Chapter 113: Ready Or Not

Gideon waited for Delilah to speak, but she wouldn’t even meet his eyes. It irritated him more than he expected.

’Did she really want distance to the point she couldn’t even look at me? This is getting ridiculous.’

He cleared his throat. "If you don’t have anything to say, I’m leaving."

He turned to go, but Delilah grabbed his hand before he could take a step.

"No, wait. It’s about those people... and the lab," she said. "I think they came to the bunker to investigate it."

She paused, and Gideon stayed silent, waiting. He didn’t know enough about the factions or how they connected, so for now, he had nothing to piece together.

"Eagle Union has always opposed the Order of the West. I think they’re trying to get whatever’s inside the lab and use it against the government. That’s what I believe."

"That actually makes sense... They could be using the Skull Fang symbol to hide their identity. But then why use the pin too?" He rubbed his chin.

She shakes her head, not sure why.

For now, he pushed aside his irritation toward Delilah. This mattered more. He had heard enough earlier to understand why she hesitated when talking to Jade.

"You never told anyone about the lab, did you?"

Delilah nodded. "Jade leads Freebound. She hates the government that much. If she knew, she’d take whatever’s inside and turn it into a weapon, just like Eagle Union."

She hesitated again. "I don’t want to start another war when we’re already fighting nature itself. People should be helping each other, not trying to destroy one another."

Her reasoning made sense. Still, it told him something else. Her trust in Jade wasn’t as strong as he had assumed.

"Then what do you want to do?"

"I promised I’d bring you there. So let’s go before everything turns messy."

"After that?"

Delilah’s eyes widened. She rubbed her arm before answering, "I’m going to blow it up." She took a steady breath. "There’s C-4 hidden behind that door. We can use it."

Gideon caught the hesitation in her voice. Not just hesitation, it was a clear sadness.

He understood. That bunker had saved them. It was where her daughters had grown up. It wasn’t just a place, it held a lot of memories they spent as a family and a place where their memory of Leon freezed in place.

"Are you going to tell Freya or Summer?"

She shook her head. "No. It’ll only complicate things. It’s better to destroy it today."

"I think they’re old enough to be part of this decision. They’ll understand."

His mind flicked back to the past. Callista had been the same. Always deciding things on her own, always saying he wouldn’t understand, even when he was old enough to have an opinion.

To her, he had always been a child and he was certain Delilah saw him the same way.

It irritated him more than it should. He wanted to argue, to push back, but stopped himself. This was her family. Even if he spoke, she wouldn’t listen.

"Alright. Let’s go. We don’t have much time."

Delilah let out a quiet breath of relief. "Thank you, Gideon."

***

They rode with just the two of them, under the pretense that they needed to retrieve something else from the bunker. Summer didn’t mind at all. She was planning to have Elaine check on her pregnancy anyway, just to make sure the baby was healthy.

Gideon wasn’t entirely sure it was a good idea. Elaine was close to Delilah, after all. But since Summer seemed so certain the doctor wouldn’t reveal her secret, he decided to trust her judgment.

By the time they arrived, the sky had already turned heavy with clouds. The sun looked as if it had been swallowed whole, buried behind layers of grey, while distant thunder rolled across the horizon.

Gideon stepped out of the vehicle, Delilah following right after. Both of them paused, glancing up at the sky.

"Rain?" he said, a hint of disbelief in his voice. This would be his first time seeing rain in this world. He had thought he never would again.

"We need to get inside. The rain isn’t good for people," Delilah said quickly as she moved to open the hatch.

They both went in without wasting another second.

The moment he stepped inside, Gideon caught the sharp scent of metal and something earthy, almost like roots. It made him grimace. His sense of smell had always been sensitive, and he hated the scent of blood, especially human blood.

"Wow... the fight must’ve been brutal, huh?"

Delilah nodded as she guided him down the hallway, a flashlight steady in her hand. "We didn’t have a choice. It was better to kill them fast... though it was a mistake to kill all of them. She should’ve left at least one alive." She let out a quiet sigh.

"She?" Gideon repeated.

Delilah didn’t answer right away. She was already pushing the kitchen door open. Gideon stepped in to help, forcing it faster and then he froze at the sight inside.

The place was completely wrecked. Plates and mugs lay shattered across the floor, mixed with dark stains of blood splattered along the walls and smeared across the ground.

Bullet marks riddled the surfaces, and one entire section of the wall looked like it had been smashed apart by sheer force, as if someone had punched straight through it.

He took a step forward and felt something soft under his foot.

The lights flickered back to life, Gideon looked down. His expression twisted as he realized what he had stepped on. Was it part of someone’s stomach or brain? Honestly he couldn’t differentiate it because of its shape.

Now, with the room fully lit, the scene became even worse.

"Oh wow... you guys were really enthusiastic," he said, his voice laced with dry sarcasm.

Delilah exhaled slowly. "It’s not like that. We didn’t know their abilities or how strong they were. It was safer to wipe them out quickly."

Gideon glanced around again, taking in the damage, the precision hidden beneath the chaos.

"Elaine wiped them out fast. I can tell. This isn’t how you fight."

Delilah hesitated. Her expression tightened slightly. "Don’t say anything to Elaine. She wants to keep it a secret."

Gideon gave a small nod.

They moved on, heading down to the lower floor. The scene there was similar, though slightly less destructive. Still bad, just... cleaner.

They walked more slowly this time. Gideon noticed it immediately, the way Delilah’s steps lost their certainty, the hesitation creeping into her movements.

"What’s actually inside that lab?" he asked.

Delilah kept walking for a few seconds before answering.

"Not much. It’s a small lab... more like a branch facility." She paused, she clenched her hands. "But there are documents there."

Another pause. This one lingered longer.

"documents that made my husband..." Her voice faltered, as if the words themselves had turned bitter. "...become the way he is."

Gideon’s eyes narrowed slightly. Now he wondered what kind of information could drive a man that far. And more importantly whether he was ready to see whatever lay beyond that sealed door.