Chapter 51 Chapter 49 Interrogation

I killed Wes. My hands, scratched, cut, and covered in purple dirt from the hasty unloading, might as well have been red with his blood. Wes died, and it was my fault, like I pulled the trigger. The truck has just been unloaded and all but five of us are gathered in the kitchen to eat the non-preservable food we bought at the last store - cheese and fresh milk bread, listening to Jeb and the doctor tell Jared, Ian and Kyle what happened. I sat some distance away from the others, head in my hands, sad and numb, too ashamed to ask questions like everyone else.Jamie sat next to me, and he patted me on the back every now and then.

Wes had been buried in the dim cavern next to Walter, who had died four days earlier, the night Jared, Ian, and I sat watching the family of three in the park.I can't see my friend anymore, I can't hear his voice anymore. Tears splashing on the rocks beneath me, Jamie beats faster. Andy and Paige aren't here. They drove the truck and van back to cover.From there, they would take a jeep to the usual simple garage, and then, the rest of the way had to be walked back, and they would be home before sunrise. Lily is not here. "She's not doing well," Jamie whispered to me as I happened to be browsing Lily's room.I don't want to know anything else that I can imagine.

Aaron and Brant are not here. In the depression below the collarbone on Brant's left shoulder, there was a smooth pink circular scar.The bullet almost hit his heart and lung organs, but it buried his shoulder blade and missed.The doctor used a lot of prosthetics when they removed the bullet, and now Brant is healed. Wes was better hit by the bullet, which pierced Wes' high olive forehead and came out from the back of his forehead.There was nothing the doctor could do, even though he was with them at the time, even though he had a gallon of Restorin at his disposal. In the holster on the back of Brant's ass was a heavy box of trophies he'd gotten from his rivals.Brant and Aaron are together, both in the tunnel, where we would have been hoarding the loot if it hadn't been for someone - had it not been used as a prison.

As if losing Wes wasn't bad enough. The fact that the headcount has not changed seems to me not only absurd but terrible.Twenty-five living people, just like before I came to the cave.Wes and Walter are gone, but here I am. Now, the hunter is there too. my hunter. If I drive straight to Tucson, if I stay in San Diego, if I skip this planet to a completely different place, if I become a mother, like other souls do after five or six planets, if, if , if I hadn't come here, if I hadn't given the hunter the clues to come here, then Wes wouldn't have died.It took her longer than me to unravel the road map, but when she did, it didn't need to be so delicately followed.She drove a sports utility vehicle suitable for all kinds of terrain, galloping in the desert, leaving brand new ruts on the soft sand, and she was getting closer and closer.

They had to do something, they had to stop her. I killed Wes. Anyway, they're gonna catch me, Man.I brought them here, not you. I was in so much pain that I couldn't speak. And, if we hadn't come here, Jamie would have died.Maybe Jared will die too, he won't survive tonight without you. In every situation someone dies, and death is everywhere. Why does she have to follow me?I complained in my heart that I didn't hurt other souls here, I really didn't.I stopped the doctor from doing deadly surgery, I even saved some souls here, why did she have to follow me? Why did they keep her?Mel growled, why didn't they kill her right away?Or slowly torture her to death - I don't care what way!Why is she still alive now?

I am terrified, the hunter is alive, the hunter is here. I shouldn't be afraid of her. Of course, the fear is justifiable, her disappearance will draw other hunters to us, and everyone is afraid of that.When humans watched her looking for me, they saw how stubborn she was.She has been trying to convince other hunters that there are humans hiding in this wild desert, and no one takes her words seriously.They went home, but she was the only hunter who continued their search. But now, when she disappears in the search, everything is different. Her car was driven far away and abandoned in the desert on the other side of Tucson.It looks like she disappeared in the same way people believe I disappeared: fragments of her snagged backpack were left nearby, and her half-eaten snacks were scattered around. Would other souls think this was a coincidence?

