Chapter 38: The highway for hell

Follower runs with all het might.

But despite the fear she can't help but think...

It is the right time.

This is an opportunity not to be missed.

A circular glance allows her to see everyone's position.

Two has not been far from her since the beginning, sweat sticks his hair to his skin, his glasses jump on his nose with each stride he takes.

He looks absolutely terrified.

Then there is Princess, her usually blood-red lips are pale and wrinkled into a grimacing pout.

Oh the bitch has lost her splendor.

Follower's anger prevails over fear.

This woman pushed her in the mine.

She pushed her to save time.

Like a piece of meat that you would drop to a beast to escape.

It's because of her that Follower almost died into this black hole.

This bitch...

She remembers this feeling of abandonment, of betrayal.

This black so opaque.

This endless wait without ever knowing if or when the thing will come and kill her.

Her eyes which tried to see in the darkness if the danger was coming without success.

This one and only light, this fucking flashlight unable to illuminate the whole room. This dust that fills her nostrils. This cold metal that presses her against the ground.

Her pleas echoing in an empty room.

The girl grits her teeths then smiles.

Behind her the cadaverous-looking beings are not that far away.

One or two meters away.

Next to Princess there is this playboy who sticks with her all the time but at this precise moment he seems to only care about his own survival.

One ragged breath later, after a quickly made decision, Follower deviates from her initial trajectory, using all of her energy to accelerate.

She soon stand next to Two.

The boy glances at her and the girl with dark green eyes points at Princess.

She shouts:

-NOW!

He blinks as the information comes in.

Then he in turn stares at the older woman.

He swallows then pants. His decision is also quickly made since a second later he nods.

However under his glasses, in his pupils Follower can perceive a hesitation.

The sick peoples behind them groan, one of them reaching out trying to grab the girl by the shoulder.

Follower feels cold fingers brush against her shoulder. With a shiver and goosebumps all across her skin she goes behind a tree and aviod it in time.

The girl's lungs are on fire, her throat burns from the intense activity, but her legs don't give way.

The boy is a good team mate and applies himself to the task

They are now both running at the same pace. One to the right and the other to the left and soon they are behind their target.

Two with his mouth wide open to inhale manages to insert himself between Princess and Handsome.

Under the light his face shines with all the sweat beading on his skin. His glasses slide down his nose as he shouts:

-Let's split up! Go that way!

In pure panic, Handsome follows his instructions letting his gaze slide along the boy's finger before following the direction thus pointed to turn left and run away at full stride.

Leaving his companion alone with the other two.

Taken aback by the sudden movement of the two Princess turns her head and Follower profit of her inattention to grab her by the arm and then to pull her to the right.

Their feet sink into the mud with a sound of suction.

The trio once again moves away from the majority of the group. The only other person who noticed their movements is Charismatic a little further ahead who is struggling to help the old man move fast enough to escape their pursuers.

Follower glances over her shoulder and exhales deeply when she notices that most of the sauvages have given up and preferred the group of Pony and others rather than the three of them.

Excitedly she digs her nails into the older woman's flesh.

Princess winces in pain and tries to free herself.

Two comes to help her teammate overpower the other while continuing to flee.

Both of them don't care about the force used, their hands hold the woman's arms so tightly that the tanned skin reddens under their grip. She is dragged like an object.

Princess begins to understand that something is wrong. She tries to use her knife but she is held so well that she only moves her wrist a millimeter.

Very quickly, her weapon is taken away from her.

She can only stammers:

-Wh-what are you doing?!

Then she orders her voice starting to reach impossible high notes:

-Let me go!

Neither Follower nor Two pays any attention to her.

When they manage to lose the last of their pursuers they stop next to a wasteland of mud.

They're still holding Princess.

Follower lets out an "ok" followed by a "We can do it here" to encourage herself while her other hand move with her knife.

Their prisoner widens her eyes, a little cry escaping her lips, she makes an ineffective backward movement.

Finally Two reacts, he raises his arm in front of Princess as if to protect her in a burst of consciousness:

-HOLD ON!

His voice carries far.

Follower react quite strongly to his intervention:

-You agreed earlier!

For a moment Two blinks frantically while pushing his glasses up his nose.

He remains silent but Princess intervenes, her voice breaking at a few moments.

-Listen...Let's calm down okay?...I...let me go first...

She holds Follower's gaze as she tries to negociate her way out.

The younger woman can see her interlocutor's fear and hear her plaintive tone.

But then what? This woman pushed her in front of the danger without even turning around, why should she give her mercy? Pity for her? Is she worthy?

