"Green"
Part 4 of 6
by Steave
Cold.
I woke up to feel the cold stone of the cave I now resided in against my naked skin. After letting my eyes readjust, I could tell it was morning outside of the cave. The ground was still wet and shimmering from the rainfall the day before. The clouds had parted, leaving the sky blue and beautiful. The sun illuminated the once dark cave, yet it did not pierce the blackness that was towards the back of the cave. "I'm still going to have to explore all of this some day," I told myself.
I took a sniff of the morning air, it was as beautiful as the sky. Pulling myself off of the ground, I noticed that the flame had went out. It was no matter, I could get it going again if I needed to.
I heard and felt a small rumble in my stomach. Hungry. The snake was delicious, but I needed something for breakfast, I couldn't travel on an empty stomach. I needed energy if I planned on making it back to Star quickly.
The thoughts of my mother once again invaded my mind. I saw flash after flash of the homeless ripping her apart. "You will be avenged mother," I muttered under my breath. Revenge was the only thing on my mind at the moment.
I stared at my bow, and imagined fitting arrows into it and ripping them through homeless after homeless after homeless. No . . .
This wasn't right. I mean, revenge isn't the way to go, after all, look at Jack and what he became. Vengeance will only consume you, building it up wouldn't help anything. The only thing I should've been concentrating on was getting home and finding my answers. So, realizing this, I started to concentrate on these things.
I grabbed my bow and slung it over my shoulder. Reaching over to the cold ground, I snatched the arrows from it and stuffed them into my jean pockets. Well, what was left of my jeans. The leggings were still wrapped around my stomach, trying to ease the pain from days before.
Leaving the sanctuary of the cave, I welcomed the warmth of the sun against me. This day was going to be a good one . . . I could feel it.
I wandered straight ahead of me to the river to get something to drink. There was a slight breeze out this morning and it felt great mixed with the warmth of the sun.
I reached the river with great anticipation, I knew the river tasted great, mixed with rain and the breeze would help to cool it down. I plunged my face into the cold river and sucked up the water like I was a vacuum cleaner. However, at the time, I didn't even know what that was.
I could hear growling, but I payed no attention to it, for I only thought it was my stomach. I pulled my head out of the water and took a deep breath. As I wiped the water from my face, I could hear the growling, only this time, it was deeper. Opening my eyes, I could only imagine what I was going to be staring at. However, my imagination, didn't even come close to preparing me for what I saw.
"Oh bloody hell."
Staring at me, on the other side of the river, was a huge brown furred creature. It was on all fours and had deep brown eyes. The creature had a long snout that would every so often start to twitch. Whether this was because of anger or because it was smelling, I wasn't sure. It was like staring almost certain death in the face, and I grew scared. This was something I wasn't accustomed to.
The creature's nose started to twitch and sniff. All that could enter my mind was how my mother was torn apart by the homeless. Fitting, that now I should share the same fate as my mother. Only, it wasn't going to be homeless that would rip my body to shreds.
I wasn't going to go down without a fight, but I had to outsmart this creature. There was absolutely no way I was going to be able to outmatch it in terms of strength. I had not yet seen it's speed, so I couldn't say if I was faster or not, for this was yet to be tested. I guessed that it was time to find out.
I reached slowly, but quicky, into my boot where my knife was strapped in. Drawing it, I fell onto my back, and I released the knife from my hand. The knife twirled in midair, being flung towards the creature. I hadn't aimed in any particular area, I just flung the knife, hoping to catch it in a vital area.
It caught the creature in what looked like its shoulder or neck. A spurt of blood shot from the wounded area, leaving me to wonder if the creature was going to fall over and die. Instead of doing this action, it's eyes gave me such a stare I could've died from it. It opened its mouth and let out a huge growl and snarl.
The noise from this creature almost made me deaf. There was about only one thing I could think to do next, and I was already in motion of doing it.
I threw myself off of the ground and made a dead sprint to anywhere but there. All I could think about was my mother being ripped apart by the homeless, and how maybe that was going to be my fate as well.
No.
I couldn't let this happen to me. I was stronger than this, I have to survive so I could get my answers. My mother wouldn't want me to give up, and I wasn't about to.
