The next goal

In the helicopter
Sarah, Nade, and the others were still flying. They had taken a short break because Rick was the only one who could pilot the helicopter. Due to his injury from the battle against the giant ghouls, he wasn’t in the best shape. Staying concentrated the whole time had taken its toll on him.

‘You need another break?’ Emilia asked. She was sitting next to him, while Nade and Sarah were napping in the back.

‘I’m fine, and we’ll soon arrive. Look!’ In the distance, there was a city. Luckily, it was known for its airport. They were currently flying over a forest.

In the forest
‘Everyone wake up!’ a soldier bellowed, pointing to the sky. ‘A helicopter!’
The others immediately looked up. As the soldier continued, a smile formed on his face: ‘That’s not just any helicopter! I recognize it. Someone important must be in there!’ Dae stood and walked to the edge of the forest, muttering,

‘There must be a reason why they’re flying there. Either they’re looking for shelter… or they need a plane.’ With speed too fast to follow, he turned back to the soldiers and commanded,

‘We move! I don’t know how many planes are at that airport. If they take the last one, we won’t have a way to escape!’ He jogged off without further explanation, but everyone had understood the message. They followed, staying close behind Dae, who was at the front with Rayshel.

In the hospital
‘Are you friend or foe?’ Commander Nootra asked, eyeing Seraphina—especially her eyes.

‘That depends on you.’ She turned toward Dean. To most soldiers, she might have seemed defenseless, but others—especially the commander—knew better. When some soldiers pointed their guns at Seraphina, the commander ordered them to stand down.

‘Mom, what’s happening here?’ Dean asked. (Larah: Mom?) Larah struggled to her feet and introduced herself:

‘I’m Larah, a friend of your son.’

‘Is that so?’ the mother asked, grinning. ‘My pleasure to meet you. And Dean—we must leave. I have some things to tell you.’

‘I can’t leave now,’ Dean replied. ‘I must save Hope!’

‘Hope?’ the mother repeated. Larah joined in:

‘Yes, Hope. She’s our… a child we saved. She was taken by the enemy!’

‘I see,’ the mother replied, standing and helping Dean up. ‘How can you be sure she’s alive? And do you even know where she was taken?’

‘We do!’ Sark replied, emerging from an intersection behind the group. ‘John took her to America. Why? We don’t know.’ Jessie pushed her way through until she stood before Dean.

‘Did you say John? But… but he’s dead!’ Sark shook her head.

‘He’s kind of alive. You could say… a zombie.’ Veins popped up on Jessie’s body, especially on the arm holding her axe. Then she smashed the axe into the wall next to her, cursing:

‘That fucking bitch! She did that to him! I’ll kill her! I’ll kill her! Arghhhh—’ Seraphina placed her palm on Jessie’s head, stroking it.

‘Don’t let hate consume you. Now that you’re wielding a weapon with darkborn energy, negative emotions can be amplified. And before you know it, you’ll turn into a beast. I hope you’re all aware’—her voice rose as she looked around at the soldiers—’of that! To those who managed to make a darkborn or brightborn’s power their own—interesting. But how many died in the process? Honestly, I have to marvel at how many immune ones are here. I doubt there are many left!’

‘Why?’ Commander Nootra asked.
‘Because immune ones aren’t just lucky people. You all come from families—families that once hunted darkborns and brightborns.’

‘Wait,’ the commander said, trying to digest everything. ‘You said you wanted to leave. Can that wait? Maybe you could explain to us what’s going on. And the thing with the family!’ The mother looked at Dean.

‘So—you want to go to America?’

‘Yes.’

‘Okay. I’ll come with you, and then we’ll save Hope. As a matter of fact, I had planned to visit America after checking on you.’

‘I assume for the same reasons as us,’ Nicole added. ‘Altars have appeared all over the planet, and the biggest one is in America. That altar must mean something, wouldn’t you say, Miss…’

‘Call me Seraphina. Well, it seems we have the same goal—at least for now. Then it’s time to clarify a few things.’

Somewhere
‘Where are we heading, by the way?’ Ezra asked. He glanced back over his shoulder at the ghouls. ‘And why are we taking these people with us?’

‘These people are immune ones,’ Voltra replied. ‘I was given the task of forming an alliance with the light priests.’

‘Why? By whom?’

‘By the King of the Darkborns himself. Apparently, he has a pact with the Queen of the Brightborns. I’m offering these humans as a gift to the light priests. You see, to open the gate to the darkborn world and the brightborn world, we need immune ones. But opening the darkborn gate doesn’t mean the brightborn gate will also open. Both sides require sacrifices. That’s also the reason why we fought—because, back in the day, there weren’t many immune ones. They were hard to find, and even harder to create. Now we know there are more immune ones than before.’

‘And what’s the reason for that?’

‘Well, it’s easy. Back then, the power and blood were only passed down through families. That kept the blood pure. But after we were locked away, they stopped caring. The blood spread. Sure, it’s not as pure anymore—but it’s enough to do the job. Foolish humans. With the pure blood gone humans won’t be able to stand against us anymore!’

‘Still a bit confusing. Where are these light priests gathering, then?’

‘In America. And that’s where we’re heading.’