Chapter 10: The kid

Jericho follower's Pov:

"1...2...3..." With a loud huddle passing as I lower the weight into the pit filled with buzzing flies and an overpowering odor, my brother at work and I completed the task assigned to us. He held a clipboard and a pen, and he said:

 "Check"

 "Are we done here?" I inquired, my voice a little hollow due to the mask.

My brother nodded, adding:

 "Yeah we are done"

 "Good" as I pushed the wheelbarrow, he trailed behind as he placed the board beneath his armpit and added:

 "Sometimes you have to let me do that for you so you can focus on the survey and inventory check. Like switching jobs for the day, you know?"

 I scoffed and said casually:

 "Yeah, right. I presume you seek something from this work that management cannot provide, huh?"

Brother smiled, licked his dry lips, and said:

 "Maybe so brother M__"

 BANG! There was a wait, and then BANG!

 I quickly studied the woodland with panicked eyes, noticing a swarm of birds fleeing as ominous cries filled the skies.

 "You gonna wait there, you going get you arse on the bike"

Brother was on top of a four-wheeler bike, gesturing for the back.

 I grimace at the thought: "Hard pass, I'll see you there. Let me go get mine. "Ain't parked far."

 "Suit yourself man, meet you there soon"

 He waved as he put on his helmet and drove away with several of the men, heading into the woods. They carried firearms and a variety of weapons such as machetes, clubs, and swords.

You can never be too careful when there are unwelcome infectants around.

 I dashed for my bike, examined my pistol's condition, and slid it into my hip holster. I put on my fingerless gloves and a helmet, enthused the bike with vigor, and drove away to follow the others.

Switch POV to Brother:

I got off my bike and took out my cartridge, which had six rounds in the chamber. After inserting the cartridge and turning off the safety, I was ready to fire.

 We were headed by a huge man named Grizzly, who carried a repeater with two barrels. He motioned for us to move carefully and directed some of our brethren to the exposed areas of the woods to see if there was anyone moving on the road.

They were instructed with simple motions to remain invisible to the enemy because we don't know who it is. Grizzly motioned for us to follow and make no noise that would reveal us, so we could be disguised in the woods while staring down the road.

 Suddenly, Grizzly scented the air and whispered:

 "I would seem that Elliot has returned, with a guest or package i cannot tell"

"Was he the one to fire the gun?" I asked in a quiet voice.

 Grizzly sniffed again and continued in the same whispered tone with hints of fury and confusion:

 "I smell blood near Elliot." He was shot, be ready, I am not sure what kind of man can kill a brother to Jericho.

I prepared my gun in a position as I followed Grizzly with the rest of our five-man team. Grizzly blew a bird-like whistle to indicate the men to approach.

I looked to the opposite side and saw the brother I was talking to earlier, holding a Glock and wearing cycle gloves. He seemed focused as his team received the command to engage carefully, and Grizzly approached the edge of the woods, which was only covered by few trees.

 "He told us to hide behind the trees with his cover secure Grizzly said in his loud husky voice:

"Assailant, we have you surrounded. Get out of the automobile and raise your hands. Do this, and we will not retaliate with force; otherwise, we shall reply with the punishment of trespassing on privately owned territory."

Some of the guys prepped their rifles, arms extended and eyes intensely focused on the narrow slit to aim; the men without guns felt uneasy and calm as they clutched the tools for close quarters.

My eyes widened in surprise and shock, as they should have. The person in question was a young boy with short brown hair who was dressed in what appeared to be street clothes—not very typical of an abducted child, I would say. However, what the child was wearing over his eyes caused bewilderment. A white blindfold with dried blood and a slight black from not washing it.

 The youngster paused and lifted his hands, his cane hanging on his finger with a small belt tie, and inquired in a carefree tone:

"The voice that spoke of my situation where are you, may i assume the man in front of me is you?"

 Grizzly was distracted for a moment while he gestured for the leader of the contact team to speak; the brother took a breath and added:

 "Yes, I was, state your name, child," He responded, attempting to imitate Grizzly's gruff voice.

 The child grinned, spat on the floor, and briefly laughed. He said, gesturing to his right:

"I was talking about you, sir. recently because I am blind doesn't mean that I can't tell when someone's speech has changed from what I recently heard. when you were telling me to exit the truck.

