by Dave Hazel
“Now, do you friggin bastards wanna try my patience anymore?” Mykal yelled and aimed his rifle at them. “Yous guys tried to screw me over and you saw what I did in return. I will ask you one more damn time, do you wanna live?”
There was no response. Most of the men stood there in fear and uncertainty.
“My brothers, he does not desire to kill us,” Marittle shouted and didn’t sound like he was in any pain though the two bandages showed differently. “He only desires to take the prisoner.”
“You do not understand the pressure we were under to ensure the prisoner returns with us,” the co-driver shouted. He stood to make his words heard. He kept looking down at his driving partner who was clearly dead in the seat beside him.
“I’m giving you the choice to walk away alive,” Mykal shouted and put the crosshairs on the man’s head. “Or I will kill each and every one of you and take the prisoner with me.”
“Mykal, is that you?” William shouted from his seated position. His head was still covered with a dark hood. “Save me Mykal.”
“I’m going to count to three and if you are still standing there I will kill you,” Mykal threatened.
“What of me?” The stagecoach driver shouted.
“Just turn around and take your vehicle as it is and explain that something happened and all inside had been killed,” Mykal said and started to snicker at the thought of the driver returning back to his home base with the carriage insides blown apart and smoldering with smoke and fire.
“I need to put the prisoner back inside and--”
“One! Two!” Mykal declared and pointed the cross hairs of his scope on the co-driver’s head. He paused when the driver pulled on the reigns to get the horses to turn. The carriage was the first to turn around. Immediately all the men, one right after another, turned around and started to walk away. Most of them had their mounts nearby and were able to get on them so they wouldn’t have to walk. They all turned away leaving William on the ground. Mykal couldn’t believe his eyes. William, Captain William Roberts, was on the ground before him with his hands bound behind his back.
Mykal turned to Marittle who stood there and watched his men put distance between them. “I must go and join them,” the wounded soldier said.
“Do you think they will give you any trouble?” Mykal asked while he watched to make sure the soldiers all continued on and didn’t turn back to change their minds.
“I do not think they will do anything,” Marittle replied. “I wish to thank you Mykal for not ending my life. I wish to thank you for taking my pain away. The pain you inflicted was unbearable.”
“Doninka,” Mykal yelled to her in the vehicle. “Bring that medical kit here. Hurry,” he shouted and turned to see four horses stood in place and grazed in the general area. “Do you think you will be able to get one of the horses?”
“Yes. I should be able to.”
“I’ll drive you to them if you need me to, but I think I might spook them and chase them away,” Mykal said to be helpful. He felt terrible that he injured the young soldier and feared Marittle would end up dying from his wounds.
“I will be able to take control of a mount,” Marittle said and smiled. He looked a little glassy eyed.
“How old are you?” Mykal asked while he waited for Doninka.
“In four days I will celebrate my seventeenth year outside of my mother’s womb,” he said with a great big smile. “We planned to have a grand party to welcome me as a grown man.”
“Well good,” Mykal said with a fake smile. Mykal’s heart felt crushed and his stomach sank. He didn’t know if Marittle would last four more days. Mykal felt guilty that he probably killed a sixteen year old kid. Mykal was going to ask him why he was in the military at such a young age but Mykal was sure he would get an answer about Marittle or his family not having the means to pay their taxes, thus he was probably forced into military service. Emotionally Mykal wanted to crumble and apologize, but he knew Marittle, like the other soldiers would have killed him had they had the upper hand against him and they would have taken Doninka away. ‘I hate this friggin ring,’ he thought angrily. ‘And I hate this friggin side of Towbar’s world and all the bullshit Ziggy does to his people,’ he snarled in thought because he felt he was pushed into shooting this kid.
