8. Lilia

A Few Moments Earlier on the Left Side of Prison X

“Are you okay?”

Kevin dashed towards a pale, beautiful girl he spotted crawling among the trees. After parting ways with Kiya and Somsak in Block One, he chose the path along the trees on the left side of the prison to reach the back area.

He deliberately chose that route to avoid the chaos and danger in the middle of the prison, where gunfire and shouting filled the air incessantly. However, as he navigated through the lush greenery, he came across a girl in a red uniform who appeared severely injured.

“What happened?” Kevin asked, eyeing the injured girl’s right shoulder. “Were you shot?”

The girl, with her blonde hair and gray eyes, weakly nodded. “Th—they accidentally shot me while I was trying to escape from the middle part. I had to run here because…”

Her words trailed off as tears welled up in her eyes. She winced as she touched her bleeding shoulder. Kevin acted quickly, tearing the bottom of his shirt and using it to apply pressure to her wound.

“What’s your name?” Kevin asked, gently pressing the makeshift bandage against Lilia’s shoulder to stem the bleeding.

“Lilia,” the girl replied. Her face contorted in pain from Kevin’s touch.

“Lilia, we’ve got to get you to the medical officers fast,” Kevin said gravely. “Is there a clinic or something like it around here?”

Lilia swallowed hard. “The main clinic is in Block Two, but it’s pretty chaotic over there.”

“Block Two’s in chaos?” Kevin asked, his plan to head there to find Gina and Daniel now in question. “Do you know what’s going on?”

Lilia shook her head. “But… there are smaller clinics in each block.”

“Which block is closest from here?” Kevin asked her.

“Block Four, but it’s heavily guarded and tough to get into,” Lilia replied with a breath that sounded increasingly heavy.

Kevin took a moment to gather himself. “If Block Four is tough to crack, Block Two is in chaos, and Block One is probably locked down tight, then… the only option for a clinic right now is in Block Three?”

Lilia nodded. “But Block Three is across from us, and to get there, we’d have to go through the middle. That area is really risky right now. Plus, people there might not be keen on helping someone in my condition. There’s no designated spot for injured people like me.”

Kevin felt a surge of empathy as he watched Lilia begin to cry again. Seeing the girl’s face growing even paler now, he decided to kneel down in front of her and turned to the injured girl behind him.

“Can you climb on my back, Lilia?” He asked, offering a reassuring smile. “I’ll do my best to get you there because you need help, and you need it fast.”

Lilia looked startled. “B—but…”

“The rain is on its way, and you’re losing blood fast. We need to move,” Kevin urged in a more serious tone.

Seeming hesitant at first, Lilia finally agreed to Kevin’s help, prompted by the distant rumble of thunder signaling the approaching rain.

“Do you… have a weapon?” She nervously asked as Kevin began to stand up with her on his back. “It’s risky to go through the middle without something to defend ourselves.”

“We’ll find the best and quickest way,” Kevin reassured her.

Navigating through the trees on the left side of the prison, which was actually the much safer and quieter side, they made their way towards the open area in the middle. But as they reached the edge of the tree cover, Kevin’s expression suddenly froze.

“I—I warned you, this place is dangerous,” Lilia whispered. Her voice barely audible as she saw the bodies of numerous soldiers strewn across the middle area. Among the fallen soldiers, groups of predators were busy eating the contents of their bodies.

The horrifying scene made Kevin feel queasy, and he shuddered involuntarily. His instinct told him to retreat to the safer area behind them, but upon hearing Lilia’s groans, he steeled himself and took another deep breath.

“Twenty meters,” he muttered to himself, almost as if talking to his own thoughts. “Twenty meters from here, there’s an abandoned automatic rifle.”

“What?” Lilia asked in confusion.

Ignoring her question, Kevin turned back. “Hold on tight to my shoulders, Lilia. We might have to pass close to that group over there in the middle. Stay balanced, no matter what.”

Before Lilia could ask more questions, Kevin abruptly dashed towards Block Three at breakneck speed. Seeing them daring to cross, the predators nearby sprang to their feet and gave chase.

“W—what are you doing?! Are you out of your mind?!” Lilia screamed in panic from behind Kevin. Her body tensed as they raced towards the group of predators in the middle, right in front of them, who had now spotted them.

