Chapter Eleven

Tiffany swiftly dodged the attacks by the mutant. The spot where she stood previously had turned from a flat ground to a deep hole now.

This will never end. Tiffany thought to herself as she scowled and dodged another attack.

She was certain she had the ability to take down this mutant in split seconds, but she refused to do it that way because the last thing she wished was to finish this thing off in front of everyone, especially the children.

The scene would be gross and disgusting, and one does not need more than two seconds to figure that it might traumatize anyone who had never exposed to any similar scene like this one.

Tiffany had experienced a similar incident when she was younger, and she knew how terrible it was to watch someone getting killed before her eyes. She was greatly traumatized of course, and it took her more than a month to actually recover from it.

She would not want to see anyone goes through whatever she had been through. Her only wish now was to lure this mutant out of the village, so she could finish it off without any hesitation.

But this mutant was a little too crafty to be handled. It seemed like it had read her intention loud and clear.

“Tsk.” Tiffany tightened the grips on her blades. This mutant sure knew how to get on her nerves huh? She leaped backwards, avoiding the mutant’s attack again, but the large statue behind her was unfortunately smashed into pieces due to that strong impact. A few broken pieces flew towards Tiffany’s direction and cut open the thin fabric of her sleeves, hitting her left arm. Blood slowly oozed out from the deep wound, seeping into the sleeves of the black leather jacket she was wearing.

That is it! She had enough. If this thing doesn’t like the smooth way, she will deal it with a rough way then!

Ignoring the pain on her arm, Tiffany lifted it up and aimed her blade at the mutant’s chest. As soon as the blade left her grip, she dashed forward, grabbing the blade again after it sunk deeply into the mutant chest. She pulled it out swiftly and stabbed it straight into the mutant’s abdomen. The mutant was about to let out a loud groan when Tiffany turned the direction of the blade on her right hand, holding it by its point (the tip of the edge), silencing it with the hilt as she swung it harshly across its cheek.

The mutant fell back, almost hitting the ground when Tiffany suddenly positioned one of her legs behind it. She unleashed full force towards the falling figure and the mutant flew straight up into the mid-air.

Tiffany quickly jumped along with the mutants and pushed the blade in her right hand into its chest. Then, she grabbed firmly onto the hilts of her blades, using them as a tool to lift the mutant up above her head before tossing it just right outside the village.

The mutant tried to get up, but the pains emerging from its injuries were stopping it to. A familiar pair of boots appeared right in front of it almost immediately and before it had the chance to react, darkness took over its world.

Tiffany calmly dug out a piece of its flesh and put it into a small transparent glass bottle. Her eyebrows knitted closer towards each other as she looked at the mutilated body, “I could have let you die an easier way, if you hadn’t tried to fool around with me.”

*

This is too ridiculous!

Jessica pushed off the stranger who was lying on top of her, “What are you––”

Bang!

A loud gunshot interrupted her words before she could finish her sentence, it was only then she noticed the black object in the stranger’s hand.

“Damn it.” She heard the stranger cursing. “Why did you push me?” And then blaming her?

Jessica was frustrated of course, this stranger here just pinned her down for no reason and now, she blamed her for pushing her away? She gave Yuri another hard push, with an additional of a kick, almost causing Yuri to fall to the ground, “Do you expect me give you a hug in return, stranger!?”

“You––” Yuri was lost for words. Right, she was correct! Who wouldn’t push a stranger away if they hugged them out of the sudden?

But this is not the time to talk about that.

“Get down!” Yuri pinned Jessica onto the ground again. This time round, Jessica finally manage to catch a glimpse of the dark figure that had just flew past above their heads.

“What the hell was that?” She asked, forgotten that Yuri was lying on top of her.

“Mutant.” Yuri climbed up from her body and scanned their surroundings. She could feel the presence of the mutant, except that it was moving too fast… Yuri frowned, pursing her lips into a straight line. She had to take this lady to a safer place or it would be difficult for her to focus.

Yuri shoved the gun in her left hand back into its respective gun holster. She extended her hand to Jessica who was still on the ground, “Come with me.”

