PRDS - 4413 Part 1 Chapter 12: The Stranger

“It’s the serum and Claire.”

George confidently tells what the guy wants after I told him about the conversation with the stranger.

“He said he wants you to take her to a place? Think about it. There must be a connection to things. The series of events happen so quickly and very arranged.”

I do hear what he says. It feels like everything is set out perfectly. Just like a scenario written by an author. If I were to look for the author of this scenario, there must be one stranger that fits in. There are literally tons of things in my mind, but I have to do my job.

I look up the F3 area on the map. The COM. device calculates 54 hours by driving to get to the F3 area. Getting a vehicle is the first step of my job. And waking Claire up too.

“Is she okay?”

I ask Claire’s condition to Linda, who has been diagnosing Claire. Claire has not woken up since the encounter with the stranger.

“She is healthy and good but something is stopping her from waking up.”

“It must be that guy’s doing. Why is he doing all this? If he is the one that made P4R4D1S3 fall, what the hell is happening?”

I cannot stop myself from expressing the stress. I immediately recall what I decided before going into P4R4D1S3. I need to calm down, clear my mind, and focus on what I can do.

“I’m sorry, it was not my intention to spill any stress to you two.”

“It is all good, young man. I was also about to complain about the situation.”

George shortly comments on my apology. And Linda wordlessly smiles.

“Linda is just bad at complaining. She barely says anything about anything. I do the complaining instead most of the time.”

“He needs to calm down just a little bit. Sometimes.”

I don’t tell Linda and George about the tremendous amount of people locked in P4R4D1S3. I only tell them the time limit. I think it is better to contain this information for now.

“How long was I in there? Do you know?”

I was totally unconscious for a while. I may have lost track of time. I don’t remember how I went unconscious. I ask the couple, it seems they have no idea how they even got out of P4R4D1S3.

I recall the moment I saw the guy with a grey gas mask.

Nothing.

“I see we all went unconscious at the same time. How is that possible?”

“Gas. Remember what Claire told us? If he is the reason for all these happenings, he must be using the same method.”

Linda suggests an explanation. I’m not sure if the explanation is the fact or not. George seems like he’s processing the explanation.

“We had air filtering masks on. Gas cannot make us fall asleep.”

Claire wakes up with a sharp point. I quickly check on her.

“How are you feeling, Claire? Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Just feeling dizzy a little.”

“Sounds great. We may need to move fast. Can you follow?”

Claire nods.

The sun is rising from the east. The F3 area is located far east of where P4R4D1S3. A vehicle is the first priority.

“ We need a vehicle to get to the F3 area in time.”

“How do we get a vehicle on earth? Do FREEMANs have enough fuel to drive around?”

George may be considering taking a vehicle from FREEMAN, but it is too complicated in several ways. ‘Lyfts’ are too dangerous to ride around, but it is the only choice we have.

“Alright, we should go get Lyfts. We can start moving with that.”

Finding Lyfts is not that difficult. I remember the place where many of them were piled up.

When everyone is ready, I confirm the way to the F3 area. Less than 71 hours is left. I tell Claire and the Goldrich couple to follow tight. With Lyft, it is very likely to get spotted by the FREEMANs and get attacked. But I cannot waste more time around P4R4D1S3 anymore. Every minute late, one person dies. I did not want to think about why the guy had so many people as hostages. I shouldn’t even think about it.

“Heyyyy. Should’ve been more careful riding that around.”

“Where are you going? Busy? Give us all you have and we let you go.”

I didn’t expect their attention this fast. FREEMANs’ jeep approaches closer. I see some of them pulling their guns out.

“Better stop? Right? P4R4D1S3?”