The green eyes darken a little more with rage, she only thinks about stabbing the knife into this woman.

The boy finally reacts between two jerky breaths and explains:

-Look, maybe we can forget about this plan. After all we found the others, maybe together we will find another solution?

His teammate rolls her eyes.

-No. We need her head! She deserves it all-

Princess bite her... The bitch! The bitch!

She glares at the woman who has sunk her teeth into her arm, blood between her gums. Her muscles relax and Princess frees herself from her hold before delivering a violent slap to the boy.

Surprised, he lets her go in turn.

.

Freed from both, the woman runs away at full speed

with hope.

Her foot sinks into the mud. Bubbles form on the surface. Her eyes are fixed on the edge of the forest which border this muddy plain.

Follower watches her go, her rage increasing tenfold.

There's no possibilities of letting her go.

She pursues the older girl but it turns out that the fugitive cannot go far.

The two teammates already see the woman slow down then stop a few meters from them. Before slowly, slowly sinking in.

-Ahahahhah what a dumbass!

Follower laughs. Two gives her a worried look before stepping forward cautiously.

A stick is quickly taken to check what is in front of them and the two approach cautiously.

Princess mutters in despair:

-No no no!?

When she notices the duo approaching again, she moans a little more, shaking in all directions, her body rocking. Her hands plunge into the soft earth and then they too are trapped.

-Please, please help me!? I-J (her eyes turn towards Follower who still has the knife in hand, her pupils as small as needles) I know you're mad at me, sorry Pa-Sorry?

The girl doesn't answer her pleas and the worried boy can only try to convince Follower too his feets avoiding the most suspicious muddy puddles:

-Let's help her get out of this quicksand and find the others, we no longer need to kill her... We can try to catch one of these savages but now we no longer need...

Follower interrupts, green eyes still fixed on her target, a bit sarcastic but for the rest she keeps this brief and relaxing tone of her usual self.

-But yes of course let's all go back together to see the others. So she can tell them what we were planning to do to her. The rules are simple, you know them. One head for two passengers; her life alone ensures the survival of both of us... (the more the girl speaks the more her voice drops in volume) Given her character perhaps she would have done the same if she had had the opportunity and killed one of us.

Princess denies it turning her head from left to right with an half-moaned "no" and teary eyes but Follower ignores the women to continue persuading :

-You don't need to get your hands dirty. I'll take care of it. Just hold her head so that i can slice more easily her neck (The girl is only one or two strides away from the frightened woman,and she is still convincing the boy) Look, we discussed it, you agreed, why change your mind now? Are you a coward ?I'm sure you're not one. One head. Just one. And we're getting out of this hell...

This is the first time Follower has spoken so much to Two.

The boy is destabilized. In a daze he sees himself reaching out with both hands and grabbing Princess' s head rather than pulling her out of the mud.

It's true that if they killed her. No... if the girl would kill the other he's not really guilty... he's assisting that's all... And that was the plan...

Trapped in this way, Princess observes the expression of her two executioners. The man's fingers pass through her hair and squeeze her skull and hold her in an upright position.

Follower can see the realization coming on the mature woman's face .

No one will help her.

She only has the ability to watch Death advancing step by step.

Helpless and abandonned by all...

In a final burst of emotion as the blade moves towards her neck again Princess screams:

-GO FUCK YOURSELF!BASTARDS, GO IN HELL!

The only response given to her is the mocking grin of Follower who sticks the knife in her windpipe.

Princess screams this time in pain then emits a sort of grotesque gurgling sound while begging:.

-Stopppppp.Sst-op

The blade zigzags into the flesh. Blood spurts on Follower's forearms and on Two's cheek.

The boy can't bear to watch this scene, his eyes turn away from the woman's contorted expression. But his ears cannot escape Princess's pleas.

Follower narrows her eyes, the blade jamming against something hard. It takes a lot of strength to continue cutting.

Her victim is still moaning as she reaches halfway through the neck.

The head begins to tilt back slightly, the skin tears by itself.

Princess dies a second later.

Her skull is held together by Two's hand and by the vertebraes who rise from the red meat like a strange pink stick.

The blade passes over the more or less thick pipes which run along the bones. More blood is flowing. dark blood.

The vertebraes are slowly sawn between their interstices .

Finally the bones are cut.

For the rest, the girl gets up, grabs the hair blackened by all the fluids and pulls violently.

Everything comes with a very particular sound.

The head is put in a bag

The two accomplices then look at each other .

After ten minutes or more they finally move.

-Let's try to find the others.