Jim, the old man and his family finally stopped running. They were panting and were too exhausted to go on. The old man wheezed and gasped as he fell face first on the snow with his butt slightly raised. He looked like he was a mouse that was being sent to the knackers. Jim stifled his urge to laugh and instead looked away.
"You know, you should not have abandoned your friend, right?" The middle aged man asked as he sat on the cold, hard snow. He, like the rest of his family was wasted both physically and mentally.
"Who? Wilson? Nah, he is not my friend." Jim was quick to deny it. He continued.
"He is an...um... acquaintance. An acquaintance born out of convenience and necessity. That's all."
"Really? You guys seemed close. Like long time friends kind of close, you know." The little girl said.
"No, we are not. I already told you guys how we met, didn't I?" Jim said.
"Oh yeah, yeah, you did." The little girl's elder brother, Matt, was the one to answer. He paused, then continued; "You should not have left alone though."
"Okay, let us get something straight here. WE! WE left him alone. We all did!" Jim corrected, making sure to place emphasis on the word 'we'.
The family was unable to say anything. They knew he was right.
"And when I suggested he fought for us if the need arises, nobody said anything. Not even Wilson himself.
And even when the gorilla came for us, he was quick to face off against it. So, if there is anyone to blame, it is mostly him." Jim explained, to which the family slowly nodded in agreement. Well, all of them except for the old man.
"You all should be ashamed of yourself. He risked his life to save ours. And we haven't even known him for more than a few days. Even then, he still chose to put his life in the line to help us escape. If he was the only one, he would most likely have escaped with those hunters, but, no. He chose to come back and inform us and he even kept the one eyed gorilla beast busy while we escaped. Now, instead of us to feel grateful for what he has done, we sit here, away from the danger because he made that possible, and are putting the blame on him. We should all feel guilty for leaving him and you all should feel ashamed for even thinking that way. He is the only reason we are alive!" The old man said, shaking his head.
The ensuing reaction from his son and grandchildren was as expected. They felt remorseful. Their expressions drooped as they lowered their heads in shame.
"tsk!" Jim scoffed.
The old man turned his head to face Jim and sighed before speaking.
"Your morals and thick-skinnedness are really something. From what you told us, you and Wilson have been through quite the adventure together. I would expect that, no matter how short the adventure was, you would have developed c a sense of kinship with him like he already had with you. And now that he is most likely, no, definitely dead, you not only not feel bad about what happened, but actually dare to make him out as a fool for having such good, honest feelings for you and my family."
He brought out a folded paper map and some water, lighter, tent and dried food supplies and handed them to Jim.
"Here. These are the major things you will need to get to Tiger City. I believe it would be in our best interest if we split here and find our separate ways to the city gates." The old man said and stood up. The rest of his family stood up and walked away with him, while Jim sat still on the snow, looking down at the map and supplies, lost in thought.
************
Three days later.
At Barnes Bar, the same bar that Vox did his business in, Vox sat on a bar stool at the counter and looked at his watch and then, his phone again. It must have been the hundredth time because the barman could not remain quiet anymore.
"Vox, your friend has not contacted you yet?" The barman, whose name was Bar, asked.
"No!" Vox answered.
"And the soldiers too?"
"No!"
"Perhaps, he isn't here yet?"
"Perhaps!"
"So, what do you want to do?"
"I don't know!"
"Don't worry too much! By your estimate, you said, at the latest, he should have arrived by the end of next week. Today is just Wednesday! There is still quite some time left." Bar said calmly, lifting a half filled bottle and pouring Vox a big glass.
Vox drank it all at once and barely changed his expression. Bar chuckled.
"You fish! Drinking strong contents like this as if it were water. Tsk!"
"I am worried that he already died on his way here." Vox said as he watched Bar get a different bottle and pour it in the glass.
"Are you guys really that close?" Bar asked.
"He is my only childhood friend. He was the only who could put up with my trouble making tendencies and not get into trouble for it."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah. Infact, there are times when he would help to shift the blame away from us or help me avoid getting caught."
"hehe... sounds like a good friend."
"Yeah, he is."
"So, why did he decide to come to Tiger City?"
"He always wanted to explore the world but to do that and still remain alive, one would either need to become a very strong fighter or be insanely rich that even those proud, retired mercenaries would be tempted to unretire themselves. Jim is not much of a fighter, so he wanted to try his luck in a city like this. I already happen to be here so, that's probably why he chose this place instead of the capital." Vox explained.
Just then, a large number of hunters and mercenaries entered the bar, exhausted.
"Uh. That was very tiring." A mercenary with a mohawk said as he sat heavily on a chair at a corner.
"Yes." Another agreed.
"I saw myself in Nirvana a couple times." A young hunter said.
"More like Hades." Another said with a chuckle.
"Yo, Bar, get the baths ready!" Someone yelled at Bar.
"Yes, give me three minutes." Bar said and pressed a button.
The bath was actually an expansive underground spa with all sorts of facilities and women, mostly sex workers, to ensure full satisfaction. There was an elevator there for direct access to the hotel next door.
Rush hour like this was usually on weekends, but of course, it was Wednesday afternoon, and usually, the regulars should have been hard at work. That was why Bar had to press the button. It was used to alert the masseuse and sex workers of potential customers. Vox had installed the button himself and helped Bar hire someone to program it for these kind of purposes when there was unexpected rush hour in the middle of the week.
"What happened anyway?" Vox asked as he quickly began to distribute the drinks with amazing speed and a unique sense of balance, not even spilling a drop.
"Oh, hey Vox? How goes it?" The loud hunter that had asked for spa services greeted.
"You know, my offer still stands. A million Tigs to mess with my boss's wife." He said.
Tigs was the crypto currency spent in Tiger City. People were not allowed to carry cash of a million and above on them. When a person earned close to a million, they were advised to create a Tig crypto account for safer and easier keeping. Of course, there was always a commission paid to create and keep it active, as well as tax to the Tiger City's government. But that will be explained in more details later.
"What happened?" Bar asked.
"One eyed beasts. Around twenty-something of them. They ambushed and killed over a hundred travellers on their way to the city. And we were called alongside a couple soldiers to check things out." A mercenary explained.
"Damn!" Bar said.
"Why?" Vox asked.
"I don't know!" The mercenary said with a shrug.
"Perhaps, they were hungry? Agitated?" A hunter replied. The other hunters began to speak over themselves, putting in their speculations.
"Maybe someone lured them there?"
"Or something attracted them?"
"Perhaps a beast like them was captured?"
"Or someone killed a beastly delicacy, enough to invite them."
"But, hunter bags are produced to cancel out any form of aura that could attract others."
"Maybe it was defective?"
"Or they were not using the official equipment."
"Maybe they were not even hunters! They just saw a chance and took it."
"yeah, that's possible."
"You know, what I heard was that the hunters that escaped were almost torn apart, but they chose to report first before going to the hospital."
"Heh, such kind people!"
"I heard that the beasts were berserk."
"I overheard one of the soldiers giving an account to his higher-ups through his standard issue watch" A lady mercenary said and everyone instantly hushed. They perked their ears and listened carefully to what she was about to say next.