by Dave Hazel
“It’s not fair,” Mykal blurted out loud but still couldn’t open his eyes. He heard people asking him what wasn’t fair but those people sounded so far away. ‘Boris was a good guy,’ he moaned in thought and was reminded of the Minot Air Force Base Massacre. ‘But he was a good guy to me. Kurt was a good guy and he gave up his life for two little kids. Wouldn’t God care about that and help him get right with God? Denny was a good family man and he was always looking out for his people,’ Mykal continued to moan his thoughts as if he was trying to convince Someone to give them another chance.
‘And what about Franklin Perry? That poor kid died cuz of me. It wasn’t his fault. What if all of them never heard about God and what if they never heard about the way they are supposed to turn their lives around to be right with God?’ he asked mentally while he continued climbing up the mountain. ‘They should be good enough dudes to get into heaven, right?’ He wondered.
‘Ski did say something about works. You can’t work or earn your way to heaven,’ Mykal declared in thought based on his conversations with Ski the friggin Jesus freak. ‘They were all good dudes. They’re better than me, so what does that say about me?’ He gasped in thought.
‘It just wouldn’t be fair. But then why are they standing up there watching me climb to them?’ Mykal looked up to the top of the mountain and his four friends were no longer standing there looking down on him. ‘This just isn’t fair if God took them away, but then who am I to argue with God? But that’s if God is real. What if all this stuff about God isn’t real? What if it’s all a scare tactic to make us be good?’ He thought and started to smile as if he had stumbled onto the truth. ‘But then again, what if it is true, and we only get this one life time to get it right? Oh damn, I’m so friggin confused. I really need to talk to Diaz or Ski cuz I don’t wanna blow it if they’re right.’’
Mykal stopped his internal monologue when he finally reached the top of the mountain climb. He had just a couple more steps and he would be able to stand on the peak. He looked down and quickly got very dizzy. It was like looking over the edge of the Empire State Building. Staring down at the ground below he didn’t understand how he could have climbed so high so fast. ‘I had to, I gotta save Doninka,’ he reminded himself. He continued his climb until he was able to actually stand on the pinnacle. ‘I did it,’ he laughed joyfully. ‘But where is she?’
He stood there and noticed the sides started to narrow to where he didn’t have much room to maneuver. ‘Oh good, there she is,’ he shouted and noticed she was about twenty yards away. Doninka was laying down on the summit. ‘Please don’t roll, please don’t roll,’ he begged while he walked along the top of the summit to get to her. He felt the closer he neared her, the more narrow the width of the top of the mountain became and then the wind picked up and blew harder on him as if to push him back.
‘I hate heights, I friggin hate heights,’ he snarled in thought as the wind tried to push him to one side and then the other. ‘But I love that girl. I gotta save that girl.’ The closer he got to her the more he realized she was no longer covered in blood. The nearer he drew to her the more clearly he saw there was no color in her flesh. Every step closer made her look more pale and lifeless. With each step he heard his deep breaths as fear grew and took hold of his mind. She was laid out and covered with a plain white sheet up to her shoulders.
‘Doninka died?! She did die.’ Tears filled Mykal’s eyes. He didn’t save her. ‘She died. She died cuz of me,’ he moaned in thought and no longer cared that the wind tried to push him off the mountain top. He allowed her to die while under his protection. ‘All of this was for nothing. All the men who died and suffered over her was for nothing and it’s all my fault. I cause everyone around me to suffer and die,’ he moaned in thought as if feeling sorry for himself. ’Even that poor kid Marittle is dead cuz of me, or he will be. Damn, he’s not even old enough to drink or vote in our world, and I killed him,’ Mykal moaned in thought and felt he was going to drown in guilt because he pulled the trigger on that sixteen year old kid.
“No. No, no no,” he argued with himself but couldn’t open his eyes though he shook his head from side to side. Mykal got close to her and dropped down on his knees beside her along the mountain top. He realized he didn’t have much room between her and the edge of the mountain top, but he didn’t care. His heart was broken and he knew he was the one who failed her. The wind blew furiously and her pretty hair flew in all directions around her face. “Please,” he begged mournfully as he reached down to kiss her cold cheek. Even in death she was a very pretty girl to Mykal.
