People who were not prepared for such a situation panicked.

"We must escape!" Marcus shouted.

"We have to get everyone out first!"

As soon as I finished articulating the last word, I collided with someone, and I'd have fallen backward, but he surrounded me in his arms while stopping. I recognized his aroma instantly. Anthony.

"What are you doing here?! Get out of this place!"

"We told her that," Marcus complained. There was a loud rumble, and we ran again. "Quick, we must save the toxin!"

When crossing a corridor, we encountered Julio.

"I have a helicopter waiting. We must carry the toxin!" he shouted while we heard another rumble.

I didn't know if they had already entered and were behind us.

"Listen, gentlemen!" said a solid male voice from an outside speaker. "We know what you have and want it now, or we will kill you all. You decide."

"How polite," Marcus said sarcastically.

There were more rumblings, and we entered the laboratory; Julio ran to get the toxin out of the security box, and there was another rumble. No doubt they had already shattered the reinforced glass with something big because we heard their grunts too. Anthony blocked the entrance with one of the heavy tables just before they crashed into the door.

The evolved men outside murmured something and suddenly began to crash against the door again. Anthony held the table so they couldn't get in, and Marcus ran to help him.

"I have it. Let's go!" Julio announced.

"We're stuck," Marcus exclaimed as he held the table.

"Over here," our superior guided us.

He removed a shelf and opened a small door that revealed a staircase.

"Wow, I should have guessed that we had something like that."

We used it until we reached the second level and ran to the other stairs to get to the roof, listening to the damage caused by the EH in the lower level. Everyone in the hospital had managed to flee in the helicopters.

"Run, run! Oscar is going to leave the basement parking with a fake toxin. Hopefully, that will distract some of them!"

Another EH group burst through a hallway, and they came so fast that Anthony pulled me to dodge them and go somewhere else. My friends looked at us.

"Marien!" Marcus held rosy.

"Save the toxin!"

"We'll send you a helicopter from the capital!" my friend promised.

I ended up locked up in another small room with Anthony. I was breathing agitated and got next to him, scared. The whole building was dark, and I felt lost for a few seconds, succumbing to panic. 

They would catch me...

"It's ok. They don't come after us. They wanted the toxin," he tried to calm me down.

Everything was silent except for my restless breathing. He didn't seem to be so exhausted. We couldn't stay there anyway. The EH had said that they would kill us if they didn't get the toxin.

"I know where the weapons are, just in case," I warned.

"Well, show me."

He made sure there was no one, and we left. There were hidden weapons on the first level, so it would only be a matter of walking a few hallways downstairs. The window at the end of the hallway was broken. I was surprised to see how quickly the evolved men had reached this level. They climbed very well.

The wind blew from behind, and Anthony tensed right away, turned around, and put me behind him in a protective gesture. I heard a slight sinister laugh coming from the other side of the hall, not very far. I peeked and saw an evolved man standing before us.

"Bad, very bad," he said.

"Go away," Anthony warned, trying to remain calm.

I was really scared. It seemed Anthony heard something else behind me because he backed up, pushed me, and put me against the wall, covering me with his back. On the other side of the hallway, another man appeared. Now I felt terrified. I should have assumed that it wouldn't be so easy. 

The two of them seemed satisfied with what they saw.

"Seriously?" the first one scoffed. "Are you going to protect her?"

"How naive," the other spoke. "We all know you won't be able to make it against the two of us."

"It doesn't matter. I will enjoy killing this little traitor," added the first.

What? They knew in some way that he had been with evolved before, perhaps because of his scent.

The men laughed and threw themselves at us so fast that I could barely react and instinctively covered myself with my arms when I felt an impact. Anthony had hit one, making him crash into the opposite wall, while the other EH had caught him, and they were struggling. Anthony managed to free himself and hit him, but the other man rammed him. 

I was horrified to see that the two had attacked him. They would kill him. Those things had tremendous strength. One punched him, and the other grabbed him by his shirt and began knocking him against the wall.

"STOP!" I yelled.

They laughed sickly as they hit him harder against the concrete wall. I shuddered every time I heard the thud that caused his body with every blow. The evolved man threw him a few feet away, and I wanted to run to see him, but the other EH caught me so soon that I didn't see him coming. I let out a scream, and he started to drag me to the end of the hall, approaching the edge.

"Let her go!" Anthony shouted.

