Chasing You (Arcs 1-7)

Catastrophe (XX)

Allen's eyebrows lifted up in surprise, "Ms. Esters? What are you doing here?"

Mina's eyes reddened as if she was getting bullied. She bit the bottom of her lip, "I-I know that you don't want me to be here. I'm truly sorry for doing that to you. I'm sorry."

A lot of the bystanders felt even more piteous towards Mina. They want to comfort her, she seemed scared of him. Her meek voice scratched at their hearts. Allen just stared at her with a frown on his face. Mina lowered her head in a sycophantic way. Her voice cracked, "Allen, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please.... I don't want to live that way anymore..."

Noel pulled Allen behind him, he stood in front of Mina and narrowed his eyes, "You dare to come back?"

Mina shivered, she took a couple of steps back. Tears were threatening to fall down her face, "I-I...."

Mina's voice trembled, "I-I.... I just want to ask for forgiveness from Allen. I don't mean any harm."

Noel's cold voice sliced at her, "You don't need to ask for his forgiveness. He didn't never blamed you for your actions."

Mina crushed her hands together and her face fell even further, "O-oh..."

The onlookers felt angry. Why is he getting protected? Don't you see how she is? How can you do this? Don't you see that she's suffering because of him? Shouldn't the one you should be protecting be her?

Allen pulled on Noel's arm, "Noel.... It's okay. Don't get angry over something like this."

Noel glanced back at him and brushed a finger on his cheek, "Are you sure?"

Allen, "En. I'm sure. Don't worry, I'm sure she just wants to talk."

Allen focused his attention to Mina but kept by Noel. His tone was clear and held no malice, "Ms. Esters, there seems to be some confusion here. I hadn't blame you for leaving me behind, nor did I blame you for injuring me."

Mina's face pales. Allen continued, "I certainly didn't want anything to happen to you. I understood your reasons for acting as you did. Though I can never forgive you for what you did that day, I learned to continue on with my life and put that in the past. If there is any confusion from before, I hope that what I had told you has resolved your troubles."

Mina stammered, "Al-Allen, I'm really sorry for what I did. I really am. "

The spectators were now second guessing what was going on. Of course they didn't know that Mina injured and left behind Allen. But if he never blamed her.... Why is she asking for forgiveness? Could this just be an act so that others won't blame him? Or was it that nothing really did happen and it was all her fault?

Allen shook his head, "Like I said. Ms. Esters, I don't blame you so there is no need to ask for forgiveness. What happened that day happened, it's all in the past now."

Mina dropped down onto her knees and she covered her face, "I know you hate me.... But pl-please Allen, I just want to be able to live a normal life."

Allen's mouth was gaped open. Noel had heard enough of her words. His tugged at Allen's hands, "Enough."

Just as they were about to pull away, the speakers on stage turned on. Noel, Allen, and Mina froze. The crowds' ears were perked up. As they listened to the sounds coming out of the speakers, they could distinguish Mina's voice talking to a man.

The contents of their conversation made many bystanders turn and look at Mina with a strange gaze. Mina had suggesting drugs that she had come upon, to use on Allen to make him comply with their needs. She also 'stressed' out that he wouldn't be able to refuse it's affects and would become addicted to them.

After the first voice clip played, another one came on. It contained Mina's voice and Allen's. You could hear Mina laughing in delight and demanding someone to continue injecting. At first you could hear Allen shouting and screaming for them to stop, but his voice soon slurred and it became just muffled whimpers.

At the end of the second voice clip, Mina's voice could clearly be heard happily joking around that Allen will probably become mentally retarded from the drugs.

Everyone's eyes turn Allen. He had his hands covering his ears and his body lightly shaking. His rims of his beautiful eyes were red and a couple of tears were squeezed out of those eyes. Allen begged Noel, "Noel... Take me back. I don't want to be here anymore."

They all realize that he only looked strong on the outside but could shatter easily, just like glass. They felt a wave of shame and embarrassment at their thoughts earlier. Their faces had changed from white, to green, to red, to purple, and then finally to black. Their minds had cleared and they finally recall that it was all thanks to Allen's achievements that they could live a carefree life right now.

Not just developing the Z-virus, he also helped produce fertilizers for the plants and crops. It would help decontaminate the soil from the blood of the zombies. He also aided with the neutralization of the Z-virus in the waterways and with the process of distilling the water to make sure that there could be no contamination along the way. He contributed to their worry-free lifestyles. But what had they done? They chastised and berated him, even throwing rocks at the poor man while he was down.

Noel's heart throbbed with distress and he felt a wave of helplessness. He knew that Noel had been scarred by that incident. Looking at his lover quiver and his eyes filled with anguish, he want to pulverize Mina into a meat patty. The air became increasingly cold and heavy. Many who surrounded the trio had cold sweat running down their body.

Mina wasn't in a any better of a situation. Her knees felt weak and she couldn't stand. She also had a hard time breathing. She clutched the hem of her dress tightly.

Allen clutched onto Noel's shirt, "Please, Noel. Take me away from here."

Noel held him in his arms, "It's alright, Allen. It's okay. I will take you from here. You won't have to hear anymore of this nonsense."

Allen only weakly nodded on his chest. Noel took Allen's hand and started to lead him towards the gate. Allen had his head down, his face was blank but his eyes held a sharp light and a faint sly smile were on the corners of his lip. Noel signaled for some of the guards to 'escort' Mina.

She screamed and shouted, pleading them but who could feel sympathy for someone who had concluded with the enemy. What if they had succeed? They had already brought shame upon themselves for even thinking those thoughts about Allen, they could no longer let down their savior in their hearts.

<System, how many are there around us?>

<Host, there is at least six of them in the crowd around you. Please be careful~> My baby's acting is top notch! Ah, it keeps getting better and better.... Bao Bao feels that host would win so many nobel prizes for host's acting.

<Good.>

The crowd quiets down and reverts back to normal. As Allen 'calmed' down, they finally made their way to the gate. As they are walking through the crowd of guests, Noel's hand comes up empty. Noel looked back, but Allen's figure was gone.

"Allen?"