Heaven Awaits in Hell

"Let's go hurry!" Troy tried to help Mary up, but the next moment she once again fell on the ground.

It was a sprain.

Understanding her situation, Mary looked at them and said with despair, "You guys go! It's over for me…"

"No, Mary! How could we lea-" Fana cried out, but was interrupted by Mary.

"It's alright, Fana, it's better this way. How could I keep on living when all my family is gone? This must be fate…go…you still got Troy with you. Escape and start a new life," Mary said with tears in her eyes.

"You-" Fana wanted to change her mind, but she felt a pull on her arm from the side.

"She's right, Fana, we must hurry," Troy looked at her with a determined expression.

Seeing this, Fana gritted her teeth.

"I'll never forget you!" She forcibly got the words out of her throat with tears in her eyes.

"Go!" Mary smiled at her, which further filled Fana with immense guilt.

Fana and Troy soon turned around and started rushing away from the incoming wolves once again.

Looking at their backs, Mary was reminded of her beloved and a rueful smile formed on her face.

"Dear, I'm coming to meet you soon," She muttered as her death grew closer by the second.

Fana and Troy exerted everything they had to get as far as possible, but because of Mary's absence, Fana had to support Troy all alone.

As a result, their speed had considerably decreased.

Troy also was not doing well. His body was already physically exhausted, and because of the earlier blood loss, he was reaching his limits.

His sight had grown blurry, and beads of sweat continued to trickle down his forehead.

It was time for him to make a decision.

"F-Fana…" Troy muttered while struggling to catch his breath.

"What?" Fear was evident on Fana's face as she continued to support Troy and move as fast as possible.

"Leave me…you will be able to run much faster without me dragging you," Troy said as he slowed down his steps, leading them to a halt.

"Have you lost it? How can I abandon you?" Fana rebuked him, but Troy just shook his head.

"Go, if not both of us will die." Troy took out his sword from his side and said, "With my remaining strength, I'll hold them back. So, make sure to run as fast as possible."

Hearing his words, Fana finally lost her bearings and shouted, "Do you think I can survive in this forest without you?! If it's like this, let's die together!"

Troy felt a warm sensation when he heard her words. Even in this situation, to have someone stay with you was rare.

He tightly embraced Fana, "I'm sorry for not being stronger…"

Tears started falling down Fana's face. Fear was still very vivid on her face, but she forced herself and said, "What are you saying…you were the strongest. If not for you, I would not have survived until now."

Grateful for her words, Troy wanted to say something but was interrupted the next moment.

AHHHHH!

A blood-curdling screech echoed in the whole forest. Several blood-thirsty howls followed next.

Fana's face turned aghast when Mary's agonising screech entered her ears.

An image of wolves dismembering her and tearing away her flesh flashed in her mind.

'No..no..no..no! I don't want to die, I don't want to die …run…I must run,' She glanced at Troy, who had a defeated expression on his face after hearing the howls.

Fana reached her hands towards his arms, released herself from Troy's embrace and pushed him aside.

"I'm sorry!" She cried and, under Troy's surprised expression, ran away.

A while later, wolves surrounded Troy's lonely figure and pounced on him. He tried to fight back but was soon overpowered and died a horrible death.

Boom!

The sky rumbled in anger. The next moment, as if to mourn Troy's death, it started pouring heavily.

The scent of blood and sweat soon got submerged in that heavy rain, and the wolves found themselves directionless.

Meanwhile, Zion had run over ten kilometres in that period. He finally stopped in his tracks when it started raining.

"I'm safe!" He gasped for air. He had been running breathless for all this while. He turned to his side and decided to rest under a huge tree.

He collected some wide leaves from a nearby plant and stuck them in a gap on the tree's trunk. This protected his head from the rain. Getting sick was the last thing he wanted in this forest.

The next moment, he collected some water on a leaf and used this opportunity to quench his thirst.

With this done, he leaned his head back and rested it on the tree trunk before closing his eyes.

While it was important to stay vigilant, he also needed to recover as much energy as possible to continue surviving tomorrow.

Time passed slowly, throughout the night Zion's eyes opened several times, but he managed to get enough sleep by the time the sun came up.

As light entered through the gaps in the canopy, the forest grew alive.

Birds cooed like there was no tomorrow, and Zion was forced to wake himself up.

At his side, some leaves had collected enough water. He used them to satisfy his thirst and then, from a puddle, washed his face.

All freshened up, Zion was about to start moving deeper into the forest when he suddenly heard the sound of branches being stepped upon.

Alerted, he tightly grabbed his spear and turned to the source.

The sound was coming closer and closer, and Zion's heart started pounding like crazy.

However, when the figure became visible to him, his spear relaxed. It was a person.

With torn robes which were as muddied as their face, the person kept moving at a pace much slower than walking.

The person looked very exhausted and seemed to be on the verge of collapse.

"Run... run…" the person softly muttered and kept moving forward.

"Was it him?" Zion muttered, thinking about the fire which he saw last night.

While his thoughts were busy, the person collapsed on the ground. Zion rushed towards the person the next moment to check their breathing.

"Still alive," Zion said when he felt the person's breath on his finger. However, a frown soon appeared on his face when he saw the person's muddied appearance. It looked somewhat familiar.

Zion used the water from a nearby puddle and washed the person's face. His eyes widened the next moment as he muttered in surprise, "…Fana,"