"Which one do you want exactly?"
"I want someone strong enough to act as a bodyguard of sorts"
"Well, you find anyone who fits that description. The men here have always grown up either farming or being merchants so they have no fighting skills"
Another problem arose which put her into a tight spot. She couldn't ask the women because they were the food and moral support. In addition, most of them had to look out for their children so there was no possibility of them going with her. In the end, it seemed Nicholas would have made the same choice he had just made as the village was lacking in strength.
"I guess them guarding is just for show"
"It is. They know it too. If something were to break in, well…" He didn't have to expand further for her to get the full picture.
"Choose me" A smile danced on his lips as he watched her be pulled from her stupor.
"What?" She was still trying to wrap her head around what he had just said.
"I will go with you. I was trained to fight "
"By who?"
"My mother-in-law " It made sense, she would teach him. With Hilda's personality, she wouldn't entrust her daughter to someone with no muscle.
"Do you even know where I want to go?"
"To check on my mother-in-law, I presume"
"Are my intentions that obvious? "
"They are."
"In any case, as the leader, shouldn't you stay here to monitor the situation?"
"That is one of my job descriptions."
"So…?"
"It's no matter. Mr Porter is here. He may not look it but he is a splendid leader"
"Right…"
He offered his hand for a handshake."How 'bout it, Riley?"
She shook his hand. "I trust you to protect me well" Lies, She thought. His odd eagerness to help her made her suspect he had ulterior motives. Despite that, he was her only way to get to Hilda before things went from bad to worse. As for Nicholas' insistence on coming to the bunker, she decided to act as though she hadn't heard it. There were many flaws to that plan and she refused to go along with it.
"Should we tell them we are leaving?"
"No that would only cause more unrest. They will know we are checking on my mother-in-law and draw conclusions that she ran into some trouble. In any case from what we know, she might be."
"What do we do then? It's not like we can exactly sneak out…Hey! Where are you going?" He slipped into a half-jog and disappeared from her sight.
"…" She sighed and decided to just wait for him.
He appeared, moments later, donning a lopsided grin. " I have done it"
" Done what exactly?"
" Mr Porter is aware of our departure and allowed us to use his inn. "
"His inn ?"
"As an excuse. The villagers will be made to believe that we are out looking for food"
"Good excuse. Seems like something I would do. So what about the distraction?"
"Don't worry about that. It should be on just about n—" Suddenly Mr Porter burst into song to which the rest of the villagers joined in as they moved towards him like he was a magnet, attracting them with his oddly siren-like thunderous voice.
"We should go" his words interrupted her trance.
"Right." They sneaked over to the box of gas masks and grabbed one each. She took two for Hilda and Nicholas. When Nicholas said he would be coming, she suspected he had other ways to fend off the mist but figured it would bring an extra for emergencies.
Masks clutched to her chest, they stealthily made their way to the tarp, making sure no wandering eyes caught sight of them. They soon found themselves in a cave tunnel after jumping through the trap door.
"It's dark…" she muttered.
"Yes. But I can still see it."
'He is talking about the mist. It does look like it would be able to swallow me whole. '
"Let's wear these," she said, shaking the masks that were in her hand. As though it was a tacit agreement, they both fastened the straps of their masks around their heads.
"I can't see…"
" I guess we are going into this blind" said the Village Head in a melancholic tone.
"Yeah…Wait!"
"Huh?"
"I have an idea!"
"Go on"
"Let's tie these two straps together and play Follow the Leader"
"Follow the leader?"
"Yes that way, one of us will lead and the one at the back will follow"
"We will still be blind though"
"We can use rocks…Or stones! To check for dangers"
"We would need a lot of those for such a plan. You will need to throw the stone at various angles to accurately make sure there is no danger."
"Not with me though…I may not look it but I am a bit of a trick shooter"
"You can even do it in this mist"
"Yes. And I have enough stones to do it" She pulled her stone pouch. It had all the stones she had collected from every place she had been to including the village.
"Let's go with that idea. But check for the sound that the stone makes on the cave walls before we are fully blanketed with mist lest we think we are being attacked but it's just a cave wall"
"On it" She surveyed her area and with one swift motion, she launched the stone towards the wall. It whizzed past his ear which led him to stumble back a bit. The stone melts rebounding from one wall to the other. He had a small gnawing fear that with its current force it had, the impact if it hit him, would be quite painful.
Soon, it was calm. The uncomfortable buzzing sound was gone and with it was the odd rapid beating of his heart.
"You are pretty good" he choked on his words.
"Was there ever any doubt?"
"Fine, kid. Let's do this"
They arranged themselves with Riley in front and the Village Head following behind. They tied the other straps to each of their wrists and Riley pocketed her pouch for easier access.
They trod lightly in the tunnels, their backs embracing the cave wall. Not a single word was shared between the two; taking would have been too exhausting and that was energy they couldn't afford to lose.
Thwack!
A chill ran down her spine. That was not a cave wall!
She squinted her eyes trying to catch a glimpse of what she had hit. Perhaps, it was like earlier when they encountered a dead stump and were scared silly.
Unfortunately for her, bright glowing eyes locked with her own. She stumbled back as her heart threatened to break out of her chest. She could feel her palms sweating and shaking.
That was not a stump!
The Village Head was confused: he didn't why she had stopped. He had also heard that sound but thought nothing of it and figured it was just another stump.
"We need to run!" Riley said in hushed whispers. The Village was still out of it when she suddenly grabbed his hand and bolted in the opposite direction.