One Killing Maze

Chapter 23

The group Masky had led to the abandoned facility had been filtered out slowly. Most of them had left the building, halfway across the forest to their current hide-out....one they had changed one too many times. The sound of hurried footsteps against the dead leaves on the forest floor caught his attention even before the one who was running had made an appearance. Hoodie, who was trailing behind, heard it too.

"Masky~," the dark-haired girl sprung out from between the thick trees, her brightly colored outfit causing Masky to squint in addition to her singsong voice. Nina stopped, swaying as she grinned up at the two mischievously.

"What's so important that you alerted everyone in a five-mile radius that we're here?" He grunted at the teen. Her smile, as much as Masky would've liked to call it one, widened further as she rocked back and forth on her heels.

She then leaned forward, talking in a lowered voice, "Jane and I found someone hidden in a small area underground," her eyes, if ever possible, squinted further, "Jane says it's Y/n's mom."

A look of surprise flashed over Masky's face, however, it was not seen and it disappeared quickly. His head turned to Hoodie and a short sigh escaped him.

"Is there any other bunker nearby? Any housing?" Hoodie stilled before fishing a hand into his hoodie's pocket and withdrawing a small, burnable phone. It was a small sign that he'd call BEN to find the location of the nearest shelter because there was no way Y/n would want her mother to be living in the forest in a camp full of killers.

"Aw..." Nina trailed off, pouting sarcastically, "does that mean we can't kill her?"

A small giggle left her lips just as another pair of footsteps came approaching, this time the one running was quicker to appear than Nina.

"What now?" Liu, no, Sully (at the moment), shook off the leaves that clung to his jacket and scarf with a frown on his lips. A sigh escaped him.

"There were a few left behind that wanted to keep watch on the building," Sully reported rather dully, ignoring the small glare Nina sent him.

Masky sighed, "who?"

The male shrugged in response, furrowing his brow, "people like Skully, Painter, the ones with better stealth, apparently."

Leave it to me being gone for others to take things into their own hands, Masky thought with a short nod. At least it was what Sully said; the killers with better stealth and a watchful eye. They were the stalker types and the least likely to get caught. Kagekao probably was one of them too if a third was left behind... Masky's eyes flickered over to Hoodie who stood a few feet away, on the phone with BEN. Now he wondered if he should send Hoodie back to the building.

"There's a building," Hoodie spoke loud enough so his voice reached both Nina and Masky, "north of the Doctor's old place."

"North of..." Masky trailed off and pursed his lips, "isn't that the Seedeater's hunting grounds?"

"I'll get EJ to handle him," a smirk played on Nina's lips as she gave a small wave, bumping shoulders with Liu as she fled into the trampled bushes. The green-eyed killer's eyes flickered from a lighter to a dark tone, before finally settling.

"Should I head back then?" He jutted his thumb out behind his shoulder, pointing in the direction of the building. Masky sighed, rolling his right shoulder.

"Yes, don't do anything rash, though."

Liu stared, blinking, "define...rash."

He rolled his eyes, "don't do anything I wouldn't do."

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The many rooms seemed to repeat almost endlessly. They were all the same size with the same slots on the floor, except these areas on the floor were all sealed off with a metal seal. In addition, some of the rooms had a few boxes in them, the ones they checked were empty, and others had various items that were useless to the group at the current moment as the majority of the items they found were akin to various office supplies of some sort.