The Hunter and the Hunted

"He's right," Aaron shouts over the general tumult. "We're fucked. We're not the hunters here, we're the prey." The group is babbling like little school girls now, only the voices are much lower.

"Silence, men," Pierre shouts. "This is not helping any. So, what do we know so far, huh? Yes, it is here. No, we still have no idea what it is. It might be dangerous and just playing with us, or those tricks might be all it can do. We've been unable to find it so far. Until we change that, we have no chance. Time to change our strategy, gentlemen. We're going to hunt in the dark from now on. We have night vision goggles and I suspect it hasn't. If it lives, it's going to be warm and we're going to see it."

"Shit, boss, I don't like that," Antonio whined. "We're not going to see traps in the dark."

"Erik walked into the first trap because he approached the school directly. Even an idiot would have been able to predict that."

"Okay, but what about the bear trap?"

"That was probably an old hunting relic. Guys, we won't see possible traps easily at night, that's true. Be creative about the paths you use. Be unpredictable. It can't place thousands of traps. We're going to start at dusk. Good hunting, gentlemen. Erik will guard the camp and the shrink will come with us in case we can establish contact. Meeting over."

No one seems really convinced, including me, but it seems like the best plan we have. I am a little curious what kind of being this so-called monster actually is.

Siberia at night. Lovely. Just what I always dreamt of when I started to study psychology. The damn helmet is too wide and slides forward all the time. I can't get used to these damn night goggles. A spooky place, like an abandoned mining town for example, looks even spookier at night. Using those damn goggles make it look even worse. I wouldn't have believed that was possible.

The silence. That damn silence. That is the worst. It's not exactly loud here during the day, but at night, it's damn eerie. Everyone is straining their ears, but there is nothing. Not even the occasional false alarm to break the tension. These guys move like ghosts. Why aren't there even wild animals around? Would I even hear them? Is this silence normal? Hell, I have no idea about this. I've never been outdoors at night. Has the monster killed them all? No, don't go there.

Still, I grip the pistol they gave me tighter. What were they thinking? I'm a damn psychologist, for God's sake. How the hell am I supposed to use that thing? Besides, the last thing I want is to actually kill someone. I'm starting to ask myself who's the monster around here anyway. I begin to suspect that it's us.

I try to look around while following Pavel and trying not to step into any kind of trap or portal to hell that might pop up. The surroundings are just as desolate as they were during the day, but everything is spooky-greenish now. Pavel is shining in a light green right in front of me. Aaron is walking right in front of him with a slight limp. His macho attitude obviously forbids him to show a weakness and the others don't seem to give a shit about him anyway. I try to tread exactly in Pavel's footsteps. I don't feel bad about using him this way, as they are obviously using me as an almost unarmed rear guard, or in other words, bullet catcher.

The other group is using the road parallel to ours to our right. I can see them as light green shapes through windows and gaps between buildings.

We are vaguely on our way towards the old school, where the two supposed traps had been placed. I still wonder whether they really were traps or just coincidence. These battle-hardened soldiers soak up superstition, paranoia and conspiracies like sponges. For them, the question is undisputed. I can't entirely disagree, but I don't like the implications.

If they really were traps, someone knew exactly where the two mercenaries were about to step. I mean not just the general route, but the exact location. There have been no other traps around. Someone knew down to the inch where their feet were going to be.

I find that extremely interesting and frightening at the same time, but it doesn't seem to bother the others too much. They seem to accept this paranormal stuff and think about it in purely practical terms, like how to fight it. This is how this group works. Practicality and delusion in one rather ugly package.

Me? I'm the ballast they have to lug around on the boss' order. It's hopeless to discuss what's happening here with them. Their perception of everything is totally incompatible with mine. It's like we are different species. It contributes to our mutual dislike, but that doesn't matter much. They all dislike each other just as much. Some of them even seem to dislike themselves. I think I would, too, if I were them.

