Well, I'm back to pounding out one of these things each day.

Chapter 15: He is the One

Jack smiled to himself as he sat in his home, sharpening his scythe. Wasn't he a wily one? Now all he'd have to do is make sure that Zack was never found and he could kill to his heart's content. Just make sure that Zack was never seen or heard from again. It would be that easy...

Mary sat by Carter's bed in the hospital. The doctor had told her that he seemed stable, but that there was no way of telling what sort of problems might have come from his head injury. He may have and probably did suffer permanent brain damage. By now, not even that thought could bring another tear to Mary's eyes. She simply had already cried all the tears that she was able to cry.

Jack had stayed by Mary's side for a while, as had Popuri and Jeff, but by now they all had left to go back on with their lives. The only other person still with her was Cliff. But he just sat there, unmoving, staring at Carter. It was so sad. Stu and May had wanted to see Carter too, but they weren't allowed to. Now, the only thing that broke up the day was when Elle came in from time to time to check up on Carter's condition.

Mary was infuriated with Grey. They had a huge fight when he refused to come sit with her by Carter. He had said that she was an overly sensitive fool for wanting to sit with that vegetable Carter, and that she shouldn't want to sit with other guys anyway since she had him. Grey was just chauvinistic jerk. He actually thought that she was his possession. For the first time in her life, Mary acted without forethought. She broke up their engagement right there on the spot. She called off the wedding. And she was glad that she did.

Mary wished Jack were still here. She wanted to apologize to him. It was wrong of her to have ever thought that he could have killed Won. It was eating her up inside and she just had to let it out. She just had to tell Jack, and was determined to do so the next time they met. He was so brave going to stand up to Zack like that. He gave that noble speech while he stood there. To Mary, he looked like the hero out of a novel. She couldn't actually be falling for Jack? Could she? He did look particularly handsome standing there bare-chested... Mary shook her head. She really shouldn't think like that about him. Mary let her thoughts drift away again as she sat by Carter, waiting for him to wake up...

Jack walked down the road with scythe in hand. Passersby stayed as far as they could out of his reach. Something about the hateful look on his face made them slightly afraid. They knew he was after Zack, but it was still creepy. Jack stopped in front of the mayors house and rapped on the door with his scythe. This was simply delicious to be able to walk around like this in broad daylight. The mayor opened the door and at the sight of the scythe was startled back a few steps.

"Sorry about scaring you like that mayor. I didn't mean too. I was just coming by to report in for duty. I hope that isn't a problem."

The mayor coughed a few times, "No. No, not a problem at all. My apologies entirely, I was startled, that's all. Yes, that's fine. You don't have to report into me. Just do your duty as the local militiaman. You are the one we are putting our trust in. So do your best to protect us. That's all."

"Oh, okay, thanks mayor!" Jack walked away, scythe gripped firmly in hand. He had them eating out of his hands...