Feral → newt, tmr

Chapter 28: Reunite With An Old Friend

Jorge mutters under his breath, scanning the chaos around them. "This place has really gone through hell."

The group pushes through the thick press of bodies, moving toward the city’s entrance. The air is suffocating, thick with sweat, dust, and desperation. The shouting grows louder, voices fusing into one deafening roar.

"We just gotta stay together!" Thomas yells over the noise, his grip tightening on Katherine's wrist as they advance.

Ahead, a swarm of desperate people surges against the barricades, fists raised, voices ragged with the same desperate chant: "Let us in! Let us in! Let us in!"

Jorge glances around warily before calling out to Thomas, "This is not what you're looking for! All these people trying to find their way in, you think you're gonna find something they can’t?!"

Thomas barely looks at him, his jaw set. "Came this far. I'm not turning back now."

Frypan exhales sharply, his nerves rattled as he sidesteps a man pushing past him. "What the hell did we get ourselves into?"

Katherine stiffens, something prickling at the back of her neck. Her sharp gaze flicks over the shifting mass of people. Lurking at the edges, barely noticeable in the frenzy, are men—masked, unmoving, watching.

"This doesn’t feel right," she murmurs, eyes narrowing.

Newt catches the unease in her tone before he even follows her gaze. His fingers find hers, tightening in instinctive reassurance as he moves closer. "Hey, guys," he says, voice urgent, "we gotta go. Now."

Thomas glances back, brows furrowing. "What?"

Newt jerks his chin toward the masked figures advancing through the crowd.

Jorge swears under his breath, his instincts kicking in as his hand flies to his gun. But before he can even lift it, a deafening boom echoes from the walls, splitting the air like a thunderclap. The ground trembles beneath their feet. And then—silence.

For a heartbeat, the world seems to hold its breath.

Then chaos erupts.

Katherine flinches as people scream, shoving past one another, clawing to escape. Her heart pounds as she watches the panic spread like wildfire.

"What the hell?" she breathes, gripping Newt’s hand even tighter.

Metal groans above them. The machine guns mounted on the wall shift with eerie precision—

And lock onto the crowd.

"We gotta get out of here!" Frypan shouts, panic creeping into his voice.

The words barely leave his mouth before the first shots fire.

Bullets rain down. People collapse around them, screams morphing into agonized cries. The ground is slick, the air thick with dust and blood.

"Move your ass, you imbecile!" Katherine snarls, grabbing Thomas's arm and yanking him backward just as a bullet grazes where he stood a second ago.

Thomas blinks, coming to his senses, and they bolt.

Katherine keeps her head down, weaving through bodies, dodging the explosions that send chunks of pavement flying. But in the madness—