"David... David..."
After Lucy tore away every cutoff cable from the boy's back, her hands were left riddled with burns and cuts from the heat and residual current.
But none of that mattered now. Frantic, she cupped his cheeks, trying to see him clearly—only to realize her own eyes were clouded over by a heavy mist of tears.
"Don't do this..."
A sharp ache rose deep in her nose. She tried wiping her eyes dry in a rough, clumsy motion, but the tears kept returning, endlessly.
"Please..."
At last she pleaded, her words spilling out to no one in particular.
The midday sun blazed fiercely, its heat scorching. It wrapped itself around the dust in the air, which spun and danced in the light.
People always do meaningless things, like trying to wipe away tears.
But real tears can never be wiped away.
Arthur stood silently at her side, saying nothing.
Instead, he scanned David's body carefully, inch by inch.
Two gunshots had rung out moments earlier. He needed to find where the bullet had gone—somewhere outside David's body—and make sure this brat stayed alive.
"It should've been here."
Arthur muttered under his breath. In that instant, though his focus had been on his target, he had caught a glimpse of the shooter's hand with his peripheral vision.
The shot should have missed. It had to have missed.
His gaze moved again across David's body, searching in that direction.
Just a few inches away, he noticed a tiny, easily overlooked detail—a semicircular hole, no larger than a fingertip, at the edge of the stretcher.
It was nothing at first glance, but the fresh, raw metal gleamed bright under the sunlight.
"Hey... Lucy..."
A faint, weak murmur cut through the girl's sobbing.
A trembling arm slowly lifted and rested on Lucy's shoulder.
"It's been a few days, hasn't it?"
David struggled to open his eyes. His face bore no visible wounds, yet his weakness was plain to see.
Shaking, he brushed the tears from the corner of Lucy's eye with his thumb, not daring to touch the shining drops clinging to her lashes.
He could see his own hands trembling, jerking without control as if they no longer belonged to him.
But that was enough.
Thinking so, he forced a smile. His already clouded teeth were streaked with a trace of blood.
"I can't believe I get to see you again... I'm so glad.
Don't worry... I'm not going to die that easily."
"You bastard... you damn bastard..."
Lucy sobbed through a trembling smile, eyes locked on his face.
Since David hadn't taken a fatal bullet, his real injuries came from the strain of forcing his Cyberware. For now, his life wasn't in immediate danger.
Arthur might have felt something at the sight, but that was all.
Young love burned hot—they preferred to show it recklessly. Best to give the two of them some space.
With that thought, Arthur turned and walked toward the edge of the room.
The gunfire outside still crackled, but unexpectedly, it wasn't intensifying. In fact, it seemed to be dying down.
Arthur spotted Jackie scanning both ends of the corridor with caution. The short figure Rebecca had blown through the wall was nowhere to be seen.
"How's it looking over here?"
His gravelly voice carried across.
Jackie turned at Arthur's approach and answered bluntly.
"For some reason, those Arasaka bastards don't seem interested in sending reinforcements this way."
He peeked out again, spotting Rebecca, who had already charged to the far end of the corridor.
"Rebecca's broken through already. No pressure at all."
Arthur listened, puzzled.
Judging by the size of the convoy that had brought David, Arasaka should have sent a much larger force. This level of resistance made no sense.
Just as they were puzzling it over, Rebecca came running back.
She was drenched in blood now. Ever since she'd gotten her hands on that Shotgun, it seemed she preferred charging headlong into danger.
"Damn it, look at you. On the way back, you're riding in the trunk."
Arthur frowned, glaring at her.
"Filthy Arthur, I don't have time for your crap right now."
Still defiant, Rebecca cut straight to the point.
"There's another group outside—they're already fighting a bunch of Arasaka's men.
So what's our move?"
Her words explained why their own side hadn't faced much pressure.
But that only raised a new question: who exactly were the ones fighting Arasaka?
"Do you know who they are?"
Arthur asked instinctively.
"No idea! Damn it, if I knew, I'd tell you!
What the hell do we do now?
And that damn woman—what's happening with her and David?"
Hands on her hips, Rebecca tossed Iron Guts at her feet and shouted.
"The kid scraped by with his life, but... he's not out of the woods yet."
Arthur shrugged.
"He might need a Ripperdoc, but you won't find one alive in this hellhole."
Whoever was fighting Arasaka didn't matter. In the end, it was good news.
They didn't need to worry about it—just head back the way they came.
With that thought, Arthur said to Jackie:
"Go give Lucy a hand. We'll retrace our steps and leave these guys to their own fight."
But Jackie didn't move. Instead, a strange look flashed in his eyes.
Arthur noticed and frowned.
"What is it?"
"You told me... to get rid of our car, right?" Jackie said hesitantly.
"Yeah. Leaving it out here in the open would've been too obvious."
Arthur nodded slowly, watching him with curiosity.
"So what's the problem?"
"You saw it yourself... This godforsaken place is nothing but flat ground and craters." Jackie explained.
"So I dumped that junker into one of the pits..."
He scratched his head awkwardly.
"I didn't expect anyone else to show up. I figured we'd just grab one of Arasaka's cars on the way out."
The car had been bought specifically for this mission—a dirt-cheap junkyard find. Losing it wasn't much of a loss.
But now, thanks to this unexpected turn, it left the group momentarily stuck.
...