But as the predators rose to intercept them, Kevin suddenly dropped to the grass to snatch up a discarded assault rifle. With his body pressed close to the approaching predators, Kevin’s left hand instinctively squeezed the trigger, sending bullets flying towards the group.

The sudden and drastic maneuver surely caused Lilia to lose her balance. As Kevin, a left-handed shooter, continued firing, the girl tumbled off his back and crashed onto the ground.

Lilia let out a scream of pain. Seeing her fall, Kevin’s focus wavered, and he turned towards her in alarm.

“Are you alright? I’m sorry,” Kevin asked, hastily lifting Lilia back onto his back.

“Behind you,” Lilia murmured to Kevin, her expression suddenly filled with horror. “Be—behind you…”

Kevin turned just in time to see a predator, shot by him earlier, rising up with a gaping hole in its chest. His body froze in shock as the predator leaped towards him.

But before it could reach him, someone from his side swung a wooden stick, landing a solid blow to the predator’s face. The sound of the impact echoed as a figure emerged in front of Kevin.

As the predator crumpled to the ground once more, Kevin looked at the person who had intervened, and he was astonished.

“Daniel?” Kevin mumbled, his expression one of utter surprise. “How did you…? Uh, I was looking for you and Gina.”

“You were out to rescue me and Gina, but it seems the tables have turned,” Daniel replied with a mocking hiss, his breath strained.

Before Kevin could ask more, Daniel, known as the star batter on their campus baseball team, grabbed his friend’s arm. “Come on, let’s get out of here before we become zombie snacks! Those things back there are closing in!”

As they fled, Daniel stole a glance at Lilia on Kevin’s back.

“Another blonde girl, Kev? Really, now?” Daniel asked, looking incredulous.

“She’s been shot, damn it! I’m trying to get her to Block Three for help,” Kevin snapped, struggling to juggle his gun and carry Lilia at the same time.

“Give me your gun,” Daniel said, trying to ease his friend’s burden.

Originally intending just to assist Kevin, Daniel found himself reluctantly using the gun to fend off the predators Kevin had shot earlier, who were now rising to chase them. However, being unfamiliar with such a large-caliber assault rifle, Daniel’s shots missed their mark.

“Ah, damn it!” Daniel cursed in frustration. He handed the gun back to Kevin and took Lilia onto his own back. “You’re better with guns, Kev. Let me handle the girl.”

“I shot them earlier, why aren’t they staying down?” Kevin asked in disbelief, glancing back at the advancing predators.

“I don’t know,” Daniel replied in frustration. “Back in Block Two, I smacked one of those things with a flower vase, but it only stayed down for a moment before coming after me and Gina again. That’s why we ended up here and stumbled upon you.”

“Gina’s with you? Where is she?” Kevin asked, scanning the area.

“She’s over there,” Daniel said, pointing towards Gina, Kevin’s ex-girlfriend, who stood near Block Three with a worried look.

“Hurry, get in!” Gina called out as she spotted them approaching. “This place was supposed to be sealed off, but they reopened it because some soldiers were trying to force their way in with others.”

“This isn’t our block,” Kevin told Gina once they reached her. “We belong in Block One with our other group. I only brought Lilia here because she needs urgent medical attention.”

Gina glanced briefly at Lilia on Daniel’s back, then turned a cynical look on Kevin. “Take a good look around. If we miss this chance, do you think we’re not going to end up like them?”

Kevin followed Gina’s gaze and was instantly taken aback by the sight of numerous bodies strewn about, creating a grim scene before them.

“What went down here?” he asked. His voice strained as he took in the bloodstains splattered across the walls of Block Three.

“Some people from Block Three couldn’t make it inside when things went south. Now, the ones who survived outside are trying to force their way back in,” Gina explained.

“No one helped them earlier?”

Gina stayed silent, but Daniel’s panicked shout jolted Kevin into action. “Kev, those things are closing in! We’ve got to get inside, fast!”

As the people from Block Three near the end of the queue noticed the approaching predators behind Kevin’s group, fear rippled through them, setting off a wave of panicked screams. In an instant, the situation at the door of Block Three descended into chaos once more.

