Landing on the ground was softer than Seven expected, maybe it was because he had gotten used to the hard wood floors in the room. That's also when the realized that he was outside, not in the dusty house he had been trapped in for the last few days, which had felt like years to him. He was back to the world he could only stare out of from an old glass window before. He actually lived to come back to it.
Well not for long if he didn't start moving, The Hunter was still after them. Seven could hear The Hunter running as fast as he could, which was hard for the stocky build he had, to catch up and kill the escaped boys. The terrifyingly unhuman sounding yells were also to be heard from inside the house, increasing every second as The Hunter became closer to the outside. He and Mono needed to start running, this time they weren't going to be so lucky if the man grabbed his gun.
Mono must have been thinking the same thing, as he scrambled up onto his feet and dragged Seven up as well, not hesitating to grip onto his hand and begin running the opposite way of the front door which The Hunter would most likely use. Seven trusted Mono to know what he was doing, after all he believed that Mono had been here for a while, at least longer than Seven had. He probably knew his way around this forest, and the best hiding spots too, so Seven squeezed his hand and began running as fast as he could to keep up with Mono. He might still be extremely tired, but he would have to wait to rest when they found somewhere safe.
The two boys ran around the house, into a direction that would take The Hunter longer to catch up to them. Mono hoped by going around the house a bit would make The Hunter lose track of them, since he wouldn't know which direction they went. The downside of it was that Mono had never gone this way before, and knew next to nothing about what laid ahead. He only wished that he knew enough of the wilderness to get them to somewhere safe, and quickly regarding Seven's current state. He didn't know how long Seven could keep up with this pace, but he was grateful that Seven was putting in as much effort right now to try and go as fast as Mono was.
They continued to run, and since they didn't hear any normal sounds of The Hunter, they almost believed that they might have lost him. Luck was no longer on their side, as a gunshot followed by loud footsteps soon came from not too far behind them, allowing them to know that the hunt was still on. This made Mono's pace quicken, straining Seven more, but he didn't complain. Seven couldn't, not after everything Mono had done for him, he couldn't risk them like that.
Then a barn from not too far ahead came into sight, and Mono knew that The Hunter also probably owned it, since it wasn't falling apart like the rest of the abandoned buildings that he would come across every once in a while. Instead of trying to go inside of it, Mono started racing around it as well, wanting The Hunter to somehow be slowed down by it. He was indeed not, and he continued shooting as well, missing them and hitting a fence nearby.
Mono ran behind the strewn out boxes, attempting to hide behind some of them to save him and Seven from the continuous bullets. He had slowed down considerably from before, noticing how Seven's breaths came out more ragged and that he was practically dragging him by now. He felt bad for pushing him so hard to begin with, but he tried not to dwell on it so much as they continued to run. Boxes were shattered behind them, and Mono couldn't help but jump each time, but he was grateful it wasn't him. The terror he felt from the sounds of the gun made him want to almost cower and curl up, but he wasn't going to, that wasn't going to get him and Seven to safety.
Seven was tailing right behind Mono, also glad that the boxes they were hiding behind kept them from getting obliterated from the bullets The Hunter shot. His mind seemed to be running faster than his feet, both from the spinning of exhaustion and the process of trying to find a way out of this. He was lucky to have Mono here to guide him when he was in such bad shape. He wasn't normally this undependable, but right now he couldn't help it with all that had happened. The original escape mission of the Maw ended up horribly, to winding up here and getting captured, to running away from Mono and getting captured again, and then escaping once more with Mono this time. It didn't seem like he could get a break from running, but then again, it was what he was mainly nicknamed for.
Mono saw that the amount of boxes to hide behind was thinning out, while The Hunter was painstakingly catching up. He saw a small cliff up ahead and knew that they may be able to use that to hide for a bit, if The Hunter was dumb enough to not notice them. He let go of Seven's hand for a moment, much to Seven's confusement, and jumped down. Then he quickly turned around and held out his arms to catch Seven. He knew that Seven could jump down on his own, but he didn't want to take any risk of Seven getting hurt right now, especially with The Hunter on their tail.
