The road is quiet, so there are no people or cars on the street because they knew and felt Zarod's presence was just near the place. That's why he said he works alone, not because his co-workers were asleep, but he may have killed them as well.
He really challenges Second. It was a miracle that she was not killed by his eyes.
Second pulled him away from her and ran towards the exit door. She forced the door open. She was startled by his quick movement, and he was right in front of her. Her eyes widened as he touched her neck with his left hand.
What is he planning to do?
She was even more frightened when she saw his long nails. He pressed his grip on her neck and forcefully pierced his sharp nails into her neck. She can feel the gradual tearing of the skin on her neck.
"Ah!" she twitched in pain. "H-Help!"
Someone help me, please. Anyone?
She continued to shout, but she got no response.
"How miserable," he murmured with no expression on his face.
She punched his left arm with her right hand and kicked him to release her from the stranglehold. When he released her, she ran quickly because she was looking for something.
"You're not getting away."
She let him chase her until he accidentally broke the fire extinguisher's glass panel. She picked it up and pressed something. She faced the fire extinguisher on his face. While he was busy, she smashed the glass door with a chair. The glass on the door is thick, so she hit it more and with all her might until it finally broke some fragments. Even though the hole she made wasn't that big, she can fit it.
She threw the chair over Zarod's head when he grasped her hair. She punched him in the face. She came out using the hole in the glass she made. She suffered from scratches and small wounds because of the sharp glass. As she ran, she accidentally stumbled. She forgot it was snowing here. She got up quickly and ran again, but she was more careful.
Second stopped at an abandoned house and hid on the side. She sat down and rubbed her bleeding neck and right knee. She hugged her knees. She feels the pain as tears drip from it. The cold temperature helped to numb her body somehow, but it didn't numb her emotional pain.
Why did First leave me?
They would've had a chance to defeat Zarod, and the game would have ended earlier than expected. She doesn't know if she was crying because of the pain in her knee and neck or because of First. Their lives are at stake here, so he shouldn't have left her. A single mistake earlier can be the cost of their lives.
She resumed walking. She rubbed her neck and knee to wipe the blood. She glanced at Big Ben. It is 2:35 am. She hung out at that convenience store for two hours. She guesses she has been walking for hours.
"Second! Where are you? Are you alright? Did that Zarod hurt you?!"
Her tears flowed again when she heard the voice of the one she'd been waiting for. Why is she crying? She shouldn't be crying.
She did not speak.
"Hey, answer me. Are you okay? Please, Second, answer me."
But maybe this is the consequence of earlier. She didn't immediately listen to him when he revealed that the cashier man was Zarod. She was allured by Zarod's eyes, which took her a moment before breaking into his eyes.
"Please talk to me. I don't know what I'll do if you get hurt. I want to hear your voice…"
Didn't he hear her speaking a while ago during the attack? She constantly communicated and asked for help, but there's not a single response. Can't he see her? Didn't he see that Zarod was about to kill her? Why is he asking her where she is and if she's hurt when he should know because he's watching over her from the screens?
"First?" she answered him as well.
"Second?!"
"I'm fine. I'm far from the convenience store. I've walked for more than an hour, but I don't know where I am." She observed the area where she is now. "I can still see the Big Ben, there are small houses-"
"I'm so worried. Are you hurt?" There was another hint of concern in his voice.
Second sighed. She could see the white smoke coming out of her nose and mouth.
"Yes. The truth is, I got cornered by Zarod, but I was lucky enough to escape."
When she heard First's overly concerned voice, she had lost her bad temper with him.
"I'm sorry."
They both fell silent for a moment. She knows she is mad at him. However, she shouldn't let her emotions control her. They are still a team. She should communicate with him to patch things up.
"Why, First? Did something happen, and you didn't control me?" She wants to hear his side.
"Actually... yes. I did something to the system to prevent you from dying, and the result is that we lost our communication, and I couldn't control you while you were engaging with the enemy. As of now, I cannot see you here on the screens for the next five hours. It also has to do with the system that prevented you from dying while having eye contact with that monster."
She was stunned by what he said. She trembled in fear. She gasped. She was supposed to be a corpse a moment ago. Then it will be game over for both of them.
When she talked to Zarod earlier, she was about to die in the glare of Zarod. And the result of avoiding her death was that she couldn't talk to him a while ago, and now he can't see her on the screens where he controls her for the next five hours. That explains everything. It's better that she has suffered from minor wounds rather than an exchange of her life.