After settling the trade deal, Rayne and Julian followed another member of the Ice Tigers towards the city. They walked a few blocks down the road when their escort stopped.
"This is where our territory ends. When you’re ready to leave, come back this way, and we will walk you back out. Oh... and one last thing, be careful if you run into the Blood Skulls, there’s something wrong with them," said the man before walking back.
Rayne pulled out her map and marked their current location so they could find it more easily later. Turning to Julian, she asked, "What do you think he meant by that?"
Julian shook his head. "It could be anything; the only way is to head over and find out." freewebnøvel.coɱ
They began to make their way to the west side of the city, where the Blood Skulls were located.
Rayne kept Molly’s warnings in mind and tried to avoid the central area where most of the conflict seemed to happen. They pushed forward down the streets, which were littered with toppled buildings and abandoned vehicles.
There was an eerie silence in the city, making it feel even colder than it really was.
"It seems too quiet; it’s giving me goosebumps," said Rayne quietly. Something was telling her that it wasn’t safe here.
Julian was also tense, constantly observing the surroundings. They ran from building to building, doing their best to stay in the shadows of the broken structures.
The route they chose circled around the center of the city, avoiding the direct middle.
They entered what used to be a large parking garage and climbed the broken concrete slabs up to the second floor. From here, they had a slightly better look at the large area around them.
Rayne pulled out her map once more and then pointed toward a building in the west. "That over there must be the pharmaceuticals building."
She pulled out two pairs of binoculars and handed one over to Julian. She carefully scanned the surrounding area to see if she could spot anything of interest.
"Look there, farther down the road," said Julian quickly.
Rayne looked over and noticed a scuffle. She counted eight men locked in a temporary deadlock—four of them had a blue armband, and the other four wore a red one.
She assumed that the people with the red armbands belonged to the Blood Skulls, while the others were Ice Tigers.
"There might be more than just the eight on the ground. It’s most likely why one side didn’t attack full-out yet," analyzed Julian.
Rayne continued to observe them with her binoculars. They all held cold weapons, mainly daggers and knives. It looked like they were arguing with each other, but she was too far away to hear what was being said.
Just then, something must have happened because the eight men on the ground began to fight. They fought fiercely, aiming to kill. Rayne watched as they swung their knives at each other while continuing to argue.
"Who do you think will win?" she asked Julian.
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