Chapter 32: An Un-bear-able Decision

The first thing Thomas noticed about the robber, besides his bleeding, crying, and the leg he was practically dragging behind him, was that he was skinny. Like, model-thin. The second thing was that he had enough tattoos to make Post Malone blush.

The guy turned terror-filled eyes on the two of them. “Help me,” he begged.

Thomas might have thought it was a trick, until he saw what was coming for the robber.

Out of the bushes sprang another bear cub. Easy to guess that this was what had savaged the robber’s leg. There was very little chance he could have escaped a full-grown bear.

The bear cub was not nearly as cute as the others had been. Now that it had tasted blood, it ran after its prey in a low, controlled stalk that didn’t fit a baby animal. Its bloody muzzle was pulled back from sharp, dagger teeth, and even the head seemed slightly elongated, like the mask had slipped and the real monster had been unleashed.

It coiled up and prepared to spring in a way no bear cub should.

It was so focused on its prey, in fact, that it completely missed Thomas’s approach.

Mace in hand, Thomas did his best golf swing and struck the monster side-on, sending it flying a good 6 feet.

The monster fell and tried to get up, but Jo stepped in and chopped down with her sword. The monster was instantly decapitated.

Thomas and Jo exchanged a look, then they both turned to the robber.

The man was in a terrible state. It looked like the bear monster had either chewed or slashed his hip and knee joints, and honestly, Thomas wasn’t sure how he was still standing. He was breathing so hard and fast it looked like he was hyperventilating.

“Oh man, thank you, I won’t forget this, but how do we get out of here? What do we do? Where is the exit?” the robber demanded, speaking quickly through gulps of air.

“What’s this ‘we’ business?” Thomas asked. “You’re the one who chased us here. Maybe we should just feed you to the bears.”

The robber shook his head vigorously. “No, no, that wasn’t me. I mean, I was with the group, but honest to God, I didn’t think it would get this far. I didn’t think that we’d be shooting people. But when Grimm said to go, none of us got no choice. Look, man,” the robber took a limping step up to him. When Thomas stepped back, he seemed to realize how he looked and stepped to the side instead, sort of weaving his shoulders as he did. “Look, man,” he said again, speaking so quickly the words practically tripped over one another. “I know things got bad out there. I’m sorry about that. But when Grimm says you jump, you say how high.”

“Oh, poor you,” Thomas snapped. “I saw your friends shoot into that car in front of me.”

Though he was pretty sure this guy at least hadn’t been one of the shooters. He had a very distinctive look, to put it lightly.

The guy shook his head again, frantically, still doing that odd weave. He had not stopped moving for a second. “It got too crazy, too fast. That wasn’t supposed to be the plan. And if I knew what would happen, I never would have joined.”

“You chased me to the dungeon!”

“Yeah, ’cause of Grimm. He’s crazy, you don’t understand. He’d shoot me if I said no.”

Thomas didn’t believe him for a second. He looked at Jo, who was watching the robber with zero expression on her face. No help there.

“Look,” the guy said, “Just point me to the exit. I’ll go, you’ll never see me again. Or… or can I follow you? You two seem strong, and I don’t want no trouble. I just want to live and get out of here and go back home. If I can.”

Great, they’d just collected a follower. What were they going to do with this guy?

Thomas hadn’t had much of a plan when he attacked the grizzly cub monster. But now he was stuck with a huge dilemma. Should they… kill the guy? Give him a taste of the mace? It had put down that other robber. But this man wasn’t attacking him. He was asking for help. And Thomas… Thomas didn’t trust him, but he wasn’t sure he could just put someone down like that when it wasn’t clear self-defense.

“Stay there,” he said. “Don’t move. And if you attack, I will kill you.”

“No, no. I’m not like that. I swear,” said the very obviously dangerous gang member, but he held up empty hands and backed off a few more steps.

Thomas glanced at Jo and jerked his head to the side, indicating they should walk further away. She followed, though she, like Thomas, visibly didn’t trust him an inch.

But the robber just walked in place in a little circle, weaving, still shrugging his shoulders at nothing, breathing far too quickly, and dragging his dead leg behind him. What kind of crazy uppers was this guy on?

“What do you think?” Thomas asked Jo, as soon as they were far enough not to be overheard.

“Two possibilities,” she said, cool and collected as a computer. “He’s lying or he’s not.”

