"Stranger in a Strange Land."
Part 3
"Reaper! Reaper! Re-"
'Why...why did he call me that?' I wondered as I came upon the tar built road again. The sun was going down quickly and my minutes of time were running out. I never once thought about death after I came back to life. I never thought that after you died once you could die again. It seemed...impossible.
But now as I felt blood trickle down my back and my vision getting blurry I knew my time was coming again. 'Reaper's can't die...Why did he call me that?' It just didn't make sense to me.
I became light headed quickly and an overwhelming fatigue hit me. All I wanted was to sleep. Let my body regenerate if it could. I felt my bodily systems begin to slowly shut down. I felt like death was inevitable.
Then though I remembered why I was still going. The nightmare the night before, the people of Dust City, and the little orange un-infected kitten in my pocket who was licking my uninjured hand. Her tongue was rough against my palm and it tickled.
So even though my body screamed for rest I continued on. I was only a few steps away!
As the sun lowered completely behind the mountainous sand dunes I felt the cold creep up upon me. My body began to shiver uncontrollably just as I saw the town and it's old brick and wooden buildings in row after row. The tar road lead right into the center of Dust City and the lanterns were still lit in the dinner and the hospital, those being the two largest buildings in the center of town.
A few feet more and I saw people, a few more feet and I saw shadows, a few more steps and I saw the horses tied to posts. One more step and I saw Sheriff Ronning's red hair and blue eyes. She saw me as well and those ocean blue eyes widened.
"Outsider!" She gasped as she ran over to me. Her voice sounded like the herald to my next death, her face like my guardian angel as the pain became numb. "Outsider!" She yelled my name, the name Dust City gave me. I smiled at her then found my knees buckling to the ground.
As I fell on my back in slow motion I remembered my first nights in the jail house. Sheriff Ronning was always so nice and good to me.
At one time she questioned my memory and looked at me sadly when I told her I couldn't remember anything. She wanted to give me a 'better' name a more 'fitting' name. I told her I liked Outsider and that it fit me better than she would ever know.
Sheriff Ronning was the closest thing to a mother I ever remember having. She told me she tried having kids herself but she found out she wasn't fertile. I told her she would have been a great mother. She cried when I told her that, but I don't know why. I had thought it was a good compliment. She laughed when she saw the confusion on my face.
These memories lead me to my first night in the jail house. Sheriff Ronning was staring at me as I tried to sleep on the cot, I felt very uncomfortable around people still. When first approaching humans I felt sick and ill because of the smell they gave off and I had this deep urge to leave them or even kill them. But I fought all these urges because I knew I was human once too, back then I still thought I was. Thats when the sheriff asked me if I slept with my sunglasses on, I told her no, she told me to take them off. I was afraid to in front of 'normal' humans, I didn't know why. Thats when she forced me to take them off, when I did she smiled at me.
"See now isn't that better?" Ronning held my face in her hands and smiled.
I looked away blushing, "Your...not scared? I know I'm not...normal." I asked my eyes on the floor.
"Sweet heart." She said caressingly brushing my hair. "Of course I'm not scared. Those aren't the eyes of a murderer. Those are the eyes of a survivor and a protector. What you did today proves your not like those other 'Worthy'. If your wondering thats what you are...a 'Worthy'. You decide who you are nobody else does." The smile on her face reminded me of some one... some one in my past. "But don't worry I'll keep your secret."
By the time the flash backs in my mind were over I felt my back collide with the ground and heard heavy quick footfalls on said ground near me.
"Outsider!" It was Ronning's voice again and when I looked up there she was worrying over me like an old woman. She kneeled down to my body and held my head. "Outsider what happened? Where are you hurt?" She asked while rubbing my neck.
"Here." I coughed out as I took Lena from my pocket and put her in Ronning's hands. "She...she's not...infected." I explained as I felt my world going dark. I couldn't tell Ronning what happened, I didn't have time and if I was dying it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered to me was the fact I had gotten Lena to Dust City safe and sound.
The last thing I saw was the redhead holding the orange kitten carefully. Then things went completely dark and all I heard before I past out was:
"OUTSIDER!"
When unconscious one cannot dream. During this time the body is in complete shut down mode. While shut down the regenerating system can go 10 times the speed it would normally. Some times when one suffers from severe damage they go into a comatose state.
But ever since Ronning told me what I was I knew things would be different for me. She told me that what brought me back to life was created by a very bad man. I imagined this bad man she spoke of was the same man from my dreams. All I could call him was Father. I knew no other name for him. Little did I know he created the 'virus' in my blood to make all Worthy immortal. I could not die.
I was stronger, faster, smarter, swifter, and apparently a piece of forced evolution. I remembered that I didn't believe in evolution. The word left a bitter taste in my mouth, I did however believe in adaptation. It would make sense if what ran through my veins forced me to adapt to the harsher environment around me. But the one problem with that theory is; I was dead. I died.
'What could possibly bring me back to life after how I died? What exactly is it that keeps me alive now? What exactly am I to begin with?'
Pain was now starting to shoot through my body again. I could smell humans around me. Two to be exact. My senses are what came back first then my brain started to kick into gear. I could hear talking, arguing really. I could smell the sweet scent of my own blood. I could feel cold gusts of ventilated air around me. I knew I was lying on a table and that there was a pillow under my head and covers over my body. There was also a bright light above me.