The trees were whizzing past me. My speed was shocking, even to me, but looking back on this, it must've been the adrenaline pumping in my veins. I couldn't remember ever running this fast before, but if I planned on beating this creature, it would take everything I had.
I glanced a look over my back to see how far or close the creature was to me. I was outrunning the creature, but not by much. It had incredible speed for its massive size. As I was enthralled by the creature's speed, I was not aware of what was in front of me.
Shifting my glance to in front of me, there was a huge tree which stood in my way. This, surprisingly, was just what I needed.
The plan had already formulated in my head about what I was going to do next. I slung the bow off of my shoulder and fitted it with an arrow from my pocket only seconds before reaching the tree. I placed my right foot onto the trunk of the tree and pushed off of it to my left. Twirling in midair to land on my side, I aimed carefully at the giant furry creature.
I let loose the arrow. I could see it piercing the air, flying towards the brown mammoth. The plan had worked to its fullest.
The arrow had caught the animal in its right shoulder as it tried to avoid its collision with the tree. It slid on the soft grass and crashed into the tree. While it was disoriented, I figured this would be my best chance of escape. I threw myself off of the ground, and began my sprint for survival.
I continued to follow the river, knowing it would lead me to the right place, only, I didn't know how long or how far it would be before I reached my destination. Occasionally, I would glance over my shoulder to find the animal that had nearly caused the end of me, there was no sign of the beast.
My lungs started to scream for more air, so I obeyed them. I slowed myself to a stop to regain my breath, and my composure. There was a good sized rock propped up against a tree near me. I decided to sit against it, I could've used some rest.
"What a day."
My eyes started to close by themselves and I started to think of West Star, and of my eventual return. I began to think of the answers that I sought, and the answers that I would find. They still lingered in my brain, rising up again and again while I was idle. Why didn't my father save us? Could he have saved us?
I started to feel drowsy and sleep started to overtake me. "Eh, what the hell," I told myself, "a little sleep never hurt anyone." If I could rewind time, that would have been one of the points in which I would come back to.
I can tell you now kid, sleep . . . sleep hurts.
A few miles from Star City.
"Man, how could I have ended up doing this guy's dirty work? I mean, he's amayor with an extremely good assassin in his right hand. I'm sure he could get him out here to do a damn cleanup. After all, this was his freakin' mission to begin with. Oh well, the more money the better."
Eddie "Ironhorse" Fyers. Mercenary. A damn good one too.
He talks to himself as he drives his green all-terrain Ford F150. Eddie loves his Ford almost more than seeing the last looks on a person's face right before he gave them a bullet between their eyes.
He peered out from his black sunglasses, looking off in the direction of Greenland Forest. "The bastard's gotta be there," he spoke to himself again. This highway would drive right through the forest, which Eddie hoped the kid wouldn't have gone to. That would take away the fun from the chase, and it would mean maybe the kid was back in Star already.
Eddie took another puff of his cigarette, he knew he should quit. It causes cancer. But when it came to risking your life 24/7, cancer was of little or no concern.
His next task, however, he wouldn't consider "risking his life." This was gonna be just like shooting fish in barrel, only, the barrel was almost smaller than the fish.
Eddie had gotten in some pretty serious fights. He remembered having a run-in with some guy named Scar. Both walked away from the fight, but neither walked away unscathed. Scar had gotten him a long one in the back with a knife. Eddie had returned the favor, only his landed Scar down his chest.
He finally reached the forest, it was time to take a detour. He turned to his left and went off of the highway into the forest. Where the little creep could be, he had no idea. But if he did know, that would take all the fun out of it.
Eddie drove until he reached a clearing. If he had a heart, he would've been amazed at the beauty of this place. Fortunately to him, some crazy bitch had taken that years ago.
The truck came to a stop and he exited his most trusty vehicle. He pulled out with him a rifle, and he flung the strap over his shoulder and onto his back.
"Fun time," Eddie told himself, and he walked forward, deeper into the forest.
Elsewhere in Greenland Park.
"Ollie?"
The voice was disturbingly familiar.
"Mom?"
It was pitch black, all I could see was my mother. What we were standing on, was nothing. All around us was nothingness. This couldn't be real, whatever it was.
"Yes son, I'm here."
