Tares City

30. Places

ARROW BERLIN

Sitting in the passenger seat of Ezra's car, Arrow fidgets with the ring of keys, flipping them through her fingers. After the Bell incident, she'd decided to go along with Ezra to this secret location of her father's.

"To hell with it, what's the worse that could happen," Was the phrase she muttered to herself before she made the decision to go.

Noting they were a little ways past Clearmeadow now, she watches as they begin turning off the main roads onto the smaller, less-known streets. But besides mentally mapping their journey, her brain kept on replaying her encounter with Bell. The things said between them and the way her old friend moved throughout their conversation had her weary.

Bell was a threat now and Arrow knew she had to treat her like one, telling herself to be prepared for anything and expect the worse.

"We're almost there," Ezra says breaking the silence as he turns onto a bumpy dirt road. 

"So what can I expect to find here? And what are you looking for?" She asks, glancing over at him.

"Who said I was looking for anything? I'm just doing a favor for my father. Checking the materials, making sure things don't fall into the wrong hands. Yada Yada," Ezra replies.

"Yeah, I don't buy that. You're looking for something specific. You or your father, hmm, maybe both." Arrow says back to him. "It won't be a secret for long, you know! I'll figure out your angle in all this, sooner or later... If I even want to know." Sighing the last sentence.

"If you even want to know? You just asked," Ezra replies to her statement. 

"It's a complicated matter," She says back to him thinking about her brother who was off living a new life in another part of the world. She'd let curiosity get the better of her and now she was wondering how big of a mistake she'd made.

"So what, you're just seeing how things go? Playing it by ear now?" Ezra asks, to which Arrow shrugs in response. He wasn't wrong with his statement, that was somewhat her plan. Following this, they drove the rest of the trip in silence. 

~

"We walk from here," Ezra says as pulls the car over to the side of the dirt road, putting it in park. 

"How far?" Arrow asks as she unfastens her seatbelt to exit the vehicle.

"Not too far, just up that trail," Ezra answers, exiting the car. Arrow exits as well, looking around at their surroundings. The road they were currently on continued in front of them but the path was blocked off by an old metal gate with a 'Private Property' warning sign. 

"Whose property?" Arrow asked out loud.

"We go this way," Ezra says coming to stand next to her.

"Into the forest?" Arrow asks in confusion looking at the trees in the distance.

"Yup," Ezra replies. "Not too far in though, don't worry," He says beginning to walk in the direction he pointed out. Closing the car door, Arrow follows behind him, her hands moving to pat one of the two guns she had strapped to her waist, underneath her jacket. Feeling reassured by her weapon, she trails behind Ezra, remaining alert and aware. She'd be a fool if she wasn't weary of him and where he was leading her. 

Ahead of her, Ezra veers off their path slightly, walking through the grassier areas and taking a series of turns around the trees. "There," He says out loud to her as he continues walking. Arrow looks ahead over his shoulder spotting their destination. It was a semi-underground cabin that blended into the forest around it. The wooden cabin looked as if it'd been built in a hole as the sides of the ground came up to cover half of its structure. The roof of the cabin sported leaves and dirt which further camouflaged it with the trees. A door and small rectangular window become visible at its front as they get closer to it. There was a dip in the path going down to the door which made Arrow guess it opened inwards. Ezra stops in front of the cabin but Arrow walks around to the back taking in its appearance from behind. The house was more inconspicuous from behind, looking like a small hill on the path.