Riders At The World's End - Phase 2: Mortal Danger [FROZEN]

[The Clown]

Hearing Skyes word Hallas waited a second then turned around and began to walk across to the unconscious Carl, his shotgun was pointed towards the ground in front of him but still in Skye's direction so he could raise and fire if either she or Angus decided to shoot him.

He rushed over to Carl, with one eye still on the jewels, as he got closer he saw the damage. Carl was badly hurt, his chest was still rising and falling slowly so he was still alive. He scooped carl up off the ground with some effort and slung him over his shoulder, the large spear sticking out awkwardly behind him, with his other hand he still kept his shotgun ready then moved back towards the buildings with Carl.

"It's ok Carl, I got ya, we'll get out of this," He murmured softly as he strode towards the place where their vehicles were parked.

As they approached the two bikes he laid Carl down and examine his wounds, the damage was mostly facial, but there were a large series of bruises and sizeable gashes strewn across his body. Hallas clambered over a large rock to his bike which he took out from under the sheet and acquired a small medkit from the pack tied to the back, he then tore some strips of cloth off of his only spare shirt and went back over to Carl who was still unmoving. He dropped disinfectant onto then bandaged up the larger gashes on his body with the strips of shirt then applied some disinfectant to the smaller wounds also then the cut on his cheek.

After further bandaging and cleaning he repacked the kit and took it and Carl over to the bikes, took his pack off his bike and rested it on the floor then put the bikes covering sheet folded up on the back of it, placing Carl on top he checked him one more time before strapping him down in as comfortable position as possible and attaching the spear to the quad.

"This may not be ideal but it will have to do," he said whilst looking at his wounded friend. He then wheeled the quad-bike up to the back of the bike and connected it to the back of the bike with a tow rope he found attached to the side of the quad.

He mounted up and set off, a blood-red sun nearing the horizon in front of them.

 

[nuba km]

Carl started to regain conciousness, he could make out the sounds of a steam engine, 'were is my spear?' he asked, still not having opened his eyes, he noticed that the bleeding has stopped and he could feel the bandages wrapped around his wounds, 'I don't need bandages' he said as he started trying to take them off.

 

[The Clown]

With Carl struggling to sit up on the back of the bike Hallas spotted someone up ahead trying to flag them down, as they approached Hallas turned back to Carl, "Your spear is on your quad, you had it on your back when I got to you, should we stop for this person or drive on? are you ok to keep going?"

Hallas slowed some distance from the stranger and watched them while Carl managed to get back up.

 

[nuba km]

'thank god' Carl looked at the person who was trying to flag them down and recognised them 'that is foot lady! without her I would have a different foot right now, slow down' Carl was quite happy to see a nice person still being alive in this harsh world, he also took of the last of his bandages, he had lots of burns, few bruises, some cuts that have formed scabs and a bent nose.

 

[The Clown]

Hallas pulled up next to Mongrel and dismounted, he untied the quad and handed Carl his spear then turned to mongrel.

"Greetins, my name is Hallas, pleased to meet you, we have been travelling for a while and just got out of a very sticky situation, what brings you to be out here by yourself?" He said cheerfully whilst extending a hand.

The journey had been long and the fight had been costly, it was very nice to see a friendly face at last in the wastes.

 

[nuba km]

'well my food is crisp on the outside and bloody on the inside, just how I like it but I think I shall be fine had worse beatings that fixed themselves over time' Carl then started polishing his spear with the bandages he took off his founds, he did this figourisly trying to et every stain off it.

 

[SkyeNeko]

"I don't need your help..." she whispered. She threw the revolver he gave her onto the driver's seat and slipped out of the car. Still, she kept the medkit and remembered the name of the hotel. If anything it would help her track down and kill Trevor and/or Angus. After she was sure that Carl and Hallas were gone, she made her way over to Jacob, who was still on the ground.

'What have you done to deserve this life?' She thought about the two Reds as she tied him up with some rope from her bike. Now that she got a closer look at him, he didn't look that old. Definitely older than she was, but not by that much. 'Growing up outside the Jewel factory must be hell,' she decided. These people had none of what little innocence there was left in childhood. Retracing her steps, Skye found her revolver on the ground.

'Still full.' Each step back to Jacob made her heart skip a beat. She wasn't sure what she would be able to do if he suddenly woke up or if he broke free. She was at least a foot shorter and probably barely half his weight. It was ironic to her that if he were awake, he probably would be angry at her for not having killed him yet. Was there anything written in the Green book about forgiving your enemies? Skye wasn't sure. She spun the cylinder on her gun and aimed at the Red's head.

'Shoot him. Kill him. For everything he's done. For being a non-believer. For being a heretic. For killing my squad. ... ... ...' Her finger slowly depressed the trigger. Slowly... slowly...

CLICK

The girl jumped, thoroughly surprised that the metal mechanism did not dispense death. She opened the cylinder and gasped. A misfire. Was it a sign? ... ... ... the gun went back in its holster. Skye straightened her green jacket and brushed out her tangled hair. Standing at attention, she awaited the Jerusalem Man's judgment, for both herself and the Red.

