Saviors ; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥

066. ꕥ Too Much To Handle

My body was dragging me all through the woods. There was some part of me that thought maybe if I wandered around long enough, I would see John. I knew I should go back to camp, be where it was safe, but I couldn't bring myself to. Not yet.

I didn't recognize the woods surrounding me; I must've wandered off far. Everything around me felt unfamiliar, the trees, the ground, even the smell. It was still early morning, but it didn't feel like it.

I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings, not even when I heard rustling behind me. My eyes didn't even falter in the direction of the sound. They didn't move from the path ahead of me until someone spoke behind me. It was a Grounder; they spoke Trigedaslang, so I couldn't understand them.

I slowly turned around to be met with not one but three Grounders. They all wore a mask that covered their face, stopping just under their eyes, and they were in top to bottom armor. Their swords were out and held in front of them.

My heartbeat became fast as my eyes moved from the Grounders. I let out a deep breath, trying to straighten my stance to tell them I wasn't afraid when... that's exactly what I was.

"What do you want?" I tried to speak in a stern voice, but there was a slight break in it. My hand was hovering over the handgun on my side, ready to pull it out. The middle Grounder pointed their sword at me and started speaking, but not in English, causing a quiet sigh to leave my mouth. "I don't understand you, okay?"

The Grounder titled his head to the side. "Sky Girl." He spat with an intimidating and daunting voice. "What are you doing so far from your camp?"

I rubbed my tear-stained face. "Honestly, I don't know."

The Grounder to the left stepped forward and spat something in Trigedaslang. His voice was more intimidating than the middles.

The middle Grounder didn't say anything; he only nodded his head. The other two Grounders turned their heads back to me and started stalking my way.

"P — please." I pleaded as I started backing away slowly. "Don't hurt me."

Neither Grounder acknowledged that I even said anything; they just quickened their pace, and so did I. Before I started sprinting the opposite way, I took my gun out and shot one of the Grounders in the shoulder.

With my gun still in hand, I ran as fast as I could away. I could still hear the Grounders behind me. Their footsteps kept getting closer and closer.

I turned my head back only to be tackled down to the ground. The culprit was on top of me, trying to hold me down. I managed to pull my gun out and pointed it at the Grounder.

"Stop! I don't want to shoot you!"

The Grounders eyes flickered from the gun to me before we went to grab a knife out of his pocket. I didn't waste any time pulling the trigger, shooting the Grounder in the head. I had killed him — I took his life.

I pushed the dead Grounder off me and got up as quickly as I could. I didn't have time to even dwell on the fact that I had just killed someone because the sound of the other two Grounders approaching caused me to look back. My eyes went to the Grounder that lied on the ground. I killed him. I swallowed a lump in my throat before trying to take off again.