A Far Leap Into the Fog: short story

Pg 7

I started slowing my pace as we were getting closer and closer to the destination and at this point I wasn't holding onto the Hunter any longer as he walked by my side. I was always a step ahead though as I knew this sewage was like the back of my hand and he still had to follow me through the darkness.

Then I came to a sudden stop and I threw my arm out in front of the Hunter to hold him back as the person I was coming to see, the girl, came racing out with a poisoned dripping dagger and I could see in the corner of my eye the Hunter gulping. I felt pity for him as I heard the hunters were fed and tortured to poison to build their imunaity to it. I'm sure this wasn't bringing back any good memories.

I step forward as I touch the girl's hand and she immediately lowers it.

"Я думал, ты никогда не придешь. Я думал, Охотники придут и заберут тебя."

Her voice is soft spoken like a song and I relax as I hear it. I grab her hand that doesn't have the dagger in it and I write in her hand with my left index finger.

'Я в порядке, мои братья и сестры тоже. Орда зомби приближалась, и они бежали вместе с остальными моими соседями. Знайте, что я не одинок.'

I watch the girl's expression change from being calm to guarded in seconds and she immediately faces Hunter as if she could see him.

"Он охотник?"

I write a simple, 'yes' in her palm and she tenses.

"Know that I do not like you or your kind."

There was a firmness in the girl's voice that I never heard her use. She speaks to the Hunter and I watch him nod his head stiffly at the girl's words. I nudge him as he faces me. I nod my head to the girl and I wave my left hand in front of my eyes hoping he'll get the message. He looks at me for a few seconds with a blank look before realization hits him and he faces the girl.

"Of course, I completely understand that. I am Rein Benjamin, part of quadrant 67 and my number is 7."

The Hunter speaks in a monotone voice as if he had to recite this line many times before and he doesn't even blink as he does so as the girl looks at him.

"I am Willow. I am what you call a scientist, although I am truly not one as I never went to school for the subject. But, that's only because school was very limited and my friend here is a very special case."