Prey

PREY

Rindul held her hand up to signal the two men following behind her to stop and stay quiet. Her eyes darted to the direction of every sound, unable to determine where the immediate threat was. She waited, listened and watched.

Knowing how dangerous it would become at night, she continued forward while motioning to the others to follow with caution. As much as her insides were screaming at her to run, she walked with a slow, careful pace through the dead forest.

Ahead of her, the trees began to thin out as they met up with a small open field. Lowering herself to her belly, Rindul slithered over to a fallen log and waited. At her signal, the two men copied her movements, dropping to the ground to crawl towards her.

“Someone at the cabin?” the first man whispered as he started to lift himself up to peek over the log. Rindul reached out, flicked his ear and pointed to the ground. The man grabbed his ear and glared at her before lowering himself back down in silence.

The second man shook his head at the first and mouthed, How many? to Rindul.

Rindul took a sock-wrapped bundle from her coat and instinctively glanced up at the sky, though she knew she never had to check for unpredictable rays of light anymore. She unrolled the sock and a mirror shard fell into her hand. Slowly, she extended her arm to the edge of the log rather than above it, angling it slowly to find her target.

She located the entrance to the cabin and almost cut herself on the mirror piece when she tensed upon seeing the intruder step outside. The man had to duck under the doorway when he exited the cabin, making him close to seven feet tall. As much as she wanted to pull her hand back, wrap the glass up and hide somewhere far away, she couldn’t. Enemies were like spiders; once spotted, you had to watch them to prevent them from disappearing.

Rindul held up her index finger.

In a barely audible whisper the second man asked, “Flank ‘em?”

She shook her head.

“Together?” he suggested.

Another shake of her head. She moved the mirror ever so slightly to follow the stranger.

The first man’s fingers began to twitch. “He’s gonna find ‘em,” he whispered, too loud for Rindul’s liking. “We gotta do something now, Rin.”

She shook her head again.

“Why?” he asked, his voice breaking above the whisper level.

She risked looking away for a second to give him the most threatening glare her small form could muster. When her gaze returned to the mirror, she felt her mouth go dry.

The intruder was looking in their direction.

Rindul stopped breathing. Her free hand went to her neck to put a death grip on a heart-shaped locket underneath her clothes. Her fathers words came rushing into her mind as her fears threatened to paralyze her…

“...he’s alone for a reason, Rin. See how slow his movements are? How he isn’t constantly looking around? There’s something deadly about him.” Even with the very real threat below them, not a hint of fear was in his calm voice. For all she knew, her father was incapable of the feeling.

Rindul nodded in acknowledgement as she watched a large, masked man rummaging through garbage and abandoned vehicles. After a few minutes she moved away from the window and started to the building stairwell more quietly than before.

When she noticed her father wasn’t with her, she crept back to his side and looked at him in confusion.

In a more serious tone, he asked “Rindul, do you understand how dangerous that man down there is?”

She nodded.

“You can use a quiet voice to answer. He won’t hear you.”

She shook her head.

He sighed, but continued. “Would you have continued on our route, knowing that thing down there was going in the same direction?”

She shrugged.

“You can’t afford to take risks Rin, not in this world. You’re never going to be strong enough to face things like that,” he motioned with his head in the direction of the dilapidated road where the marauder was. “Now...there are only predators and prey. You will always be prey, Rin.”

The young girl lowered her gaze to her small hands.

She hated how small she was. From the first time she’d been told to hide, she wanted to be big enough to fight.

Rindul felt her father’s calloused fingers under her chin as he lifted her head.

“Listen to me. No matter what anyone tells you, no matter who you meet, do not let them tell you otherwise. They will lie to boost your confidence and theirs. This is how people die.” He leaned back. “It is both wise and prudent to be anxious, paranoid and distrustful. Let them think you’re crazy. Those people refuse to accept reality and you have no business traveling with them. Traveling with others has its advantages, so long as everyone knows their role. So long as they can live by rules, assert logic and see things for what they are.”

Rindul wasn’t sure if she should feel guilty or not and so she remained silent.

