Chapter 3 And Then There Were Ten

Once I was armed and ready, I left the house and looked around. Following the smoke was no easy task, it was actually harder than I thought. I've been walking for about an hour now, making sure that I remain alert in case of any approaching danger, despite feeling tired.

"Patrol the area."

I immediately crouched and hid behind the wooden crates when I heard someone speak. I peeped to see a group of men, they're soldiers, I think. They nodded in unison upon hearing their leaders' order.

I looked around and scanned the place. There's about seven of them, scattered all over the area, making it hard for me to decide what my next move will be. Luckily, there's no one near me, because the crates I am hiding at are placed on top of a hill, meanwhile, they are scattered below me. Still, I need to be very careful.

Screw this. I'll never be able to defeat seven men in a fight, especially because they're not ordinary men, but soldiers. Maybe I should just move quietly and go back to where I came from.

I quietly backed away from the wooden crates, about to leave, when I suddenly heard muffled screams. Shit, what was that? I went back to my old position, hiding and peeped through the little space between the two crates in front of me. Why didn't I notice that? In the very middle of the land below the hill, 10 people are held captive. Their hands are tied over wooden posts and their mouths are gagged.

I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. This isn't my fight. What I need to do is think about how I can keep myself safe now that I know there are soldiers in this place. I wonder what they want? And what is it that those men did that made them angry?

This time, I successfully stood up and was able to leave my position behind the crates. I hurriedly ran over to the large tree and hid behind it, planning to run away once I'm sure no one's around me.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

I almost jumped when I heard a loud scream. I quickly looked down to see where the noise was coming from.

I covered my mouth out of shock and tried to avoid myself from making any noise. I even tried to hold my breath, afraid that it was too loud.

The soldier leader removed the gag from one of the captive and he slit his throat mercilessly, despite the guy begging for his life! I watched as blood dripped down from his neck, to the ground, as his head drooped.

I can't leave them to die.

"Y'all saw that right?" one of the soldiers, their leader, I think, asked. "If you don't want to end up like him," he pointed at the guy he just killed. "Answer my questions, NOW!" He screamed the last word, the captives immediately trembling. "I'm not a very patient person."

One by one, he removed their gags, waiting for an answer, however they refused to speak. Because of this, the leader picked up a wooden plank and he spanked the first guy in the line hard! The guy screamed loud and it was probably one of the most terrifying sounds I've ever heard.

Maybe I am not good enough at fighting, but at least I could try saving their lives. I wanted to kill myself this morning, so even if they catch me and kill me, it's fine. And if I do successfully save them, then I won't be lonely anymore. Either way, the results will end up in my favor.

Instead of using my gun, I took out my bow and arrow and took aim. I held my breath and steadied my position. I pointed the arrow at one guy who was watching over the forest alone. Then, I slowly let go of the arrow.

Once my arrow successfully went through his head, I was able to breathe fine again. Everyday practice and hard work pays off, huh?

Now feeling more confident, I moved back to the crates and positioned myself again.

So there were seven guys, and I've killed one, so there are six left. The only way I will be able to save them is if I kill them unnoticed.

I scanned the area again, trying to look for soldiers who were alone. There are two guys watching the captives, one of them being the leader, and three more guys are surrounding them, standing very closely to each other so I can't take them out. Wait, two and three, I only see five. Where's the other one?

I examined the place again, trying to look for the missing guy when all of a sudden, someone grabbed me by my shirt from the back. I was startled, but I tried to not make noise, hoping I can still get away with this, even though I was caught.

"What are you doing here, little girl?" A man who seemed to be in his 40s asked. He turned me to face him, now grabbing me by my collar.

He grabbed a knife from his pocket and pointed it at my neck. I was shaking out of fear, afraid that my end would come sooner, but still, I tried to gather my strength and muttered the words, "I... I was lost. I just ended up here."

The man laughed at my response and spoke again, "You don't sound convincing. Come," He suddenly turned me around again so he could force me to walk forward. He's bringing me to their leader. I can't be caught by him, he's a killer. He'll kill me along with the nine captives left in an instant, and no one will be here to save us.

I tried to move gently so he wouldn't think I'm trying to fight him, and once I successfully gripped the dagger I had hidden on my belt, I wasted no time. I pulled it out and stabbed deep into the man's neck in a split second.

