128 (Operation Armageddon: Book 1)

Chapter Seventeen: The Epicentre | Part 1

"Get this man to a hospital immediately," Matthew ordered as the paramedics brought Gregory, who was on a stretcher, into the ambulance.

Just as the paramedic was about to shut the ambulance doors, Gregory held his hand up slowly, shivering. "W-wait..." he said in a weak voice, his fingers trembling as he lowered his hand back down. As such, the paramedic let go of his grip on the doors.

Matthew moved closer to the ambulance, standing before Gregory. Gregory tried to sit up, but the other paramedic restrained him and informed him to avoid making any drastic movements. Hence, he relaxed and fell back on the stretcher.

"Mr. D-Davis, I... I can't say how sorry I am about the loss of your famil,y but I... I thank you for saving me," he expressed his gratitude. His eyes were watering once again, but he didn't have the strength to lift his hands to wipe the tears off. "I'll... see you next time," he said, a signal to the paramedics that they could shut the doors.

The workers then headed into the ambulance and got seated. Eventually, the sirens came back on, and the vehicle took off, heading for another hospital that was hopefully safer and better than the one they had just fled from.

Matthew, Daniel and Megan looked at each other. They all sighed tiredly, hoping to finally get some rest. They couldn't imagine that they had spent two whole days trapped in a hospital invaded by creatures; it had felt like an eternity to them.

It was past midnight—a clear signal to them to part ways and rest at home. The three thus took off and separated, flagging buses and taxis to get back to their apartments. As Matthew stepped into the cab, he thought about his day.

He realised that he hadn't actually made any progress on taking down Yael. After all, the incident at the hospital was just a nasty plot by Yael themselves to slow their work. However, he acknowledged that fact that he did save one person, and even though it was just one human, it was still a valuable life.

* * *

Two days later

Matthew entered his precinct building, adjusting his collar as he tried to appear neat. He cleared his throat, making sure that his voice wasn't full of hoarse. He carried a suitcase in his right hand—one that he would always place evidence files and field investigation reports in.

This time, it was rather empty, which was pretty much bad news for him as he needed as much evidence as possible to convict the assailant in the metro station incident. In this case, it was the chairwoman.

Matthew was prepared to be reprimanded for his and his friends' actions at both the hospital and the metro station. They had broken the law after all. However, the law couldn't assist in prosecuting corrupted figures, such as the chairwoman of Yael herself. With money, power and influence, what couldn't she achieve?

It would eventually take a devil to fight another devil. Perhaps, a vigilante of some sorts. And if Matthew had to become one to bring down Yael, he would contentedly do it.

He knocked on the captain's door, before opening it. He entered politely, keeping his posture upright and his hands by his side. He thought that if he was going to be punished for something wrong, he should at least make up for it with his tidiness.

"Relax a little, Sergeant Davis," the new precinct captain said. To Matthew, it was an unexpected first statement from the captain, as he had expected a very unsatisfied tone coming from the captain. "Have a seat," the captain added, glancing at Matthew's clenched fists, which was a result of the tenseness and uneasiness in him.

Matthew kindly pulled the chair out and sat on it carefully. He had the urge to place his right foot on his left knee, but for the sake of formality, he resisted it. Instead, he planted his feet on the ground, and sat up straight, awaiting the captain's remarks.