"Callighan," Liam called out from behind i as she reached the bottom of the staircase. "I brought her."
When he spoke those words, the man standing in the center of the room—Callighan himself—turned around slowly to face them.
i looked at him directly, looking the person she’d heard so much about from Ryan’s descriptions and warnings.
She wasn’t going to deny that she’d been genuinely curious to finally see this man that Ryan had spoken of with such concern—the murderer who’d apparently killed hundreds and was terrorizing survivors throughout Atlantic City.
He was a tall man, probably in his mid-thirties based on his weathered features and bearing. He had a lean but clearly muscular figure—the build of soone who’d maintained military fitness standards and combat readiness rather than just casual strength.
His dark brown hair was cut in a severe buzz cut, typical of military styling that prioritized function over appearance. And his eyes were equally dark brown—serious, cold, and intensely calculating as they assessed her with the focused attention of soone evaluating a potential threat or asset.
A deep scar ran prominently down his left cheek, the old wound creating a stark line through his face.
Looking at him objectively, i could clearly recognize that this wasn’t just so ordinary survivor who’d gotten lucky or stumbled into a leadership position. This was genuinely a dangerous, capable person.
"Who are you?" Callighan asked directly.
"Didn’t that man with the ridiculous crescent-moon hairstyle already tell you everything?" i replied sharply, crossing her arms and making absolutely no effort to hide her contempt toward him and this entire situation.
"No, he didn’t provide with details about your identity," Callighan responded evenly, seemingly unbothered by her hostile tone. His hand moved to touch the Alien Matrix device sitting on the table beside him. "He rely inford that you were part of a survivor group traveling to Atlantic City, and that you were in possession of this particular piece of technology."
"Then ask him for more information instead of bothering ," i shrugged dismissively, absolutely not willing to cooperate voluntarily with her interrogation.
"i is her na."
A cheerful, almost playful voice answered the question from across the room as a new figure entered the living space.
Gaspar was the one who’d spoken—the Symbiote Host who’d abducted her. He approached with his characteristic smirk firmly in place as he chewed gum casually, acting as if this entire situation was amusing entertainnt rather than a serious matter.
He walked directly up to i and blew a large bubble right next to her face while staring at her with obvious amusent, clearly trying to provoke a reaction.
"Move away from ," i said coldly, pushing at his shoulder to create distance.
But he didn’t budge at all, his enhanced strength making her attempt to move him completely futile. He just stood there looking even more amused by her obvious irritation.
"Well, well—what do we have here?"
Another man followed behind Gaspar into the room—the tallest and burliest person i had seen so far. He was a dark-skinned man with impressive musculature, his hair styled in neat cornrows braids, wearing only a white tank top that revealed his massive arms and the extensive tattoos covering them.
Just from a single look at his deanor and the way he carried himself, i could imdiately tell he was absolute trash.
He was leering at her with an expression that made her skin crawl—his gaze traveling slowly across her body as if he was physically licking her with his eyes, making her feel profoundly uncomfortable and disgusted.
Seeing how visibly disgusted and uncomfortable i appeared, the man seed to beco even more aroused and interested, clearly the type who enjoyed making won afraid.
He approached with a wide grin that revealed a distinctive gold front tooth.
"Where the hell did you find such a hot piece, Gaspy?" He asked, getting uncomfortably close to i’s personal space.
"Just picked her up on the road, Willy," Gaspar replied with a casual smile, settling himself lazily into a nearby chair. "You interested in her?"
"Damn, what a fine chick," Williams said, now standing directly beside i and invading her space completely. "Did you already fuck her or what? I need to know if I’m getting sloppy seconds here."
i kept her gaze turned completely away from him the entire ti, refusing to even acknowledge his existence with eye contact or response.
"You kidding ? I didn’t have ti for that shit," Gaspar smirked, though his attention seed more focused on examining the Starakian Matrix device than on the conversation. "Was too busy with another piece."
"What a complete dumbass—that’s your loss though," Williams laughed. "Now I’m going to thoroughly enjoy fucking this tight little Asian chick."
He reached out and grasped i’s arm roughly, his large hand encircling her bicep with bruising force.
"Let go of , you disgusting trash!" i spat out imdiately, trying to pull her arm free and thrashing to escape his grip.
But he held her arm with overwhelming strength, completely unmoved by her resistance.
"I absolutely love won who fight back," Williams said with an even wider smirk, clearly enjoying her struggle as he prepared to physically drag her away from the group. "Makes breaking them in so much more satisfying."
"Marcus."
At that mont, Callighan’s voice cut through the room.
"What’s up, boss?" Williams turned toward Callighan casually, clearly not concerned about potential consequences for his behavior.
Callighan gave him a penetrating stare.
"Release her," he said quietly. "We need her she has important information."
"Need her to talk?" Williams scoffed dismissively. "I’ll make the bitch talk plenty once I’m done with her. It’s not every day you get these proper, educated chicks to break down. Usually it’s just desperate survivors who’ll spread their legs for food."
"Marcus." Callighan called him again, and this ti his voice had dropped to sothing even colder.
Williams stared at Callighan for a long mont, clearly weighing whether to push the confrontation.
Callighan was actually shorter than Williams and didn’t have the sa imposing physical build. But his gaze was infinitely colder and stronger.
Williams continued staring for several tense seconds before finally clicking his tongue in irritation and releasing i’s arm abruptly.
"You’re no fun at all, Callighan," he muttered, then turned and walked away from the group entirely.
i imdiately stepped backward, putting as much distance as possible between herself and Williams while holding her bruised arm. She tried desperately to suppress the waves of disgust and rage threatening to overwhelm her composure.
