Joel paused for a moment and listened, closing his eyes to fully concentrate.
There...
Over the sounds of bird calls he heard the noise again. He continued to listen until he could pinpoint exactly where the sounds were coming from. Keeping low he waited. Watching all around. It didn't seem to be a trap. There were no other sounds of branches snapping or hushed whispers approaching him. He looked around again from his vantage point but he couldn't see the other two men anywhere.
He moved slowly and silently towards the sound.
Joel saw the injured man, lieing down behind the base of a huge tree. The prone man had not seen him.
I have the advantage...
He stopped moving again, put his pack down next to a thorny bush and swapped his rifle for his knife. He unsheathed it, checking the blade, moving it in his hand. The highly polished metal caught the sun as he held it steady in front of him.
Readying himself, he rushed the last few meters to where the wounded man was lying.
The scavenger saw Joel too late as he burst through the undergrown. Before he could react Joel put his hand over his mouth and held the knife where the man could see it.
"Don't try to shout out to your buddies, or else this blade will be the last thing you see, do you understand ?" Joel snarled at the man, moving his head down close to his ear.
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 low on the man's shirt. He took his hand away from the man's mouth.
He had earlier guessed by the way the man had screamed and had initially reacted that some of the flying glass had found a target.
Looks like my guess was right.
"Wrong place at the wrong time eh buddy ? Well you shouldn't have tried to come for me..." Joel whispered.
He looked the man over, checked that he wasn't hiding any weapons. He wasn't. The man was a lot younger than he was, with matted dark hair and filthy clothes. On another occasion Joel imagined that he could have felt sorry for him. But not now. Not after everything that had gone on.
Joel shifted his weight and position so that he could quickly glance around him but kept the knife where it was, hovering inches from the younger man's face.
Nobody is coming. Good.
"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 to the shed. He had received no answer then, and he got no answer now.
The injured man only gurgled a cough as a response.
Joel had expected the silence so he continued on "I was paid to bring you the bag. I did it. No questions asked. Whatever you people get up to is your own business. I wanted to walk away, go our separate ways. But you had to come after me. Had to make things...complicated"
The man coughed again weakly as his eyes rolled back into his head slightly.
Joel shook him. "Oh no you dont. You aren't going anywhere until you've answered my questions..."
The sudden movement caused the man to open his eyes again, pupils struggling to focus on Joel.
Joel could see that his time was running out so he pressed on "Want do you want with me ? Is this about the money you paid me, do you think you can just take it back...because it really isn't worth this"
This time the man managed a weak smile as he managed to lock eyes with Joel. "Sport", he sneered. Joel could smell the man's rancid 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 ? Was this what the job was all along ? You brought me out here just to me hunt down ???"
The wounded man closed his eyes for a moment, so Joel shook him again. Harder this time.
A faint moan escaped from the injured man.
"Was that what it was?...were you watching us before you hired me. Are you people watching Tess now ? Is she safe ?", he continued - his voice growing louder with each question. The man opened his eyes slightly but they seemed to lose focus as he tried to look at Joel. He formed his mouth into a grin as he started to open his mouth to tall but no words came out.
His body went limp.
Joel tried shaking him. "Not yet...I need to know !" he frantically shouted, but it was too late. The man was already gone.
All of his questions remained unanswered.
Not yet. Come on. Please.
Joel watched the lifeless body for a moment as if trying to will it to breathe again. Finally he looked up to the sky, and breathed in deeply to try to release some of the built up adrenalin. His hands were shaking.
Think. It's still not too late. Focus on what happens next...
As he started to calm down, Joel realised that he had been far too noisy, that his shouts had surely given his position away. He risked a brief look before he stood up. Using the tree as cover 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.
No shot came.
Where have they gone ?
He quietly went back to where he had left his kit. He gathered up his gun, retrieved his pack and quickly moved away further into the forest.
Three down. Two to go.
Time to finish this.
