Chapter Five: Escape

It was not yet evening, it was still early, but it was already getting dark. This day, from the beginning, was gloomy, which complemented Michael's fierce crying. As they trekked through the snow-covered wasteland, the clouds thickened and tumbled over their heads. The snow that had been drifting all day was getting tighter and tighter, and the wind was getting stronger, blowing Suzanne's bare face and hands with fiery pain. She gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to go faster again.

Michael struggled to follow her, not as a physical problem—now he didn't have any physical problems anymore, it was all psychological. It was a delaying tactic that Suzanne had seen thousands of times before. Souls grind on the wasteland because they are afraid to set foot in the unknown world, and each step requires great courage, which Michael obviously does not have.

"Come on!" She turned her head to watch him stumble pitifully behind him, and shouted to him, "We must get to the next safe house as soon as possible." ”

She hated that the weather had turned out the way it was, that the light had been sucked dry little by little from the canopy, and that the shadows were getting deeper and deeper. Of course, she hated the sizzling and low howls of snakes beyond the howling of the wind.

"I'm working on it!" Michael's voice was weeping, except for the ugly red rubella spreading around his nose and cheeks, and there was no trace of blood on his face, "I hate this ghost weather, I hate the snow here!" I'm cold! ”

Suzanne pouted coldly. She didn't like it either, and she couldn't help but want to point out that it was all Michael's own fault. But honestly, she was too lazy to explain.

"We've got to hurry up a little faster," she argued, "and it's dangerous here." ”

"Danger?" Michael coughed and stared at her, "But there's nothing here!" ”

With his hands spread, he swept across the barren mountains and mountains—snow, snow, more and more snow, an ugly gray canopy hanging over it, only a few hardy trees and black rocks scrubbed clean by the wind broke the endless white. It was empty and deserted. Suzanne knew all this better than he did.

"It's not just us here," she said to him, "we have to go." ”

At this moment, the sound of the wind was slightly quiet, and the biting chill stopped for a few seconds. At this moment, the demons who had been whimpering at Suzanne all day began to howl. It was a sharp, layered roar and roar that Suzanne had not expected. Michael's face became more miserable, devoid of any blood, against his red nose like Rudolph the reindeer.

"What's that?" He gasped and asked.

"You won't want to know."

The demons began to sing again, and the voice sounded impatient and murderous, and even Suzanne felt a tingle in the hairs on the back of her neck. Michael stopped talking and began to hurry. He was almost running, though with each step his feet were deep in the snow.

Suzanne was satisfied, and then followed. However, she did not relax for long, and found that the safe house was not in her field of vision, and there was no trace of it on the next hill or even the next hill. They still had a long way to go, and the demons were hungry and sounded impatient, as if they could almost taste Michael's flesh.

She glanced at the sky, the clouds had not broken for a moment and a half, and the cloudy sky had become more and more gloomy. They were about to start a fierce battle, and she didn't think Michael had any fighting power.

Taking a deep breath, Suzanne shook her head and continued on her way. She let the white expanse disappear for a moment. This wasteland is soaked in bright red, which is its original appearance. A scorching wave of air struck, and hundreds of souls were crossing the wasteland under the guidance of other ferrymen. The army of ferrymen was huge, but there was no Tristan anymore, and she felt lonely, lonely.

Tristan is gone, and her world has become very different. It had been many days and he hadn't come back, and she had never thought he would come back. He succeeded, traveled through the past, but no one in a normal mind would come back. She didn't mean to blame him, but how much she missed him at a moment like this!

She blinked again, letting the cold snow fall again, and before she could open her eyes, she felt the wind digging into the flesh of her face.

Moving on to work, she needed to be engrossed.

She grabbed Michael's arm tightly and dragged him faster. It didn't work at all, but that was her job. If they couldn't beat the monsters that were salivating at him and were secretly approaching, she would have to fight them. Fight with such a monster - no, it should be a group - you will lose, because there is no way to kill them.

They reached the next hill. Michael stopped, gasping for breath, trying to take a break, but Suzanne wouldn't let him get his wish.