I watched as he choked on his own blood, looking at me as if I betrayed him, when we weren't even on the same team to begin with.

Two down.

"What's going on here?!" Just when I thought I had escaped, another soldier appeared, and he wasn't as quiet as the first one.

He immediately caught the rest of the soldiers' attention because of his scream, but I had pulled my gun before them, shooting the guy who appeared behind me in the head, doing so without hesitation.

Because of that, the soldiers started shooting in my direction, good thing I'm on top and far away from them, so none of their bullets hit me. I took cover behind the crates again, and I noticed that two out of four men are now gone.

From the crates, I tried to move towards barrels on my left side, still crouching while walking so they won't hit me.

When I moved successfully, I took out my bow and arrow and practiced my stance and position. I aimed at one of the guys' heads, then, I let go of the arrow and watched it successfully hit him. I moved quickly and aimed at another guy's head, making sure to be fast because they were now shooting at me, knowing my new position.

I then accidentally let go of my arrow when a guy jumped at me from my back. I groaned when I missed my target.

I slapped the guy hard and tried to get away, but he grabbed my foot so I tried kicking him. Just when I thought I could finally run, another guy appeared and hit me in the face with the back of his gun. I touched my forehead where he had hit me, which gave me a bloody hand.

I took out my dagger again and swung it, giving the guy a deep cut on his arm. I kicked the one grabbing my foot on his face with full force, making him touch his nose because of the pain, so I took advantage of that and kicked him again. I swung my dagger again, but then the guy with a cut on his arm suddenly pointed his gun at me.

"Drop the dagger." He commanded. I didn't answer, I just smirked at him, which made him look confused.

In order to threaten him, I had a gun pointed at the other soldier's head, and this made him hesitate whether he should shoot me or not. With his pause, I knew this was my chance to take him down.

With my other hand, I threw the dagger at him, and luckily, it hit him in his heart. With that, I shot the other guy's head.

I looked down to see where the leader was, but it looks like he's gone.

I looked at the captives' eyes and saw them gleaming with hope. I smiled at them. At least this rescue is going better than I imagined. I ran down the hill and cut their ties and removed their gags one by one, each one of them thanking me.

"We don't have much time, miss." One of the men said. "I heard their leader talking to someone on his radio. He left so he can send another team, with more guys than before. We need to get going."

I nodded. "Where do you live? Let's go there, I'll take care of your wounds." I said and looked at them, they all looked weak and beaten up.

"Actually, we don't know this place so we can't show you the way to our house. They blindfolded us when they brought us here." Another man said.

"Follow me, I'll bring you to mine."

With that, we were all running away as fast as we could, as if our lives are depending on it.

Just when we were about to take a rest because of how long we've been running, we heard gunshots aiming at us. We ran harder in a zigzag motion, hoping that none of us would get shot.

I looked back, which is the worst decision I've ever made because it slowed me down. When I tried to look in front of me again to run fast, one of them suddenly shot my shoulder, which made me trip and fall down because of the impact.

I tried to get up, but it felt like my whole body was in pain, I had no choice but to let out a scream, hoping it would help lessen the pain.

I was going to die at this moment, but one of the guys I saved carried me bridal style and ran very fast, as if I weighed nothing.

I held on to his shoulder, now feeling safer than ever.

I tried to contain myself and stay composed so I can still point the direction of my house even though my shoulder hurts so bad.

"It's going to be okay, miss," the guy reassured me, while applying pressure to my wound. "Hey, stay with us, okay. Please don't close your eyes, we need you. You can rest when we arrive at your place, we'll take care of you."

My visions are still very blurry but hearing those words made me smile. They'll take care of me. I'm not alone anymore.

When we arrived home, I pointed my room to him so he could place me on my bed. Two men followed him.

"Damien, keep applying firm pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding. Ryle, get a dressing or a tourniquet, make sure it's clean." He ordered.

After laying me down, he quickly walked to the door without even looking at me, so I spoke to try to stop him. "W-Wait. Please stay. I... I'm so scared." For unknown reasons, I feel comfortable around him. Maybe it's because he's the first person to make me feel something, literally, since I was trapped here alone.

