Out of nowhere, Jim’s partner howled out in agony. At first, Karrel was confused. Did he do that? In a flash, he cracked his head to the left, and his mouth dropped. There was no way that what he was seeing was possible. There before him, was Angel, standing up and unbound by shackles, holding the bandit’s broken arm. If there was an extra hole in Angel’s head, it was unseen. He did not have a scratch on him, and he looked completely unharmed, as if he had never been shot.
The bandit reached for his pistol with his unbroken arm. Angel was too fast though. He lashed out at the bandit’s head and, following a loud cracking noise, knocked him unconscious. The pistol fell from the holster and slid across the room as the beefy man dropped with a thud onto the floor.
It was as though Jim had seen a ghost. He turned toward Angel and started to slowly back away. His mouth was wide open, but words would not come out. Jim was in utter disbelief. A man, whose execution took place a few seconds ago, just put his partner into a coma. Even after a moment’s pause, Jim was only able to conjure up three words, “How the hell–” Jim brought the butt of the rifle up to his shoulder and took aim at Angel, who was only just now, turning to move towards Jim.
Karrel, in the confusion, realized that he could no longer feel the presence of his book. He swore to himself. Angel might be unchained but they were still a far ways away from escaping the truck. Luckily, because of Angel’s resurrection, Jim had stepped backwards just enough for Karrel to be able to act. He took the opportunity. Placing the palms of his hands on the floor and pushing as hard as he could, Karrel shot himself forward a short distance, just enough that his legs were able to reach Jim’s. He swept his legs hard and fast towards Jim’s upper calves. Jim, who was focused on Angel at the moment, did not expect this attack. Karrel’s legs connected with Jim’s, and Jim’s legs buckled. The blow dealt was enough to knock Jim on his ass and make him lose control of his weapon. There was a loud clang as the old rifle smashed to the floor. Jim scrambled for it, but it was too late.
Angel had jumped into the air, aiming his body towards the desperate bandit. He landed knee-first on Jim’s torso. The impact vented all of the air Jim had in his lungs out of his body. Angel finished the job with two swift jabs to Jim’s temple. The light from the bandit’s eyes faded away.
Angel dismounted the now unconscious bandit. He brought his attention toward Karrel, who was laying on the floor spread-eagled, his hands still chained to the wall. Angel received a silent stare from Karrel. Just like the now unconscious bandits, Karrel could not believe his eyes. He was sure that the bullet hit Angel. Even though there was a bag over Angel’s face at the time, the shooter was at point-blank range. A blind man could have landed that shot. He had a thousand questions for his fellow prisoner, but he could not articulate a single one. He was too confused.
Angel walked over to Karrel. He knelt down beside him and started fiddling with the chains that were still attached to Karrel’s hands. Karrel heard a soft clanking noise and felt his hands become free. He looked at the scraps of metal that had been binding him for the past couple of hours. The handcuffs had been cut through from the sides, which had released his hands.
Karrel gave Angel a questioning glance and finally was able to speak, “How in the hell did you–”
Angel cut him off and gave him a playful wink, “Don’t worry about it. I think we can both agree that we have more important things to be doing right now.”
He did not want to admit it, but Angel was right. He stored the question for a later time and prepared himself for what was to come.
Chapter 3
An Unexpected offer
Angel and Karrel had freed themselves from the chains of the truck, but they still needed to escape the mobile jail cell. Karrel wanted to discuss everything that had just happened, but it would have to wait for after they had completely escaped. The two of them proceeded to walk toward the white door at the end of the room. They each took a side of the door and positioned themselves to breach. Angel hand-gestured a few commands that Karrel recognized. He wanted Karrel to open the door, while he would take point. Karrel put his hand on the door and took a deep breath. With any luck, the two sleeping bandits were the only opposition located in the truck. He turned the knob and yanked open the door.
