The Meeting
He had seen her foot prints, the hasty ones that she left when she fled. He could see later she knew how to cover her trail. He searched diligently but could not find her. He wondered about her, he wondered why she fled, then realized what he must look like. Half-crazy, aiming his weapon at her in full hunter/killer mode. He found himself feeling regret. He had long thought he was incapable of that.
He had wondered if there were other people. Now he knew, there was another.
At last, his mind kept saying. At last.
He did not understand it. But he had the need to find her. Eschewing his usual patient waiting he set off, wandering the valley.
The Man barely saw any signs or trails the woman had left, it grew frustrating. She was intelligent he could tell. She left no signs for him to follow except the ones hastily left in her fleeing. He found himself wishing she did not run. His own words came back to mock him: "I'm better off alone."
Finally he needed a rest. He sat down on a fallen log near a stream. He rinsed the mud, sweat and grime off of his face.
An extra since honed from years of combat ran up his back and told him something was watching him.
Keeping his weapon lowered, he slowly turned around.
She was standing there. Unlike before her barrel was aimed straight at him.
He kept his lowered somehow sensing she did not want to shoot. She was studying him, he decided to return the opportunity. She was dressed in all black She was tall, although shorter than him, she was slender (he suddenly, heatedly thought of the slender shadow he saw through the waterfall) but her form suggested strength. She had long tendrils of hair that escaped from her braid hanging around her face.
At last.
He stepped forward. She drew back, keeping the barrel raised. Sniper for sure, he thought. He took a gamble. "You wanna lower the weapon?" he asked sardonically. For a moment he wondered if she spoke English. Then she gave a mysterious smile and shook her head. She smiled through the tendrils of black hair, a Mona Lisa smile.
"Suit yourself." He said gruffly and shouldered his shot gun. He hiked through the jungle. He caught a glimpse of wonder in her eyes. She lowered the barrel muttered something under her breath and hiked after him.
He led, she followed. He noted how silently she moved. He said nothing, finally she appeared to break down. In a low throaty voice she asked; "So they drop you in too?"
He knew she was simply making conversation, the need to chatter with a fellow primate, but he thought of where he was heading, and why it was empty of its occupant. He answered simply, "Yes."
They walked on in silence, then finally she asked "Are you in the service?"
That brought a sort of smile to his face. Not a real smile, but close to one. "Not exactly" he answered.
He thought of the woman, her clothes, no standard uniform, all black, black ops? Probably. She obviously spoke English fluently. Her accent, couldn't quite place that, but a sniper for sure. She was careful, quiet. He sensed her watching him in the jungle. She probably had eagle eyes, that could be useful. Wonder what kind of sniper a woman made, then it clicked, he placed her.
"Are you IDF?" he asked. His analytical skills were rarely wrong.
A look of surprise flashed quickly across her face. "Yeah," then she looked at her surroundings with the barest hint of unease. "Where are we going?" she asked politely. She had kept all anxiety at of her voice.
"Home." He answered simply.
The Woman wondered at the man she was following, then wondered at herself for following him. He could be crazy, dangerous. She corrected herself, he was dangerous. Danger emanated from him like an aura. But whether that danger could ever be directed towards her she did not know. She knew she was risking herself.
And yet, she thought of when she was first dropped here. All the people she was with quickly came together, running together like molecules, like water droplets. There was a need, a fundamentally human urge to rejoin, form a group. Even among killers and psychos. It was so innate they did not question it.
Now the last two were coming together, she thought.
Maybe he would try to prey on her, like the doctor, capitalizing on that urge, turn it into a weakness. She had watched him wander threw the jungle. He was searching for her, of that she had no doubt, but of course he would never find her, unless she wanted to be found. He was ipen about it. Looking openly, making no secret of it. From her hidden position she could have blown his head off anytime she wished. He did not seem to care.
It was comforting, unless that in itself was a trap.
The Woman tried to still her thoughts and over analyzing. He was a soldier, or had been. "Not exactly", had been his words. She studied him closer, it clicked: Mercenary, a real hardcore one.
That explains a lot, she thought. Suddenly she was comforted, if he was a helpless innocent seemingly dropped here by mistake then she'd be worried. It seemed a straight forward case. She followed him until the couple came upon a strange structure.
They gazed upon it. "What is it?" she asked.
"It's a drill someone left behind." He merely repeated what the madman told him. He climbed up to it and opened an entrance. He climbed in.
"Are you coming?" he asked.
The woman considered. He knew what she was thinking. Going into a dark unkown place with a man she just met. Finally she seemed to accept. It was shelter, the only one she knew of in this valley. He helped her up.
They did not talk. Later he showed her a route out, just in case. Just in case They came. She did not ask who They was. The man and woman sat outside, not talking, not touching, but watching the huge planet and it's many moons rise in the night sky.
As he fell asleep his last thoughts were At Last.