Monsters

Chapter Seven

"Wait!" I heard Luz shout as she caught up to me grabbing my shoulder to get me to face her. "You're not going to ask any follow-up questions?" She asked me, her tone portraying the disbelief she had felt. I sighed, bringing my hand up and placing it on top of the one she had placed on my shoulder. I watched her visibly flinch, yet she did not make any movement to take her hand from underneath mine or to step away from me.

"We've got time, remember?" I took a step back from her watching her hand fall to her side. "Now, let's get going shall we?" I raised my arm as if motioning for her to go before me. This led her to give me a small smile before pushing my arm down as she passed me. Taking a moment, I watched her walking ahead of me for a few seconds before snapping out of it and catching up to her.

... ... ... ...

"Think that's some sort of community?" She tilted her head at me curiously as I kept my eyes in front of us.

"It would explain why there are so few monsters roaming around. They must send people out in search of supplies and maintain the surrounding area keeping the numbers as well as the risk to its inhabitants low." I explained absentmindedly as I kept my eyes analyzing the place before us. "They've got strong walls and a lot of people keeping watch over the place," I mumbled to myself.

"I think we should keep our distance. These people look like they know what they're doing." I informed Luz of my concerns and she nodded her head at this.

"Alright, stay here, you'll be a safe distance from them. Less likely for you to get caught. I'll go ahead and scope out a way around this place and we'll continue on our way then." She said this as her face turned serious and her words became less of a suggestion and more of an order.

"Alright, just don't take too long. The sooner we can get out of their way the better. A run-in with a group of this size is one I'd like to avoid regardless of whether they're nice or not." Some of my worries slipped into my tone. My gut was screaming at me to get out of here and I had every intention of listening to it at the moment.

"You got it, boss!" Luz said giving a two-fingered salute easing my nerves a little as she made her way down the ladder and disappeared from view.

It was a few minutes later when I hear Luz coming up the ladder behind me. I let out a sigh and smiled, "I'm glad you're back Luz. We should think about leaving now." I expected Luz to reply, but she didn't. And when I felt the cold end of a gun barrel pressed against the back of my head I felt my heart drop into my stomach.

"You mind stating your business being near The Sanctuary?" I heard a deep, raspy voice inquire. Slowly, I raised my hands to where they could see them, not wanting to do something out of line that could anger them. Right now, whoever was behind me had all the power.

"My apologies. I'm not from around here and I wasn't aware of this even existing. I had every intention of avoiding unnecessary contact with your group. I was up here trying to find a way around you guys so I could continue on my travels." I explained honestly and as calmly as my voice would allow me in my current predicament.

I felt the end of the gun slowly leave the back of my head. "You can turn around. I won't hurt you." The voice spoke softly and he gave me an apologetic smile once my eyes caught his. "I'm sorry about this. You can never be too careful with strangers and I had to be sure that you weren't a threat." He went to stand up, holstering his weapon.

"So you called me Luz, is that someone that you are traveling with?" He asked, his tone showing nothing but politeness as I searched his face for any signs of lies or of a false narrative. Some of his blonde hair fell a bit into his eyes as he looked at me with intrigue. I swallowed down my nerves as I came up with a believable story.