A Saviour

A few hours had passed since we discovered the mysterious man. Due to the robe tied around his waist, the blood flow had stopped and his breathing had eventually become regular. But the man's health was far from what concerned me at that moment.

"Why did I let that brat go? I shouldn't have let myself be convinced so easily. What if she gets caught?" I sighed, slapping my forehead.

While we were waiting for the man to regain consciousness, we realized that our 'food supply' was running out—which was mostly because of Lily and her large appetite. She must've gotten a hint that I wasn't very pleased when she shared the news with me, so she decided to volunteer to get some fruits. Obviously, I retorted, telling her that it would be dangerous for her to go alone eventhough I had already checked the area for any signs of danger. I didn't want to risk taking any chances with our lives on the line. I couldn't be the one to volunteer and leave her behind either, since the most dangerous person at the moment was right in front of us.

Eventually, she somehow managed to convince me and ran off into the forest on her own. As I was thinking about the awful situation, I felt a nudge on my back. I spun around immediately, pointing my gun at whoever it was.

"Woah!" Lily jumped back in surprise, causing the fruits to fall from her grasp and scatter on the ground.

"Oh, it's you." I sighed, regaining my composure. "Are you alright? Did you see anyone out there?"

"I'm fine! There was no one out there. But I did hurt my butt when I fell while climbing up the trees. It's a really hard task! Anyway, look what I found." Her eyes glimmered as she crouched down to collect the fallen fruits. "More plums!"

Relief washed over me and I chuckled, ruffling her hair. "Good job."

"Ngh.."

My body froze when I heard the unfamiliar voice behind me. I spun around and looked at the unconscious man. He groaned as he slowly opened his eyes— and saw us.

His green eyes widened in panic and he moved to grab one of his knives, but failed. He then glanced down to see himself tied up, realizing what situation he was in.

He looked up and glared at me. "What do you want from me?!"

"I want answers." I crouched down and pointed my gun on his forehead. "So tell me, why are you here?"

He hesitated for a moment before sneering, "You're one of Ryan Smith's guards, aren't you? Kill me if you want. I'm not telling you anything."

My eyes widened a little. "How do you know Ryan Smith?"

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Playing innocent now, aren't you? Weren't you told that your comrades have already tried that before and failed miserably?"

I pushed the gun harder onto his forehead, glaring down at him. "You know what, maybe I should've killed you after all. Saving you was a waste of time."

"Go ahead. Pull the trigger." He smirked, tilting his head to look at Lily who was standing behind me. "Little girl, you should run while you can. If you haven't noticed, this young man is going to kill you."

Hearing his words, Lily frowned.

"He isn't like that!" She hid behind me, poking her head out to glare at him. "He saved me from those men."

The man's eyes widened and his lips slightly parted in amazement. He looked back and forth between Lily and me. "You're...not one of them?"

"No. We escaped from his lab." I stood up and took a few steps back after seeing that he was finally going to talk. "And I think it's me who should be interrogating, not you."

"He'd already kidnapped his next test subjects, huh?" He sighed, glancing down at the robe bound to him. "Look, I mean no harm to both of you. If you're actually escapees, you should come with me. This place isn't safe."

He looked genuinely concerned about our well-being, but that wasn't enough proof that he wouldn't betray us later on.

I narrowed my eyes. "And why should we believe you? We don't even know who you are."

"I am a part of an organization— a rebellion, to be exact. A rebellion against Ryan Smith. If you're actually who you say you are, we can't leave one of our own to die. But if you prove to be a spy..." His concerned eyes turned cold, "We'll execute you on sight."

Under usual circumstances, a threat like that would've sent chills down my spine. But "death" so frequently strolled past me that I didn't feel intimidated anymore. It was a threat that I'd become too used to.

"What do yo—"

"Shh." A voice whispered behind me as I felt something cold pressed against my neck. My body froze. I cautiously glanced down to see a knife.

My heart was racing in panic. "Was it another guard? Why didn't I hear them approach us? And what happened to Lily?"

"Drop the gun. Now." The voice demanded. It was a feminine voice, which struck me as odd.

I carefully dropped the gun as I was asked and waited. I was still transfixed with shocked by how she managed to come up behind me without making a single sound that could give her away.

My eyes fell upon the man in front me. I expected him to be terrified, but he seemed totally relieved for some reason. He shook his head and chuckled.

"Scarlett, you're scaring them. Stop it." He said casually.

I frowned in confusion.

"What's happening? They know each other?" I thought.

The person behind me lifted the knife away from my neck and took a few steps back. I spun around, only to see moments before a struggling Lily was released from a hooded woman's grasp.

She scrambled away from her and hid behind me, whimpering in fear.

The woman's hood was pulled so low that half of her face was covered. When I saw the hooded woman approaching the man, I took this chance to grab the gun and point it at them, but they were too busy whispering to each other to pay attention to me.

"Now's a good chance to run away." I thought. "There's no way I can beat her or that man."

He smiled thankfully at her as the woman untied the robe around him.

"Thank you." He said as he got up to his feet, patting the dirt off his clothes. The woman wrapped a hand around his shoulder to support him as he began walking.

Suddenly, a series of footsteps were heard from a distance. All of us paused in our tracks. My body tensed up as I realized that it was actually the guards this time.

The woman whipped her head in the direction of the footsteps, swiftly taking out a couple of shining knives from under her robe and holding them low.

"Go." She said.

The man smiled as he put on his robe and covered his head with its hood. "I owe you one."

While I stood there bewildered by everything that was happening simultaneously, I caught the man smiling at me.

"Follow me if you don't want to die." He said as he dashed into the woods.

With my mind in a jumble of thoughts, I picked up Lily in my arms and dashed after him not knowing what else to do. He was running quite fast for a man who was a bloody mess just a few hours ago. I glanced back and saw the woman fighting off atleast a dozen of guards with swift moves.

I turned to look back at him, who was already running a few steps in front of me. "Will she be alright on her own?"

He smiled, not meeting my eyes. "I didn't take you for the type to be caring about strangers."

Mildly irritated by what he was getting at, I tried my best to keep my cool.

"I know I treated you roughly." I said calmly, "And I'll continue to do so until I'm sure that you aren't lying about the rebellion."

The reason why I was complying with him so far was because they indirectly saved me from my enemies, and the fact that he was wasting his time convincing me to go with him instead of using force wavered my initial impression of him. Besides, I had to go back home to see what had happened to Anastasia and Noel. I could only pray that they survived.

"You must be quite capable if you managed to survive this far with a little girl in tow." His green eyes twinkled with curiosity. "You don't have to be so hostile towards me. I'll answer all your questions once we reach our base. For now, let's just say that I'm your saviour."

"Saviour..." I thought as we advanced further into the forest, rushing past the trees and bushes. "We'll see about that."