We made our way through a couple of small towns, which took about 20 to get through each. We did so to reduce the risk of being killed on the way around. Plus going through the town was faster than around it.
"We'll need some help taking the vice-president down," Kyo whispered to Cal and me.
Overall, we avoided any contact with any roaming police officers and government officials. We didn't want to risk them seeing us in case Moraco had sent out an order.
"It must be true." Kyo began, "The amount of police here is abnormal. This must be Moraco's doing... he knows you two are making it back home."
Cal and I froze in place, looking at each other, uncertainty in our eyes.
"Was Moraco responsible for sending us into the war?"
"Yes. He withheld soldiers so that it would seem like they were running low."
"What was the point of it?!" Cal raised his voice, becoming a little irritated now.
"He was trying to kill you." She said, stopping Cal in his tracks.
We remained silent for a moment.
"He's been trying to kill me for... that long?" Cal asked, wearily.
"Yeah, his reasons are unknown, but I theorize he believes you to be a threat to what he has planned," Kyo explained, stepping out of the shadowed alley we were in and returning to the street.
"The police must have passed by already," I stated, feeling a bit disorientated.
"Let's keep moving. The next stop, once we get out of here, is Kioka City, then we can make our way toward your guy's hometown and stop Moraco." Kyo said, reaching the wall of the town.
She quickly climbed over it, as we struggled to climb it, she had gloves on, giving her an advantage, to her to not scrape her hands.
Once we were over the wall, we could hear shouting from inside the town and she instructed us to begin running.
We listened, and just as we did, we could hear bullets hitting the dirt near us. We dodged and weaved past trees and over rocks in quick movements to escape.
We came to an abrupt stop once behind a huge tree.
"What were they shooting us for?!" I asked, looking around.
"Not... bullets..." Cal let out a heavy breath. He slumped over and went limp, I could see a dart in his back.
"Sleeping darts. So that's how they deal with runaways... anyway, now we'll have to carry him." Kyo said with a sigh.
There was a brief clicking noise and Kyo turned around, her hand raised and she backhanded a gun away from her head.
The rifle hit the ground and a little boy was standing in terror.
"James!" A man with short brown hair came running out from a nearby tree. "What are you doing?! These are people!"
"But... dad... aren't they monsters?" James asked his father.
"It... doesn't seem like it." He looked over at Cal and then turned around, putting his hand on his stubbly chin. "Susan! Bring the carriage over!" From behind a big rock, a lady stepped out with a straw hat, she was wearing some light jewelry like necklaces. She too had a rifle.
She rushed over and I could now see her long blonde hair. "Is he alright?" She asked, looking at Cal's back. She leaned closer and inspecting the dart, quickly removing it and helping her husband pick Cal up. They lightly put him in the carriage.
We stood there and watched them put him in there, not knowing if to trust them or not.
"Well, are ya gonna get in? We don't have much time before they come over here to get ya girls." The man said.
"Right. Thanks." Kyo said, climbing into the back of the carriage. I followed after, picking up the rifle the boy had and handing it back to him quickly before jumping in.
***
The ride was mainly quiet, except for the little boy, James, apologizing to us multiple times. He was so adorable that we couldn't be mad at him.
"You did nothing wrong. You did a good job trying to protect your mom and dad." Kyo told the boy while she ruffled his light brown hair. It seemed to have been recently cut.
I pulled out my phone, but it was dead, most likely the heat of the desert fried it. I resorted to my watch, which Markus had given me, but I found no real use of until now.
Right before I tapped the watch to bring up the interface, it vibrated and began showing text.
"A Pathogen is nearby." It read, its text red, followed by a quick flashing burst of red.
I looked all around us, looking for the danger, but I couldn't see anything nearby. That was when...
*BANG*
A loud banging sound rang out, making my ears ring painfully. The little boy had shot the rifle and his parents turned to look back at him.
"I got one!" The boy said triumphantly, throwing his arms up, lifting the rifle like a weight.
I turned in the direction he shot in, and on the ground next to a tree was a Pathogen, its skin fluctuating and bubbling.
"Don't you need to burn it?" I asked, confused as to why they just kept going on.
"Nope. The bullet does that well enough. If we shoot them in the head, the heat the bullet emanates is enough to burn their brain and make it bubble out of their ears and nose." James' father said with a chuckle.
I looked away in disgust, I tried to not imagine that sight. At this point, it was pretty dark out, and we were all cautious.
***
"We're here." James' father said, stepping out of the front seat of the carriage, lightly petting the horses. He then led them to the stables while Kyo and I carried Cal into the farmhouse. We gently lay him on the downstairs couch.
"I'll get some stuff to dress his puncture wound and I'll check his temperature," Susan told us as she returned from a small closet with blankets and pillows. "There are a couple of guestrooms upstairs you two girls can utilize until you need to go." She smiled and handed the blankets to us.
***
We set up our beds for the night.
"Um... ma'am..." James said, slightly tugging my sleeve.
"Yes?" I asked, smiling at him and gently moving his hair around.
"Can... you help me go to bed? Please?" He asked so cutely. Kyo smiled at me and I stood up straight.
"Of course." I smiled and held his hand, he could be no older than 11, his hands were warm and clammy.
Once we got to his bedroom, he climbed into his bed and looked at me with his small brown eyes.
"Do you want me to tell you a story?" I asked, trying to comfort him.
"Yes please." He said so politely.