The frantic crowd surged forward, pushing and shoving in a desperate bid to save themselves, overwhelming the guards at the door. In the chaos, the two guards were swept inside, unable to conduct proper checks on those entering.

Observing the chaos intensify, Gina and Daniel, with Lilia on his back, quickly joined the crowd surging towards the entrance. Meanwhile, Kevin wrestled with the decision to either follow his friends inside or keep his promise to Somsak and Kiya in Block One.

However, with the predators now breaching the terrace area of Block Three, Kevin instinctively followed inside.

“Quick, close the door!” shouted some voices around him as he entered.

Responding to the command, Kevin hurried to the door and struggled to shut it before the predators outside could breach it. He let out a breath of relief when he finally managed to seal it shut. But when he turned back, he was met with an eerie silence.

Three soldiers in the lobby of Block Three abruptly aimed their weapons at Daniel as he set Lilia’s body down on a nearby chair. Assuming the soldiers had discovered his escape from the underground cells of Block Two, Daniel instinctively raised both hands in surrender, his face drained of color.

However, upon closer observation, Daniel noticed that the soldiers’ guns and the gaze of everyone in the room were not fixed on him or Gina, but on Lilia seated behind him. A sudden sense of unease washed over him, prompting him to gently tug on Gina’s arm, silently urging her to move away from Lilia’s chair.

“Why did you bring that girl here?” A soldier’s question shattered the silence in the lobby of Block Three, freezing Daniel in his tracks.

“M—me? Are you asking me?” Daniel stammered, pretending ignorance.

Kevin, sensing Daniel’s discomfort, stepped forward. “He didn’t bring Lilia here. I did. Don’t worry, she’s just injured from a gunshot, nothing more.”

“That’s the problem, damn it! Why did you bring her in here?! SHE’S ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS PRISONERS IN BLOCK FOUR WHO ESCAPED LAST NIGHT!!!”

Hearing the hysterical shouts from the soldier, Kevin froze. He, Daniel, and Gina all turned to look at Lilia, who was bowing her head in her chair.

In the ensuing silence, Lilia’s giggle suddenly pierced the stillness. Slowly, she lifted her head, fixing Kevin with a mischievous smile.

“You… you’re the one who arrived on this island this morning, right?” Lilia asked Kevin. “That’s why you don’t know the significance of the red uniform I’m wearing… and truly believed that the highly trained soldiers here would miss their shot?”

Kevin, still stunned, glanced at Lilia’s red uniform. It was then that he noticed numerous dried bloodstains, blending with the fabric’s hue.

As the three soldiers in the lobby of Block Three began to aim their firearms at her, Lilia chuckled once more. With a slow movement, she reached for her injured shoulder, inserting her slender, pale fingers into the wound, and retrieved a bullet.

“Your name is Kevin, right?” she said, dropping the bullet from her shoulder to the floor. “I’ll tell you a secret, Kevin. This morning… I was the one who ‘welcomed’ your friends on the beach.”

After saying this, Lilia grinned widely at Kevin. Then, with lightning-fast movements, she suddenly leaped towards one of the nearest soldiers and tore his throat with her teeth until the soldier’s carotid artery was severed.

Before the other two soldiers could react and fire their weapons, Lilia hurled the fallen soldier’s body at them, knocking them both to the ground. Swift as lightning, before they could regain their footing, Lilia pounced on them, snapping their necks one by one with cold precision.

Watching Lilia’s brutal actions, the people in the lobby of Block Three erupted into hysterical screams. Nearly all of them fled, disregarding the sudden downpour outside and the predators on the block’s terrace.

Kevin himself was paralyzed, unable to move his own weapon. He was overwhelmed by shock, especially after discovering that the girl he had just rescued was responsible for the deaths of the plane crew he had been with earlier that morning.

Seeing Lilia attacking people attempting to flee the lobby of Block Three, Kevin’s blood began to boil. However, Daniel, realizing it would be challenging for Kevin to use a weapon in the chaos, swiftly grabbed his arm and urged him to run.

“Block One, right?” Daniel’s face tightened with urgency. “Forget everyone here! Let’s get there now and rescue our friends to get off this island!”