Eden's Gate

Chapter 11 - I'm Done Running

When I came too, I was sat in the back of a truck. My vision was funny as I looked around, my hands rested in my lap, my feet bare, both bound together with zip-ties. My arms were bare, showing my vines and soulmate marks to the world.

Someone must have taken them off me when I was out. A man sat next to me and a lady in front of me, their hands zip-tied together. A Peggie sat next to the lady, a rifle in his hands.

"If we confess... If we confess right away, we'll be ok. Right?" The man asked, stuttering in fear as he looked at me.

"No, they'll make it worse." The lady replied head hung in defeat.

"Why?" The man asked. The Peggie leaned in.

"Because confession without pain isn't confession. You'll scream out your sin, then you'll wear it on flesh before John peels it off of you. It's a beautiful thing, you two will enjoy it." The Peggie explained.

Wait, there are three of us.

"Fucking Peggies!" The girl spat out, receiving the but of the Peggies rifle in her face. The truck skidded to a halt before crashing, sending us flying around. My head smacked off the roof, slipping back into darkness.

-0-0-0-

"When the Lord you God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations..." I opened my eyes as the voice shouted, my head hurting. I was lying on the floor of the truck, the Peggie waking up in front of me. "... then you must destroy them totally." I rolled towards the back door, slamming my body against it, trying to make it open. "Make no treaty with them..." The Peggie reached for me, I looked back as he was shot in the head. I turned back and looked at the person who just killed the Peggie. I was filled with relief and happiness, Jerome stood in front of the open doors, smoking pistol in hand. He lowered it and knelt in front of me. "And show them no mercy." He opened his book, revealing a hidden compartment that he placed his pistol in. Grabbing his hunting knife from his boot, he cut my bindings on my ankles and wrists. He made no comment on the soulmate marks, he simply looked around, checking for anyone around. He helped me up and I felt my forehead.

Wet and sticky. I looked at my hand, blood staining it. I must have hit it harder than I thought. I'll need to be careful. "Jerome..." I said, my tongue thick and heavy in my mouth. I struggled to speak. Jerome shook his head.

"Stay with me. Didn't go to all this trouble just to lose you now." Jerome joked. A lady handed me a pistol, staring at my black markings. I gulped. I'm gonna have a lot to explain later.

We readied our guns, as we made our way up the path, to a checkpoint. I concentrated as best as I could, with my head pounding I struggled to focus. Explosions and gunfire rang out.

Jerome and his people rescued me. Time for me to return the favour. I aimed and fired at a Peggie under the checkpoint, sending him crumbling down to the ground. I ran to the side of the checkpoint, up a small hill. I took aim at the Peggies on top before shooting at them. I ran down the hill, picking up the weapons of the fallen Peggies, before walking up to Jerome. I felt eyes on me, looking at my soulmate marks. I remembered that my shirt was gone, exposing my arms to everyone.

"Thanks for rescuing me Jerome. I owe you a huge favour." I thanked him.

"I knew it meant trouble when we couldn't reach you. I'm glad the Lord pointed me in the right direction. We got you back, but there are still others that need our help." Jerome explained.

"What can I do?" I asked. Jerome smiled at my eagerness to help.

"Cult's movin' the rest of the prisoners up the road. They got Merle too. Time's wasting. Grab what you can and go save 'em. I'll call in some of our people. We're gonna need them if we're gonna pull this off." I nodded before running up the road, shooting any Peggies I saw and freeing any prisoners as I went. My head still thumping and making its pain known. I concentrated on running, on firing and on saving these people. I saw Merle across a bridge, running across I narrowly missed an incoming missile. I dodged the missiles as I ran. I took out the Peggie loading a Mortar, before running over to Merle, freeing him from his restraints.