The Runners

A soothing walk.

"What do you mean they got away! They're only four men" The Man said with seething anger in his voice, barely muffled by his mask. "We dont know sir, we think they were listening in to the radios sir." The Smaller man said with fear.

"I told you to keep an eye on them, that they needed to be watched extensively!" The smaller man shrunk and replied, "I'm sorry sir, I told them to increase security around them and they did. I dont know what else I could've done."

The Man takes a breath through his nose and screams, slamming his gloved fist onto the heavy wood desk causing it to break in half.

"I told you they were dangerous!" He takes a second to breathe and continues calmly, "Get the fuck out of my office john."

The smaller man rushes out of the room as fast as he can. The Man crouches down and presses the button on the intercom on the broken desk, asking "Jess, could you order me a coffee." He looks at the desk and adds to his request solemnly "and a new desk." The voice on the intercom replies calmly, like she's used to it. "Yes sir."

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I wake up to the feeling of cold breath on my face. I open my eyes and see a deer in front of me, sniffing my face. The sight of me opening my eyes startles it, causing it to run off. I sit up and look around me. It's midday and I'm outside and the autumn wind blowing by. I look by the campfire and see ren is also here and is passed out.

I go inside and make some coffee and notice that Ries and Sovetsky arent here. I pour the water and replace the filter. I go to grab the coffee grounds but I notice a note. "We're out of coffee and a few other things, Ries and I went to the store to grab some supplies."

I stare at the note and sigh, that coffee would've helped me a lot. I look around in the cupboards, fridge, and pantry for anything that could wake me up, after looking in the pantry I find a box of black tea bags. "This will have to do," I say to myself.

I walk outside with two cups of tea and wake up Ren. "What the fuck, why am I outside?" He asks but not to me. I answer anyway, "I guess we drank too much and they didn't want to drag us back inside." I presume. I hand him one of the cups and sit down on a log to drink mine. "What's this?" He questions as I hand him the drink. I take a sip and answer "black tea, We're out of coffee so I had to make do with what we have."

We sit and drink silently, too tired to make idle conversation. I watch the area around me, leaves falling, birds singing, and the water rushing down the small creek nearby. I look around and accidentally look at Ren and notice something on his face, scars. On the left side of his face are burn scars, faded but still there. "What's up with the burns on your face?" I ask absent-mindedly.

He spits out his tea and almost spills the rest, "oh shit, you ok?" I say " sorry just didn't expect you to blurt that out so randomly."

He takes a second to finish the drink and continues, "It was an accident, during an experiment I was doing. I created a spark in a container that was filled with flammable gas and the flame shot out and burned me. Nothing too serious." I nod my head and continue drinking. I stand up and start walking towards where the road is,

"where are you going?" Ren asks, I turn around and answer, "I used to take daily walks, I miss doing that. So I'm going to take one." I turn back around and start walking

"What if something happens and I can't reach you?" He shouts, "You have my number, if anything happens call me." I shout back.

The Road is quiet, and my mind is as well. After 15 minutes of walking I notice something, The forest is quiet. All I hear is the sound of leaves crunching under my shoes. But there is something else, an echo. After every step, I hear one just like it milliseconds later like someone is following me.

I stop but as I'm about to place my foot down I let it hover above the ground, I hear it, a footstep. Leaves crunching to the left of me. I continue walking, acting like I haven't noticed my stalker.

I notice up ahead there is a group of trees and brush that jut out from the forest and close to me, I walk towards it.

I walk into the trees and hide quickly, and as I do I see him, my stalker. He walks around looking for me, I start to sneak up on him, matching my footsteps with his. As we walk I slowly pull out my knife. I watch his feet and notice he's slowing down. We come to a stop, and he pulls out a radio and talks to someone

"I've lost him, I'm heading back. How are the prisoners holding up?" My grip on my knife gets tighter as he continues "Still not talking. That's a shame. keep up with the interrogation, we'll get something eventually." As he puts the radio away I get closer and subdue him, struggling to get him under control I smash his face into a tree, knocking him unconscious.

"Shit, I did not mean to do that." I groan. I flip him over, tie his hands up and pick him up and walk back to camp. I reach Into my pocket and call Ren. "Hey Mist, what do you need." He says between sips of some drink. "I was being followed by a soldier, do you know how to set up an interrogation room?" He takes a moment but answers. "Yeah, I know the in's and out's. It'll be done by the time you get back." he hangs up the phone and I keep walking back to camp.

I walk into camp and see the interrogation room If you could call it that. It's a chair, rope, and a tarp outside. "Uh, what's this," I ask Ren, who is wearing a blacksmithing apron and a welding helmet. "You said we're interrogating someone, that usually means blood is involved. I dont want to stain my outfit." He says muffled by the mask. I drop the soldier onto the chair and tie him up. I take  a swig from my flask, partially exhausted from me having carry a heavy bastard back to camp

"Hey Mist, I got a gift for ya. Heads up." Ren says. I put my hand out to catch the silhouette and I bring closer and see what it is, a cane. I stare at it in awe, the craftsmanship and design of it are astounding.

The top is an ornate brass metal ball and the staff itself made of dense wood with engravings on it. "Where the hell did you find this?" I ask dumbstruck. "Sovetsky made it, he told me to give it to you. He said you would know to use it, you do know how to use it right?"

"Yeah, I've used one before. This is some superb craftsmanship, I'll have to thank Sovetsky once we find him." I absent-mindedly say as I admire the weapon in my hands.

"Well, where were we. Oh right, we were gonna interrogate this poor bastard." Ren laughs as he puts the helmet over his face. He walks up to the man and grabs a rag and bottle from the table next to him, soaks the rag with the fluid, and puts the rag under his nose. The guy wakes up and spits blood onto the ground.

"Where am I and why the fuck am I tied up. The man groans. "Because. We need you to answer some questions for us." Ren barked. The man looks up and smiles, "why would I ever tell you assholes anything? He says with a sneer.

 The sudden and loud sound of a wood splintering and bone-breaking is overshadowed by the scream of the man in the chair. "Because You have nine more fingers. And if I run out, I can always keep going up." I threaten as I ready the hamner for a another strike.

(Authors note: Hey I updated again, that's nice. As always I hope you enjoyed the story.  have a great day,  and valeas quam optime!