Angel burst into the other room. Karrel heard a few loud gasps and a crashing noise before he was even able to see what was going on. When he did, Karrel’s heart sunk. There were five people, other than Angel, in the room. All of them were wearing heavy, dust covered, ragged clothing all around their bodies. More bandits… Just his luck. Angel had already engaged three of the guards in the room. He was throwing blow after blow, and his opponents were doing all that they could to stay balanced and block the surprise assault. The other two bandits were shouting at each other, questioning as to how their prisoner had escaped, when they had just recently heard the gunshot that was supposed to mark his death.
They were focused on Angel alone, who was still attacking their friends. They hadn’t spotted Karrel yet. One of the two free bandits reached for a weapon off of a nearby rack. The shelf was filled with swords, knives, and other pointed objects. Karrel jumped into action. He did not want to have to engage in a knife fight, especially when he did not have a knife.
Karrel sprinted through the door and shot out the hardest jab he had ever thrown in his life. In a surprise attack, you wanted to hit your opponent as hard as you could and do as much damage as possible. He did just this. His right fist connected hard against the side of the nearest bandit’s skull. Had he not have trained his body, Karrel was sure this punch would have broken some of his fingers. His fist was instantly smudged with the bandit’s blood. The man could not stay conscious after having received this unexpected attack. He slumped down to the floor, his mouth still in the process of shouting. Hitting his head hard against the ground, it was going to be a while before he awoke.
Karrel grabbed a glance at Angel. One of the bandits had gotten behind him and was now attempting to put Angel into a choke hold. Angel’s other two opponents were throwing as many punches as they could possibly get in. Karrel would have jumped in to help, had he not noticed how well Angel was dealing with the situation. He was calmly blocking every punch sent his way, even while being distracted by the man attempting to strangle him from behind. He did not even seem phased by the three-on-one encounter, and though Karrel was not sure of this, he swore he saw Angel grinning.
Karrel decided to focus on the one remaining free bandit, then move to help Angel. The bandit had gotten to the weapon rack. She grabbed a curved knife and turned towards Karrel. Karrel sized the blade up to be around 6 inches. The increased reach, from wielding the knife, was going to be a pain to deal with. This was exactly what he was trying to avoid. Karrel was confident in his hand to hand capabilities though. He took a defensive stance and waited for his opponent to charge him. The bandit did just as Karrel had expected. She charged forward toward Karrel and started to swing and thrust frantically. Karrel slowly stepped back with each strike, carefully dodging the knife or blocking the bandit’s hand. Blow after blow was avoided, frustrating his opponent to no end. If she kept this up, Karrel knew this woman would switch to more drastic tactics. Once again, he was right. The assailant, tired of being denied the blood she craved, jumped forward in an attempt to tackle and stab her victim, but Karrel was prepared for this desperate maneuver. He side-stepped the bandit, who was now flying very low through the air, and raised his right leg above his airborne opponent. Karrel paused for a split-second and took aim. The bandit could do nothing. Dropping his heel, hard, into the back of the woman, the kick snapped the bandit to the ground so hard that she dropped her knife. She was dazed, struggling to collect her current whereabouts. Karrel seized the opportunity that he had created. He closed in with the bandit, grabbed her head, and raised his knee into the face of the dazed fighter. A small spout of blood shot out through her nose. Karrel let the newly formed ragdoll drop to the floor, unconscious,
when he heard Angel behind him.
“You about all finished up?” Angel asked.
Karrel brought his sight to Angel’s position. Three men lay at his feet, all without a flicker of light in their eyes. It didn’t look as though Angel had even broken a sweat. Still, he seemed impressed with Karrel’s accomplishment.
“Wow!” Angel expressed. “I was expecting to have to throw at least a little bit of help your way, but you handled yourself quite well.”
Karrel was struck dumb. Unbelievable, was the only word that came to his mind. Angel had survived a bullet to the head, released them from the iron shackles, and now taken on three bandits, in close quarters, by himself. Yet, he was complementing him? This was without a doubt, the most unusual man Karrel had ever come across.