I look behind me while I keep walking. I have an uneasy feeling, like there are all kinds of monsters directly behind me. Maybe I'm joining their paranoia, but walking through the outskirts of a dead town at night does that to you. As usual, I see nothing. That doesn't mean that there's nothing there, it just means that my hunter is good enough to not warn its prey. Damn, green shapes everywhere. No movement. No sound. I turn my head around and almost bump into Pavel. At least I guess it's Pavel, those huge greenish lumps of muscle all look the same through these goggles.

He holds his hand up and makes some gesture, but not being a soldier, I have no idea what it means. I seems unwise to just ask, so I rely on my usual strategy of doing nothing. I look behind me again. Still no movement. Shit, this is scary stuff.

Something is happening, because Aaron has joined Pavel and they have a nice gesture talk. Pavel points towards the building to our right. Aaron nods. I look at that building, but it looks exactly like all others around us. How do they know something is going on there?

Suddenly, and absolutely synchronous, they crouch down and come to the ready. Damn, this looks serious. Not wanting to stand around as a convenient target, I crouch down as well and look at the building again.

I almost fall over as the world explodes around me. Continuous gunfire from my left, bullets streaking towards the building as fine green lines, hissing bullet sounds all around me. Shit, someone is obviously shooting back.

I hear a nasty squishy sound from the left and see Pavel falling forwards, right onto his face. What the fuck is happening here? I hear someone shout from behind the building. Fuck, fuck, fuck, it's the other group that's shooting at us. Shit.

"WAIT!" I try to scream, hoping that someone will hear me above the racket. "WAIT!"

"Down, idiot," Aaron hisses.

"It's the other group, man. We are killing each other."

He looks at me for a second, puts two fingers in his mouth and emits a piercing whistle. Miraculously, the shooting stops immediately.

Shit, this has definitely gone wrong. We've been defeated and the monster didn't even have to lift a finger. We are outclassed here.

I watched them as they returned to their camp. I felt no remorse. They thought that they had seen me in that house and had tried to kill me immediately. No talk, no attempt to capture me, no negotiation. Just an easy kill. The small one, Neil, seemed to be angry about that. He had been brought here under false pretenses. They had told him that he'd be here to negotiate. Their client might have wanted that, but the soldiers were here to kill. Especially Pierre. I felt a lump in my throat.

The previous group hadn't wanted to negotiate, so it came as no surprise that this one didn't either. If you're as heavily armed and used to killing as they are, shooting is the easiest solution. Everything looks like a target, even their own comrades.

My plan had worked. The question was just how well it had worked. Even if it hadn't reduced their number, it would at least feed their paranoia. I wouldn't be too disappointed to get rid of some of them, though. For some reason I hoped that Neil was okay.

One was dead. It was the big one who called himself Pavel. I had been inside his head briefly before turning away shuddering. His true name was not Pavel, and I couldn't see during that brief time if he even remembered it. I saw some of the countless deaths from his hands, though. I saw the rush of adrenaline, the exhilaration inside him when it happened. There had been a few fair fights among them, but he hadn't survived that long by making it a habit. Most of those deaths had been innocents. This guy was basically a serial killer and had found a niche where he could do it without recriminations.

I watched as two of them dragged his huge corpse into the camp. It made me neither happy nor sad. He was an abomination, but I still didn't enjoy being responsible for his death. Those feelings about balanced each other out.

Two of them were wounded; I needed to find out how badly. I chose Neil's head to enter, after all it was my second home by then. Unlike some other heads I'd been in, it was a nice place to be.

God, I'm tired. Toni's almost dead weight now, and I've got his blood all over me. Doesn't seem to make him any lighter.

There's Benny, trying to help Max. Shoulder wound, I think. Pierre and Aaron don't look too happy as they drag Pavel's body along. Aaron tries to be tough, but the injured foot obviously doesn't help at all.

Ah, there's the camp. Finally. Erik limps towards us to help. Damn, just me, Pierre and Benny are alive and uninjured. What am I doing here? I will try to leave tomorrow. I need to get away. I sound like one of those idiotic airline commercials, but if someone showed up with a plane going anywhere, I'd be on it. Two fifty isn't worth this.

"What's with Pavel?" Erik. What an idiot.

"Look at the big hole in his head, idiot. You can try CPR if you want, huh," Aaron replies.

"Shit. What happened?"

