Run Baby Run

The woman with bright red hair looks around in silence before slowly looking up to the sky. The four of us remain silent and still in the tree as we watch the Ragers down below. The woman with red hair suddenly turns and looks right at us.

We all remain still but I can't help but hold my breath. Why is she looking right at us? Can she see us? Impossible. She shouldn't be able to see or smell us with all this rain and yet... she's looking right at us.

Hunter, CheeChee, Thane, and I all remain silent but you can sense the unease in all of us. The rain comes down harder, making it even more difficult to see or hear anything but the woman continues staring at us as if she can see us.

A wave of unease washes over me as I silently lift my hand out to Hunter. I keep my eyes on the woman as I signal for Hunter to fall back. He was the one who taught me these hand signals so I know he'll understand without having to look but when I see the woman move, I lean to the side and kick Hunter clean out of the tree!

A bullet flies straight at us, hitting the tree and causing the bark on the tree to fly up and splinter! I hear Hunter hit a few branches before catching himself with a low curse. Thane calls a large bolt of lightning down straight at the woman but she's already gone!

She's fast! I jump down to the branches under us as I spin around and throw CheeChee with a high-pitched whistle. He flies with ease and takes off towards Hunter as Thane dodges another few shots. I reach out and use my powers to send spikes up out of the ground, piercing the trucks and anyone who was too slow to move out of the way.

Something grabs my ankle, nearly causing me to fall! My black nails actually grow as I reach out and grab the branch to keep from falling. When I glance down, a guy who looks like his skin is made out of bark is trying to pull me down by my ankle.

When I feel metal approaching, I quickly lean back. Bullets fly past, hitting the tree and the surrounding trees. The man refuses to let go so I twist around while upside down and dig my nails into him. His skin even feels like bark!

He yells out in pain and finally releases my foot. I keep my nails in him as I right myself but when I feel more bullets, I retract my nails and fall. The man is hit several times as I free fall. A few branches snag my arms and face before I land on a branch. The man's body falls past me and hits the ground below.

Lightning hits again, shaking the ground and surrounding trees. I look up to see several people shooting at Thane. I bare my teeth in anger as I reach out and bend their guns. Yells of chaos break out as a bullet hits my right shoulder.

I lose my footing and slip out of the tree. I grit my teeth in pain as I spin around and land in a low crouch. Everything becomes quiet again as I slowly look up to them. The woman with red hair stands with her gun pointed right at me as the surrounding men stare at me with wide eyes.

The rain soaks everything as we stare at each other in silence. I can feel Thane silently moving up above but I keep my attention on the woman in front of me. Blood flows from my shoulder as she narrows her eyes and asks "What the hell are you?"

I bare my teeth at her in a sinister smile as I say "Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about you. Leave the people alone, they're just families searching for safety." A look of confusion flashes in her eyes before she says "You must be mistaken. I'm here to kill you and..."

Her other hand lifts and without even looking, she fires! It happens so fast, I'm left in shock as I hear Thane falling! I go to lunge at her but she cocks the gun and says "I was given orders to kill you both but... I feel like there might be more to the story."

I ignore the pain in my shoulder as I narrow my eyes in confusion. Ordered to kill us? By who? Why? She puts her other gun away and pulls out what looks like a comlink. I watch her silently as I strain to listen for Thane.

I can't hear him... My heart starts to race but my thoughts are interrupted when someone answers the call. "What is it, Iris?" The woman with bright red hair keeps her gun on me as she says "Was I given kill orders?"

I reach out with my powers to take her gun apart but when I get nothing, shock rolls through me. What the hell? I strain to bend the gun but nothing happens! Nothing but silence can be heard on the phone before the low voice growls out "Not from me. Who are your targets?"

My mind races with confusion between her weapon and the phone call. Was this all some kind of mistake? She tsks and says "One male, one female. I tracked them down and have the female in front of me now."

More silence before I hear "Grey eyes?" The woman narrows her eyes on me and says "Yes" I hear the growl again before he says "Bring her to me." Iris quickly says "And the male?" Without even hesitating, the man says "Kill him" Her face remains blank as she says "Got it" before snapping the Comlink shut and saying "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice."

What the hell was going on? Was it possible there was an internal dispute between powers or was there more than one group after us? Wait, what if this group was hired by Thane's father! But he said to kill Thane... his father wouldn't do that... right? I start to chuckle as I glance down at the muddy ground soaking my pants.

When I hear the last slice of skin, I slowly look up to her with a dark smile. I slowly raise to my feet as she keeps her gun on me. "I'm going to go with.... hard." Thane's sharp black claws nearly go straight through her from behind but she quickly spins out of the way. He had once again killed all the men.

As she raises her gun at Thane, I sling my bloody arm at her. My blood hits her, instantly making her hiss out in pain. Thane swipes at her again, nearly taking her head off as she ducks and spins away with grace, shocking Thane and I both.

She pulls something out and throws it down between her and Thane. I quickly lift both my hands and raise the ground as a large explosion goes off! I ignore the pain in my shoulder and quickly walk over as I lower the ground again.

She's gone... Thane growls in anger and looks around for any signs of her but when even he fails to find her, I know it's impossible. What was she? When Thane turns to me, he does a double-take and rushes over to me in concern.

I shake my head at him and try to wave him off as I say "I'm fine. Are you hurt?" But even as I ask that, I know that he's fine. Not even a scratch on him. I look to all the dead men on the ground with worry. The rain was starting to turn this into a swampy grave.

I look around, trying to see past all the rain but I really can't see any signs of her. This isn't good...