 I was taken aback for a moment before realizing that Grizzly's voice could be heard above the contact soldier's copied one. I wanted to laugh when the kid said it, but I had to keep it to myself.

 Grizzly inquired:

"My man asked you a question who are you?"

 "Oh my gosh, my man, congratulations by the way," the child said, trying not to chuckle.

 "For what?" Grizzly asked with confusion.

"You still remind me of Timothy, an old friend. Timothy, what a guy. Did I kill him that day or is he still alive?" When telling us about his friend, the boy spoke with his face hung for a moment; without his eyes, we couldn't determine his emotion of that statement.

The kid was quite for second, shrugged with ignorance from Grizzly's question and stated:

"Listen, I am aware that some of you despise me. You have every reason to despise me in particular, and you will soon see why. This blindfold has allayed your fears about my past existence. Trust me, just because I was an infectant doesn't mean I can't influence you without my power."

'An infectant, What power?' An infectant is what most people refer to as the enemies of paradise, but not us, therefore I raised my gun to aim directly at the child. The authorities will come snooping about and find out who we are and what we did, even if we welcomed and assisted him. They will use our failure to report this and our involvement in Jericho's family cult as an example.

Grizzly smelled the air for a time before motioning for the man near the child to retrain him. The man nodded, He slowly let his guard down. He proceeded to walk carefully, removing black zip ties with one hand while holding a weapon with the other.

 'Why zip ties? Wouldn't power dampeners work on the infectant?' I wondered, trying not to express my worry. In the corner of my view, I noticed a smile that lacked innocence, as if it meant that everything was going as planned.

Right away, I aimed the gun toward the child and squeezed the trigger to fire my shot.

 Grizzly turned to face me after hearing the gunfire, but it was too late. What is done is done, Grizzly peered to where the rifle had pointed.

A thump! When Grizzly saw his man, his brother, tumble to the ground, his eyes widened. A body had fallen. His head was drilled with a little hole from the rifle, his eyes became blurry, and his mouth agape in terror and worry... He was no longer alive.

The boy remained, albeit his smile had faded slightly. He turned his head toward me and mouthed a few words that were not audible 'Nice one, sure shot'.

My hands felt twisted and scarred after hearing those words, which suddenly chilled me. I looked at them and saw nothing; my gun had vanished, replaced by a thick oily darkness that slowly expanded out as it attached itself to my legs, chest, and feet, climbing toward my wide open mouth leaving nothing to seen as it climbed. I tried to close my mouth, but my jaw refused to do so.

I heard a calming voice telling me:

"You are free now, embrace me as I am what you desire"

My thoughts and body felt heavy and sleepy, and I attempted to listen to the murmur, which seemed familiar.

Those words were so familiar that I knew who was speaking, and they convinced me that what I was doing was for a higher good. As I listened to these words every day, they became my mantras and my daily routine for a better tomorrow. According to some, the words that alter your perspective on fate are ones you will never forget.

Our Savior said these things when he accepted me as a brother and brought me to a family of principles. Long live Jericho. Live long, Jericho.

I spoke those words in a daze, as I felt something crawl into my lips, the liquid. I wanted to vomit, but my internal reflexes were unresponsive; my last fluttering thought was a joke the boy told me after I had retrained myself... Even though the joke was dull and uninspired, it was nonetheless a funny.

The human body collapsed on a field surrounded by a lightless abyss. Every part of him went to ash and mist, and the mist merged with the surface covered by a thick miasma.

 He is dead.

***

Grizzly noticed his brother whispering something under his breath, and as he uttered it, he noticed a black, viscous, oily stuff seeping from his ears. A substance flowed from his mouth and eyes as his head hung low, and Grizzly observed it but didn't pay attention to what was going on.

Jerry smiled and added:

 "I guess he couldn't handle it. So he was the only person who wasn't a junkie."

 Suddenly, Grizzly pulled a revolver from his holster and shot his brother without batting an eye, yelling at his men:

 "Brothers, this is him. He is the one who liberated the lambs."

The atmosphere changed as everyone listened and pointed their weapons at Jerry, who clutched his cane tightly. Jerry winced when he touched his blindfold carefully.

"Brothers fire," he cried as he let his finger loose on the trigger, and the gun fired shots at Jerry, who was quickly buried in a miasma of black thick mist that obscured his vision as bullets were fired into the stationary mist.