Running behind Lilly, Matthew, and Theodore were surprised to see that despite Lilly's demeanor and age, she was faster than them. It even looked as if she wasn't doing her best just so they could keep up with her.
"Faster boys, at this pace we might not make it to the train station before the first train leaves," Lilly said.
Her words made the two of them feel ashamed. They couldn't believe that they were struggling to keep up with an older woman.
'Damn it! Has Lilly always been this fast? Even a crafty cat will struggle to keep up with her.' Matthew thought to himself. He has always been confident in his physical strength and abilities, but seeing Lilly moving faster than him made him realize one thing, that the devil worshippers were not normal in any sense or shape.
Matthew then recalled the little lecture that Lilly gave to them back in her apartment, the brief lecture about the Gifted and the Blessed people. He began wondering what Lilly was.
Theodore's thoughts weren't far off from Matthew's own, he too wondered how strong Lilly was and she was bulletproof too.
"I thought the first train leaves at 5 AM?" Theodore said quickly in short breaths. The sides of his abdomen had started to hurt and he was slowly falling behind Matthew and Lilly.
"Officially, yeah. But we have our ways. The first train leaves at 3 AM, we own the train station in Araya." Lilly informed. She started to slow her speed a bit, reducing the pace at which they were moving. She knew that she couldn't force Theodore to run and keep up with her, it was already known n to her that compared to Matthew, he wasn't one known to have great physical abilities.
"We?" Theodore was breathing heavily. He thanked Lilly in his mind when he noticed that she had brought the pace down.
"The Resistance," She answered. "When we get to safety I'll explain more to you guys," Lilly said.
Instead of following the brightly lit main roads, Lilly kept on leading them through dark alleys, and after 15 minutes of running, even Matthew started to feel tired. Theodore was panting heavily and following behind them.
Lilly stopped in front of a two-story tavern. "Catch your breaths here for a little while. I need to get some things. Don't worry, they won't be able to find this place easily." She reassured them.
Leaving them outside in the cold, Lilly knocked on the door and waited for some seconds before it was opened by a man with a thick mustache, a round face, and average stature. He looked like he was in his 40s.
"Madam, it's you?" The man said, surprised to Lilly at the door of his tavern.
"Yes, Deaden. It's me." Lilly responded, putting her hand in her pocket to search for something.
"Is there any problem, Madam?" Deaden asked when he saw Matthew and Theodore a few yards away from his door, panting hard as they weren't bent on their knees, trying to catch their breaths.
"Something of the sort Deaden… the safe house has been exposed," Lilly replied as she pulled out an envelope from her pocket and handed it over to Deaden. "Send this to headquarters in Melsidova." She directed as she stepped into the tavern with Deaden following behind her.
Deaden wasted no time in collecting the envelope. He hid it in his pocket before saying; "What about you Madam?"
"We'll be leaving the city on the first train… I would love to tell you where, but you'll find out later."
"Then I suppose I should wish you journey mercies…"
"As much as you can, Deaden," Lilly said with a light smile…
Outside the tavern, Matthew and Theodore remained where they were, staring at the door and waiting for Lilly to come out.
"For an elderly person, she has a lot of stamina," Matthew commented. He had slowly started to catch his breath.
"Matthew, aren't you scared?" Theodore questioned out of the blue. He too had started to catch his breath, however, he was feeling a bit parched.
Arching a brow at Theodore, Matthew replied; "What exactly should I be scared of?" Despite his response, Matthew was scared.
He was scared of the people who were chasing after them, he was scared of anyone finding out that he had the blueprints with him, and most of all, he was scared because he was slowly realizing that he had no power.
He wasn't sure he would be able to defeat a weak devil worshipper.
For the first time in Matthew's life, he lost confidence in his physicality.
Theodore couldn't tell if Matthew was pretending or just being nonchalant. "Everything seems to be quite fast."
Matthew straightened his body and looked up to the starry sky. "Yeah… kind of."
"We haven't even collected this month's pay yet." Theodore chuckled. Although he had accepted what was happening, even though he didn't understand it completely, he still felt like life was moving too fast for him to keep up with.
