Korova Avenue || ONC 2022

Chapter 7

TW: Mentions of unconsciousness (not de@th), bl00d, g*ns, and st@bb!ng

Crow was just peacefully picking blueberries, when he heard a scream from the area he'd come from.

Was that Dominique? He thought as a wave of panic coursed through him.

All of a sudden, the knife on his arm felt very heavy. He detached it and gripped it tentatively. He knew he was a terrible fighter, so he hoped he wouldn't need it. Maybe Dominique just tripped or something. He knew that wasn't the case, the girl was far too tough to let out such a blood curdling scream for something harmless. Crow sensed that she was in a lot of trouble.

He raced through the woods, swallowing the lump of worry that had formed in his throat. When he reached the area that Dominique was supposed to be in, he forced himself to keep going.

Her body lay limp on the ground and blood had soaked the sleeve of her shirt. A person was crouched over her, placing a bag on her head. Another person lay unconscious on the ground with a large wound across their stomach. Finally, Crow spotted a third figure who appeared to be keeping watch. They stared out into the distance, searching for something.

Crow noticed both a gun and a sword lying near his feet. He studied them both, and begrudgingly selected the gun. He knew he'd have a better chance from a distance.

Crow stared at it for a moment and crossed his fingers that it was loaded. He decided to start with the one by Dominique. His hands shook as he fingered the trigger. He pulled it and slapped his hand over his mouth as the bullet went flying. It lodged into the person's back, and they fell without making a sound.

Crow gasped as he stared at the body. There was only a small trickle of blood. The wound was nowhere near enough to kill someone. Crow realized with relief, that they were sedatives. Virtually no harm was done.

The final conscious individual appeared to not have noticed that Crow took down their comrade. He snuck up behind them and pulled the trigger again. This time, the gun just made a clicking sound. It was empty.

The person spun around, and Crow could tell that the man was in his twenties or thirties. He had a scar across his left eye and his lip. He placed very little weight on his right leg, Crow thought he was probably injured.

The man began rifling through the fabric of his cloak. His hand clasped around something, and Crow knew he had to act fast. He flung the dart gun like a boomerang, and it careened toward the man.

There was a sharp crack as it collided with his weaker leg. The man collapsed in agony and Crow got ready to finish him off. He closed his eyes as he flung his knife toward the man. He immediately turned away, unable to face what he'd just done. He sprinted back to Dominique and shook her as sobs raked through him.

"Wake up!"

Dominique opened her eyes slowly.

"What happened? Where are they?"

"One's only unconscious, the other two... I'm not sure."

"Let's get out of here."

Crow wanted to protest, Dominique was in no shape to run, but they had to get as far away from the attackers as they could before one woke up.

"Oh, wait! You might want to get your knife."

Crow gestured in the direction of the man he'd stabbed, incapable of looking anywhere but the ground. He felt terrible. What if he'd killed someone?

"It's fine, I have others."

Crow helped Dominique up, and used his shoulders to support her. They hobbled away as fast as they could.

–

Once Dominique felt that they were a safe distance away, she slipped her arm off of Crow's back. She sat down on the ground to catch her breath. It was still very dark out, but judging by the height of the moon, there were about three or four hours left. At this rate, they'd make it into the town just before eight in the morning. Not as early as Dominique would have liked, but it would have to suffice.

Dominique pulled some bandages from her bag and handed them to Crow.

"Can you wrap my arm for me?"

"Sure. What happened back there?"

"The three of them ambushed me. I was too outnumbered to stand a chance. I was able to take one down with me. I stabbed him as I fell with the sedatives that grazed my shoulder. What about you?"

"One tried to kidnap you. I saw him start to pull a bag around your head. It was so scary. I was able to tranquilize him, but then the gun ran out. I was terrified Dominique! When the bullet left the gun, I felt all my opportunities flash before me, I could be a murderer!"

"From the looks of it, you probably aren't. I think we left them all just unconscious enough not to hurt us. They should be fine."

"But that's not good either! What if they find us? What if they want revenge?"

"I've had my fair share of ambushes, most just want money. They'll probably stay in that area, and attack the next bunch of unlucky travelers."

"But the one I stabbed seemed like he was searching for something, something important."

"Oh," she sucked in a breath as she remembered the exchange she had before she kicked the man. "One did mention something about you. He asked where you were. It seems that he heard about your potential to save the world."

"They want to kidnap me?!" Crow shouted and then immediately clamped his hand over his mouth.

Dominique's wound was wrapped, so she rose to her feet.

"Then we need to get as far away as possible."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

Crow sprinted off in the direction they had been heading, but Dominique stayed where she was.

"Wait!"

"What?" He spun around.

"Let me check the map."

Dominique pulled her map out of her pocket and stared at it, puzzled.

"I think we're going the wrong way."

"Seriously?"

In their hurry, they'd forgotten to figure out where they were supposed to go. They'd ended up going East when they were supposed to go North.

"We need to backtrack a little bit."

Dominique walked in a circle and faced the direction they needed to go. Crow joined her, and the two of them retraced their steps.

When they neared the place they'd left, Dominique directed Crow in another direction.

"We can go that way," she whispered.

They only needed to make a small correction to get back on track. The two of them walked as fast as they could, hoping to avoid anyone who might be in the area. Dominique consulted the map frequently as they made their way.

Eventually she grew weaker and had to rely on Crow to support her. Despite his small size, he was able to carry the extra weight without much trouble. They made reasonable time, and the town came into view just as light took over the sky.