“Thanks Doninka,” Mykal said when she handed him the medical kit. He opened it and saw five more morphine syrettes. Mykal handed all five of the morphine syringe like injectors to the young soldier and explained how to use them. “…but I’m telling you Marittle, only use these when your pain comes back and it becomes unbearable. They won’t last forever. As soon as you can, you gotta get yourself to a doctor and see what they can do for you. Okay? Listen to me, this is important,” he added when it seemed like the fuzzy eyed teenager wasn’t as focused on him as he wanted the injured kid to be. “If you take too much of this all at once it will kill you, do you understand me?”
“Yes,” he answered but seemed like he wanted to argue. “How could something that feels so good, something that takes away my unbearable pain, be deadly as you say? It does not make sense? It would seem to me that if it feels good it would feel even better if I took much more of it,” he declared just like a naïve teenager.
Mykal wanted to laugh. “It’s called an overdose. A morphine overdose, and it will kill you so you have to be careful.”
“How? It seems like it would only do more good if you took all of them at once,” Marittle responded while he eyed the five little containers of medicine.
“It will stop your heart and you will die if you take too much. Have you ever known anyone who drank too much strong drink and died because of it?”
“Yes. I have seen that among several soldiers in my time as a soldier,” Marittle replied.
“It’s kinda like the same thing,” Mykal countered and wondered how bad living conditions were if soldiers were drinking themselves to death.
“I would like to thank you one more time Mykal. I think we could have become good friends if we were not on the different side of the wars that take place,” he said and didn’t realize Mykal probably handed him a death sentence when Mykal shot him with his rifle.
“I agree,” Mykal said and smiled when he received Marittle’s out stretched, blood covered, hand. They shook by grabbing the wrist. Mykal wanted to break down because the kid was thanking him, but it was he, Mykal, who was the one who shot him, thus Mykal probably killed him. Mykal feared the kid would die in the next few days. It brought back to memory the guilt he felt over the death of Franklin Perry from the first 37 Days in Towbar’s World. He caused Franklin’s death by taking Franklin’s ammo away before the big battle of July 4th. Franklin had been keeping a diary where he praised Mykal as being the true leader of the people who had been lost in Towbar’s world. Now Mykal feared this kid wouldn’t reach his seventeenth birthday because of him and it genuinely broke his heart.
Mykal had to push aside the sad, sappy, emotions and pretend he was fine. “I don’t know if you know where you are, but that’s the Black Forest right there,” Mykal said and pointed. “I think you should continue straight that way,” Mykal said and tried to point to where he thought the opening of the forest was. “There is a road through the forest that will eventually take you back to the big castle.”
“How did we get on this side of the Black Forrest?” Marittle asked and looked very confused. “Did I sleep while we traveled here? It seems liked I lost a part of my life. I do not know where the time went to.”
“No, you weren’t sleeping,” Mykal said and couldn’t help but laugh at the confused warrior. “It was the green cloud we were in that brought us here. But if you know your way through the Black Forrest, you should be able to make it back to where you started from.”
“Thank you my friend,” the wounded soldier said and walked off to take control of one of the horses. “It does in fact feel like I lost a part of my life,” he repeated while he walked off. “Time seems to have vani
shed,” he added while he tried to make sense of going from the other side of the forest to this side of the forest in a flash of time
Mykal watched him and felt bad for him. It hurt Mykal when Marittle called him ‘my friend’. He wasn’t sure if the soldier would survive his gunshot wound and he knew the morphine he gave him for pain would only be a temporary help. It hurt Mykal when Marittle said that he lost a part of his life, because Mykal knew he would be responsible if the kid didn’t make it to his seventeenth birthday. Marittle would be one more of many others that he felt guilt over. The ring didn’t help when he tried to sort through his emotions.
Mykal was tempted to take Marittle with him to get him real medical care, but he knew that could possibly put all his people at risk and decided against it. He looked at William still seated on the ground and it appeared William was complaining under the black hood. Mykal believed any length of time William was in his presence there was a threat of the enemy would close in on him, so with both William and Marritle, he just felt the risk was too high. He had to send Marritle on his way while he decided what he was going to do to William.
