Chapter 122: The hunted

Terri’s hands dropped onto her knees as she bent forward, gasping for air. Sweat rolled down her forehead and along the sides of her face. Her curly hair had stuck to her skin, damp and messy from the long walk.

She tried to slow her breathing, but her chest kept rising and falling too fast.

Hale stood a few meters away from her, watching.

Both bags were slung over his shoulders. His own pack rested on one side while Terri’s hung from the other. The weight did not seem to bother him, but the look on his face showed he was already losing patience.

“Time… time out,” Terri managed between breaths. “My calves are burning.”

She staggered toward a nearby rock and climbed onto it before Hale could respond. Once she sat down, she leaned forward and started rubbing both calves with shaking hands. She tried bending her knees in different positions so she could rest her head for a moment.

Hale stared at her.

They had not even walked three miles yet.

Terri groaned quietly as she stretched one leg out.

“…How far?” she asked without looking up.

“Hard to say around these parts,” Hale answered.

Terri let out another tired groan.

Hale frowned harder as he watched her.

Like she was not the one who wasted that gas.

He shifted the weight of the bags on his shoulders.

“You need to get up.”

Terri shook her head slowly.

“Hale, I can’t.”

For a moment, Hale said nothing. He simply looked at her while she sat there trying to catch her breath.

Then he exhaled sharply through his nose and walked over.

Before Terri could react, he grabbed her arm and pulled her up off the rock.

She stumbled as he hauled her to her feet.

Terri avoided his eyes.

She knew what he was thinking.

She knew he blamed her for the car.

Before Hale could say anything else, a sharp crack split through the air.

A bullet struck the dirt a few feet away.

Another shot followed immediately after. Bark exploded from the trunk of the tree behind them.

Terri flinched violently.

The exhaustion drained out of her body in an instant.

Hale grabbed her by the arm and yanked her behind a thick tree trunk nearby.

They slammed against the bark as he shoved her down beside him.

Terri’s heart pounded so hard she could feel it in her throat.

Hale had already reached for the gun at his waist.

His hand wrapped around the grip and pulled it free in one smooth motion.

Terri pressed her back against the tree, trying to stay quiet. Her breathing came out fast and uneven despite her attempts to control it.

The woods around them had suddenly gone still.

Too still.

Hale leaned slightly toward the edge of the tree and carefully angled his head out just enough to look.

He saw almost nothing.

Trees. Shadows. Thick brush.

But his instincts told him they were not alone.

His eyes scanned the forest slowly.

Then he saw it.

A brief flicker of amber light between the trees.

It was faint, but it was there.

Amber eyes.

Hale’s grip on his gun tightened.

A voice carried through the woods.

“Damn! I missed…”

It sounded muffled, like the speaker was farther back in the brush.

Another voice answered from somewhere nearby.

“Make sure you don’t hit their faces.”

Terri’s stomach dropped.

Hale froze as he listened.

The second voice continued.

“Annie needs to know it’s them.”

Hale’s eyes widened slightly.

For a second he did not move.

They were not random raiders.

They were not desperate survivors looking for supplies.

These people knew exactly who they were.

They were being hunted.

Another shape shifted deeper in the woods.

Branches rustled softly.

Terri noticed Hale’s expression change.

“What is it?” she whispered, barely moving her lips.

Hale did not look at her.

His focus stayed locked on the trees.

There were at least two of them.

Maybe more.

And they had already tried to kill them once.

That meant they were confident.

Confident people usually came in groups.

Another gunshot rang out.

The bullet slammed into the tree trunk above Hale’s head.

Splinters rained down over both of them.

Terri gasped and ducked lower.

Hale leaned out quickly and fired once into the woods.

The shot echoed loudly through the forest.

A figure jerked back behind a tree.

“Shit!” someone shouted in the distance.

Hale ducked back behind cover immediately.

Terri stared at him with wide eyes.

“They know us?” she whispered.

Hale did not answer right away.

His mind was already working through the problem.

They had no car.