He stood up quickly, seemed intact, and ran to me, but the other man rammed into him, biting his shoulder, and they hit the wall again. He screamed in pain but clenched his teeth to shut up and kick him.

"No..." I murmured, almost in tears.

I knew the EH's jaws were powerful; if they wanted, they could tear the flesh as if it were bread. Anthony turned, nudging the man, hit him again with his elbow, and finished turning with a punch with his other arm.

The evolved who held me prisoner began to laugh low. Anthony ran towards us, but my oppressor pulled my hair and threw me into the void. 

Helpless.

In less than a second, I felt the immense horror of the fall and let out a scream. It was the most frightening sensation I had felt in my life. 

I was caught. We turned and crashed as if a truck had rammed us.

The blow had left me numb. My head was spinning. I struggled to focus my eyes and realized that I was on top of Anthony. We had fallen on a car in the parking lot. I got scared and took his face.

"No, no, no..." I shook him slightly. He was crazy!

He opened his eyes and began to blink, confused. 

I hugged him in relief. He was very strong. An ordinary man wouldn't have been able to withstand those blows, neither the bites nor this fall. I didn't assimilate what was happening.

Something fell on the car, causing another loud noise. Anthony put his arms around me and turned on his back to get off the hood. Again, it was so fast that I realized we were already standing, and he was before me.

The evolved man was on the top of the car. The second one fell also, then jumped down and landed on the asphalt. I was thoroughly shaking.

"You can leave. I'll take care of it now," one said to the other. He was the leader. "I'll have some fun here."

The other man nodded and ran away fast. They could run twice as fast as an average man. The leader took a few steps toward us.

"Fight with me. I want to see your full potential."

Anthony didn't answer, and the EH began to growl. The boy pushed me to the side and was rammed. I cried out of surprise at how quickly that had been, and I soon realized that I meant a burden to him. I knew these beings were ruthless, I had to do something, but I couldn't find anything on the ground with which I could hit him.

I listened to the blows and the EH's grunts from time to time. Anthony held some shouts, which made me shiver too. It was a tough thing to bear. I didn't know if I should look for a gun and come back or stay and help in another way. The being bit his arm, threw him to the ground with a punch, and began to kick him in the stomach.

"Leave him alone!" I screamed desperately. "He's just a boy! Leave him!"

The man turned with an incredulous look and launched at me. I reacted and wanted to flee, but he reached me in one second, making me scream in horror; he put an arm around my neck and squeezed me tight, turning to face Anthony, who was breathing hard and trying to stand up.

"Release her..." he said in a weak tone of voice.

The man put his hand on my abdomen, letting me feel the tip of his claws. I complained of pain and fear. 

"Come on, fight for real, or I'll get bored!" the man exclaimed and moved his hand, ripping my skin with his claws.

I cried, but he covered my mouth sharply while I kicked into the air, trying to escape.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Anthony roared, surprising me.

He began to let out a loud growl. That sound of my nightmares. The mixture of a furious dog and that of a big feline about to attack. Under the street lights, I just noticed it. He clenched his teeth showing the fangs. 

Oh my God. Fangs!

And his eyes... His eyes were...!

"If you don't come for her, I'll kill her," the EH warned. "Give me a good fight at once!" The man threw me to the side, and I fell to the ground. 

I heard more furious grunts from both and turned terrified to look; both struggled in an intense fight.

Anthony surprised me with his speed, easily dodged his attacker, and responded with heavy blows. He managed to reach his arm and bit him hard; the man let out a short grunt and responded with a knee blow, freeing himself from Anthony's grip, then tried to punch him, but Anthony had already come forward, dodging it, and managed to bite him by the ribs. 

The evolved man screamed again, and I was horrified when I saw Anthony pull hard and tear out some flesh. It lowered my blood pressure. I felt that now any of them could turn around and come to kill me.

The man kicked him a few feet away and grabbed his side, covering the wound caused by the bite. Anthony hadn't lost his balance and had fallen on his feet, skidding on the asphalt. He wiped the blood from his mouth with his forearm, breathing agitatedly, and showed a wicked smile.

"What's the matter? Are you giving up?" Anthony asked. "Didn't you want a good fight?" he mocked. I could almost hear him purring. Even his gaze was different. That was not the friendly and kind Anthony I knew. Marcus was right.

The EH growled furiously and re-launched the attack.

"No... stop," I barely murmured.