"She's one of the Worthy! She can't stay here!" That was the voice of Doc beside me talking, I could tell by the gruff sound of it.
I then felt a hand holding mine tightly. "Have you seen what she's done for us? She's protected us. She nearly died to save an un-infected kitten's life!" I could hear Ronning's smooth voice yell as she squeezed my hand tighter.
"It doesn't matter! She doesn't belong here! She'll doom us all!" The Doc yelled back angrily.
"The last time I checked that wasn't your choice to make! It's up to the people of Dust City!" Ronning growled.
"You know they would never decide to keep her if they knew what she was! The only reason you want her is because you've decided to mother her!" Doc shouted the 2 getting louder by the minute.
My eyes opened then and I tried to sit up. The machine monitoring my heart beat started beeping loudly and I covered my ears and closed my eyes at the bright light shining in them. I could feel IV's coming out of my arm and I began to get frustrated and light headed again.
The arguing that was going on earlier stopped thanks to my awakening. Now Doc was trying to turn off the machine that monitored my heart beats before it woke any one up.
"Her heart rate is off the charts! If that doesn't prove she's a Worthy I don't know what does!" The Doc yelled as he unplugged the machine and started taking IV's slowly out of my arm.
"The...the...light." My throat was dry and sore and I had to point up to the light so some one might understand my crackled words.
"Oh! Right!" I heard Ronning say as she went to dim the lights. It took a few minutes but then I was able to open my eyes again.
When I did I turned to the Doc and gave him a confused look. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in astonishment and fear. "Her...her... her eyes!" He shouted.
Ronning then covered my eyes with her hands and I could hear the glare she sent the Doc's way. I was very confused by the action.
"Ummm...c-could some...some o-one...tell...m-me...whats...wrong...with me?" I tried to ask the words coming out bit by bit in a strangled sound.
"Your lucky, if you were human you would have died. The sheriff brought you in here after you passed out. First we took the poison from your system then treated the acid wound on your hand...by the time we got to your back it was mostly healed." The Doc explained as he went over to a sink on the other side of the room. He then proceeded to wash his hands.
"Here." Ronning then took her hands from my eyes and pushed a water bottle into my grasp.
"Thank you." I said then flicked the cap off and chugged the water quickly.
"Woah! Slow down!" Ronning said grabbing the water bottle from me, but by the time she did it was all gone. The redhead sighed, "Your not supposed to drink water that quickly after being dehydrated for that long." She informed me as she shook her head.
"It probably doesn't matter for her Sheriff, she isn't human after all." The Doc said cruelly as he started to dry his hands.
Ronning glared at him again and thats when I got up off the table. As I thought I was naked under the covers, but really I didn't care.
"Hey what are you-" I cut Ronning off as she attempted to grab my shoulder.
"Where are my things?" I asked bluntly. "If Doc is right I do not need to be here. I will leave." I stated. "I am not as brainless as I appear."
Thats when the Doc started laughing. Something about his laugh wasn't right. "You? Brainless? Of course not! Your a Worthy after all!" His laugh turned into a growl as he came closer. "You and the rest of your kind have been killing humans off one by one! Your creator killed 6 billion humans to create you!" Now the Doc was poking my chest angrily.
My face stayed emotionless as he did. I stood my ground and stared eye to eye with him because of my height. I knew most of the things Doc was accusing me of was true but no one decided my fate for me, only I did.
"I know, that is true but I have never once attempted to kill any one but Greeds who try to kill me first. I was once human as well...a human highschool student who died inside a falling building. When I woke up I was like this, I never once asked for this, I prayed for death." I had never talked so much in my new life nor had I ever told some one my past. My words hit a nerve and the room fell silent. I then grabbed the Doc's collar threateningly. "Now where are my things?" I said through gritted teeth.
The Doc pointed to a set of out-of-place dresser drawers in the next room by his desk. The room was clearly an office and bedroom put together with the cot in the corner. The Doc lived at the hospital I guessed.
I then let go of the Doc and went to the dresser drawers and began to put on my clothes. First my underwear, then shirt, then pants, socks, shoes, sunglasses, and last my ruined but washed garb. After that I found my sword, guns, and pack on Doc's cot. I put them back on as well.
"Wait Outsider you don't have to go!" Ronning shouted trying to stop me as she grabbed my shoulder again.
I turned and glared at her, "I'm not your pet Ronning." I said as coldly as possible before walking towards the exit. Little did any one know that my eyes began to glass over with tears from saying something like that to her.
But before I could leave one of the guards of Dust City came running into the hospital shouting. "Sheriff! Sheriff! Outsider! There's a strange guy in the dinner! He's choking Mister Jackson! He says he's looking for some one!"
With those words my heart beat raced and I was stuck in place as Ronning came up behind me. Paralyzed by a strange overwhelming feeling.
"What does he look like?" I could barely hear the sheriff ask those words as the guard just stood there, the sunlight coming in from the open door.
"Ummm...He was wearing all black, blond slick hair, sunglasses, and a gun strapped to his hip." The guard pointed to each thing showing where it was on his body. Ronning nodded as she listened and took out her pistol following behind the guard out the doors.
I however just stood there listening to my own heart beat. Those words flowing out of my mouth again as I watched them run off to their death.
"Father."