Zero to Hero

Chapter 21. Forest Revelation

BAM!

The resounding thud echoed through the forest as I was abruptly awakened.

"Get up already. It's going to get dark again if you keep sleeping!"

"He just lets you kick him like that?"

"What's he gonna do? Cut my legs off?" Tina remarked.

"Are you really capable of killing me when you let your girlfriend treat you like this?" Abigail questioned, her eyes narrowing at me.

"Not my girlfriend. More like a spoiled sister." I replied, earning another inexplicable smack from Tina.

Surveying our surroundings, I realized it must be late afternoon when I was finally awake, feeling surprisingly refreshed after a good day of sleep.

"Why are you still in that circle?" I questioned, observing that Abigail was still sitting inside the protection I drew.

"YOU said if I left the circle I would suffer the consequences!"

"Oh yeah... totally forgot. Anyways, I guess we will stay at this spot another night and get going tomorrow."

"Will my dad be alright?"

"The cut is clean so as long as they get the wound closed right away, his life won't be in danger."

"Should have taken both arms and the arms of everyone else and hers too!" Tina added, showing no sympathy whatsoever.

"If I take away all their ability to survive, it might as well be me killing them, and I don't want to kill anyone."

"She wanted to sell us into slavery! If you don't get rid of evil people and they cause other people to suffer, then it's your fault!" Tina passionately argued, making a valid point that I didn't want to think about.

"Ken. I don't want to admit, but I think Tina is right. I know it's hard and you would rather avoid harming others, but if you let evil doers go, they would just commit more atrocious acts and harm innocent people," Candace added, her voice carrying a weight of concern.

"Too much for me to handle right now. I can't just go from never seriously hurting anyone to judging who deserves to be sentenced to death," I replied, grappling with the moral complexity of the situation.

"Just another friendly warning because I don't want to die either. I would not venture any further into the forest."

"Why would we believe a criminal like you!" Tina accused vehemently.

"You think I enjoy tricking passersby and seeing people get enslaved?" Abigail replied angrily, defending herself.

"Well... I'm wide awake now, and we aren't going anywhere, so why don't you share your story. But don't lie this time," I suggested, sensing that there was another layer to the tale.

Taking a quick bathroom break with Tina guarding her closely, the pair returned with Abigail ready to share her side of the story.

"My people used to live deeper inside this forest. We lived a simple but happy life, but everything changed 5 years ago. Not long after the awakening, people started disappearing randomly, and eventually, we realized we were being hunted.

"A pack of wolves got corrupted during the awakening, and the pack leader seemed to have a grudge against us. By the time we realized what was happening, our village was already decimated, and most of our capable hunters were dead. We had no choice but to leave our village and go elsewhere because we were simply too weak."

"The town you saw us in was a ghost town when we arrived about 4 and a half years ago. We weren't sure why the town was empty, but we were glad to have found a new settlement. The happiness didn't last long as we soon found out why the town became a ghost town."