Thrive in Catastrophe Chapter 75

The three a.s.sa.s.sins rushed forward as though Jane did not exist.

When Jane's body went to move, Sheldon was suddenly at his side. He moved rapidly, disrupting Jane's center of balance and his blade slashed Jane's side.

Jane took his weapon and lifted it over his head. He attempted to crush Sheldon's spine but Jane's heel slammed into one of the killer's heads, like a clock with a broken spring he fell to the ground.

Sheldon took the moment to run his blade through Jane's chest.

His blood pooled around him.

"It seems that you really care about your pet." Sheldon's lips lift in a mocking smile.

The two remaining killers came for Xiao Yan. HE heard Jane's voice pierce through the air as though the blade through his chest was no big deal. "There are only two left, you should be able to deal with it."

Sheldon stepped forward and his blade shifted in Jane's body, the sound of the metal moving against his muscles echoed grotesquely in the hall.

"So now you care about others?"

Jane gripped his hand and forced him back as he pulled the blade out. His tissue began to loudly knit together.

The tow a.s.sa.s.sins came toward Xiao at one time, their attacks were clearly aimed at his shoulder.

However, Xiao instantly deduced their attack and as they leaped in the air, he rotated his body and dislocated the shoulders of both killers.

The a.s.sa.s.sins hardly winced at the attack, seemingly not registering the pain at all. They simply retreated a safe distance from Xiao Yan and stared at him intently.

Xiao Yan did not move to attack. He was uncertain of their skills and patiently waited for them to show their hand.

Sheldon smiled. "It seems we underestimated your little pet."

"If you keep referring to him as a little pet you will regret it."

As soon as his words fell, Jane appeared in front of Sheldon. His hand punched through his chest and he gripped his heart.

Xiao Yan stared nervously at the a.s.sa.s.sins in front of him. As their eyes shifted, they moved their blade. He knew their aim was to attack his arm. He could clearly see the trajectory of their swing. He tightened his shoulders and moved his hand amid the swipe of their weapons and gripped the killer's chin and twisted. His head was instantly broken.

The crunch was audible and the killer in front of him looked at Xiao with widened eyes as he processed Xiao's fatal attack. Then he lifelessly fell to the floor at Xiao's feet.

Sheldon frowned. If Jane pulled out his heart, then even the x-virus would be unable to help him. He attempted to cut Jane's arm.

Jane pulled away as the blade flashed. Sheldon grabbed at his chest as he stumbled back a half a step.

"So shall we call it even." Jane laughed.

"Even if you manage to escape here, no matter where you hide in the world, your father will find you!"

"Oh come on, he never considered me his son."

The remaining killer was shocked by Xiao's skill. He had heard of Jane's pet researcher, but this researcher...how were his skills not inferior to their finely honed abilities?

Xiao Yan picked the weapon off the ground, flicked the blood off and then rushed up.

The a.s.sa.s.sin thought that Xiao Yan was about to slash at him so he raised his hand to block the trike, he never imagined that Xiao would abruptly change direction and crush his hand and stab his blade through his throat.

Applause sounded.

Jane swung an arm around Xiao Yan and winked at Sheldon. "It is two to one now, do you still think you have a chance at winning?"

"Other than winning, my other option is death. Don't you understand?"

After speaking, Sheldon rushed up.

His right hand slashed at Jane, while his left hand slammed into Xiao Yan's neck.

The guy's action was too fast the minute his cold fingertips touched Xiao Yan's skin, it was too late to react.

In his mind he pictured Heine Burton seizing him and holding him up in the training room.

Learn to steer you opponent.

His body responded and Xiao clasped Sheldon's jaw with one hand as he twisted his wrist as his body followed. Sheldon attempted to compensate for the disruption in his center of gravity and his hand released.

Jane took this moment to rapidly run his blade through Sheldon's chest. Jane did not relax his attack as the blade sunk into Sheldon's flesh, Jane's eyes were full of a dangerous and immense pressure. He pushed at the weapon until the handle hit the wound and Sheldon's body fell to the ground.

"Kill me." Sheldon looked at Jane, blood gushing from his wound.

Jane grabbed his hand and pressed on his broken wrist as the x-virus attempted to heal him.

"I hope that father will spare your life, then you can replace me as his body."

