7. New Discovery

“Go to that building,” Sean ordered as he continued to shoot the small monsters that kept coming.

Without needing to be reminded twice, Sean’s men obeyed his orders while remaining on guard as they entered the simple two-story building.

“Close the door,” Sean ordered.

Several people closed the glass door and locked it.

“Stay alert. They’re coming in large numbers,” Sean said again.

No one answered what Sean said, but they followed his orders.

All members scattered to guard. Victoria stood in front of the glass door watching the creature that seemed to be trying to get in. Sean approached her.

“They don’t seem to be able to get in,” Victoria said.

Sean didn’t say anything, but he also noticed it.

The creature seemed to be having trouble opening the door, with its weak frog hands, could they open a door or something heavy? But the small creature didn’t seem to stay still, trying to break the glass or find something that was a gap.

While making a sound, the transmitter on the creature’s head moved, looking like a cat’s whiskers.

"Commander, we found something upstairs," one of the soldiers reported.

Sean and Victoria along with several other soldiers turned around.

"You stay guard here, let me know immediately if they manage to get in," Sean ordered before leaving.

"Okay."

Sean invited Victoria to come with him.

A soldier who reported took Sean to a staircase that connected to the second floor but the iron door was closed.

"Is anyone inside?" Sean asked while knocking on the iron door.

There was no answer.

"What's inside?" Sean asked while turning to the man.

"Earlier I heard people's voices inside, even talking but they refused to open the door," the man reported again.

Sean tried to bang on the iron door again.

"We are soldiers on duty to evacuate residents. If you hear my voice, open it. We don't have much time," Sean said.

But for a while, there was no movement from inside.

"If no one opens the door, we will leave without having time to save you," Sean added trying to persuade.

Sean glanced at his colleagues in turn while waiting.

"Should we break down the door or shoot them?" asked one of those gathered there.

"No. It will make noise and they will come attacking," said Victoria.

"Then what?"

"Let's just wait."

"How can we wait if there is not much time."

"We have to be prepared, they are almost opening the door in front," reported one of Sean's men.

"But it doesn't seem like it will be easy. The glass in this building is bulletproof so it won't break easily. That's why there are residents taking shelter here even though it's chaotic below. It seems like someone didn't have time to close the door," explained another.

They then fell silent waiting for Sean's answer.

"How long can we last?" asked Sean then.

"It won't be long, thirty minutes at most. The creatures are still out there, and their numbers are increasing. It seems like they are telling each other if there is prey," answered another.

Victoria thought, her brows furrowed.

"You guys stay alert, I'll try to talk to them," said the girl then.

All eyes were on Victoria, Sean nodded his head for them to follow what the girl said and then dispersed to prepare.

Victoria's steps passed Sean who was standing at the door. Without knocking, the girl spoke.

"Hello. I am the captain of one of the army squads, my name is Victoria. If you are listening, please open the door and let's talk. We don't have much time, or are you going to just wait here until they attack?" the girl said.

Although she persuaded with a gentle tone full of understanding, Victoria threatened firmly because they would not last long from the monster's attack anyway.

"If none of you open the door by the count of ten, we will leave," Victoria continued.

"They will come in soon!" shouted someone from downstairs reporting.

"We will count. One...two...three..." Victoria continued counting until the sound of a key was heard from inside and someone opened the door.

A middle-aged man stood behind the iron door, his appearance messy with blood stains on several parts of his body. Victoria was silent and so was Sean.

"Thank you," said Victoria spontaneously.

"Can we come in and see?" asked Sean.

The middle-aged man nodded weakly.

There were about six people in the room, including a small child, and a weak old woman. They gathered in the corner of the room. The place was a house, but it looked messy and there was blood.

"You came to save us?" asked a middle-aged woman.

The room was dim because the windows were closed and it was a bit stuffy.

"Yes. We came to help," Sean replied.

"Thank you, thank you very much. We are safe." They said boisterously with relieved smiles and tears.

They were the owners of the building, a shophouse with heavy equipment, tools, iron, and other shops on the ground floor. However, they were trapped on the second floor of the house. The body found on the first floor of the shop was their uncle. The old woman there was their grandmother. Six people, two middle-aged couples, an old grandmother, a five-year-old child, a nineteen-year-old girl, and a man about twelve years old.

"Is anyone hurt?" asked Victoria. "Where does it hurt?" asked the girl to the middle-aged man.

"This is not my blood," replied the man.

Victoria's brow furrowed and followed the man's gaze to another corner of the room. There was someone unconscious there. Victoria stood up and was about to approach the person.

"Don't come any closer," said the middle-aged man.

Victoria turned her head.

"It's poisonous," said the man again.

The girl's attention was drawn to Sean who was standing near the unconscious person.

"Don't touch," said the long-haired teenage girl.

"Why? What's wrong with her?" asked Victoria.

"That's our aunt who was injured because she sacrificed herself while saving us," the girl explained again.

But Victoria didn't seem to understand.

"Is it contagious?" asked Victoria again.

"No. "But it's poisonous," replied the middle-aged woman who hugged the old woman beside her.

"Poisonous?" Sean and Victoria looked at each other.

The unconscious woman was covered in cloth. There was blood flowing all over her body.

"Since when is this?" Victoria asked again.

"Five hours ago," replied the teenage girl.

Deciding to examine more closely, Victoria approached Sean who opened the cloth a little to check what happened, where the wound was, and what caused her death.

"Don't touch the slime, it's poisonous," said the teenage girl again.

Victoria obeyed, but she took out several small bottles and took the mucus, as well as the victim's blood, and the fluid in the victim's wound. Victoria put the bottles in to be examined in the laboratory later.

"Commander, we have to hurry!" reported one of Sean's men.

Sean nodded and returned to the family.

The discovery looked dangerous, what would they find later? It seemed that the mission that Victoria would carry out would not be easy.