Seven saw Mono's outstretched arms below him, and didn't think twice about jumping down the cliff into them. Mono wrapped his arms around Seven as soon as he caught him and kept them both from falling backwards, then he let go of him and held his hand to drag him to the small open area that was in the cliff. When he got there, he crouched a bit, not fully to the ground in case they had to spring back to running. Seven copied him and waited for what was going to happen next.
The loud footsteps of The Hunter grew, and the ground shook from the heaviness of those steps. It made Seven wince with every movement, not knowing if The Hunter would notice them or not. He hoped that he didn't, and would blindly continue forward in search of the boys, allowing them to run the other way and escape him. When The Hunter got there, the steps slowed when he noticed that the two boys weren't in sight anymore.
The Hunter did go forward on the path, using his lantern like flashlight in search of the boys. Mono crept from the hidden spot in the cliff, Seven right beside him. The Hunter wasn't far enough away for them to try and run somewhere else without being seen, but staying there for too long was going to get them caught. The Hunter would most likely search the entire area until he found the two of them, which would lead to fatality for them. The only way for them to get away was to try and sneak away from The Hunter by following him, Mono was sure of it, and he almost didn't know why.
Still holding onto Seven's hand, Mono started walking forwards, hoping to get around The Hunter. Seven didn't fully understand what Mono was doing, but trusted him enough to not get them killed. They crouched into the tall grass, using it as a cover in case The Hunter looked over. A crow fluttered but Mono didn't stop, even when The Hunter snapped to their direction, the light blindingly hitting them both. Seven didn't make a peep, but he flinched and held Mono's hand tighter as they continued to move.
Making their way down the path, The Hunter unconsciously following them, Mono was glad that they haven't got seen yet. Then he saw a hole up a little bit further, and knew that it could be their chance. Too bad the tall grass ended right before they got there. He paused and stayed crouched, wondering if The Hunter would keep walking or not. Unfortunately The Hunter quit moving as well, and instead swung his massive head back and forth in search of any sign of the kids.
Mono would just have to wait for the perfect moment when The Hunter was looking the opposite direction, then he and Seven could make their way to the tunnel and leave. When the time came he let go of Seven's hand and ran for the hole, hoping that Seven would follow. He jumped in and spun around, ready to help Seven. Seven followed Mono inside the hole and landed beside him, but almost fell from the pressure on his legs. Mono held the boy upright, not wanting him to fall over. Then he heard the tell-tale sign of The Hunter coming over from the sounds of footsteps. Mono quickly got Seven away from the opening hole and onto the wall, out of sight from when The Hunter used his flashlight to peer in it.
There was a grumble and then a bang from the shotgun. Both of them winced from the loud sound, and Mono was upset that his plan didn't work the way he wanted it to. He didn't waste anymore time to venture deeper into the tunnel, Seven being close behind him, fearful of what may lay ahead. They had to get lower to the ground to keep going, the whole tunnel shaking from the steps of The Hunter above. Dirt and small rocks fell from the ceiling, hitting them every once in a while. Only small passages of light filtering through the cracks allowed them to see where their feet were landing. It wasn't too long that Mono saw the end of the tunnel, leading them back to the upper world.
Fighting through the roots that sealed the hole, Mono came out of the tunnel and quickly glanced around. Spotting no signs of The Hunter, he looked back over to Seven, who had just got out of the hole they went through. Mono was about to grab Seven's hand again, but decided not to, since he wasn't sure if the shy boy appreciated it when it was unnecessary. When he felt they were both ready to go, he walked more along the fading path. It must have not been used in awhile, but it felt weird that it was here in the first place.
