Path of the Hunters [PART 3]

"What do I do?" he whimpered and fell silent.

Voices could be heard. "The dog is still brea-" Pained screams were followed by silence.

"I'm scared," he breathed. He hadn't quite been able to see what had happened, but he'd seen Sunny move for the first time since she'd been hurt. The blades had come out of nowhere... Trip made a soft whining sound, pleading for help.

*

Aurélie shook her head. She'd learned that boy's story the past few months and this definitely didn't needed to be added to the list of bad memories in his life. "We 'ave to do something..."

Katherine sighed, "We can do nothing. We were ill-prepared for this, the guys have yet to recover from the last rescue mission." She rubbed her temples, groaning, "Damien's going to kill me for not seeing this coming..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Ma'am, what do we do?" Asked the pilot.

"Hold course, I'll send some people over there, we might be able to help whoever's left..." She replied softly before looking over at the group. "Sorry...I should've seen that coming."

"Why," Nova asked. "Because you're a computer? You've seen enough as it is. It's not your fault."

The tears were fully streaming from Cross's eyes. "...Run..."

*

"She's right." Mani said hopelessly. "We're probably miles away from being able to act effectively, and we're still wounded and exhausted. Even if we could get to them, we would be slaughtered."

"Mom said to w-wait for you," he whispered. "She said you wouldn't l-leave me."

*

The dog bit her lip, sinking back into the chair. "There must be something..."

"Listen to me. I understand your need to listen to your mom, but right now, you have to listen to me. Those people will kill you, if they get the chance. You have to run. Run, and I will find you."

*

The hedgefox shook her head, reached into her bag. "I have something, but it is for absolute emergency purposes, only. We've only used it once in our entire career..."

"I think this counts as an emergency."

*

"B-but I can't leave Sunny..." And he couldn't imagine any place safer than his little hidey-hole in StarShine.

Cross sighed shakily. "Trip, I know this is hard for you to understand, but Sunny won't be able to protect you forever. They will get past her, and they will find your hiding spot. Do not give them that chance. Please, Trip, for your sake, you have to run." His voice was growing louder, more urgent.

*

"You don't understand. The last time we used this... It nearly killed us..."

"W-will you stay on the phone?" he whispered.

*

Aurélie closed her eyes. "Explain."

He heard a beep from his phone-his power was almost out. "...I'll stay on the phone for as long as I can."

*

"...Got it." She pulled out a small pouch, dumped its contents into her hand. "...eight left. Exactly enough for all of us... A long time ago, I was working on a way to rejuvenate soldiers in the midst of battle. About ten years ago, I saw the fruits of my labor in 13 bite-size pellets, I called Breaker Beads."

Trip nodded, eyes terrified. "Okay..." He crawled to the small vent and started to push it open, freezing when he heard voices again. So close to the slots, he could see them clearly. There were ten of them, all with those strange knives.

They spoke to each other in a language Trip didn't understand and suddenly all had a steel beam through their heads. He whimpered, looking to the source. Sunny's eyes were mostly closed, blood sliding down the side of her face, a blade sticking out from her chest.

Shivering, he tried to push open the small vent. It didn't budge. "Cross, i-it won't m-move."

*

"'Ow did they almost kill you?"

"Use all your strength, Trip. Your mom's counting on you. I believe in you. You can do it!" Despite his current demeanor, his voice was encouraging.

*

"Well, to get to the point, it provides an adrenaline rush so powerful, it breaks the body down."

He tried, setting the phone down and pushing as hard as he could. He whimpered and saw the dog look over. "Trip?" And the vent turned to sand beneath his fingers. Grabbing the phone, he scrambled over to her, shivering when he saw the knives that were in her legs and chest. "The hell're you doing?"

"C-cross said to r-run."

She wheezed out a breath, eyes closing for a second. Trip shivered; he'd never seen Sunny like this before. "Give me the phone; go grab the med kit out of the bathroom. Be quiet and be careful."

"I'm scared..."