Jane whispered right into Sheldon's ear. Sheldon's eyes widened as he processed the meaning of Jane's words.

They heard footsteps running through the channel as they continued on.

"Are you sure that the fire control system is sealed?"

Jane ran ahead while asking Xiao Yan.
"I'm sure. You system is quite advanced so it has no defenses against such a common computer virus from more than 200 years ago. Unless Valentin personally removed it from the system, but that would require him to make manual calculations. Even with 200 years of wisdom, is should take more than an hour to clean out."

"Then we don't have much time left!"

They entered the submarine and closed the valve. Jane pulled Xiao into the cab and he noticed that Casey, Jerry and four other people were waiting for them.

Xiao stilled, perhaps they had discovered Jane's plan ahead of time and were waiting to trap them.

To his shock Casey ran forward and hugged Xiao Yan.

"Thank G.o.d you are here! If your head had been taken by Sheldon I would never forgive Jane!"

In that moment Xiao found his heart trembling and he almost moved to pat Casey on the back, then his hand stilled in midair.

Jane's lips widen into a grin. "You look down on me Casey! Did you get it?"

"Got it!" Casey revealed a smug look.

"Let's go!"

Casey attached the terminal and the submarine began to move.

Xiao Yan finally understood everything at this moment.
Jane had been plotting to steal the serum from Valentin, Casey ad Jerry were his accomplices. The reason Jane kidnapped him was because he needed his brain's interface rate to invade the master system and occupy Valentin while Casey snuck in and retrieved the data for the drug.

The submarine kept moving away, and the undulating mood of Xiao Yan began to even out.

He had been used by these scam artists!

"Next we need to find a place to get the agents for the serum. Otherwise we all die painfully." Casey deliberates on what to do next.

"Where do you want to go?"

"I need to synthesize the agents to remove the virus suffix, and Xiao has to make the x-2....hm..could we capture a base?" Jerry's tone was half joking. Xiao knows that if he doesn't' synthesize the x-2 as they say then Jerry will kick him out of the submarine.

"Is your head broken?" Casey looked over at Jerry with a cold expression.

"Don't worry about anything. We are free, Xiao Yan." Jane's fatigued voice breathes into his ear. Xiao looks over to see that Jane looks extremely tired. His lids are lowered and his head lolled on his shoulder. Before long his breathing evened out. This is the first time that Xiao Yan has ever seen Jane sleep.

Submarine surfaced in front of an island, revealing an aircraft.

The feeling of leaving the deep sea was unparalleled, Xiao Yan took a deep breath in relief. The water burst apart as they surfaced and the lively sound of birds brightly heralded their arrival.

"Hey! Idiot, if you don't keep up we will leave you here." Casey wrinkled his nose at him as he yelled.

For a moment Xiao's mind wandered to the past, where Casey was still the impish youth he had known.

"Let's go, baby." Jane looked briefly at Xiao and then restlessly pinched his waist.

Xiao Yan moved ahead of Jane and followed Casey outside.

They boarded the craft and left the island, heading deeper out to sea.

"Are we going to land?"

" Guess." Jane once again made a mockery of his question.

Gradually a patch of green appeared beneath them and Xiao lowered his head. This vegetation and ground cover, the mountain range...he knew them all very well. This was where he first met Heine Burton.

His heart leapt in his chest.

"I see something attracted your attention." Jane smiled faintly, his fingers running through his black hair.

"Can you open the hatch? I want to smell the woods."

Xiao Yan's fingers were pressed against the gla.s.s, and his face was slack with longing.

Casey looked over at Jane who nodded in approval.

The minute the hatch popped open, Xiao removed his safety device and lunged for the opening.

Jane immediately grabbed onto his shoulders, he gentle eyes were fierce and furious.

"What are you trying to do!" His roar drowned out the engines and sounded over the tree tops.

Jerry closed the hatch without saying a word, but Xiao ruthlessly twisted his fingers.

"Ah!" Although the injury was nothing, Jerry still yelped in shock.

His voice brought the zombies out from the forest. They looked overhead, their expressions excited as they jumped eagerly upward, attempting to reach the far away craft.

"No! You will be surrounded by zombies! You really think you can kill them all?"

Jerry looked at Xiao with resentment. "f.u.c.k! You are too restless!" He swung his arm back to punch Xiao in the face.

