Three giant explosions had gone off on the highway, not too far in time from each other. The explosions had swept up several of the One Gang members, who no longer had a pulse in their bodies.
A last resort from the Zodiacs to at least take down their enemy with them. It was one of the reasons why the trio was feared even by the other Zodiacs.
If they could best them in skill and strength, it didn't matter because they had the last card to play, and that last card had been played. The destructive power was frightening.
Marie's body was hurting all over, and some limbs she couldn't feel. With every breath, she felt extreme pain. When she opened her eyes, she could see next to nothing.
'What was that... Why can't I see... Are my eyes gone?' Marie thought as she started to think back to the fight and what her opponent had done. Even if she was in a dark area, Marie felt like she should have been able to see in front of her. As a Werewolf, she did have better eyesight at night.
Trying to move, she pushed on her arms. The object was heavy. She grit her teeth, bore through the pain, and continued to push until, eventually, she could feel part of the air on her face.
"ARGHH!" Marie grunted, finally pushing a large slab off her body. Finally, she could see the sky above through parts of the broken highway. She glanced at her legs, and the sight was worse than she could have imagined, so she quickly looked away.
"That explosion was worse than I thought... And the night sky is out. How long have we been like this? And what about the others?"
Eventually, Marie turned to her side, using just her arms that were still functioning. She could see the area where she had been fighting. She started to claw across the floor, pulling her weight bit by bit, until she got to the center, where the Zodiac member Lena, whom she had been fighting, was lying.
Surprisingly, her body wasn't split apart from the explosion, but the skin was a charcoal black.
'The explosion... Was it from just the outer skin and the Altered form? Is that why the body is in one piece?' Marie wondered.
Equally, though, what she was more concerned about was everyone else. Looking around again, she could see Park. His body had been flung to the edge. He was in a human-like form and had been pierced by a metal rod going through his stomach, part of the broken highway construction.
He wasn't moving at the moment, but through her hearing, she could sense a faint breath and heavy wheezing.
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'Crap... With the two of us in this condition, and no one else here, is everyone like this?' Marie started to wonder. 'Kai would have come looking for us once he was done, right? Or maybe...?'
Marie started to imagine the worst but quickly pushed the thought out of her head. However, she could feel herself growing weaker. Her vision was blurring, and the strength she had was leaving her fingertips.
'I guess because of the type of Class I am—or whatever Gary called it—I managed to survive the explosion in better condition compared to the others... But I might go soon as well.'
When Marie looked at Lena's body, along with all the thoughts in her head, it was as if her stomach was being linked to her mind, giving her an easy way out of the current situation.
"Werewolves need energy. We need meat, and Lena's, the Zodiac's body, is still intact."
Maybe Marie would have hesitated in the past. With her type of personality, she would never have done such a thing willingly. But putting aside her thoughts of disgust and her morals here and now wasn't fair to the others whose lives were also on the line.
She pulled the charcoaled body next to her. Closing her eyes, she opened her mouth and started to bite down. Due to her condition, she had to chew several times, and she was thankful for the changes her body had gone through.
Because the taste, the thoughts of disgust—it wasn't hard for Marie at all to swallow. If anything, it was easy for her. It was her own mind that had fought against doing such things.
With the first swallow, she could feel energy coursing through her body. She continued to crunch down, and before she realized it, the entire body that was once in front of her was mostly gone.
With it, the wounds on her body were healing, and the energy had returned, allowing her to stand up again. Marie wiped her mouth as she looked around and eventually found what she was looking for.
A torn-off arm. She picked it up and started to drag it across the floor, her eyes sunken. She wanted to block out the image of what she had just done and everything that was going on.
Instead, she focused on getting to the others. She reached Park and could tell she was right—he was still breathing but almost unconscious.
"Eat this first before I pull you out," Marie said as she shoved the arm into Park's mouth. She pushed his bottom jaw to help him chew and continued.
Eventually, Park's mouth and instincts kicked in. She was sure he didn't know what he was doing, but as he continued to eat, he was feeling energized. Then, Marie pulled him out, the metal rod dislodging from his body.
Marie looked at the ground while carrying Park over one shoulder. Then, she picked up something else, feeding it to him. Most of his wounds still hadn't recovered because he needed more.
Park's eyes started to open, and he was seeing what was in front of him. His mind was connecting.
"Come on... We have to go check up on the others. I don't know how long it's been, but I'm worried they might be in the same condition as you," Marie said.
*****
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