Though Mykal knew he was high atop the mountain, the crowning peak in all the lands, he heard the voices around him. Were they talking to him or were they talking about him? He couldn’t tell and right now he didn’t care.
If she was dead there was no reason to continue. He blew it and never had the chance to really have the relationship with her that she wanted. “Why?” Then it hit him, he had a family in another time and place. ‘This is so confusing,’ he moaned and touched her cold hands. ‘I love you and I don’t wanna lose you,’ he thought in a whisper as the voices around him seemed to grow louder.
“It’s got to be the poison,” one of the men said. And though there was no one on the mountain top with them, because Mykal couldn’t see anyone. The voice sounded like a military man and it sounded close and yet far away. “It’s got to be the poison,” the distant voice repeated. “It’s got to be the poison.”
‘She didn’t die from poison,’ Mykal argued and reached down to kiss her cheek again to say his final farewells.
When Mykal’s lips touched her cold cheek her eyes opened to reveal black soulless orbs. She opened her mouth and hissed violently exposing her many pointy teeth that were just like the tall skinny creature he killed. Like a deadly cobra she lashed out when she hissed at him. She tried to bite him and instinctively to protect himself he jumped backward.
“Noooo,” he yelled loudly and reached out with both hands to hold onto anything. Mykal felt he was falling at 100 miles per hour just like when he was flying across the sky earlier. Now he was like a shooting star speeding straight down to the land below. Mykal knew he was going to die when he hit the ground going that fast from such a height. He was more concerned to know why she would try to bite him when all he wanted to do was help her. Why would she try to bite him when he truly cared for her? Though he couldn’t see the ground he knew it was coming faster and faster. ‘I don’t wanna die like this,’ he moaned mentally and wanted others to know what he was suffering with. ‘Why would she do that when I love her so?’
Mykal thought it odd that while he was falling to his death he could hear men talking around him. ‘Don’t they care what’s happening to me?’ he yelled in thought. ‘Can’t they see what I’m going through?’ He asked when some of the men seemed to be happy and laughing. ‘Don’t they care about me?’ He asked and all he could hear was the wind blowing in his ears. ‘This is the sound of death.’
“I’m dead,” Mykal blurted out loud but still couldn’t open his eyes. “I killed Doninka so I must die.”
“He’s wrong. The princess is alive. She’s fine.” The voice said and it was loud and clear not like the other voices that seemed to be far away in his dream like thinking.
“The girl is okay?” Ratner asked.
That was a familiar voice. A voice that could be trusted.
“Yes Gunney. She needed twenty-nine stitches, but she’s fine. She’ll be banged up and bruised but that seat belt saved her life,” the medic replied and laughed happily.
“Seat belt?” Mykal asked. It revealed he could hear them and respond. “I made her put the seat belt on.”
“Can you hear me Mykal?” Corporal Renner asked. “If you can hear me, the Princess Doninka is doing fine.”
“She’s doing fine?’ Mykal asked though his eyes never opened and suddenly his falling from the sky ceased. “I was afraid I killed her.”
“N
o, the seat belt saved the girl’s life. Her head got cut open,” Renner replied. “And I stitched her up. We gave her some meds and she is doing fine. We need you to wake up and show us you’re doing fine also,” Renner added and others gathered around to see Mykal was communicating.
“She’s alive?” He asked weakly and tears filled his eyes. He was so happy that he didn’t kill her.
“Yes. You did a great job Mykal,” Ratner said and it was clear he was trying to encourage Mykal no matter what his mental state was. “With all that you were up against, you did one hellova a good job.”
“Is my friend awake?” Towbar called out loudly and rushed to the group. “My friend, are you feeling better?”
“Yeah. Now that I know Doninka is okay I’m doing great,” he said and weakly opened his eyes for a brief moment and gave a weak laugh. “My neck really hurts.”
