For the next few days, Hailey was ferrying medical supplies, food, and water to Zane under the alibi of going deer hunting. She would leave early in the morning with all her gear and the extra things for Zane hidden in the cooler she used to pack out her kills. She would drive to the trailhead, stay with Zane, and do a half-hearted hunt before she went home to cover her story. Over the course of this time, she had gotten to know Zane more. And even though she didn't want to admit it, she felt more and more reluctant to turn him over to the authorities.
Knowingly harboring an outsider was literally against Mt. Horn law. She knew that. If you were to find them, you were supposed to turn them in immediately. If you didn't, not only are you subjected to criminal prosecution but you also were shunned by society. If you befriended an outsider, you're considered a threat to your homeland because who knows what you would be bringing into this land, and who knows if it has the capacity to wipe out life as you know it. And no one wants to be associated with that kind of person.
But what would happen to Zane if he was turned over? There have been very few instances of outsiders coming into the valley, and none while Hailey was alive. No one except the highest levels of government knew what was done with them, but once they were caught they were never seen or heard from again.
Zane had feelings. He had a family, friends. He didn't want to be here. Would any of that matter if officials got their hands on him? Would they lock him in a cell for the rest of his life? Would they send him away to a prison farm or labor camp and work him until he dropped dead? Would they execute him? What would happen if they discovered him being robotic?
Hailey shuddered as she thought of all the things they could do to him. Dismantle him, rip him to pieces, send him to a lab to be poked and prodded and treated like a piece of equipment, brainwash him if that was even possible?
They couldn't do that to him. Even though he was a robot, Hailey learned he was just as human as anyone else. He could think for himself. He experienced emotions. He could feel pain. He had people who loved and cared about him. He was a nindroid in body, but a human at heart. And no human deserved to be treated like that. But if he was turned over, he would be.
Hailey wasn't going to let that happen. She would help Zane, and get him home to where he belonged. She would not let him fall into government hands.
However, that was going to be hard. Zane's health was declining. He had more difficulty moving and was lethargic. She needed to get him out of the forest and into some real shelter. But as for where she would take him, she had no idea.
So far, her cover hadn't been blown, but it was about to get a whole lot harder.
She had just pulled into the drive after a day of "hunting". She was unloading her things when Samuel came out to meet her.
"Hey, Hailey! What's the verdict?"
Hailey shook her head. "Nothing gave me a good shot." She said. "The area I was hunting was too thick with the brush for me to get clear."
"That's a bummer. Heading out again tomorrow morning?"
"Yep."
"Mind if I come with you?"
Hailey's heart skipped a beat as her eyes went wide.
"Uh-why?" She asked, doing her best to mask her surprise. Samuel shrugged.
"Because." He said. "I still have my second tag to punch too."
"Weren't you going with Christopher?"
"He called while you were out. He's got a doctor's appointment that day that he can't move, so he had to cancel.
Hailey internally started panicking. If he went with, he would probably stumble upon Zane and her cover would be blown and he would be turned over. If she didn't give him an explanation for her saying no, then he would get very suspicious.
"Uh-Even though I didn't get a good shot, I did see another bruiser in my scope. He seems pretty elusive though, and I think having too many people may scare him off..."
Samuel narrowed his eyes for a moment before shrugging. "Okay, I get it."
'That's strange.' Samuel thought to himself as he helped her unload her stuff. 'She never turned down a chance to hunt with me.'
He thought for a moment more then shrugged. 'Maybe that buck fever is really getting to her...'
Later after they had put everything away, Samuel prepared dinner for both of them while Hailey was in her room cleaning her gun. He pulled a couple of elk steaks from the garage freezer. As they defrosted he began cutting up some vegetables. He was chopping up some carrots when suddenly he sliced open his hand.
Samuel grunted in pain and looked at his hand. It was a cut in the center of his palm, blood oozing from it down his arm. He rinsed it off and then went to the bathroom to get some gauze but discovered there wasn't any.
"That's strange..." Samuel said to himself. "I just bought some last week!"
"Hey Hailey!"
Hailey looked up from her work at the sound of Samuel's voice calling up the stairs. "Yeah?"
"You know what happened to all the gauze I bought last week? I sliced my hand and I went to get some but it's all gone!"
Hailey froze and her eyes became as big as saucers. "Shit!" she mouthed. She was using the gauze to dress Zane's injuries. Was she not keeping track of how much she took?
She put down her gun and went downstairs to look. Sure enough, the cabinet where they kept the medical supplies was devoid of gauze. Yikes.
