Chapter 16

KAIDA'S POV...

The survivor's warning left me speechless.

It meant trouble, more trouble to our already-troubled world.

If the Fallen ones were really evolving and gaining intelligence, as the survivor said, then humanity was about to be properly doomed.

The Fallen ones were about to unite and form their own army, coming at us with all their savage strengths.

Their behaviors would become more coordinated, they would be capable of basic communication and problem-solving skills, which meant another horror to the dilapidated world.

"Impossible," Axton scoffed, putting a hand into his pants pocket.

I looked up at him, seeing the crease in his forehead as he quietly thought about the warning.

"Why do you think it's impossible? Remember, they were first humans before they became infected and became Fallen," I tried to reason.

Axton sighed, "It doesn't just make sense. The Fallen ones are not supposed to possess intelligence. Being a Fallen means becoming savage. Brainless as a zombie, just in their situation, they are faster, agile, and stronger than zombies."

He bit his lips as he kept his eyes on me. "The beast genes were supposed to dominate every single cell and gene in their body. Trust me, I know what it feels like when those genes try to dominate you, it takes away every sense of reasoning from you. It's called beast genes for a reason, beasts don't have intelligence." He slowly shrugged.

I nodded, understanding his points, but I still tried to make him see some possibilities in the evolution. "You might be right. But, what if turning into a Fallen wasn't the end of the cycle? Remember, scientists do say that we humans revolutionized from somewhere or something. Many scientists have many theories on human evolution, so maybe, humans tend to always evolutionize. Yes, the genes might have dominated them, but what if after a while, humans being highly intelligent animals, their body starts to modify those genes into something higher, therefore giving the beasts a sense of direction and purpose, which resulted in the revolutionized Fallens?" I explained quietly.

Axton was staring at me as if he was seeing me for the first time, a small smile playing on his lips.

He chuckled lightly and shook his head, "Good analysis, Kaida. But, We hope you're not right," he said and looked around the chaotic area.

"Everyone, back to the camp!" Axton ordered, and the men immediately started to march out from the training ground.

"Come on, stay close to me," Axton reminded me quietly.

Suddenly, a blaring sound of a radio speaker trying to connect to a frequency sounded all over the place, and soon, a clear broadcast blared repeatedly in an announcement.

"Attention all survivors, this message is due to a riot in Prison A1, the leader of District 11 has been granted emergency powers by the federal government. Effective immediately, the border will be sealed, cutting off all supplies, including food, weapons, medicine, and other necessities. All prisoners in the district are ordered to quell the riot and maintain order.

Adhere to the order, or face the punishment from the government."

The broadcast ended, and the radio speaker fell silent. Axton's squad exchanged worried glances. My eyes met Axton's, my expression filled with concern

I was worried; the riot was in Prison A1, and we were in Prison A3, but the lockdown included the entire Districts, which meant that we were locked down, too.

"Walk, let's go," Axton gently placed a hand on my lower back and led me away from the chaotic training ground.

As we walked away, we heard and saw a lot of chaos in the prison as prisoners started to loot and destroy everything in sight. The broadcast must have triggered this anger and chaos within the prison.

"Move faster, everyone! Get into the lounge! Axton quickly guarded me and the other team members away from the chaos and into the lounge.

As we entered, I noticed how disorganized the lounge looked. The food in the lounge had already been looted, the chairs were pushed down to the floor, some broken and others flipped upside down.

"Andre, take your group to that corner, to the storage," he paused and stared at everyone. "Zen and Ro, follow me and gather some food. Others, go! Hide yourselves in the storage rooms!" He ordered urgently.

Two guys immediately appeared beside him, "We're here, Captain," The taller one said.

"Zen, go with Ro and search around, I'll be with you in a second," He ordered.

"Yes, Captain," Zen and Ro replied and immediately hurried off in the pointed direction.

Axton was about to walk away but I was surprised to see myself quickly reaching out to hold his arm. He slowly turned to me and raised a brow, then sighed.

"You can't come with me, Kaida. Don't worry, the men are here to protect you, you're in safe hands," He gently removed my hand from his arm and nodded to someone behind me.

I looked back and saw Thane with a few men waiting to take me with them.

"Come on, Kaida, your safety first," Thane outstretched his hand to me.

I slowly nodded and walked toward him, placing my hand in his.

He exchanged a glance with Axton before he led me away into the storage room.

In the dimly lit storage room, I heard the sounds of fighting and arguing outside, making me feel tense.

Thane looked at me and noticed how tensed up I was. He moved closer to me and placed a gentle hand over my shoulder, "Don't worry, we'll be fine. District 11 actually serves as the last line of defense for the imperial City. The prisoners in the lowest-ranked District 12 are essentially used as human shields against the Fallen. So relax, they'd be defeated before they get to us," He assured me softly.

Immediately after he finished talking, there was a knock on the storage room door.

I tensed up again, but Thane leaned down and whispered close to my ear, "Relax, Kaida, it's just Axton," he chuckled and went to open the door.

However, when he was about to open the door, another voice started to shout outside the door, causing Thane to pause.

"You think you're smart Mr. Captain?! I demand to know who you're hiding inside that storage room!" The voice demanded in a hostile tone.

I squinted my eyes as the voice sounded very familiar to my ears, but my eyes soon widened in recognition. It was Hugo, the burly man with the bear gene who previously confronted Axton and demanded revenge for his brother.

I suddenly realized that this situation was more dire than it seemed.