“We had to cut some worms out of your neck,” one of the medics said.
“Worms? Man, I’m so friggin delirious,” Mykal said and his eyes closed. He couldn’t open them again but he desperately wanted to ask what he meant by having to ‘cut some worms’ from his neck.
4.
Mykal bolted upright to find he was inside one of the transport vehicles. He had been sleeping in one of the chairs that reclined back. He gasped suddenly as if he had been startled. He looked straight into Mathis’s face who was staring at him.
“Are you up now?” Mathis asked and gave a friendly smile. Mathis looked happy to see him. “Or are you still sleeping?”
Mykal took a deep breath and sat there. He stared back at Mathis. “Do I look like I’m sleeping?”
“No, but you have gotten up a few other times just like that and fallen right back to sleep,” Mathis said and chuckled when he realized his question must have sounded silly. “You woke up three times just like that in the last forty minutes or so.”
“Really?” Mykal paused and looked at his hands. He gawked at his flesh and wondered if his flesh would help him to understand what he had been through.
“Are you okay Myk?” Mathis asked when Mykal just sat there staring at his hands.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m just trying to remember all that happened. Is Doninka okay?”
“Oh yeah,” Mathis replied happily. “She’ll be fine. She got banged up a little, but she is fine. I think I heard someone say she had to get twenty-nine stitches in her head, but from what I heard she really is okay.”
“Oh good,” Mykal replied and blew a deep sigh of relief. “I honestly thought she was dead. I really thought she broke her neck. I’m trying to put all the pieces together in my mind. I remember the vehicle flipping and it seemed like it flipped fifty times,” he exaggerated. “But I feel kinda numb and a little loopy.”
“We had to leave the vehicle behind because it did get damaged and Captain Diaz didn’t want to take a chance of some men driving it and then running into problems.”
“Well it served its purpose,” Mykal snickered. “I was able to get to it and meet up with you guys. Where is Diaz and where is Towbar?”
“I am behind you my friend,” the giant’s voice replied.
“Captain Diaz is riding in one of the other vehicles. We had, or rather we are having a little bit of a problem.”
“What kind of problem?” Mykal asked and twisted his neck. He reached up to feel a field dressing on his throat where he remembered being struck with a dart from a blowgun. “What the hell?”
“I heard one of the medics say they had to cut two worms out of your neck,” Mathis replied and shook his head. “The medic said they shouldn’t have used the word ‘worm’. He said they were more like tiny centipedes because they had a million little legs and on the front of its head there was a sharp point to burrow with.”
“Well I’m glad they got those damn things outta my neck,” he said and wondered if the two little burrowing centipedes were what caused his strange thoughts and hallucinations. “Why, what kind of problem did we have?”
“After we picked up Doninka and yourself, we drove away just a short distance so we could see all around us. Towbar wanted to find a location to make the green fog appear so we could go back to the Pass. But when he tried to do the green fog everything happened like it normally would. When the green fog cleared away we were still at the same spot we started from. We didn’t go anywhere.”
“Are you kidding me?” Mykal asked.
“No, I wish I was kidding you. Towbar even tried it again. He made the green fog appear a second time and we all got dizzy just like any time going through the green fog and when the green fog cleared we were still in the same spot. And the men weren’t spread out. I repeat, they were not spread out like any time we go through the green fog. Bottom line, Towbar can’t use the green fog.”
“So we can’t go to the Pass?” Mykal asked and then turned to his giant friend. “Are you saying that we’re stuck here on this side of the world?”
“My friend, this seems to be what our problem is,” Towbar said and looked at Mykal with an expression of deep seriousness. “I have tried two different times. And nothing has happened. We have not left from where we are. We appear to be trapped in this location.”
“What? Whadda ya mean?” Mykal asked as he tried to think through the ramifications of his statement, but his head still seemed to be in a cloud or a slight daze. He knew Towbar wouldn’t joke with him, and he knew Towbar was not the type of person to participate with others to pull a prank. Mykal was deeply troubled.
“I have tried and we can not leave our location.”
