Ninety Two |

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Ninety Two |

We moved out not long after that. Oliver wore a backpack on his back, under a sort of fur cape he wore. I found the longer we spent with him, the more intriguing he became. Lisa asked him about the cape, and he responded it was to mask the smell of the dried meat in his bag. It was a bear fur he dried out himself.

Amazing!

Then Oliver held out a small rag to Owl, who growled lowly then took off.

"What's that?" I asked.

He didn't bother turning to face me, "I made one of the dead dogs into a paste earlier."

Disgusting.

"Does that make the scent stronger to track?" Lisa asked.

Oliver now glanced at her, seeming surprised, "Yes. It does."

So we followed. The three of us moving swiftly through the trees, the light of the tower quickly running out and very soon we were running through the darkness. Well, I was certainly fine as was Oliver I assumed. Behind me, I could hear Lisa stumbling. Slowing down, I grabbed her hand with mine. She looked at me through the dark.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

I just shook my head, smiling patiently, "Don't be. We're in this together."

"Right," she whispered, determination lacing her voice.

So we continued, through the forest for what seemed like hours. Until the sun was beginning to rise and through the morning sun I could see the edge of an urban neighbourhood. On the middle of the road was a large black van, and a bunch of Maxwell's guards. Around the van, a bunch of infected dogs.

"He must be there," I whispered.

Oliver hummed, "What should we do?"

Before I could speak, the familiar dog master climbed onto the top of the van. His eyes moved across the forest where we stood and I knew his dogs must had told him we were there. My fingers curled, the skin turning white as I stared at the van. I didn't know what to do. He knew we were here, if we didn't act carefully, he'd be hauling us back to the City of Ash.

It was a stalemate.

He wanted me, and we wanted Sebastian.

"Subject Zero are you there?" he then hollered, "Wait a minute, of course you're there!"

Lisa's grip on my hand tightened.

"Come on out, I'll promise that we won't make any attempt to capture you yet," he called, I could see the stupid grin on his face, "Only you is fine. I'll pretend you don't have a few ants with you. The longer you take, the more I want to cut off our traditors fingers."

"Mira," Lisa whispered.

I shook my head, pulling away from her, "It'll be ok."

Then I stepped forward, out of the trees and into their space. As I walked over slowly, I could hear their guns raise before I could see them. But I didn't stop walking, not until I was at the first few infected dogs. They growled lowly but didn't move. Their master hadn't ordered them to, not yet.

"Ah," he exclaimed delighted, "You came!"

I looked at him carefully, "Where is Sebastian?"

He moved to sit on the edge of the top of the van. He swung his feet against the side of the van before slamming his hand down a few times onto the metal roof. I flinched slightly, but at least he answered my question. My eyes flickered to the back of the van. The doors were closed, and I debated the chances of me being successful if I went in sword swinging.

"That wouldn't end well," he laughed, "Too many guards with guns."

My eyes flickered back up to him, "What's your name?"

"Barron, Barron River. President calls me the dog sitter. It's been years and I'm still deciding if that's rude or not. I'm not allowed inside the City of Ash because of my ability, so I'm one of the esteemed shadow men."

The shadow men. That's a term I hadn't heard for a while.

"Why tell me all this?" I asked, my eyes flickering to the back again.

He jumped off the roof, onto the ground before walking over. I tensed as he stood in front of me, his fingers moving forward, grabbing onto a piece of my hair. I forced myself not to move, I would not flinch because of him. Then he pulled back, leaving me alone.

"What can I say, I'm a social man," he smirked, "Hey you were in the City of Ash, ever notice how racist they are there? I mean it's funny, how racism survived the end of the world. Hell, I used to get so much shit for being Asian."

"So what'd you do?" I asked, indulging his game.

He smirked, "I killed them all."

Suddenly, screams broke out around us. The dogs jumped on the guards, guns went off. The infected dogs tore his own men apart. I tried not to look, but I could see all the red out of the corner of my eye. The blood stained the grass like snow. I kept my eyes on him, trying not to panic but I couldn't help the building fear. This man was insane!

"W-Why'd you kill them?" I whispered.

He shrugged, "They were racist too. Don't worry, I'll just blame it on you."

"You cut your numbers in half," I replied coolly, "Your guns are gone. Whose to say I won't just kill you and save my friend?"

Barron smirked, his smirk looking like a wolf in sheep's clothing, "My numbers weren't cut at all! Humans, humans are not my numbers. They are simple ants who follow their orders. I am a fucking god, I can control animals, can your mind even comprehend that?"

