lightning strikes | könig [ON HOLD]

- Chapter 2 -

The Sun barely glanced at them from behind the horizon, shy rays of sunshine caressing their cheeks when Jerico almost killed a man.

One of the Shadows, the shortest one out of all of them named George decided it would be funny if he spilled his water on the still-sleeping Urzik man. And Jerico being the worst morning person on Earth thought it was fair to carve a few curses into his skin with his knife in return.

Now, the two of them were as far away from each other as they could, as Senna ordered them. She was pissed and missed Farah dearly – maybe it was her poor leadership skills that caused all this to happen so fast. If Farah were here, nothing even similar would've taken place.

Jerico led the group with Senna's map and a compass in hand, not even glancing back if they were following. Senna was too angry at them to try and make some conversation, so she just followed after him a few feet behind, the others trailing behind her, leaving some space as well.

The only noise was the occasional gunshots far ahead where Senna and Jerico already knew they would probably stumble into some trouble. But the Shadows barely noticed it above their casual chatter, making her more cranky.

Why can't they shut up for a second?

"And what about you, German boy?" George asked, some laughter accompanying him. Senna rolled her eyes and tried to ignore the tension in her shoulders as she listened.

"I think that's the Austrian flag, dude," one of them countered with slight amusement showing in his voice.

"Shut the fuck up, Cody," George snorted, earning another laugh. "It's the same."

Ignorant dogs, Senna thought. She started to understand why Jerico didn't like them so much.

"So?" George pressed. "Why are you hiding your face?"

Senna paid close attention, trying to hear his voice, but only silence answered them. Deep down, she was glad he only spoke to her – which was a one-time thing and only his name, but that was still something.

"Are you ugly, bro?" George snickered. Her hands tightened around her gun, ready to step in if needed.

Some people never grow up. Some people remain bullies or just shitty people, making other people's life's harder. George was one of those people, and Senna already had enough of him.

The rest of the Shadows weren't that bad so far, but she hoped to get rid of him as soon as possible.

"I think he's mute," Cody commented, his tone somewhat quieter but still loud enough for her to hear. Which meant that even though he tried to be subtle, König heard every word as well.

"Do you even-"

Senna's head whipped around, the end of her braid slamming against her chest from the momentum. Her cold stare cut off George's sentence, all eyes looking at her like they forgot she was even there.

A loud explosion broke their little moment, everybody turning towards the sound. Senna's eyes found Jerico's form up ahead in an instant, her feet picking up pace as she approached. She could see some smoke a few miles ahead – just in the direction they needed to go.

Approaching her partner in a light jog, Senna narrowed her eyes at where she thought the smoke was coming from. They were closing in on a small village that was known for its hostile locals, the place always echoing of gunshots and explosions. The people around here called the village Almutahar, which translated to Purgatory. The name was definitely fitting in Senna's opinion.

Jerico got on one knee as he pulled his binoculars out of his backpack, scanning the terrain in front of them. Everything was mostly deserted and only hollow skeletons of small houses remained around them. Most of them didn't survive the hostile nature of the people of Almutahar out here, a lot of houses being in similar shapes to the one they rested at.