Unicorn Riders - Pinch (English)

Chapter 20: Together

Higher and higher the sun rose over the Northern No Man's Land and warmed the mountains with its bright rays. And "Pinch" ran. She ran as if her life depended on it. But it wasn't exactly like that. It was someone else's life.

Now she could see a lot more of her way than the last time she was passing through. Taylor had led her in quite a hurry through the darkness, but still she knew she was on the right track. The camp could not be too far away anymore. But what would she do when she got there? She had very few options, especially against someone as gigantic as Whitmore. Her stun weapon was holstered in her belt. Three shots remained after she had gunned down Sykes with a storm of laser blasts. "Pinch" shivered when she thought about it. Not only because at this moment she had completely lost it, but also because Whitmore was not to be impressed at all by those three remaining shots.

The rest she could put up against him was pathetic. She had brought one of those big knifes from Sykes which replaced that one knife she had thrown at her. And the item from the backpack was finally unpacked and prepared - she had done it in the presence of the children who watched her in amazement, but also worriedly. They couldn't even picture what "Pinch" intended to do with it. But that was all she could use against Whitmore. Apart from only her agility and her wits.

Soon she came within sight of the forested hills behind which the criminals' camp was located. She already could see the bushed in which Taylor had been hiding in the night. A thin trail of smoke was coming from behind there, the remains of a camp fire. And she heard loud screams of pain. It was a youthful voice that uttered those screams - it definitely wasn't Whitmore's!

"Pinch" was done for - this constant running with the heavy equipment had exhausted her, and she had taken a long way. But as she heard those screams, she ran even faster and pulled out her weapon. Whatever awaited her behind those bushes, three shots were still better than none.

Determined she approached the spot from where she heard the screams, and soon she had reached the bushes. Right next to them there was a big rock that provided some cover - it was the same rock she had picked as a hiding spot that night. She got to it with her gun drawn, crouched behind it and exhaustedly gasped for air. Her heart was thumping like crazy, the sounds around her were muffled by the sound of her own blood rushing in her ears. She had to take a second for gathering her strength again and to prepare for what was happening on the other side of that rock. Then she ducked out of her cover and took a glimpse.

She wasn't prepared for what she saw there. It was worse than anything she could have imagined.

Whitmore was alone with Jesper in that camp, Johnson was nowhere to be seen. Jesper was lying on the ground, his face covered in blood and agony, covering a wound in his side with tortured hands. Whitmore stood over him, beating him up, kicking him visciously. "Pinch" was horrified, and it pained her to see Jesper like this. My fault, she thought. He let me go. I am the reason he has to endure this now. Once more she felt the anger stirring up in her that she had felt in her fight with Sykes. It wasn't like she was very attached to Jesper in any way - at least not in a way she would have ever admitted to. But he had allowed her to escape. He had helped her. She owed him. And he didn't deserve what he was going through right now. Nobody deserved that.

Her gaze turned towards Whitmore, and her face darkened. This big revolting guy seemed to outright enjoy doing this to his own nephew. That did it! The line of what "Pinch" was ready to take sitting down was crossed now. The warning voice in the back of her head reminded her that she had had similar thoughts towards Sykes before she had gone berserk. It warned her that she had never wanted to experience that again. But in this moment "Pinch" wasn't even sure if those feelings were not appropriate in this kind of situation. You think you get away with this, and nobody does anything about it? The pure thought of it being possibly true - that people like Whitmore or Sykes could do anything they wanted without anybody able to touch them - brought "Pinch" to her boiling point. You think you will go unpunished? Not this time!