Liberty's Heirs

Chapter 26

The wagon was waiting just next to the horse belonging to the man in the fancy hat.  It was loaded with supplies, it seemed enough for any contingency.  Its driver, uniformed plainly like the other low ranked soldiers, was just a bit older than the man in the fancy hat.  Apparently, his seniority rather than rank gave him permission to ride instead of walk.

He walked out of town with even more shame than he'd walked into it but few people were around to see.  The larger of the two men who hauled him out was assigned to guard him.  He walked behind while the other men walked in front.  The man in the fancy had took the lead and the wagon was in the rear.  Each of the soldiers had a long sword.  The man with the fancy hat had a gun that looked sophisticated, pretty similar to the coil gun he'd seen in the bunker.

Blion marched silently for hours but he was exhausted.  "Quit stalling, lazy Han!" said his guard.  After each reprimand Blion would try to walk faster but he was having a hard time.  He didn't know how much longer his body would hold out.  Not long enough to reach the Capitol, that much was sure.  Suddenly he felt a painful poke in the back.  "I said go faster, lazy Han!"  The guard had gotten a long spear from the back of the wagon and decided that Blion should be stabbed every time he slowed down.

For the next hour he received periodic pokes of increasing ferocity, each one left a bruise, some compounded the others.  Then Blion tripped on an irregularity in the asphalt.  The road was nothing but irregularities in this section and Blion had stumbled before but he'd always managed to avoid falling.  This time was different, he fell completely.  His hands were unavailable to help break his fall. His body contorted instinctively to protect his head but there was a rock that couldn't be avoided.  It cut deep into his forehead.  He laid on the ground for a few seconds before the guard came from behind him and wrenched him from the ground by one of his forearms.  The positioning was excruciating and the guard was very strong.  "Lazy, stupid, Han.  Anything to take a break!"  he laughed.  A few of the other soldiers chuckled with him.  They had fallen slightly behind the others so the guard pushed hard to force Blion to catch up.

They passed over a little bridge crossing a trickle of a stream.  "Sir," said Blion, "I need some water.  If I don't get some I can't make it much farther."

"Oh! Is this little stroll to hard for you?" he said mockingly.  "You need some beauty rest?"

Blion was infuriated.  If he had his staff, free hands, and been a bit better rested, he would have given the man his just deserts.  Since that wasn't the case, he had no choice but to continue being respectful.  "I don't want to hold up your mission.  I'll be able to walk much better if I can get some water."  Blion was certain that dehydration had lowered his blood pressure.  The his bleeding forehead wasn't of much help either in that regard, and the blood trickling into his eyes obstructed his view.

"If you need a rest, we'll tie you to the wagon and drag you by your leg," replied the guard.

The man in the fancy hat hadn't looked back in all this time but he evidently had heard the interaction.  He turned around and showed a look of surprise at seeing Blion's face covered in blood.  He gave a whistle and put up his right hand indicating he wanted to stop.  "Get the prisoner some water," he said in a tone that showed he was clearly in command.

Blion was escorted by his resentful guard down to the little stream.  Blion attempted to drink from the stream but it was very challenging with his arms behind his back.  He ended up having to lie on his belly.  The water was cool and refreshing, he couldn't wipe the blood off his face well but it helped.  He drank all he could.  Who knew when they would let him drink again?