"Push harder," she said, "it's not far off." ”

It's still far away. But telling Michael how far he had to go was pointless, not only would it not help, it might even make him pick a fight. It wasn't an ideal defensive position, they could come at them from all sides.

They began to descend the mountain, staggering and churning snow under their feet. Suzanne tugged at Michael's coat and pushed him half a step ahead of herself. Although she grasped it tightly, she could not hold him back when he suddenly rolled down like a rock.

One of his legs sank into a thigh-deep snow hole, and the other leg bent over, unable to support his full body weight, and fell down. As soon as Suzanne felt his clothes tearing from her fingers, she reached out to help, but it was too late. He flipped, twisted, and jolted down the hill, and gravity accelerated his fall, and she couldn't catch up.

"Michael!" She shouted his name and sped downwards, speeding to the limit of running on the thick snow. He lay twenty meters below, his face buried in the snow, his body motionless.

"Michael!" He must get up, and if he still lies there and does not move, it is a great gift for himself...

As soon as Suzanne thought about it, the originally white and flawless snow around Michael began to take on a terrible black like ink, and wisps of black smoke rose from the frozen soil, and finally formed countless ragged shadows, and the open mouth roared and screamed.

Here comes the evil spirits!

"Hurry up Michael!"

This time his limbs twitched and he raised his head. But he neither stood up nor made a gesture of self-preservation, he stared at the demons with a hissing sound from their mouths, swooping down from high in the air and circling him.

Suzanne was getting closer and closer to him, ten meters, five meters, three meters... It was close enough to see Michael's face full of fear. He lay there, paralyzed and helpless, acting as a ready-made dinner for the evil spirits circling around him, who were rejoicing in this prey.

"No!"

Susannah's heart sank, and she pounced on Michael with all her might, and they rolled down the hill together. The air in her lungs was squeezed out, and she felt her claws pierce her clothes, then her skin, shoulders, hips, and legs. The pain gradually spread, and she couldn't help but scream, her body still maintaining a defensive posture.

She dragged Michael under her with one hand, and with the other, she struck hard, ripping a demon apart from her leg. The wounds of the ravines were covered with blood, and the droplets of blood splashed red with white snow.

Smelling the iron in Suzanne's blood, the demons became even more insane. They can't feed her, but it doesn't matter, they want destruction, they hurt. Suzanne struggled to drive away a pair of evil spirits that were caught between the front and back, specializing in Susanna's shoulders, trying to penetrate her fragile neck, and the one that had just been thrown off took the opportunity to clamp her legs again.

Her hands were frozen, and her fingers were covered in blood. Beneath her, Michael was sobbing and groaning, but at least he was still there, the demons not yet able to get close, they couldn't get around the human shield that Suzanne had formed with her body. From their angry screams and cries, they grew more and more frustrated, their minions tearing suzanne mercilessly, trying desperately to drive her away.

The pain was overwhelming. Suzanne clenched her teeth and closed her eyes to separate the pain around her. In any case, she could not give up. The soul she guards is supreme, and her life and pain are insignificant. As she repeated the words over and over again in her mind, an evil spirit sneaked into her thick jacket and attacked her ribs, cutting through her flesh like butter.

You can't die! She reminded herself that you would be fine.

The demons now changed their tactics, and instead of grabbing and biting her, they tried to pierce her body to their long-coveted souls. They pierced into her jacket, their claws digging into her shoulders and waist. One of the demons also grabbed her hood and dragged it hard.

Suzanne's body flew backwards and was thrown into the air again. The demons lifted her still writhing body until michael looked down and became a small black dot, a small black dot that was motionless.

Then they pounced.

Suzanne sped down the white ground, closed her eyes, took a quick breath in amazement, and plunged headlong into the snow. The splashing snow buried around her waist and her chest until it didn't pass her head, wrapping her up and forming a frozen prison.

She struggled in the liquid-like snow, and in an instant Suzanne realized she was alone. The demons pushed her down, buried her a few meters below the snowdrift, and then left her alone. Why? Why did they stop abruptly?

A few seconds later, she had the answer—Michael began to scream.

Reprinted - "Ferryman 2: Return to the Wasteland" by Claire McFort Translator: Fu Qiang