"Uh-no?" She said.
Samuel scratched his head. "I could have sworn...anyways, do you have any medical supplies in your hunting pack I can use-"
He had turned to Hailey only to discover she was no longer there. What in the world?
Samuel narrowed his eyes again. Hailey was acting...off.
"Strange..." Samuel said to himself. He found one last roll of gauze and patched up his hand before continuing to make dinner.
And at dinner, Hailey was dead silent. He tried to initiate a conversation with her.
"Did you take Big Meadow again?"
"Yeah."
"How many miles did you go?"
"Uh-I'm not sure."
"But you always keep track of where you go. How come not this time."
"My mind was on that bruiser."
When Hailey didn't elaborate on the deer she had supposedly seen, Samuel became very suspicious. Hailey always told him about the deer she saw. He also noticed she was avoiding his gaze.
Yes, something was definitely off here.
Samuel looked up from his plate and at Hailey.
"Is something wrong? You've been acting strange ever since you came home today."
Hailey quickly shook her head. "No." she said.
But she was internally screaming in panic. Samuel was onto her. Once he suspects of you lying, you can't get out of it. It was only a matter of time until she would have to give herself and Zane up.
Samuel could tell she was lying. He set down his fork and crossed his arms.
Hailey's eyes widened. 'SHIT...'
"There's something you're not telling me, Hailey. What is it?"
Hailey gulped. She knew her uncle would flip his lid if she told him.
When she didn't answer, Samuel sighed.
"Okay, now I know something's up. Just tell me. You're not getting out of this one."
This was it. She would get arrested and Zane would never see the light of day again.
She heaved a sigh and closed her eyes.
"I was tracking my deer from earlier this week...I followed it into a dry riverbed about three miles out..."
She recounted the story of how she found Zane and how instead of hunting she had been using it as an excuse to take food and supplies to him and check on him throughout the days.
"But why didn't you call search and rescue? They would have taken care of it, and you know that! Why keep it a secret?"
Hailey's heart was thudding in her chest.
"That's the thing..." She said. She gulped and heaved a sigh. "He's not...from here..."
Samuel's eyes went wide. "W-what do you mean?"
"Zane's from Ninjago..."
Samuel's face blanched.
"WHAT!?" He cried. He stood up so fast his chair fell. "YOU'RE HELPING AN OUTSIDER!?"
Hailey flinched. "Yes..."
"YES!? YES!? THAT'S YOUR ANSWER!? DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE DONE!? YOU'RE HELPING AN ENEMY TO YOUR COUNTRY!"
"I was helping someone in need!" Hailey said. "It's how I was raised!"
"YOU WERE RAISED TO BE HONEST AND TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR COUNTRY! YOU'RE HELPING OUR ENEMY! AND NOW GOD WHO KNOWS WHAT'S BEEN BROUGHT HERE BECAUSE OF YOU!"
Samuel stormed off down the hall to his bedroom and returned a minute later holding his shotgun. He grabbed his truck keys and started for the door.
"What are you doing!?" Hailey asked.
"I'M GONNA KILL THAT SON OF A BITCH AND PUT AN END TO WHAT YOU STARTED!" Samuel roared as he stormed for the door. Hailey ran for the door and blocked his way.
"MOVE!" He yelled.
"NO!" Hailey yelled back. She grabbed his gun and tried to wrestle it from him. "YOU CAN'T KILL HIM! I WON'T LET YOU!"
"GIVE ME A GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULDN'T!"
With a great heave, she finally twisted Samuel's shotgun out of his hands. She stood in front of the door, holding the shotgun in front of her uncle, who was heaving with rage.
"He doesn't want to be here." She said, trying to catch her breath from the shouting match. "He has a family and friends that love and care for him. He never meant to come here and all he wants is to go back. I've gotten to know him and he's not a bad person. He's scared, Uncle Sam."
Hailey saw Samuel start to relax. Was what she's saying really working?
Calming her racing nerves, Hailey continued.
"What would you want Uncle Sam, if you were in Zane's position? Wouldn't you want someone to help you?"
Samuel didn't answer.
"Uncle Sam, please. He's hurt real bad. There's people trying to hurt him. He just wants to get home. If I turn him over, they're going to kill him. I can't do that to him. I can't do that to his family."
Samuel's chest had stopped heaving. For the first time tonight Hailey looked her uncle in the eyes.
"Please, Uncle Sam." Hailey said to Samuel, practically begging. "I don't want him to die..."