“Hey, take a look at this.” Angel was paying no attention to Karrel’s dumbfounded state. He was pointing to the two large doors that represented the end of the trailer. “It looks like we need a key.” Karrel was forced, once again, to push all of the questions he had about Angel to the back of his mind and focus on the task at hand.
Upon inspection, Angel was correct. The bandits had rigged the back of the trailer with a makeshift locking mechanism. Without a key, the doors would not open. Fortunately, all of the potential holders of the key were now lying on the floor. Angel and Karrel started to search the unconscious bodies for their passage to freedom. He wasn’t having any luck finding it and neither was Angel. So, the dark-clothed individual decided to check the bodies of Jim and his partner in the other room. Karrel was left to search around the area that he was in now. Other than the weapons rack and a few chairs, the only piece of furniture in the room was a small desk. It was covered in scraps and trash.
Karrel brushed through plastic bottles and opened canned goods that were on top of the desk. He found nothing but more trash. He started opening the drawers. The majority of them were empty. Karrel did not think his luck was ever going to get any better. That is, until he got to the bottom drawer. As he reached for the handle, he felt, once more, a familiar presence. His book was in there. Karrel pulled back the wooden slab. It was the largest drawer the desk had, and the only one that contained exactly what Karrel thought he had lost.
Inside, was his backpack. All of his pots, pans, and survival gear were still inside. The only thing missing was some of his bottled water, which Karrel now recognized on top of the desk. More importantly, underneath his backpack was a familiar green, oilskin notebook. This was the first time in hours that Karrel had felt relief. He had gotten his notebook back and was no longer defenseless. Hell, it didn’t even matter if they found the key anymore. He could take care of the doors himself. Though, it would be better if they found the key. He didn’t like showing off his capabilities whenever he didn’t have to. People tended to act strangely around him once they knew what he was able to do. It was one of the reasons he had always traveled alone.
“Hey! Jim left us a present while he was sleeping.” Karrel could hear Angel coming through the pearly white door. Angel tossed Karrel a small metallic object. It was the key to the back of the trailer. Karrel was amazed. It looked like their luck was turning around. The only thing left to do was open up the back of the trailer and escape any other vehicles that were waiting for them outside. Hopefully, they would not have to worry about the latter.
Karrel slung his backpack over his shoulder. He tried to both quickly and discreetly pocket his green notebook, focusing on making sure Angel didn’t see what he was hiding. Satisfied, he prepared to open up the doors. “You ready to get out of here?” Karrel decided to check with Angel, though he knew what his answer was going to be.
“Yeah, let’s just hope that there isn’t another car following us. I’d hate to have to waste my time dealing with it.”
The comment didn’t even phase Karrel at this point. With what he had seen, he was sure Angel had some way of pulling it off. In fact, he was no longer worried about there being another vehicle. Between the two of them, Angel and Karrel had already dealt with an impossible scenario. How bad could another one be?
Karrel carefully aimed the key into the metallic hole. With a quick twist, and a loud click, he felt the doors unlock. Slamming the two doors with the bottom of his boot, they swung open. On the other side, Karrel could see brown and black dirt, large dust clouds, and hills filled with nothing but ash and rock. Nothing else was behind them, save the broken road that they were traveling on. There was no extra vehicle; this truck was traveling alone. It was the final lucky break that they needed to gain their freedom. Karrel went to ask if Angel was ready to jump, but he was already in the air, falling to the road beneath them. Karrel smiled and shook his head, then leaped off to follow.
He hit the ground and rolled a fair distance before the friction of the earth slowed him to a stop. It was painful, but Karrel had never felt so good. He was finally free from those bloodthirsty bandits. The drastic change of scenery was almost sickening though. He had gone from being in a clean, uncontaminated room, colored the purest of white, to the dull, dirty brown setting that marked that there was no civilization for miles. The two escapees watched as the truck they had been trapped in for the past hour drove off into the distance. The driver hadn’t noticed a thing. As Karrel stood up, he took note that the clothes he was wearing had been instantly stained with the soot and cinders found not only on the ground he had just skidded on, but in the air as well. It’s good to be free, Karrel thought.