"Oh mother," I couldn't contain myself. I ran forward to her and leaped into her awaiting arms. I could feel the tears start to stream down my face. "I missed you so much mom."
"Oh Ollie, I know, I know."
"What happened mom? Why didn't dad come?"
She fell silent.
"Mom?"
" . . . You will find your answers in due time, my son. But when you return to Star, and you learn the truth, just remember, your father and I always loved you, and we always did what we thought was best for you. When you discover the truth, just remember, there is a fine line between vengeance and justice. Vengeance is selfish, and justice sometimes shouldn't be served by anyone, including you, or me. When the time comes Ollie, don't let hate overthrow your heart, follow it, listen to it. Your heart will lead you in the right direction, always. If you do choose vengeance though Ollie, it will stay with you for the rest of your life."
"What's going to happen mom?"
"You will find your answers in time Ollie, stay strong for me."
She starts to fade in the darkness.
"Mother!"
"Ollie, do one last thing for me, ok?"
"Anything mother, anything."
"Wake up."
I felt a small drop of something wet hit my face. Rolling over on my back, and opened my eyes. Trust me on this one kid, never fall asleep in a situation like this, it's never good for anything.
Sleep hurts.
My eyes opened to the sight of the same terrifying sight I saw when I took my head out of the river only a little earlier. Those death-stare brown eyes glaring at me. The beast had found me, and it didn't look in the least bit happy about any of this.
The creature swung its right arm and paw away from my head, only to swing it back, and it caught me straight in the side of my head. The pure force of the blow knocked me a ways back, and I crashed into a tree. My stomach had collided with the trunk, and the jeans could only protect so much of my injured stomach.
I could feel the warmth of the blood crawling up my throat and eventually out of my mouth. Putting my hand against the left side of my face, I could feel the blood. The left side of my face screamed in pain and stung to the touch.
I noticed the creature now stood, not walked on all fours, towards me. The girth and size of this mammoth was incredible. I had never seen anything alive that was so huge. It swiped at my side, and being cornered against the tree, I took the blow.
The pain was almost unbearable, and it cut deep into my skin. I screamed in anguish and in terrible pain. Trying to pick myself up, I could only get so far, only to fall back to the ground. Then, the creature roared.
It didn't roar from pain, it roared from anger. The feeling of battle and blood was upon it. I looked into it's eyes, and the look almost matched that of the homeless back in West Star.
There was only one thing I could think of doing, and it at least seemed like it would work. Somehow, I was able to pull myself off of the ground and leaned against the rock. I was already anticipating the next swipe, and I knew it would do it. And, of course, the beast took another swipe at my head.
It was a good thing I was timing this, if not, I would not be alive right now. It's massive brown tree-trunk-like arm swung at me, I ducked and grabbed a hold with both of my arms. Holding on with all of my strength, I flipped myself over it's arm so that I was facing the same direction that it was.
It started roaring and screaming and trying to yank or pull me off of its back. This crazed frenzy wasn't getting the beast anywhere. Sliding off of it's arm and onto it's back, I had noticed earlier that my knife was still stuck in the creature's shoulder from earlier. I put both of my hands on the handle and pulled with all of my might. The beast roared and screamed, until finally the knife was freed.
Blood started to flow from the now open wound and the creature reached from behind it's head and grabbed my body. I felt small in this creature's paws, it felt like I was a baby again being held by my father. I could feel myself being pulled off of the creature's brown furry back and lifted into the air. Squirming and wriggling, I tried to break it's hold of me. Yet, all of my efforts turned out to be in vain. The beast threw me, and I mean threw me. My landing wasn't a soft one, as I crashed against a tree, but not the one closest to us, it was more like the one furthest from us.
Of course, with my luck, I landed stomach first against the tree, and I fell to the ground. There was no steadily creeping up my throat and out of my mouth this time, it just flowed right out. This time, when the blood came out, it didn't stop coming, it would only seem to get worse.
Blood stained the grass which I lay on, and finally, the blood stopped. However, I was losing blood elsewhere, the side of my head and my side. Turning my head to my left, my blonde hair was now in my eyes and I could not see where the creature was. Using more strength than I would have like to, I brushed my hair away with my hand. Not surprisingly, the mammoth was standing over me, it's shadow looming over my body like a dark cloud.
