Far miles away from Bion City, to the western-south of Westeros, tiny drops of rain continued falling from the sky, accompanied by deafening thunder and strikes cracking through the canopies of the tall trees.
Leaves floated in the air, falling with the same speed at which the rain descended.
The dried, stony earth, now wet and filled with countless stones and sticky sand, shook as brown wheels marked with tiny lines of hardship rolled over it, pressing hard on the jagged stones.
Black silk cloth covered the top of the caravan, extending from the top of the driver's head for twenty feet, flopping at the sides as the heavy wind tore through the sky.
Lightning struck from the sky to the side and front of the driver, striking him dead before he could utter a word.
With no driver to control the van, its head trembled, breaking loose and leaving a portion of its length uncontrollable.
Inside the fifteen-cart caravan left behind, wide eyes darted around in the thick, dark texture untouched by light.
Voices of women and children crying echoed every time the base of the cart slammed into a raised rock.
Hands drummed from inside the cart as it crashed into a tree and stopped—only for half of it to hang at the end of a cliff.
…
"We have to reach there before the village falls into the hands of the creatures," Gray said, placing his hand on the window of the seat beside the driver's.
He moved his hands out through the now-open window, letting the rain fall on his clenched fists, wetting his gloves.
He closed his eyes, imagining how the operation Kai and Max were leading was going, and smiled, opening his palms to feel the rain more.
He gestured toward the man dressed in a black suit, steering the bus, to stop as they moved past a long cart suspended dangerously at the tip of the cliff and a curled tree.
"Stop the car!" Gray said, opening the door and stepping into the harsh rain.
Slowly, he walked closer, stopping an inch from the cart, and moved sideways, trying to see how long the cliff was and the length of the bus being suspended.
He slipped, nearly falling from the cliff, but managed to slow his slide on the wet ground.
Luckily, he held onto a branch of the curved tree, but unluckily, the branch he clutched was the same branch holding the cart from falling.
"Help! Help us!"
Screams echoed from inside the cart as he tried pulling himself upward, followed by drumming sounds that pushed the cart forward, adding more weight to the suspended side.
Instinctively, Gray rose from the ground, gripped the metal hinges, and tried pulling it with his own strength, which for a moment kept the cart from slipping off completely.
But as the stone he locked his leg on broke and slipped, the screams echoed again.
There, he whistled, signaling everyone in the bus to come out and help him, but he failed to pull the cart when it slipped from his hands and stopped on three weak trees at the side of the cliff.
"Throw me the rope!" Gray shouted, raising himself slightly and gesturing toward the fourteen men, all dressed in black uniforms, standing still with stunned expressions.
Within seconds, a two-by-five thick rope twisted and merged tighter, flew through the air, and landed beside Gray.
He took it, rolled it in the air forming an invisible circle, and threw it, letting it curl and tie itself around the moon-shaped cart.
He held the rope, shook it until his men began pulling.
"Pull…" he shouted, adding his left arm to the rope, pulling.
After about a minute, noticing the cart rising, he loosened his grip on the rope, rushed forward, grabbed the visible section of the cart, and began pulling it with all his might.
Footsteps echoed around him, but he ignored them and kept pulling until the cart felt lighter in his arms as his men joined him in pulling it backward.
"Thank you," a woman said, emerging from the open cart, clutching a newborn baby on her shoulder, crying.
Gray stood watching as every last person in the cart descended. He looked at them and smiled, remembering Kai as he saw the boy, who appeared to be the same age as Kai.
"Boy, what's your name?" he said, walking toward the six-year-old-looking boy.
"My… my name is Ryo," the boy said, tilting his head and scanning the faces of all the men dressed in black.
"Where is your mother?" Gray asked, but stopped the boy from answering when a roaring sound echoed from the distance ahead.
He tore his gaze to his men, alerting them of the danger, but still went and sat in the bus, still looking at the boy he had met.
A young man with thick brown eyes and black hair, darting around his shoulders, ran to Gray, placing his hands at his sides and stiffening his body.
"Sir, what should we do with them?" he asked, respectfully greeting and straightening his posture.
"Let them occupy the second bus, drive them out of this place, and take them to the City of Bion. Feed them until they want no more."
"Sir, what about…?"
"Just do what I've said. Remember to help Kai and Max take good care of the barracks," Gray said, tapping Kinji's shoulder.
Tears welled in Kinji's eyes as he stood watching the bus engine spark and begin moving at high speed.
He remained still until he saw no trace of it before calling the people and arranging them in the bus.
"Sir, come back and give us the training you promised to give some of us after we're done with Bion military training."
He sparked the bus three times before setting off, turning the steering wheel three-sixty, and stepping on the accelerator, moving at high speed.
Evaporated air spiraled around the tires wherever the bus passed, leaving the pattern of the tires behind.