Absolute Contamination

9/ The Shortcut

CHAPTER 9: THE SHORTCUT

It was obvious that if the final decision were up to Hunter, we would turn our backs onto the little girl and pretend we hadn’t seen her. I had to prevent that from happening, yet, I had no idea how. Hunter was taller and stronger than me, so I didn’t really know how to get out of his grip. I had to come up with something he didn’t expect – a surprise attack.

Hunter let out a curse in surprise as I kicked him in the shin. It was a childish move, but obviously one he didn’t expect, for he let go of my shoulder.

“What was that good for?” he complained angrily, though, I didn’t bother replying and continued moving closer to the girl.

Considering the fact that she was all alone and probably scared like hell, I made sure to slow my pace down the closer I got to her. I didn’t want to scare her unnecessarily, or even worse, make her run off.

“Goddamn it, Keara!” Hunter called after me, “Why can’t you ever listen?”

Despite the fact that I could hear him getting closer, I didn’t walk faster. It wouldn’t help if I started running now because then I’d just scare the girl, and that wasn’t something I wanted to happen. All I could do was hope with all my heart that I would get to the girl before Hunter could stop me, again.

“Keara!” he yelled once more, sounding much closer already. “I will not watch you get yourself killed, do you understand me?”

The concern seeped through his angry voice, yet, I still didn’t stop. Was I too stubborn? Probably. But no matter what, that little girl didn’t seem to have anyone worrying about her safety, and that was something completely unacceptable to me. Therefore, I didn’t look back and kept my eyes focused on the girl as I continued to move forward.

“Are you completely insane or just that dumb?” my brother asked infuriated while yanking me backwards by pulling my arm.

“Let go of me, Hunter!”

“Not until you listen!” he argued, and then even more annoyance crossed his face. “And will you please stop acting so childish?”

Perhaps slapping his arms to let go of me wasn’t going to be of any help, especially not if it made him even angrier, but that didn’t take away that it was the only thing I could come up with. It wasn’t like my mind was up for any strategic thinking. All I wanted was to make sure that this girl was alright, yet, for some ridiculous reason Hunter wanted to prevent me from doing so, no matter the cost.

“Hunter, you’re such a selfish jerk. It’s just a little girl!” I replied furiously, not understanding how he could be this heartless. “Can’t you see that she has no one else? I thought you were better than this! I’m not going to pass by her nonchalantly and pretend I didn’t see her. Why am I not surprised that you would suggest doing something like this?”

With every word I said, Hunter’s face turned a deeper shade of red. It was clear to see that he was far from happy with my accusations, but I wasn’t going to apologize for any of it.

“What the hell is wrong with you? When did you turn…?” Hunter was shouting back at me, which only caused me to raise my voice even more.

“It is your fault that Jason is gone. It is your fault we are stuck here, having to walk to the Safe Zone. It is your entire fault. Trust me when I say that I won’t let you destroy this girl’s life just like you did mine. If she needs help, I’ll give it to her, whether you want me to or not. There is nothing, and I repeat, nothing that you can do to stop me. I’m sick of this shield of harshness and cruelty you’re hiding yourself behind. I know you were not this person when we left, and all day long I hoped you only acted this way because of Mom and Dad. But now I know better - You really did become this horrible person.”