With his hands bound behind his back William continued to try to remove the black hood that covered his face.
“Mykal, is that you there?” William called out from his new seated position. “I think I’m hurt. Could you check and see how much damage I suffered. What happened to me? Did I get shot?”
Mykal ignored William’s voice and just stood there staring at him. Mykal wondered if he should just shoot him where he sat begging for help. He mentally deliberated if he should remove the hood so William could see him when he shoots him in the head. The idea of shooting him in the knees and just leaving him there entered his mind to make the rotten bastard suffer. But then he could end up facing another situation where William would get rescued by more ‘bad guys’ who would take him back to Zizmon-Tarl. Then he would be in the same situation all over again.
For a brief moment Mykal thought of all the hurt and ache he suffered over the murder of his close friend Boris. ‘Boris even wanted to kill him for me and I wouldn’t allow it, and the friggin piece of garbage shot Boris in the back,’ he thought with his hatred starting to simmer. He looked at the bound and hood covered form and thought how easy it would be to get his revenge. ‘Not only did he kill my best friend, but he tried to kill me,’ he thought with a snarl as his hatred began to boil.
A moment of clarity breached the tidal wave of hatred that was beginning to tower over him to swallow him up into a fit of trigger pulling. Deep inside Mykal knew, the truth was, killing William wouldn’t bring Boris back and it wouldn’t really give him satisfaction due to all the hurt and hatred that had swirled through his thinking over the countless hours he dwelt on this opportunity that was finally before him.
Mykal knew he could try to take William back to the Pass and see if he could get William brought up on charges, but that would get messy and ugly. ‘I’d have to explain why I told everyone I saw William get killed, and yet here he is. Besides maybe some other facts would come to light when William rats me out,’ he deliberated. ‘Nah, cuz then they’d wanna take him back to the real world where the President and Percy would set him free, and then I’d have a whole lot more explaining to do, and that would just add many more problems.’
“Mykal, are you there? Can you take these off me?” William called out and twisted slightly to show his bound hands.
‘I wonder if I should just let him go. Forgive and forget and put all that stuff behind us,’ Mykal thought while he watched William struggle. ‘I did win a truce with Percy,’ he added and actually started to feel sadness for William. ‘It’s the friggin wimpy shit feelings creeping in again,’ Mykal snarled in thought and looked down at the ring, the ring that he knew was creating mental problems for his existence. ‘Why is it so friggin hard with this damn ring? It would be so friggin easy just to shoot him dead,’ he thought and suddenly a wave of emotional weakness washed over him.
“Mykal, please, if you’re there, help me,” William begged. “I’ve been treated horribly. I need help to get away. Please don’t leave me a second time,” he cried out desperately.
‘I can’t let him go free,’ Mykal thought hatefully. ‘He killed Boris. He shot Boris in the back and then shot him in the head and the friggin bastard was gonna kill me. I hate this friggin scumbag low life,’ he snarled in thought and wanted to pull his pistol to shoot William in the head.
So many thoughts and emotions seemed to swarm all over Mykal. He felt at a loss and he felt he was nearing tears because he wasn’t sure what he should do to answer this dilemma before him. He truly wanted to kill William for several reasons; ‘William killed my best friend Boris and then he tried to kill me in order to silence me,’ he reminded himself to help make his choice easier when he felt he was weakening. He tried to coax himself into pulling the trigger. ‘William had lied to me all along and he wasn’t my friend, and I believe William would have helped Zizmon-Tarl and his forces to identify Doninka, so he’s guilty of collaborating with the enemy as far as I’m concerned,’ he added in thought to build his case and to justify pulling the trigger. With his finger on the trigger, the trigger just felt so heavy. He couldn’t do it.
