THE HUNT

Eighteen

    "You know me?" I take a step back, looking around. She nods, holstering her gun.

    "You're Imrie's friend!" She fumbles in her pocket for a moment before pulling out a commlink. "We were assigned here together! Let me get hi-"

    "No!" I move to grab it from her hand, but she steps back warily. "You can't bring him over here. Kylo Ren-"

    "Kylo Ren is busy." She lifts her chin. "Our plan is foolproof."

    "Your plan..." A stone falls from above, and I see a figure crawling across the roof, sniper rifle attached to their back. "No, no. That's stupid." I snap my head back to her. "He can-"

    "Quiet." She puts a finger to her lips, tugging me down to where we can see Ren still fighting the girl. I pull out of her grip, twisting the blaster from her hand and pointing it to her head.

    "Call him off." I snap. "Now." I lift my chin.

    "I'm sorry, Hunter." She shakes her head. "This is how it is going to end."

    "No," I grit my teeth. "It's not." I bash the barrel of the blaster into her forehead and she crumples. I look up, seeing Imrie, oblivious to me, laying on the flat edge of the roof, rifle aimed at Ren.

    Kill someone today.

    I can't kill Imrie. The thought of pulling the trigger against my friend is sickening.

    I can't kill Ren. If I try and fail, my fate will be worse than death.

    I curse quietly to myself, closing the mask over my face.

    I take aim.

    I shoot.

    Imrie cries out, falling from the ledge and into a pile of wooden boxes that splinter underneath him. He draws Ren's attention for just a moment, and my heart trembles.

    "Wise choice." Ren says into my mind before returning to his fight. I step into the open, finding Imrie with his secondary blaster aimed at my chest. He's on the ground, having rolled out of the wooden debris. He lays there, teeth gritted and eyes narrowed. His leg is bleeding, badly.

    "You're the Zilla." He says, horror rising in his gaze. I toss the other rebel's blaster to the ground. He watches it clatter against the cobble before turning back to me. His aim wavers slightly. "What did you do to her?" He jerks his chin towards where his partner lies in the shadows, unmoving.

    "She's not dead." I say, frozen. My voice is unrecognizable. I know that if I move, it will be the last movement I make. He doesn't know it's me. I could tell him, but then I couldn't go back with him. It would make everything worse.

    "You could have killed me." He watches me skeptically. "Why didn't you?" He grits his teeth, clearly in pain.

    "Your friend, Hunter, has told me about you." I risk a step forward. His eyes widen, then he barks out a laugh, bitter and cold. In my years of knowing him, nothing so hollow has ever come from him. I take the moment to notice that his blaster only has one shot left.

    "Hunter is dead." He says flatly. "What could she possibly have told you?"

    "That you're jumpy." I turn sharply so that the movement startles him, and he fires. The pain is blunt, but not piercing. My cloak deflects it, and he tosses the gun away, readying himself to stand and fight. I get to him before he can rise, pushing him to the ground. "Stop, Imrie." I hiss. He freezes, surprised that I truly do know his name. I take that moment to grab his wrists and pull him to where his partner lies unconscious still. I turn so I'm sitting on his chest as I tear a long strip of fabric off of his pants to use to tie off his other leg.

    "What are you doing?" He demands. I ignore him.

    Once the tourniquet is in place, I step off of him, falling to a kneel at his side.

    "She's not dead." I say quietly. "She's waiting for you."

    "It's over." Ren's voice echoes in my mind. "Kill the other one, and I won't go after your friend." He promises.

    No. I take in a breath. I can't.

    "Do it." His words are still in my mind, but he steps into the spot we've been hiding.

    "Oh sh-" Imrie doesn't finish, sitting up and pushing himself as far away as he can from the Supreme Leader. I stand, meeting Ren's gaze.

    "Make your decision." He stares at me. I pull the staff from my shoulder, not breaking his stare as I activate it, and it becomes a long blade. I step towards the girl, who is just now beginning to stir. She groans, rubbing her face. She catches sight of me almost immediately. "Do it." I tighten my grip on the staff, holding it above her.

    She sees Ren, then Imrie, and seems to understand. She dips her chin, closing her eyes.

    I stifle a sob as I plunge the tip into her chest.