We already know they won't be dismissed as a coincidence.Not at all.They are searching, will this search be more intensive? But fear of the hunter itself is unreasonable.She was short, probably shorter than Jamie.I am stronger and faster than her.I was surrounded by friends and supporters, but she, at least in these caves, was alone.Two guns were pointed at her at all times, one a rifle and one her own Glock - the kind Ian wanted so badly that it killed my friend Wes .There is only one reason for her to live until now, but this reason cannot protect her for too long. Jeb thought I might want to talk to her, that's all.

Now that I'm back, whether I talk to her or not, she'll be dead in a few hours. Why do I feel as if I am at a disadvantage?Why do I have this strange premonition that she will be the one to escape our assault? I wasn't sure I wanted to talk to her, at least, that's what I told Jeb. Without a doubt, I don't want to talk to her.I was too frightened to look at her face again - no matter how much I had imagined a face, I could not imagine it as frightened. However, if I told them I had no interest in talking to her, Aaron would shoot her dead.It was like I gave him the order to shoot, like I pulled the trigger.

Or worse, the doctors would try to separate her from the human body, and I dare not recall my friend's hands smeared with silvery blood. Melanie writhed restlessly, trying to escape the struggle in my head. Xiaoman, they will definitely shoot her, don't panic. Can this comfort me?Imaginary images linger.Aaron holds the hunter's gun, and the hunter's body slowly slumps to the stone floor, red blood spreading around her and you don't need to look. That didn't stop things from happening. Melanie's mind is getting a little confused, but we want her dead.right?She killed Wes!Also, she can't live.anyway.

Of course, she was right.Indeed, the hunter cannot live.If she is locked up, she will stubbornly try to find a way to escape.If she is released, she will send our family to the grave immediately. She did kill Wes, who was so young and so likable.His death left us deeply pained, and I understand the human justification for asking her to die. I also do want her dead. "Xiao Man? Xiao Man?" Jamie shook my arm, and it took me a moment to realize that someone had called my name, probably several times. "Little Man?" Jeb asked me again. I looked up and he leaned over to look at me.He's deadpan, and no expression means he's in some kind of intense emotion, his poker face.

