Snippet #1668813

Left, right, left, right... left... right... "SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!"

Sage jumped. Another survivor, it seemed. How fortunate. At least he didn't have to worry about this one. Someone shouting at the top of their lungs didn't seem to be the special ops type of guy. He almost stopped then, as if to wait for the screamer, but he shook his head and kept along. It could take the man hours to reach him, and he didn't have that kind of time.

Sage limped and slid along the path. He had long since given up on following the stranger. It was too dark, and too treacherous to trail him effectively, and without a thermal or a night vision scope, it would be impossible to see him. That is, unless he was right behind the fellow.

A breeze, generated by the fire, played with his hair and ashes circled him like fireflies. It was almost beautiful, it we wasn't choking on the death tainted smoke. Burning human flesh. Wonderful. Oh shit. Stubbed his damned foot. Something sharp and hot too, as if the crack wasn't enough to make him cringe. Stop admiring the view and look at your feet, he reminded himself. So he did, for another couple miles.

The fires were long behind him, and as a result, Sage had trouble seeing even his own hands. He knew he should stop and rest, but something felt wrong. It could possibly be the shock, which had awoken so much adrenaline, his heart was still raging. Or, something like a predator. Who knew where they were? There could be wolves or cougars. Judging by the heat, poisonous snakes and spiders could be an issue too. Humans usually knew when they were being watched. Call it sixth sense, call it instincts, but he believed strongly that if it felt as if you were being tracked, you probably were.

Unsettled by his dark thoughts, he trudged on wearily. "Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to be experiencing some light turbulence, please buckle up your seat belts and stay calm," he uttered under his breath, chuckling slightly. "Ladies and gentleman, this so called light turbulence seems to have been upgraded to shitstorm, please pray to your deities and say goodbye to your loved ones,"..... Okay, now that was just sick. So why was he still laughing? He tripped then, and fell facefirst onto the dusty road, still laughing manically.

The laughing suddenly ceased, when he looked up to the sight of bright headlights, coming his way...