Chapter 36: Follow Us
People appearing out of the darkness.
At the sight of the group, presumed to be survivors from the Silicon Alley Shelter, Walfred and Lauren’s faces brightened.
"Haah, finally..."
Maybe it was the relief of having reached their destination?
Lauren let out a sigh, as if the tension had drained out of her.
And just as they were approaching the lights.
"Hey! You two, over there!"
The hunters standing guard at the rear of the group spotted Walfred and Lauren and came hurrying over.
Hunters who looked to be in their early to mid-twenties.
The two men didn’t bother to hide the wariness in their eyes as they fired off questions.
"Where are you coming from? Crown Heights South?"
"More to the point, how did you even know about this place..."
"We saw the post on the community."
"...The community?"
The hunters cocked their heads.
Could it be they didn’t know?
Walfred added a more detailed explanation.
About the post that Jonah, the representative of the Silicon Alley Shelter, had put up on the community. At that, the hunters looked back and forth between Walfred and Lauren.
"So that means... you’re both hunters?"
"That’s right."
Walfred answered calmly.
The two hunters exchanged whispers among themselves in low voices. After a moment, they pointed toward Prospect Park Station and spoke.
"If you want to join up, you’ll need to meet with the chief first. Hands up, and follow us this way."
"And don’t try anything funny."
The two hunters didn’t let their guard down.
Being wary of outsiders was only natural.
Walfred followed their instructions without complaint. When they reached the platform at Prospect Park Station, a group of survivors in shabby clothing came into view.
"...Hey, take a look over there."
"Who are those people...?"
The non-Awakened from the Silicon Alley Shelter.
They kept stealing glances at Walfred and Lauren as the pair followed the two hunters. A few of them watched Walfred with strong wariness in their eyes.
It was a natural reaction.
They had left their original base and come to an unfamiliar area, and now two complete strangers were walking in. Of course they’d be on edge.
’This place is a little different from the Lower Manhattan Tech District Hall.’
At the Lower Manhattan Tech District Hall Shelter, the line between hunters and the non-Awakened had been blurry, and there had been almost no hierarchy.
Here, on the other hand, there was a certain system for screening people, and a clear hierarchy could be felt between the non-Awakened and the hunters.
The proof was that everyone lowered their eyes when Walfred and the other hunters passed by.
Tromp, tromp!
How long had they walked like that?
Walfred and Lauren headed up the stairs toward the turnstiles. Soon they arrived at the space where the station staff used to take their breaks, and there sat a middle-aged man, all alone, keeping watch over the place.
"Chief."
A man in his late fifties wearing horn-rimmed glasses.
He had a warm, gentle look about him, like a neighborhood security guard, but the hunters who had brought Walfred and Lauren bowed their heads to him with the utmost respect.
"Survivors have arrived from Crown Heights South."
"They say they’re hunters who came after seeing the post you put up, Chief."
Hunters from Crown Heights South.
At those words, the middle-aged man turned his head. Then he smiled kindly and spoke.
"Welcome, all of you. I’m Jonah, the representative of the Silicon Alley Shelter."
A courteous, easygoing voice.
Jonah, a B-rank fire-attribute hunter. As he extended his hand as if to offer a handshake, Walfred took it and introduced himself in turn.
"I’m Walfred. And this is Lauren."
"What? Walfred?"
The moment Walfred finished introducing himself.
Jonah’s eyes went wide.
"Were you by any chance recently at the Lower Manhattan Tech District Hall Shelter?"
"I stayed there for a little while, but how did you...?"
"Ha ha, so it really was you."
Jonah let out a hearty laugh.
"Bauer told me about you. That a skilled hunter was heading toward Silicon Alley."
"Ah..."
"He went out of his way to ask me to take good care of you if we ever met, said he’d personally vouch for who you are. Something about owing you a debt."
To think Bauer would say something like that.
Walfred wore a dumbfounded expression.
And he made a mental note to thank Bauer the next time they met.
Thanks to the heads-up Bauer had given, Jonah’s wariness seemed to have eased considerably.
"You’re more than welcome. Stay as long as you like."
"Thank you."
Walfred bowed his head politely.
Meanwhile, Lauren kept glancing around. She was probably looking for her sister.
Jonah, too, noticed Lauren fidgeting anxiously at Walfred’s side and spoke up.
"Is that young lady, by any chance, Lauren?"
"That’s right."
"Now that you mention it, you said you were looking for family..."
"Yes! That’s right!"
Lauren cried out as if she’d been waiting for the cue.
She rushed over to Jonah in a single stride.
"I’m looking for my sister. She worked in Silicon Alley. Her name is Erica, and she’s twenty-five. She’s a little taller than me, and her hair..."
Lauren poured out her sister’s description and personal details without pausing for breath.
Jonah listened to the whole story with a calm expression, then quietly nodded. He turned to the hunters who had escorted Walfred.
"Could I trouble you to check on this?"
"Of course. We’ll go right away."
The hunters headed for the platform.
Now, after just a short wait, she would know whether her sister was here. Lauren chewed nervously at her nails, waiting for the hunters to return.
That was when Jonah spoke again.
"By the way, I heard you’re looking for family too, Walfred. Is that right?"
"Yes, I’m looking for my niece."
Walfred explained his situation evenly.
That his only family, his niece Jenna, had gone on a school trip to Key West and then lost all contact.
And that someday he wanted to go to Key West to find out where Jenna was. All of it. Jonah nodded silently.
"I see. So that’s why Bauer was asking about Key West..."
Bauer had asked about Key West?
Did that mean Jonah knew something about Key West? Walfred perked up and pressed him.
"Do you happen to know anything about it?"
"Not a whole lot. But among the hunters I keep in regular contact with, there’s one who’s currently operating in Key West."
"...!"
He was in regular contact with a hunter operating in Key West? The instant Jonah finished speaking, Walfred hurriedly spoke up.
"Th-then, could you maybe ask about my niece’s whereabouts?"
"Of course. It’s late tonight, so I’ll send a message tomorrow."
"Thank you. Really, thank you!"
Walfred bowed his head over and over.
If the hunter operating in Key West could provide information related to Jenna, he wouldn’t need to keep waiting for Elma to show up on the community anymore.