"WE SHOT EACH OTHER! That's what happened, damn it," Benny shouts.

"Calm down, soldiers. Stay cool. If we lose our nerves, it has already won," Pierre tries.

"It looks like it's winning anyway. What exactly were we shooting at?"

"This," Pierre holds up a small paper balloon with a simple candle in it.

Groaning all around me. Whatever we're fighting against, it has not just defeated this battle-hardened troop, it has humiliated it. Wait, 'we are fighting'? No, sir. I'm not fighting anything. I haven't been hired to fight and I sure am not starting now. 'They' are fighting. 'They' have started to shoot at anything that moves. Their own men, as it turned out. I am just here to negotiate.

Wait a minute. I'm here to negotiate. Why don't I do some negotiating?

"I'm going to go looking for our target tomorrow, Pierre. Unarmed."

"Have you totally gone crazy, huh?"

"How has your method worked out so far?"

"No sense in denying that, Neil." Neil. He called me Neil, not shrink. The newfound respect from this asshole makes me feel good. I hate myself a bit for it.

"There's no sense in continuing like this. One man is dead, four are wounded and you don't even know what you're looking for, let alone how to find it. Even if you manage to stay alive long enough to find it, you're still going to be far from defeating it."

"Look, you might have a point there. Eight men, just three are uninjured. You're asking me to let one of those walk into his certain death, huh?"

"Why not? I can't even shoot. I'm just ballast for you. When I'm gone, I won't eat your rations. You won't have to look out for me." As if he ever did.

"Okay, I guess giving it a try won't harm. We have our hands full here anyway, dealing with the wounded. Give it your best shot, man. Now let me help Benny with the wounded."

Interesting, I thought. I wasn't used to someone trying to talk to me. Should I allow him to do so? No. Though he wasn't as bad as the others, I still couldn't trust him with my life.

Neil had balls, I had to admit that. And he had more common sense than any of my previous visitors. I had never been in contact with a human who hadn't been mean, sneaky and evil. He seemed different, but I had been deceived before. The idea that likable, honest humans existed out there was seductive. It was unlikely that the whole human race was evil; it would have died out long ago. The big question was, why had I never been in contact with a decent one before? Bad luck? Hardly. Was he the only one? Unlikely. Was it because of me? Did I somehow attract violent or ruthless characters? That seemed the most likely explanation.

Anyway, this was not the time to consider fundamental questions. That time would come when I'd finally be alone here again, free from human company, back in my beloved solitude. It was all I ever asked for, and it seemed too much. Humanity seemed unable to leave me alone. I sighed.

Right now, Neil was standing in front of the old school like a new kid on the first day of school, waiting for class to begin. I was not in that building, of course, but I had a good view. I didn't expect him to enter one of the buildings and he didn't.

"Heeellloooo." It sounded as forlorn and helpless as he looked.

What was he thinking? Did he think I wouldn't have noticed him? He must have been a moron if he believed that after what I had done to his companions. I had to admit, even if he was a moron, he seemed to be a rather likable one. He seemed as forlorn in this goddamn place as I was. After a while, he just shrugged his shoulders and moved away while I still debated whether it had been a mistake to ignore him.

I watched them as they buried both corpses. Toni hadn't survived his belly wound. There were six of them left now. No, five plus one. Neil had decided to not fight me and I believed him, mainly because I'd been inside his brain when he decided it.

Five enemies, one neutral person. Two of the enemies had wounded feet. One had been shot in the shoulder. Two were fully functional. Things didn't look too bad. They didn't seem to have a clear plan on how to proceed. Their previous losses and their lack of progress had shaken their confidence, although they didn't talk about it. Their missing plan was a problem for them, but also for me. Knowledge was one of my biggest weapons. I needed to know what their next moves would be.

They didn't separate this time. Only Max, the guy with the shoulder wound, stayed behind. Neil was shuffling along behind the other four, obviously not part of their team. For some reason he didn't seem to be afraid of me anymore. The other four ignored him while staying together closely, methodically searching one building after another. They weren't giving me any opportunities to take action.