They had limited supplies.

And now someone connected to Annie was tracking them.

He leaned close to the tree again and listened.

Branches shifted again.

Boots stepped quietly through leaves.

They were moving.

Circling.

Hale finally looked at Terri.

His voice was low but steady.

“We need to move.”

Terri swallowed hard.

“Where?”

Hale glanced toward the thicker part of the forest behind them.

“Anywhere that isn’t here.”

Another gunshot cracked through the air.

The bullet slammed into the dirt near Terri’s foot.

She jumped in panic.

Hale grabbed her arm again.

“Run,” he said.

And this time, Terri did not argue.

—

Annie stood in the dim light of the room, her expression difficult to read.

The single bulb hanging from the ceiling swung slightly, casting slow shadows across the concrete walls. Dust and smoke lingered in the air from the generators running somewhere deeper in the building.

In her hand, a butterfly knife flipped open.

Up.

Then down.

The blade snapped into place before she spun it again with practiced ease. The metal caught the light every time it turned.

Her hair had fallen loose from whatever tie had been holding it earlier. Strands hung across her face, brushing against her eyes as she tilted her head.

For a while, she said nothing.

The room stayed quiet except for the faint hum of machinery outside and the soft movement of the knife in her hand.

Then Annie smiled.

Golden grillz flashed across her teeth as a laugh escaped her.

It was not forced. It sounded genuine.

“You know,” she said slowly, “I never really wanted any of this to go that far.”

Her voice carried easily through the room.

In front of her, two figures sat tied to metal chairs.

Blindfolds covered their eyes.

Their hands were bound tightly behind their backs. Their ankles had been tied to the legs of the chairs so they could not kick or stand.

Carl and Adira.

Carl’s chest rose and fell quickly. His breathing gave away the panic he was trying to hide.

Adira sat still.

Too still.

Neither of them could see Annie. Neither of them could move.

But they could hear every word she said.

Annie stepped closer to them, the knife still flipping between her fingers.

“You see, people like to pretend things just… happen,” she continued. “Like violence drops out of the sky and lands on them for no reason.”

She stopped a few feet in front of them.

Her head tilted slightly as she looked at them.

“That’s not how it works,” she said.

The knife snapped shut in her hand.

“Violence is a reaction. It’s cause and effect. Somebody pulls a thread, and everything attached to it starts unraveling.”

She crouched down so she was closer to their level.

“All of this?” she said, gesturing vaguely around the room. “This whole situation? It could have been avoided.”

Carl shifted slightly in his chair. The rope creaked against the metal frame.

Annie noticed.

Her smile widened just a little.

“All your friend had to do,” she said calmly, “was leave it alone.”

Her voice remained steady, but the amber glow in her eyes pulsed faintly.

“Adrian Carter could have walked away. I would have let him. Hell, I would have forgotten his name after a while.”

She stood up again and began pacing slowly in front of them.

“But some people just cannot help themselves,” she continued. “They get this idea in their heads that they are the hero in the story. That they are the one who is supposed to fix everything.”

She laughed again under her breath.

“You ever notice how those people leave the biggest mess behind them?”

Carl’s breathing had gotten faster now.

Annie turned toward him.

“All this death,” she said quietly, “could have been stopped if your friend had just minded his own business.”

She paused.

“Instead, he decided to make it personal.”

Her eyes flickered with that amber glow again.

“And now more innocent people have to die.”

The word innocent hung in the air for a moment.

Annie flipped the knife one last time before sliding it back into her pocket.

Then she reached down and picked up a walkie talkie from the nearby table.

She turned it over in her hand, studying it like she was considering something.

Finally, she pressed the button.

The device crackled softly.

Her voice came out calm and clear.

“Is this Adrian Carter?”

She waited.

The room fell silent again except for the low static coming from the radio.

Carl sat frozen in his chair.

Adira did not move at all.

Annie stood there in the dim light, holding the walkie close to her mouth, a faint smile still resting on her face as she waited for Adrian to answer.

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