Pt Two-Seven

7

Tons of questions were going through the travelers head as he walked with Emily. How long had they been here? Who were the people that they were fighting with? And lastly,

“Why is a girl out looking for supplies unarmed?” the traveler asked suspiciously.

“I look completely harmless don’t I?” she asked smiling. “Those who get a little too close are the ones who learn the hard way.”

Emily went on to explain that over the years almost all the people at the camp had been taught basic combat. There were several former soldiers who had come through and offered a point or two about how to survive in this new America that they lived in. Emily had tried very hard to learn how to work guns; the truth was she was just horrible at it. During target practice they would line up several old cans, bottles and other now useless items for people to shoot at and she was the only one who never learned anything. She gave up guns altogether and found something else that she was a dead natural at.

“Check these out,” Emily exclaimed as she opened the coat she was wearing to show off her hidden treasures. There had to be at least twenty different knifes, daggers, or swords strapped either to the inside of her coat or resting in scabbards on the vest she was wearing. She was the scout of the group not only did she go out to look for supplies but when Eli need something done she was the one to do it. She was the quickest and deadliest up close and she could run away before a zombie could even think to blink.

“Pretty impressive,” the traveler said. “What were you out doing today?”

“I told you I was getting supplies.” Emily said with a little hesitation in her voice.

The traveler could tell there was something else she wasn’t telling him. He didn’t know if it was because she didn’t trust him or if she simply just didn’t want him to know. He decided to drop it for now but not before making a pretty obvious observation.

“Not much luck today huh? You look a little empty handed.”

“I hadn’t been out long before I ran into you. I can’t just have you prancing around with me collecting firewood. If Eli found out that I discovered a visitor and didn’t bring them to him immediately he would be disappointed.”

This was the first time she had mentioned this man Eli. The traveler figured he was the leader of their camp like a mayor or something.

“Is Eli your leader?” the traveler asked.

“Sort of,” Emily began, “He’s more like a prophet if you ask me. He knows things before they happen. It’s because of him that most of us are still here and the witches people only got five of us.”

A sense of sadness came over Emily’s face when she mentioned the five people being taken. That was what was bugging her. Someone she was close with must have been taken in the raid. The traveler guessed that she had not been out on a supply run as she led him to believe. She was probably out tracking the people, trying to find out where they might be. And then she had run into him and then her focus had been shifted. The traveler was going through all this in his head paying no mind to anything around him when suddenly he felt a hand reach out and stop him from walking.

“Stop,” Emily whispered and pointed ahead. There were three zombies maybe about twenty feet from where they stood with their backs to the two of them.

“Oh a little detour,” the traveler whispered withdrawing the machete from his jacket. Before he even finished his sentence Emily was already running forward halfway to the zombies. The traveler immediately ran to try to catch up to her. She was fast that was for sure, really fast. Not even halfway to where the zombies were, Emily quickly withdrew three throwing knives and chucked them at one of the zombies. All three knives struck the closest zombie in the head with accurate precision and it quickly fell to the ground dead. God she is quick, the traveler thought to himself. He wasn’t even close to catching up to her; she would probably finish the other two off before he even got there.

She had two daggers in her hand suddenly, a little smaller then the machete that the traveler wielded. Suddenly she was airborne, flipping over the second zombie while bringing the left dagger down in an arch, severing its head from the body, blood squirting from the neck as the corpse fell to the ground. The third zombie, realizing that its two friends were dead quickly came to the offensive, spinning around not realizing that Emily had landed on the opposite side that it was facing. Emily took both the daggers and thrust them through its back. The zombie fell to its knees with both the blades still sticking out the front. Emily didn’t even withdraw the two daggers as she reached into her coat bringing out a sword that the traveler hadn’t even noticed. How had she fit that in there and still moved so fast? She was grasping it with both hands and brought it back in a stance similar to what Mark McGwire would stand in before he hit a home run. She brought it straight down on the zombies head once, then twice and a third time until there was nothing left but skull fragments and brain decorating the ground.