 

[Fallen-Angel Risen-Demon]

Jacob looked at Skye. "You held the life of the man who killed your sqaud, a heretic, in your hands... And you pulled the trigger! Feels good doesn't it? But yet, I am alive? In-ter-es-ting..." He casually sat up, smiling as he did. "Look into my eyes... What do you see? A monster? A madman? A heretic? A murderer? Or do you see deeper then the decietful exterior, into the truthful interior?" He laughed. "Go on, do tell what you see! Humour me."

 

[SkyeNeko]

Skye ran a hand through her hair. She had hoped that the man wouldn't have woken up.

"I'm not sure what I see. And I think that me telling you anything besides 'You are a monster' or something along those lines would make you mad. And my gun misfired. I think that's a good indication that something wants you alive. Call it god, chance, destiny... whatever you want. But unfortunately you aren't dying here. It's out of my hands what happens to you now."

Her blue green eyes were hidden as she checked the restraints.

"Alright. You scare me in more ways than I can say. I feel like I've lived a really privileged life behind the Green walls. I'd say I felt sorry for you, that I felt bad maybe, but you wouldn't care for that either would you. Cracking you between the eyes with this axe would be a gift for everyone, yourself included. The next chance you get I know you'll kill me. After some lengthy monologue about your ideals no doubt. And then you'd go on killing everyone else until no one is left. I'm not sure what to think of you."

 

[Fallen-Angel Risen-Demon]

"You fear death, it is a normal human thing. What I do, is inherently good. Your Jerusalem Man... I hate him so much. He spreads 'hope' everywhere and trust me when I say... Hope will not save anyone, not yourself, not your friends and definitely not the one you hold most dear to you. And yes, you are privileged, simple as... Living on the Red side is... Hard to say the least. It kills you inside, breaks you until you become one of them... Most of the time. I resisted and though I am technically a Eagle, it is only so I can send those who they will kill slowly to death faster. Nothing upsets me more then seeing a person being tortured in any way, I've seen people raped, made to drink pis, cut up and who knows what else. So I kill them, so their pain is ended. It is what I seek to do to all humans. Save them from themselves..."

Jacob looked at the floor. "Nobody accepts it but me, so I have to take the burden all on my own. I try to make people happy before they die though. I could of left here, you know, I chose not to because when I finally kill you I wanted you to have looked into my eyes and seen that I did your squad a favor, removing them from this man-broken world and sending them to whatever comes after. Whatever it is, is better then this world." He sighed. "You probably still disagree with me... Your too tied down to this world, those ties are your friends. Thats why I walk alone, so that my vision doesn't get blurred."

 

[SkyeNeko]

*chuckles, then sighs*

"I can't say I agree with you all the way. But you expected that. *lowers her voice* I had a sister you know. When I was younger. When we were younger... some Reds... *coughs* some Reds took her. They were young punks, but they were bigger and stronger than either of us." Skye paused, wondering why she was telling a Red this. Then again, who else would she tell? A Green? They wouldn't understand.

"When I close my eyes I can still hear her screams. I can see her face. I wish I could have done something. And... maybe I wish you would have been there. Maybe it would have been better for us to die before that happened. But for now I need to find her. I can't die before I make my peace with her, whether she's dead or alive. Anything between now and then is up to the Jewels. Ha, I never expected you to be so philosophical about things like this..."

 

[Fallen-Angel Risen-Demon]

"Philosophical? Heh, how do you think I got to the conclusion of killing everyone to save them? I spent entire days just thinking sometimes when I was younger, but those times are gone and I have to act on those thoughts and feelings. Sitting around isn't going to do anything..."

A second passed. "I never had anyone, I spent my younger years alone scavenging and hiding from... Everything. When I was old enough to fight, I did. Lets just say I was really good at it, even back then. My first kill was twice my size, at least, and he had a gun. I just had a knife. He was an idiot though, fired everywhere without thinking. I stayed in the shadows, you wouldn't believe how a grown man was so afraid of a little boy. By the end he was panicking so badly, he thought I was a demon, that I could teleport from place to place and shooting anything that moved, even his own shadow." Jacob smiled briefly. "Its kinda sad that that is my best memory from when I was younger, but it is what it is..."

"If I'm to be honest, I think your sister would be dead by now. If she was captured they probably..." Jacob looked like he was going to say something, then stopped. "I'm sorry, you don't want to hear that..."

 

[SkyeNeko]

"You're not bad to talk to once you get the killing out of the way you know. And I'm under no illusion as to what happened to my sister. But just in case she's still alive, living as a whore on the street, or starving in the slums, I'm going to try and do something. If everything fails we can go to the afterlife together, at the very least..."

Skye crossed her arms, resting her cheek against a gloved hand. She wondered if the J-Man had chased after the other two Reds. He seemed to appear and disappear without any trace. She shuddered. 'Like a ghost...'

"It's nice to have something to hope for, even if it's false. While you have the will to live I guess. Otherwise, like in your case, it is useless. I can see how you would rant about something like that. Still, I'm not giving up my belief in the Green God, no matter how unreasonable it might seem. Sorry if that means I'm a general enemy of the Reds."

 

[nuba km]

'I am fine, if these wounds are meant to kill me then they will, as fro coming with us I don't know were we are going' Carl turned and looked at hallas 'well were are we going?' he asked hallas.

 

[The Clown]

Hallas leant against his bike and looked back at Carl, "Not sure, just somewhere to spend the night, I have some friends a few miles west but it's gettin late." he said whilst chewing on a hard piece of bread from his pack.