“Hundreds?” Serix breathed in amazement. If this was true, that meant the Plague had failed in a spectacular way. The estimated margin of error was only supposed to leave maybe fifty at the very most, and even that was extremely unlikely. There was always the chance this human was lying to frighten him off. In fact, if there were so many Earthlings, why hadn’t they taken the opportunity to attack him while he was alone? They would completely outnumber him. The prospect of there being that many humans left was becoming more and more unlikely as he thought about it. Still, there was an easy way to find out the truth.

“Take me to them,” Serix said, slackening his grip on the human’s wrist. He held up the Silencer so she could get a better look at it. “Don’t bother trying to run. I never miss.” It was technically true. He had only fired the Silencer once and he [i]had[/i] hit the hairy beast, but the human didn’t need to know that. In all reality, he hoped she wouldn’t force him to shoot her. He still had so many questions he wanted to ask. What was that creature from before? Did the humans really create mechanical beings that could work and fight? His curiosity was insatiable, and this human was his only link to finding the answers. However, he had a responsibility to his own people. If the human tried to flee, he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot her down. Even if he didn’t want to do it.

He wondered if any of the other Scouts had encountered these humans as well. Even if it turned out there weren’t hundreds, that didn’t necessarily mean this female was the only one left. Although if any of the other humans were spotted by his companions, they were probably dead by now. Their pilot had given them specific instructions to shoot any survivors on the spot, after all. Serix knew he was disobeying his orders, but he could just kill the human off later, right? Why not coax some information out of her first while he had the chance?

Another thought occurred to him. What if the human had some kind of trap set up? If there were others, she could lead him into an ambush. Surely the humans would have had enough time to scheme something up if they wanted to. He could be playing right into their hands. Still, he decided it was worth the risk. Judging from the abilities of the human he had in his grasp, he was stronger and faster than they were. He could fend off an attack if he had to.

“Lead the way,” Serix stepped aside and gestured to a ladder leading down from the top of the construction.