Casey caught his fist.

"I am going to the c.o.c.kpit!" Jerry angrily shrugged Casey off and looked coldly at Xiao before walking way.

Xiao was smashed against the craft, his neck gripped and his face pressed against the window. "I don't trust you anymore."

"I don't trust you either."

Xiao Yan leveled his stare at Jane.

"Boss, this is too close to Base 2, we have to go around."

Base 2 would be staffed with an entire special forces squad, they did not currently have the manpower to deal with them.

Casey deliberately spoke these words in front of Xiao Yan.

"Go around."

Xiao closed his eyes, regretting his impulsive actions. He should have been more patient and endured. He could have waited until the plane landed, pretended to join them before taking his opportunity. His foolish action has ruined everything.

He suddenly realized how much he missed Heine.

He missed his indifference, his maddeningly stoic expression, his strength, the power of his embrace, and...the force of his kiss.

Xiao had no idea what Heine's feelings toward him are, he just knows he wants to see this man again.

The aircraft suddenly rocked and Casey yelled out.

"Hey Jerry! Can't you drive this thing? Playing these tricks to scare us isn't going to work."

Jerry did not reply

"What happened?" Casey's face abruptly changed.

Jane seemed to instantly understand what was happening. He took a dagger from his ankle and pulled Xiao up by his hair.

"Hey - Jane! What are you going to do!" Casey looked at him in horror, frantically trying to grab Xiao Yan back to him.

"His microchip has brought the Shire! Casey! Take over for Jerry, his brain has been invaded!"

The aircraft is rapidly declining, Casey runs to the c.o.c.kpit without another word.

The tip of the knife split open Xiao's skin, as his blood began to pour out, he gasped.

"Hey - hey - it will be over soon!"

Jane breathed into his ear, as he pulled the chip out Xiao's wound immediately healed.

"Okay, I got it, it is out."

The microchip became powder between Jane's fingers.

"Now they cannot track you. When we get rid of them this time, it is final. No one will find you."

"Jane - help!"

Casey's cry for help pierced through the cabin.

Jane's face became tense and he walked toward the c.o.c.kpit.

The aircraft finally stabilized.

"I'm sorry... Jane... Someone just invaded my mind. By the time I realized...they were almost to my subconscious."

Casey's voice was pitched high with lingering fear and Jane snorted at his words.

"Come on, how many people exist that could invade you?"

The craft moved forward and Xiao Yan was unable to see a craft following them.

...Before Jane comes back...

There are four people still in the cabin with him. He can't be so impulsive this time.

Xiao raised his leg and kicked at the knee of the guy in front of him. He released his safety device. Another attempted to press the safety lock back down and Xiao punched him in the stomach. He kicked his legs out again, knocking the guy away, opened the door and jumped out.

Unfortunately he was caught.

Xiao struggled and finally fell from the plane.

Jane jumped after him.

"Xiao Yan -"

The wind dragged at his hair and his typically lazy expression was twisted in horror.

"Your head! Don't let you head hit the ground!"

Xiao realized in that moment he had turned over in the air and was heading for the ground head first. He attempted to avoid fracturing his neck and fell roughly to the ground.

His bones were broken, as were Janes. Clearly Jane's pain tolerance was well above Xiao's as he immediately reached Xiao and grabbed him.

"Do you think that you can escape?"

His voice was low and terrible, a deep chill spread over Xiao's spine at the sound.

"You can't trap me forever!"

Xiao Yan went to lift his knees, but Jane broke his calf, picked him up, and slammed him against a tree.

"Aren't you always proud of me? I have seen your stubbornness and your beliefs, but you are wrong Xiao Yan! No matter if all of mankind is destroyed, nothing will change!

"You have what you wanted! You have your freedom! Why can't you let me go?!"

"I got what I wanted?" Jane raised his brows and sneered disdainfully. "Yes...from now on... I will get everything I want!"

Jane's head lowered as he roughly forced his kiss on Xiao Yan. Xiao squeezed his legs tight against his waist as he struggled. Jane was unfazed and attempted to pull down his pants as he dodged his fists.

Xiao knew that Jane was not going to let him go. He grabbed ahold of his neck and pinched his cervical spine. Before he could put his full force into it, Jane grabbed his fingers and slammed his hand down.

