Leave with me

Nick finally opened a document named "Stray Dog," and a faint smile crept onto his lips.

It seemed the three countries' militaries had not been entirely idle. Before handing the canyon project over to Black Lake, roughly twenty-odd years ago, they had set up a final procedure in the canyon: the Stray Dog Plan.

"Stray Dog" was the code name for a specially designed nuclear warhead with a yield of 100 kilotons. It used plutonium-239, which had an extremely long half-life, as its core material and was fitted with a rugged, simple, maintenance-free, purely mechanical fuse.

The Big Ears above the canyon were the safeguards for this nuclear bomb. Once all the signal jammers failed and exposed the canyon, the detonation sequence would begin.

After a two-minute countdown, the nuclear bomb would erase the entire canyon and all its secrets from the world.

The document even helpfully noted the lethal range of the bomb's thermal radiation: 4.2 kilometers.

After reading the document, Nick knew what to do. He shut down the computer and began removing the hard drive.

He certainly still remembered how the Umbrella Corporation had met its end in the Resident Evil series. The evidence on this hard drive was enough to bring the same fate down on Black Lake.

Of course, putting that into practice might still take some work, such as finding a way to make the data on the drive public quickly and effectively.

Seeing Nick wrap the hard drive in layer after layer of waterproof bags before handing it to her, Dahlia widened her eyes slightly. "Why aren't you carrying it yourself?"

"Before we get out, there are some things I need to tell you." Nick placed his hands on the girl's shoulders, then dropped a bombshell. "I'm not from this world."

"..."

Dahlia looked at Nick as though he were insane.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm serious."

Nick simply materialized the Magic Movie Ticket, which was still torn in two, let it hover in midair, and told her everything about where he had come from.

"Nick, this isn't the time for jokes."

Dahlia stared blankly at the Movie Ticket defying the laws of physics. Though some part of her subconsciously sensed that Nick could not possibly be joking with her at a time like this, reason still made her instinctively refuse to believe his fantastical claims.

"I'm not joking, and there's no reason for me to joke about this. I'm only telling you because I want you to know that you don't need to worry about whether I live or die. You have to make it out alive.

"I've fallen for you, so I don't care whether the mission succeeds. I only want you to live a safe, peaceful life."

Before Nick could even finish, the girl seized his collar. "You mean keep living in a world without you? You're all I have left now!"

That sudden "confession" stunned Nick, leaving his mind instantly unable to think. Only the latter half-"You're all I have left now!"-kept repeating in his ears like an echo.

Dahlia's voice had not actually been very loud, yet it sounded deafening to him. Anything he said at a time like this would be superfluous. He lowered his head and kissed her.

Just then, the Magic Movie Ticket suddenly moved on its own. Its two torn halves radiated a dazzling golden light, separated, and circled rapidly around the two of them before returning to their original position, where they continued hovering, light flickering all around them.

Still dazed, Dahlia stared blankly at the scene, tears rolling from her eyes.

She believed Nick now, but she also clearly realized that if this was true, there could be no future for the two of them.

Nick, however, looked somewhat vacant, as though something had suddenly shocked him.

Only after a long while did he ask hesitantly, "Dasha, would you be willing to leave with me?"

Dahlia blinked in confusion in his arms, not quite following. "Leave this place?"

"Leave this world."

Nick showed her the Magic Movie Ticket in his hand, which was still giving off a faint glow. A line of small print flashed a few times, then dimmed, though it remained legible.

"Couple Pass?" Dahlia read the two words in the small print and looked up in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"It means my mission reward has been changed to this. As long as you agree, I can choose you as my companion and take you with me when I leave this world."

Nick lowered his head until their foreheads touched, and a message passed from him into the girl's mind.

"Don't rush to agree just yet. The reward won't take effect until we've dealt with Black Lake and completed the mission. Now you don't have to worry about me dying before you. I'll do my best to stay alive until the end of this mission."

This time, Dahlia was the one who kissed Nick. Only after a long while, when their lips parted, did she murmur, "I will. Of course I will..."

With danger all around them, they obviously could not keep nuzzling each other like this forever. A short while later, they composed themselves. Dahlia tucked the hard drive into the deepest part of her backpack, then looked up at Nick with eyes full of tenderness and a hint of something complicated.

"Let's go. We need to get out as quickly as possible. I've already worked out a rough plan for what comes next." Nick concealed the reel of film on his person. It was also extremely important evidence.

They retraced their steps and soon reached the bunker entrance. Dahlia pressed her ear to the steel door and listened for a moment. After confirming there was no activity outside, she joined Nick in pushing the heavy door open.

Yet the instant the bunker door opened, the sight before them stunned them both.

Fog still filled the air outside the bunker, but now a bonfire blazed in a clearing a little over twenty meters away. A tall Hollow Man sat beside it, occasionally adding a branch or two.

The sound of the bunker door opening made this Hollow Man raise its head to look at them, though it remained seated. More than a dozen Hollow Men cavalry riders emerged one after another from the fog behind it, riders and horses roaring at the pair in a show of intimidation.

For a moment, Nick and Dahlia were both too stunned by this bizarre scene to speak. Until now, they had understood these Hollow Men to be nothing more than "living dead" incapable of thought, acting purely on instinct.

But the scene before them, so full of swagger, completely overturned that understanding.

Dahlia was only briefly dazed. Seeing the other side acting as though the two of them were already in the bag, she quickly pulled out a grenade, loaded it, and aimed her gun toward the fire.

They were only a dozen or so Hollow Men, after all.

"Hiss-hah!"

The tall tree-man that appeared to be the Hollow Men's leader suddenly stood and roared at those behind it. Its "underlings" instantly fell utterly silent, making no further sound.

They were surprisingly disciplined.

Nick raised a hand and gently pressed Dahlia's muzzle down, signaling that there was no hurry and that they should first see just what the other side was up to.