"I know you are, squirt." She tried for a smile, landed somewhere between that and a grimace. "You can make it."

Trembling, he passed the phone over and darted. She held it to her ear. "You tell me what the hell's going on in as few words as possible while I think of somewhere I can make the kid run to."

*

She sighed, frowning deeply. "Zut... We don't 'ave enough information to know if they are necessary..."

Cross sighed, but Nova snatched the phone from him. "Assassins and bounty hunters, workin' together. An army of 'em. They're usin' you guys, to get to the team, to get to me and my family."

*

Mani grimaced. "I'm sure Cross and company were met with a small army of Laroches and Baudoins, on their rescue mission. Just think of how many more there will be, this time. And with us in our current conditions, we would be rounded up for dead in a matter of seconds of trying to mount anything..."

"Fuckin' A," she groaned. "Star told me they were babblin' French to each other before she got hauled off. They kept going on about finding someone named Amile and they want Aurélie. Congrats on the twins, by the way."

She looked over when Trip came back, opened the kit and yanked the knife from her chest with a groan. He made a soft sound and she looked over. She tried to put steel beams through the intruders' heads, but it didn't work this time. Panting, she managed to get them down by turning their bones to sand.

"Shit," she breathed, wanting to throw up. Instead, she quickly filled a syringe within the medical kit and injected herself with a glowing purple liquid. The worst of her wounds began to heal. "Okay, I'm sending Trip off now."

"But-"

"And he's not gonna argue about it." She wheezed. "He'll let you guys know where he is when he gets there. Pick him up when you can, but don't you dare come near StarShine. You got that? Y'all take one step inside this building and I'll kill you myself."

"Fine. Cross's place is cinders, so no go that way. And Sunny? Don't you dare die on me. You do, and I'll raise you from your grave and kill you again. You got that?"

"Dying wasn't on my agenda today, anyway. Now put Cross back on so he can keep Trip company. He's nicer than you."

"Now there's somethin' we agree on." He passed the phone back to Cross, who placed a charged finger on the back battery, fully charging the phone.

"You guys still there?" he spoke into the phone.

"Yeah. I'm making Trip a path. He'll be underground for a while. When he comes out, he'll know where he is and then he'll tell you. Once you have him, keep him safe. You hear me? I fucked that one up, but you'd better not. And you'd better get Star as soon as you can."

"You know I will. You take of yourself."

"Will do." She passed the phone over to the fox and hugged him. "Be careful, squirt. I'll see you later."

He nodded, shivering, and she opened up the floor and dropped him in. "Just follow the tunnel."

"Okay..."

"Okay, Trip," he said softly. "I'm going to stay on the line with you the entire way, okay?"

He nodded. "Uh-huh..."

"Look, once you reach the end, just wait. The hole at the end opens every twenty minutes, stays open for five. When you get to the end, hop up, let Cross know where you are, and drop back down. Do it quick and just stay there 'til Cross tells you it's okay to come out."

"Sunny, can't you come?"

It would require ripping her legs off a bunch of knives. She didn't have nearly enough medicine or bandages to do that without dying of blood loss. "Listen, Trip, you've been through tons. You're a tough kid. You got this, okay?"

He sniffled. "Okay."

Katherine scowled at Mani, "Now is not the time to kill yourselve to play hero. Put those away and save them for a time when they'll actually be useful."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Annoyed, she brought the volume up along with her voice, "WILL SOMEONE FILL ME IN HERE ALREADY?!"

Both pilots winced at the loudness of her voice.

Trip winced. "What was that?"

Mani stowed them away. "I have no intention of using these, anytime soon. They are only good for thirty minutes, anyway."

*

Everyone winced at the volume, save Nova, who absently dug through wax in his ear. "Good thing you showed up," he said. "Tell your boys to scuttle the mission to StarShine. That's a dead-man's zone. Hell, I wouldn't even look in its direction."

Cross grumbled. "...Don't worry about it. Ow... Just, get moving."