My body is in complete shock. I can feel the constriction of blood flow to my face. I'm not sure what I should process first. Should I focus on the fact that John had just killed another Army memeber? Should I be focused on how quick John reacted to the Army man's appearance? Should my focus be on how i just saw the laser of the man's gun on the back of John's head? Or could it be on the haunting thought that a memeber of His Army actually passed the lines of Holy ground to get to us? No. My first thought to actually fully process is the girl standing 100 yards away from me with a bow in her hand.
I hear the heavy panting of John to my left. I look at him to make sure he's still able to function. His survival is worth more to me than air at this point; in this damned time. He is standing over the man, his chest heaving in and out as if he just competed in the Iron-Man relay. His shirt, covered with blood; Not his but the Army man's. His face looks confused but satisfied. His wide eyes look at me, as if asking, "are you okay?". I give a slight nod as I wipe the strand of sweat from my hair thats covering my face. John takes his attention off of me and looks at the girl too. She has a cold, blank stare. Her eyes looked similar to mine. Deep and black. She makes no movement, just keeps her eyes pierced on us. Her long, brown hair blows in the slight breeze that comes from the west.Thats about all I can see from where i'm at. Without the sun, its difficult to see anything more than 200 yards away from you.
John moves suddenly, throwing me out of my quick daze and back into the here and now. I flinch as he reaches down to retrieve his machete from the laying, dead body on the ground. He pulls the arrow from the man's trapezius muscle. The arrow was buried deep and released from the bow powerful enough to wrap around the meat. John looks at the arrow as if its the head of Medusa.He looks back at the girl and gestures the arrow toward her. She looks at him with no expression nor emotion. John looks at her one final time before before throwing the arrow down and returning to the body. He slowly turns over the body. The man must have been pretty heavy considering the muscle and veins bulging from John's forearm. The body rolls over and slaps the ground with his heavy, lifeless hands. His eyes are still open, just as his mouth. The machete is stuck in his throat, deep and hard. His Adam's apple is split in two. Great shot, perfect accuracy. The blood in the air is strong and almost sickening. I look at John as he is concentrated on the body. He puts his huge palm over the leather handle of the blade. As he pulls and tugs on the blade, I hear the skin and remaining bone being ripped from the body. I try not to look too long. John has the stronger eyes. I hear his struggle stop so I slowly look at him. He's wiping the blood from the blade on his shirt. I build up my courage to look at the ground.
The man lay face up. His neck was split wide open horizontally, and cut deep enough to see his esophagus meat hanging on to the remaining pieces of his neck. The mark of the beast that is on his forehead slowly fades away. It always does when one dies. It's His way of saying, "you failed me, therefore you have no right to my mark." I look up agian and take a quick glance at the girl who is still standing still. I look at John and he looks back at me. He gives a faint smirk. "One more down Voker. Right? We can look at it that way." I give a strangled smile back. "Yeah. We can. Nice shot. And thanks." He glances quickly at the girl then back at me. "Don't thank me. I need you around." He nudges me on the arm then gives one last inspection of his blade before fastening it back to his belt.I look in my hand at the hatchet I'm clenching so tightly to. Then, from a distance, we hear another crack of the ground. MY heart stops again. We both look nervously around as I hear John pulls his machete out once again. Then, there is an uncomfortable silence. I quickly look to check if the girl heard it as well, but the girl is gone.
"Where'd she go," John asks, still in a panic mode apparently. " I dont know. But thank God it was only her." I stop and think on what I had just said. Thank God? How could I thank God? After all of this?
"C'mon," John says suddenly, "we can't be here long. If there's one, there are more coming."
"Well which way do we go?"
"We can't go back to the cellar, I think thats where the last guy came from. We cant go deeper into the woods. We don't know the territory."
"So we follow her," I ask, almost desperately. John looks at me and looks in the direction of the path the girl was standing. "Well. If something were to go wrong, we'd know ahead of time from her screams." We trek into the path, still weary of what had just occured. I can tell John has a lot on his mind. I don't know if I should say anything. so we just walk carefully and as silent as we can through the area of the corroded tree bark and layers of dead grass. I can hear my heart beating. Fast and hard. Like a hammer against cloth. That sound was enough for me to keep going. I savored every beat, every breath, every sight and every sound. I'm lucky. Not only lucky to be alive, but lucky to have John. Lucky to be well equipped. And the girl. She had no mark on her head. Which means she has to be a non-follower. Thats great news. Could the hunt be over? Could this be the answer? Could she be the key out of this Hell? I hear a tear in the wind. I fall to the ground in panic. Great. Another nerve tearing situation. I look up to see John still standing with a puzzled look on his face. I smell the toxic and musky grass under my nose. I look around carefully not wanting to stir up any more surprises. John is still standing with the look on his face. "John," I whisper. "John what was that?" I stand up carefully, hatchet in hand. I stand face to face with John. He looks at me with cautious eyes. "John?" As he slowly turns around, I see an arrow lodged in the right side of his back. I drop my hatchet, his machete falls to the ground and John falls right after.