"Now that was entertaining," Gaspar laughed from his chair, blowing another casual bubble with his gum as if he’d just witnessed amusing theater rather than attempted sexual assault.
"I apologize for Williams’s behavior," Callighan spoke up, completely ignoring Gaspar’s amused comntary. "He’s been incarcerated for five years. He’s still learning how to behave in civilized society."
i didn’t offer any response to that hollow apology.
Instead, she found herself wondering how many other absolute freaks like Williams were part of Callighan’s group. It seed obvious that he’d taken advantage of the outbreak’s chaos to escape from prison—because if he’d genuinely been serving ti, she seriously doubted it was for sothing minor like robbery. For him to have accumulated five years ant serious charges. He should have been serving significantly longer, which strongly suggested he’d escaped rather than completed his sentence.
"But don’t put all of us in the sa category," Callaghan continued, lighting a cigarette and taking a long drag before exhaling smoke. "I also did ti in prison, but as you can clearly see, I’m educated and civilized despite that background."
i just gave him an absolutely cold, unimpressed stare in return, not dignifying that self-aggrandizing claim with any verbal response.
"What exactly do you want from ?" She asked bluntly, cutting through whatever speech he was preparing.
Callighan exhaled another stream of smoke thoughtfully.
"Gaspar inford that your group was in possession of this device," he said, gesturing toward the Alien Matrix on the ground. "Honestly, I’m not particularly interested in the technology itself—I have no idea what it does or how to use it. But I am extrely interested in your group and its capabilities. What can you tell about them?"
i remained completely silent, offering absolutely nothing.
"He also ntioned that you were positioned in the middle of a road, just sitting there with vehicles parked," Callighan continued, apparently unbothered by her refusal to cooperate. "What was the reason for that? Were you waiting for soone? Perhaps other mbers of your group who were conducting operations elsewhere?"
"They had way too many vehicles for the number of people present, boss," Gaspar interjected with a smile. "Multiple cars and a whole damn camping van. There were clearly people missing from the group I encountered. And that feisty redheaded girl specifically told that ’Ryan will kill you’ when I was leaving. I didn’t see any Ryan among the people there, so yeah, there are definitely more mbers of their group doing sothing independently."
Callighan’s sharp eyes imdiately caught the subtle shift in i’s expression when Ryan’s na was ntioned—a micro-expression of concern or recognition that she couldn’t quite suppress.
He approached her more closely, his calculating gaze locked on her face.
"Do you know where this Ryan and the rest of your group are currently planning to establish themselves?" He asked, firing questions rapidly while watching for reactions. "Are they staying sowhere in Atlantic City? I suppose you may have encountered the survivor community settled along the Boardwalk—did the missing portion of your group go ahead to negotiate or et with them? Are you planning so kind of alliance?"
i continued maintaining absolute silence, her expression carefully neutral despite the increasingly specific questions.
"How about you just let Williams have so quality ti with her, Callighan?" Gaspar suggested with a dark chuckle. "He’ll definitely extract answers from her, though she’ll be pretty thoroughly broken by the ti he’s finished. Might reduce her usefulness for other purposes, but you’ll get your information."
i felt her nails digging painfully into her own crossed arms just hearing that casual suggestion, but she forced herself to remain outwardly impassive with her lips pressed firmly closed.
Callaghan instead just smiled at i—a surprisingly warm expression that sohow felt more threatening than overt hostility.
"You’re clearly loyal to your people, and I genuinely respect that quality," he said in what might have been a sincere tone. "But you don’t need to feel fear or threatened by us. We’re not your enemies unless you make us so. I can help your people—offer them a safe place to live in peace, provide protection and resources. All I ask is cooperation in return. So just call them. Bring them here voluntarily, and we can all benefit."
"We don’t need your help," i scoffed with obvious contempt. "We’ve survived this long—three months of absolute hell—without you. We can keep going indefinitely without joining your operation."
"This world has beco an extraordinarily dangerous place," Callighan replied seriously. "Far more dangerous than you probably realize. I genuinely doubt you and your group are fully aware of all the threats that exist now."
i scoffed in answer.
"Believe , we’re extrely aware," she retorted sharply. "We’ve survived considerably worse situations than anything you could possibly show us. I highly doubt your little group of psychos will make us witness horrors worse than what we’ve already experienced and overco."
Callighan looked directly into her eyes for a long mont, clearly trying to detect any deception or exaggeration in her statent.
He found no lies.
He chuckled slightly, apparently genuinely intrigued. "Now I’m actually curious about what you’ve faced. That’s not the response of soone bluffing."
Taking a step backward, he glanced toward Liam and gave a subtle nod.
Liam nodded, reaching out his hand toward i to escort her back to confinent.
But i imdiately slapped his hand away with sharp force.
"Don’t touch . I can walk on my own."
"You little bitch..." Liam glared at her with obvious anger at the disrespect.
But i simply walked past him independently, heading toward the staircase with her head held high.
Before ascending, however, she paused and turned back to give Gaspar one final, intensely cold look.
"Oh yes, Rebecca was absolutely right about what she told you," i said clearly.
"Hm?" Gaspar glanced at her with mild curiosity, wondering what point she was making.
i smiled at him, a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
"Ryan, that guy will likely kill you so you should start counting your remaining days carefully."
Then she turned and walked up the stairs without waiting for any response.
Gaspar leaned back casually in his chair, blew another lazy bubble with his gum while staring after i’s departing form, then smirked widely with what appeared to be genuine amusent rather than concern.
"Who the fuck is that Ryan?"
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