Where Light Dies

48. The Hunter's Game

"Come on!"

"Slow down Sara- WAIT!"

Carter's arm shot up in the air, curling into a fist.

-- Heatherhills, Camp entrance -- 2017 --

The pack screeched to a halt.

"What?" Sarah hissed as the splashes of their footfalls rippled through the tunnels.

Carter's eyes were still fixed on the walls behind them, his lips trembling as words struggled to make their way through. "Light."

Sarah flinched, slowly turning back to look at the damp moss covered walls. A dull orange stood out against the darkness, the shadows of an entire battalion of soldiers steadily marching for them.

"Run. NOW!"

Blake snatched the transmitter from Sarah's belt.

"Take another route! Turn back if you have to."

Their footsteps churned the ankle-deep water, sending waves of splashes booming through the wide central pipeline. "Just a couple meters more and we'll be at the - "

Sarah's breath hitched.

No.

The pack jogged to a stop, silenced by the wall of rubble in front of them.

The pipeline had been sealed off by debris. The only way they knew out of there was beyond an impenetrable layer of fallen concrete and asphalt.

No. This can't be. There has to be a way out of here.

Sarah's eyes darted to the passage beside her, a narrower path that could have been a service tunnel back in the day.

Bingo.

"This way!" she screamed as she ran ahead of the pack.

"We don't even know where that leads!" Carter called out from behind.

"It's not like we have a fucking choice Cart! Now get a move on!"

The pack darted into the passage, their boots clanking against the damp cement floors. Blake could feel his chest burn from exhaustion; his calves now hot as lead from the unending chase. His eyes darted to the girl next to him, an action which caused him to slow down even further.

Reyna's eyes were slowly narrowing down, her run now dying down to an exhausted jog. Her face had flushed to a bright red, her breaths now a cycle of heart-wrenching wheezes. She was going to faint any moment.

Fuck this.

Blake tucked his arm under her shoulder, carrying half her weight as he dragged Reyna forward as fast as she could.

"What the hell Blake! Let me go! LET ME GO!"

Reyna struggled to squirm out of his grip, hurling curses as fast as the human tongue could compose them.

Don't touch me. Don't...

Reyna's thoughts faded into a picturesque nightmare, her skin crawling from memory of her assailant's lustful deeds.

Blake stopped dead in his tracks, his arm limp as it fell off Reyna's shoulders.

"Blake... I-"

"No. That's not it."

His eyes hadn't budged from what stood before them.

Reyna traced his gaze, her vision falling upon the path they had chosen. In front of them was a massive wall of rotten black bricks. Their little game of cat and mouse had come to a dreadful conclusion.