Needless to say, Summer was furious when he saw the condition of his beloved Jeep Wrangler Rubicon.
There were too many scratches on the Jeep's body to count. Every single window had been shattered. The interior was soaked in blood, with long, slimy tongues torn from Kitty's maw strewn about. The two front tires had been completely destroyed.
The Jeep looked utterly wrecked - like it had just returned from an intense battlefield.
"You know, every scratch on this Jeep is like a medal of honor… proof of how heroically it fought against that Feral Vampire. I think you'll look super badass driving this around town,"
Royce said shakily to Summer.
Autumn's older brother now looked like a human torch, with bright orange hair, a flushed red face, and blazing eyes.
Summer didn't say a word. He just nodded solemnly, as if wholeheartedly agreeing with Royce.
Royce barely had time to feel relieved before Summer revved up the chainsaw in his hands and began chasing him in circles around the Jeep.
"You damn gorilla! Stop right there!"
"I'm not crazy enough to stop!"
"You two… Cut it out! That chainsaw doesn't have much gas left - give it back now. I need it for something urgent!"
The tall man with blue eyes - uncannily similar to Mrs. Marina's - who had been standing beside Summer finally spoke up.
His voice was soft, melodic, and gentle - devoid of any threat - yet both Summer and Royce immediately obeyed without question.
"That's my oldest brother, Spring,"
Autumn whispered - just loud enough for Ethan to hear.
Ethan was still massaging his own hands. His fingers still ached from when the blue-eyed brother had unceremoniously pried them off Autumn's shoulders earlier.
He was more than a little nervous about that chainsaw being retrieved. Was this guy going to chase him next for the "crime" of leaving his hands on his little sister's shoulders for a bit too long?
"Spring, what are you planning to do to Kitty?"
Autumn cried out in alarm as Spring raised the chainsaw and began walking toward Kitty. Meanwhile, Kitty's heart was still thumping violently in her trembling hands.
"Doing what you couldn't bring yourself to do."
Spring revved the chainsaw to life.
With his androgynous beauty, icy blue eyes, and long black ponytail fluttering in the night breeze, Spring looked like the embodiment of a god - a god of destruction and death.
He raised the chainsaw high and…
… the roar of the chainsaw drowned out the pitiful screams of Kitty.
At last, Spring had done what needed to be done. The white doctor-style coat he wore was now splattered with dark red blood.
"Now hand me her heart."
Autumn obediently gave Kitty's heart to Spring without a word of protest.
"You kids go ahead. Summer and I will stay to finish cleaning up this place."
A slimy object was tossed at Ethan, landing against his chest. It was Kitty's tail - an enormous tail, bare of fur and skin.
"This is in case Kitty's owner, or anyone else, comes asking about what happened to her."
Ethan took the blood-smeared tail of the unfortunate dog and nodded to Spring.
None of them dared to linger. They headed out immediately without looking back.
Ethan, Royce, and Autumn arrived at the Field Hospital - located at a site called the Ancient Fortress - at 3 a.m.
The Ancient Fortress sat atop a hill on the outskirts of Harmony Town, exactly 187 meters above sea level.
A foul stench hit Ethan's nose the moment he stepped through the gates of the Ancient Fortress. It was the same smell as that of the landlord and Kitty when they had turned into Infected. But here - this putrid, rotting stench - was ten times stronger than what they'd encountered back at the mini apartment complex.
Ethan didn't see a single Infected here. Only their remnants littered the stone courtyard - extra rows of teeth, oversized tongues, other disfigured body parts, and patches of slimy discharge… All of it was being cleaned up by people wearing CDC-style hazmat suits.
It looked like everything was over - though not in a good way.
"What happened here?"
Ethan asked his two friends, his voice nasal and strained from holding his breath.
"It's strange! I don't understand what's going on either."
Autumn hesitated, trying to find the words.
"As I said before, when someone gets turned into an Infected, all you need to do is give them one shot of AntiVamp before they drink human blood for the first time. After that, they need to take oral AntiVamp regularly for about two weeks to almost fully recover. Then their body will build up antibodies to protect them from further transformation for the next five years. To stay safe, they should just get an AntiVamp booster every five years."
"What if someone used to be an Infected and got cured - but then accidentally drank Vampire blood again - would they turn back into an Infected? They can never be fully cured, can they? You didn't mention this last time, did you?"
Ethan was stunned. But he wasn't angry at Autumn. He was used to the way she always revealed information in fragments.
"It even affects your future generations, bro! Rumor has it some Infected patients being treated here - despite having no bite marks - were traced through family history and found out their grandparents had once been bitten by Vampires. So you'd better apologize in advance to your future kids and grandkids. Their destiny is to become Carriers."
Royce whispered to Ethan, glancing around cautiously.
"I did say they'd return to 'almost normal.' Now can I continue?"
"Okay. Go on, Autumn."
"But now, the AntiVamp treatment no longer works on Infected. And last night was a total disaster. All the patients undergoing treatment at the Field Hospital went berserk. Nearly every Vampire with combat experience in the town had to gather here to deal with it. At the same time, reports came in about Infected showing up in town…"
"What report? Who reported it? Stop lying! Isn't it just because you sensed your Bloodbound was in danger?"
"Shut uppp!"
Autumn hissed, her cheeks flushing bright red. Moments later, Royce was hopping on one foot after Autumn stomped down hard on him.
In the distance, an ambulance and a bus were arriving one after the other.
Royce and Autumn dropped their childish quarrel to help unload patients from the ambulance.
The bus doors opened. Inside were all the tenants from the mini apartment building where Ethan lived. When they got off, their faces were still blank with confusion. They didn't seem to understand why they had been brought here in the middle of the night.
The sleepy crowd was suddenly shoved aside by a large figure. The landlady stormed forward and grabbed Ethan by the shoulders, shaking him violently.
"Where's Kitty?! What did you do to my Kitty?!"
Ethan bit his lip.
After a moment of hesitation, he handed over Kitty's tail - the only remaining piece of her body - to the landlady.
"Monsters… You're all monsters!"
The landlady screamed. Tears and snot poured down her oily face.
And then she lunged at Autumn, just as the girl had finished helping with the patients.
The landlady raised her plump arm, ready to slap Autumn's round face.
Autumn closed her eyes. She stood still, willing to take the blow - as if it were her way of atoning for what happened to Ethan's landlady.
A loud smack rang out…
… but Autumn felt nothing.
When she opened her eyes, she realized Ethan was now standing in front of her. His face was tilted to one side, as if it had just taken a powerful hit.
"You're a monster just like the rest of them. I'm not letting you rent a room in my house anymore."
The landlady shouted at Ethan as she was dragged into the hospital by four people in hazmat suits.