The mail runner

Chapter 2

Cursor's head ached and vision was blurry as he woke up. "Ugh what the hell." He murmured to himself as he sat up. Hearing the snow behind him crunch he turned around and saw Mr. Winters standing next two a black van before walking up to him.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry that you got involved in this." He said with a apologetic look. "Here let me help you up." Puting his out.

Accepting the gesture, Cursor pulled himself up with help from Mr.Winters. "Thank you Mr.Winters. Now where are we?" Cursor said as he dusted the snow off his clothes and backpack.

"Please just call me Ethan." Ethan replied. "An to answer your question I don't know. The only clue I got to where my daughter is the tracks in front of the vehicle."

With a slight nodd Cursor responded to Ethan "let's go find her if she's in danger."

Without even answering him Ethan clicked a flashlight and started following the tracks at a brisk walking pace. As they walked Ethan flicked the flashlight from side to side scanning for anything that was out in the dark. The silence between the two didn't last long when Ethan decided to strike up a conversation.

"So you said the orphanage you grew up in was terrible. What did they do that was bad? If it's too personal you don't have to answer." Ethan said that part quickly as he realized the question was very personal.

Letting a deep breath out. Cursor put his hands behind his head as he answered the question "oh no it's not personal at all. If anything by talking about it helps reveal how bad they were. Plus the place is shut down. But to answer your question there was a lot they did wrong."

He took a pause to form his words "Besides giving us the bare minimum for any of our essential needs they also injected us with stuff. An whenever we asked they say it was a vaccine but never specified which vaccine, only saying a alpha virus. An most kids who got the them died from a sickness so it was very sketchy. But to be honest I can't remember much. Whenever i try to think back all I see is people in white coats and needles talking about a virus."

Ethan just kept quiet after he got answer. Let alone a whole movie plot. As they kept following the tracks they saw them go under a barbed-wire fence. As they went under it Ethan  hissed as he cut his hand on the wire.

"Yo good, no bleeding?" Cursor asked in a worried voice

He looked down at Cursor's small 5'3 frame and showed him his hand saying in a calm tone "I'm find it's just manage to get some surface blood. An this is just a scratch so there is nothing to worry about."

In less than ten steps they frozen as they saw a gruesome scene. A flock of dead crows covered in their own avian blood laid scattered on the snow while others were hung upside down from tree branches.

Not wanting to stay near the dead birds they quickly walked past it. Keeping the flashlight in front of them they spotted a tiny wooden bridge that covered a extremely shallow stream. Crossing it they found themselves in the back yard of a old cabin.

"Ah good shelter." Ethan said as he pushed open the door slowly.

The heavy wood door made the slightest of creaks. Entering the house they could tell person was well stocked in food from the preserved jars in crates. The connecting room was a kitchen with a twin bed against the wall. What was shocking was that the house was empty and looked ransacked.  Below them a loud ruckus was heard.

Following the sound lead them to a set of stair to the basement. Going down them with caution as the stair looked like they would break from the lightest touch. Taking a right turn at the end of the stairs revealed the basement is nothing more than a big storage room

Ethan "Ahh!" Yelled as he opened an armoire to reveal the source of the noise to be a mouse. At that moment the first floor of the house rattle like a stampede of animals was over them.

Rushing back up the stairs they found a cabinet blocking the entrance into the kitchen. Pushing the heavy cabinet out of the way, they found the part of the east wall blown out.

"What the hell did that?" Ethan rhetorically asked

"Something not natural." Cursor replied.

Again Cursor followed Ethan as he walked through the hole and back to the cold out doors. Though the dawn of sun had started to give the sky its morning blue grey color. Walking through the snow covered brush was awkward as it was earlier. But before it could get more uncomfortable, Ethan and Cursor saw something they didn't expect.

A small village sat below in a valley. At the other end of the village was a magnificent gothic castle that sat overlooking he village.

"Where the hell are we." Ethan wondered to himself.

"I'm wondering the same thing as Mr.Winters I mean Ethan. But where ever we are I don't like this feeling. I get the sense that the place lets you in but never out." Cursor said as he mumbled the last few words

Ethan stared at the village and castle before spoke towards Cursor "That sense you have is right. An whenever you get that feeling it usually means go there as that's where you will find your goal."

Without even saying anything Ethan started hiking down the rugged terrain towards the village. The mail carrier could looked in shock as he saw in the man walk with purpose and anger in his step. His body was telling him that the village was hazardous but the feeling he got from Ethan Winters was one of a dangerous father who would tear this village upside down to find his daughter.