But the good side of Mykal’s heart didn’t want to kill William in cold blood. He felt guilty for even thinking such thoughts because there was a time when they were friends. ‘But was it just an act? He needs to be punished for killing Boris. He would have killed me if I didn’t disappear in front of him. What the hell am I doing? I have him right here right now and I can finally get my revenge,’ he hissed in thought with clenched teeth. He found it more difficult to squeeze the trigger as each moment passed by him. ‘How many damn times did I promise myself I would shoot him dead if I ever laid eyes on him again?’ Mentally, Mykal understood he was having a problem. He couldn’t kill William in cold blood as much as he wanted to.
“Mykal! Are you there? Quit screwing with me. Help me. I don’t want to die out here,” William yelled. He sounded angry and fearful.
Doninka moved beside Mykal and looked at him as if trying to understand why he wasn’t saying or doing anything.
Mykal looked at her and hoped he didn’t look fearful. He suddenly felt afraid like he might do something wrong. Part of him wanted to go on a murdering rampage to include William, and part of him wanted to break down and ask William for forgiveness for what he did to William by leaving him to be captured by the foul evil Goblins. He needed time to think, but he didn’t feel he had the time to dwell on the matter.
He moved and against his better judgment he pulled the black hood off William’s head. William blinked wildly several times. His eyes didn’t seem to be accustomed to the day light. His thinning, balding, hair was all over the place, he had cuts and scratches on his face. His face seemed somewhat bruised and he appeared to be healing from a black eye. ‘It was probably from some of the abuse he took. It’s William before me, though his eyes seem somewhat serpent like,’ Mykal pondered in thought while he stared at the man who caused him so much angst. ‘Or maybe his eyes are like that cuz William ain’t wearing his military issue black framed glasses. Or maybe the bad guys under Zizmon-Tarl’s forces did something to William to infect William with their evilness. Or maybe William’s eyes seem serpent like cuz of my imagination over my intense hatred for him. Maybe that’s why his eyes look evil and serpent like.’
“It is you. Mykal, it’s sooooo good to see you,” William said with a phony laugh. “Please untie me. Oh, I see you have the princess with you,” he added in a leering perverted way that made Doninka feel uncomfortable. “We must leave before they return. Please, hurry, untie my binds,” he begged and twisted sideways to show Mykal his hands that were bound with strong leather straps. “What are you waiting for?”
“What makes you think I’m glad to see you?” Mykal asked.
“What? Why wouldn’t you be glad to see me? What, because of all that happened inside the mounta
in? I’m willing to forgive and forget. You left me to the mercy of those filthy creatures, the Goblins.”
“Yeah, but you killed Boris and that kid Wickey. You killed them both in cold blood. And then you tried to kill me. What, am I just supposed to forget about that and say ‘hey, everything is alright between us? We’re cool.’ Are you kidding me?”
“It was a part of my job Mykal. I had to kill Boris to keep him from ever going back to the real world. I was supposed to kill you to silence you. It wasn’t personal, it was only business.”
“Yeah, I know. You told me that. But just so you know I went back to the real world I told Percy that I killed you and then I wiped out the Untouchables. Dominick was pissed off and wanted to torture me, but I killed all them scumbags and showed Percy what I can do and what I’m capable of doing, so I’m on the team now. Percy loved my abilities and had to have me on the team. That’s a fact,” he declared as if William’s expression showed doubt.
William just looked at Mykal when he declared that he killed one of his best friends Dominick. “Well, if you worked it out with Percy, then we’re good. I don’t have to complete my mission. Let me go for crying out loud.”
“I’ll untie you when I feel I can trust you,” Mykal said and wanted a legitimate reason to raise one of his weapons and kill him.
“When you can trust me?” William asked with a shocked tone to his words. “How can you not trust me? You have the weapons and I’m eternally grateful you rescued me from those people. I just want to get away from here before Zizmon-Ta--”
“Shut up!” Mykal yelled. “Don’t say his name. Don’t ever say that name or I’ll blow your friggin brains out right now.”
