Author's Note:
As I said before, andother crutial chapter. READ. NOW.

-Raik the Raichu

Chapter 8: Falling Bullets

Sparks death haunted over us, ruthlessly. I couldn't sleep, and being awake was just as worse as a nightmare. Mikka had been crushed. She was no more than a depressed wreck seeking any amount of happiness, and I myself could not provide the comfort or joy that she desperatly needed.

For the next couple of days, we hadn't covered much ground. We didn't feel like moving, or even trying. We had the fear of a similar death coming to us. As if to add to our problems, niether of us had seen the 2 guards around since Sparks had been shot, which meant that they could be anywhere...even watching us from afar.

Finally came the day that I attempted to convince Mikka to let go of this whole ordeal and get help. I looked over at Mikka, who was leaning against the tree trunk, sulking in deep sadness, and said, "Mikka...you have to stop sulking. I'm just as upset about this as you are, but we have to get to a town now! If you stay out here any longer, then your fate will be the same as Sparks's..."

There was a small pause, and finally, she turned to me and looked at me with large soulful eyes, and said, "I really want to...but...it's too hard..."
I put my hand on her head and said, "Yes it is, but do you want to die like Sparks...or would you like to live past tonight?"

She sniffed loudly, wiped her eyes once more, and said, "Your right...lets get going..." I nodded in agreement, and we continued in the direction we were originally headed.

For the next 2 hours, Mikka seemed to be holding up well. She might have just gotten over it, if it hadn't been for another loud gunshot ripping through the air. Once she heard that, she got the look in her eyes that told me she was close to bawling again. I attempted to comfort her with a hug, but it seemed only to create some minor help.

I was fine, but I was just as hurt as Mikka. Sparks was the only friend I had in pretty much my whole life...and then...just to see him die, 2-feet in front of me was just horrible. No one can recover from that in a short amount of time, so I just let Mikka let go on her own.

I knew, deep down, that we'd find help eventually. We would find a town, get help, and maybe a bite to eat, and a place to be safe. But, also, another voice inside said we wouldn't live long enough to be found by anyone besides the hunters.

As we continued down the path, I got a bad feeling...as if something were wrong. I looked around the area we were in. Normal looking trees were on all sides of us, and the occasional bush was leaned up against a few trees. Everything seemed...too quiet...

Remembering what happened last itme I felt disturbed by an eriee silence like this, I quickly turned to Mikka. I pulled her over by the arm and we ducked behind a tree. She pulled away and said, "What are you doing? Why do you look so tense?" I quickly shhed her, and pointed out to the far side of the path we were on.

She didnt seem to understand what I was doing, but looked anyway. When we looked, there wasnt anything there but a few leaves in the wind, but after a few seconds, there was rustling from a bush a few yards away, and then, out stepped the two hunters, rifles at the ready.

"Dammit! We were right behind them! How could you lose em that easily!?" yelled one of the hunters.
"Well, you yelling that loud isnt going to make 'em come back!" yelled the other one in reply.

They began to quarrel, as Mikka and I watched, desperatly seeking an escape route. I scanned the area, and planned out a small plan to get away.

"Okay, all we have to do is sneak quietly behind all the trees, and go west. That way, we'll get away without them knowing." I told Mikka. "Just watch out for anything loud like twigs, and dont bump into a bush..."

She nodded in response and we started moving. The hunters, now arguing about whether or not they were lost, were too pissed with each other to notice Mikka and I slip out from behind the tree and begin moving towards the next one. Slowly, we crawled tree from tree, managing to keep quiet up until our cover was blown.

Apparently, one of the hunters got really pissed and began yelling to the point where he pulled out a handgun and began flailing it around.
"Put the gun away! If you fire it, you'll scare the damned things away!" the other hunter said to him.
"Whats to scare away!? You already lost them! I might as well fire this thing all I want!" screamed the one with the gun.

And with that, he pulled the trigger, and fired in a random direction. Amazingly enough, the stray bullet flew and hit the ground directly in front of Mikka, and she gave a quick, but loud, yelp. After she did, the hunters finally looked our way, and the one with the gun said, "Hey, look! They were right there the whole time!"

Mikka and I shot each other a terrified glance and we both screamed, "Run!" as we sped off in seperate directions. I began running in a frantic fashion, not even paying attention to where I was headed. Then, I heard the gunshots of the rifles close behind, and I knew that they must see one of us. I hoped it wasnt Mikka.

