Joel paused for a moment and listened. He pinpointed where the sounds were coming from. He waited. Watching all around. It didn't seem to be a trap; he couldn't see the other two anywhere. He moved silently towards the sound. He saw the man, lieing down. The prone man had not seen him. He froze again, put his pack down and swapped his rifle for his knife. He held it ready in front of him and then rushed the last few meters to where the wounded man was.
Before the scavenger could react, Joel put his hand over his mouth and held the knife where the man could see it. The sight of the knife seemed to have no effect. In fact the man didn't move at all. Joel looked down and could now see a large patch of blood that had formed on the man's shirt. Joel guessed that some of the flying glass had found a target. He looked the man over, checked that he wasn't holding any weapons. He wasn't. The man was a lot younger than he was, with matted hair and filthy clothes. On another occasion Joel could have felt sorry for him. But not now. Not after everything that had gone on. Joel slowly removed his hand from the man's mouth but kept the knife where it was, hovering inches from his face.
"What do you people want ?", he asked. He had asked the same question much earlier, when the band of men had first tried to break in. He had received no answer.
The man coughed and his eyes rolled back into his head slightly.
Joel shook him. "Want do you want with me ?"
This time the man managed a weak smile. "Sport", he sneered. Joel could smell the man's ransid breath.
"I don't understand", was all that he could reply.
"Just a way to pass the time man. Don't take it personal"
Joel could feel the rage rising in him. His jaw clenched. "Are you insane ? How long have you been watching me ?"
The wounded man closed his eyes for a moment, so Joel shook him again. Harder this time. "How long ?", he continued - his voice slightly louder now. "How many of you are there in total in your group? Have you been watching my camp ?". The man opened his eyes and managed to focus on Joel. He formed his mouth into a grin, started to open his mouth but no words came out. His body went limp.
Joel tried shaking him. "Not yet" he frantically shouted, but it was too late. The man was already gone. All of his questions remained unanswered.
Joel looked up to the sky, and breathed deeply to try to release some of the built up adrenalin. His hands were shaking. He realised that his shouts had given his position away. He looked around, imagining that even now the other two men were watching and lining a shot up on his head. He saw no one though. No shot came. He gathered up his gun, retrieved his pack and quickly moved away further into the forest.
Three down. Two to go.