The Hunters' Fate: Overcoming

Whatever Happened to Happiness? (Rain)

Running for your life isn't for the weak.

Trust me, I've had experience. After many near-death experiences that have ended with me and my friends running away from an enemy, you'd think, hey, they've definitely got this down by now!

Yeah, not so much.

"GO! GO! FASTER!" I scream from the back of our group. I almost trip on a divot in the rocky ground, and I can feel the Hunters getting impossibly closer to our small group, that consists of the TU Crew, Callum, and a few others I didn't learn the names of yet.

"I AM!" Milo shouts back, trying to pick up his pace.

Then, I see it. Our helicopter in the sky.

I want to cry with relief. We just have to get past this tree line up ahead, and then we're home free.

A gunshot sounds through the clearing, and I feel a bullet whiz past me. I watch Callum turn slightly, pull his gun out, aim and then shoot at the closest Hunter near to him. The Hunter cries out and crumples to the ground, where I see the bullet landed true into his chest. The others step over him and keep charging forward.

I curse and turn back forward.

We're at least fifty yards from our ride home, and if we don't make it on time, then this whole trip will have been for nothing. The Hunters are gaining on us every second, and shooting them off one by one won't work. We'll have to use a different method. But what?

"We have to use falsicornu!" Milo shouts to us. "Get out your jewels. If you don't have one, partner up!"

Without thinking twice, I grab one of the recruits around the waist and take the falsicornu jewel out of my pocket. I jump up and my body fights against gravity, the jewel lifting me up into the air. The recruit scrambles to grab onto me as I lift up. Milo, Stella, and Z all have other recruits, and Callum is floating up by himself.

The Hunters have realized what we've done and are starting to shoot at us. I hear a cry of pain from Z and he falters in the sky, almost dropping like a rock. Relief floods me when he regains control.

The only bad thing about falsicornu is that you can't control the direction you go in after you've lifted up. The jewel just holds you in the sky.

That means we're sitting ducks.

I swear again and watch as the helicopter flies straight toward us. Then, I grab my gun and start shooting towards the Hunters. I see the others follow my lead and a few of the perpetrators drop. But we have no defense against the attacks.

The only thing we can do is pray that we don't get shot somewhere vital.

The helicopter gets close so that it's right beside Z. Someone inside gets to the edge, reaches out their hand, and grabs him and the recruit he's holding. A bullet flies right beside him and hits the helicopter with a clang.

I'm still shooting down at the Hunters below me. "Faster!"

"We're trying!" someone shouts back from inside the helicopter, hauling Stella inside.

They finally get to me and grab me. They pull me inside with the recruit right behind me. His foot gets caught on the outside and he almost falls, but I catch him and yank him inside.

I scramble away from the ledge with the recruit in tow, right towards my friends. Stella is right over Z, looking at the gunshot wound on the right side of his stomach.

"Medic!" Stella yelps, looking around frantically. "He's hurt! Help me!"

A girl rushes over with a first aid kit. She kneels down beside him and rips his shirt to get to the wound.