton's team members, so, the idea of unity seemed a little far-fetched from them.

But, their reluctance wasn't solid; I could see from their faces that they would soon join the others in the pursuit of unity amongst the prisoners.

Hugo suddenly cleared his throat and stood from his chair, "I agree with you, Captain, and that's why I want to suggest a temporary alliance, but I insist that this alliance should be centered around the female purifier rather than you or your squad," He stated.

Axton didn't say a word; he slowly turned to Thane who gave him a little nod, silently telling him that he agreed with what Hugo was saying.

Hugo quickly stole a glance at me, hoping I would not see him, but I caught him, causing him to awkwardly fix his gaze on Axton, and then, he sternly stated. "I would also like to remind you and your squad that we are showing our goodwill to only the female Purifier, not to you or anyone else."