It was only a few steps more when he reached a bridge much like the other ones he has sometimes seen in the waste land of a forest. Cages swung with the wind, dangling on a thin chain or rope over the ravine that seemed to stretch for miles. Seven walked closer to the edge and peered down warily, "How are we going to get over this?" He whispered so quietly that his words were almost gone with the wind. Truth be told, Mono didn't really know, he was never able to get across the bridges, instead either having to find a way around or down into it. Though now that he had Seven, he may be able to actually find another way that would work better.
While Seven stood there waiting for something, or a solution, Mono searched for anything that could get them across. That's when he saw a pulley-like thing, and it clicked. The other part of the bridge was downward, and he had always thought it had just broken or that The Hunter did it to make it harder on his prey. Now he knew that it was supposed to rise up when somebody pulled the rope. It was confusing on why anybody would build a bridge like this, but it didn't matter as it could get across.
Mono began to pull on the rope. It was hard at first, but he poured a lot of his strength in it and started to be able to pull it back. The bridge cracked and creaked as it rose, and Seven took a few steps back in surprise, not knowing what was happening. He looked at Mono for an explanation when he saw that it was Mono doing it, and was most likely the way they were going to get across the deep gap.
When the part of the bridge was all the way up and the pulley was done, Seven knew that he was going to have to jump the rest of the way. Not knowing how long Mono could strain himself and keep the bridge like this, Seven took a couple more steps back, readied himself, took a calming deep breath to even his heart, and raced to the edge jumping at the last step. He was in the air for only a second, but it didn't take much for his stomach to feel like it was doing cart wheels, then he landed safely on two feet on the other side. He stumbled forward a couple steps and stood triumphantly, happy that he was able to make it.
As soon as Mono heard Seven land on the other side, he let his hands let go of the rope, falling forwards from the strain of holding it still. He got back on his feet and walked to the ledge, realizing that he wasn't going to be able to use the bridge to jump across all the way. He didn't even need to attempt the risky jump to know that he wouldn't make it and plummet all the way to the bottom, inevitably dead on impact. He needed a different way. From what he could see, there wasn't another pulley on the other side, which made him question the design of the bridge even more. He couldn't hope for another way down or up the gap, since there was no telling if they would find anything at all, just being in more risk from The Hunter. He looked down the cliff, seeing nothing there either. He would have to jump, but how would he reach the other side?
It didn't take him long to figure out a plan. He should just get Seven to catch him, surely he still was strong enough to pull Mono up. He didn't waste anymore time to call for Seven, who was still turned the other way. As soon as Seven heard Mono's voice though, he turned back around and came to the edge of the bridge, noticing his dilemma. "Hold out your hand and catch me." Mono yelled across quietly, still wary of The Hunter. Seven looked at him bewildered, but it soon faded into determination. He crouched down, grabbing from behind the bridge to keep him steady and held out another hand. He had leaned out to be able to catch Mono better.
When Seven was ready, he gave a short nod to Mono to jump. Mono nodded back, going back several steps before taking a running lead to the end of the bridge, jumping across. It was a stunt based fully on trust, having to put faith in one another to make sure they both end up safe. Mono's breath caught in his throat as soon as his feet left the ground, anxiously wondering if he would make it or if Seven would be able to catch him. Then his hand connected with Seven's and he felt a tight grip take him, then he was dangling in the air for a second as Seven worked hard to pull him up, strained grunts leaving his mouth from the amount of energy it was taking.
Mono felt a weird sense of deja vu when he looked up at Seven holding his hand pulling him into safety. He felt like this would be an important mark in the rest of their lives, like this moment held a big part in their future. It was the same feeling he would sometimes get from the dreams in the long hallway with a single door at the end. He didn't know what exactly was important, but something was screaming in his head that it was very much so.
Seven was relieved when Mono was back on the ground, no longer dangerously over the edge. He let him go and crawled backwards, giving Mono plenty of space to properly get up. Mono sat there on his arms and knees for a second, collecting his breath before pushing himself back onto his feet, ready to get going again. He walked past Seven and straight ahead, wanting to hurry along before something bad happened. He looked around, noticing the huge stack of cages against the trees, remembering the cages that he and Seven had stacked up in the room. He shook his head, disliking the sinking feeling in his stomach when he thought about when he almost fell off. No way was he going to use those again.
