Joz took the weapon with a grunt. At least I wasn’t the only one unable to speak.
Mr. Bubble Gum Assassin asked, “Do you have enough supplies? Food? Water?”
Joz cleared his throat. “Yeah. We’re good.”
“Great! Boss Man and Gizmo are with you, but Ginger, Angel, Sunshine, and Lucky are with me. We’re gonna draw them in the opposite direction and rendezvous with you in three days.”
“Boss Man and Gizmo?” I asked, understanding only half of what Bubble Gum Assassin said.
He blinked at me, tilting his head to the side and blowing another bubble. “Yeah,” he said slowly. “Ezryn and Braylik are with you.”
Did that mean Boss Man was Ezryn and Gizmo was Braylik, or the other way around?
The sound of gunshots rang through the air in the distance, and the guy listened for a second, then muttered, “Fuck. Alright, keep heading west till you get to the cabin. Stay there till Boss Man comes to get ya.” He nodded and turned on his heel before facing us again. “You two gonna be okay till he catches up?”
I didn’t know how to answer, but Joz said, “We’ll be fine. Thanks for the weapons.”
Bubble Gum smiled. “No prob, man. See ya in a few days.” He saluted us and ran off.
I whispered, “That was the weirdest five minutes of my life.”
“Tell me about it,” Joz said, then strapped the rifle on his shoulder and pushed me until he could dig around in my backpack for the compass. “Alright, let’s go.” He examined the compass for a moment, then pointed. “That way.”
“Are we going to ignore the fact that Bubble Gum killed a man and left his body there?” I asked.
“Yes. We’re ignoring it. We’re not going to think about it or anything. That man saved our lives, so we’re going to keep going before someone else catches up to us.” He began walking, clearly avoiding glancing at the body behind the tree.
Deciding to do the same, I pushed all the jumbled and terrified feelings aside and locked them in a box for later. Later I’d examine them and cry like a baby over seeing a man killed and not being able to do anything about it. I started following him and pulled the shoulder holster on, even though I was a little wary of the gun. “Should we call the police about that guy?”
“No. We’re staying out of it,” Joz said.
I frowned at him. “But—”
Joz turned sharply, his jaw clenched. “We don’t know what’s going on here, and I’m not willing to risk our lives over a phone call. If those people can track us, we’re screwed, and it’s not like we can even tell the police where we are because we don’t fucking know. Push it aside and get your ass moving.”
I jerked my head back at the anger coming from him. He never got angry with me.
Joz winced at my reaction and ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry. I’m just… I’m overwhelmed and scared. Can we get to this damn cabin? We can ask your dream guy about calling the police, okay? I’m sorry.”
I moved in and nudged him with my shoulder. “No big deal. I’m freaking out too, but for what it’s worth, I think you’re right. We shouldn’t do anything until we have more information.”
He nodded. “Let’s go.”
We headed west, and I locked that box tight because I refused to delay us anymore.
More guns were fired in the distance, but they started to sound farther away than before. That didn’t mean we slowed down. If anything, we kept speeding up, fueled by adrenaline alone.
“Do you know how to fire a gun?” I asked, eyeing the rifle he was carrying.
“Yes.”
I nodded. “Good.”
“So do you,” he added, then froze and glanced at me. “How do I know you can handle a gun?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I honestly didn’t even realize I knew anything about guns until Bubble Gum handed me one.”
Joz’s brow furrowed. “Same here.” He shook his head. “Maybe it’s something to do with magic? Or maybe these guns have spells on them so we know how to use them?”
That sounded crazy and far-fetched, but not entirely out of the realm of possibilities, so I said, “Yeah, maybe.”
We kept going for what felt like forever, and I worried that we’d somehow missed the cabin.
“I haven’t heard anything for a while,” I whispered through my panting.
“Me either. Keep running.”
I nodded and kept pace with him even though my lungs ached and I had a stitch in my side. Nothing else was said, not because I didn’t want to talk but because I couldn’t talk and breathe at the same time.
We ran until we couldn’t anymore, and then we walked for a good hour before we saw the first sign of something other than forest. A cabin. The cabin. I hoped.
By an unspoken plan, we both slowed down and headed in that direction, both of us still panting, flustered, and out of breath. When we got closer, I stopped behind a large tree and signaled Joz to join me. The tree trunk was large enough to hide us both from the sight of anyone in the cabin. The trees here—wherever here was—were absolutely humongous.
Meeting Joz’s eyes, I said, “I think we should stake it out for a few minutes, see if anyone’s in there.”
“Yeah. Good plan, Rhiles. You sure going in there’s a good idea?” He seemed calm but I saw an underlying fear there that was making me feel terribly guilty. I’d brought him into this whole mess and now we were being chased by people with guns after crossing some magical bridge or something. What in the hell was going on?
“We have no idea where we are, what kind of animals are in this giant forest, how big the forest is, nothing. At least there, we’ll have shelter from… animals and the cold tonight since I don’t know about you, but I’d rather stop now and wait it out than be stuck out here in the dark.” I wasn’t sure who I was giving this little pep talk to, but it wasn’t helping my resolve on going into that cabin, so whatever. “And maybe we can even find some information about where we are and refill our food and water in there.”
“Okay, you’re right.” He wiped his sweaty forehead, the first nervous gesture I’d seen from him in hours. It must’ve been hitting him now that we’d stopped. “Sorry, I’m sorta freaking out here.”
“Me too, but we can’t freak out yet.”
He nodded. “I know. I’ll keep it together and freak the fuck out later.”
I offered a small smile. “It looks like that cabin isn’t lived in, but I want to be sure.”
He nodded. “Let’s stay put for a while, keep watch.”
We both popped our heads out on either side of the tree, but low to the ground since we were squatting. It took a long-ass time before we decided we could move closer. We stayed behind that tree for at least an hour, if not more, then moved in. Slowly, we approached the cabin. I put my back against the cabin wall, then peeked through the window. There were old-looking curtains hanging, but there was a tear in one of them that let me see inside. I didn’t see anyone or any movement.
Joz checked another window and agreed that he didn’t see anyone either. So with bated breath, I tried the front door handle. To my surprise, it wasn’t locked, and I slowly opened the door. Sticking my head in, I quickly scanned the one-room cabin and determined that no one was there, so I stepped inside with Joz right behind me. We checked the tiny bathroom and the closet, under the bed, anywhere someone might hide, before determining it empty.