Angel picked himself up and attempted to dust himself off, but to no avail. Any amount of dust he brushed off was instantly replaced by what was being carried in the wind. With how black his clothes were, it carried no significance anyways, as none of the earth was visible on top of the black background. Still, Angel frowned as he looked at Karrel.
“This is my favorite jacket,” he remarked.
Both Angel and Karrel decided that seeking temporary refuge was the next best step. They took a moment to ready themselves, and after a short preparation, they began their trek through the windy plains ahead.
•—•
The two decided to walk a short distance, in the direction opposite of the truck, before taking cover in a nearby cavern of rock and stone to rest. There was a moment of silence as Karrel checked his gear and Angel took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter he had apparently stolen off one of the bandits. Karrel finished confirming that most of his gear was still in his pack and decided to break the silence with a joke.
“You know?” Karrel began. “Assuming that you live long enough, those things might kill you one day.” Karrel was pointing to the now-lit cigarette that Angel had between his lips.
Angel didn’t seem too concerned. “You’re going to have to trust me on this one,” he replied, “but these little things, don’t have too much of an effect on me.” Angel blew a puff of smoke that came out in the shape of a perfect ring. He seemed proud of his small accomplishment. “But, seeing as you are so concerned for my well-being, I’ve had an idea.” Angel grabbed the burning white stick from his mouth and gave Karrel a grin. “You did very well today, considering the hand you were dealt. Most people would have given up, all things considered. But, you didn’t. You fought well, and helped with the escape, which is more than I can say for the average civy I come across.”
Karrel felt weird being called a civilian. He had always used that term to classify people that weren’t capable of helping themselves outside of a city. It had never occurred to him that he may look like one to another survivor.
Angel took a hit from his cigarette and blew smoke into the air once more. Karrel wasn’t bothered by it, as the aroma of burnt charcoal and ash was commonplace to him. A little smoke from a matchstick didn’t do much to change the ambient smell.
“Have you ever heard of the Survivor’s Guild?” Angel continued.
Karrel had indeed heard of that name before; he knew exactly what it was. In fact, he was starting to understand what was happening here… He was getting recrui
ted.
“I can give you more details when we get to a safer location, but it’s fairly self-explanatory. It’s a group of people that just want to help others survive. Would you be interested in–”
“I’m going to have to turn down your offer,” Karrel interrupted. “Look… I know we just had a great time busting out of that jail-on-wheels together and givin’ it good to the bad guys, but that was a one-time deal. I’m used to traveling by myself, and I don’t stick around in one place for too long. I don’t think I would be a good fit for your organization.”
Angel took another hit from his cigarette, “First off, it isn’t my organization. I just send worthy people their way when I can. Second, there’s a lot of people out there who desperately need help. Regardless of things like fitting in, you’re definitely the type of person that could provide it. Besides, doesn’t traveling alone get, sort of boring?”
“I rather like traveling alone,” Karrel lied.
Angel gave Karrel a blank stare, and for a moment, the only thing that could be heard was the fierce winds crashing against the cavern entrance. After a brief moment of acceptance, Angel sighed in disappointment, “Alright, then… I’m sad to hear that, but I understand.”
Karrel was surprised at his own answer. Was it not just an hour ago, when he had faced death, that he was disappointed in himself? Had he not felt the regret, the loneliness of the life that he had been leading thus far? Had he not wanted this exact opportunity, the opportunity to help others, and maybe add some significance to his life? He knew what was happening though, what his instant decision had been based off of. It was going to be harder to survive if he had to worry about protecting others. That was what it always came down to, survival. And with that realization, Karrel ignored all of the regret he had felt in the past hours. He had made his decision.
Kin of Exile Page 3
