As the group started off to the east Joe turned to Jim. “So far we have been riding through the safety of town. The path to Fort 24 is going to take us along the outside of town. It’s pretty safe, but you need to keep your eyes open. I have seen Ists once or twice along this route. They tend to get spooked by people on horseback and even more so when they notice that I am armed. We simply don’t look like an easy target.”
“I didn’t realize that they got this close to the city unless it was an attack.”
Jim was startled when David spoke for the first time since the awkward conversation about the Militia. “Don’t ever underestimate them. They are always pushing to see how close they can get to town. Sometimes they even clean up and wander into town with the traveling merchants. Most of them are just wandering groups looking for supplies, but there are a few organized bands nearby. You can hear them hooting and hollering off in the woods if you ride this patrol at night. So you keep your eyes open out here.”
“Trust me; I know how bad these guys can be and I wouldn’t dream of letting them get the drop on me.” Jim was riding with his head down and his mind lost in memories that he wished he didn’t have. He barely remembered his mother, but he certainly remembered how his father had reacted to her death. Thirteen years ago as of next week his mother had been brutally murdered to prove a point. His father had a breakdown and spent the whole night crying. That was after all the natural reaction to having your wife’s severed head left on the side of the road for you.
The boys rode in relative silence for a while. They passed numerous identical fields and a pond as the path started to veer more to the North. There was the occasional small talk between Rick and Joe, but the look of pain on Jim’s face sent a clear message that he did not want to talk. David was silent again as he had been for most of the trip. Jim thought that perhaps he had his own story about the ists, but he couldn’t imagine it possibly being as bad as his own.
A woman’s scream cut through the silence from the path ahead of them. Without pause Jim spurred his horse to run full speed towards the sound. As he gripped the reigns tightly he was reminded that Buttercup was a GC and she could run considerably faster than the average horse. He was twenty feet ahead of the other boys before any of them had even registered what was going on. David looked back at the other boys as he prepared to spur his horse on. “That damned idiot is going to get himself killed.” The rest of the boys followed, but Jim was moving so fast that he was soon out of sight.
As Jim hit the top of a small hill he caught sight of a woman laying in a fetal position in the road ahead. Her back was to him, and her dirty blonde hair covered much of it. Even from this distance he could tell that her clothes were torn. He strained his eyes, but could not see any blood on her. He slowed to a trot and called out, “Are you OK?” When she didn’t reply he decided to hop off the horse and take a closer look.
As Jim approached the women he noticed that she was sobbing into her hands. He could also hear the sounds of the other Militia boys just over the last hill. This is my chance to prove myself to them Jim thought. If I can calm her down and find out what happened before they get here maybe it will make up for all my stupid comments today. “My name is Jim. I don’t know what happened here, but I’m going to help you.” He tried to sound reassuring, but thought it came off more nervous than anything else. He kept looking around to make sure whoever had done this wasn’t waiting for him.
David reached the scene next. He quickly sized up the situation. There was a seemingly injured woman lying on the ground and Jim was approaching her. She was lying in a fetal position with her hands down near the ground. Her arm muscles were tensed like she was gripping something and she was watching Jim approach out of the corner of her eyes. David knew the signs and realized that he would only have seconds to react. He leapt off his horse and lunged between Jim and the woman. He just prayed that he could move fast enough.
Everything happened so quickly that Jim could barely register what had happened. As he stepped near the woman he saw a glint of light reflect off of something on the ground. David whirled in grabbing him and pushing him back away from the woman, but her arm was already in motion. David presented his back to her shielding Jim as best he could. Jim saw the tip of a knife explode out of the front of David’s upper leg with a splatter of blood. David let out a scream of pain as his leg gave way and he dropped to the ground. Blood had already soaked the front of his pants.
“What the hell!?!?” Jim exclaimed as he pulled himself up off the ground. The woman was struggling to her feet and trying to move off into the woods. David was bleeding pretty badly and couldn’t seem to reach the knife handle in the back of his leg. Jim knew that should either try to stop the woman or help David. He told himself that he just needed to decide which and move while he still had time. He didn’t move though. He stood in a state of shock hesitating to do anything. His mind screamed at him to move, but fear and shock left him paralyzed.
The other two boys came over the hill at full speed and one of them let out a gasp of shock. Jim suspected that it was Rick because Joe instantly took command of the situation. He pulled his horse to a stop and pointed at David. “Rick help David and Jim.” He pulled the hand gun from his side and aimed it at the stumbling woman. “I’ll take care of her.”
Really enjoyong the story so far. Just catching up on FTB podcasts and read them in one go.