The standoff continued, Hailey blocking the door with the shotgun, and Samuel standing in the doorway. Finally, he spoke.
"Take me to him." He said.
Samuel tossed Hailey the truck keys. They went to the truck. Hailey got behind the wheel and Samuel sat in the passenger. The shotgun lay on the center console. Samuel reached for it but Hailey grabbed it first.
"This is staying with me." She told him. Samuel muttered something under his breath as they left Elkhorn.
...
The sign marking the Big Meadow trailhead shone in the headlights as the two pulled into the turnout. They got out of the truck, Hailey still holding Samuel's shotgun. Holding a flashlight, she turned it on and made their way down the trail and through the forest to find Zane.
Soon, they stepped into the dry riverbed and approached Zane's hiding spot. She got on her knees and shined the flashlight in.
Samuel crouched with her and peered in. When he saw the silver skin, he gasped.
In a split second he had grabbed the shotgun from Hailey and was pointing it at Zane. He was about to pull the trigger when Hailey leapt to her feet and put herself between the shotgun's muzzle and the nindroid.
"Don't hurt him..." Hailey told him. "Please, Uncle Sam remember what I told you. He's defenseless."
"He is a threat!" Samuel hissed.
"No, he's not." Hailey said back. "If he was, I wouldn't have been coming out here to help him for the past week."
"How do you know that?"
"Trust me, Uncle Sam. Give him a chance. Please."
Samuel sighed and lowered the shotgun. Hailey took it from him again. She crouched back down to see Zane. Samuel did the same.
Hailey reached through the branches and shook him on his shoulder. Zane didn't wake up. Hailey grabbed his neck and felt a pulse under his metal skin.
"He's alive but unconscious," Hailey told him. "We need to get him out of these woods or he won't live."
"Oh no.." Samuel said. "There is no way in hell I'm taking him in-"
Hailey glared at him over her shoulder. Samuel shut his mouth.
"Fine..." He huffed.
Hailey climbed into the mangled mess.
"We have to be careful. He's torn up pretty badly and I don't want to hurt him more. I'll give you his top side and you pull while I push on his feet."
Hailey wrapped her arms around Zane's chest and managed to get him through the opening. Samuel pulled while Hailey pushed. Together they got him out and had Zane laying on the rocks. Hailey picked up the water bottles and empty bags so no one could see that he was there. They picked him up and began heading back to the trail. As they stepped onto the path, they saw something up ahead that made them stop dead in their tracks.
Standing in their way were two green glowing ghosts. One wielded a scythe, the other a sword. It was Bansha and Ghoultar.
Samuel swiftly grabbed his shotgun and fired at the two, dumbfounded when they didn't even flinch. Bansha laughed.
"What the hell are they!?" Samuel cried.
"Its the ghost warriors!" Hailey said. "Zane told me about them!"
"Give us the nindroid, human." Bansha said, advancing on them. "We'll leave you alone."
Hailey reached into her pocket where she usually kept her hunting knife, but instead felt something else.
It was a water bottle. And it was still full. She remembered that Zane said they would die upon contact with water.
"No!" Hailey said. She ripped off the lid and flung the water bottle at Bansha. Before the she-devil knew what was happening, she let out a scream as the water killed her.
Hailey dove for the water bottle and flung it at Ghoultar, who jumped out of the way and ran into the forest. Hailey got up to pursue him, but Samuel grabbed her arm.
"We need to get out of here!" He said. She grabbed Zane and they sprinted down the trail. Hailey threw open the back door to the truck and set Zane in the backseat before jumping in. They tore out of the trailhead parking lot and raced down the mountain back home to Elkhorn.
...
It had been a few hours since Hailey and Samuel had rescued Zane. They had recovered from the run-in with Bansha and Ghoultar and were now staring at Zane, who lay still unconscious on the couch of their cabin home.
"I don't understand..." Samuel said. "Why is he silver?"
"He's a robot." Hailey explained. "Or what he calls himself, a nindroid. But other than him being made of metal and wires, he's entirely human."
Samuel shook his head in disbelief. "What have you gotten us into?"
"I don't know..." Hailey admitted. "But I couldn't leave him for dead. I'm sorry..."
"Well, we're stuck with him now..."
Samuel turned and left. Hailey got the last of the gauze from the downstairs bathroom and redressed his wounds. Samuel returned with a blanket and covered Zane with it. Hailey breathed a sigh of relief. He was safe now.