Chapter One Part Three

Mourning was truly the harsh reality of this world. There was no other pain than it that all humans share, and so did the animals of the desert share it as well. The discussions between the lizards faded away. The snakes preferred to hunt alone now, and the town grieved for the police officer that was killed by Richard and was willing to burn the group of criminals to the stake. The sun saw these things and gave a day to allow rain to fall onto the land, though it would be futile. Eric and Jose were hiding out in one of the dried up canyons. 

"Do you know who all made it?" asked Eric.

"Richard's dead… Alex's dead… my wife has been arrested." Jose answered.

Eric absorbed the information and asked another question, "Well you have friends in the courts right?"

"Don't matter. Man, I knew it, when you showed. I told Alex you was bad luck, but he wouldn't listen to me. I guess I gotta do what he told me to do if it happened like it did."

Jose pulled his pistol out of his pocket and aimed it at Eric, but a sharp pain immediately cursed Jose's shoulder, and a loud bang followed after that.

"You son of a bitch!" Eric exclaimed. He became the same color as death, "Don't you know not to mess with me? I am death, all that is around me dies. You must really believe that I didn't see this coming. You thought that you would be able to catch me off of my guard in a split second? I am never off my guard! I mean do you even understand what a second is? A second, the moment it ticks, is the oldest you have ever been and the youngest you will ever be. It is the distance of life and death, and the inevitable clash between the two. It is what separates the heavens and the earth, but only in 999 thousands of a second will the process repeat itself. You will become numb to the ticking of it, following the dreams you've made within seconds. What will you ever do with the seconds you've wasted, the minutes you have lost, and the years you will never get back. The glory days are gone, far gone. The now will be unfriendly, but the beast that bites might be your guardian in the end. It also is what started me on this journey of mine. I never killed anyone, never was in trouble with the law. 

"No you killed JJ everyone knew it."

"No, JJ ran out of that Godforsaken bar screaming 'police.' Some criminal in a nearby alley heard it, thought JJ was speaking about him, and landed a shot right in the back of JJ's head."

"You come all the way from Glenwood, bring death to my friends, and imprison my wife?" A pause was in the air. The wind and rain echoed through the canyon. 

"I'm gonna kill you." Jose said seething through his teeth. 

Eric walked away shaking his head and became a shadow from the perspective of Jose.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Jose screamed loudly through the canyon, but his wound began bleeding and dripping a fountain of blood. And soon Jose's biggest priority was clotting the wound. 

Blood is one thing that we all share. A positive will never be negative, yet somehow blood can be both. In battle, blood is a good thing; it means the enemy isn't shooting at you anymore, but it also can mean that your friend who is next to you will no longer be able to keep you company.

What Jose was feeling was pain. His blood was a sign of pure spite and hatred. Wrath, rage, and anger were an atmosphere below what he felt, and just like the blood, his emotions began pooling. He conceived the idea that Eric was the enemy, and that there was no greater threat than Eric to his wife and himself. 

Eric, on the other hand, was now worried. Because he ran with Jose about a mile out of town, either he had to risk being seen in town or spend some time in the wilderness, so he began to walk. 

Due to the rain, the ground became mud, and eventually the entire desert was mud and twigs. The bushes that still live in the desert were now completely embedded in the mud. The footprints of anything that walked on it were embroidered in it, and eventually, the rain stopped and the mud was polished by a thin layer of water on the top of it. 

Eric's boots had a thick layer of mud that was crusted on. The boot's black color became completely indistinguishable from the mud, and the mud added an extra ten pounds to his body. The sun was growing eager to rule again. Eric felt this, and began trying to seek some shelter from the heat that was beginning to enrage the desert. He was not sure how much more that he could take. His feet grew tired, and his mouth longed for water. Thirst was the crushing element that wanted him to die, and he himself wanted to die as well. He thought that maybe the pain would not be as terrible if he was just to die. However, he did not have too much time to think about it. He saw a pool of water. His head became dizzy, then he lost control of his balance, and he then fainted, and his gun dropped out of his holster. Luckily, when he did faint, his head fell into the pool of water which blunted his descent.

While he was out, the world around him became engulfed with life. A jack rabbit came close to him, and curiously sniffed his body. Then, it went over to the gun and began investigating it. It looked down the end of the gun, and then looked at the trigger. The rabbit somehow managed to be looking down the barrel and pulling the trigger at the same time. It unfortunately lopped over and bled to death. Then Eric awoke from his dizzy spell startled by the gunshot and saw the water and the rodent and said, "Dinner."