"Ah--"

Xiao yelled out as he fingers shattered. Although the pain in his hand was nothing compared to the bone fracture in his tibia. Jane no longer cares about hurting him, his anger has obliterated his sanity.

Xiao jammed his elbow down into Jane's neck and his other hand grabbed his wrist and twisted it backwards until his elbow slammed against the tree trunk.

This time Xiao Yan is the one inflicting pain.

Jane opened his mouth and roared with an unnatural fury, as though he were ready to bring down a city.

Xiao noticed that behind Jane, the zombies were starting to gather.

Their tremoring bodies moved forward and their eyes were red at the sight of food.

Jane paid no attention to the zombies until five started to descend rapidly onto them. Jane was forced to let go of Xiao Yan. He grabbed one and slammed its face into another. He easily dispatched them.

Except in that time, more zombies had headed over. They were surrounded.

An explosion sounded in the distance. Jane's craft lost control and crashed into the mountains. Xiao's shoulders trembled at the sight.

"You really want to run? There are thousands of zombies waiting for you!"

The zombies were circling them and closing in rapidly. Xiao began to retreat step by step.

"Where are you going?!" Jane tried to get a hold Xiao Yan.

"They are after you, Jane...not me... Sorry."

The zombies rushed up. Even without his weapons, they are no match for Jane Wallace. Still their numbers completely overwhelm him.

The corpses are beginning to pile up and Jane can no longer see Xiao Yan.

"Xiao Yan! Xiao Yan, where are you! Xiao Yan!"

Jane received no reply and looks around to see Xiao slipping through the gaps in the throng of zombies.

None of them even acknowledged his presence, as though he were one of theirs.

This is because Xiao Yan had completed his 'Sharon' virus. Before he was taken from the Shire he had injected himself. Now the zombies permanently saw him as a peer.

He must escape, the sooner the better. With Jane's ability it won't take him long to break through and catch up.

Xiao stumbled and fell to the ground, without hesitating he climbed up and continued to move forward.

Suddenly the sun glinted sharply overhead, the odd reflection split the air apart.

Xiao quickly turned, barely missing the strike. The blade fell futilely into the mud.

If he had been a fraction of a second too slow, he would have lost his head.

The man raised his head and his silver hair swayed with the movement. Xiao looked up into his cold steely eyes.

"Sheldon..."

Without a word Sheldon lifted his weapon again and attacked Xiao Yan.

Xiao blocked the hit, the force behind it was so intense he was almost knocked down.

"I don't have much time. We both know, the zombies will not hold him for long."

His blade fell again and Xiao maneuvered out of its strike zone, the trunk of the tree behind him bore the brunt of the cut.

Xiao's heart surged wildly. He was not sure if he was Sheldon's opponent. This guy had chased him here with a questionable goal. All he had said to Xiao was that he was determined to return with his head, everything else was fair game.

Sheldon gripped his blade with both hands. "Show me what Heine Burton taught you."

His blade stabbed at him over and over. Xiao tried to dodge when Sheldon removed one of his hands from the hilt and grabbed his chest. Xiao was unable to move and his blade ran through his chest, nailing him to the tree.

He inhaled painfully and attempted to pull the blade out. Sheldon reached behind his back and unsheathed another sword, he moved it toward his neck with a blank expression.

He was going to die....

Unable to accept this fate, Xiao went crazy and frantically pulled the blade pinning him to the tree trunk.

An aircraft engine sounded above and suddenly a figure dropped from the sky with the momentum of a meteor breaking through the atmosphere, slamming powerfully to the ground.

As Sheldon's blade grazes Xiao's neck, his wrist was promptly cut off. A powerful kick sent him flying and several trees fell as their blades crossed. Finally Sheldon was run through, hanging pinned against one of the trees.

The figure was so familiar, it dominated his distracted state and then realization crashed into him.

Only one person had such a momentum to their combat...wielding such immense power they could shatter the earth.

********I told you this story really takes off!!!!

So what does everyone think about Jane?

And Casey...do you think that he mentioned  the base was nearby intentionally so that Xiao would make a break for it? Was he being a friend to him in that moment?

Annnnnnd..............Guess who is back!!!!! What kind of mood....********