After climbing over the large wall, just as Kanu had described, they were now in a forest of some sort. The trees weren’t tightly knitted together so there was plenty of space for them to run, and that’s exactly what Gary did, still carrying Ice on his back.
All of them ran, and Gary looked back, trying to use his ears to see if they were all right.
“You already said that you would come back to help them, so don’t worry too much,” Blackjack said, seeing the young boy was concerned, or young man now. “From the looks of things, that captain had some sort of plan. So they will be able to handle themselves.”
Up ahead, Gary could see the road that led to the forest, a rather large truck was parked up, partly on the road but mostly in the forest, and an old man was seen with a cigarette in hand. As soon as he saw those running toward him, he threw the cigarette on the floor and stomped on it.
“Are you the guys Kanu said were coming? Where is he?” The man shouted.
The man wasn’t anyone Gary recognized. He thought it might have been someone he knew since Kanu had stated someone had asked him to help break out of the place, but the person in front of him wasn’t giving him any clues.
“We are; Kanu isn’t here,” Gary said. “He told us to go on without him for now.”
Gary took Ice off his back, who seemed to be recovering well now that he wasn’t being electrified by the wall. Rather than getting in the back seats of the truck due to his large size, he got in the back.
Opening the door, Gary was expecting Blackjack to get in, but he hadn’t moved, and instead just shook his head when he looked at him.
“This is where we part ways,” Blackjack said. “My job was done, our deal is done, we’ve broken out of this place, so there’s no need for me to come with you anymore.”
Blackjack was ready to turn around, until he heard Gary call out for him.
“Wait, right now, I’m sure my hometown is in a lot of trouble. I’m sure there are a number of large enemies that need dealing with, that need help.”
“Blackjack, you’re strong, and I could really do with your strength in helping me out.”
Blackjack thought about it for a while. Originally, he never planned to get out this early. Gary was part of his plan, but it was for the Warden to lose her powers. He started to think if Gary never turned up, would he have been able to escape such a place.
Maybe, an opportunity would have presented itself as time went on, but never this early. A good bulk of the reason they had escaped was because of Gary and his allies in the White Rose as well, a part of Blackjack felt like he owed Gary a little bit of help.
“You have Ice that’s already willing to help you… as for me… you should know now, that both of us aren't meant to work with each other,” Blackjack answered.
“Do you think I care about that?” Gary said, knowing that Blackjack was alluding to the words he had spoken before. “My history only goes back as far as 18 years, and all I remember between us two is what happened in the prison.”
“If you help me, then in the future when it comes to it, I’ll help you as well.”
There was no time for Gary to be shy; he needed all the help he could get if he was to go up against the Phoenix Gang, and Blackjack was incredibly strong.
“Help from an Alpha, you owe me a favor, then maybe it is worth it for me after all,” Blackjack mumbled to himself with a smile as he walked forward and got in the truck.
The driver quickly got inside and continued down the path, heading quickly away from the White Rose base.
Now, all three of them were heading to the town of Slough. It had been a long time, and none of them had any devices on them, having no idea what was going on. All they could do was hope that they could get there in time.
They were even unaware of the live stream that was going on, and how the whole country, even people from other worlds, were watching what was about to happen with the Howlers now.
“Thank you,” Gary said. “Thank you for getting me out of there and now doing more.”
“Hey, you being alive will benefit me a lot, especially if I’m owed a favor from you. The others aren’t going to believe what happened to me, I’m not even sure they care since I was stuck in that place for so long,” Blackjack commented.
These allies of Blackjack’s certainly interested Gary quite a bit, but in order not to create a rift between the two of them, he had decided it was best he kept his mouth shut for the time being.
It wasn’t the main issue at hand.
“Alright, we're almost out of this city, I’m surprised that there’s no one chasing us with helicopters,” the driver said. “I was getting ready to have my mind set like I was in some action movie. I guess whatever Kanu had planned it worked out in the end.”
The man smiled.
Gary also wondered how this older man knew Kanu. He didn’t seem to be an Altered or a member of the White Rose either. Just as Gary was about to open his mouth, they had passed a sign and in an instant, a ding was heard in his head.
[You have successfully escaped from the White Rose]
[Quest reward: Grade will now be upgraded from Rook to - Queen]
[New quest received: Upgrade your Grade To King.]
[The following quest will be unlocked: There Can only Be One]
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