The silence inside the bus was quite deafening.
Professor Albert old and tired face was quite tense as he leaned forward, his voice raspy and hoarse as it cut through the silence.
"Who exactly are you?" His eyes narrowed into slits as he adjusted his cracked glasses, as he studied Cyrus, his eyes flashing with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity.
The survivors in the bus all turned their eyes towars the silver heard youth sitting at the front. The soldiers stood beside him silent with their weapon tightly held in their hands.
The low rumbled of engine and the explosion sounds of the hailstorm of bullets outside was the only sound echoing.
Cyrus smirked and rose from his seat, he adjusted the electromagnetic cannon slung casually over his shoulder and looked down at the old professor.
"Why do you care so much? He said with a soft smile,shaking his head he continued.
"What matters is that my organisation nor my people will hurt you or anyone here. That's all you need to know ".
But deep down in his heart he was having a different thought.
"As long as you're alive, old geezer, you're my ticket to wealth. Your mind is worth more than an army"
Professor Albert frowned and looked at Cyrus, realizing that Cyrus didn't want to talk much, his lips parted as if he wanted to ask a few more questions but he swallowed back his words and shook his head.
He had seen enough death today to trust his instincts, if this boy wants to harm them, they would already be corpses littering on the roadside by now.
Beside him, a young girl tightened her grip on Professor Albert arm, her piercing blue eyes as cold as winter ice never left Cyrus face.
She seems to be at the same age as Cyrus, short black hair with a sweet innocent qnd delicat features, but her body was something else. Her body is fully developed, simply a killer body that can drive any man crazy.
She is typically the person people usually refer to as having the face of an angel but the body of a seductive devil.
Her eyes held no fear as she looked directly at Cyrus and asked," How can we trust you. How we sure that you won't harm us?".
Professor Albert laid his wrinkled hands on her protectively and whispered gently.
"Selene…"
Cyrus's smirk deepened even more, he tilted his head,studying Selene's bright piercing blue eyes that seems to see through illusions.
"If I wanted to harm you," he said casually, " i wouldn't have gone through so much trouble to drag you out of that university. I could've simply left you there to be eaten alive or stayed safe until the military arrived ".
He leaned forward slightly, scanning the survivors huddled in fear in the bus,as his smile seems to turnd sinister.
"But I'm sure of this..by the time the military shows, there won't be enough of you left alive to fill one hand".
Silence immediately fell in the bus, everyone swallowed hard as they lowered their heads, afraid of looking directly at Cyrus.
Selene's blue eyes flickered with uncertainty but remained fixed on Cyrus for a while before she lowered her head.
"Interesting creature...." Cyrus mused to him,his thoughts drifting off as he turned his gaze away.
---
Time ticked by as in the bus it was filled with silence but outside, it was one hell of a kind, the squad was still bulldozing their way forward, crushing every zombie in their way.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot" Cyrus seems to think of something as his scanned over the survivors huddled in the bus." I'm curious which one of you killed those zombies back at the lab?".
A wave of unease washed over everyone, faces were filed with fear, eyes darting around nervously but no one dared to speak.
Cyrus casual smile slowly faded away as his eyes turned icy cold as he raised an eyebrow, his silver-white catching the flickering glow of the emergency lights above.
Then from the back of the bus, a trembling hand lifted hesitantly into the air.
"M...me.." a weak quivering voice came shaking life a leaf in the wind," it was me....sir".
Cyruz turned to the direction of the voice, his narrowed. In the third seat from the back sat a scrawny boy hunched over, his body as thin as a sti k,cracked lips and with black weathered skin, his hair was cropped short in rough crew cut.
But what truly caught Cyrus attention were the boy eyes.
They were gold in color...yes his eyes were like pure gold and beautiful like gems,filled with spirituality.
When Cyrus saw those eyes, he immediately froze in place, his eyes which were full of indifference are now filled with shock.
A memory buried deep in his heart stirred in his mind,his body shook slightly but in a split second he quickly came calmed himself down as his usual indifference expression returned.
"Well..well" he said softly leaning closer.
" You've got some guts kid. To face head on and able to kill a zombie with your bare hands...that's something else...".
He paused for a moment as his lips curled up," What do you think about becoming a soldier under my command?".
The boy blinked rapidly as his features flashed with disbelief as he pointed at himself.
"M..me?!"
"Yes, you" Cyrus nodded with a smirk.
The boy scratched his head nervously, his body trembled slightly under Cyrus's intense gaze.
For a long whlle that felt like eternity, he swallowed hard and then nodded shyly.
"O..okay…"
The rest in the bus were shocked as they exchanged glances among themselves.
Cyrus stepped closer to the boy, his eyes still locked on the boy.
"What's your name, kid?"
The boy straightened his frail body as much as he can manage, his cracked lips parted as he said his name in a low tone.
"My name… is Leothor Kael Berscar."
The words echoed in the bus,the atmosphere seems to shift.
Cyrus's smile widened, turning even creepy as his eyes blazed with excitement.
His grin was no longer just playful; it twisted into something darker.
"It seems I wasn't wrong after all.." he muttered in a chilling tone.." Not at all".