“We were talking, and obviously I mean the people ‘who do the thinking’, were talking,” Mathis said with a laugh and made exaggerated air quotes. “I mean the people like Captain Diaz, Lieutenant Finley, Gunney Ratner and Towbar and Nordad the wizard. They talk and I just listen,” he continued to laugh. “But they came to the conclusion that whoever threw the green fog on us, may have put a spell over us that we can’t use the green fog to get outta here. There was a lot more said than that, but that’s what the consensus finally arrived at.”
“Towbar, are you sure your powder isn’t bad? Or, you didn’t forget how to make the green fog appear, did you?”
“No my friend. We looked at all the options,” the giant answered and didn’t even acknowledge the last question.
“Maybe it’s just a time thing or a location thing,” Mykal guessed and seemed to be fishing for ideas. “Do we know where we are? Cuz maybe if we put some distance from the place where and when the green fog hit you guys, or maybe if enough time goes by, then maybe everything will be alright. Do we know where we are?” Mykal repeated his question.
There was a hesitation before Mathis spoke. “They seem to think we are getting close to the place where we entered the Black Forest.”
“Are you kidding me? You think we’re back where we can get to the road through that dreaded Forest of Death?”
“That’s what everyone seems to think,” Mathis replied. “But we’re still out in the plains, but it’s hard to tell with all the rolling hills. It’s possible we may come upon some of those armies we’ve kicked ass on over the past couple of weeks or we may already be past them. We’re just not really sure where we are. We only know that we’re between the mountains and the Black Forest. But as you know there is a great deal of ground between those areas.”
“So we could go all the way through the Black Forest, the Forest of Death, on the road and get back to the city where we captured Doninka from the bad guys, right?” Mykal asked and tried to figure out what was taking place. It also made him wonder if they would come across the body of Marittle, the sixteen year old kid that Mykal was afraid he killed, or rather would be responsible for his death.
“That’s what it sounds like,” Mathis answered and Towbar nodded with him.
“Do they think Ziggy Stardust is dragging us back for a final showdown with him?” Mykal gasped and suddenly feared he would have to face the Evil Ruler after all. “This is like a
bad movie where the good guys are being forced to have a face to face confrontation with the bad guy,” he said and chuckled nervously.
“Do you mean like the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral?” Mathis asked and gave a slight laugh with him, but Towbar didn’t understand what he meant by that.
“I guess,” Mykal replied and laughed light heartedly as if it was no big deal, but he wondered if he would have to face the Supreme Ruler, Zizmon-Tarl, one on one by himself. ‘Oh damn,’ he thought and glanced over to his best friend. ‘What if Ziggy is wanting a one on one against Towbar?’
“Do you think we will be able to stand up against the Evil Overlord Ruler?” Mathis asked. “Your Mister Ziggy Stardust?”
“I don’t know,” Mykal answered and shook his head. He stared at the top of the vehicle as if he was staring out into space. “With all the strange ass creatures and armies he has, and all the powers he supposedly has, I sure as hell don’t wanna come face to face with him,” Mykal said with a self-deprecating laugh, though he meant it.
“We have much better weapons Myk,” Mathis said to sound positive. “Besides, he might be like the wizard on the Wizard of Oz where he sounds all big and bad but when you pull the curtain back he really isn’t that much to be afraid of.”
“I don’t think I wanna put my trust in your little theory Radio Boy,” Mykal laughed. “He might be worse than what we’re even giving him credit for.”
“That’s true. What do you think he wants if it is him that is preventing us from using the green fog to get back to the Pass?” Mathis asked and put his finger to his chin. “Do you think he wants all of us dead?”
“That would probably be part of it, but I really think he wants to get his hands on Doninka,” Mykal answered and shook his head. “We still have about a week left for the dead line for King Loankore to turn himself over to trade for her. If Ziggy doesn’t have her, then he has to go all out and try to take the Pass the old fashion way. By fighting for it. Speaking of which, where is Doninka?” Mykal asked and looked at all the soldiers in the vehicle with him.