Chapter Four: Escape

She had blood on her hands.

Hayley sprinted down the road, with her Zigzagoon in hand. She looked left and right, hoping to find a hiding spot. She quickly spotted a garbage truck. She dashed to the front of the truck, checking to see if the door was locked. To her luck, it wasn't. She quickly creaked the door open and leapt inside. She kept her head low, hugging her Zigzagoon tightly. There was no way in hell she was going to let go of her Pokémon.

"She couldn't got far!" a man yelled coarsely. "Find 'er, or I'll ya alive!"

The girl never thought they actually come for here. She'd first heard about the thugs from her father. Raider rarely came this south, preferring the wander the cities. But something had caused to broaden their surroundings and wander further out. Hayley's father first noticed the raider a few days earlier, while he was milking his Miltank. He first spotted them in the far distance; a bunch of raiders and their Pokémon attacking a wild defenceless Pokémon. Battles were common in the waste, and it easy for a person to mistake a caught Pokémon for a wild one. Hayley's father was wise enough to bring the family's Miltank into the shelter with them. It made things cramped, but at least they were safe.

The next day the raider didn't return, so Hayley's father thought it was safe to leave their Miltank out again. This was one big mistake. A few days passed without trouble. But that evening the raiders decided to return, this time to target the family's Miltank.

"Look at that bitch!" one of the raider called. "She sure fetch a fine price."

Before either Hayley or her father realised what was occurring, the two thugs proceeded to steal the Miltank, most likely to bring it back to their hideout. Her father dashed outside, attempting to stop the thieves. But one of the thugs brought out a revolver and shot Hayley's father in the chest. The girl barely had a chance to think. She rushed to her father.

Coughing up blood, the man simply said, "Run!"

Tears in her eyes, Hayley knew what she had to do. Hopefully, she wondered, the girl might be able to return later to see whether her father was okay. But she was aware of the danger she was in. Picking up her Zigzagoon, the girl made a run for it, sprinting away from the family shelter.

Hayley kept her head low, hoping the raiders would find her. She could hear muffled voices approaching. It was one of the raiders, although the other voice she didn't recognise – probably another fiend who'd she hadn't seen yet.

"Sure she went do her!" one of the voice ask. The voice sounded young. The raider was barely older than a kid.

"I damn sure," the recognisable coarse voice remarked. "Keep ya eyes out. She might be hiding."

"You sure it's worth it?" the younger raider asked. "Zigzagoon aren't worth it… we'd barely get a few caps from it."

"We're in desperate need for caps," the man snapped. "Hey… look in that truck, will ya?"

"Why'd it got to be me?" the kid complained.

"Yer expendable," the older raider laughed with glee.

"Yeah… thanks for the compliment."

The boy approached the car. The kid joined the gang about a year ago; and he was still annoyed that the others still picked on him from time to time, getting him to do tasks no one else wanted to do. There was no way the girl was hiding in the truck, he thought.

Hayley could hear the footsteps getting closer. She wondered either it was best to jump out the truck and make a run for it. Then she remembered she was still holding her Zigzagoon. The Pokémon would surely not keep up, carrying it would slow them down. Her best option was to stay still, hoping the raiders would get distracted.

Sadly the distraction Hayley was praying for didn't arrive. The boy reached the car. He slowly grabbed hold of truck's door handle, opening the door to see what was inside. The boy seemed startled finding the girl hiding there. Never of them spoke a word, remaining in silent for a few seconds or so. This gave Hayley the chance to remember the boy's face – and he was able to take note of her as well. Wearing a red jumper, and orange beanie, the boy seemed slightly chubby. He was a little bit ugly, the face somewhat misshaped. For moment Hayley thought the boy was going to call out for his accomplices. Instead, however, he placed his finger to his mouth, before closing the door. Puzzled at what occurred, the girl remained still, hugging her Zigzagoon tightly.

"Nothing," she could hear the boy yell.

"Nothing?" the other man asked.

"She must've gone down the alleyway," the boy lied. "I think I saw a glimpse of that Zigzagoon."

The girl waited till she knew the raiders had left, before jumping out of the truck. Her Pokémon at first refused to leave the safety of the truck. But after Hayley reassured it by petting the Zigzagoon, the Pokémon leapt out of the vehicle.

"We better see Pa," she said to the Pokémon. The Pokemon didn't understand, however. She might as well be talking to herself, she thought. "Hopefully Pa is safe."

She wasn't too sure though. While she didn't get a good view of the action, she was sure one of those fiends shot her father. The man was most certainly bleeding to death by now. It was important she rushed to his aid. Picking up and holding the Zigzagoon, the girl retraced her steps, making her way back to the small farm Hayley's father and she lived in.

She was too late. Her father's lifeless corpse laid there, blood still pouring out. She tried to fix the wound, but it was no good. The man she called Pa was dead. She looked around to see if the Miltank was there. As she'd expected, the raiders had stolen the cow-like Pokémon. There was no way she was going to retrieve her father's Pokémon now.

There was at least an hour left of sunlight. Hayley used that time to bury her father. As she placed the last stone on the grave, she gave out an almighty cry. She sobbed for at least ten minutes. She never expected to lose her father. And to bury him alone took a toll on the girl.

Returning to the house, she packed all the essentials into the backpack: food for both the Zigzagoon and her, a spare pair of clothes, and whatever caps her father had managed to save up. There was no point staying here now. Once daylight broke, she was going to leave. She remembered her father telling her about a nearby settlement. She would go there first, Hayley decided.

The next day, Hayley began her journey at first light. With her satchel on her back and her Zigzagoon tagging on behind, the girl began her journey. She spent a few hours wandering the waste. She passed what was an abandon day-care centre. Before the war, trainers would leave their Pokémon there to be raised by others. The building now was burnt down – the skeleton of the house the only thing to remain. Even the garden where Pokémon would've played had rotted away.

Hayley kept hearing a humming noise. She looked around to see what direction it was coming from. Scanning her surroundings, she couldn't determine exactly what the noise was, let alone where it was coming from. So she decided to ignore it. Yet the noise persisted.

The Zigzagoon started making strange groans. The poor Pokémon was agitated. Hayley stopped for a moment, to check to see whether her Pokémon was still alright. Searching the backpack, she found a bottle of water. Playing the bottle in front of the Zigzagoon, the Pokémon gently drank. The poor thing was thirsty, the girl realised. Placing the bottle back into her backpack, they continued walking.

The noise returned, this time louder. Before the girl could react, something jabbed her from behind. She turned around to find a Beedrill following them. The bug was hovering above her. The Pokémon positioned its yellow body for another attack. Before the Beedrill could attack, however, Hayley's Zigzagoon leapt out and took a massive swipe at the wild Pokémon. The Beedrill dodge the attack, now hovering higher. The wasp-like Pokémon than positioned the stinger at bottom of its yellow-and-black striped abdomen. The Beedrill then dived attack the Zigzagoon, jab the Pokémon with its stinger. Before the wild Pokémon could do more damage, Hayley threw a rock at it, staggering the Pokémon. Unsure what had occurred, the Beedrill quickly flew away.

Hayley rushed to her Pokémon's side. The Zigzagoon whimpered. The Beedrill's attack had poisoned the girl's Pokémon. Hayley looked through her backpack to see if she had anything to help the Pokémon. Unfortunately, she couldn't find anything.

"Keep calm Ziggy," she reassured her Pokémon. "Everything will be alright."

She picked the Pokémon up and began to run quickly.