I covered my ears so as not to hear those screams and roars of pain and fury. I couldn't believe that I had come to think that Anthony was too good to be one of those savages, and now I was witnessing otherwise. 

The EH fell close to me, crouched quickly to jump against Anthony, who was getting closer, jumped into him, and blood splashed me. I buried my head in my knees, with my hands covering my ears.

I ventured to look again. I had to escape!

The EH was pushing Anthony away, who was almost on him, showing his fangs, eager to tear more flesh with another bite. The man punched him, but Anthony dodged, imprisoned him with his arm, and slammed him into the asphalt with a fast and strong movement. 

The man didn't move anymore.

I stood up, still horrified. The EH was covered in blood, and Anthony too. He fixed his feline and cold gaze on me, and I froze. If he threw himself to kill me, I wouldn't have a chance to flee.

Anthony slowly raised his hands, like someone who wanted to indicate that he had no weapons. Well, his strength was enough to kill me. 

He looked at me cautiously. "It's ok. I don't bite, remember?... I won't hurt you," he assured me in that sweet voice.

Now he was utterly another one, the Anthony I knew. He began to approach slowly. Then, I realized I was shaking and tried to concentrate on stopping, or he would notice. Now a thought was present, and I needed to say it, shout it if possible.

"You are an evolved," I accused him. He stopped, but he was already before me. "You tricked us all this time?!"

He looked at me regretfully and fell to his knees, lowering his hands. He had bloodstains on his clothes. His shirt was torn, and his face and arms were also stained with blood.

"I had to do it."

"I don't see the need," I replied roughly.

"You hate us..."

That 'Us' made me react somehow.

"It's not that I hate. It's... resentment, more than anything," I excused myself.

"Forgive me..." He really sounded regretful.

Anthony looked vulnerable; I could swear the wild EH I saw just now was not him. It seemed a lie, a bad joke in my mind, but his blood-stained cheek reminded me that it had not been a bad dream.

As people said, predators were unpredictable.

"There was something about you..." he continued. "You look like a good person." He looked down in shame. "Sorry, I didn't want you to hate me. I don't hate you..." Then, he looked at me again. "And I want to take care of you." 

I felt a stab of pain and squeezed my abdomen. It was the wound the EH caused. At least it was superficial. 

Anthony looked at me, worried. "I can do something about that," he said, standing up, and I stepped back instinctively. "Please... it's still me." He extended his hand. "I won't hurt you; I swear."

I noticed something.

"You have no claws." 

He lowered his hand and smiled slightly. That smile brought me memories; he was still Anthony, after all.

"I cut them often, although I was worried that you still noticed that my nails were thicker and harder than those of a normal human," he admitted.

My heart had softened. Despite his lie, I still liked him, even though he was a wild EH, and I was grateful that he was fine. 

I finally approached and hugged him tightly, but the pain in my abdomen caused me to release him immediately and complain. He pulled away a few inches and lifted my blouse a little to see the wound. I had four shallow cuts, around three inches long. It was no longer bleeding but burning.

"I have to find some first aid cabinet in the rubble," I murmured, looking towards the building.

"There is no need. My saliva is antiseptic," he said, smiling.

I could see the fangs. I wondered when they grew up. Maybe that was why he didn't leave his room anymore, and after the power outage, I didn't have the opportunity to see his face very well.

"Can I?" he asked.

He sat on one knee, pulling me out of my thoughts, shot me a fleeting glance, and looked back at my abdomen. I was absorbed. I just caught what he had said. Was his saliva an antiseptic?! 

I opened my mouth, shuddering to feel how he gently licked one of the cuts. He cocked his face and delicately ran his tongue over the other cut. When he finished, he stood up, and I kept my mouth open, stunned.

"I'm sorry you had to see all this... I was going to tell you today, hoping you wouldn't decide to experiment with me." His deep voice was as kind as ever.

"I know someone who had enjoyed cutting your belly," I said, smiling a little.

He approached me even more. I looked up and looked at his eyes' green iris very closely. They were different, bigger than those of humans. His pupils seemed to have increased in diameter because of the darkness, they were twice their previous size, and I didn't remember seeing them like that last night. I had many questions to ask.

"I know I can convince you and the rest of humans to stop using that toxin."

I was absorbed while his penetrating gaze invaded me—the look of a dangerous feline. 'Calm down, Marien, he won't attack you... He could, but he won't, right?'