A beam of blue light instantly appeared out of the other side of the Warped’s skull, and the giant beast dropped, further pinning down the struggling man.

Bulco sighed in relief. “Nice shot, kid. Mind giving me a hand now?”

Nori narrowed her eyes and moved her weapon slowly, pointing it at the man’s face.

“Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Nori?” Lana came to stand next to her. “What are you doing?”

“We can’t let him live,” Nori said hoarsely. “I had to kill the Warped or it would have turned on us next, but if I’ll let Bulco go, he’ll never stop chasing us to get into that ship.”

“But he saved us!” the younger woman protested.

“Yes, I did,” Bulco said. “I didn’t have to.”

Nori shook her head. “He needs us to open the ship for him. We can’t trust him. He’s killed people.”

Bulco’s face darkened, and he stopped struggling against the monster’s weight. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, kid. Some people deserve to die.”

Nori pointed the gun at his face again. “We actually agree on something for a change.”

“Nori, don’t!” Lana cried desperately. “You’re not a murderer.”

“But he is!” she snapped back at her. “And in a time where humans struggle to survive, there’s no greater crime. People like him are a danger to our entire species. We can’t let him live.”

“Oh, I’m a danger to our species?” Bulco growled. “Why, because I killed a few people who deserved to die? I guess in your book, rapists and those who steal from children and the elderly should just get a slap on the wrist?”

Nori stared at him, flabbergasted.

Bulco clenched his teeth and with a powerful push, heaved the dead monster off of him and sat up. “That’s right. I used to live in the Grand Mall shelter. We were lucky—me, my wife and my daughter made it to safety there when so many others were caught by those monsters. Little did we know that there was no shortage of monsters inside. The gangs ruled there by force, taking whatever they wanted. Whoever they wanted. Some people thought that meant there were no more rules and they could do as they pleased. A couple of them snuck into our shack while I was away.” His voice cracked. “My wife and daughter were defenseless, but that didn’t matter to those bastards. When I got back I found their corpses. Bloody. Naked.”