Beginnings (Part I)
The forest hadn't been really deep, but it also hadn't been quite clear either. Zack and Rachel had been walking for over thirty minutes without finding a clear path that led towards their hideout, making it an increasingly difficult and frustrating journey. The serial killer had insisted that he would not go anywhere without his trusted scythe, and therefore; had to go back no matter what.
Ray didn't argue, actually, she rarely ever argued when it came to Zack's stubborn ways, but she didn't mind regardless of the outcome. If anything, her will to die had increased tenfold since the police chased them yesterday, a clear reminder that living in peace was impossible.
But she forced herself to remain patient, for both her and Zack's sake.
It was still difficult though.
"He's been unconscious for a long time." The petite blonde suddenly said, growing wary at the limp man dangling on Zack's shoulder.
The serial killer just peeked at him while walking casually, "Guess I knocked him hard, huh. I don't blame him for sleeping this long."
Rachel furrowed her brows, "his arms are awfully stiff for an unconscious man, I think he's pretending to remain unconscious."
"You think so?" Zack said as he suddenly threw the guy on the ground, making him yelp in surprise. The serial killer's eyes widened, "son of a bitch!"
"Wait!" The man cried out, "please let me explain myself!"
"Yeah you better explain yourself before I squish that tiny head of yours to pieces!"
"No Zack, stop." Ray said while grabbing hold of his arm. The man, for a moment, thought he had been saved by the petite girl's compassion as his shoulders slumped. "Torturing him here is too dangerous, people might find us ... we best be on our way and continue somewhere more private."
The coldness of her tone and her blank, emotionless eyes had been more than enough to prove the stranger wrong. She was just as bad.
Zack glared at the man while considering Rachel's proposal. She noticed the hesitation in his stance, and so she offered with a shrug; "you can drag him if you want to."
Zack smiled roguishly, "will do."
The moments that followed were both confusing and blurry for their captive. First, he noticed Zack pull on the knot that held his bandages tight. Then, said bandages were wrapped around his neck and tightened to a level where it could easily choke him. Right after, he noticed that it served as a leash to quite literally, drag him.
And yes, Zack was pulling at the surprisingly sturdy bandage as if he were taming a wild animal. Brutal and uncaring of the damage it would cause.
"Hold on!" He cried out, feeling the ground bruise his skin, "I can walk!"
"I dunno', I like it better when you're in pain." Zack laughed pleasantly.
"On second thought... Might as well let him walk, he'll leave a nasty trail like this." Rachel reconsidered, purely for their safety and not for the man's comfort.
"Don't be such a killjoy, look at him! He's having the time of his life!"
Rachel just stared at the man who was agonizing on the floor, tears spilling from his severely injured face. She ought to admit, she pitied him a little ... just a little though. Not that she would admit it to Zack.
She figured there was nothing else to say and continued following them silently. But something was off... the man, despite being mistreated and cruelly bullied, didn't beg for his life. Actually, she swore she saw him look around for someone, as if half-expecting to be rescued at any moment-
'Hold on...'
The blonde jogged at the man's side and forcefully pried his hand open, ignoring his protests. When she saw the small object on his palm, her eyes widened.
"You didn't just-"
Their hostage took this moment of sheer shock and confusion to dash away. Zack growled and pulled at his custom-made leash, making their prisoner gasp and halt momentarily. Not taking anymore chances, the man pulled out of his pants a small butterfly knife and cut the bandages open, finally free.
He ran fast enough to disappear behind the bushes. Zack made a move to follow him, but Ray firmly grabbed his arm while shaking her head.
"Let go, Ray! We gotta' get him!"
"No, Zack, we have to flee! If we don't-"
She caught a glimpse at something bright behind a tree and immediately pushed Zack down, much to his surprise. A loud BANG echoed in the forest, scaring the birds away from their nests. Zack's mismatched eyes widened at the sight of crows flying around, ruining the clear blue sky's view.
Ignoring her body on top of his, Zack glanced at his left to look at the large hole on a tree, finally understanding what happened a mere second ago.
They had dodged a bullet. Literally.
Something clicked then, something primal and completely spontaneous...
Isaac Foster's survival instincts.
There was no time to think, or consider the possibility that they were heavily outnumbered. No, he had to act, and quickly, for Rachel. The world became blank, there was no other option but to fight.
He took hold of the teen's waist and held her close while trying to figure out how many of them there were. It took but a second for five well-armed men in combat suits to emerge, straight out of the bushes, with guns and ready. Zack cursed and jumped up to reach a tree branch, barely avoiding the series of bullets that were aimed his way.
"What are you doing? Don't kill him!" One man shouted with a raised hand, "our job is to catch him, unharmed!"
The rest of them tsked as they saw his retreating form, jumping from a tree to another like a wild animal. "How the heck are we supposed to do that?"
