88

Hunter, Don't Shoot My Friend

Chapter 88: Burrito and Gunfire

Half an hour later, they had found a trail—specifically, a man who carried the same scent as the dark entity that had murdered those women in the alley.

They had followed him by car, but now they needed to proceed on foot, so they were preparing their gear in case things got intense.

"We're following a man who we believe knows more about the parasites than anyone else, is that right?" Stiles, who had shaken off his fear while following Ethan, looked at him, expecting an answer.

This time, Ethan wouldn't be naive enough to underestimate Stiles' abilities, so he replied, "That's the information. We just need to tail him while pretending to be on a date."

"Are we going to kill him, cut him up, or just steal the information?" Stiles asked as he began strapping explosive silver grenades to his chest, as if he were about to go to war against a single man.

Ethan shook his head and said, "We're just investigating."

"If you ask me, I think we should bring the heavy weapons. You never know what kind of grotesque creature we might run into these days. I mounted a bull, and I think it's paralyzed, but I believe that if we bring the right gear, there's no creature in the world we can't eliminate." Stiles was adamant about the weapons, which amused Anton slightly.

Ethan glanced in the rearview mirror and said, "There won't be any combat. You, as a supernatural agent, will be on espionage and investigation missions so that people like me can eliminate the threat."

The only reason Ethan was recruiting new teammates was that he was forging his leadership structure. Liam was now in charge of investigations, and Sebastian of field agents, but Ethan wanted Stiles in logistics. This would leave a vacancy, so he was preparing new recruits to join his group.

"Alright, let's go." Ethan stepped out of the truck while smoking a cigarette.

What can be said about the current world? Technology is advancing faster; the plans to detect parasites are much simpler than they thought, so they just need to set up special cameras.

"Please, do you have a bill?" A boy approached Ethan as soon as he saw him cross the street.

Looking at this boy, Ethan wondered what society is currently doing with its capabilities to properly raise a child. Even here, life is still undervalued.

"Here, kid, go home..."

Ethan crouched down to give the boy a bill, but at that moment, an idea came to him, and he asked, "Have you seen anything strange around here lately?"

The rumors of truly grotesque murders always happened between one and three in the morning in this area. Of course, this wasn't enough to warrant a visit, but they had evidence of what they were looking for.

The boy looked at Ethan, recognizing him as a priest, and said, "In the alley next to the Los Tres Hermanos bar, strange things always happen. If you don't want something bad to happen to you, never go there."

"Alright, go home now," Ethan said as he observed the surrounding disturbances.

"Call me crazy, professor, but I don't think it's worth sacrificing ourselves for this bunch of inept people who spend their time drinking and partying while we bleed night after night without knowing when we're going to die." Stiles approached, holding a couple of huge hot burritos.

Ethan looked at the young man and tried to keep calm despite the intense emotions he was feeling. "Were you that hungry?"

"Huh? Of course not; one is for you... Let me tell you, eating while on an investigation makes us look less suspicious. When I drink a lot, I always go to the burrito stand and get the biggest, fattest, and longest one to fill my stomach."

"Honestly, I'm regretting bringing you along. You're still too reckless to understand our true purpose in working in this world." Ethan didn't plan to give Stiles a lecture, so he took the bus and walked toward the alley the boy had mentioned.

What they were looking for from their target was to find out if he had privileged information, but it turns out that the dark entity they had identified as a demon was also nearby.

"We have to find that man before the demon does..." Ethan stood outside the bar while eating his burrito.

Stiles approached and murmured, "I told you, no one besides you wears a suit like this around here... Everyone's staring at me; you look like one of the men in black."

"Stop talking; the suits protect us from bullet impacts and supernatural creature attacks." If this were another occasion, Ethan might have enjoyed these jokes, but now was certainly not the time.

At that moment, Stiles pointed to a man walking upright, holding the hand of a drunk girl, and curiously, they were heading toward that alley no one dared to enter.

"Damn it, get ready." Ethan silently pulled out a long knife.

Stiles handed his burrito to a drunk man and walked away while drawing his gun. "Is that man of color our target?"

"Any problem?"

"No, none."