Thomas waited for her to expand, but she didn’t.

He let out a breath. “Okay. I don’t know how he’s even standing at this point. There’s blood all up and down his leg. He has to be in an incredible amount of pain, but he’s not acting like it. He’s not acting right at all, actually. Look at him.”

They both turned to look at the guy, who was still moving around, even with a mangled leg.

“If he is mentally compromised,” Jo said, “we can’t trust that he’ll either keep his word, or even remember that he’s given his word.”

“And, no offense, but the word of a robber means nothing,” Thomas said. “I’m pretty sure his gang killed someone. Even if he wasn’t the one holding the gun that’s still accessory to murder, isn’t it?”

“I do not know,” Jo said. “But there’s a way we can find out if he’s telling the truth about his involvement.” She turned and took a step towards the robber, but Thomas stopped her.

“Wait,” he said. “Give that sword back to me real quick.”

He had a funny feeling. Her skill was Still Water on a Razor’s Edge.

She hesitated a moment, then handed it over in a simple, precise movement, hilt first.

He took it from her, and as Jo’s fingers released the handle, she blinked, then blinked again, and took a staggered step backwards.

“Oh, oh! Hoo boy.” Her hand flew up to her temple. “That was one doozy of a rush.” Her upper Midwest accent was back in full force. He hadn’t realized it had disappeared when she’d gone all computer.

Thomas smiled. “Welcome back, Jo. I was starting to get a little worried.”

She stared at the sword. “What did that thing do to me?”

“No, it’s not the sword. I think it’s your skill when you’re holding something with, erm, a razor’s edge.”

Still staring, Jo slowly nodded. “I had perfect control over my hands and where I cut, but it was like I was the weapon. And I just… cut through emotions.”

“We can test it out real quick,” he suggested. “You grabbed that one robber’s dagger, didn’t you?”

She nodded, and without prompting, patted a pocket on her camouflage cargo pants. Neither one of them had sheaths, and she had slipped the hunting dagger in her pants pocket. Probably not the best place for it, but Thomas wasn’t going to tell her how to live her life.

The moment she grabbed it, the mild alarm faded from her face, and she stood there for a second, staring at her hand. Then she emotionlessly replaced the dagger in her pocket before she let out a breath. “Yeah, it’s the skill alright.”

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“I think every time you hold a blade or something sharp, you have complete control, including over your emotions,” Thomas said. “Try not to get addicted to that.”

“Speaking of addiction…” She looked over hesitantly at the robber. “We could just leave right now.” Though the tone in her voice suggested she found it slightly distasteful.

Thomas nodded. “I’ll tell him my best guess for where the exit is, and he’ll probably limp off.”

He wouldn’t make it, though. Considering a baby bear almost took him out, he had to be a level 1. That wasn’t Thomas’s problem at all, but… leaving him hurt like that didn’t seem right. He sighed. He was faced with doing the smart thing and the right thing. Bleh. Stupid morals. Stupid having to look at himself in the mirror.

“Wait,” Jo said, “I had an idea earlier.” With that, she turned and marched back to the middle of the clearing. “Hey, you!”

The robber stopped walking around in circles, but he didn’t stop his odd bobbing and weaving. “What up?”

She held out her hand. “You had a gun, right? You all were armed. Give it.” She had a snap in her voice that had not been there before, and was pure don’t-mess-with-me Midwest mom. Thomas didn’t blame the guy for hurriedly picking it out of his pocket and handing it to her. It was as good as a rock out here in the dungeon anyway.

Jo looked over the pistol. Then to Thomas’s complete surprise she took out the clip and looked it over. Thomas knew basically zip about guns, but Jo seemed to know what she was doing. She looked back at Thomas. “Clip is full. I suppose he could have just replaced it, but I don’t see why he would.”

Thomas sighed. He knew what he was going to do, and he hated it.

“What’s your name?” Thomas asked the robber.

“Twitch.”

He stared. “What, really?”

“Isn’t that a video game?” Jo demanded.

Thomas started to correct her, but then decided he didn’t care enough. The guy didn’t deserve it.

“Hey, I had that name way before it was cool,” Twitch said, still sort of weaving in place and breathing way too fast. “I ain’t no copycat.”

“All right… Twitch,” Thomas said, “if we’re going to help you out I need you to hand over every weapon you have.”