This was it, my final act of desperation. If this didn't kill the creature, I had no more tricks, for the mammal was too close to shoot an arrow. Anyways, that action would take too much needed time. This, however, would only take a second.
The knife was still clutched in my hand, which I slid down so the blade portion was what I was holding. I pushed myself up with my arms fully extended and shifted my weight so I was going to land on my uncut side. Falling, I threw my knife at it's mid section with all of my strength and might.
The blade pierced the mammoth's brown fur and skin, and went hilt deep into it's belly. As expected, it made a terrible roaring sound and thrust its arms towards the sky. Then, I was unsure of whether the beast would fall backwards, or come back down on all fours and give me one final stare. Unfortunately, the latter happened.
"Well, it was fun while it lasted."
That was my final attempt at humor before the end. After being alone all of this time, I had somehow been able to shut those images and questions out of my head and took on a lighter, and more fun personality. I learned that, even in death, life can still be appreciated, and all life should be. That includes this creature that was now about to devour me.
However, there was that side of me that asked those questions, and the side that remembered all of those images. It felt like I now had two distinct personalities. The vengeful one, and the light one. I finally realized this when my mother came to me in my dream. When she explained vengeance and the heart, my heart had finally opened up. There was a light side to me, and life felt right. Even if it meant me dying, I would try to find the best out of things. In this moment, it meant I would see my mother again.
But that darker side took over, and I grew with anger and vengeance and I gave the creature a stare to match its own.
"If you take me down, you'll go with me."
I didn't expect the creature to understand these words, but I didn't care either. I picked myself up and, in a fit of rage, screamed while the bear screamed. We both screamed for minutes that seemed like hours, until finally, we returned to the stare.
The mammoth stood on its hind legs, towering over me. This was it, the final moment of the confrontation. The animal lunged at me as I lunged towards it. Looking back on this moment, I can only ask, what the hell was I thinking?
But then I remember, I wasn't in control of myself, my rage and hatred were what were controlling me then, but thank God they don't anymore. I wasn't thinking anymore, only reacting, and my instincts told me to lunge, so I did. As we came only about an arm's length away there was only one sound I heard, and it finally snapped me back into reality. It sounded like a . . .
Bang.
The beast fell out of the air as I had jumped as hard as I could and landed on the other side of it. After tumbling and rolling for a short distance, I came to an abrupt stop. The pain in my side was now excruciating, and the blood was now flowing more out from the open wound. My head wasn't bleeding as bad as it had, but that didn't matter to me. I now had a new question that filled my head, what made the bang sound?
I looked in front of me, and the mammal, from now on I shall just call it a bear since I now know what it was, was lifeless and motionless. I tried to catch my breath and collect my thoughts, trying to focus on what I knew that could've made that sound.
I dug deep into my memories trying to find an answer, and then finally came to a discussion I had had with my father. He told me of man-made devices that sometimes looked like metal sticks or metal L's, but they made a loud noise like two boards of wood being slapped together. A small something came from the end of the metal thing and pierced your skin, father said that if you were ever to encounter someone with that kind of weapon to run as fast as your legs could carry you.
Then, I heard footsteps. I looked straight ahead of me, frantically looking for anything I could find. Finally, what looked like black boots came into view. The style reminded me of Jack's boots. My stomach then felt weak and got that funny feeling like blood was going to crawl back up my throat. Just remembering what Jack did to me caused great pain to my stomach.
The boots stopped about an inch from my face, then, a gruff and arrogant voice spoke.
"Well if it ain't the little brat. I was hoping you woulda been a little harder to find, but thanks to that bear and your commotion, it made it rather easy. Now then, since I just prolonged your death for a few more minutes, the least you could do is be a good sport and make this an exciting last few minutes of your life, as well as mine. I haven't had a true good fight in a long while, and I've been edging for one for what seems like forever."
His knees bent and he crouched. I turned my glance upwards, trying to find the face of this man. What I got was a man with rough features, who wore black sunglasses and had a red mustache and red hair. He had no beard or goatee, just a mustache on his upper lip. The man spoke again, and I'll never forget his words.
"The name's Ironhorse, and boy, you're never gonna forget it."