I stopped at a tree, and caught my breath. I was starting to get tired, and knew I couldnt keep running forever.

Crap...so close to getting away and then the idiot fires off a round near the feet of an emotionally unstable female Squirtle...what are my chances... I thought to myself. The chances of all this happening were very unlikely. But that wasnt the point. the Point was, I knew they were close behind, but I just wasnt sure where. At any minute, they could shoot me down without me even realizing it.

Lost in thought, I snapped out of my daze once I heard a loud snap. I began darting my head in every direction, and then I saw him. The hunter was hiding behind a tree, laser aimer pointed at my head. I quickly jumped to my left, and he fired and missed. "Dammit! How could I miss him!?" he yelled as he began to chase me.

Now he wasnt sparing me anytime to rest, as he began to fire automatic rifle rounds like a crazy person in my directions. I was incredibly thankful that this guy was a bad shot cause the only thing that hit me was a couple of shots that grazed my ear and tail. I began making many sharp turns in hopes of losing him, but he always found me if he lost me. It would have been fine If I hadnt run into an unsuspected surprise around one tree, because I made anoter sharp turn and was greeted by the other hunter, who immediatly turned around, and began firing at me as well.

Great... I thought while running, ...just great! Now Im begin chased by both of them! Could this get any worse!?

Lucky for me, my luck turned around, and it got better. I began running rapidly between trees so that it was harder to track me. I knew now that only one guy was following me, and I tried to outrun him. I kept running, and then I came to a screeching halt.

The other hunter I thought I had lost had apparently gotten ahead somehow and headed me off. He was now standing, with his rifle pointed right at me, and an evil smile on his face. Not knowing what to do, I ran back the way I came from, which proved to be a dumb idea as well, seeing how the other guy following me was right there.

Now, I was stuck between both of them, guns pointed on me. Now, I was screwed. At this moment, I didnt know what to do, so I panicked and jumped on the hunter that I knew had the best shot. When I lept on him, he dropped his gun and began trying to pull me off, but I had wrapped my tail around his neck and I wasnt about to let go. I knew that the guy with the worst shot was left and now it was up to him to shoot me to get me off of him...I just had to wait for him to respond.

He didnt do anything until the hunter I was attacking yelled, "You frickin idiot! Shoot the damn thing and get it off my damn face!!" And with that, the hunter raised his gun, and began aiming, taking his time not to miss. Finally, he cocked the rifle slide, and fired. The second he cocked it, I unwrapped my tail and dropped off of the hunter, and his friend ended up shooting him directly in the throat.

The hunter grabbed his throat, made some choking sounds for a while, and fell face first into the ground, blood splatter everywhere. I stood looking at the body, and all I could say was, "Wow...I got really lucky!" And with that, I ran off. Before I did, I saw the hunter leaning over his dead partner, and strangly enough, he wasnt mourning...in fact, it seemed like he was panicking. Also, he was franticly trying to grab the weapons off the corpse.

I kept running until I reached a small clearing, where I took another break. At this point, I couldnt believe my luck. I had managed to escape twice, and got one of the hunters to kill his partner. Even with all this excitement going on, I couldn't help but think I was forgetting something.

Just then, a high-pitched scream erupted from somewhere close by, and I was instantly reminded...Mikka!

I darted in the direction of the scream, and crashed head first into something hard, causing me to fall on my face. When I looked up, I was relieved to see that it was Mikka. She looked at me with large eyes, and said, "Where have you been!? I have had this guy on my tail and he wont leave me alone! And God knows where the other guy is!"
"Dont worry, he's dead..." I assured her.
"Dead? But how is he--Look out!" she yelled.

I turned around to see the other hunter, out of breath and looking pissed and worried, aiming the rifle at me. This time, I had no chance to jump, and he fired a round directly at me.

The large bullet went right into my shoulder (which I got lucky for, cause he was aiming for my head), and sent me flying back about 3 feet, where I crashed onto the ground. The pain was incredibly unbearable, and I could feel the blood pouring out. After a few seconds, things were getting blurry and dark, and my body started to go numb. Finally, everything blacked-out, and I faded away into a deep sleep.

I like how I ended this chapter! Shocker!