I took a small step away from him, "I-I can."

"Look around you," he whispered, "My dogs are not my only numbers. I can control any infected animal. Birds, dogs, cats. Hell, that loner's cat has been on my eye for ages. That fucker keeps healing it. Can you imagine if I had such an intelligent creature on my side?"

Owl.

That pissed me off.

"Owl is not an object for your use," I snapped, "You may think you're a god, but even gods have their limits, and their lanes. You should stay in yours. At the end of the day, you're just Maxwell's bitch."

His eyes widened, but to my surprise, my words didn't anger him.

"See," he hummed, "This is why I knew just dragging you off to Maxwell was a bad idea. Let's play a game. If I win, I get to ship you off to Maxwell, if you win, you get your little playmate back."

I didn't like where this was going.

"What's the game?" I asked slowly.

He licked his lips slowly, "A game of hide and seek. This neighbourhood, it's a fenced in one. I'm guessing before the end, middle class people liked to live in closed off neighbours. Pretending they're the center of the universe. I checked out this neighbourhood, shit they have a park too. What kind of privileged—you know what? I'm getting ahead of myself. It's hide and seek. You hide, until nightfall. If my dogs find you and drag you back to his van, you lose. If they don't, you win. For now."

"The entire neighbourhood?" I asked, "It seems too easy."

He laughed, "Doesn't it?"

"Fine. How long do I have for hiding?" I sighed.

He tilted his head, "Mhm, How about 5 minutes? Take your ants with you. But if my pets catch them, they'll kill them on sight. Except that beautiful cat."

A cold chill went down my spine.

"Fine."

"Countdown has began," he smirked.

Then I took off running, my legs burning as I did. Back over to Oliver and Lisa. Quickly explaining the stupid game while panting for air. For a moment I debated telling Oliver that Barron was after Owl, but I didn't know how he would react so I left that part out.

I also left out that the dogs would kill them on sight.

"We need to move then!" Lisa snapped, "We have what, three minutes?"

I nodded, "Let's go."

Then we were moving, running as fast as our limbs would carry us. Towards the fenced in neighbourhood. None of us spoke, we were just a huddle of hard panting and feet slapping against the pavement until we were past the rusted fence and on the road between the houses.

"Where should we hide?" I asked quickly, knowing we only had a minute or so left, "In a house? We could board it up, fight them off until nightfall?"

Lisa shook her head, "Bad idea. We don't have enough time to board up a house and if we get cornered in a house, it could be all over. I think we should just keep moving."

I grew silent for a moment. Part of me knew she was right but another part of me also knew moving was a bad idea as well. I had no idea what to do, not to mention if this neighbourhood wasn't cleared out of zombies. I looked up at the roofs of the houses, it was funny. They were so close together, it almost reminded me of the Labyrinth.

"The Labyrinth," I whispered, hope flaring inside me, "I have an idea!"

They looked at me, and I smirked, most likely over confidant.

"How is Owl on roofs?" I asked.

Oliver hummed, his mask tilting up towards the roofs, "He should be fine."

Szzz.

We paused, a loud buzz filling the air.

"Ready or not, here we come!" Barron's voice laughed, his voice amplified.

I looked at the nearest house, a small bungalow, which would be the easiest roof to get onto. I looked at Oliver and Lisa and like they knew exactly what they were thinking, we all bolted for the house. I kicked the front door wide open, not worrying much about the ache in my ankle. The place inside was empty, judging by the dust and mess, I could presume whoever lived here had left in a hurry.

"Check for a way up," I said quickly.

Oliver shut the door, Owl staying closely on his heels. I chewed at my lip, concerned for the ocelot. Would he be fine on a roof? Maybe this wasn't the best idea. Oliver just tilted his head, those bright eyes looking at me in confusion.

"I found an attic ladder!" Lisa called.

"Will he be alright?" I asked.

He nodded, "I'll carry him on my back up the ladder. This isn't the first time."

I blinked, smiling slightly, "That's a story I want to hear later."

Outside the house, I could hear those rotting fucking dogs.

"We should go," Oliver said unbothered.

I nodded, "Right."

Then we were moving. Up the ladder and into the attic.

"What now?" Oliver panted, the cat on his back.

I giggled, watching Owl lick one of the mask's horns, "Now we bust open the attic window and climb onto the roof. This isn't the first attic I've busted through."

"I'd like to hear about that story another time," Oliver then said surprising me.

I smiled, "You got it." 

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