The entire datacenter building was overflowing with energy released from the underground array and the breaking of containment. Energy rainbows of different colors keep manifesting and dissipating in the sky. Even though the team led by Marcus and Gloria made it out of the building alive, the burns, scratches and cold spots left on their bodies remained. And at the same time, their backs were getting hotter by the minute, as if they were running away under the scorching sun. Smoke and beams of light broke through the ground around the building, making the team’s escape appear much more fortunate. The night sky was almost completely lit up by the energy shooting into the sky from the top of the building.

  “Liaowu, Liaowu, where are you?” Marcus barked at the handheld radio.

  “Somewhere south from the position I dropped you off.” Liaowu responded almost without dey, though with brief interruptions due to signal loss: “Where are you?”

  “We’re at the back parking lot, the other side of the building.” Marcus responded: “We can’t go around right now! Can you pick us up on the other end?”

  Liaowu went silent for a moment before responding: “... okay, you see the building of ‘Barcy’s Premium?’”

  Marcus looked up forward. The rge billboard was dimmed now with only a few parts functioning but still flickering: “Yes! We’re heading right there!”

  “Wait by the building. But don’t go inside! ” Liaowu sounded worried: “Don’t go into the building! Don’t go into any building! Avoid mirrors and sources of water!”

  “Noted!” Marcus barked before putting the handheld radio in his inner jacket pocket - it was bulky and barely fitted, but it worked fine so far so he’d have to make do.

  They were almost at the edge of the parking lot, there were a few cars, SUVs and even trucks here and there. But all the windows of these vehicles were bckened - by some kind of tarry substance from inside. The substance was still moving as they approached to study it, as if it was alive.

  A lone security guard booth built with concrete walls and hardened metal frames stood beside the gate of the lot. Its windows were also bckened, with the same kind of tarry substance. Even more, at least half a dozen hands were moving behind the windows, revealing their movements through the spots where the tar was thin every now and then.

  “Boom!” Just when they made it to the edge of the parking lot, the top floor of the datacenter building exploded, shooting gss shards and debris in every direction.

  “Get behind! Get behind!” Marcus took a quick look back before barking his order. He grabbed Kevin and pulled him to the spot behind the security guard booth. The rest of the team followed and squeezed themselves into the foot of the front facing wall.

  Debris rained down on the booth barely a second after they found this temporary shelter. Pieces of cement, tiles, gss and even rebar bounced off the walls and ceiling of the booth. They were pretty lucky - the booth was just tall enough to cover almost all of their body parts from the direct impact of the debris coming their way, they only had to deal with a few broken off pieces from time to time.

  The sound of concrete and stones breaking and crumbling erupted just right when the debris rain waned. Marcus decided to risk it and poked his head out from the side with his right arm pced before his forehead. The top of the datacenter building was gone, and the rest of the building was all but covered in rapidly expanding cracks.

  “Go, we’re in the clear.” Marcus turned back and said to the team.

  Mustering up the momentum again was painful for everyone on the team, especially for the civilians. Kevin’s sleeves were ragged with blood stains everywhere; Tae Kuo’s cheeks, forehead, shoulder was scratched up and bruised, and his legs were shaking; Mick’s pupils were dited and was having trouble focusing. So the three mythic martial arts practitioners had to carry them along.

  “Barcy’s Premium” appeared to be a luxury store selling high end shoes and bags, as far as Marcus could tell from the way the shelves were pced and their merchandise were presented. And the reason Liaowu warned them not to go inside the buildings became abundantly clear - as the lights fshed, the mannequins in this store began turning their heads and moving their arms as if they were alive. A few of them even walked off the spots where they were originally standing and approached the windows.

  Liaowu’s armored van pulled by the street just when the team reached the other side of the street where Barcy’s Premium was. Kelvin opened the side door and waved at them to come in: “Perfect timing!”

  “Where’s the master?” Kelvin asked after Marcus shut the door behind him.

  “He - he told us to leave.” Gloria took a deep breath: “So we did…”

  “Oh.” Kelvin was at a loss for words at this answer.

  “Alright, hang tight.” Liaowu was stunned for a very short moment, before backing the van and sped away from the direction of the datacenter.

  They were safe for now. But their work was far from over. All of them carried injuries from the fights they had, some of which were serious and some were inconveniences. They had also lost almost all the equipment and tools they had going in. Lucky for them, the first aid kit in the van was fully filled with a variety of supplies, which allowed them to patch up most of their wounds for now.

  “We need to go to a hospital.” Keryn checked Mick’s pupils and reflection before turning to Liaowu: “One of our men is injured in the head - I suspect concussion.”

  “We can’t! ” Mick grabbed Keryn’s arm: “Those people - they’re after everyone! All of us are wanted right now!”

  “We just gotta risk it.” Keryn shook her head: “Someone needs to take a look at your head, right now.”

  “No! It’s too risky!” Mick protested, not realizing blood was dripping from his nostrils: “I can’t just let you - ”

  “Shut up. We need to drop you at a hospital.” Marcus interjected: “We’ll deal with that afterwards.”