Where is This Place?

The two exchanged curious glances before turning their attention to the parachute mast above them in unison.

At one of the edges of the mast, there was a hole that seemed to be increasing with every passing second.

This hole was as a result of Blockhead's aimless firing some moments ago. Albeit the two heard some firing during that moment, they still couldn't discern where it was specifically coming from, since the wind was hauling in their ears.

One of the ammunitions managed to rip-off one of the edges of the parachute while Marr was still putting it on. Lucky for the them especially Jean, it didn't kill Marr, not to talk of injuring him.

Almost immediately, the two turned their attention to the ground below. Unlike the first time Jean had a check, this time around it was somewhat visible. But still, it was difficult to discern what rested on it.

While they were still staring at the ground with panicked faces, they felt a jolting force from the parachute as the speed at which they were plummeting at increased drastically. A few seconds later, the two lost balance and started swaying and turning in the sky.

At this point, the mask tore completely and send the two descending from the sky like a falling stone.

This was the moment they realised that they were going to hit the ground because the parachute that they depended on had turned into shreds.

Anticipating what will follow next, a wave of dread descended on them as their thoughts became hazy.

If somebody as experienced as Marr could panic, who was Jean not to?

Knowing that their fate was sealed already, Jean let go the firearm and embraced Marr in a tight hug. Seeing this, Marr also hugged Jean back. The two then closed their eyes and waited for the unfolding of their fate.

During this moment, there was nothing Jean could do. Although he really wanted to continue living, saving himself from this precarious situation was out of the question.

A few seconds later, the two figures started rolling in the air as they descended the sky. At one point, Jean could be on top while at some point on the bottom. This pattern repeated itself until they were about three hundred meters above the ground.

At this point, the two figures became stable and Jean was on top at this moment. Feeling that their speed had reached its maximum, Jean's body stiffened as he quickly covered his tightly closed ayes with his hands.

A few seconds later, a reverberating sound of bodies hitting the ground resounded from a certain spot on the ground below.

*Boom! *

Suddenly, the world turned black.

*****

Several hours later, Jean let out a haggard cough and spit out a mouthful of blood. He then clutched to his aching chest as he slowly opened his eyes.

'Where is this place? Could it be that I am dead or what?'

Jean asked himself out of confusion as he studied the surroundings.

At this point, the smell of blood assaulted his nose. Turning his attention to the ground below him, he noticed that he was mounted on an unmoving figure of Marr streaming impaled several inches in the ground, with blood from different points and openings.

The moment his sight caught this ugly scene, he jolted and tried to dismount from Marr's body but failed instantly. He could not move away from his body because the constriction belts were still in place.

In the next moment, he turned to the side and scanned the surroundings. All his eyes could see around them was tall grasses of roughly four feet that obscured the surrounding areas from the height he was observing from.

This was the moment he noticed that he was still alive.

'How did I survive such fall in the first place?'

Jean thought with a grim expression.

Although at this point his body was aching all over, he still felt like he could move.

Without further hesitations, Jean quickly disconnected the constriction belts that were binding him and Marr together and quickly detached himself from him.

The moment he dismounted himself from Marr's unmoving body and struggled to get to his feet, he noticed that his clothes were stained with blood. Immediately he saw this, he flinched.

'Am I bleeding?'

With that thought in mind, Jean quickly took off his shirt and ran a quick check on his bloody stained body. Noticing that he didn't surfer any external injury, he flinched.

It was not like he wished to be injured, but the reason for his dreadful state was the fact that he had fall from one of the life-threatening heights yet he was still looking okay.

'How could this be possible?'

With that thought in mind, he made a step back but immediately froze in place as his expression turned sour.

He had felt a sharp pain on his left foot, and without any delay he quickly clutched to it. He then removed the shoes and noticed a deep cut on his bleeding left foot. Seeing this, he grimaced as his eyes focused on Marr's body.

'Could it be that he is dead?'

Jean thought as he retreated a few steps away from Marr's motionless body. Albeit he knew at the back of his mind that Marr's waking could deny him the freedom to escape, he still cared for his wellbeing, just as his fellow human.

Feeling tempted to shake him awake, Jean lingered as a grim expression settled on his bloody face. At that point, he slowly looked up and stared in the sky.

'How was that possible? How could I survive such a fall?'

As if answering his thoughts, a stream of blood streamed down to his lips from his left nostril. Jean quickly rubbed the blood off and brought the stained hand close to his face.

'I might have suffered some internal injuries. This are some of the signs that Marr might not be far from dead if not dead, because he was the one whose body made direct contact with the ground.'

Jean thought with a panicked face as he gazed in the direction of Marr's motionless body.

Jean was right with his deduction, as Marr's body was the one that made direct contact with the ground during their fall, and in the process cushioning Jean from the impact of the fall. In addition to that, the two fell in a farm, therefore the ground was not that turf to turn them into a bloody paste. This explains why their bodies remained whole despite their dangerous fall.

For a moment, Jean was divided between checking on Marr and escaping. Since he felt remorseful for his fellow human, Jean decided to check if Marr was still alive. But before he could do anything, he craned and scanned the surroundings once again.

Unlike the first time, this time he could see in the distance because he was now towering above the four feet grass. Right from where he was standing, the grasses stretched to the South, the East and to the West as far as the eye could see, thus forming a huge grassland.

Seeing this, he grew agoraphobic and sucked in cold air.

'How am I going to track out of this place?'

Jean thought with a smug.

He was disheartened by the fact that he fell in the middle of a grassland in a countryside that rarely had a public road. In the few moments that he had been studying this area, he was able to realise that the roads were rarely close from where he was. And he was dead sure that even if one existed, it could have been for traversing the grassland rather than travelling through it.

This region was extremely quiet with no chanting of birds or buzzing of insects as if devoid of life.

While he was still staring at the stretches of grasses in the South, he heard some noises from the back. These were bird chants that suddenly emerged from somewhere in the distant back. This reminded him that he had not checked in the North.

Slowly turning to face in the direction of the noise, Jean heaved a heavy sigh as his sight caught what was lying in the North.

Almost three hundred meters away from where he was standing, a thick forest bloomed with tall green trees of varying heights.

'Since it is getting late, I need to find somewhere to reside for tonight. This is going to be a daunting experience for me, but I don't think I would have a choice as long as I don't find a house around.'

Jean thought for a while as a distant look appeared on his bloody face. The moment he tilted his head and caught the sight of Marr's body lying on the ground, he gulped and scratched the back of his head.

A while later, he lowered himself and slowly touched Marr's body. He then listened closely to see if he could notice him breathing. After several tries, he didn't notice anything. This realisation ached his heart.

On one hand, he felt like a life was lost and on the other hand, he was angry for losing an interrogating subject.

Although Jean didn't have a firearm to force Marr to submit to his command, he was still hopeful of finding answers from him as he was sure that he could be too weak to fight back, considering the condition he was in.

With a bitter expression on his face, Jean stood up and faced in the direction of the forest. His intuition was telling him to head there and he felt that it was the best decision he could make.

Just as he started heading in the direction of the forest, something disturbed the silence.

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