Red

Sloane

She ran through only to see the same spot a third time and running back. Her long legs were turning to gelatin, lungs squeezing and wheezing for her to take a second to breathe. Not stopping, she takes a sharp turn to her right and stumbles on a rooted tree stump. The leaves falling through the trees wave past her hair like when rain would land on the windshield of her mother's car and would fly off. Leaving a trail of tiny droplets from the original one.

"Tony...where are you?", she quietly whispered prayers as to the unknown location of her friend. She stopped running, and searched slowly and carefully. They had separated once the shot went off. Tony was supposed to summon her once she was safe. "Jackal!"

"Come on. Where are you guys?" The hunters would catch up to her sooner or later. Suddenly, a bloody hand shot out of nowhere and clung to Sloane's tattered, bloody blue blouse. She screamed only to have the hand cover her mouth. "Sloane, they're probably close. Don't scream."

Sloane knew not to make a sound. The Hunters could sniff out a slight squeal from a mile away. They saw fear and killed it the first chance they got. A tried avoid them like everyone else.

"Tony? Where's Jackal?" Jackal ran towards The Hunters, where Sloane demanded he go with Tony to the bunker below a saggy tree at Gorle Hill. But he refused. Said he would fight them off long enough for them to get to the bunker.

"I don't know. Lost track of him when he decided to try and hold them off." Tony's shirt was shredded from her collarbone to her waist. She had a few twigs and leaves in her short red hair. Her emerald, green irises searched every bush and tree branch for hunters. Or even Jackal.

"Sloane, last time I saw him, he had...you know. He couldn't control a thing he was doing. You know how it works. It doesn't stop for hours. I-...it prob-" a loud roar interrupted Tony. Sloane didn't know whether it was The Hunters or possibly Jackal. Either way, they both started running towards the shady path to the bunker.

"Tony, I'm not going to be able to keep it in any longer." She worried about how much time they would have before she would go under too. Then they would both be in danger. "We need to keep moving. The bunker is just a few miles away. We can make it, come on!"

Bam. A loud shudder of smoke came from amongst the trees. They were too late.

Jackal was gone.