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Your breathing seemed to echo through this close-knit forest, hopefully it wasn't the cause of them tracking you both so easily as you continued to jog quickly around the trees with your friend on your back with arms tucked under their knees, cold air hurting your throat as you tried to catch your breath as you paused for a minute. You knew you couldn't stand around for long, it seemed as each time you slowed down they always caught back up, just yards away from grabbing you both.
Hiking the person on your back up a bit while readjusting your grip, the quick snaps of forestry to your left caused you to quickly take off running again only to hit a small body as you rounded a thicker tree and stumble over them before managing to catch your fall on your hands and feet, back bowing upwards to keep your friend still on your back while not crushing the person under you.
Glancing down revealed that the person who had run into you had not been an Enforcer, but a young child, probably no older than 10. They shivered as they looked up as you loomed over them, gripping their striped sweater before they used their hands as you recognize them doing sign language. You weren't paying attention to what they were signing though, mind focusing on more noise coming from a distance behind you all. You stood and scooped up the child to your front, as your friend, who'd woken up from the fall secured themselves with their legs and arms as you took off again, weaving quickly at a run around the oncoming trees and trying not to trip or fall on the hidden rocks under all the leaves.
As you run you wonder if the child is one of the other experiments that escaped from the Lab when it had gone up in flames, mind coming up blank since you were often kept locked up away from most of the others; honestly you were lucky to even create a friendship while there. The distraction of thinking back caused your foot to catch on a rock and made you stumble before righting yourself and pushing yourself to speed up further as voiced yelled in the forest not far away from where your small group had been just minutes before. Shaking your head you focused on just following the path that instinctively appeared in your mind. No matter how much you had trained at the Lab, you were running outnof stamina after about half an hour of running while just barely being able to carry the two people with you, and no sounds of chase for over half of that time, an old cave loomed up ahead, looking like it had been there for many hundreds of years.
Slowing down you place the child on its feet while signing.
[Wait here?]
They gave a thumbs up and a small nod.
Your face softens as you gave them a small smile, at least they trusted you. Quickly you glanced around and grabbed a few broken twigs, turning away from the kid you grimaced while unwrapping the bandage around your left forearm and bit into the flesh there hard enough to draw blood. Smearing the blood onto the twigs you start throwing them one by one with enough force to make them travel a good distance away, you tie the bandage back on and beckon to the child, they nod and stepped closer until you picked them up again and made your way into the cave. The dim light was hardly enough to see by and over the years apparently slick moss had grown over the floor, but you kept balanced while slowly stepping forward. But suddenly there was a sudden shudder in the ground and you quickly threw all three of you behind a bolder just barely able to cover you all as a group of voices outside the cave.
"Where did they go!"
"Find any traces of them!"
"They couldn't have gone far!"
"Enforcer-15, should we check this cave?"
"Affir...."
A crackle of a radio cut the person speaking off.
<<"Enforcer-15, we've picked up a blood trail of experiment E-13, they're heading further up the mountain.">>
The people outside took off to catch up with the rest of their group, their casting presence of authority and fear fading as they moved further away from the cave and up the mountain.
You and your friend sagged with relief as the child glances up at you both with questioning eyes, but remained quiet for the moment. Standing back up, you sign to the kid.
[Want me to keep carrying you so you don't slip?]
They nodded and held their hands up causing you to grin at them before picking them up and settling them against your front for the third time. You glanced back at the entrance of the cave before deciding against leaving just yet, you didn't want to run into the group trying to track you down. As you began walking further into the darker bits of the cave, trying to step carefully a twig snapped at the entrance, you turned quickly only to slip on a moss covered rock causing you to stagger sideways, but before you could catch your balance a gunshot was fired and pain flared in your thigh. You pitched backwards in hopes to get coverage, but your bodies met nothing and you began to fall into a pitch black chasm that you hadn't noticed before.
Fear flooded through all three of you as the darkness swallowed your forms.
The armor clad guard jogged forward carefully and shone it's flashlight into the hole, meeting only darkness it took a glowstick out and cracked it before throwing it in. It disappeared as well, no sounds coming from the hole. The guard reached for the radio attached to its shoulder.
<<"Targets eliminated. Cease search and return to The Lab.">>