I looked over to Gray, who's eyes were wide. He was muttering random swear words under his breath, half of which I both couldn't and didn't want to hear.

"...Gray? What does it mean, a Brink? What's a Brink?"

He ignored me, then grabbed my arm and ran. I was still kinda weak, so I nearly tripped, but I regained my footing and ran alongside him, as quickly as I could.

"Gray! Talk to me! What's a Brink? Which one of us is whatever a Brink is?"

"I'll tell you later! We need to run or we'll die. I know a place where they hopefully won't find us."

"I don't like the uncertainty in your voice."

"I don't either. Keep running, Jason."

I still had more questions than I'd started with, especially about whatever a Brink was, but Gray clearly didn't want to answer them. This guy kept way too many secrets.

"Gray," I said as I wrenched my arm out of his grasp. "Answer my questions!"
"Now's not a good time! Why did you stop running? We need to keep moving!"
"I'm not taking another step until you answer me, Gray. I want answers."

"Fine, fine, fine. I'll tell you anything, but we have to keep going. Those robots aren't very far behind."

I took off at a sprint, and Gray caught up to me relatively quickly.

"Gray! First question: What is a Brink, and why did the robot say one of us was one?"

"That was two questions."

"Just answer me."

"Alright." He took a breath from the amount of running he'd been doing.
"Brinks are half monsters that make up a small percentage of the current population. They're called 'Brinks' because they're on the brink of being human."

"Okay. Which one of us is a Brink?"

He didn't answer me, just kept running.

"Hey, Gray! Answer me!"

"Not right now! We're right near the hiding place."
I groaned, but nevertheless kept going. We rounded a couple more corners, crossed a few streets, then came to a bridge with a ditch, maybe fifteen feet deep, stretching beneath it. Gray skidded to a stop at the edge of it, then got down on his knees.

"Down here."

He slid down the side of the ditch, his boots scratching against the concrete. At the bottom, he stood and gestured inside.

"You gotta come down here, Jason."
I hesitated, glancing between the ditch and the sound of the robots, which was getting louder as they gained speed. After a few more seconds of hesitation, I clumsily slid down the side, almost tumbling into a somersault before catching myself.

Gray picked me up from the ground, grabbing my arm and pulling me up. I was about to ask him about the Brinks again, but he shushed me before I could say anything. Still holding onto my arm, he pulled me to the part beneath the bridge, then released my arm. He climbed on all fours up the slanted wall to a small opening at the far end of the bridge, then reached his hand out to me.

I ignored him, pulling myself up on my own, and nearly slipping in the process. He rolled his eyes, which I just now noticed weren't completely human looking.

"Gray, are you a Brink?"
"I'll answer you when the robots are gone."

As if comically timed, the whirring and clicking of the robots returned. I risked a peek out from the opening we were hiding in. I saw that now there were three robots, each with the red light in the center of the head. They were scanning around, searching. For us.

The next few moments were painful. The robots got dangerously close to us one time,, but I held my breath and the whirring soon got fainter. After another minute, the sound had stopped completely.