Far and beyond

A road more traveled

Monsa was walking forward. Step by step. She felt deep discomfort deep inside. She was following the same things that she had been running from. What if they stopped? What would she do if they happened to stop? She asked herself that question all the time. It bothered her that she had no road leading home except the one she was on at this moment. There must be something. There must be a way that she had not considered. Her insides were turning with every step. The fear of her hunters turning around and seeing her made her want to throw up. She kept thinking of a way that she could change the status quo. Maybe if she ran. Maybe if she ran by them. Or around them. She would be able to get to Nebograd before them. Surely she would. However, what if they are not going to Nebograd. After all, she only assumed that because she was, and they just happen to be going down the same road. It was a real possibility that they were just following her. And when they see the city, they would stop, they would turn around, they would see her standing there, behind them, as she was this whole time. Then, she assumed, they would kill her.

As a step turned into two turned into three turned into ten and then into one hundred, Monsa began to relax. Her body was no longer running on the same high of adrenalin. She began to feel tired. She had neither slept nor eaten in what seemed more than a day. And walking in the snow made her knees and thighs tired. Every time she stepped into the snow her foot pierced it's surface and the snow got up higher than her ankles. Every time she tried to lift her foot out it was being pulled down by the snows weight. Walking like that made her want to close her eyes for a couple of seconds at a time, just to rest up a bit. As she reopened her eyes a couple of seconds later, something felt weird. She could not tell what it was at first. Her eyes were looking forward and squinting, trying to focus. And then she realized, it was not there. The green glow. It was gone. A sudden dose of optimism gave her energy. She started running. Sprinting almost. She had a smile on her face and her eyes were open. They had left! They were out of her way! Nebograd was close! Just a few short miles walking and she was home! 

Monsa kept running as much as her legs held her. She could already see the big tower in the center of the city. The air was clearer. There were no snowflakes drifting in it. She took off her filter. She could breathe! Clean air. Oh how she had missed it. Then there was the smoke. It was coming from the refinery in Nebograd. It was clear, she was maybe an hour away from it. Her body felt relaxed, her shoulders dropped. She started weeping. Tears of joy flowed down her face. She took off her mask and her hat. She felt the rays of light on her skin. As she was walking the edge of her eye caught a weird detail. It was like the snow moved. But snow doesn't move. She must be imagining it, she was in shock. Don't mind it, she told herself, keep walking forward. Nebograd is right in front. Then she saw the same thing again. This time more clearly. It happened right in front of her and to the right. Then a third time, to her left. This time the snow had a pattern in it. A blue line of sorts. That didn't seem natural. Then she stopped. Her hurt started beating twice as fast and she again lost her breath. The smile on her face was gone. The tears still flowed, but these were not of joy. She screamed as loud as she could, hoping someone would hear her. Not a second passed by when out of the snow emerged a big white body. Standing on it's hind two legs, it towered above her. As she turned there was another one behind. And to her left, and to her right. She was surrounded. It was a trap. Some time during the trip they must have seen her. She fell into their trap for the second time. 

Before she could do anything she found herself helplessly grabbed by one of them. He grabbed her from the back. His arms were around her shoulders. And before she knew what was going on, she was hanging face down. Her look could only see snow. It was dark. The creature was holding her pressed up against her chest. And then they started walking. It used four of its limbs to walk in the snow while the middle two held Monsa from escaping. She was too scared to move. Too scared to breathe. Too scared to do anything. All she could do was weep. Why were they doing this? Why did they kill the others but took her alive? And most importantly, what were they going to do to her.

Monsa was in shock. She looked left and right, all she could see was snow below her and the body of the beast above her. Her face hovered maybe twenty centimeters from the snow. They were walking for what she assumed was a better part of thirty minutes. She had no idea in what direction they were headed. She needed to do something. She needed to leave some kind of clue. And then she remembered. The face mask, it was still around her chin. If she could somehow take it off, she could leave it in the snow. Someone could then find it. She twisted her head and used her chin. She got one of the straps in her mouth and started to use her teeth and tongue. She wanted to find where it connected to the main part. And after about ten seconds searching she found it. A metal ring held them together. She placed in the back of her mouth with the help of her tongue and started chewing. Her molars bent the metal ring until it snapped. Okay, one more. After about half a minute the other one was done as well. The mask dropped in the snow. The creature walked right over it. She hoped the others didn't notice it. She waited for them to react, but nothing. 

- You didn't see anything did you? - she whispered, almost as if she expected a reply from her captors.

Then she started thinking about more clues. As the creatures were still walking she dropped one glove. Then the other. Then she dropped things from her pockets. She had no idea what was in there. Maybe of she checked on time she could have found something important. She remembered that she had a large thermos filled with water, but she must have dropped it when they ambushed her. It will serve as another clue. She took off her hat and scarf and anything she could. And then, after a few hours walking, she saw that the surface below began to change. Instead of hanging over snow, her head was now half a meter above a rocky surface. They were taking her into some sort of cave, at least that is what she assumed. There was no clear surface on the mountain, and the fact that there was no sunlight meant that they were somewhere in the uninhabitable zone. If that was so, that meant that she was breathing air that could kill her if she spent too long without a filter. 

When Monsa was beginning to wonder how much longer will they keep carrying her, they stopped. The creature stood up and let go of her. She was standing again. Her legs were weak and she was a bit shook. It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the light. It was green. She was standing in some large room, larger than any room she has been in. It was oval shaped. And on top of it crystals radiated greenish light. It was obvious that they were under ground. The air was wet and there was a smell to it. Monsa was standing on her own, and she could not believe what she saw. The room was filled with creatures from this world. There must have been hundreds of them. They were all standing in a circle. Some were higher up than others because they were standing on rocks. They had their large eyes pointed at her. Two eyes. Front facing. But they were more exposed, like chameleon eyes. Except they were large. One of their eyes was the size of her entire head. They all seemed to be mostly black and when they blinked skin crawled up and covered it whole. They didn't blink with both eyes at the same time. The fact that they were all standing there and looking at her scared her even more. Was she to be made an example of? Among the crowd one stood out. Bigger than the rest and with black fur. Walking on his hind legs he approached her. She stood her ground. She wanted to not show any fear, despite the fact that fear was the only thing she was experiencing. When he came in front of her, he bent down and stood on four legs. Even then he was nearly twice her size. He handed her something that she recognized. It was her thermos. She took it. Not knowing what to do with it she looked him in his black, deep eyes. She was searching for an answer. And then, he did something that made her question everything she had felt at that moment. He made a gesture with his arm that looked like he was telling her to drink. He then repeated it when she did not respond. Monsa opened the thermos, she drank some water. Then, realizing how much she was thirsty and how good the water tasted, she drank some more. And then, for some unknown reason, she smiled. She could not explain what made her do it, but she did. Monsa was in the devils den, and she was smiling at him. 

- What the f**k is happening? - she asked out loud, mostly asking herself, but with a frail hope that her captures would open their mouth and tell her.