“We should turn back, Kat,” Andy hissed. “This doesn’t look good…”

“What would we go back to?” Kat questioned. “Going forward is our only chance.”

Shifting his weight and adjusting his feet in the cool water, Andy peered at the shadow waiting on the other side of the river. “How do we know that isn’t one of them?”

Taking two steps forward, Kat turned and locked eyes with Andy. “We don’t,” was all she said before taking the plunge and stepping into the deepest part of the river.

Rushing and gurgling, the River slammed into Kat. It was as if the water were trying to hold her back, force her to stay a captive. Kat pushed through even when the water rose to her waist and roared furiously.

Andy watched her with admiration, before trudging forward himself. Catching Kat by the arm once when she slipped on a mossy stone, he held her hand as they forced their way to the opposite shore. Soaked and breathless, they collapsed on the river bank together.

Kat was the first to recover when footsteps approached. Rolling over, she got to her knees and raised an arm, as if to block an incoming attack; however, nothing happened. No one grabbed at or assaulted them. Only the constant burble of the River broke the silence.

The figure they had seen from afar approached, their face shrouded in a hooded cloak, and stood twenty feet away. They merely observed the pair struggling to their feet and catching their breath. Never taking their eyes off of the cloaked figure, the pair of weary escapees managed to compose themselves.

“Who are you?” Kat shouted above the River.

Raising a hand to the side of the hood, the figure pointed towards their ear and turned to leave. Striding away from the riverbank, they didn’t look back: walking with purpose like a man on a mission.

Turning to Kat, Andy shrugged and followed. He struggled through a thicket and tall grass leading into a dark forest. Staying focused on the cloak bouncing just ahead of him, it took all of Andy’s focus to distinguish the figure from the gentle swaying of trees in the background.

Keeping up was another matter, as both Kat and Andy crashed through branch’s and struggled over logs. Their guide seemed to pass through the forest unimpeeded by these obsticles, and the pair larbored behind. Breathless, they barely managed to follow into a large clearing far from the river they left behind.

“How did you get out?” The cloaked figure demanded in a sharp, high-pitched voice as the two tired travellers staggered into the clearing.

“Who are you?” Kat repeated between ragged breaths.

“I’m the person who can help you eat tonight or leave you in the forrest.”

“We climbed out through the sewage,” Andy blurted out. “The waste water had to go somewhere, and grate was rusted to the point of collapsing.”

“Clever…” the cloaked woman chuckled. “Explains why you crossed the River, I suppose. What was your next move?”

“We just wanted to get out,” Kat chimed in.

“There wasn’t a plan for what happened after,” Andy admitted, dropping his head and slumping his shoulders.

The woman laughed, “So you would rather be free and hungry than captive and fed? It’s a good thing you found me; come along.”

As she turned to leave, Kat called out, “Who are you and where are you taking us?”

“I’m the person keeping you from starving, taking you to the only place you won’t starve.”

“I’d rather starve than go back!” Kay clenched her fists and glared at the woman, while Andy’s muscles tensed.

“Relax,” the woman responded without flinching. “If I were hunting you I’d be wearing a uniform and mask like our friends over there.”

As she spoke, the woman casually pointed to a tree on the edge of the clearing. Hanging from the tree were two slumped humanoid shapes wrapped in brown hazmat suits with a pair of crossed serpents embroidered on the shoulders. Their faces were obscured by full face respirators with tinted visors, leaving no indication of what their faces looked like beneath.

“We want the same thing,” the cloaked figure continued, as she pulled the hood back up over her head. “To be free long enough to get revenge on the twin vipers. Have you ever seen one of them without the insignia and some sort of respirator?”

Scratching their heads, the pair of travellers relaxed and sighed in relief. They strolled forward, following their guide to the other side of the clearing. Right as they stepped back into the forest, Andy picked up a branch and swung it as hard as he could at the cloaked figure.

There was a flash of moment as the branch ripped the hood off of the woman as she ducked into a roll. Black hair spilled out of the hood just before she disappeared into a set of bushes. A sharp crack rang through the otherwise silent clearing as the branch shattered against a tree next to Kat, splintering in the tired girls face.

“Andy!” Kat cried. “What are you doing?”

Before he could respond, a brown streak dropped from the trees and a glit of light blinded Kat. A sickening squelch echoed through the trees. Sharp blue eyes turned to scan Kat as a nimble hand flayed the shirt off of Andy’s warm, still corpse.

Kat gasped as a tattoo of two serpents intertwined revealed itself on Andy’s back. Her eyes widened as the woman cleaned a red stained blade while glaring at her.

“First one I’ve seen without a mask…” she muttered. “They are getting desperate or finally adapting to the smog out here…”

“What… why?” Kat stuttered.

“You didn’t escape: you were bait. They have been after me a long time, kid. This is a new trick though.” The Woman turned to walk away. “Come on, if you want to live.”

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere safe,” the woman sighed.