Roger, Saber, Jack, and I set out through the dense mists, traversing through endless rows of suburban houses. Roger, our reluctant guide, led us through the labyrinth streets, his gaze sweeping over the terrain, as though searching for invisible signs for when to turn and when to continue.
I convinced him to make a quick detour to look for Mr. Atlas. I still had Atlas’ approximate location triangulated on my computer. Roger took us to that area, begrudgingly. After searching across several street blocks, we couldn’t find him. Not even when I shouted his name did he respond. Perhaps he left the area. Perhaps he was asleep inside one of the houses. Without the Seekflower, we couldn’t tell.
“That’s enough,” Roger told us after about thirty minutes. “Wander too much, and we’ll all get lost.”
“You’re a bounty hunter,” I pointed out. “Isn’t finding people your job?”
“No Seekflower, no mission for me,” he said flatly.
I conceded. The suburbia was unforgiving to the unwary, and as much as I wanted to get our group back together, we couldn’t risk getting everyone lost.
“You can put up an ‘Alive Only’ bounty for him,” Roger suggested to me. “Down the line someone might take the job.”
Wait, but wouldn’t we want to hide from the Bounty Hall? I still had little idea how that organization really worked. I looked to Saber and Jack. Jack shrugged.
“Maybe we will,” I told Roger. He didn’t answer, and we continued on in silence.
Roger, against all expectations, proved to be an effective leader. His gruff exterior hid a focused, tactical mind.
"We’ll need to take a detour," he advised us, his voice a hoarse rumble. "Direct route crosses Bounty Hall patrol."
“Roger that,” I quipped. Saber giggled behind me, and the two of us did a high-five.
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Roger veered slightly away from Saber and I as we continued walking.
Jack cracked a wry smile. “So he really does care about us.”
“Oh hey Jack,” I said, giving his arm a tap. “You better not go running off by yourself like in Silver. If you get lost, I swear I’ll beat you up when I find you.”
“Oh, but you’ll look for me.”
“And beat you up,” I added with a pout. After all the effort we went through to find him, the very thought of losing him again made me upset.
“Heh.” Jack folded his arms. “I’ll take that trade.”
I still had a ton of questions for Jack. Like how things had gone for him since arriving in Gold. Whether he still needed to do the upcoming Seasonal Challenge, which Saber and I got to skip since we finished a PvP challenge. What he thought we should do next. But those questions could wait until we were safe and on our own.
I caught Roger watching us with a strange expression on his face, one I couldn't decipher, especially since his beard obscured his mouth. I wondered what he was thinking about us. Was he beginning to grow tired of us? Was he beginning to like us? I couldn't tell, and for now, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that he brought us to the abandoned supermarket. We’d simply part ways after.
Halfway through our journey, the uniform suburban landscape began to break somewhat, giving way to wider roads and the occasional larger plot of grass. And eventually, we saw it. Up ahead, dominating the view was a colossal, block-like building – our destination. A wide, dark gray box shrouded in mist. An abandoned supermarket, as described by James. A monolithic structure that would be our sanctuary, our hideout from the Bounty Hall and its relentless pursuit.
Roger brought us to a halt at a distance, where we took in the sight of the imposing edifice. We found ourselves a stone’s toss from the edge of a vast parking lot. It was barren of any vehicles, and it spread out before us like an asphalt sea, with the supermarket on the other side. A few blocky shapes dotted the parking lot sparsely. They were too far to see properly in the poor visibility, but they seemed like shacks or tents of sorts. I couldn’t see anyone else in the vicinity.
Roger turned to us, his gaze firm. "This is as far as I go. From here, you're on your own." I heard a soft tiredness in his voice.
"Got it," I said, offering him a small smile of gratitude. "Thanks for getting us here."
“Thank Tanin,” he said. “If you ever meet him again.”
He turned and left without any further farewell, or even a wave. I watched as he receded away in the nondescript gray.
Then I heard a whistling.
From who knew where, an arrow whizzed past me. It pierced Roger through his back, scattering links from his chainmail. Roger fell to the asphalt ground with a sickening thud.