John lets out a pitiful grunt as i drop to my knees to his assistance. His face is strained in anger as he grabs a handful of the almost red Texas soil and squeezes until his knuckles are white. "John," I shout, not caring who heard it, "John are you okay?" John yanks the arrow from his back harshly and looks at the tip that holds his blood stains. "Yes Voker, are- Shit! Voker, move!" My body fell limp at his command and I feel the full force of his hand to my abdomen.
As I'm laying on the hard ground where I've broke my fall, I hear John's machete being pulled and rip through the air like it was ripping through paper. In less than a second I see the sharp blade of the machete's edge slice the arrow, that was coming to my face, in two as they both fall to the ground. I'm still trying to catch my mind up to what my eyes had just witnessed. I knew John was good but holy hell, not that good. I give him a sad, shocked look. "Are you okay," he doesn't even let me answer. He looks behind the thick trun of the dried mesquite tree. "What the hell is the matter with you? Are you crazy," John is screaming angrily toward the direction of the mesquite tree. Is he yelling at the... tree trunk? And to make myself feel even more ridiculous, the girl walks out with the bow in her hand and an angry expression.
"No. I'm not. Now leave." My eyes widen and John and I look at each other as if we had just discovered Atlantis. She spoke. Words actually came out of her mouth. And to make it even more surprising, her voice was soft. But how can she already be barking orders for us to leave being her first time to speak to us? "You want us to leave? You are insane," John says irritated. "Yes," she answers, "Now go. Make your way." Am I hearing this girl correctly? She wants us to leave and we're probably the only non-followers she's come across since His reign began. "Are you serious," I've had enough of this crap. What is her problem? "First you help us out, for who knows what reason, then you try and kill us, now your telling us to leave? What is your deal? Look. Your the only non-follower we've seen since the end. And I'm pretty sure we're the only ones you've seen. So lets just take a different approach. I'm Jarek Voker and This is John Bosack. We're from Vertana. And you are?" I look waiting and hoping for an answer. Waiting for the slightest movement of her mouth. John still has a cold stare as he grips his back with his hand. The girl returns the stare but then snaps her eyes at me and examines my being. Finally her mouth opens. "I'm Mia. From Eden, Texas."
John looks at her with much surprise. "Eden? Your from Eden?" I look at John's facial expression and can tell he is in awe. "You walked from Eden to the outskirts of Vertana?" John doesn't seem to convinced. I'm just letting John talk. I've gotten what I wanted out of her. Her name. Mia. I like it. "Yes," she says as she's walking closer toward us, "Is that a bad thing Jim?" John puts his hand on his machete that lays on the ground as he expected her to attack again. But knowing this girl, it wasn't a bad idea. John looks up after running his thumb over the blade where he had struck the arrow. "It's John. And no. Just surprising. So answer me this... Mia. Why the hell did you just try and kill us?" I look at her, expecting an answer too. I can see her face more clearly now. And I was instantly lost in my sight. Her eyes, yet deep and black, were perfectly carved to fit her face. Her lips were a natural red. Or they could have been chapped from walking miles in the dry wind. Her face was something I think shouldn't be having to go through this hell. Her face was the actual beauty the whole world longs for. Her greenish-blue eyes brought out the smooth cuts on her face. not battle cuts, but the cuts of bone and skin on her cheeks and chin that made her mask. But Satan can come in the form of beauty.
"So," John insits, while I quickly look away, hoping she didn't notice. "Why'd you try and kill us?" We both look at Mia. Her mouth opens partially as if hesistating to say. "I'm hungry. And your insides arent made of borrowed body parts. You have actual meat." John stares blankley ahead, Mia looks to the ground in shame and my jaw litteraly drops. She looks up at us and I am quick to close my mouth and look away. I'm fine just looking at the ashy air and woeful view of the remaining Texas. Could this be true? Surely she's playing around. She doesn't look like the type to be a... a cannibal.
Before I get deeper into my thoughts I turn around, reach into my bag and pull ou the backstrap John had prepared. It still feels heavy in my hand. My tounge waters and my stomache growls. I feel the wrap around the meat rub my hands, tempting me to eat. But I can share with John. He never minds. Plus, it must be months since she's eaten, especially venison. I carefully hand her the edible gold. She takes it, opens the wrap and looks at it for a long time. Her face lights up and I know I did the right thing. She doesn't even thank me. But I understand. "Where.. where did you find a deer?" She asks almost letting out a small laugh, "From here in these woods actually. We hunt for our food," says John. "We haven't seen one in months," Mia blurts out, still oblivious to the world around her. We? She said we. So I ask my question. "We?" Her answer is almost unreal. "The others." We fall silent and she begins to eat.