"The kids want to know if you want to ask the hunter any questions." I put my hand on my forehead and try to cut off the mental image: "If only I had no problems." "They're tired of being guards, it's tough, they'd rather be with their friends now." I nodded. "Okay, then, I think I'd better go see her right away." I moved away from the wall and stood up.My hands were shaking so I clenched my fists. You don't have a question to ask. I'll think of some. Why procrastinate the inevitable? I have no idea. You are trying to save her.Melanie accuses me of righteous indignation. That doesn't work. Yes, it doesn't work, and you want her dead anyway.so.Just let them shoot her. I curled up timidly. "Are you okay?" Jamie asked. I nodded, unable to speak. "You don't have to do that," Jeb told me, looking at me sharply. "It's okay." I whispered. Jamie took my hand, but I let go. "Stay here, Jamie." "I'm going with you." My voice has some strength now: "Oh, no, you can't." We looked at each other for a while, and this time, I won.He raised his chin stubbornly, but retreated listlessly and leaned against the wall. Ian seemed to want to follow me out of the kitchen too, but I glanced at him and blocked him.Jared watched me go, his expression elusive. "She's a whiner," Jeb whispered to me as we walked back to the cave, "not as quiet as you. She's always asking for more—food, water, pillows. She's always threatening We, 'Hunters will catch you all!' and stuff like that. Brant in particular is having a hard time, she's getting him over the top." I nodded, which didn't surprise me at all. "But she didn't think of a way to escape. She talked a lot but didn't act. As long as the gun was pointed at her, she would back away." I cringe. "I guess she wanted to save her life," Jeb said to himself. "Are you sure this is the safest place to hold her?" I asked as we entered the dark, winding tunnel. Jeb giggled. "You didn't find the exit," he reminded me. "Sometimes the best hidden place is right in front of you." I gently replied: "She is more active than me." "The kids are watching closely and there's nothing to worry about." We were almost there when the tunnel suddenly made a V-shaped turn. How many times have I rounded this corner with my hand on the inside tunnel wall on a sharp turn, like this one?I never walked along the outside walls.The outer wall is uneven, and the rocks protruding from it scratch my hands and cause me to trip, and the route to the inner side is shorter. This V-shaped tunnel is not a V-shape, but a Y-shape—a tunnel bifurcates to form two branches, which is this tunnel.The first time they told me this, I thought I was stupid.As Jeb said, sometimes it's the smartest thing to keep things out of sight.When I was desperate, I even thought about escaping from the cave. My plan was to ignore this place. This is the cave, the prison.In my mind, this is the darkest and deepest well of all the caves, and this is where they held me. It never occurred to even the more cunning Mel that they held me just a few steps from the exit. It wasn't the only exit, but the other was so small and narrow that one had to crawl out.I didn't find the exit, because I always go straight into these caves.I didn't look for that kind of tunnel, and I never explored the boundaries of the hospital, which I avoided from the beginning. I was interrupted by a voice, familiar though it sounded like another person. "I wonder, why are you still alive after eating this, hum!" Something plastic clattered to the stone. After we rounded the last corner, I lamented the blue light. "I just learned that human beings can actually starve people to death slowly. It seems that this plan is too complicated for short-sighted creatures like you." Jeb laughed softly. "I have to say, I really admire those kids. They have endured until now." I walked to the end of the lighted tunnel.Both Brant and Aaron sat as far away as possible from the other end of the tunnel, where the hunter paced.Guns in hand, they sighed in relief as we approached. "Finally." Brant mumbled.His face was sharp-edged, with sadness in his brows and eyes. The hunter stopped. I was amazed to see her environment. Instead of being crammed into a narrow cave, she walked more freely up and down the two walls of the tunnel, which was only a few feet wide.On the ground, beyond the flat tunnel wall, rested a cushion and pillow.In the middle of the cave, there is a plastic plate leaning against the wall, a few sweet potatoes are scattered beside the plate, and there is a bowl of soup.The soup splattered a bit from the bowl, which explained the clicking noise I heard earlier - she threw the food out, however, it looked like she had eaten most of it. I gazed at these relatively human arrangements with a strange ache in my stomach. Who did we kill?Melanie muttered angrily, which stung her too. "Do you want to talk to her for a while?" Brant asked me, the pain coming back.Did Brandt use a feminine pronoun when referring to me before?I'm not surprised Jeb treats hunters this way, but what about the others? "Yes." I whispered. "Be careful," Aaron reminded me, "she's an angry little thing." I nod. The others stood where they were, and I walked to the end of the tunnel alone. I raised my eyes with difficulty to meet that gaze, which I felt like cold fingers on my face. The hunter glared at me, her face contorted in a grim sneer I had never seen in a soul like that. "Oh, hello, Melanie," she taunted me, "how did it take you so long to see me?" I didn't answer, walking towards her slowly, trying to convince myself that the hate flowing in my body didn't actually belong to me. "Do those friends of yours think I'll talk to