I felt like I was running out of options. I needed them to make mistakes that I could exploit. They weren't making any today. Seeing their comrades die had obviously shaken them. They searched the whole town with focused professionalism. At least one of them knew exactly what they were looking for, too. I wondered if he'd told his comrades yet. I didn't stand a chance in a direct fight. If they caught me, it was all over. I felt like an outclassed boxer, trying to avoid his opponent, but confined by the ropes. It was just a question of time. I would get tired and have to sleep eventually, while they probably had all kinds of stimulants or could hunt for me in shifts. I would be totally vulnerable then.

No, it was time to leave the little town. I had fled so often that I was sick of it when the previous group arrived. I was tired of the endless flight, which had started as soon as I had first escaped way back when.

Still, this was not the time to stick to principles. Survival was my top priority. Flight it was again.

The mines.

Since my time in the lab complex, I dreaded caves, tunnels and cellars. Still, I felt that I'd be safer down there. I had prepared for this eventuality, overcoming my fears and exploring the abandoned tunnel system. I had prepared stocks of water and food. Most importantly, I had prepared for unwelcome visitors. For any newcomer, it would be a confusing maze full of traps and I felt I had some kind of home-turf advantage down there.

I packed my backpack with the most important things, among them Lucas, my small stuffed ice bear. He had been the only thing I taken with me when I escaped Dr. Orlov's lab.

I began to run through the familiar, but repulsive town. After a few hundred meters, I lost the connection to their minds and the advantage it had given me. I felt almost blind without it, but it needed to be done. I needed to get away from them.

The entrance to the mine was an inconspicuous industrial building at the foot of a small mountain, a bit south of the city limits. I would have to cross a stretch of the ubiquitous birch forest to get there. The forest had never looked so sparse before. Full of dread, but lacking an alternative, I started to make my way through the way too-light forest.

To my surprise, a sudden connection to a human being flooded my brain, stunning me. It was Benny, the medic. Through his eyes and the binoculars in front of them, I squinted into the birch forest and saw myself, crouched behind a tree that was way too thin to hide behind. Shit.

"There it is!" he shouted to his comrades. "In the forest. You were right about the damn scared up birds, Pierre."

"Let's go and get her," Pierre answered, a joyful glee in his voice. He was so excited he forgot to call me 'it.'

Shit, shit, shit. I needed to break that connection or I'd be toast. I shook my head, but it didn't help. I couldn't control my body while I was in someone's mind. I screamed in panic inside Benny's head, making him drop to his knees.

Benny and I watched Pierre looking at him in contempt, muttering "I'm going to get that thing."

I managed to smack my own head backwards at the birch trunk, finally breaking the unwanted connection. I immediately jumped to my feet, running like hell towards the abandoned mine building. I heard the swooshing sound of bullets around me and the pop pop sounds a little later. Dear Pierre was not about to take prisoners today. Breathless, I ran the last few meters as I saw a bit of brick exploding right next to the steel door.

I ran into the welcome darkness, stopping and turning to the right immediately, slamming the old heavy steel door shut and locking it. I had no expectation that it would stop them for long, but I felt safer immediately.

The shooting outside had stopped as soon as I had closed the door. Not wanting to enter the actual mine right away, I went to the small chamber I had prepared as an emergency retreat. It was guarded by a heavy steel door with a sturdy looking lock. I had a small mattress and a few supplies inside. Now that the door was closed and I felt safer, I mentally reached out to my pursuer's brains. Nothing. Damn. The heavy steel construction shielded them. I felt blind, and oh so tired.

I woke up startled, and looked into the barrel of a gun. Pierre's familiar face was right behind it. I hadn't seen him from close up for a long time and found myself staring at his multitude of scars with the same old absurd fascination. He just smirked at me, while the guy named Benny stowed some kind of lock picking equipment away.

Neil was peeking around the door jamb as well, which reassured me for some reason. Strangely, I felt no panic. I knew that this would be the end of the road for me, but I was resigned to my fate.

"F, long time no see, huh?"

I hated that name almost as much as his dumb 'huh' and decided not to react, just like in the old days.

"You know each other, boss?"

"Huh?" he answered, annoyed at having to divert his attention from me.