I had a feeling about what he was about to start. We were given handgun each, with only a single bullet in it. Zack looked at me and I could see that all his personal feelings were stored elsewhere, like at the back of his mind. I did the same, and watched as two soldiers pulled a tall, well-build man out of a room. He was dragged over to us, and he snarled at Sketch then spat on the floor in front of him.
"You have three minutes to get away. If you can escape from my kids then you are a freeman with no charges hanging over your head. Once in the forest you shall find a shotgun with two bullets in it, and I suggest that you run, for once they catch up to you they will kill. Understand?"
He growled an angry yes and was taken over to the grassy area just before the trees, there he was let go and he disappeared.
Sketch turned to us and pointed to Manticore forest.
"He is a threat to you. Once you track him down you will kill him by any means possible. Because…hell, all the people out there are afraid of what they don't understand, what they can't control. They are told what to think by other people because they are too weak to do otherwise. This is why you are special…different…unique even. You will understand this as you grow older with Manticore…"
We all straightened, and slid our guns into our holsters.
"Ready. GO!"
It was like a race. We all ran together with Logan in the lead, and he indicated to group up once in the forest.
I stopped and tasted the air, as Jace once told me.
"There's been a disturbance," Cindy said in hand signals. Brinn interrupted and pointed toward a footprint in the wet dirt. Logan crouched down and began to signal a plan of attack.
"Brinn and Cindy, track the path he made, but keep to different sides of the track. Zack and I will loop around so we have him cornered. Den, you are the best climber we have, you will get up into the trees and cross so you can attack from above. Watch for gun fire, and only use your handguns at a last resort."
He waved us off, and they all disappeared into the forest. It would be a lie to say that my mind was set on the mission, because Jace's words were haunting me again. The ghosts that roam Manticore forest could be real…but my mind made them real. There were so many noises that my eyes couldn't put a body to, then my imagination kicked in making all sorts of wild 'what ifs' and made the animals or people it thought the sounds originated from. It didn't help at all as I leapt silently over from a long extended branch to another. My ears picked up the noise of a heavy-footed person moving clumsily through the undergrowth off to the left. Then I saw Brinn and Cindy, who when they spotted me signalled to move in. I moved over onto the tree overlooking the man, and I hoped that he wouldn't have the sense to stop and gaze upward. Why didn't he run for the perimeter fence? Then Cindy made a noise on a brittle twig he suddenly jumped over a dead log and ran toward the fence as my thoughts suggested. Logan and Zack appeared and indicated for me to drop down and proceed on foot. We all branched off into the forest like dogs hunting in a pack; we all converged in as the man went into a clearing.
Brinn took the offensive and I froze along with Cindy as he fired the gun madly at Brinn, who dodged by running part of the way up the tree, and I breathed again as the bullets landed solidly in the bark. She flipped over and immediately on landing again kicked the man in the head. Logan and Cindy punched in unison from behind, while Zack kept a gun trained on the guy's head. Somehow the man threw Brinn off, so I dropped and kicked him in the neck and chest. Then I punched him in the left lung and as he reeled he revealed a knife hidden in his overcoat. He struck to the left, and scratched Cindy down the arm. She looked at it incredulously and then savagely hit the knife out of his hand. Her face was that of a wild beast and she hit the man in the shoulder, then across the face. Brinn joined in, beating the man down and I too felt an animal feeling of berserk rage. I hit the man hard in the nose until he bled. Zack too watched the bloodshed and kicked him down; he felt the animal side of us pounding in his head. Logan seemed reluctant but when he saw the deep wound on his sister's arm he too moved in and smashed a fist into the man's face. He was bleeding heavily now, his arm was bent out of shape but strangely it didn't sicken me. I had finally reached the right state of mind, that everyone else was a threat to me and my family. I hit the man harder; he gasped one last time and crumpled down into a small ball. I looked over the sorry mess of pathetic human and a thought came to me: This was it, in a way I was now saying goodbye to the young, weak Dennis and welcoming in the hardened Manticore soldier.