you? Tell all my secrets? Just because you have a dull soul in your head, I can see it in your eyes." Her smile was annoying. I was still two steps away from her, and ran over nervously.She didn't attack me, but my muscles were still tensed.It didn't feel like running into a hunter on the highway - I had a sense of security with my other gentle compatriots, but now I don't feel the usual security.Once again, the strange thought that she would outlive me crossed my mind. Don't think about it.Ask her the question you want to ask, have you thought of any questions? "So, what do you want to do? Are you allowed to kill yourself, Melanie?" said the hunter through clenched teeth. "Here they call me Xiao Man." I said. When I spoke, she backed away a little, as if she expected me to speak very loudly.My low, steady voice seemed to disappoint her, and she would rather hear me yell. Her eyes widened and she stared at me.I examined her face carefully, her face was stained with purple dust and dried sweat, other than that, there was no scar.My heart ached again inexplicably. "Xiao Man," she repeated, with a steady voice, "Okay, what are you waiting for? Did they not agree? Are you going to use your hands or my gun?" "I didn't come to execute you." She showed a gloomy smile: "So, are you here to interrogate me? Human, where are your torture tools?" I cringed: "I won't hurt you." A flash of doubt flashed across her face, which was quickly replaced by a look of contempt: "Why did they lock me up? Did they think they could tame me? Like your obedient soul?" "No, they just wanted to kill you after consulting with me, considering I might want to talk to you first." She lowered her eyelids and narrowed her wide eyes: "What do you want to say?" I swallowed: "I was thinking" I only have the question that I can't answer myself, "Why? Why don't you let me go as if I was dead, like everyone else? Why are you so stubborn Hunt me? I don't want to hurt anyone, I just want to live my life." She jumped up and turned her face sharply towards me.There was movement behind me, but I couldn't hear anything else—she was yelling at me. "Because I'm right!" she screamed. "Indeed! Look at them! A gang of murderous executioners, lying in wait for us to take the bait! Just as I thought, only worse! Knowing you were with them! One of them! I told them there was danger! I told them!" She paused to catch her breath, took a step back, and stared at something behind me.I didn't look back to see what had scared her off, I figured Jeb had told me to back off whenever a gun was pointed at her.Her heavy breathing eased a little, and I studied her expression. "But they didn't listen to you, so you came to us alone." The hunter didn't answer, and she took another step back, her face full of doubts.At this moment, she looked extremely weak, as if my words had torn off the armor that protected her. "They're going to come to you, and it turns out they never believed you, did they?" I said, her desperation eyes confirming every word I said, "so they won't Keep searching. They lose motivation when they don't find you. We'll play it safe, as always, they won't find us." Now for the first time I see real fear in her eyes, the terrible truth to her, and I hit it off.I am so grateful for the hidden lair of humanity, for my little family.I was right that they would be safe and sound, but strangely, I wasn't happy with myself. I have no questions for the hunter.After I leave, she will die.Will they wait till I'm gone?So I can't hear the gunfire?Is there any place in the cave that is too far away to hear the gunfire? Staring at her angry and terrified face, I knew how much I hated her and never wanted to see that face again in this life. That hatred made me not allow her to die. "I don't know how to save you," I whispered so that no one else could hear, why did it sound like a lie to me? "I can't think of a way." "Why are you doing this? You're one of them!" But there was a hopeful gleam in her eyes, and Jeb was right, despite all the threats and intimidation she wanted to live. I nodded in response to her accusation, a little distracted because I was so focused on my thoughts. "But I'm still me," I whispered, "I don't want to I don't want to" How do you answer this sentence?I don't want the hunter to die?No, that's not the truth. I don't want to hate hunters?I hate her so much that I want her dead.I want them to kill her when I hate her, as if she died because of my hatred. If I really don't want her to die, can I figure out a way to save her?Could it be that my hatred prevents the answer to the question?Am I responsible if she dies? Are you crazy?Melanie protested. She killed my friend, she shot him in the desert, she broke Lily's heart, she put my family in danger.As long as she was alive, she was a threat to them—to Ian, to Jamie, to Jared, and she would do anything to kill them. now it's right.Melanie agrees with what I'm thinking now. But if she dies.And I could have saved her if I wanted to.What have I become? You have to be realistic, Xiaoman.This is war.which side are you on You know the answer. I know, that's you, Xiao Man. But what if I can do both?What if I could save her life and keep everyone here safe? I saw the answer that I had been convincing myself to believe that it didn't exist, and I felt sick in my stomach. The only wall I had built between Melanie and me had collapsed. No!Mel gasped. She screamed, NO! I must have known I would find this answer, and it explained my strange hunch. Because I can save the hunter, of course I can, but at the expense of myself.A deal, what did Kyle say?One life for another. The hunter glared at me, hatred in her dark eyes.