"You are also worried about money?" Matthew commented.
"No, not really… I have never been outside of Araya, even though I have always imagined myself leaving the city, whenever an opportunity came, something unfortunate always happened." Theodore revealed.
"Hmm, I don't think I have ever thought about leaving the city… but now that I think about it, not until last week, the thought never crossed my mind… why?" He was truly perplexed by this.
Matthew had always wanted to join the Military because of its pay, and he knew that he was most qualified for the military because of his physical talents, however, he never did it. Not because he didn't want to do it, but because he had to leave the city to do so.
The two of them couldn't help but feel like something was wrong with their lives.
They had been living in the same area and building, but why was it that they only just met and introduced themselves a few hours ago?
Furthermore, they kept on having unusual feelings of familiarity and companionship for each other, although they didn't voice that part out.
These thoughts crossed Matthew's and Theodore's minds and pondered on this for a while. In the end, the two of them couldn't come to a reasonable conclusion.
While they were still in their thoughts, Lilly stepped out of the tavern alone and walked up to Matthew and Theodore. She came out with some black leather holsters on her shoulders and a black satchel.
"Off to where now?" Matthew questioned.
"No more stops, this time we'll run towards the station and we'll increase our pace," Lilly said as she handed the gun holsters to the boys before bringing out 4 revolver guns from her bag.
The guns all had brown wooden finishing on their handles.
Matthew and Theodore stared at the holsters and guns for a second before looking at Lilly.
"What is this?" Theodore asked as he shakingly pointed at them.
"Wishes of journey mercies from the tavern master," Lilly answered. "Holsters and guns. Just take them, it will increase your chances of survival." She added.
'Who gives guns as well wishes for journey mercies?' Theodore thought to himself, but he didn't deny Lilly's words.
The guns will increase their chances of survival. The only problem is…
"I don't know how to use a gun," Matthew said.
"Same here…" Theodore chipped in.
"I know," Lilly said. "Just take the holsters and wear them." She insisted.
The holsters were thigh holsters, which were easy to wear. They both got two holsters, one for each leg.
After wearing the holsters, Matthew was the first to reach for the guns, which he placed into the holsters on his thighs.
Theodore followed after, "How do we use them?" He asked.
"Those are double-action revolvers, and they are already loaded. You don't have to cock the pistol, once you pull the trigger it will do so on its own, the only problem is that it's going to affect your aim. These guns have 5 chambers each, meaning you both have 10 bullets to use.
The Gifted are not immune to bullets so they'll be less of a threat if shot from afar, however, they do have above-average vitality so one shot might not take them out unless it's a critical shot. Let's hope that you won't get to use them." Lilly explained.
Theodore bobbed his head in response, hoping that he wouldn't have to use the guns too. The thought of taking a person's life didn't sit well with him.
'I hope I don't get shot at too. What if the bullets hit back and destroy the blueprints? My source of wealth.' Matthew thought as he readjusted the satchel that was hanging by his side to the front.
After handing the guns over to them she put her hand into her satchel to fetch more things. When she removed her hand from the bag, she brought out two-pint bottles.
"What are those, more wishes from the tavern master?" Matthew asked.
"Yes, they're enhancing potions and they're not cheap or easy to obtain. But the two of you are worth it." Lilly announced as she handed the potions to them.
The first thing that came to Theodore's mind when he heard that they were enhancing drugs was aphrodisiac, but he dismissed the thought as it didn't align.
"The potions will make you faster and stronger temporarily for a short while," Lilly said.
"Are these safe to take?" Theodore asked as he uncocked the pint bottle to take a sniff of its contents.
The stench that came out of the bottle caused Theodore to recoil. He threw his head as far back as he could.
Matthew could perceive the smell from where he was so quickly took a few steps back while holding his nose shut.
"I'm not taking this," Matthew said.
"The potions are safe to take, but they have negligible side effects. Now drink, we need to be on our way. It's almost 3 o'clock." Lilly ordered…