Chapter 4
Jonas isn't suspicious by nature. He's open, and he takes people at their face value. He knows that he shouldn't let himself trust others so easily, because that trust can turn the tables fairly quickly.
The night edges over the land and vanquishes the sun. He is left in the dark, but he's still holding on. Someone will come. Surely, someone will come. They can't just leave him here to die, can they? He's worried about his teammates. It isn't like them to abandon one of their own. Why would they start now?
Jonas wills the burning tears to leave him be, but they still sting his eyes. He breathes a shaky gasp; his lungs are raspy and untrustworthy. His chest heaves and pain causes him to yelp. His yelp isn't heard, it's a faint whimper in a quiet night.
The first star blinks down at him through diamond eyes, he finds himself smiling. The night is so beautiful. It's dark, mysterious and elegant. It comes to calm a shattered spirit at the end of a difficult day. It's a change, a new beginning. In the night, a new world opens up to those below. It drifts softly, hovering above the ground to caress the earth with loving hands.
Jonas sighs. Tonight, the peaceful darkness offers him no comfort. It isn't a new beginning; it's the beginning of an end. An end that is sure to come crashing down upon him in the very near future.
Tobian had led him away from the small village, and for a man that wanted to finish a previously started conversation, he was a little too quiet. He had answered words that Jonas had put forth and even put forth a few words of his own, but nothing more.
They had passed through the dense forest and exited at the edge of a windswept meadow of green grass and yellow flowers. A sweet smell hung heavy in the air and Jonas inhaled. A branch snapped behind him and he turned to see a group of about ten men armed with weaponry. His breath caught in his throat and he looked over to see Tobian's face was puzzled and anxious as well.
"Tobian, don't do this." One of the men replied.
"You know that I have to. Janus commands it." Tobian stated and gave a hand signal to the forest.
From within the trees, seven men crept into the meadow, also with weapons.
Jonas had passed anxious eyes over the men and his hand went to hover over his sidearm, not knowing if he would have to use it.
"What's going on?" Jonas had questioned.
"The deities are angry and wish for you to be punished." Tobian answered.
"What?" Jonas asked.
"Tobian, you don't have to do this and you know it." The man spoke again.
"Janus visited me and told me it had to be done." Tobian was almost too calm.
"Janus is a false deity!"
Jonas now knew which side he would fight on.
A gunshot ripped through the air and caught the man who was challenging Tobian's words squarely in the chest. He went down and didn't get up.
A shot came from within the group that Jonas had sided with and Tobian went down. From there, it became chaos and Jonas was caught in the middle. He'd held his own for a fair amount of time, but his zat had been taken from his hand and his gun had jammed. He was defenseless. He felt himself being pushed back into the crowd that was trying to protect him, and was startled to find that there were more people present. His gaze wandered to the opposite side and saw that they too had called for backup.
Another gun was shoved in his hand and he was once again pushed to the front lines. His radio crackled to life and he could hear gunfire coming from the other end before Jack's voice broke through.
"Jonas, we're taking fire!"
Jonas couldn't respond, he was too busy dodging shots that were aimed directly at him. He took up position next to a young man and continued to fire.
"Who are you people?" Jonas had asked.
"The underground. We're a movement against the deities because we know that they are pretending to be something that they are not. Every person in this group has had a family member taken or killed by the deities during the yearly festival to honour the beings. They are not forgiving, and they are false." The man quickly explained.
"I know, I've had encounters with them before." Jonas had responded between shots.
The man next to him took a hit and went down, Jonas kept firing. He began to move to a better position, but a shot ripped through his side, he yelled out, but kept going.
"Quickly! Go back down that path, stay out of sight, you will come to the town. Get your friends and make your way to the ring!" A man shouted to him and moved in front of him so he could start to get away. The man protecting him was hit and Jonas saw him fall.
Jonas kept a hand clutched tightly to his bleeding side and ran. His legs slowly weakened as he ducked off of the beaten path. He looked over to see a man fall. He kept running, but didn't get far when a shot from the front struck his stomach. He fell back and landed hard, the pain blinded him and sent splashes of white to cloud his vision.
The sky had opened up to cry tears over the bloodshed below her and the teardrops splashed against Jonas's skin. He had felt himself slipping and his vision had faded to black…
He is nestled against the soft ground and he can't move. He doesn't dare to try because he doesn't want to lose the only grasp he has left on life. He isn't ready to die.
He hears footfalls and shouting, but the voices aren't shouting his name.
"Check them. Make sure they're dead." The voice is far off, but the footsteps grow nearer.
His mind goes into alert; he lets his heavy eyes slide shut and the struggle to remain conscious begins.
He feels the ground vibrate with every step from the approaching person. The footfalls stop next to the man beside Jonas and a solid kick is heard, followed by a pained moan from the dying soul.
Gunshots go off to echo loudly in Jonas's ears, he wants to grimace at the noise, but he doesn't dare. The dying man is dead. The footfalls stop next to him and he can feel a presence hovering nearby.
"It's the missing stranger." The voice replies. It is loud and reverberates off of the corners of his mind.
"Is he dead?" Another voice asks.
Jonas bites the inside of his cheek and waits. A sharp kick catches him in the injured side. His mind screams, but he forces his face to remain still. He bites down and tastes blood. He's kicked again, he bites harder, but his façade doesn't waver.
"Looks dead to me. What do we do with him?"
"Leave him, the wildlife will get rid of the body."
"What do we tell the prisoners?"
"Nothing. Now c'mon, check these other ones."
The footfalls turn away and leave.
Jonas is alone again. His act fails and pained tears slide down his cheeks. The taste of blood rests thickly on his tongue and he gags on it. He forces his eyes open to gaze at the laughing star that is now mocking his pain. The throbbing in his side makes him whimper helplessly.
'Prisoners? They're prisoners?'
There's nobody to save him, his friends are prisoners. He wonders if they're all right.
'Are they hurt?'
He hopes that they aren't, he wants them to be okay. He doesn't want them to suffer like he is suffering.
Why does life have to end with suffering? Why can't it end with happiness and a sense of fulfillment? Why does everything have to be so difficult?
He watches the star through weary eyes that slide shut despite his best efforts to keep them open. He feels his grasp slipping from its final handhold and he knows that once he falls, there's no coming back…
TBC