His shoulders slumped. “I’ve made these mistakes, Rin. I tell you these things, so you won’t do the same.” He smiled. “Unlike me however, you are far more clever than I’ve ever been." Reaching up, he gently tapped the side of her left temple. “Your strength is up here. I’ve never had to tell or show you anything twice. You always see things ten moves ahead of the present situation,” his smile faded slowly from his face. “Remember our talks Rin, and you will survive…”

“What’s happening?” the first man demanded. “Did he find where the others were hiding? Dammit I knew hidin’ so close to your decoy was a bad idea!” he hissed.

Rin shook her head violently, motioning over and over for him to be quiet and stay down.

The second man ignored him and whispered, “Rin, you gotta give us something, there’s people we care about over there. You said anyone who raided that cabin would find the hidden food stores and move on. Is he moving on?”

Rindul shook her head.

“Is he looking for where the others might be hidden?”

She shook her head again and put a finger over her lips, indicating for them to be silent.

Looking in the mirror, she could see the giant of a man peering out into the forest, his gaze moving slowly to the left and right.

Rindul recognized the posture of how he leaned forward, the breathing patterns of taking in air through the top of the lungs, the way his muscles involuntarily tensed.

This man...this thing...wanted to kill.

The first man started to push himself up. “We can’t stay here all day, is he looking for the others or not?”

Rindul shook her head again and pointed at him, then the second man then to herself.

The second man swallowed. “He’s looking for us.”

The first man’s jaw clenched, the muscles in his neck flexed.

Rindul’s eyes went wide, knowing what he was about to do.

“No point in hiding then,” getting to his feet, he jumped over the log and pulled a revolver from his belt in one swift motion.

“Ty, NO!” the second man shouted as he took off after him.

Rindul remained frozen in place, watching the events unfold through the mirror.

The stranger moved with inhuman speed towards Tyler and didn’t so much as flinch when he was fired upon. But then, why should he? No one could afford to practice with a firearm enough to become accurate. Was it a gamble the brute was making or did he just not care if he was shot?

When the large raider hit Tyler’s face, it was followed by a loud snap and he collapsed to the ground.

There would be no reasoning with this one. He was more animal than man.

Evan skidded to a stop upon seeing his brother go down and turned to run away from the killer. Rindul knew the moment he lost his footing he wasn’t going to make it.

Evan pulled out a large knife, but he only had a second to decide how and where to attack his adversary in order to stop him. And Rin knew his sudden direction change would prevent him from dealing a lethal blow.

The marauder barrelled into Evan, knocking them both over.

Rindul was already up and running the moment the two men started falling to the ground.

As there were no crickets, or birds, or frogs or any other sounds to mask her footfalls, she knew the only sound in the next minute would be the sound of her running and the stranger chasing behind.

Even knowing this, her heart felt like it was on the verge of exploding every time it beat when she heard the heavy thuds advancing on her. Adrenaline fueled her speed, but it was giving out fast. Rindul’s legs were shaking, she wasn’t used to sprinting for long stretches.

She could feel tremors in the ground from the weight of the man’s steps.

Rindul looked around frantically and spotted a familiar marking on one of the countless dead trees throughout the area. Shifting directions only inches to her left, she turned her thoughts away from the threat behind her and onto her footing. Careful not to give anything away, she maintained her speed and concentrated on her balance when the ground sprung up when touching down on it.

Half a breath later, the sound of wood splintering followed by a roar of anger echoed through the dead forest.

Rindul collapsed to the ground.

Looking back, the stranger was nowhere to be seen.

Once she slowed her breathing, she stood up and walked over to the pit the man had fallen into.

Lying at the bottom was the marauder; one of his legs clearly broken from the angle it was in. Next to him were dead leaves and grass--and further still--pieces of a narrow, half-rotted plank of wood. None of it capable of supporting anything over a hundred pounds.

Rindul looked down at the man in silence.

He opened his mouth, for a moment thinking he may be able to plead for mercy.

Seeing the look in the young girl’s eyes though, he knew it wouldn’t make a difference. He knew there was nothing he could say to convince her. He’d been beaten. This was his end.

Growling, he turned away from her and fell silent.

Rindul walked away without a word, her hand wrapped tightly around the heart-shaped locket.