The beautiful beast.

Chapter 16

The drastic sound of bullets flying into the air shut down the rowdy bunch for a moment before they started panicking while they all bent low on the floor.

  “Ah!" 

“Why the hell are they shooting!" 

  The whole scene escalated into chaos as the survivors yelled for their lives.

  However despite the cries of the survivors,the gunshots didn't stop. This went on for a while until….

  Clank, clank, clank!

The sound of bullet casings falling to the ground.

  Silence!

  “Hehe. Bastards!”

   Snickering, the soldiers looked at the crouching civilians with disdain.

  How dare they try to raise their voice against them!

 They were their saviours here!

 Right then the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from beyond the soldiers lining up causing the already chilling silence to go a notch more silent.

  “Boss!" 

  " Salute!” 

  Hearing the soldiers clamoring,Ethan couldn't help but raise his head up a little and he wasn't the only one.

   “Huh?" 

A man wearing a black windbreaker could be seen advancing with steady,measured steps. There was this aura of oppression and power oozing from his body that made one involuntarily feel inferior.

A jagged scar cut diagonally across his face,a cruel mark that only added to his already menacing aura.

Panning his sharp eyes across the crowd he looked like a predator surveying its prey.

And Ethan,despite never really fearing anything wasn't able to stop the chill crawling down his spine.

For a fleeting moment, his gaze locked onto Ethan's before Ethan looked away while clenching his fists. 

This guy…

  “Ill take it up from here." 

  " Yes sir!”

 With a quick reply, Colonel Glenn hurriedly moved back leaving the space in front of the trucks empty. 

  “Who the hell is that?”

" Heck! Look at the reverence in Colonel Glenn's face. I wonder who that man is.”

  This caused the survivors to wonder who the man was such that he was able to make colonel Glenn act so deferentially.

Naturally the man was none other than George Sanders. 

After their last battle, George and his men had traced heavy monster activity to this location. Upon arriving, he discovered something even more valuable—people.

A whole community of survivors, ripe for the taking.

Wasn't that what he was looking for? He sole ambition was to become a ruler of people and to do that he needed subjects,at least he couldn't be a king without a kingdom!

To get these people,they needed a plan and what better way to secure their trust than the classic guise of military rescue?

Of course, setting up the broadcast had been a pain. Most of his men were clueless when it came to handling radio equipment, and the local station had long since become a dead zone. It had taken hours of trial and error before they managed to send a transmission.

 But now, as he stood before the frightened survivors, George knew it had all been worth it.

Because this was power.

This was control.

Yet, something about this place unsettled him.

Ever since he entered the complex, a strange, creeping sensation had taken root in his gut—an instinctual feeling of danger.

  And as an awakened,his instincts had become terrifying to a very high degree. If he felt something dangerous,then he was sure as hell that there was something dangerous there then.

And when they drove in, he had finally traced the source of that unease.

It wasn’t a monster.

It wasn’t an armed survivor.

It was a boy.

George’s gaze flickered toward Ethan once more, his earlier suspicions solidifying.

“It’s him.”

This kid, this insignificant-looking teenager, was the reason his instincts had been screaming at him.

And that meant only one thing—he was dangerous. And if he felt that someone was dangerous to him personally then it meant that they were going to affect his ambition to rule.

  That couldn't be tolerated!

Which was why George had decided to step in personally.

   And he was right as the instant he got here he had his thoughts confirmed!

  Ethan on the other hand was also having his own thoughts. 

  “I knew it,there was something fishy about these so called soldiers!" 

   Clenching his fists,he felt that this could have been avoided. However,there was no buts when things had already reached this level.

  “Please calm down and stop your rowdiness." 

  With a magnetic voice,George said causing the noisy crowd to soon go quiet.

  Satisfied with the quietness,he continued.

  " I know that the demonstration by my soldiers must have caused you to doubt the authenticity of our identity as soldiers…..” 

Pausing with a wide grin,George panned his eyes at the onlooking survivors.

“.....you're correct!”

  Noisy, noisy, noisy!

 Instantly,everyone started to talk among each other all at once causing the previous silence to suddenly seem valuable. 

   “However,I can assure you that there is no difference between us and the military you so much believe in….in fact we are better than them!”

  “What!" 

" That's impossible!" 

" How can a ragtag group be better than the military?!" 

  " No, no, no…I can't believe this."

  The survivors couldn't believe what they saw. Naturally it was understandable considering how smooth they solo-ed the monsters.

  Seeing the looks of disbelief on everyone's faces a smile etched itself into George's face.

  To the ordinary folks it was indeed impossible but for him….

 He was no more a mere mortal!p

  Waving his hand,he brought back the attention of the crowd back on him.

  “I can see the disbelief on your faces. Am a man of action and to show you that let me give you a small demonstration.”

  Without waiting for their reply,George raised his right fist above his head before clenching it. At first,everyone thought that he wanted to say something blood boiling and motivating but what happened next was totally beyond their expectations.

   WHOOSH!

  A pillar of flames probably over a meter tall and as wide as a bucket burst forth from his clenched fist causing all the onlookers to gawk in shock.

  Even Ethan who always had a poker face couldn't help but show a shocked expression.

  Nice!

   Withdrawing the flames,George looked at the surprised faces before him while feeling smug.

  “What you just saw is a sign,a power that only a select few can wield. I am one of those select few!”

  " Neither,monsters nor humans can defy me. The current world is no longer in the hands of the government or the military to rule—no it's in the hands of people like me.”

He said the last sentence with so much force that a trace of obsession could be noticed if one looked closely. 

   “So what do you say?”

“Will you come to my side or you'll become monster chow while waiting for the ‘military’ to save you?" 

  Watching the faces of everyone as they hesitated on what choice they should make,he felt no fear. He wasn't afraid at all they would make as it was plain simple as long as you weren't a crazy.

  “I'm in." 

 “Me too!" 

  “It's not like the military are even doing anything for us!"

  " Yeah!”

    Soon nearly everyone had quickly spoken up as if they were afraid they might not be considered of they spoke later.

  Well all except one person—Ethan. Well four if you considered Old Edward and the two kids.

   George also noticed this as he turned towards their direction with an evil smile while he raised a single finger.

   “But first of all, let's get rid of the monster amongst you.”