This mutant is not an easy one. It seems that this mutant is playing hide-and-seek with her.

Jessica immediately slapped her hand away and questioned irritably, “Why should I?”

“Well, you can choose to stay here if you want, but don’t blame me if you can’t see the sunrise tomorrow.” Yuri shot her an unconcerned glance, “I’m leaving, bye.” With that, she turned around to leave.

“Yah! Wait up!” Jessica quickly grabbed onto Yuri’s hand and held it tightly.

She may have her own integrity, but the current situation doesn’t seem to be appropriate for her to show it.

Death is definitely the last thing she wants to experience right now.

A smirk was formed on Yuri’s face unknowingly.

There are always people who look tough on the outside, but timid on the inside. With just one tiny threatening line, they will give in to you easily.

Yuri pulled Jessica closer towards her. She comforted her with a gentler tone as compared to earlier on, “Just stay close to me, I will protect you.” As a hunter, her job was to protect every innocent defenseless human being.

And of course, eliminate anyone who desired to destroy world’s peace.

With her left hand occupied by Jessica, Yuri held the gun in her right hand up as she surveyed her surroundings. If only she could hide this lady somewhere… Yuri tightened the grip on her gun. It was way too difficult with that mutant lurking in the dark. It was monitoring them, there was no way she could hide her without preventing the mutant from knowing their positions. She could not afford to have this innocent being here getting injured or even killed by it.

She had to think of a plan, fast.

“Stranger, what are we going to do now?” The trembles in her voice betrayed the uneasiness within her. Jessica might not be as sensitive as Yuri, but the atmosphere was way too quiet and eerie that she could sense the immediate danger encircling them.

Death… Death… Death… was the only thing in her mind now. She didn’t want to die yet, not when she was still so young.

Yuri felt the grip on her left hand getting tighter, darn! Plan! She had to come out with something fast! Yuri averted her attention to the premise which lied only a few feet away from them.

Perhaps she could hide there first.

“Follow me.” She instructed Jessica with a low voice, pulling her towards the premise.

As they began to move, Yuri sensed the movement in the wind again. She quickly held up her gun and pointed at the space behind her.

Bang!

Darn, missed again!

“Stranger… I… I can’t walk anymore…”Jessica felt that her legs were turning wobbly. With a freak appearing here and there, and gunshots ringing in her ears, she could barely remained calm like before.

Yuri looked at her with an utmost worried expression plastered across her face. The situation had gotten worse than what she initially expected. She would not leave this lady out here, nor would she let the mutant get away.

She had to save her, and killed it, both at the same time.

“Hold on to me.” Yuri whispered into her ear and placed her arm around Jessica’s waist.

She shall carry this lady to the premise personally and what is left will be the mutant.

Jessica felt herself floating in the air. The moment wasn’t long, but the sensation of it was permanently stuck onto her. Their distance, it felt like there wasn’t any. Her body was pressing against hers and her head was buried against her chest. The warm and strong arm around her waist was the only thing she could feel despite the cool air was seeping into her clothes indifferently, freezing her from head to toes.

When Jessica found herself back into reality, the stranger, who was holding her just a few seconds ago, was already standing on the spot where they were supposed to be, with two guns held in both her hands.

Bang! And before she realized what was going on, a gunshot went off. But it did not affect Jessica as much as before. Her eyes were glued to that suave hunter who was sliding her guns back into the holsters.

“You’re amazing!” Jessica exclaimed excitedly. She clapped her hands and ran towards Yuri. “That is so awesome!” Though she didn’t really saw what happened, the mutant’s corpse was already on the ground before she even noticed it.

Yuri smiled cockily, attempting to show off herself to this tough-looking-yet-timid lady when she smelled a stinky odor in the air.

“Craps! Move away!”

“Huh––Ugh!”

Jessica dropped to the ground instantly. Her back, it was burning in pain. She felt as though something was ripping her body apart. agape uncontrollably as she gasped for oxygen. Her heart was pumping harder than usual while pain overtook her body gradually. Her vision was becoming blurry as well. She could not see what was going on around her, but the image of Yuri firing a shot at the space behind her was deeply imprinted in her mind.