Ignoring the cages, the two boys kept going, only to see The Hunter again. Mono froze, Seven freezing right with him noticing the man as well, this was not good. Mono had really hoped that they had finally lost the murderous man for once. It didn't seem like they could get a break. Mono urged Seven to run ahead and go climb up into the barn he saw not too far ahead. Maybe they could hide in there if they made it without alerting The Hunter, the said man wasn't looking this way at the moment, but Mono didn't want to take any chances.
Not having to be told twice, Seven ran ahead with Mono right behind him. It was going good for a second, until they accidently alerted another crow, which flew off with loud wings beating as it went. Mono cursed under his breath when The Hunter spun around, immediately alerted to the two boys scampering off towards the breaking apart barn. Seven hesitated for only half a second, and Mono gave him a nudge forwards, ushering him to continue running as fast as he could to the building.
The Hunter held his gun up, readying to shoot the gun, only giving Mono enough time to hide behind the crate that was sitting there. The Hunter accidentally shot the crate, having to reload now, allowing Mono to keep running for the barn. He made it to the part of the building that was breaking, about to go up the makeshift ladder that Seven was using, before The Hunter shot again. Mono was again lucky to have the crate blocking the man's shot and quickly followed Seven up the wall. He then heard the gun click again, signaling that The Hunter was about to shoot, and stopped to hide behind the hanging television, which The Hunter also hit instead of the boy. Grateful for all the coverage that protected him, he safely made it into the barn.
Seven was already across the narrow plank that connected the two broken floors together, and Mono slowed a bit only to not fall off it, Seven using his hand to encourage him more. All of the sudden the wood collapsed under Mono's feet, and for a second he believed he was going to fall all the way down, but Seven caught him right before that could happen, saving Mono once more. Seven quickly pulled Mono up, The Hunter already breaking into the barn, his flashlight swinging like crazy.
The wood splintered from the bullet going right through it, causing the two kids to stumble forward a bit, before moving faster to the window. Seven just jumped straight through it, not caring to climb over it or even look to the other side, while Mono hoisted himself over it. They both began sliding down the slanted roof, Seven not being able to stop himself and falling over, making Mono worried about him. Instead of clenching to the side of the roof like he wanted to, he pushed himself off into the whatever was below, wanting to make sure Seven was okay. He was surprised when he landed in... water? Well it was sort of water, only very disgusting and slimy.
Seven was already hiding in the space between the water and the floorboard above, beckoning for Mono to come before The Hunter made his way outside. Mono waded his way through the thick liquid and crouched beside Seven, hating the way the water was making his skin and clothes feel. The Hunter busted through the barricaded doors, and looked around, trying to once again find Seven and Mono.
The floorboards creaked along with The Hunter's slow movement across them. Seven could see the light flickering on the trees and dock, then it landed on the water and he held his breath and shrunk deeper into the shadows. The Hunter stopped, and Seven thought that they had been spotted, he closed his eyes and awaited for the ear bleeding sound of the gun. None came though, and Seven opened his eyes again to see that The Hunter was moving away once more and that Mono was wading through the water as well. Seven didn't want to be left behind so he started fighting his way through the swamp as well, hating the way it dragged on his clothes and smelled of rotting, proof from the flies circling it. Even with Seven's dying thirst it made him gag to think about the liquid going down his throat.
The two boys were making it steadily through the swamp, having to dunk under the water and hold their breath whenever The Hunter looked in their direction. Mono wanted to throw up from the smell of the water, but it was worse when he accidently licked his lips after arising from it, the taste ten times worse than the smell. Then they come to a point where The Hunter has once again stopped to look around, but this time they couldn't just go underwater to hide in, since they couldn't hold their breath long enough to make it without either drowning or getting caught.
