Chapter 43

It was not long after exiting the woods that they spotted him moving towards them. He was not easy to miss.

*~~*

Night had fallen and the commercial activity of the center had deteriorated with falling of the sun. A single light hung outside of the central cabin under which several shabby-looking guards stood waiting. These night watches waited for no one in particular, but rather for the unexpected. A job requiring very little thought coupled with unquestionable courage. These particular men excelled in both categories making them the dumbest heroes ever chosen to guard a vacant plot of land.

*~~*

The guards aimed their guns at the shadowy behemoth that had risen from the forest.
“Halt!” shouted one of the guards, a resolute firmness in his tone.
The shadow stopped and stood motionless.
“What’s your business?”
A deep voice echoed from the shadow, amplified by the amphitheater of trees in which he stood.
“Just a few questions.”
The men, startled by the register of the voice and the peculiar shape of the shadow, experienced a collective chill down their spines.
“I heard from a very reliable source that there was trouble in this distrip today. Is that true?”
One of the guards somewhat new to the position and fresh to life on the whole responded first.
“If your source is so reliable why do you need to ask us for confirmation?”
With no visible movement from the shadow a knife whistled through the air and into the left thigh of the quick witted guard. The man let out a cry, immediately dropping his gun, and fell to one knee, nursing his newly-impaled limb.
“I don’t respond well to sarcasm.”
Another guard, slightly senior to the others, took charge of the dialogue.
“Put your arms in the air, Stretch. Now.”
“I don’t respond well to orders either.”
Without a movement another knife sailed into the senior guard’s right arm. His gun fell to the side as his body rocked back from the impact.
“I will tell you now, gentlemen, that I have enough knives. Compliance is in your best interest.”
“Yes,” shouted a guard, his voice wavering, “there was a bit of a scrap in the market today. Is that all?”
The air hung in silence for a moment.
“No,” growled Jehovah, “where did the two men who were assaulted escape to?”
The guards looked to one another for an answer, each spitting out his best guess in time with the others.
“…they disappeared right after…”
“…the last time I saw them they were in an alleyway licking their wounds…”
“…I didn’t ever get a good look at either of ‘em...”
“…I’m pretty sure I saw them in the train yard…maybe…”
A shot fired in the air and the guards fell silent again.
“Where was that train headed?” echoed the shadow.
“Everywhere from here to Maine, but the primary stops are in Philadelphia and New York.”
The shadow began to back away from the guards, returning to the woods. The figure had not been moving for even a few seconds before he disappeared into the cover of the forest, as if falling into natural camouflage. The guards huddled close to one another under the dim light; now more afraid of the darkness they had been hired to watch.