"I think I know... let's not lose sight of him!" The same man commanded, running at full speed towards his prey. The rest of the bunch followed just as quickly.
XxX
"Fuck this bullshit!" Zack cursed as he looked behind, "I'm supposed to do the chasing, not the other way around!" He groaned, forgetting that his wound had re-opened, staining his fresh bandages. Blood oozed out very soon and Rachel noticed it.
The blonde analyzed the situation very carefully all the while looking at her partner's face. So far, it had felt like the whole world was chasing after Isaac Foster, her angel of death, and she was powerless to stop it. The annoying feeling of being a bother, useless, was starting to sink in, and she wanted nothing more but to help her companion.
So she put a gentle hand on his cheek.
"Zack, put me down." She ordered softly, trying to make something out of this dilemma. Zack looked at her incredulously, wondering what the hell was going on in that brain of hers.
"Are you out of your mind? No." Was the serial killer's final answer. There was no way he'll give up on his... his companion. Yes, companion.
"They seem to be after you only, I'm baggage. Let me hide and I wont hinder." Rachel tried to reason with him, a futile attempt, really... But there was no other choice. They were over a dozen and well-armed. No matter how strong Zack was, the idea that he could somehow survive would be nothing more than a fantasy.
He was human, in a sense... well, in a way.
He could die too.
But Zack wasn't having it. Actually, he settled with ignoring her, thinking that her idea was total rubbish.
'Yeah right. Because leaving you won't be dangerous. Fucking smart.'
Zack realized he wasn't actually speaking those words directly towards Rachel, but he felt as though she understood him regardless. Her furrowed brows and pouty mouth confirmed it. Heck, it was the first time that the serial killer saw such an expression on her face. Now that made him almost run head-first into a tree.
"We'll get caught like this." She spoke, worried.
"We won't, I got you." Zack reassured her and looked back, grimacing at the men that were already so close. The serial killer was very fast, it was surprising to see them run just as quickly.
'They must be trained or something.'
He thought in annoyance, 'no way am I getting caught.'
He quickened his pace and barely dodged another bullet aimed at his back. He tsked and jumped back on the solid ground seeing that his jumping from tree-to-tree didn't help. With a little more effort, he could run twice as fast and perhaps escape their line of sight.
A few bullets grazed him but that was just about it. Rachel was thankfully far smaller than him, so shielding her was an easy task- however...
Something was off.
It felt like they weren't exactly trying to hit him. No, actually, it felt more like they wanted to purposefully bruise him at certain spots... Almost like their whole purpose wasn't to kill him. This puzzled Zack greatly.
Then the dizziness started.
"Oh fuck, Rachel I don't think those are normal bullets." Zack panted as he felt his body grow suddenly ten times heavier. The blonde's eyes widened as she looked up at him.
"What do you mean?!"
"My stamina is running low for no god damn reason, and I can't focus."
She stared at his face and noticed the fatigue in his mismatched eyes. She had known Zack to have limitless energy, and so far, their run had started a mere five minutes ago... No way would he suddenly grow this tired in normal circumstances.
So Rachel, still being held tightly by the serial killer; leaned just a bit to peek at his upper-arm, where the last bullet had scratched him. There was a bit of blood on the pure white bandages that covered his skin- but what stood out the most was the foreign purple-ish stain along with said blood.
They had coated their bullets with some kind of liquid.
'Oh no, please don't let it be poison!' She thought worriedly. This was the last thing they needed, why did their day have to start off so badly?!
"How are you feeling right now?" She asked her companion.
"Like shit."
"Okay... Hear me out, the bullets were coated with something-"
"Oh fuck me-"
"But there's no guarantee that its poison. Could be some kind of drug..."
"Yeah it definitely doesn't feel like poison, definitely."
Sarcasm. Sarcasm on Zack's part was never good.
"Listen, you have to let me go." Rachel tried to reason with him, "I'm slowing you down, I'm tiring you. Carrying extra weight will do you harm, that's why you should just let me run and hide by myself."
Zack did not answer. Instead, he settled with taking a brisk turn to outrun the mysterious men, completely ignoring Rachel's plea. So far if they continued on that path, then surely, they would end up reaching the city..
And perhaps find their old and abandonned apartment complex.
'My scythe, I need my scythe!'
Zack thought as he tried to fight the dizziness away. He had more chances of slaughtering those motherfuckers with his trusted weapon than jumping right into a one-sided fist fight. He was stupid, but not THAT stupid. The consequences this time around were more than just some wounds on his already, wounded up body...
He had to take Rachel to safety, she wasn't going to keep that 'let me off' bullshit any longer, not on his watch. Their oath was deep, but not in the sense where he would let anyone aside from him finish her. Zack was selfish too, and he wanted to send the girl to the afterlife as beautifully as possible.
