The alley darkens. The sky signals the sun is about to set.

  The newcomers gather around us. Five men and two women, excluding Jiaolong.

  "So is this your hideout?" The tall man with a scar on his face asks.

  The others look equally puzzled as to why we're hiding here.

  "We're not hiding." Melissa replies. She looks at Jiaolong. "One person is missing. Did something happen on the way?"

  Jiaolong looks confused. "I thought you saw it…" His voice comes out uncertain.

  The girl with red twin tails talks in a high pitch. "Will you explain to us what's happening?" She's in something like pajamas. "This place is disgusting, and I was sleeping when those guys came to look for me." The other girl with short black hair covers her mouth.

  "Sorry, she drank a lot yesterday." The girl apologizes. On the other hand, she wears casual clothes.

  Their internal clocks work differently.

  The middle-aged man asks Melissa to get back to explaining. "After all, you know why we're here, and you surely have a plan."

  Melissa nods, then explains everything. The reason why we're all being chased, the plan she prepared.

  Everyone looks at her hesitantly after hearing her plan.

  "This plan might put Filip in danger," I speak first.

  "Everest, trust me. This is the best thing we can come up with. We don't have time to think things over," Melissa replies.

  "I approve." The middle-aged man adds. "We can solve this issue tonight if everything works well."

  "That's if everything works well." The girl in pajamas is still standing. "Why are you all looking at me like that? I'm not sitting around you guys on this. Hurry already."

  Still so energetic. It's just as if we're not running away from trained soldiers.

  "Well, since everything is settled, I have a single question." The scar-faced man speaks up. After Melissa nods, he continues. "I'm fine with playing the soldier, but what if I get recognized before I even make it there?"

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  "Just wear this." Melissa hands him a mask with the armor. "We're lucky my opponent used a mask to hide his face." She smiles.

  "Now that I think about it, you actually beat a former soldier." A man with bangs on his face brings up.

  "Yeah, that shows just how strong and reliable she is," Jiaolong supports.

  "Well, I agree. But still, it's terrifying to know a woman is the strongest of our small group."

  "And what do you mean?" The red twin tails fumes.

  "Nothing… just if we lose her, we might not make it out well." The man with bangs rebuttal comes out quite nervously. "After all, we're all weaker than that man who was nearly killed by our culprit."

  "Hmm! That's reasonable." She retreats.

  Melissa thinks for a moment through the tension.

  "I can't guarantee we're going to have good results, but moving is better than doing nothing."

  "That's correct." Jiaolong reaches out, motivated.

  The rest of the group gives the same energy. Everyone but me. I simply try going with the flow.

  The girl with short hair makes a suggestion. "Since we're all good now, I propose we introduce ourselves. My name is Pirine. Nice to meet you."

  "An excellent idea." The man with bangs adds. "Mine is Orga."

  Everyone introduces themselves. The red twin tails is Dalia, the scar-faced man is Roger, the middle-aged man is Marcuse, and so on.

  After the introductions, everyone has grasped what they have to do. All we have to do now is follow the plan.

  Roger picks up the armor and the mask, wears them. "Well, time to try out the trick."

  It turns out the hideout we were at is close to the entry gate. I couldn't realize it because of the pressure and the stress of running around, not knowing what to do.

  We all go to hide in bushes close to the entry.

  Jiaolong and Orga's role is to apprehend the guards in case something goes wrong, so they stand closer to the gate.

  According to Melissa, at this point in time with the sun setting, the guards work less since the barrier activates. This is the perfect moment for infiltration.

  Roger enters the guard's tent at the gate. After taking somewhat a long time, he finally gets out with a stack of papers in hand. As he leaves, a soldier comes his way and begins to chat. Roger is slow on his replies. The man tries to start something.

  I try to move, but Melissa holds my hand.

  "This is not what I expect of you." She says in a calm voice.

  As I look back, eventually Orga and Jiaolong are taking care of the issue. In a three-against-one, the soldier has no chance.

  Melissa smiles proudly, her eyes blazing like she's never been so happy about anything else.

  Is that the face of someone whose idea succeeds?

  The three men quickly run to us. Roger gives the stack of papers to Melissa while removing the mask.

  "Thanks. You did a great job." Melissa takes the papers.

  She quickly looks through them, separating them into two different stacks one by one. She then picks one stack and separates it into ten, handing one to everyone.

  "From here on, your mission is to deliver threats to the places each of these people stays at."

  "And how would we know?" I ask.

  "It's simple. Everyone on this list are temporary settlers. We'll visit motels and shelters close to the area of the incident, and then wait." She stands up. "With that said, may luck be with us."