The traveler stopped as he got to her. Blood stained her face; hate and grief were in her eyes as she studied the carnage around her. She was a warrior, plain and simple and she was taking out her frustration on these undead creatures, helpless to stop her. She stuffed the sword in its hiding place, withdrew the daggers from the zombie’s lungs and then retrieved her three throwing knives never saying a word to the man that was with her until she had cleaned the blood from her face and was ready to go on.

“Glad to see you can handle yourself.” The traveler told her a smile on his face.

She smiled back at him, “I have never taken more than three at a time. You took on five today and lived to tell the tale. I have never seen anyone do that before.” She paused and looked at the dead zombies. “This was nothing.”

The traveler had no idea what to say. It was definitely not nothing the way she had handled the three of them. She had been precise and delicate. And the skill, dear Lord her skill was amazing he wish he had someone like her earlier on would have saved him a lot of work.

“It’s not too much further,” she said pointing up the road. “Only a couple of more miles we should get going it’s going to be dark soon.”

*********

The rest of the trip had been remarkably quiet. The traveler was glad that it was a short one he didn’t know if he could handle the silence with two people present. He was use to the quiet though he had endured three years of quiet and now that he had found someone else he was expecting it to be well, less quiet. They walked for about an hour when Emily signaled him to stop and gave a shrill whistle three times. A direct response with two shrill whistles came from a group of trees to the left. Emily answered back with one shrill whistle in reply.

Two figures appeared from the group of trees and were walking towards them. Two men both brandishing assault rifles stopped in front of them.

“What you got here Em?” the man on the left said. He was tall at least six four and had a moppy red head. The fish mark clearly visible on his forehead.

“A visitor Marcus,” Emily said calmly. “And he is marked that’s the first thing I checked. Eli will want to see him, quit staring Luke.”

The other man was only slightly shorter then Marcus and had blonde hair plus a beard that covered most of his face. The traveler knew that if the beard was shaved that a young boy would be revealed he had to be no older then eighteen. A fish mark also decorated his forehead.

“Sorry Em,” Luke said apologetically then stretched out his hand to the traveler. “My name’s Luke.”

The traveler took the man’s hand and shook it not replying at all just looking at him with a smile on his face. Luke was about to ask his name when Emily interrupted him.

“Don’t ask he doesn’t have a name.”

A look of confusion was on Luke’s face he sat there thinking for a couple minutes and then finally shrugged his shoulders and walked back towards the trees.

“Alright let’s get going then,” Marcus said turning around in the direction that Luke was going in. “They’re getting ready to tighten up the camp for nightfall. We just got here we don’t want any more surprise visitors.”

The traveler walked close behind Marcus with Emily following behind him. He didn’t know what to expect from these people. They all had the same mark on them and claimed that he bared the same. Both the men had looked at him and check his forehead and had not shown any question of this foreign person entering their environment. As they entered the trees he couldn’t help but have the feeling that maybe finally after all these years of walking that he might have found somewhere that he belonged.

********

Eli sat in the tent that he had pitched a little ways from the rest of the camp. He had to have a quiet place for himself where he could go to concentrate and pray without the noises of the place distracting him. This wasn’t quite as good as the place he had at the last camp but it did its job nicely. His eyes were closed and his tongue was dancing behind his lips lost in the language of the wind all his concentration focused on a single item that he found helped him wash all the cares of the current world away. He imagined a cross, standing alone on a hill complete calm all around it. He imagined all of his doubts, failures and sins lying in a pile at the foot of the old rugged cross. As he did he felt a weight lift off him and a certain peace come into the room along with the breeze that was all too familiar.

“Hello Eli.” A voice came from in front of him. It was that of a young child but Eli knew that was just the form that he was in at the moment. He could be a lamb, a lion or a warrior on a horse but the boy was the most common one. It showed the childlike innocence that he loved so much. He opened his eyes and was greeted with a smile from the boy sitting across from him in the identical pattern that he himself was sitting in. Eli bent down on his face to show the respect and love that his Savior deserved.