So when he ran faster to surprise the small army of men behind them; he spoke for Rachel's ears only.
"If I fall down or whatever, you run and make sure to never look back."
Her look of astonishment was one to remember.
"You're going to pass out-"
"Yeah maybe, probably, not important." He panted harshly, unable to withstand whatever had been indirectly injected into him. "Just do what you can not to get caught, if I, ugh, y'know."
He meant it, he wanted her to flee. But Rachel didn't want that, their oath alone was a good reason to never give up on her Angel of Death. She was smart, she knew that the unexpected was bound to happen soon enough- so she had a plan.
It wasn't the smartest of plans, but it could work.
The petite teen felt the serial killer slow down as the 'poison/drug' started to take effect. It wouldn't be long until their pursuers would finally catch up to them and do whatever with Zack... and possibly her as well. She figured they had nothing to do with the police, and briefly wondered if they were related to the serial killer's blank memories of that night.
Suddenly, Zack grunted and collapsed on the ground with Rachel still in his arms, unintentionally crushing her. She gasped and rolled him over so he could rest on his back, worry written in her young features.
"Z-zack?!" She called and tapped him lightly on his cheek, wanting a reaction. "Are you okay? Zack!"
She got no response.
Rachel put a tiny hand underneath some loose bandage to feel his body heat, and gasped at how hot he was. Sweat formed on some parts of his body, drenching half of his face and chest. He was breathing rapidly, in desperate need of oxygen, and she knew then that he was starting to lose consciousness.
The men caught up and pointed their guns at the duo, ready to shoot at any given moment. When they found the serial killer on the ground with his companion trying her hardest to wake him up- they knew that the chase was over. They had won.
"Alright little girl," the same man that had commanded the rest approached her, gun still aimed at their direction. "Step aside from Foster, slowly."
Rachel remained there, unmoving, next to the heavily breathing serial killer.
The man reloaded his pistol while approaching her, "I won't repeat myself, step aside."
She didn't move.
With a sigh, he got close to Rachel and grabbed her by the upper arm, intending to drag the teen out of their way. She twitched at the contact momentarily, and the man noticed.
But he noticed too late.
In a flash of light, Rachel shoved her hand inside of her (zack's) hoodie-
Grabbed her own pistol-
And shot the man right in the face, making a loud, gruesome and wet BANG echo in the vast forest. Blood splattered all over her, warm and cold at the same time, she saw red.
What followed went by like a blur for the stunned men. In a moment; they watched their leader attempt to drag the girl out of their way... In the next, they witnessrd their leader's head explode into bloody pieces... and after that, they saw a flash of yellow.
And they started to shoot.
Rachel moved like water; fluid and precise. She took hold of their leader's lifeless body to shield herself from the bullets and immediately climbed up a tree to escape their view. The rest of the bunch fired randomly at the trees in an attempt to get her, but stopped when minutes went by and she was nowhere to be seen.
They wondered if she was either gone or hurt- until suddenly, one of their men collapsed on the floor, motionless, with a huge hole on his chest.
Standing behind was Rachel with a bloody knife.
"Sh-shoot her!"
The teen had been far quicker than they thought. In a flash she would jump from a place to another, disappearing from their sight then reappearing to inflict damage in the swiftest ways. Their past captive had no idea how his men started to lose life, one by one; either shot or stabbed.
He cowered on his spot, backing away slowly as he stared widely at his last remaining comrade. They exchanged looks and tried their hardest to locate Rachel, who had disappeared yet again amongst the trees. They didn't have the right to make mistakes anymore... Their mission was clear as day; bring back Isaac Foster alive. That's all there was, nothing too hard, nothing too complicated.
But they did not mention the blonde in his files.
They had no idea who they were up against. And it was beyond frightening to believe that, indeed, they were getting their ass kicked by a 14 year old girl. Had they known this cute child would be a threat, they would've been more prepared.
But it wasn't the case.
"Where the hell is she?!" One of them asked as he looked around for any sign of her. The wounded man on his left looked as well, but found absolutely nothing.
"Stay on your gua-"
The man couldn't finish his sentence as he felt something sharp slice open his throat; rendering him mute and unresponsive. He felt no pain, just cold, extremely cold; save for the warm blood that poured all over his body.
His eyes saw black, and the only thing he could think about before dying; was how small the hand on his shoulder was. The hand of a child.
His comrade saw it all, mouth agape, completely paralyzed at the sight. He stepped back and tripped, emptying his bowels in fear of the small teen covered in blood.
He couldn't stop staring at her dark blue eyes, void of fear; fear of death.
He didn't even realize that she had pointed her gun at him.
"You've got some explaining to do."
To be continued...