After hearing those words, he walked back and kneeled beside my bed. "Don't worry," he held my hand as he spoke. I flinched at his touch at first, but I quickly calmed myself. "Damien will stay here to keep you company. He'll take care of you while I'm gone. I'll be back, I just need to get some supplies that may help with your wound." He let go of me and walked away.

"So... does it really hurt terribly?" My eyes darted at Damien when he spoke. "Stupid question. You're clearly in a lot of pain, sorry for asking. What's your name?"

I wanted to laugh at him for feeling stupid for asking but I couldn't, the pain is too much. I gathered my strength to talk. "Asteria." I mumbled.

"Oh. Nice to meet you, Asteria. I'm Damien, but pretty sure you already know that. Actually I'm not sure if I'm actually Damien. We all just made our names up." He laughed at himself again. "The guy who carried you was Matt. He's kind of our leader."

Matt, huh? I think I'm interested in him.

After that, they inspected my wounds. They would clean it from time to time and try to stop the bleeding, while the others try to learn how to handle bullet wounds and gunshots from medical books. They've been taking care of me for a day now.

"Asteria, listen, we're going to bring you to the hospital today." My eyes widened. The hospital? Why? Is there someone who can help me there? Are we not alone anymore? "There are lots of supplies, medicines, and other resources there that can help you, and even help us to take care of you so you can heal. To be honest, your wound is not doing that great." Matt stated.

I had my doubts, to be honest, I'm not feeling comfortable with them taking care of my gunshot wound but what choice do I have? I need to do something, otherwise it could get worse and I might even die. It's better to let them try to fix me than be in a worse condition doing nothing.

They carried me inside an ambulance I assumed they stole. When we arrived, I looked around. The hospital's even scarier when there's no other people around. It's so quiet, I can hear the sound of my own breathing.

"What are you gonna do to me?" I asked them.

"We... We're going to remove the bullet." A girl whose name I don't know answered.

"No. No way. I won't let you." I quickly replied. My eyes got watery again thinking about how risky removing the bullet would be.

"Look, princess, we have to. Getting shot on the shoulder is a big thing, leaving the bullet in there may interfere with important processes and keep you from healing." Rafael said with his eyebrows furrowed, looking slightly annoyed with my opposition.

"Hey, everything is going to be alright," Matt approached me and placed his hand on my shoulder, slightly rubbing it. "We've debated over this because removing the bullet may just make the situation worse and cause further damage, but if it's left in there, it puts you at greater risk, seeing how it already has an inflammatory response. This way, we can also avoid the risk of infection. We'll do it very carefully."

I thought about it for a few seconds, and they all just stood there, waiting for my decision.

"Let's do this."

-

"Hey, buddy. Good to see you're awake now." I woke up to Damien sitting right beside me. "Are you okay?"

I smiled at how enthusiastic he sounded, like he sounded so happy to see I'm awake and feeling good. "I feel better." I looked around, but no one was there. Just the two of us. "Where are the others?"

"Matt, Ryle, Michelle, and Wilhelmina went to explore the place and look for resources. I'm here to watch over you, and Rafael, Hayden, Axel, and Josette are practicing and learning to fight so we can defend ourselves against the... uhm, I don't know, are they soldiers?" He said looking confused. I liked how he mentioned all of their names to me, it's a great way for me to start getting to know them.

"How are you feeling, by the way? It's been a couple of days since the bullet was extracted." He added. I'm not really surprised that a couple of days have passed already. I feel like I got enough rest, definitely feeling more energetic now.

I looked down at my wound. It definitely looks better now compared to before. I also tried to get up and move it. "I feel a lot better. It still hurts a little, but I guess that's normal, right? At least it's not as painful as it was when the bullet was still inside. I'm much more comfortable now."

It was at that moment I knew I could trust them. They could've left me and saved themselves, but they chose to stay and save me.

The next day, they took me back home. Although I feel good now, they weren't allowing me to move a lot. They said I need to take a rest first, and only do heavy tasks when I am fully healed, which they say might take a week.

The girls made dinner as I just sat in the living room, reading a book. After a while, dinner was served. We chatted while eating, and I got to know all of them, they also got to know me.

I went from being alone for two months to living with nine other people. Living in this world is hard, it still is, but at least I am not completely alone now. I have people around me, people I can call my friends, or maybe even my family.

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