They needed to come up with a plan, and Mono stopped just beyond the small spot of land to peer around and try to find some sort of solution while Seven stayed behind him. While Mono was looking around, Seven looked up on the tiny piece of ground that was in the middle of the swamp with a couple of dead trees on it. Seven studied the tree, wondering if it would be useful, when he knew what they needed to do. He climbed up onto the dirt, out of the murky water but safe from The Hunter's view, and close to the dead tree on his right. He looked at the bottom of it which was barely hanging on, and knew that he and Mono could push it into the water. If The Hunter didn't see them and just waved it off as the tree naturally falling, then they could use it to have enough room to make it all the way to the far side of the swamp!
It didn't take long for Mono to sense that Seven wasn't close to him anymore and spot him near the dead plant. He made his way to Seven and crouched next to him, waiting for something. Seven waved his hand to the tree and gave a pushing gesture, letting Mono know what his plan was. Mono nodded his head and put his hands on the rough bark. With a silent count down, they began to push, and with some work they were able to get the tree to fall into the water creating a huge splash as it fell. Both Mono and Seven hurriedly jumped back into the water as The Hunter quickly looked at the falling tree. He shot towards the area, wanting to see if anything was there to cause it, but hit nothing. This made him grunt and reload his gun as he looked for the boys elsewhere.
Seven ducked into the water and began making his way to the other part, Mono following in suite. Going up the ladder like thing in the cliff, they made their way out of the swamp and back onto ground, both relieved to have made it. Mono jumped down the cliff and had again held his arms out for Seven, which Seven was starting to get used to at this point. Seven saw a shed looking thing not to far away, and wondered if that was where they were going, after all it would seem weird for Mono to bring him here if not. Trying to be as quiet as possible around The Hunter didn't work, their cover blown from crows flying off after being spooken during their meal.
Both boys bolted towards the shed, stopping momentarily behind the crates when The Hunter shot at them, each shot causing a flinch from them. The speed of their feet seemed nowhere near the speed that The Hunter was now using to reload his gun, anxious to kill the boys. Mono almost thought they weren't going to make it when he pushed open the shed door and pulled Seven in by his wrist, afraid that The Hunter's gun would go off again at any moment.
Mono tripped over his own feet as he ran more inside, landing on the ground with a loud thump. He cursed himself and quickly got back up to see that Seven had shut the door and was desperately pulling the lock. Seven jumped back from the door when The Hunter began banging on it, making the whole shack shake, reminding him of the moment back in the room. It was crazy how that was just an hour or so ago. As Mono ran to the lock and held it in place, knowing that it was one of the only things keeping the door from busting open right now, Seven searched for some way to escape.
Seven's eyes landed on the gun that was at the end of the room, really the only thing there except for the box underneath it. He sped to it, hopping onto the box and pulling the gun off the mantle. He fell back onto the ground, the gun landing right beside him. He stood up to see that The Hunter had gotten his hand through and was making the hole bigger. Seven dragged the gun towards the door a bit, and Mono ran over to help prop it up. It seemed as if time stopped as Seven pulled the trigger, both boys barely registering what was happening. The loud bang of the gun bouncing off the walls, ten times louder when you were this close to it. They fell back from the force of the blow and onto their sides, the gun slinging backwards as well.
Mono's ears were ringing and his head was pounding to the point he didn't want to get up, all the energy he put into running from The Hunter finally catching up to him. Surprisingly Seven was the one to get back up first, only seconds after the shot, and shake Mono to see if he was alright. Mono lifted up his head slightly and Seven's shoulders sank in relief. They were both okay. Though it didn't seem like The Hunter was if the obliterated door was anything to go by.
-
Yay another chapter, and it's actually a little bit longer than the others. I hope this wasn't boring to any of y'all or anything, I tried to make it interesting but I was literally just going off the actual events of the game with some changes. Also I suck at pacing lol. They're finally free though! Well, for now hehe. Have a good day or night wherever you are!