Hope is a Waking Dream

Chapter 6

The next morning, after a breakfast of nuts and one of the packets of dry food he had stolen, Sheppard moved on, keeping low and quiet. He encountered another pack of dogs who steered clear of him, shying away when their leader yipped a warning. He was glad the dogs seemed shy as he had wondered if they were under Genii command. He saw few other animals. There were a few birds and small rodents, but large wildlife seemed to be missing.

Sheppard knew he was going to have to hunt the animals before long. He couldn't live on nuts and the packets of food forever, and his body was craving a real meal. He had been missing nearly a week and he was already notching his belt a little tighter than normal.

The day passed uneventfully, and he encountered no hunters. He slept well that night.

The gunshot at dawn woke him with a start.

Staying very still, he listened and watched the forest floor beneath him. Another gunshot sounded, closer this time. He guessed whoever had the gun was around half a click away and wondered what the gunfire was about.

Slipping quietly down from his tree, he crept through the trees, staying low and watching out for unnatural movement. It didn't take long before the ambush.

He barely had a chance to react as a rush of movement to his left caught him by surprise and a man burst out of the leaves beneath him, catching his leg and twisting, causing them both to go sprawling to the ground. Another man came running from Sheppard's right, and he didn't have time to acknowledge the second hunter's presence as he fought to keep the first man off of him. The man landed a solid punch to Sheppard's jaw, leaving him reeling as he was pinned to the ground by the larger man's weight. The man grabbed his wrists and sat heavily on Sheppard's hips, keeping him in place.

"Finally!" the second hunter exclaimed. "I don't know how no one's been able to find him."

"Shut up and help me tie him up," the first man snarled.

The second man had managed to loop one end of rope around Sheppard's right wrist when he finally managed to gather his wits enough to headbutt the man on top of him, surprising both men as he scrambled out from underneath the first hunter. The man was holding his face, blood streaming from his nose.

Sheppard didn't waste any time, grabbing the stunned man's head and cracking it down on his knee. The man slumped limply to the ground as the other man attacked, tackling the pilot to the ground with enough force to drive the air out of Sheppard's lungs. He didn't have a chance to let his body recover as the man on top of him swung wildly at his head with heavy fists. Sheppard saw stars before he managed to land a right hook on the man's jaw and pushed at the heavier man's bulk with his knees in an attempt to get him off of his chest.

Too late, he saw the flash of a blade and barely managed to deflect the weapon, remembering the butterfly hold and twist that had been drilled into him from the age of 12. The man on top of him grunted as his weight was thrown to the side, and Sheppard used the momentum to push the man off of him. A flash of red-hot pain caught him in the left side as he tried to jump to his feet and Sheppard couldn't help but cry out in surprised pain. He saw the hunter wielding the knife as he fell to his knees, sudden weakness making him dizzy with pain.

"You're not getting away," the man gasped as he rolled to his feet.

"You gonna kill me then?" Sheppard replied, finding it hard to breathe as he pressed his hand against his side, feeling hot blood trickling between his fingers.

"If you make me, I will."

Sheppard pushed himself painfully to his feet, the wound in his side throbbing and his vision starting to grey. By sheer force of will he pushed back unconsciousness, wondering how deep the wound was for it to affect him so quickly. The hunter in front of him doubled and tripled before steadying into one image and Sheppard blinked rapidly, mentally forcing himself to focus on the danger in front of him.

The man moved closer, brandishing his knife as the wounded pilot held out his free hand in a pathetic attempt to ward off the danger. The hunter reached for the forgotten rope at his feet and Sheppard used the momentary distraction to rush the man, taking both of them gracelessly to the ground as he wrestled for the knife in a sudden burst of adrenaline. The hunter was desperate, but Sheppard knew the stakes were high. Wrenching the knife from the man's hands he slammed the blade once, then twice into the hunter's neck before the man went still, blood pouring from the wounds. There was an unsettling death rattle as the man made a gurgling noise deep in his throat before closing his eyes.

Panting, Sheppard crawled off of the body, looking down at his side. The t-shirt was slick with blood and it was soaking into the waistband of his BDU's. The cut must have been deeper than he thought. Staggering away from his two attackers, Sheppard tried to put some distance between them, realizing that escape at this point was not going to be easy. He was bleeding and barely able to cover his tracks, not to mention his vision which was starting to dance with black spots.

In the distance, shouts sounded through the trees, and Sheppard tried to move faster, spurred on by the imminent danger.

He didn't make it far before crashing to the ground, blackness descending swiftly.