“Oh Eli, get up it’s alright I know your heart young one.” The boy said

“I am sorry Lord,” Eli said using all his strength to sit back up again. “I can’t help but be amazed and thankful to be in your presence. I am awestruck.”

The boy bowed his head the smile never leaving his face.

“Well I am thankful for children like you Eli.” His voice suddenly took a serious tone, “Dark times are coming and we need to have as much hope, love and faith as we can. And grace is needed now more than ever. Evil is getting reading to make the final strike, this was only the beginning. My cover will soon be lifted off the rest of the world and the Evil One will have his time to reign.”

Tears began to pour down the boys face as he began to sob. Eli couldn’t help himself and soon he was crying along with the boy unable to hold the pain and grief that the Creator of the world must feel for his children that would soon be put to the greatest test just as they were being tested even now.

“There is a man,” the boy stopped crying but tears were still coming from his eyes. “He is coming into your camp now even as we speak. He will do great things in this time of sorrow. These last three years I have been preparing him for what is to come and that time is now. He will carry my light into the darkness and defend my people in their time of great need though many will still fall.”

The boy put his hand on one of Eli’s knees and looked into the old man’s eyes.

“Your people that were taken are with me now. There is no need to mourn over them anymore. Rejoice for they are in a better place. But their loss will not come without payment. The traveler will tell you his story and eventually all answers will be revealed.”

The boy stood up walked over to Eli and kissed him on the forehead and looked at the man with nothing but love in his eyes. Tears were coming down the man’s face from the touch of the One. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again the boy was gone but he could still feel his presence all around him. Eli wiped his face, removing all traces of the tears that had been there minutes before. Marcus entered the tent just seconds after he had cleaned the last of the tears.

“Emily is back and she brought company.”

“Oh right on time,” Eli said shifting a little in his seat grabbing two glasses from a box on his left hand side and then a pitcher of water pouring the liquid into the glasses preparing for the visit of this special man. “Bring him in.”

Marcus left the tent and for the last few minutes that Eli had alone he closed his eyes and prayed for the times that were coming. He was thankful that the time was coming where he could suffer for the benefit of no one but himself and the one he served. As he opened his eyes the entrance to the tent lifted up and there was a man standing before him.

“Eli?” The man asked.

“Yes,” Eli answered, “Please sit we have much to discuss. Here, have some water.”

Eli pushed the glass over to the man as he sat down where the boy had been sitting merely minutes before. The mark of agape clearly stamped on his forehead showing clearly that he was a believer of The Way. He smelled of blood and death though a peaceful calm seemed to surround him. This man had been through a lot, it was written all over him. Pictures came into Eli’s mind of a group of people many years ago, a betrayal and a loss. There was much to be told.

“So,” the traveler spoke.

“So,” Eli repeated.

“Where do we start?” the traveler asked even though he had a million different questions he somehow sensed that it would be better if he came in neutral.

“Well my dear friend I feel like you have a lot to tell me,” Eli began. “I can see that you walk with the wind and that the boy guides you.”

“You have seen the boy?”

“Yes on more than one occasion. He comes to me when we are in need of salvation. Or if someone unexpected shows up.”

The traveler laughed knowing that was aimed towards him.

“Well sorry to inconvenience you old man I only go where the wind takes me.”

“Don’t we all?”

The traveler nodded in agreement taking a sip of water. He hadn’t had a drink in a couple of days and the water was refreshing as it went down his throat. He knew what had to be done he had been holding in a lot of things for a long time and had been waiting for the right person to talk to. He could sense that this man was special and was put here to help him find where he needed to go. Eli as if sensing what the man was thinking broke the silence.

“Where do you want to start then young traveler?”

The traveler thought back once again to a time that seemed like it was so long ago. A time where everyone he loved or cared about had been taken from him by the undead and he was left with a group of several different people who had one goal in mind. To survive at all costs.

“Let me take you back,” the traveler began, “To three years ago in a small Idaho town.”