I think that we all changed that day; I believe that we all grew up in our own ways. Where it would go from here, I didn't know…
"You have three minutes to get away. If you can escape from my kids then you are a freeman with no charges hanging over your head. Once in the forest you shall find a shotgun with two bullets in it, and I suggest that you run, for once they catch up to you they will kill. Understand?"
He growled an angry yes and was taken over to the grassy area just before the trees, there he was let go and he disappeared.
Sketch turned to us and pointed to Manticore forest.
"He is a threat to you. Once you track him down you will kill him by any means possible. Because…hell, all the people out there are afraid of what they don't understand, what they can't control. They are told what to think by other people because they are too weak to do otherwise. This is why you are special…different…unique even. You will understand this as you grow older with Manticore…"
We all straightened, and slid our guns into our holsters.
"Ready. GO!"
It was like a race. We all ran together with Logan in the lead, and he indicated to group up once in the forest.
I stopped and tasted the air, as Jace once told me.
"There's been a disturbance," Cindy said in hand signals. Brinn interrupted and pointed toward a footprint in the wet dirt. Logan crouched down and began to signal a plan of attack.
"Brinn and Cindy, track the path he made, but keep to different sides of the track. Zack and I will loop around so we have him cornered. Den, you are the best climber we have, you will get up into the trees and cross so you can attack from above. Watch for gun fire, and only use your handguns at a last resort."
He waved us off, and they all disappeared into the forest. It would be a lie to say that my mind was set on the mission, because Jace's words were haunting me again. The ghosts that roam Manticore forest could be real…but my mind made them real. There were so many noises that my eyes couldn't put a body to, then my imagination kicked in making all sorts of wild 'what ifs' and made the animals or people it thought the sounds originated from. It didn't help at all as I leapt silently over from a long extended branch to another. My ears picked up the noise of a heavy-footed person moving clumsily through the undergrowth off to the left. Then I saw Brinn and Cindy, who when they spotted me signalled to move in. I moved over onto the tree overlooking the man, and I hoped that he wouldn't have the sense to stop and gaze upward. Why didn't he run for the perimeter fence? Then Cindy made a noise on a brittle twig he suddenly jumped over a dead log and ran toward the fence as my thoughts suggested. Logan and Zack appeared and indicated for me to drop down and proceed on foot. We all branched off into the forest like dogs hunting in a pack; we all converged in as the man went into a clearing.
Brinn took the offensive and I froze along with Cindy as he fired the gun madly at Brinn, who dodged by running part of the way up the tree, and I breathed again as the bullets landed solidly in the bark. She flipped over and immediately on landing again kicked the man in the head. Logan and Cindy punched in unison from behind, while Zack kept a gun trained on the guy's head. Somehow the man threw Brinn off, so I dropped and kicked him in the neck and chest. Then I punched him in the left lung and as he reeled he revealed a knife hidden in his overcoat. He struck to the left, and scratched Cindy down the arm. She looked at it incredulously and then savagely hit the knife out of his hand. Her face was that of a wild beast and she hit the man in the shoulder, then across the face. Brinn joined in, beating the man down and I too felt an animal feeling of berserk rage. I hit the man hard in the nose until he bled. Zack too watched the bloodshed and kicked him down; he felt the animal side of us pounding in his head. Logan seemed reluctant but when he saw the deep wound on his sister's arm he too moved in and smashed a fist into the man's face. He was bleeding heavily now, his arm was bent out of shape but strangely it didn't sicken me. I had finally reached the right state of mind, that everyone else was a threat to me and my family. I hit the man harder; he gasped one last time and crumpled down into a small ball. I looked over the sorry mess of pathetic human and a thought came to me: This was it, in a way I was now saying goodbye to the young, weak Dennis and welcoming in the hardened Manticore soldier.
I think that we all changed that day; I believe that we all grew up in our own ways. Where it would go from here, I didn't know…